Session 4 The Mansion

Session 4 – The Mansion

  After the battle with the corrupted villagers, the heroes paused. The remaining houses and buildings were searched. No additional survivors or corrupted were found. The contents of the homes were in disarray, but it seemed that whatever had happened occurred while the villagers were unsuspecting of the danger, busy with normal domestic tasks.   Emerald and her father, Jordan, were questioned. The story they told was this: Five days ago they were having dinner at the mansion with Sage Noshaan. When they left the mansion to return home, they were terrified by the appearance of the corrupted villagers, who menacingly approached — but then shied away from their torches. They built bonfires around the perimeter of their house and locked themselves inside. Today, while Jordan slept, having kept watch all night, Emerald went outside for water and was caught by two corrupted villagers when her torch went out.   Further questioning revealed Emerald and Jordan had no theories as to why or how the other villagers were corrupted, or even if all of them had been transformed. There were originally forty-seven adults and eighteen children in the village. Jordan, the village leader, often dealt with Sage Noshaan, who employed some villagers for simple domestic chores. Jordan believed Sage Noshaan was some kind of trader, since caravans often came and went from the mansion.   During Jordan’s questioning, Emerald made several attempts to convince Fourth-Knife to take her away from this horrible place. She was disappointed by Fourth-Knife’s reluctance, but persisted.  

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  The heroes decided to investigate the mansion, taking the path from the village. The front door was unlocked, but they opted to go around to the back and use the servant’s entrance — also unlocked.   In the kitchen, a knife was chopping vegetables by itself, placing them into an overflowing pot on the stove.   The heroes explored the empty mansion, finding it dirty, poorly maintained, and in need of cleaning. Some smaller bedrooms showed signs of knife-throwing practice on the walls and soot stains from small, careless fires.   Most rooms contained only trash, but a better maintained study revealed fragmentary notes on scrap paper and a large, covered mirror. The magical Mirror of Revealing initially showed an image of a gray-white haired man holding Emerald — but the image quickly faded. (The Mirror of Revealing will be a separate report.)   The scattered notes in the study contained information on various groups active in the Firelands. No other useful information was found in the mansion, so the heroes returned to Jordan and Emerald.  

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  When pressed about Sage Noshaan, Jordan was evasive and vague. The party forcibly marched Jordan and Emerald down the path to the mansion.   As they entered the front door, Jordan became terrified. Emerald broke away, running into the foyer to move one of the statue’s arms, triggering a hidden mechanism. The foyer’s stairway sank into the ground, revealing steps leading to a basement.   Leaving Jordan and Emerald behind, the heroes descended about 30 feet to a short, wide hallway ending at reinforced wooden doors. With his newly acquired lockpicks, Twig was able to unlock them.   Beyond the doors lay a wide hallway with two zombies — and a medium-height man with gray-white hair. Without introductions or negotiation, the heroes attacked. The zombies fought, and the man vanished.   Kruk and Fourth-Knife charged past the zombies, reaching a hallway intersection where they encountered two more zombies but still no sight of the man.   After the first four zombies were defeated, a third pair emerged from a side corridor. The heroes quickly pivoted to face the new threat and soon dispatched them as well.   With the lower level now eerily silent, the heroes prepared for their next move.