Session 2 : Descent into madness

The hidden staircase was narrow, uneven and claustrophobic. Worse still, as the party descended, a distant chanting gradually grew in volume. Serenity could not place where it came from, it seemed to be all around, hanging in the air.

Serenity followed behind Hoskgak, she was quite reassured to have the great hulk of a Half-Orc leading the way, he provided some stability as Serenity’s head was spinning from her drinking and she felt she may well have fallen straight down the winding stairs otherwise. Destiny was following behind; Serenity was less reassured by this.

They reached a hidden basement that stretched out under the house. It looked almost dug out by hand and was supported by old timbers, more like a mine than a house.

Exploring these tunnels was almost a blur to Serenity, she followed Hoskgak as he stomped down the corridors. Occasionally they had to turn back as Destiny had wandered off again. Serenity had spent her life being taught to repress this kind of behaviour, so she did not know how to deal with this companion who seemed to have almost no self-control. Then they found the family crypts, Serenity was relieved to be able to lay the bones of the children to rest, it seemed to fill her with an inner calmness and made her all the more determined to carry on. Hoskgak kept talking of still finding the baby, Serenity was not sure this would end well, but hoped they would be able to bring more peace to this cursed place.

She glanced round at Destiny, who once again seemed to be wandering off. The small dog they found in the house above seemed to be inseparable from Destiny, following her everywhere. Serenity was still having difficulty seeing another Tabaxi every time she turned around and she would still feel sick in her stomach every time Destiny would wander off alone, but she had not agreed to defend this Tabaxi, this was not her responsibility.

Moments later, a yelp, Destiny had found a tomb and unleashed a swarm of centipedes. Serenity darted forward, swiping and stomping on the creatures. Then came Hoskgak, thundering past like a walking wall, swinging his sword wildly. The centipedes swarmed all over him. Serenity swiped at them with her claws, trying not to anger the Half-Orc anymore than the centipedes already had. The last of them was squished and the party moved on.

The search was uneventful, people had obviously lived here once, but not for a very long time.

Another yell. Serenity looked round, there was no sign of Destiny. Hearing a Tabaxi cry out was difficult for Serenity. She ran with Hoskgak around a corner to find Destiny struggling out of a spike trap in the floor with her canine companion waiting patiently beside her unharmed. Serenity sighed; Destiny's curiosity was becoming a serious liability.

As the party was leaving the next room, Destiny once again was overcome with curiosity, venturing into an alcove where a worm-like creature with squid tentacles and a beak dropped from the ceiling. Once again Serenity and Hoskgak came to the rescue, but the creature was as hard as stone and it was only with Destiny’s magic that they were able to finish it off.

Serenity was beginning to feel quite weary and then the ghouls came, up out of the ground. Serenity staggered back, managing to smack the head of the first one as it emerged before retreating to the previous room. The ghouls swarmed into the room. Serenity was aware of the sound of Destiny’s deathly magic and Hoskgak’s sword slicing flesh, but the fight was wild and uncontrolled. At one point Serenity managed to impale her staff down through a ghoul’s mouth into its chest, crushing it to the floor, the fighting was frantic. When the noise settled the ghouls were dead, Serenity was badly injured and the rest did not look much better, but they had survived.

They limped to the next room. A vast room with a statue carrying a mysterious orb. There were skeleton’s lying around the room facing the statue, almost as if some force had emanated from there destroying them all. Serenity looked at Hoskgak, their eyes met, wide open, sharing a single terrifying thought. What happened next seemed to play out in slow motion. They both turned to Destiny, who was already leaping towards the sparkling orb, overcome with curiosity. Serenity stumbled as Destiny slipped past her. But Hoskgak was one step ahead and grappled Destiny away from the orb at the last moment. This seemed to snap her back to the reality of the situation. Serenity sat on the floor relieved, catching her breath.

Serenity watched Hoskgak send Destiny to stand at the back of the room, much as a elder monk would have stood a novice in the corner for misbehaving back at Serenity’s monastery. He told her not to touch anything and then he carefully examined the room. Suddenly, there was a clonk noise and Serenity turned to see Destiny had being playing with the wall and discovered a secret door. Panic turned to relief when the party discovered this hidden pathway led back up to the ground floor of the house through a trap door, providing a useful escape back to the surface if they needed it.

Next, Serenity went to investigate a door leading out of the orb room; it seemed to lead in the direction of an area they had already explored, so Serenity boldly walked to the door and attempted to open it. Only it was not a door and it had attached itself to Serenity’s hand. A giant mouth with rows of teeth opened as Serenity tried to free her hand. She struggled and twisted, only managing to free herself with an acrobatic flip that left her staggering away, dashing back into the room in panic. The creature advanced and Hoskgak stepped in front of it to hold it back. The fight was brutal, the creature seemed to meld with Hoskgak. Serenity darted forwards and backwards striking at the creature and trying to rip Hoskgak free. All the time bolts of magic flew across the room from Destiny towards the monster. When it finally dropped, Hoskgak looked as though he might fall to the floor dead at any moment.

