“Oh you’re kidding! There’s TWO of them?!?” – Nigel Craig the Bold.
Scenario: The group gets caught in a torrential downpour (or blizzard depending on the season) and seeks shelter off the trail. They happen across a small, abandoned keep. The walls are crumbling, and the watchtowers have been abandoned for ages, but the manor house has been kept up perfectly. There’s even a fire going in one of the fireplaces. It’s a warm, dry, inviting shelter in the middle of nowhere during a relentless rain (snow) storm.
Dragonbane note: If a Merchant has recently used Treasure Hunter in this area, it will direct them toward the old manor house as well.
Myths & Legends: There is an unexplored haunted keep somewhere in the forest the group is traveling through
The group is greeted at the door by a butler. He is a tall, gaunt, pale looking human in a fine butler’s uniform who introduces himself as Withers. He offers to hang everyone’s cloaks, etc up near the fire to dry and asks if anyone wants a warm towel or dry blanket. He then escorts the group from the foyer to the main dining room where a very princely looking human stands, dressed in royal blue finery.
The Prince doesn’t introduce himself but informs the group they were about to sit down for tea. He asks the group to join them and there are enough seats at the table for everyone plus one more. The old, fine crafted wooden table, the fine china teacups, and the sterling silver tea service are a stark contrast to the conditions found outside. The tea is hot, but an unremarkable blend.
Withers asks the group if anyone wants a scone or a crumpet to go with their tea. After idle chitchat, the Prince, head of the household, excuses themselves to another room. Withers comes back with the scones, pastries, etc exactly as ordered and the Prince returns and sits down. The Prince immediately begins eagerly asking about the outside world. It seems as if the group is talking to a completely different person. He introduces himself as Prince Evan Glindenstern.
He explains that they almost never get visitors and the ones who do stop by never stay for long. He’s incredibly excited to have visitors and simply insists that the characters talk about themselves, their quest, where they’re headed, whether they own land, etc. He can’t understand why other visitors run off because the Glindensterns always offer as much hospitality as possible. The conversation is interrupted by the sounds of a harpsichord from the parlor in the next room.
Evan excuses himself to the parlor and closes the door behind them. If the group listens closely, they can hear what sounds like Evan arguing with himself. The harpsichord stops on a sour note and the Prince returns, apologizing for the racket. They explain that sometimes Dolly, the maid likes to play during tea or meals, but the Prince finds it distracting. As tea service continues, the Prince asks a couple of the same questions Evan asked and apologizes for their short memory because he so rarely gets guests and is extremely excited.
As tea concludes, the Prince offers the group a room for the night as the weather isn’t likely to let up any time soon. Withers removes empty plates and offers to refill tea one last time. The Prince offers the group a chance to discuss amongst themselves and adjourns to the parlor, closing the door behind them.
If the group decides to stay, they will be escorted up an elegant grand staircase. They will be asked to stay out of the children’s room on the opposite side of the hallway. The rooms are opulent with king sized four poster beds, silk sheets, warm wool blankets and fluffy pillows. The characters can even be treated to Withers coming by with a pan of hot coals to warm the beds before the group lies down.
If the group decides to leave, the Glindensterns will become very upset and a fight to keep them in the manor will ensue. Eva, aka the Prince, will come from whichever room they were in and join in the combat. Statistically, Eva and Evan are Ghosts from the Core Rules/Dragonbane Bestiary. Withers is a skeleton armed only with a kitchen knife. The ghosts can be persuaded to stop attacking, but they will have a hard time accepting that they are dead.
For the GM:
The group is being fed a powerful illusion in this encounter. It is intended to primarily be a roleplaying encounter. The GM is going to have to fill in some details about the manor house. Both Evan and the Prince will lie profusely about how the manor house has survived to long thanks to the efforts of Withers and the groundskeeper, Ollie.
The Prince explains how their parents tragically passed from the plague a couple of short years ago and that it’s a constant struggle to maintain the upkeep on the manor house, the keep, and the surrounding fields without all of their vassals. Their various vassals (GM may have to cough up some random family names.) seem to have run away when the plague started. Evan remembers their mother dying of the plague, but confidentially explains how their father went mad and ran off in the night.
