THE MANSION
Warmshade 15-16, 4433
Characters:
Gorr, Ranger 4
Suba-Jin, Cleric of Hextor 4
Robert the Swift, Fighter 4
Meep, Dwarf 3
Eric Withakay, Cleric of Solaris 4
Lord Fesgate, Fighter 3 (NPC)
Late-Night Escape
Suba-Jin and Robert the Swift were deep in conversation with Sesto the stonemason in an Old Town dive bar. The poor man regretted bragging about knowing the location of the sorcerer Dimorites' mansion. Now that it was done, he feared for his own and his family's safety. Suba-Jin and Robert convinced him that the group could keep him safe for a few days. He agreed to go with them for now - partly convinced by Suba-Jin's speech, partly by the two shady types watching from the corner of the bar!
Outside, the trio hired a rickshaw and headed off into the Emerald City night. Over their shoulders, Robert spotted the two shady guys coming out of the bar and flagging down a ride of their own. Suba-Jin urged the driver to go faster. After some chatter about "official business" and a bit of money to sweeten the deal he picked up the pace. There were a few close calls on the crowded streets but the group avoided crashing and lost their tail just before Market Avenue. They rejoined the group at the Dragon's Eye and Sesto stayed with them.
In the morning the group headed up through the Boulevards district to the Cliffside gates. Sesto had some plain workman's clothes for them and they stored their adventuring gear in wheelbarrows under the work crew's regular supplies. Sesto knew all the guards, so they didn't check very closely.
Cliffside looked different in the daytime, a maze of streets hemmed in by the tall walls of nobles' estates. Every noble house wanted to be 'higher' than their peers and so over the years they had built their walls ever higher. The result was a disorienting neighbourhood with few visible landmarks. The group followed Sesto into the tunnels beneath the streets, where workmen and servants scurried to and fro out of their masters' sight. The work crew set up for the day and Sesto led the gang to their destination.
Pointing out a narrow crawlspace, he said they "would know it when they saw it" on the other side. He told the gang that the workday lasted until sunset and they shouldn't be late if they wanted to preserve their incognito.
Into the Gardens
The party passed through an old dry cistern and a few storage rooms. Climbing up some stairs they emerged into a hot, humid grotto surrounded by thick hedges. Sunlight filtered in through the canopy of leaves & vines above. The walls of plant matter swayed & twisted in unnatural, unwholesome motion.
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| ME (and an unrelated monke) - thanks Chris! |
- In a dark grotto floored with dry leaves, faceless black humanoid statues rested in poses of mourning and supplication. The vines covering them were green and healthy.
- A building of dull grey slate was found, with a greening copper door inscribed "Pherusa Dimorites - lost beyond light." The smell of incense emanated from within, but the door was locked and they couldn't get inside.
- From an old shed, the group heard beastly snarling and sinister exhortations that seemed to echo in their minds. Opening the door revealed a tiny wild boar about 1' high. It called itself "ME," and wanted the group to indulge their darkest desires for money, sex & violence. Gorr threw it a gold coin, which it ate. ME said it could sniff out the things it wanted, and the group agreed to follow it to the promise of treasure.
Chris: "This pig is a demon, guaranteed!"
- They followed ME deeper into the hedges, through openings so narrow they had to pass slowly in single file. They came face-to-face with a pack of small humanoids that looked like anthropomorphic mandrake roots. ME was familiar with them and wanted to eat one. The mandrake men knew about ME and hated it. More than that, they wanted some fresh meat. The party offered them rations but they weren't interested. After some tense moments, the group slowly backed away and the mandrake men didn't pursue.
- ME led them deeper through the hedges to a small grotto littered with copper & brass coins. A yellow limestone shrine at the back was carved with horns, crescent moons and spiderweb motifs. Everyone recognized symbols of Nephtlys, the Imperial goddess of wealth and commerce, whose form was a combination of woman and spider.
Atop the shrine were some gold and silver coins, along with a rare electrum crescent coin worth a fair amount. While ME rooted around on the ground and ate the coppers, Robert scooped up the coinage into a sack. Thinking it might provide a benefit, Gorr decided to make an offering of 1000 silver at the wealth goddess' shrine.
On the way out, the mandrake men caught up with the group and insisted on some fresh meat. A fight was on, but the little root-creatures were dispatched swiftly.
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| Dungeon notes - thanks Chris! |
- Following ME's lead again, the gang came to a wide lawn open to the sky. To the south, a huge two-story stone mansion - more like a palace, really - loomed above the shrubbery. A water feature to the west fed a pond with water slopping over the edge. In the center of the lawn, a few zebra-striped fish swam sluggishly in an algae-covered pond topped with an oversized statue of Nephtlys. The statue was covered in green lichen and no water flowed anymore.
Gorr fed the fish and threw a few coins in the well.
- ME urged them eastwards through some greening brass gates. A small sign read "Welcome to the Hedge Maze. Enjoy Yourself!" but someone had written over it with red paint "DON'T GET LOST." Heeding the sign, the group turned back around.
- They searched through some rubbish-filled areas and found an old statue of a woman and child covered in vines, leaning up in a corner. Gorr cut the vines off with his axe to reveal a nameplate: "Eilitheya Dimorites, 4720-"
The group planned to explore the narrow hedge passages further when we left off.
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| Explored Areas |
Monsters Defeated:
7 mandrake-men
Treasure:
1 electrum crescent coin
15 gold
32 silver