This time, Serenity led the way. With Hoskgak so weakened she felt it was now up to her to protect the group. They found the master bedroom and with it a creature that appeared to be the remains of the mother of the children. She cackled evilly at them, but at first did not attack. The party were able to grab some potions and a flask bundled up in a cloak and step back out of the room. Hoskgak was certain these were healing potions and he drank one down, suddenly looking re-energised he drank another. Serenity leapt to the table and grabbed one for herself. The invigorated party decided to cleanse the creature that was now staggering forward to attack. She was no match for the now furious Half-Orc who seemed to be unleashing a hail of revenge for all the misfortunes that had befallen the party since they arrived in this demonic place.

As they moved on, Serenity heard the chanting grow in volume and another staircase down appeared before them.

They found what seemed to be an old prison and a doorway leading to a flooded room with a raised platform around the edge and in the centre of the water, steps rose to a platform with what looked like a stone altar. Serenity felt that no room she had ever come across had ever felt more like a trap than this. The chanting was coming from the room, but it was empty. The doorway had a raised portcullis above it and Serenity watched Hoskgak jam his sword into the winding mechanism to wedge it in the open position. They made a plan. On the altar was a bundle which looked like a swaddled baby. The plan was for Serenity to dash in, grab the bundle and retreat whilst Hoskgak kept the way clear. Serenity sprinted for the altar. But mist closed around her as she approach and forced her back, she could not climb the steps. She tried again, but it was no use. Serenity decided to test the mist and found she could move freely in the rest of the room, she climbed the outer ledge and tried to look for anything out of the ordinary in the room, there were strange grooves on the wall, it seemed almost like a hidden door, but Serenity could not figure out how to open it. She called to the others to let them know what had happened and they decided to enter the room. Destiny climbed the far ledge and Hoskgak and Serenity approached the altar together. The mist did not resist this time and a sharp cracking sound shot out from the direction of the portcullis as Hoskgak’s sword was splintered into shards and the heavy iron gate came crashing down.

Spectral figures appeared and began to chant “One must die!”, over and over. Serenity found the swaddled bundle contained only a blood-stained sacrificial knife. It seemed there was no escape unless they made a sacrifice. Serenity picked up the dagger confused and looked wildly around the room not knowing what to do. “One must die!” the voices chanted, louder now. “Here!”, Serenity turned, Destiny had picked up the dog and clearly felt this would be a sacrifice worth making to escape. But Serenity refused, there was no way she would willing participate in whatever dark magic was happening in this evil place. She shouted out “No!” and the voices changed. No longer chanting, they now called forth a horrendous beast to devour the party.

Panic and fear. There was a collective, wordless decision that this was not a fight they could win and the companions ran. Serenity remembered the grooves in the wall on the ledge and sprinted there scrambling over the wall looking for a mechanism to open what she was certain was a secret door, then she found it. A loose brick, pushed in, revealed a hidden way to the prison area. The party ran through. But the huge beast was in close pursuit, squeezing through the small gap after them.

Up the stairs, through the secret trapdoor, Serenity was incredibly grateful for Destiny’s curiosity at this point. Surely they were nearly out of this monstrous house.

But the room had filled with thick smoke and what once were stuffed wolves were now roaming the room. The party were able to sneak through, narrowly avoiding the wolves. They turned the corner to the front door, only to find it was beginning to turn magically to brick, they tried to break through, but failed. The house seemed to be falling apart around them and they dashed to find a window, but these were also now brick. Serenity turned with a panicked look to Destiny, who cried out “The balcony!”. They sprinted for the stairs, up one flight and then the next.

They burst into the room where they had first encountered the ghost of the maid, but this time there was a room of ghosts huddled around the bed where someone appeared to be in labour, an echo of the past still haunting the room. Serenity looked towards the balcony. The doorway had been replaced with revolving scythe-like blades, that sliced faster in time with the contractions of the ghostly mother in childbirth. Serenity shouted they could make it through, they just needed to wait until right after a contraction. She was about to leap when Destiny cast a spell on the ghosts, they dropped to sleep and with them the blades slowed and slept too.

Now they were on the balcony. But looking down, there was no ground to be seen, only an endless drop into nothingness. Destiny threw a loose tile over the edge and Serenity watched it disappear into clouds below. Then Serenity began to feel defiant. This was another trick of the house, she was certain. They had a rope and Serenity was lowered over the edge. The full length of the rope extended and Serenity could not see the bottom, but then she felt it, the ground! She called up to the others and tugged on the rope. Moments later both Hoskgak and Destiny fell through the mist and landed violently beside Serenity. They were lightly injured, but the party was able to retreat from the house. They watched from a distance as the house seemed to collapse and burn up before their eyes.

Moments later a man approached, he was human and alive. The party had a lot of questions. He welcomed them to Barovia and promised to answer all their questions after they had rested and directed them to the Blood on the Vine Tavern. 

Serenity needed a drink.