MEETING AT THE NIGHTMARE’S STABLE
Upon arriving in Daggerford, our heroes begin their journey together at the Nightmare’s Stable, a seedy tavern & inn in Daggerford.
The characters arrive in this order:
- Aydin Apollyon
- Term
- Clotilda
- Jaylyn Cloudgloom
- Straldir & Thaldir Yorgenson (after weeks of travel)
The barkeep, a sour man named Kelrick, informs them that a troupe of Vistani recently arrived and put up posters on the walls of the tavern. It says something about the Vistani performing. It catches the eye of several of the players. Kelrick informs them that the man who put them up wore colorful clothing. This seemed to be a direct reference of the dreams each of the characters had been given.
Tilly performs a magnificent song while the characters arrive. After a while, they decide to go check out this Vistani camp.
STORYTIME AT THE VISTANI CAMP
As they approach they are greeted warmly by two children, Damia (Human Female) and Tatka (Human Male) who inform them that they have been expecting them. They take the heroes to meet a man in colorful clothing named Stanimir.
Stanimir invites the heroes to sit by his fire and share a story or experience that can make a man laugh, or make a man weap. He tells them Vistani trade in stories, not money, and this is an age old custom for guests who are invited to sit around a Vistani fire.
Each hero gives a great story to which delights Stanamir. He then recounts his own tale…
Stanimir fills his mouth with wine, then spits into the fire. The flames turn from orange to green. As they dance and sway, a dark shape appears in the bonfire’s core.
“We come from an ancient land whose name is long forgotten—a land of kings. Our enemies forced us from our homes, and now we wander the lost roads.”
The dark shape in the fire takes the form of a man being knocked from his horse, a spear piercing his side.
Stanimir continues. “One night, a wounded soldier staggered into our camp and collapsed. We nursed his terrible injury and quenched his thirst with wine. He survived. When we asked him who he was, he wouldn’t say. All he wanted was to return home, but we were deep in the land of his enemies. We took him as one of our own and followed him back toward his homeland. His enemies hunted him. They said he was a prince, yet we didn’t give him up, even when their assassins fell upon us like wolves.”
Deep in the bonfire, you see the dark figure standing with sword drawn, fighting off a host of shadowy shapes.
“This man of royal blood fought to protect us, as we protected him. We bore him safely to his home, and he thanked us. He said, ‘I owe you my life. Stay as long as you wish, leave when you choose, and know that you will always be safe here.’”
The figure in the dancing fire vanquishes its final foe, then disperses in a cloud of smoke and embers.
Stanimir’s face becomes a somber mask. “A curse has befallen our noble prince, turning him into a tyrant. We alone have the power to leave his domain. We’ve traveled far and wide to find heroes such as yourselves to end our dread lord’s curse and put his troubled soul to rest.”
Stanamir then informs them that Madam Eva, their leader, had seen the heroes destinies tied with their prince. She told Stanamir to expect them and knew they would find him. He asks the heroes to stay for the evening, enjoy food and drink. He tells them he would be honored to escort them to Madam Eva and to get a good night sleep for morning comes quickly and they leave at first light.
NIGHTMARES IN THE NIGHT
The heroes decide to sleep in the Vistani camp and one by one begin drifting off to sleep. Some of the characters experience the shadow of the prince dancing in the flame of the bonefire as they toss and turn in sleep. Another character experiences voices seeming to argue, while another sees the vision of a man who looks like the prince bending down over them….
THE MISTS
The group awakens in the morning, but are no longer where they camped. The mysterious Vistani travelers are gone and they are now along the side of a road surrounded by a forest on each side. A thick mist covers the area and hangs low about the group.
The group realizes with horror that the mists seem to be feeding off the metal they had with them. All their metal weapons and armor are now corroded and useless. Term takes the opportunity to make them some spears out of the branches of some of the trees and they head off down the road.
CHILDREN IN THE MISTS
After walking for a bit they come across two shadows in the road ahead. They slowly approach and notice that it appears to be two small children crying in the road. They go and talk with the children and learn that their names are Rose and Thorn Durst. Rose is the older of the two, while Thorn seems shy and reluctant to speak.
Rose informs them that their parents are trapped somewhere in the basement and that there is a monster in the house. They fear for their baby brother Walter’s safety and ask the heroes to please help them. They don’t know what to do and are scared.
INTO DURST MANOR
The heroes enter Durst Manor’s first floor. The begin going through the entrance and into the foyer where they find a shield emblazoned with a coat of arms, a stylized golden windmill on a red field. As they move into the main hall they find a black marble fireplace at one end and a sweeping, red marble staircase at the other end. Mounted on the wall above the fireplace they find a longsword with a windmill cameo worked into the hilt.
