Evening is approaching. The clouds hang ever lower, and a chill creeps across Estali City as the sleet turns to a light snow. You go to a compact 2-storey villa, surrounded by some nice lush greenery and backed against the northeast wall. The front doors look fortified. There is a finely decorated sign outside with “The House of All Secrets” in Safelstran writing, and a painting of an alluring leg sticking into view from the right side.
Shrett knocks and the door is answered by a blue-skinned courtesan whom you come to know as Rula Duparri, along with a male courtesan Rossvaran the Ravishing. Both are gorgeous and a bit under-dressed for the cold, but warmth wafts out of the house. Rula coyly asks in Safelstran what secrets you wish to explore. Fraud responds that you’re investigating the murders. The two then welcome you in: “Madam Magthyra has been awaiting your arrival with much anticipation.” You enter.
A central patio has been roofed over for the winter with layers of thick animal hides atop planks. The finely tiled floors have coverings of ornate Safelstran rugs, and plenty of expensive-looking pillows. There are some vibrant green potted plants and low, grey stone tables. On and near the walls there are many decorations that appear to be from around Ralios. Paintings, tapestries, scrolls, statuettes or busts, ceramic crafts, jeweled lamps, and much more abound. Fraud and perhaps some others amongst you notice that some are Arkati themed, some are just highly valuable artifacts; none are trifling baubles.
Watching from two corners are Great Troll guards in lead ringmail with lead mauls. Bog—take note that the maul you have is indeed lead!
Madam Magthyra comes downstairs to meet you, gracefully making a dramatic entrance. Servants go in and out bringing sumptuous treats and fine drinks. The air is sweet with a woody scent and warm, although there are no signs of hearth fires.
In perfect Seshnegi she says, “Welcome, heroes from afar. Now that I see you with my own eyes, the delay in our meeting happening is less disappointing. I am sure you have heroic tales from your many exploits, and I might have heard some of them, but neither of us is here for that, are we? You have finally come for something, and so I ask what that is?”
Fraud explains more about the murders and how the Archon and High Priestess Alangellia invited you to investigate. The Madam expresses her condemnation of the murder, that it has cast a pall over her House ever since, and that she wants justice. She turns your questions to the pair of courtesans who welcomed you in.
Rula and Rossvaran speak some fractured Seshnegi. They had dealt with Tassos together in their private room above, and the murder happened while they went downstairs to get some special things for Tassos. The killers were only seen leaving the house, and no one saw where they went after that; they got in and out via the windows. The murderers seemed to be in black leather armour, but it was wispy as if it was made of shadow-stuff, and the hoods entirely hid their faces in darkness. They had just sheathed bloody broadswords that moaned eerily. Rula and Rossvaran wonder if the killers were Arkat, they say. The Madam had a Lhankor Mhy initiate cast a Reconstruction spell on the room and saw them enter from the window and cut the helpless Tassos into bits with their moaning magic blades. There has not yet been an investigation…
You ask to go see the room upstairs and turn to do so, but there is a scream from the upper storey and Madam Magthyra visibly tenses up, closes her eyes and then says to anyone nearby, “How damned bold of someone. Spirits descend upon my House, and my staff and clients are under threat. If two of you would be so kind as to help upstairs, and the two others here, I have something I must attend to elsewhere.” She goes into a corner room and locks the door.
You begin a busy confrontation with elk and fox spirits on the ground floor, one of which possesses the troll guard by the staircase, and another of which possesses a male courtesan in a side room. Shrett and Boamund concentrate their efforts on stopping the spirits on the ground floor while Bog and Fraud heed the Madam’s words and fight their way to the stairs, but find that the Great troll guard has turned to pursue them, now grunting its attempt at an elk’s voice as it mercilessly swings its brutal maul at Fraud, badly wounding his left arm [this should have kept his skills halved thenceforth but was overlooked]. He is at the top of the stairs, kicking at it and then pulling out his shield to fend its blows. Bog comes from behind it and starts smacking its leg with his maul, and he wounds it enough to attract its attention so it starts bashing at him. You wear it down slowly and then it drops with its leg bleeding and maimed.
Boamund has knocked out the possessed courtesan from below, and the other elk spirit down there is fended off; gone. Rula and Rossvaran have managed to escape harm, guarded by the troll on their side, and they remain down there as Shrett goes upstairs to help. Boamund can’t get past the crush of people atop the stairs, especially once a bear-spirit-possessed male courtesan comes running and bellowing down the hallway, slashing at Fraud but being disarmed and then knocked out.
Shrett enters a side room around a corner and aids a female courtesan against a fox spirit, which he compels to obey him after the woman escapes its attack and flees into the corner beside her bed. [Shrett: take note that this spirit is still with you to do service and has 10 MP] Another courtesan woman leaves a different room and runs at him, howling as a wolf and lunging with her knife again and again, but she is not good with the knife and it is too weak even to pierce Shrett’s modest armour. He knocks her out soon enough, and the House of Secrets goes quieter for a moment. You bandage the troll before it bleeds to death, but Bog has taken its maul as he chuckles to himself with pleasure over defeating a Kyger Liter warrior. You also tie up the unconscious courtesans and leave them with Rula and Rossvaran and the other troll guard to take care of and try to find someone to get rid of the spirits.
