Death House

[ewancummins]

GNORRIC says,
"No oath, no party! It's that simple for me. She ought to swear, so we can work together, trust each other, and don't end up like that guy." He points his smoking pistol at the heap of broken bones near the chest,

[VAN]

"I do believe that as well, the oath is important and means trust. Kimber please take the oath and I will be the first to shake your hand, call you comrade and fight by your side as I will do for everyone else."

[kintire]

Kimber winces at the shot and pauses for a long time before replying. For a moment it seems she is spinning out the tension but it rapidly becomes clear her attention is focussed elsewhere: on the silent house, listening intently for anything that the shot might have stirred up.

Once she has become at least convinced that the noise has not aroused any threat that will be on them imminently, she steps inside and closes the door. her gaze slides cool across Gnorric, but she addresses herself mostly to Van.

"Look. I will be straight with you. A little while ago our village was threatened by a monster. We couldn't handle it, and we appealed for help. An order of paladins came and slew it, and in gratitude we promised service from some of our people. That's why I'm here: working out my debt to Vorj's order. We were barely aware there even was a civil war, and I have no idea what its all about. I don't care that you're rebels. I don't hate your cause, and I certainly don't hate you. You know that. We've been working smoothly together, you, Vorj, Burdur and I. As you know, I DID promise not to betray, harm or kill you, and you said that was good enough. But we have a problem."

Her gaze moves to Gnorric, and moves back to Van.

"My life has been threatened. Several times. I've been called a harlot. My judgement, my knowledge, my gender, my religion... they have all been separately and causelessly insulted over and over and over again. And he's started in on Burdur now. And now you say I'M provoking HIM? He says I work against unity?"

Her voice is cool and calm, but cold.

"He is, of course, right about one thing. We do need to work together. You think swearing the oath will help? I've already promised. I'll make it an oath if you like. But I demand one thing in return."

She meets Van's eyes directly.

"Courtesy. Not warmth. Not friendship. Ordinary, common courtesy."

She steps back and for the first time includes Gnorric and Bhunder in her gaze.

"Do we have a deal?"

[ewancummins]

GNORRIC nods." Sounds good to me, Kimber."

[Ken of Ghastria]

"If we're done with that," says Vorj, "let's move on. If this house is indeed a trap, do we leave this damn place -- if that's even possible - or do we press on, in hopes of finding a way back home?"

[VAN]

"We cannot leave just like that Vorj, the mists outside are poisonous we will die if we try to leave. I'm afraid we can leave only when we accomplish what we are here to do, when the house let us go..."

Van gives Vorj the letter.

"I have already told you what I think about that but what do you think? We are in a library lets use it to find more things possible about this land, Von Zarovich that seems to be the master of Durst and Durst himself and his family. We already know that Durst has a stilborn child from another woman that didn't particularly love as said in letter and we saw in the portrait. Brainstorm guys."

[alhoon]

Gnorric says " I gotta heed nature's call till you guys sort what to do. "
He ambles over to his brother.
" Might be best not to wander off alone."
Accompanied by Bhunder, he heads off toward the front door to piss in the fog. The gnomes walk out a few feet in the yard, standing just a bit inside the fog so that their forms are outlined but hazy.


Suddenly, as everyone in the main hall watching out for them could witness, the fog thickens around them. At first the gnomes shout in alarm but their shouts are muffled by the fog. There's no sound of battle. Just... a splash of water? Then the fog retreats and there's no trace of the gnomes, their fate unknown. Anyone investigating the fogs will find them as physically taxing as ever and leading back to the Death House.

[Ken of Ghastria]

After many long minutes of searching and calling out for the gnomes, Vorj -- along with Van, Kimber, and Burdur -- staggers back, away from the deadly mists and into the "safety" of the house.

He leans again a wall, exhaustion and despair threatening to cripple him, but he doesn't allow himself to sink to the floor. "This ... 'Von Zarovich' is playing games with us, or at least this house is." The other three people see Vorj's jaw muscles twitch slightly, as though he's trying to control his rage... or something else.

"You're right, Van," he says finally after a long breath. "We can't leave until we see this game through to its conclusion. And neither can we surrender to fear. Gnorric and Bhunder may still be alive, and our success could be the only thing that keeps them that way. We press on, and we strike down anyone who gets in our way. Are we agreed?"

He holds up the iron key that he and Gnorric found. "We have this, and we have the note from Von Zarovich. We need more. Perhaps there's information about Von Zarovich in the library?"

[kintire]

Kimber reaches forward as if to put a hand on his shoulder then withdraws it.

"The fewer there are the more difficult, its true, but now we know not to go into the fog for any reason..."

She looks around at the silent house.

"information on Von Zarovich or anything else could be useful."

She heads back towards the library, assuming Van agrees

[alhoon]

Burdur follows the others in the library.

