Death House

[VAN]

"True, maybe we can check if there are any geography or history books so we can get better where we are."

[steveflam]

Bhunder checks to see if he can read any of the books, then looks for Geography or History books. Obviously no magic books or diaries will be in the bookcase.

[alhoon]

Vorj and Bhunder check the books, which going by names include history and geography books, while Gnorric makes a check for traps in the drawer. Finding it untrapped, he opens it along with Van.
Inside the drawer they find an iron key.

As the group moves to search the library and check the books, they find that all the books (hundreds of tomes covering a range of topics including history, warfare, and alchemy along with poetry and fiction) they check appear to be written.
Cursory checks of the books of history and geography have sketches of a Valley, of mountains named Balinoks and they catch the name "Barovia", "von Zarovich", "Castle Ravenloft" here and there along with other bizarre names the party doesn't recognize.

However before they can research more, Gnorric pulls a red-covered book with a blank spine. A clicking sound can be heard and a 5' section of shelves slowly opens towards a secret room.


This secret room contains bookshelves packed with tomes. While the room is clean and dust-free like the rest of the floor, the wood of the selves and the binding of the tomes is darker.

A heavy wooden chest with clawed iron feet stands against the south wall, its lid half-closed. Sticking out of the chest is a skeleton in leather armor. Close inspection reveals that the skeleton belongs to a human who triggered a dart trap. Three darts are stuck in the dead adventurer’s armor and ribcage. He seems to have been dead for decades, no flesh remaining on his white bones.
Clutched in the skeleton’s left hand is a piece of paper...

[VAN]

"A smaller library in a library...And who will let a skeleton stay in his house!!! It seems this house has been deserted for more time than we thought...I'm quite sure the key we found open the chest but better check it for traps, it may have been replaced."

Using his scimitar but without touching the skeleton Van pierces the letter and slowly so he doesn't cut the paper tries to get it free.

[ewancummins]

Vorj and Bhunder check the books, which going by names include history and geography books, while Gnorric makes a check for traps in the drawer. Finding it untrapped, he opens it along with Van.
Inside the drawer they find an iron key.

As the group moves to search the library and check the books, they find that all the books (hundreds of tomes covering a range of topics including history, warfare, and alchemy along with poetry and fiction) they check appear to be written.
Cursory checks of the books of history and geography have sketches of a Valley, of mountains named Balinoks and they catch the name "Barovia", "von Zarovich", "Castle Ravenloft" here and there along with other bizarre names the party doesn't recognize.

However before they can research more, Gnorric pulls a red-covered book with a blank spine. A clicking sound can be heard and a 5' section of shelves slowly opens towards a secret room.


This secret room contains bookshelves packed with tomes. While the room is clean and dust-free like the rest of the floor, the wood of the selves and the binding of the tomes is darker.

A heavy wooden chest with clawed iron feet stands against the south wall, its lid half-closed. Sticking out of the chest is a skeleton in leather armor. Close inspection reveals that the skeleton belongs to a human who triggered a dart trap. Three darts are stuck in the dead adventurer’s armor and ribcage. He seems to have been dead for decades, no flesh remaining on his white bones.
Clutched in the skeleton’s left hand is a piece of paper...

VIEW CONTENT:

DELAYED ACTION
GNORRIC looks about to locate the source of the darts. If the darts are stuck in the side facing the chest, he looks there first. If in the back, he looks toward the wall in that direction.
He is very careful not to stand in what he thinks may be , or may have been, the line of fire.

[alhoon]

"A smaller library in a library...And who will let a skeleton stay in his house!!! It seems this house has been deserted for more time than we thought...I'm quite sure the key we found open the chest but better check it for traps, it may have been replaced."

Using his scimitar but without touching the skeleton Van pierces the letter and slowly so he doesn't cut the paper tries to get it free.

As Van enters the dark room with the intend to get the paper, the dead adventurer silently, raises. The only sound the group outside the room can listen is the short sword being drawn from the skeleton's scabbard.

[VAN]

"Wow, he is alive! sort of!"

Van gets and counterattacks

[alhoon]

The only sound the group outside the room can listen is the short sword being drawn from the skeleton's scabbard.

This sound is followed by the Van's warning:

"Wow, he is alive! sort of!"

And then the sounds that would be made if a servant dropped several wooden kitchenware, as the fighter's scimitars crush the skull and spine of the undead, dropping it before it gets a hit.

By the time the rest of the party realizes what happened, Van is standing over a pile of bones in leather armor.