Particularly savvy players might become suspicious of either the Prince or their surroundings. The suspicious character may attempt an Intelligence or Willpower Roll with a Bane and may not be pushed to try to see through the illusion. Please remember the group only gets ONE roll per Stretch unless circumstances become unreal enough to warrant another roll.
Please be aware that players will probably regret ever asking to roll. The grim reality of their understanding is horrible compared to the illusion. The blankets and towels are old, mildew stained, and rotting. The inside of the manor is incredibly dreary, rundown, and rotting away. Withers is a skeleton. Evan is the ghost of a child. The food is basically a rotting ball of mud, bugs, and worms served on old clay saucers. The tea is nothing more than rain water. The tea service is a rusty tin tea kettle and old clay cups.
To make matters even worse, the character whose player succeeded on the roll vanishes completely from the room as if dropped into another reality. The group can faintly hear the character but will have no idea what is going on. Meanwhile, the character who has faded out of the illusion can see the rest of the characters acting as they are in the illusion except they can’t see or hear any character not in the illusion.
IF half or more of the characters make the INT or WIL Roll, the illusion drops for everyone. The Glindensterns won’t attack immediately, but they will seem confused. They will not have a Bane on Persuasion checks as normal ghosts. They will show the group to the Den, where there is an old iron safe that has long since rusted shut. The room also contains remnants from various travelers and other guests. If searched the remains yield random copper, silver, and gold amounts. There are also various rusty weapons, decaying clothes, old gear, and random mementos.
Stealing from the piles of old travelers’ remains won’t set the ghosts off. However, any attempt to open the safe will immediately lead to combat. The manor’s coffers are valuable. The safe requires a Sleight of Hand Roll and a STR check to pry it open. There are 57 Copper Coins, 49 Silver Coins, and 12 Gold Coins along with a ledger, an old diary, and a map to a long lost location. (Possibly a treasure map?)
IF combat breaks out, probably because the characters tried to leave, the entire illusion drops immediately. The characters must immediately make a Fear check due to the sudden shock and horror of the illusion dropping. All other combat rounds continue as normal. There are improvised weapons all over the manor from rotting wooden chairs to silverware and metal serving trays. They only work on Withers as Eva and Evan are ghosts.
Additional secrets: Ollie, the gardener, and Dolly, the maid, are literally dolls. Withers final act as the Glindenstern butler was to take care of the kids. He left their remains in their room, which he thought would bring them peace. He continued to serve the family even in death. There are two open graves in the family cemetery outside the keep’s walls for the children.
If the group manages to escape, the ghosts can only follow them as far as the door. The ghosts can’t leave the manor house. However, that’s where the trouble begins.
Unless the group returns to the Glindenstern Manor, find the bodies of the two children, give them a proper burial, and promise to take care of the keep, they will be perpetually haunted by two children who will pop up at random awkward moments.
The kids might show up anywhere at any time. Worse, the group will randomly have their sleep disrupted by dreams of fever, plague, abandonment, betrayal, and fear. The nightmares will almost always end in one or both twins beckoning the characters to follow them back to the manor. The ghosts can be Banished or Purged, otherwise the members of the group will be forever haunted.
On the other hand, this does provide the group with a potential base of operations, even if it does need a lot of fixing up. It’s a fairly good neighborhood and the rent is free. That’s not to say a dragon or some other monsters might not wander through from time-to-time given how long the place was haunted. The good news is the place will be forever protected by the benevolent spirits of the previous occupants.
Further adventures in this locale will likely revolve around the diary found in the safe or the adventurers who never left the manor house.
This Supplement was created under Fria Ligan AB’s Dragonbane Third Party Supplement License.
*Editor Jeff here. This encounter blew up into more of an adventure than I had originally intended. I’ll make a map for the keep sometime and maybe detail the family history more. The map in the vault leads to tomorrow’s prompt, the Hags. I love a good haunted house adventure and this certainly turned into one. The Glindensterns are loosely based on a real life Scandinavian royal line that became extinct in the early 1700s if I remember correctly.
Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.
Jeff's Game Box 