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Rules • Themes • Bestiary • Religion • Races • Guilds • Families • Arlinac City • Maps • Adventures • Stories |
For generations a very respectable and wealthy (although notably prejudiced) Bergtroll family lived in a fortified house located about a day's journey from Arlinac City. Eighty years ago betrayal and fire destroyed the family and wrecked the house. The ruins of the house remain atop a small hill.
The inhabitants of a nearby Theralin village know several versions of the tale of the house's ruin, each more exciting than the last: but all the tales agree that the house is now haunted. A wooden house near it, once home to the cook of that wealthy family, was long ago plundered so its wood and stone could be reused. But no one dares to approach the ruined house.
The Block family purchased the property with plans to rebuild the house to help maintian surveillance around Arlinac City. High Lord Oo'Ahxrun Block does not believe in ghosts (at least not outside the Enchanted Forest). But the workmen his family hired experienced strange and macabre frights, and one was killed. Now the workmen refuse to go near the house.
High Lord Oo'Ahxrun Block would be giving credence to the claims of haunting if he sent members of his family to investigate. To avoid this loss of honor, he hires the PC (or assigns the PC, if the PC is employed by the Block family) to explore the house and discover who or what is causing trouble.
This adventure uses two maps from the Wizards.com Map-a-Week collection, Shadow House and Hillside Dungeon. Both have been cropped and slightly edited. The second has also been rotated and labeled with letters. Updated version of both appear below.
When the adventure begins the PC is only aware of the first objective. But this adventure, as always, has the possibility of earning three experience points.
The troublemakers are two Kobalts, Keshirtz and Lostinck. They are scouts for the nearest Kobalt Superfamily.
For many years there was no feigned haunting and only stories kept most explorers from the ruined house. Those who did visit the house found nothing portable of value. The stones and wood could have been reused for other local construction, but no one would want a building made from a forsaken ruin associated with tragedy.
Keshirtz and Lostinck were the explorers who finally found a secret. Beneath the house is a set of tunnels, in which are both the family's crypt and the workrooms in which that wealthy father Bergtroll pursued his transmutery research. Clever traps guarded the inner workroom. But the Kobalts penetrated the tunnels enough to find a uniquely enchanted item that now enables them to fake a haunting.
The Bergtroll father who last lived in the house had obtained an Unseemly Flame Guardian Tile. Although these are fairly common, most are destroyed by any attempt to remove them from the floor to which they are affixed. This one survived being moved; to be safe it was put on a pillar in the center of a deep pool, in the corner of a flooded room. It still works: if any living thing touches it then an aggressive creature of flame will appear.
That Bergtroll hypothesized that the Unseemly enchantment on the tile was affecting fire in a way that Transmutery could eventually duplicate. He did extensive research on how to either create fire or manipulate it from a distance. The former topic proved fruitless. But with enough work he was able to construct a leather glove, covered with runes similar to those on the underside of the Flame Guardian Tile, that allows its wearer to Transmute fire at a distance.
The Bergtroll family had four family members: Oo'Engrab the stern father, Oo'Niin'sralla the quiet mother, the elder daughter Nimy, and the younger daughter Nida.
The family employed three Therion servants. Rast the cook (who lived in his own small, wooden house), Geeln the guard, and Payrz the smith-handyman.
Tragedy happened when an Ogre named Peppermint arrived at the house. (He was given his name by other Ogres because of his habit, when undisguised, of carrying and snacking from a bag of Therion teeth soaked in peppermint oil.) Peppermint noticed that Gleen and Nimy were fond of each other, although both were aware that showing this would be disastrous. Peppermint could not pass up stirring up trouble. He could only imagine what would erupt if love between a Therion servant and a well-bred and aristocratic Bergtroll young woman became public.
Peppermint stayed with the family for two weeks, disguised as a traveling Bergtroll musician. While he created an elaborate plan to kill everyone in the manor, he also heard whispers about a secret fire-Transmutery-enhancing invention. When the musician left to continue his travels, Peppermint stealthily returned that same night to set his plan in motion.
Peppermint first impersonated Nida, and in her form flirted with Payrz. The smith did not welcome this attention, but they were observed together by others. Then Peppermint impersonated Payrz and framed him for attacking and killing Nida.
