Return of the Runelords, Book 1: Secrets of Roderic's Cove [IC]

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra nods to Ranghen and points for her to open the Southern most West door.

[lostsole31]

The door opens up into the corner of a passage. The hallway you came in terminates to the north here before turning east. There are three doors ... one under the stairs, and two facing doors down the passage.

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra nods as if expecting to see the corridor there.
“Ranghen, check this door to the north please before we move on.”

[lostsole31]

Ranghen does so, and it opens up into a room.

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra motions Ranghen and her diminutive companions to proceed into the newly opened room.

[lostsole31]

A door that opens to the space beneath the stairs is boarded over. The doorknob is broken off and a steel spike has been driven into what used to be a lock.

[Blackhawk101]

“Ranghen and Frida, check the door to the East and if safe, open it.”
Alandra purses her lips and taps her chin.
“It leads outside but let us check it out anyway.”

[lostsole31]

Alandra, you just begin to notice the sound of water churning behind the door under the stairs. Everyone else (except Rodrigo) look around and at each other as they hear the same thing.

What do you do?

[Blackhawk101]

​“I don’t like the sound of that! Everyone retreat back into the room we came from!”

[lostsole31]

Begin Round One ...

R1T25: Feiya scoops up Daji and runs back through the door.

R1T18: Ziggy follows ...

R1T17: Bořek does just the opposite and enters the back hallway with his guisarme.

R1T16: Ranghen follows Ziggy.

R1T12: Rod follows Feiya ....

R1T11: Alandra, what do you do?

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra moves East into the room and then south.
“Borek, come on!”
She prepares to close the door once he is inside.

[lostsole31]

R1T11: Alandra moves East into the room and then south. “Borek, come on!”she shouts as she prepares to close the door once he is inside.

He does so, she shuts the door, and all is quiet.

Initiative Ends!

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra carefully wipes some glistening beads of perspiration from her brow before addressing the group.
“That was weird! Any thoughts as to what is apparently trapped behind the door under the stairs? Perhaps some kind of magical trap?”

[lostsole31]

"If the sound came from the external door to the north, it would have made sense," says Feiya. "But it came from a closet. I doubt it is a big bug, but given the creepy rumors of this place, possibly a haunt or ghost of some sort?"

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra will wait if any one else wants to chime in. If not, she will put her hands on her hips and hold up her chin.
“We will come back to this mystery later. In the meantime, Ranghen please take the lead as we examine the corridor to the West.”

[lostsole31]

Ranghen steps out into the hallway. She turns around and asks. "There is a door - likely leading to a closet - under the stairs a few feet south of me. Do we want to check that first?"

[Blackhawk101]

Suspicious of strange closets now, she frowns briefly before responding.
“Yes, but be careful to check it for danger with Freiya. If it looks locked like the other one, leave it alone for now.”

[lostsole31]

Feiya goes out with Ranghen. It turns out the door is not locked. "Nope!" calls Feiya. "Just a moldy linen closet."

[Blackhawk101]

“Good. Continue down the hallway then.” She points West with a slim arm and daintily tapered fingers.

[lostsole31]

The doors are checked clear. Which do you recommend getting opened first, north or south?

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra motions to the Southern door.

[lostsole31]

The door is opened and Ranghen looks in from where she is. "Looks like a family room."

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra nods. “Let’s check it out.”

[lostsole31]

The party moves into the family room.

As they begin searching, Feiya suddenly stops and asks, "Did anyone else hear children giggling?"

Ziggy raises a little claw, looking spooked, and Daji seems uneasy and coiling closely at Feiya's feet.

Nobody else seemed to have heard anything.

[Blackhawk101]

"I heard nothing. That is very ... unsettling. Let's keep our guard up as there may be supernatural entities nearby."

A worried look crosses Alandra's face at the thought of ghosts. She carefully searches the room.

[lostsole31]

The PCs receive a vision of Roderic’s family. One child sits upon Roderic’s knee while the other two sit on the floor around him, listening to him read. Roderic’s wife, Andella, sits next to him on a chair doing needlepoint. This pleasant scene turns to horror as the family suddenly shifts, their skin sloughs away in wisps of shadows to reveal skeletal faces. Roderic turns to the PCs, points accusingly, and demands they leave, saying, “Get out!” in a long, gasping shout.

Alandra, roll a Will save ....

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra tries to steady herself in the face of supernatural horror.

Spoiler: crunch

Show

will save - (1d20+10)[22]

[lostsole31]

Everyone feels fear, for sure, but nobody appears to be unduly put out as the horrible apparition disappears.

Alandra directs a careful search of the room that ends up taking 40 minutes, yet reveals nothing of interest and no clues of any kind.

[Blackhawk101]

"Too bad we didn't find any clues here. We keep searching."

"Freiya and Ranghen, check the door to the North in the hall. Everyone else follow and stay alert!"

As if to emphasize this, Alandra knocks an arrow and prepares to follow the other two women into the hall.

[lostsole31]

The door to the north is checked clear and opened. A sickeningly sweet scent hangs in this room’s otherwise stale air. Mold and fungus grow up the side of the northern walls, and what was once a table lies decayed and slumped to the floor at an angle. A door and a stone hearth occupy the west wall of the room, the oven’s door slightly ajar.

Ranghen passes that information along as she is the only one with a good view of most of the kitchen from her spot at the doorway.

Now what?