Post by tkul on Apr 16, 2015 8:32:33 GMT -7
Players -
Milo
Soran
Faust
Lisa
Drakovan
Felix
Award:
1500 XP 600 GP 10 Influence Capital
Journal:
For the past several nights something has been stalking the Castle district, slaughtering noblewomen in their bed. In each case the killer struck at night and from all outwards appearances overpowered and then killed every member of the house hold using whatever items came to hand when he encountered them, with the exception of the lady of the house in each case. Those poor souls were found tied to their beds and skinned to completion in a room painted with gore. With tension ratcheting up a job posting was put up by Lord Hawethorn, a fairly minor aristocrat, for some extra house guards while the fiend was at large.
Responding to the posting the group was introduced to Bardon Hawethorn and his family. The man had no idea why anyone would be targeting his family but was deathly concerned that the guard had failed to apprehend whomever was doing the killings and wasn't willing to take any chances. The group was given leave to do whatever they required to guard the house, and were given a walk through to familiarize themselves with it. Since the murders generally did not happen until after dark, the group came up with a preliminary plan for protecting the house and then split up, part of the group going to shop for supplies while Milo, Felix, and Soran went to try and get some information from the most recent crime scene. The trio surprised the guards still on duty at the empty house but were allowed inside to see how the killings had occurred. In the foyer they encountered a large pool of congealed blood surrounded by broken furnishings, the guard helpfully explaining they'd found the butler there. Examining the wreckage the group was able to deduce that a side table had been used to suddenly crush the man but that the room didn't have enough space in it that someone would be able to wield it effectively as a weapon. The attack appeared to be sudden and nearly instantly fatal. Continuing upstairs the group found another pool of blood surrounded by broken furniture just inside the master bedroom, which the guard explained was where they'd found the owner of the house, and behind it was the bed. The mattress was soaked in blood and the walls had been painted with gore. Examining the scene the group was able to determine that the lady of the house had been tied down with bed sheets by someone that clearly knew how to properly restrain someone, and Felix noted that the gore on the walls that originally looked like solid painting was actually comprised of hundreds of thin lines of blood looping across the walls and ceiling like a sharp blade had been working very fast in the center of the room, casting blood off in loops as it swung.
The guards had been unable to determine how the attacker, or attackers, had managed to enter the house and couldn't tell the group much more than they'd discovered from their own investigation. Wracking his brain for anything that could possibly match the destruction and carnage, Milo could only come up with Kytons, evil outsiders known for torturing their prey, Skin Stealers, evil Fey that skin their victims to steal their identity, and a story he recalled some other adventurers telling about a ghost that had skinned his prey and targeted women. None of those truly matched up with the physical destruction wrought in the house, but Felix was able to draw a connection between the ghost, Bloody Bobby, and a cult of undead worshippers that are purported to have a leader, Robert, who is interested in binding spirits to flesh. Uncertain about whether or not they should be preparing for outsiders,undead, or fey the group prepped for bear and laid in wait.
The party had all of the doors of the house opened, the daughter being moved to an interior spare bedroom that had only one entrance, while Soran's companion was left in the master bedroom to guard. Lisa and her pet hid the daughter's room next to two of the windows, while Faust took up station on the ground floor and the rest of the group crowded about in the hall at the top of the stairs. By midnight nothing had happened. One o'clock rolled around and all was still quiet, but Lisa started to notice a draft moving through her room. By two o'clock the draft Lisa had noticed had gotten worse, and she finally noticed that the window behind her was now about a quarter of the way open but she still continued to wait. About that same time Drakovan noticed that one of the tables in the foyer had moved out slightly from the wall, though Faust, who was standing next to it, was still unaware. Using a message spell, Drakovan warned faust of the moving table which caused him to investigate. Finding the table was indeed a couple feet away from the wall, Faust turned back towards the center of the room and noticed as he passed that the coffee table from the den, and two of the chairs had crowded into the doorway leading into the foyer, and just as he turned to face the stair case he spotted the marble statue at the base turn its head and look at him. With that the fight was on. two tables, two chairs, and a statue all advanced on faust on the ground floor while the party got in motion. Shortly after the fight started, the chairs around the table on the second floor all spontaneously shoved away from the table they'd been sitting at before the fight started and joined into the chaos. A grand battle was joined between adventurers and several pieces of furniture and a pair of drapes. Felix was able to clear a way from Lord and Lady Hawethorn to escape out their bedroom window, while Soran took the unenviable task of serving as a door to the room Ashleigh Hawethorn had been staying in. Drakovan tried his best to inconvenience the statue lumbering into their midst, but his hubris lead to him being smashed down early in the fight.