Before Payrz woke up or anyone in the household discovered Nida's murder, Peppermint took Gleen's form, killed Gleen, and hung him from a tree a short distnace from the house. Then, still disguised as Gleen, Peppermint "discovers" the murder scene and heads into the smith's basement room to "capture" the real Payrz. Payrz is judged guilty by Oo'Engrab and executed in the courtyard near the fountain.
When Oo'Engrab asked what Gleen would like as a reward, the false Gleen confessed love for Nimy and fled in apparent shame. Nimy chased after him into the forest. There Peppermint took her form and killed her. He returned to the manor in her form, weeping that "she" found that Gleen had hung himself from a tree.
The false Nimy apparently went mad with grief over Gleen, and raged against her father. She tried arson twice: once in the master bedroom and once in her own bedroom. These arson attempts were actually only to enrage Oo'Engrab and force him to reveal his Transmutery invention. Oo'Engrab wrote about all the events so far in his final diary, now in the library's safe. He did begin to wear his enchanted glove.
Finally, the false Nimy confronted her father in the dining room and initiated a chase over the causeway and into the forest. There Peppermint assumes the from of Oo'Engrab, kills him, and takes the enchanted glove.
To clean up, Pepperment, as Oo'Engrab, killed the rest of the household, appearing to be driven mad by grief and shame. Then he painted some victorious graffiti on the gate and took over the house.
Whenever Peppermint left the manor he hid the enchanted glove. On one hunting trip, a month later, some Dweorgs killed him. The rumors began of the house being burnt and haunted. The enchanted glove became lost.
At the village near the manor the PC will find a single member of the work party who is willing to talk, for a small fee. This is an important way to set the tone: the PC needs to hear about all the strange and spooky occurances the workers experienced. Most harrowing was the disappearance of a worker named Liav, and then how his head, body, and pet appeared back in the manor. If the PC's player is not skilled at memorization the GM can simply describe what the worker's experienced in each room as the PC explores the manor. But the mood is better set by the GM passing on this information before the PC arrives at the manor, acting as the worker and pointing to each room on the map as its fright and memories are retold.
Most of the adventure will be exploring the manor. The Kobalts stay very well hidden, and use teamwork to ensure their hiding places are effective. As they did to scare the work party, the use the distance transmutery glove to create false haunting.
If the adventure becomes boring (the PC finishes searching the manor and is unsure what to do next) have the Kobalts use the enchanted glove to attack the PC. But ideally this adventure is about exploration and discovery, and the PC should eventually set up traps and/or an ambush to initiate the final combat.
The cook's house was not considered haunted, and was stripped of all useful wood and stone 80 years ago. What little wood remained has almost rotted away. The location is now not much more than a clearing with fewer rocks than usual, a few piles of rotted wood, and some broken slightly buried shards of pottery.
The manor house is in much better shape. It was not taken apart for wood and stone. Its walls are stone and its roof was well built. Until recently its interior remained safe from rain and wind, except for the tower whose roof partially collapsed 60 years ago. Most of the rooms have wood paneling (cedar in the storage closets and pantry) that is still in good shape. The floors are sound, except for a few places upstairs where dampness has caused damage where the floor meets a now-ruined wall.
Five years ago a particularly violent storm did substantial damage to the house. At that time many of the walls suffered partial collapse. During the five years since that time most of the wood in the house has only rotted very slightly, but tapestries have been ruined by moths and linens have rotted.
The manor house has neither a normal basement nor an attic. Door hinges have corroded slightly, but all doors were opened and closed by the work crew so doors now do not reveal if their hinges were used during the years before the work crew arrived. All of the chimmneys have become clogged as generations of birds attempted to nest in or on them.
The entire manor is sized for Bergtrolls slightly taller than most Therions. A Therion PC has no trouble moving through the house, but the building and furniture all seem too big.
1. Gate Faded graffiti is on one of the gate's pillars, painted by Peppermint: "Engrab, first your daughters, then your life, then your invention." The day after Liav disappeared, his head appeared stuck on the gate. Now the head (along with the rest of his body) is buried properly.
2. Ornate Fountain Payrz was executed here. The fountain used to have a hollow center, allowing ventilation for the laboratory underneath it. Now this central pipe is clogged with dirt and debris. The fountain is now dry, since no one fills it. It is a piece of Bergtroll art-enchantment, and will flow if filled (the liquid will run up the central post and then spray down into the basin). One night the work party heard screaming at the fountain, and when they investigated found the fountain filled with blood.