From a more detailed look, as the party catches their breath, they party can piece over that this area was once a place held by the "Von Zarovich" family, invaded by a barbaric nomadic tribe calling themselves Tergs until driven out by Strahd Von Zarovich in a long struggle. The few books that reach Barovia's liberation by the Tergs become sketchy afterwards; being very sparse on the details calamity seems to have struck the family as they returned to their ancestral lands.
Queen Ravenia died of poor health before she made it to castle Ravenloft, named in her honor. Strahd von Zarovich and his brother along with many guests of some important fest or wedding disappeared when the "Mists" closed around Barovia. Strahd II, a von Zarovich dark arcanist barely mentioned in the previous history books took over and brutally brought order. Strahd III continued the path his father has set; dark magic, bizarre rituals, pursuits of common-born girls and ruthless oppression of those that disagreed with him.

No book goes further than that from what the party gathers.

The books on the secret room are a different story.

VIEW CONTENT:

Demonology. Rituals to summon (or attract the attention) of fiends. Rituals of re-incarnating evil. Dark magic. Necromancy. Cannibalism. Ritualistic necrophilia. These seem to have been the pursuits of a cult called "the Priests of Osybus".

Burdur spits on the book he holds before getting far into it, dropping it as hot coal. "There is no question that great evil taints this place" he says stating the obvious.
"If this Von Zarovich snubbed the blasphemers that studied or partook in such horrid things, then he's evil beyond imagination. Or redemption."

[Ken of Ghastria]

Vorj's face blanches as he looks at the content of the vile tomes, seeing descriptions of demon summoning, necromancy... and worse.

"If this Von Zarovich snubbed the blasphemers that studied or partook in such horrid things, then he's evil beyond imagination. Or redemption."

"He sounds like neither an ally nor a foe of theirs," says Vorj slowly, his tongue seemingly struggling to help him form syllables, "but someone who was ... entertained by all this. Definitely not someone we care to meet... if he still lives."

He picks up the tome containing information on demonic summoning and begins scanning its pages. "Summoning demons," he says distantly. He looks up at Van, Burdur, and Kimber, as though just remembering their presence. "This book, unfortunately, may be useful. If we were indeed brought across the planes to another world, a book with magic this powerful could also hold the key to opening a door back home." He holds on to the book and places it in his backpack.

"So... do we continue upstairs? Van, what do you think?"

[alhoon]

Burdur's face darkens at mention that these books could be useful. His face drops.
"Paladin" he says using the title of Vorj for the first time, "nothing useful can come from using this kind of magic. There's always a price and while you may not have learned that, the price always, always, is greater than whatever benefit you are tricked to think you would gain.
The Durst patriarch admits to following his carnal desires and found the cost to be a stillborn child. And that's not the worst that could happen from use of that kind of blasphemous magic."

He turns to Van. "I suggest we put that back in the self, close the secret door and never mentioning this ... ", he waves around, "again. Never open that door."

[kintire]

Kimber looks extremely uneasy and increasingly disgusted at the contents of the secret library and a little shocked when Vorj takes one of the books.

"Well... um... of course demon summoning is out of the question but... we might need to banish one... and the... knowing how the summoning worked might... help..."

While she supports her senior as best she can, her heart blatantly isn't in it!

"Still this kind of thing... might well explain the weird nature of this house!"

[Ken of Ghastria]

Vorj walks over to Burdur and places a hand on the cleric's shoulder. "I understand what you're saying," he says. He looks over at Kimber. "You as well. And I thank you." He pauses for a few seconds.

"It's important for the three of you to know that I have experience fighting demons," he continues. "It ... hasn't always gone well. Trust me when I say that I am VERY well aware of the dangers that could come from using any of the incantations in these disgusting tomes. I promise you all this: We will continue looking for a way out of this house and out of this land. If we fail and there are no other options, then -- and only then -- will I look for a less pleasant way to get you home."

He looks closely at Burdur. "Your knowledge, as a man of faith, is especially important right now. If you sense that my behavior is being ... altered in some way, take whatever steps are necessary to keep everyone safe.

"Now, please, let's continue."

[VAN]

Van has hard time following the others discusing while his friends were disappeared. The fighter feels alone and afraid and also too angry with the mists and the house itself. But since his opinion was asked he just said:

"Do whatever you want, I don't really cre anymore. Take the book or burn it will not get my friends back. I just hope they are still alive and returned back to our homeland. One thing is sure I want to go out of this place. This book is evil but I agree that might have information of how beating a deamon, if someone was fool enough to release it."

Taking a deep breath to concentrate he says:

"Lets continue searching the house, but since we have nobody to search for traps anymore we need to be crafty and try to find a way to protect ourselves while open drawers, go near the armors etc."

Van heads to the next room.