As the battle raged on group became aware of a wild eyed man dressed like a common laborer if it weren't for all of the blood stains on his clothing, creeping through the back of the house behind the fight. Even more out of place was the dagger he clutched, the hilt appearing to be made from piece of bone. Janey valiantly obeyed an order from Lisa to attack the stranger and unfortunately met her demise at his hands. Soran nearly had the life crushed from him from a rather angry pair of drapes while Felix battered his way through a swarm of chairs that had managed to drag him down. Milo bound about the room, calling up monkeys and pits to confound and distract while Faust on the ground floor fought off a pair of tables that meant to do him no favors. Eventually the group managed to get themselves all to the second floor, and once they had amassed were able to drive the crazed man off and shatter the attacking furniture, though Drakovan would certainly have perished if it weren't for a suddenly flash of inspiration that sent Faust, armed with an infernal healing wand, flying across the room on a torrent of water and just barely into reach to save his life.
In the aftermath the nobles and guards were stunned to find out what had occured and more than a little impressed with the performance the adventurers had put on to drive the killer off. With news that the killer had finally been spotted, and that his method of attack had been discovered now spreading through the castle district, the nobles were better armed to confront him if he should reappear. Even better news was that Lord Hawethorn was able to identify the man as a longshoreman that worked down on the docks, though he couldn't remember the man's name he was certain it began with "An", though Milo was convinced the man was not killing of his own volition.
To be continued
Milo
Soran
Faust
Lisa
Drakovan
Felix
Award:
1500 XP 600 GP 10 Influence Capital
Journal:
For the past several nights something has been stalking the Castle district, slaughtering noblewomen in their bed. In each case the killer struck at night and from all outwards appearances overpowered and then killed every member of the house hold using whatever items came to hand when he encountered them, with the exception of the lady of the house in each case. Those poor souls were found tied to their beds and skinned to completion in a room painted with gore. With tension ratcheting up a job posting was put up by Lord Hawethorn, a fairly minor aristocrat, for some extra house guards while the fiend was at large.
Responding to the posting the group was introduced to Bardon Hawethorn and his family. The man had no idea why anyone would be targeting his family but was deathly concerned that the guard had failed to apprehend whomever was doing the killings and wasn't willing to take any chances. The group was given leave to do whatever they required to guard the house, and were given a walk through to familiarize themselves with it. Since the murders generally did not happen until after dark, the group came up with a preliminary plan for protecting the house and then split up, part of the group going to shop for supplies while Milo, Felix, and Soran went to try and get some information from the most recent crime scene. The trio surprised the guards still on duty at the empty house but were allowed inside to see how the killings had occurred. In the foyer they encountered a large pool of congealed blood surrounded by broken furnishings, the guard helpfully explaining they'd found the butler there. Examining the wreckage the group was able to deduce that a side table had been used to suddenly crush the man but that the room didn't have enough space in it that someone would be able to wield it effectively as a weapon. The attack appeared to be sudden and nearly instantly fatal. Continuing upstairs the group found another pool of blood surrounded by broken furniture just inside the master bedroom, which the guard explained was where they'd found the owner of the house, and behind it was the bed. The mattress was soaked in blood and the walls had been painted with gore. Examining the scene the group was able to determine that the lady of the house had been tied down with bed sheets by someone that clearly knew how to properly restrain someone, and Felix noted that the gore on the walls that originally looked like solid painting was actually comprised of hundreds of thin lines of blood looping across the walls and ceiling like a sharp blade had been working very fast in the center of the room, casting blood off in loops as it swung.