Kimber from outside the library barely registers what happened, except that there was a short scuffle in the secret room. Burdur also asks "Who's alive? Did we found captives? Servants?"

[VAN]

Van steps back, letting the others enter the room.

"There was a skeleton in the room holding a letter. I wanted to get it with my sword but without actually touch the skeleton it moved ready to attack me. I was just faster."

Van gets the letter from the floor and hands it to the dwarf.

"You are a cleric Burdur, I think it's better if you read it."

[alhoon]

Burdur's interest is picked "Undead?" Then after a moment "I don't know why I'm surprised. Undead are vile creatures Van. They are not traps. He sensed you and attacked. "

He doesn't move to enter the secret room or take the letter from Van's hands.

[VAN]

"I don't know much about undead but for sure I didn't provoke it, if it sensed it well I cannot do anything about it. I thought the chest was trapped and most probably it will still be. I just don't know how to read that's why I think you shoud read it the letter. Maybe we find something interesting or might be just a blank paper to make us want to take it and trigger the skeleton...I will not be surprised at all.

[alhoon]

Burdur scoffs "You don't trigger a skeleton you ignorant mortal! It sees you or listens you and attacks. Give me that letter, you're probably illiterate anyway."

Burdur takes the letter and reads loudly so that even Kimber can listen.

"My most pathetic servant,
I am not a messiah sent to you by the Dark Powers
of this land. I have not come to lead you on a path to
immortality. However many souls you have bled on your
hidden altar, however many visitors you have tortured
in your dungeon, know that you are not the ones who
brought me to this beautiful land. You are but worms
writhing in my earth.
You say that you are cursed, your fortunes spent. You
abandoned love for madness, took solace in the bosom
of another woman, and sired a stillborn son. Cursed by
darkness? Of that I have no doubt. Save you from your
wretchedness? I think not. I much prefer you as you are.
Your dread lord and master,
Strahd von Zarovich"

[ewancummins]

With the enemy reduced to a heap of broken bones, GNORRIC goes back to his methodical search for traps.

[ewancummins]

Burdur scoffs "You don't trigger a skeleton you ignorant mortal! It sees you or listens you and attacks. Give me that letter, you're probably illiterate anyway."

Burdur takes the letter and reads loudly so that even Kimber can listen.

"My most pathetic servant,
I am not a messiah sent to you by the Dark Powers
of this land. I have not come to lead you on a path to
immortality. However many souls you have bled on your
hidden altar, however many visitors you have tortured
in your dungeon, know that you are not the ones who
brought me to this beautiful land. You are but worms
writhing in my earth.
You say that you are cursed, your fortunes spent. You
abandoned love for madness, took solace in the bosom
of another woman, and sired a stillborn son. Cursed by
darkness? Of that I have no doubt. Save you from your
wretchedness? I think not. I much prefer you as you are.
Your dread lord and master,
Strahd von Zarovich"

GNORRIC does a slow clap.
"Thanks for reading that for Van! Another bold act of risking yourself for others. If it had been cursed, you'd have taken the hex on yourself. "
GNORRIC looks over at Van.
"Don't be offended, please. You know Burbur is just so anxious for our safety that he can't take time explain to us ignorant mortals about things like traps. That's why he's been finding all the hidden dangers without our help. We should probably all just kick back and , I dunno, drink some wine while he clears this place on his own."

[VAN]

Van ignores Burdur and Gnorric for a moment more concentrated on the letter and goes back to the library so they will be more comfortable to discuss.

"Lets concentrate on the letter shall we? The house owner was evil, mad and a torturer...how lovely... he lived in here many years and he had a stillborn child probably the one at the portrait. We have seen the name Von Zarovich at the books so he should have been someone important, as the letter says a kind of master of this new land. As about the children we saw outside Rose and Thorn, well as we suspected they are or ghosts or illusions, there is no chance they have survived so many years. Because even if I'm not an expert judging by the pile of bones in there, the skeleton was in this house for realy long time. So I think we can all agree that there is no baby and parents at the basement and this is a setup as we suspected...Now, we need to find a way to get out from here alive also...Many sinisters things happen in this place and I bet there are many traps and tricks at the other rooms as well. The house might be haunted and this means we need to be prepared to encounter things we have never faced before. We are in a library so lets get out time to study what and how we can fight ghosts, undead etc. Burdur and Bhunder you two know most about these, so enlighten us! We need to be ready for everything if we want to survive in here."