Then the Madam’s voice calls out, strangely comprehensible to all but not in any recognisable language, “Heroes, I would like to meet you below my House. Please come down here.” And the corner door unlocks. You go inside and easily see that there is an open trapdoor underneath a table.
You descend the stone stairs from the trapdoor. Once you’re all in a hallway, looking around at an impressive underground complex of passages made from worked stone, a voice echoes out of nowhere: “I wish my welcome for you to these display halls was under better circumstances, but I must await you in the centre. Please find your way here. One of you might be able to lead the way. Do indulge and enjoy yourselves as you explore.”
Ahead of you is a platform with a statue that Fraud recognises as a simple representation of Arkat the Saviour: a warrior with a glowing golden axe and a round shield. At his feet there is an old, fine shield and a golden, glowing battle axe. But your investigations are cut short very quickly. Something lurks in the shadows that grow from every corner, pouring into the halls and taking physical form. You all manage to turn and face them without being snared in the shadows.
They are seven naked, clawed and fanged, feral-looking men with somewhat excessive body hair and fierce, hungry expressions. And, as they surround you and pounce, you realise with horror that you must be facing some kind of crazed vampires. They act with reckless, bloodthirst abandon, with no concern for their own welfare, clawing and biting in a frenzied hunt for your life-essence. These are nothing like the scheming, refined, sorcerously adept vampires of Tanisor lore. Their crudeness is both pathetic and terrifying.
Two confront Boamund near the statue and the other five are around Bog and Shrett, with Fraud free in the middle. A vampire-spawn latches its eyes onto Bog and he stands still, enraptured by the pure essence of the Hunger rune that it projects. Another one leaps forth and bites into his neck, hanging on and wounding him; and a third does the same with his arm. Shrett manages to fight off the gaze’s enchantment, but also is bitten in the neck. Fraud draws his death-sword and comes to help Shrett. Boamund soon unslings Karkovoch’s Shield and invokes its power over undeath. All but one of the vampire-spawn release their victims and step away from you, but one persistently hangs onto Shrett’s neck.
Shrett grows weaker but hits his vampire on the head with his silver sword. Fraud steps in and finishes the work with two blows. Bog turns and smashes one vampire behind him, crushing its skull. Soon Bog, Shrett and Fraud take on the remaining three vampire-spawn in their area together, although Shrett is disarmed by a clever parry by one and he has to draw a silver dagger, which still proves very effective against the things’ naked heads. You bring them down one by one, then turn to the two that Boamund has been holding at bay in the statue’s alcove, and you dispatch these easily enough. But you’ve suffered wounds. Shrett throws what Heal magics he can manage with his weakened sorb-energy, and Fraud tries to regain the use of his arm but cannot.
You investigate the statue’s axe and shield, with Fraud reflecting that this Arkat the Saviour was the original man who grew up on Brithos as a Brithini Horali, and brought his new crusade against Chaos against the vampires of Tanisor, soon destroying them, slaying their vampire king Grachamagacan, the Iron Vampire, and leaving their fortress/capital of Tanewal a haunted ruin. Boamund takes the axe, which is a fine weapon that keeps a warm fire blazing from its blade, and the ancient shield that has a curious depiction of the Sky Dome’s heavenly bodies.
Now you start exploring down the passage to your right. There is a “cell” with a sturdy, locked bronze gate, which Shrett inspects and is surprised to see how elaborate its lock is—even with his best efforts, he cannot unlock it, but deduces that there must be a very specially shaped key that is made to. He sees some curios and artifacts in the small chamber beyond.
Bog inspects the hallway’s many decorations, which include more relics in side-rooms. The theme is obviously of Arkat the Destroyer/Kingtroll, which pleases him and draws his interest further. You begin to think that these halls are some sort of Arkati … puzzle? Meditation? Gauntlet of testing? Before you go further, fortunately Fraud and Boamund notice that there is a 3m deep pit full of spikes in the middle of the hall. Bog and Shrett, who are ahead of them, cannot see this even when it is pointed out to them. Hmm! But Bog tells that there is no floor there when he sticks his maul into that space. He tries creeping and feeling his way along the edge of this pit, which Fraud and Boamund say they can see is navigable. And he makes it across, with relief. There is a side chamber that he pauses at. Shrett anchors a rope to the bronze gate and tosses it to Bog as Fraud and Boamund cross and hold it at that end, so soon you’re all across and find a good spot to leave the other end anchored to.
You turn a corner and head down a hall, which continues to have the same theme of decorations, and that opens into a big chamber. There are plenty of objects in sconces, and more florid decorations of Arkat the Destroyer. At one end there is a great statue, vividly coloured and made with stark realism in the form of a six-armed demonic form of Arkat the Destroyer/Zorak Zoran, holding flaming and dark weapons and magics. There is a pedestal beside it holding a flaming lead mace. Bog approaches with excitement and reaches for the mace, finding his hand drawn toward it. He takes it and feels it drawing magic from him, so he allows it to take what little it seeks and he gains a 1-use Seal Wound spell.
You spin to look around more of the chamber when the shadows weigh heavily downwards from the ceiling, descending to press upon you. You all hold up against its weight, and are glad to have done so when some of the shadow bubbles into a giant, gelatinous, tarry, many-tentacled and many-jawed thing near Fraud, which clearly is some sort of Chaos abomination. Another fight begins!
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