3. Stone Well The well used have a secret passage to the underground level. After the house's ruin it was half-full of rubble, working as neither well nor passage. Recently the Kobalts have re-opened the well and restored its secret passage.
4. Smithy Payrz lived in a basement room. This basement room is not connected to any of the other underground level. The trap door leading down will be found with any search attempt, and is locked with an old and fragile lock. The basement room is only slightly under the smithy (for structural reasons) and mainly extends under the courtyard. The basement room suffered more moisture damage than the manor above-ground. In this room is a rotted and illegible journal. Very old blood stains are on the chair and bed, from his fight with Geeln. The work party often heard the anvil ringing during the night, but never saw who or what caused this. (The ringing never happened when the anvil was being watched.)
5. Stablehouse The Kobalts have used Transmutery to embed a horse skeleton in the stone wall. They did this before the work party arrived.
6 and 27. Tower The tower now has holes in both the roof and the floor/ceiling separating its two levels. Peppermint built a hidden stone Ogre Altar upon the tower's roof. If the altar is moved, the roof under it collapse and it will fall and crash through to the lower level. The altar has runes that will allow most adventurers to identify it as an Ogre Altar. After the work party fled, the Kobalts brought one or more Shadow Spiders to live in the tower. (Adjust the number to present an appropriate challenge to the PC.) They fight by first "lassoing" prey with magically sticky strands of web, then biting ensnared prey. They use no defensive actions. Each has 16 FP, 0 DR, and uses Ensnare (webbing) 4 and Hack/Slash (bite) 3.
7. Main Hall The workers heard the tapestries cry during the night, and upon investigation the eyes of the Bergtrolls depicted in the tapestries were wet. The suits of armor also moved when no one was looking. The tapestries show Bergtrolls beside their pieces of enchanted artwork. For example, one depitcs a Bergtroll military leader unveiling a grand statue that raises the morale of his troops. All the tapestries are older than the manor. The suits of armor are made of bronze. They are sized as if they would fit the Bergtrolls of the manor, but are purely decorative and much to thin for actual use.
8. Parlor When the work party arrived this room was undamaged except for some fire damage discoloring the northwest corner of the ceiling. The work party used this room to set up camp. Now, when the PC and his or her guide return the the house, that entire corner is rubble! On and in the new rubble is the remains of the furniture from Room 24. Peppermint, disguised as the elder daughter, Nimy, piled that room's furniture in the northwest corner and set it on fire. The fire was put out before it could spread out of that room or burn through the floor. The burn remains have since then also rotted substantially.
9. Smoking Room The fireplace contains small cracks, which secretly provide ventilation to the room below with a pool. The double doors to this room are in good shape. The first time the PC enters the room in a way that would allow one of the Kobalts to be following, the doors will close behind the PC and lock. Then fire will grow large in the fireplace, possibly harming the PC.
10. Kitchen The work party cleared the fireplaces and chimneys in this room, moving their debris on top of the rubble in the south wall. The work party, when using the kitchen, saw pots rattle, water inexplicably boil, and water flow uphill.
12. Storage More graffiti from Peppermint: "Engrab, where do you hide it?"
13. Dining Hall This room is where the big confrontation between Engrab and Peppermint (disguised as Nimy) began. There are ancient scorch marks on the walls. When in this room the workers saw dusty footprints move, curtains rustle, and the fireplace fill with flame.
14. Upstairs Hall More ancient wall scorches mar the hall, heading from the dining hall to the causeway.
15. Master Bedroom Here Peppermint (disguised as Nimy but sneaking through the house) started a false arson attempt to anger Engrab. There is minor fire damage on the wall north of the fireplace. The Kobalts have written evil-looking (but meaningless) symbols in blood on the floor, under the rug. The work party never discovered these.
16. Library All of the old books are missing. A medium-sized safe in the corner shows signs of damage and tampering but has not been opened. Inside it are Engrab's final diary (describing his last days, from his point of view) and some gold coins.
17. Study The rotted bear rug on the floor "ate" Liav. The day after he disappeared, his headless body appeared in the bear's mouth. His pet ferret appeared half-stuffed above the mantel. A successful Difficult Perception check reveals a loose stone in one wall, behind which is hidden a key to the safe in the library. The "secret" door to the secret workroom is ajar.
