Chapter 1: Into The Mists

Kar'i'nas, there's no salvaging the armor. As the force left the metal starts to rust before your eyes, so even if you were to discount the big gashes opened up by Balian and yourself, it can't be repaired into anything functional.

Skip, you can't hear anything as you put your ears to the doors. None of the doors are locked. The door on your left hand side opens up into a bathroom containing a wooden tub with clawed feet, a small iron stove with a kettle resting atop it, and a barrel under a spigot in the east wall. A cistern on the roof used to collect rainwater, which was borne down a pipe to the spigot; however, the plumbing no longer works.

The double doors on your right side have dusty panes of stained glass set into them. Designs in the glass resemble windmills. The room appears to have been the master bedroom. The dusty, cobweb-filled room has burgundy drapes covering the windows. Furnishings include a four-poster bed with embroidered curtains and tattered gossamer veils, a matching pair of empty wardrobes, a vanity with a wood-framed mirror and jewelry box, and a padded chair. A rotting tiger-skin rug lies on the floor in front of the fireplace, which has a dust-covered portrait of what you guess to be Gustav and Elisabeth hanging above it. A web-filled parlor in the southwest corner contains a table and two chairs. Resting on the dusty tablecloth is an empty porcelain bowl and a matching jug.

A door facing the foot of the bed has a full-length mirror mounted on it. The door opens to reveal an empty, dust-choked closet. A door in the parlor leads to an outside balcony.

In the corner opposite the balcony is a dumbwaiter.

Skip, the jewelry box is made of silver with gold filigree. It contains three gold rings and a thin platinum necklace with a topaz pendant. Everything looks as if it could be worth a decent amount of money.

Skallagrimm follows the elf upstairs...

Kar'i'nas and Skip, you try out the dumbwaiter but it does indeed just go into the kitchen.

Kar'i'nas, you investigate the area for hidden doors. You find none in the rooms you've investigated so far, but out by the stairs you suddenly notice a vein in the wood jutting out unnaturally from the west wall. You press it and it clicks and swings outward to reveal a cobweb-filled wooden staircase leading up to the attic.

You all walk up to the attic and enter a bare, dusty hall with several doors. One of them has a padlock on it, the rest appear unlocked.

"well, well, well, do we just cut this lock in two, and then cut this "beast" in two? Or shall we let the gith and the gnome loot the other rooms first?"

"good enough for me" Skallagrim mumbles as he swings for the lock

Skallagrimm, you lift the axe and bring it down onto the padlock with enough force to knock it off the door. As you enter the room you find no beasts though. This room contains a bricked-up window flanked by two dusty, wood-framed beds sized for children. Closer to the door is a toy chest with windmills painted on its sides and a dollhouse that's a perfect replica of the dreary edifice in which you stand. These furnishings are draped in cobwebs. Lying in the middle of the floor are two small skeletons wearing tattered but familiar clothing.