Nov 11, 2018 5:32 pm
Intro:
You enter the upstairs room of the village inn. The fireplace is stacked, and the heat is excessive. Yet the gaunt looking man who meets you is wrapped in his cloak. His face is partially hidden by the upturned collar: what you can see is an aquiline nose and a pair of dark eyes. The sickly eyes of a man driven to the limits by his obsessions.
This is Alois Helbrun, the lawful inheritor of the Hornfell Estate. Your employer.
"Good day to you, gentlemen," he says in a hoarse voice. "As you can see, I am of feeble health. Unfit to face the dangers that are rumored to infest my family’s seat. That is why I require your assistance.
"You are to explore the Estate. Find out just what exactly is going on inside. What are these perils the villagers are so afraid of.
"The payment: twenty gold coins per person, for every day you spend exploring the ruins. Paid when you return and report to me. After that, it is possible that I will send you on more errands, depending on the information you gather.
"I am also willing to pay a bonus for books from the personal collection of Manfried Hornfell. These valuable tomes bear his stamp," and here he shows you a battered, charred book. The first page is adorned with a large mark, depicting an eagle’s talon grabbing a sword by the blade.
"These books must be brought to me. All other objects – valuables, heirlooms, luxuries – are yours to take. I have no interest in them. A fair compensation for the risks you take."
With this, Alois turns back towards the roaring fireplace.
"Off you go now, gentlemen. I… need to rest."
In the village, people eye you with suspicion. If asked questions about the Estate, they mostly just shrug and turn away. "We don’t go there. It is a cursed place," some whisper.
"You know, you are not the first adventurer types to fall for the shiny coins of that Helbrun creep. There were others, before you. Adventurer types. They never made it back," a talkative old man says. "Or they just ran off with the money that dupe gave them!" he adds, and bursts out in laughter. "I bet he is not paying anything in advance anymore, is he? Huh? Huh?"
The next morning you follow a small road from the village to the Estate’s wrought iron gates. A twenty minute uphill hike, through dense forests.
The Estate is bigger than you imagined. A vast, sprawling complex of ruins. They occupy the top of a ragged cliff, reaching its limits on the east. From the distance the complex seems to balance on the very edge of the rocks, some two hundred feet above the dark waters of Lake Hornsee. Many walls still stand. Towers claw at the cloudy grey sky. Charred roof beams exposed: like the ribs of a dead creature. Blackened by fire and smoke, overgrown with vines and weeds.
Indeed, a haunting scenery.
But what will you find inside?
You enter the upstairs room of the village inn. The fireplace is stacked, and the heat is excessive. Yet the gaunt looking man who meets you is wrapped in his cloak. His face is partially hidden by the upturned collar: what you can see is an aquiline nose and a pair of dark eyes. The sickly eyes of a man driven to the limits by his obsessions.
This is Alois Helbrun, the lawful inheritor of the Hornfell Estate. Your employer.
"Good day to you, gentlemen," he says in a hoarse voice. "As you can see, I am of feeble health. Unfit to face the dangers that are rumored to infest my family’s seat. That is why I require your assistance.
"You are to explore the Estate. Find out just what exactly is going on inside. What are these perils the villagers are so afraid of.
"The payment: twenty gold coins per person, for every day you spend exploring the ruins. Paid when you return and report to me. After that, it is possible that I will send you on more errands, depending on the information you gather.
"I am also willing to pay a bonus for books from the personal collection of Manfried Hornfell. These valuable tomes bear his stamp," and here he shows you a battered, charred book. The first page is adorned with a large mark, depicting an eagle’s talon grabbing a sword by the blade.
"These books must be brought to me. All other objects – valuables, heirlooms, luxuries – are yours to take. I have no interest in them. A fair compensation for the risks you take."
With this, Alois turns back towards the roaring fireplace.
"Off you go now, gentlemen. I… need to rest."
In the village, people eye you with suspicion. If asked questions about the Estate, they mostly just shrug and turn away. "We don’t go there. It is a cursed place," some whisper.
"You know, you are not the first adventurer types to fall for the shiny coins of that Helbrun creep. There were others, before you. Adventurer types. They never made it back," a talkative old man says. "Or they just ran off with the money that dupe gave them!" he adds, and bursts out in laughter. "I bet he is not paying anything in advance anymore, is he? Huh? Huh?"
The next morning you follow a small road from the village to the Estate’s wrought iron gates. A twenty minute uphill hike, through dense forests.
The Estate is bigger than you imagined. A vast, sprawling complex of ruins. They occupy the top of a ragged cliff, reaching its limits on the east. From the distance the complex seems to balance on the very edge of the rocks, some two hundred feet above the dark waters of Lake Hornsee. Many walls still stand. Towers claw at the cloudy grey sky. Charred roof beams exposed: like the ribs of a dead creature. Blackened by fire and smoke, overgrown with vines and weeds.
Indeed, a haunting scenery.
But what will you find inside?