The guards had been unable to determine how the attacker, or attackers, had managed to enter the house and couldn't tell the group much more than they'd discovered from their own investigation. Wracking his brain for anything that could possibly match the destruction and carnage, Milo could only come up with Kytons, evil outsiders known for torturing their prey, Skin Stealers, evil Fey that skin their victims to steal their identity, and a story he recalled some other adventurers telling about a ghost that had skinned his prey and targeted women. None of those truly matched up with the physical destruction wrought in the house, but Felix was able to draw a connection between the ghost, Bloody Bobby, and a cult of undead worshippers that are purported to have a leader, Robert, who is interested in binding spirits to flesh. Uncertain about whether or not they should be preparing for outsiders,undead, or fey the group prepped for bear and laid in wait.
The party had all of the doors of the house opened, the daughter being moved to an interior spare bedroom that had only one entrance, while Soran's companion was left in the master bedroom to guard. Lisa and her pet hid the daughter's room next to two of the windows, while Faust took up station on the ground floor and the rest of the group crowded about in the hall at the top of the stairs. By midnight nothing had happened. One o'clock rolled around and all was still quiet, but Lisa started to notice a draft moving through her room. By two o'clock the draft Lisa had noticed had gotten worse, and she finally noticed that the window behind her was now about a quarter of the way open but she still continued to wait. About that same time Drakovan noticed that one of the tables in the foyer had moved out slightly from the wall, though Faust, who was standing next to it, was still unaware. Using a message spell, Drakovan warned faust of the moving table which caused him to investigate. Finding the table was indeed a couple feet away from the wall, Faust turned back towards the center of the room and noticed as he passed that the coffee table from the den, and two of the chairs had crowded into the doorway leading into the foyer, and just as he turned to face the stair case he spotted the marble statue at the base turn its head and look at him. With that the fight was on. two tables, two chairs, and a statue all advanced on faust on the ground floor while the party got in motion. Shortly after the fight started, the chairs around the table on the second floor all spontaneously shoved away from the table they'd been sitting at before the fight started and joined into the chaos. A grand battle was joined between adventurers and several pieces of furniture and a pair of drapes. Felix was able to clear a way from Lord and Lady Hawethorn to escape out their bedroom window, while Soran took the unenviable task of serving as a door to the room Ashleigh Hawethorn had been staying in. Drakovan tried his best to inconvenience the statue lumbering into their midst, but his hubris lead to him being smashed down early in the fight.
As the battle raged on group became aware of a wild eyed man dressed like a common laborer if it weren't for all of the blood stains on his clothing, creeping through the back of the house behind the fight. Even more out of place was the dagger he clutched, the hilt appearing to be made from piece of bone. Janey valiantly obeyed an order from Lisa to attack the stranger and unfortunately met her demise at his hands. Soran nearly had the life crushed from him from a rather angry pair of drapes while Felix battered his way through a swarm of chairs that had managed to drag him down. Milo bound about the room, calling up monkeys and pits to confound and distract while Faust on the ground floor fought off a pair of tables that meant to do him no favors. Eventually the group managed to get themselves all to the second floor, and once they had amassed were able to drive the crazed man off and shatter the attacking furniture, though Drakovan would certainly have perished if it weren't for a suddenly flash of inspiration that sent Faust, armed with an infernal healing wand, flying across the room on a torrent of water and just barely into reach to save his life.
In the aftermath the nobles and guards were stunned to find out what had occured and more than a little impressed with the performance the adventurers had put on to drive the killer off. With news that the killer had finally been spotted, and that his method of attack had been discovered now spreading through the castle district, the nobles were better armed to confront him if he should reappear. Even better news was that Lord Hawethorn was able to identify the man as a longshoreman that worked down on the docks, though he couldn't remember the man's name he was certain it began with "An", though Milo was convinced the man was not killing of his own volition.
To be continued