Unknown location. Durst family residence. Late morning.
"I absolutely cannot believe this," said Theronicus, "Two warlocks. One sworn to an undead lich, one to an archduke of hell." He sighed and put his head in his hands.
"Sans, if I may ask, how do you know about Raphael and why is it that he is the first person that comes to mind when you think of Mephistopheles?" asked Ashara. "Shit, man," said Sans, "Crazy story. I was down in Baldur's Gate a couple weeks back, drinking at the Elfsong, when this SUPER hot tiefling chit came in with a group of hers, kinda like us. Said her name was Karlach, we got drunk and shared crazy stories, and she said that she'd just gotten back from this place called 'The House of Hope' which was, like, Raphael's secret lair. I don't remember much about what we talked about, but the one thing stuck in my mind was that he was a son of that Mephi dude and he had a incubus called Haarlep who shapeshifted into Raphael's form and literally fucked himself. Shit was wild, I'm telling you."
Ashara looked flabbergasted, saying, "Well. That's certainly... a story. Yes. Well. Karrid, might I see that letter?" Karrid handed over the letter to Ashara, who scanned it and said, "Lord Strahd von Zarovich? Can't say I've heard of him, but he sounds important. Which is strange, since I'm supposed to know people who are important."
"Oh, and the deed says that the windmill that the kiddos get is east of a town called 'Vallaki.' Anybody know where that is?" said Karrid. Nobody spoke up.
"Well, we've got the name of a Lord and a town, neither of which any of us know anything about. That's... Unfortunately little to go on," said Kat. "Well, it's not as though it really matters, since Duchess Morwen has no doubt already sent a rescue team to take m- ahem, us to safety," said Ashara.
Alex, who had been silent throughout the discussion, snapped her fingers to get everyone's attention and started signing. "Uh, she says, *If there was a cult based in this location, then could the monster downstairs have been summoned by them?* Shit..." Karrid trailed off. "Oh, yes, very astute," said Ashara, "If her theory is correct, then it will narrow down what we could be going up against. You can't summon just anything, you know... it would have to be some sort of planar outsider. In which case, you certainly..." Ashara gestured to himself, "brought the right person along for the job, am I right? AH HA HA HA HA HA!"
Nobody laughed, instead walking out of the secret room to explore the third floor. Ashara sighed, then followed them.
As Karrid reached the top of the stairs, she yelled, "Whooo! Now THAT is one fancy-looking suit of armor!" The others arrived, seeing what she was referring to: a suit of gold-embossed black plate armor, standing against the wall covered in cobwebs. "Shit, this has gotta be worth at least... a thou? I dunno... Hey, Sans, you still got that Bag of Holding?" Karrid asked. "Nah," Sans replied, "I, uh, might have lost it in a Three-Dragon Ante game a while back." As Karrid looked at him incredulously, Sans said, "What? It was a super high-stakes game!"
"Shit, man, we coulda totally used that here! This could pay for like, half a bag all on its own!" Karrid said, stepping closer to the armor. As she did, a horrendous sound of metal screeching on metal filled the air. "FUCKFUCKSHITFUCK!" Karrid yelled as the suit of armor reached out, seemingly on its own, to grab her. "Animated Armor!" yelled Kat, "It doesn't have a brain or internal organs, so don't try poison or mind-based attacks!"
"THANKS SOO MUCH, MISS MONSTER MANUAL!" exclaimed Karrid as she ducked under a swing of its plate gauntlet. It turned around, trying to punch her again, but a cord made of lightning lashed around it and dragged it out of slamming distance. Kat yelled, "Eldingar beita!" and her eyes were alight with magical power as the armor broke free of the lightning lure, but not before it received a hefty shock from her magic. Alex, having been trying to get a clear shot on it since it had begun moving, loosed an arrow, which struck it directly in the helm. It staggered back a bit, but then turned to look at her, which caused her quite a bit of confusion since everything she had fired an arrow at before died when you shot it in the head.
It turned its attention back to Kat, who was readying another spell, and wound up for a punch. As its fist streaked towards her, it struck with a CLANG against Theronicus' shield, who pushed backwards against the armor and made a quick stab from behind the safety of his shield with his longsword.
A cry of "ELDRITCH BLAST SINGLE FINGER GUN!" reverberated throughout the house as a flaming skull blasted into the armor's back. Sans paused for a moment to blow some lingering magical smoke off of his finger. "Ugh, what a show-off," mumbled Ashara, drawing ice-colored infernal runes in the air before whispering, "Kosk'vai'yel..." and sending a purple ray of eldritch energy towards the armor. The only correct kind of eldritch blast, he thought to himself.
