Castlevania II: Dracula's Curse (IC)

[J-H]

Hitting the fast-forward button a bit
Mustafa joins in the dance and is having a good time. Some of the rest of you are less comfortable jumping into social situations, and watch from the sidelines like the awkward young adults you are.


After a few minutes, a wizened and stooped half-elf with grey-white hair and mischevious eyes approaches you. He appears quite old, but still carries a dagger in addition to his cane, and a vest with a number of bulging pockets. “Hey, are you guys bored talking to stuffy old folks yet? I could tell you about the time I spider-climbed up a wall and shot at dancing ghosts from a chandelier… orrr do you want to go look at some really powerful magical artifacts that your ancestors used?”

Spoiler: Perception 14 or Arcana 12

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His vest is probably a Vest of Holding based on the fact that it appears to have no weight despite the pockets being quite full.

You've heard of your ancestral weapons, but haven't gotten to see them - at least, not in a decade - and readily agree. Mustafa notices you leaving and joins when he finds out where you're going. He leads the party up to the third floor via the northwestern staircase, although his pace on the stairs is about a third as fast as what you could make.

Anyone who wants to stop on the way back and take a quick peek into one area on the way can do so (please specify).

Your route takes you through the Great Hall, then to the back corridor, which ends in a pair of staircases. "And there's the secret exit... but it's a secret," he comments as you pass through that corridor (Active Perception or Investigation check needed to find it; this counts as your one "stop and look" on the way).

The stairs on the second floor open onto a U-shaped perimeter hallway close to the Armory. “You know, I wasn’t too much older than you when I decided to get really rich looting…I mean slaying Dracula.”

Finally, you reach the third floor, where the perimeter hallway, lit by windows all around, takes you past the vacant barracks (you know these are empty) and into the Library. The massive library slopes up to a high ceiling underneath the peak of the manor’s roof. It contains thousands of books. Many are historical and general tomes, as well as books on spellcasting. It also contains seating areas, and a workbench used for copying architectural plans and spell scrolls. Those of you who have visited before know that there is also a collection of books compiled by the Order about how to identify and defeat different types of monsters, especially the undead.

Leading you into the library, Adrian walks over to a bookshelf and reach behind some books, manipulating something out of sight of the party (Perception DC 22 to identify how he does it). The bookcase swings back into the wall, and he escorts the group into the Hall of History.

This wood-paneled room is lit by mage-lights on the ceiling, each focused to shine on a particular plinth, table, or weapons rack where items are mounted on display. The artifacts associated with each of your heritages are on display... The Decanter of Holy Water, a large silver flask that never fully runs out. The Mithril Holy Symbol, shining in the light. The Stake Launcher, a powerful darkwood heavy crossbow. The Shield of the Unyielding, coated in dark adamantium and marked with many holy symbols. The Vampire Killer, a thin mithril chain coiled up.

There are also several empty weapon cases. Adrian points out a bow rack as having held a bow that belonged to an elf who disappeared a few years back… he can’t recall how long. In addition to weapons, the room also holds a hand-illuminated holy book over 400 years old, the severed hand of a mummy, the skull of what was apparently a black dragon, a statue made of manticore spikes, a beholder eyestalk in a jar of alcohol, and other trophies of battle.

“Those are for looking at and admiring, not for touching. They aren’t yours, yet."

(What did you talk about on the way? What did your character stop and look at or briefly explore?)