18. Secret Workroom This is a false mechanist workroom full of traps. There is almost nothing of value in the room, and any actual mechanist will soon recognize the notebooks and equipment as the sort of inexpensive things given to young children who express an interest in machinery. The floor of this room is made of the same wood as the other upstairs floors, but is built much differently. All of the traps are triggered by parts of the floor. All used poison blades, but the poison has years ago dried out and lost its potency. The springs that power the traps are the only valuable items in the room; they are very high quality and have lost very little of their tension during their 80 years of inactivity. The ceiling of this room has removable panels. Behind them are the mechanisms for the first type of trap: some floor pieces cause spikes to shoot from the ceiling, through cracks between ceiling panels. The interior wall of the chimney, above the fireplace mantel, is a false wall with a few large cracks. The actual chimney wall is a hand's width behind it. Several floor pieces trigger parts of the second kind of trap, most of which is hidden behind this false wall: shuriken shoot from the cracks in the false wall. The floor is slightly raised compared to the other upstairs floors. The final kind of trap are simply floor pieces that fold and fall downward, with spikes fixed into the actual floor below them. A successful (normal) Perception check when searching the fireplace reveals a lever that opens the false front of the interior chimney. Behind it is the mechanism for the shuriken trap, as well as a second key to the safe in the library. There is some obvious Kobalt blood staining the floor near the southwest corner, under a sprung trap.
20. Bedroom This was Geeln's room.
21. Ruined Bedroom This was a guest room. It is the only room with its linens missing. It had lower quality wood paneling, which has fallen off the walls and into the room. (The same happened with the other, unnumbered guest room.)
23. Bedroom This was the room of Nida, the younger daughter. She was found dead here after Peppermint killed her (while framing Payrz for the crime).
24. Collapsed Bedroom This was the room of Nimy, the older daughter. While disguised as her Peppermint set this room on fire, to further anger Engrab. It has the most extensive fire damage of any room.
25. Causeway Here Peppermint, disguised as Nimy, "fled" from Engrab after their confrontation in the dining hall. He lept south off the causeway, and Engrab pursued him into the forest. A few scorch marks record balls of fire being thrown by Engrab during this chase.
The hillside entrance to the underground passages is where the two Kobalts live. They eventually learned how to get past the "Entry T" room. They noticed where the portcullis would fall, before the cells, and went no further down that hallway. They raided the laboratory and its storage room. They did not find a way past hallway with alcoves, but that hallway did not trap them because the Kobalt walking second stopped and pulled back his friend to safety. They knew about the statue at the bottom of the well, and feared it, so they did not go down that way past the "Entry T".
A. Hillside Entrance The two Kobalts have their camp here.
B. Entry T This room is dominated by a large statue of the Bergtroll family's ancestors (marked with a star). It is guarded by a musical art-enchantment that replays an ornate song performed on stringed instruments and forces any intelligent humanoid through the intricate steps of the song's courtly dance. The resultant dancing will be clumsy and halting. To escape the trap the person must do the dance smoothly.
C. Cells The north-most room contains two cells, in which Engrab would keep prisoners. One cell is empty. The other contains the bones of a bandit leader. The room is guarded by a poetry trap. When the door is opened a portcullis appears thirty feet south, just north of the corridor's nearest intersection. The portcullis will vanish if the poem on the room's wall (a rhyme well-known among the Bergtroll aristocracy of Engrab's generation) is chanted properly.
D. Laboratory This large room is where Engrab did his Transmutery research. It has no trap. It has been thoroughly looted by the Kobalts.
E. Storage This small room was used for storage, and to provide ventilation. It is directly under the fountain.
F. Hallway with Alcoves This hallways is guarded by portraits of the Bergtroll family and their ancestors. The paintings all have an art-enchantment that causes their gaze to hypnotise anyone who looks at them.
G. Room with a Pool This was a secondary laboratory. It is directly under the smoking room. The room is slightly flooded and the pool in the corner is two meters deep. A pillar in the center of the pool rises half a meter above the water. On the pillar is the Flame Guardian Tile which Engrab studied to create his enchanted glove.
H. Well Entrance This tiny room is under the well (marked with a star). It is guarded by a stone statue created by Engrab, which attacks anyone it sees until they leave the lower level.
I. Family Crypt This room contains the sarcophagi for the Bergtroll family's ancestors. It is guarded by a woven wall-hanging that will fly through the air and attempt to smother the first person to enter the room. There are valuable tapestries on the sarcophagi whose minor Bergtroll art-enchantment prevents deterioration from age.