Aydin explores a small room that appears to be a cloakroom (closet) and finds a top hat sitting high on the shelves and some old moth eaten cloaks.
Next, they head into what appears to be a dining room the centerpiece of this wood paneled room was a carved mahogany table surrounded by eight high-backed chairs with sculpted armrests and cusioned seats. A crystal chandelier hung above the table, which is covered with resplendent silverware and crystalware polished to a dazzling shine. Mounted above the marble fireplace is a mahogany-framed painting of an alpine vale. The table is covered with all sorts of food that looked and smelled incredible. However, no one ate anything and they continued their search.
They went into a small kitchen filled with dishware, cookware, and utensils neatly placed on the shelves. A worktable had a cutting board and a rolling pin atop. There was a dome-shaped oven standing near the east wall, its bent iron stovepipe connected to a hole in the ceiling. Behind the stove and to the left was a thin door leading to a well-stocked pantry where Tilly and Aydin picked up some jerky and other various things.
Behind a small door in the southwest corner of the kitchen they found a dumbwaiter – a 2 foot wide stone shaft containing a wooden elevator box attached to a simple rope and pully mechanism that appeared to be operated manually.
They then went and started to open the door to the south and saw what appeared to be wolves standing in the room. Thaldir immediately went back to the dining room and picked up some steaks. Everyone readied themselves for battle and Thaldir opened the door and threw them into the room and closed the door again.
Nothing seemed to be happening so he opened the door slowly to see that the steaks were just sitting on the floor and there was no movement from the wolves. They all entered the room slowly and discovered that this oak paneled room looked like it was a hunter’s den. Mounted above the fireplace was a stags head and positioned around the outskirts of the room they realized that the wolves were nothing more than three stuffed wolves and were not alive.
There were two padded chairs draped in animal furs facing the hearth, with an oak table between them supporting a cask of wine, two carved wooden goblets, a pipe rack, and a candelbrum. A chandelier hung above a cloth covered table that was surrounded by four chairs.
There were two cabinets staning against the walls. They found the east cabinet locked and they were able to break the lock and inside they found a heavy crossbow, a light crossbow, a hand crossbow and 20 bolts for each we apon. The north cabinet was unlocked and held a small box containing a deck of playing cards and an assortment of wine glasses.
Once they determined who was getting what items and who was best with the crossbow, Straldir pulled down the stag’s head and broke apart the antlers to make himself a weapon. Then they moved back out into the main hall and decided to head up the stairs.
THE SECOND FLOOR AND A DOG?
As they got to the upper floor, they saw unlit oil lamps that were mounted in an elegant hall. Hanging above the mantlepiece was a wood-framed portrait of the Durst Family. Their names under the portrait said this was Gustav and Elisabeth Durst with their children Rose, Thorn, and Walter.The portrait showed the father with the baby in his arms while the mother appeared to regard the child with a small bit of scorn.
Standing suits of armor flanked the wooden doors on the east and west walls. Each suit of armor clutched a spear and had a visored helm shaped like a wolf’s head. The doors were carved with dancing youths but upon closer inspection were revealed to be youths fighting off swarms of bats.
The first room they visited on the floor was a library where Straldir read a book that talked about a monster who was behind him, but when he turned around there was no one there. Red velvet drapes covered the windows of the room and an exquisite mahogany desk and a matching high-backed chair faced the entrance. There was a fireplace where a framed picture of a windmill perched atop a rocky craig as well. There were two overstuffed chairs and floor to ceiling bookshelves lined the Sothern wall which had a rolling wooden ladder to reach those books at the top. Tilly searched the desk and found a key and some other interesting items.
They also found a servant’s room that contained a pair of beds with straw-stuffed mattresses. At the foot of each bed was an empty footlocker. Tidy servants uniforms hung from hooks in an ajoining closet. There was also the dumbwaiter in the corner of the west wall with a button next to it.
Then they went into the conservatory where gossamer drapes covered the elegantly appointed hall, which had brass plated chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Upholstered chairs lined the walls and a stained glass wall hangings depiced beautiful men, women and children singing and playing instruments. There was a harpsicord with a bench resting in the northwest corder and near the fireplace was a harp. Alabaster figurines adorned the mantleplace and Thaldir saw that they were all carvings of well-dressed skeletons, which he placed into his backpack.
Inside the room, hiding under some chairs, they found a small dog with a collar around it’s neck that read “Lancelot”. The dog was shaking and appeared to be malnourished. Tilly fed the dog and they left the room and headed up to the next floor.
THE SUIT OF ARMOR ON THE BALCONY
When they reached the balcony on the top floor, they found a suit of black plate armor standing against one wall, draped in cobwebs. As they approached, it came to life and attacked.
That is where we left off… what will happen in our next session? Stay tuned!