Karrid rolled onto her feet and rushed towards the armor. As she did, she took the mechanical contraptions that she had retrieved from Hawg in her hands, and flicked them sharply. A silvered blade slid out from within with a sharp snikt, forming two silvered punching daggers mounted on her hands. With a sound that was somewhere between a battle cry and a laugh, she leapt onto the armor's back and stabbed into where the neck would be on a human.
The armor collapsed, and Karrid landed on her feet. "FUCK YEAH!" she yelled, "ANIMATED ARMOR MY ASS! ARMOR'S SUPPOSED TO PROTECT ITS WEARER, BITCH!" Karrid then kicked the helmet all the way down the flight of stairs. "PROTECT THIS!" she yelled, flipping it off as it tumbled down to the first floor.
"Is everybody alright?" asked Theronicus. "Yes, I think your shield took the brunt of the damage," said Kat, gesturing to the new dent that marred the already heavily-damaged surface of his shield, chipping away at the faded emblem of the holy symbol of Illmater. "Good," said Theronicus, "and it's good to see that you all can handle yourselves well in a fight. We'll need it... unless that armor was the monster?"
"I would doubt it..." said Kat, "Animated Armors usually can't scream or howl unless they've been inscribed with runes that let them do that, of which I see none." "Oh, wonderful," said Ashara sarcastically, "We've still more to fight besides a suit of magical killer armor. What fun."
"Aw, c'mon, Ashy!" Karrid said as she playfully punched him in the arm, "It didn't even get anywhere near you!"
"Yes, but the adrenaline produces sweat, which ruins my clothes even more," Ashara said, gesturing to his now-filthy suit. "Suck it up, bruh!" said Karrid, who then turned and ran off, yelling, "Let's find some more shit to fight!"
Karrid burst into the master suite of the house, took a look around, and yelled "Hey Ashy! You're gonna want to see this!" when her eyes settled on a vanity. "What is i-?" Ashara said, "Oh, my!" as he saw a silver box with golden filigree laying on top of the vanity. "Oh, yes," he said as the rest of the group came in behind him, "Yes, yes... this should do quite nicely... Yes, dear sister, this is quite a nice find. Might your, erm, connections to purchasers of the extralegally acquired be interested in such a piece?" Ashara showed the box, containing three gold rings and a platinum necklace with a pendant of topaz, to Karrid, who said, "Uh, you mean a fence? Shit, yeah, once we're back in Neverwinter, I can take these to Wilbur down at the docks district... This shit's gotta be worth around the same value as that armor, maybe a little less? Or more if I take it to Sam and have him cast Distort Value on it." Karrid took the box and tucked it in her backpack.
"So, what, we're just stealing from these people now?" asked Theronicus, "Really? Even if the owners are dead, the will we found states that their family property belongs to the children outside." "Oh, please," said Ashara, "It's just... practicality. I mean, if they did summon something down there, then they're likely dead and won't be able to reward us." "And that gives us the right to steal from them?" Theronicus angrily shouted. Seeing that he wouldn't be getting through to Ashara, he addressed Karrid, "Karrid, those things belong to those children. It's possible that the Dursts are dead, yes, but if that's true then we should try to make sure that their wills, their dying wishes for their children, are seen through."
"I..." Karrid trailed off, looking a bit ashamed and dejected, a far cry from her usual hyperactivity and boisterous cheer, "I... I guess..." "KARRID!" barked Ashara, causing her to startle, "Karrid, don't listen to him. Take the jewelry and sell it to William or whoever it was. Now come on, we've got the rest of this floor to explore." With that, Ashara walked out. Karrid looked down at the floor silently, and quickly followed after him.
The group glanced into a bathroom and a storage closet and found nothing of interest in any of them. Theronicus pushed open the door to another bedroom, and a strange sound echoed out into the empty halls of the house. "Is that... singing?" asked Kat as she heard the strange melody. As the group moved further into the room, they realized that the singing was coming from behind a closed door, which had a brass plaque on it that labeled it 'nursery'. "Yeah..." mumbled Karrid, "That's, um... 'Sleep tight' I think. Kid's lullaby. Me and the other kids in the orphanage used to love it, before..." she trailed off and glanced at Ashara. Theronicus pushed open the door to the nursery a little, seeing within a figure hunched over a baby's crib. "Sleep tight, held tight, in the moon's umbra... Sleep tight, nighty-night..." echoed the haunting tone, with no apparent source. "Excuse me?" said Theronicus, reaching out to tap the figure, who was covered in a white cloak. As his fingers brushed where the shoulder would be, the cloak collapsed, revealing that there was nothing in it, and the music abruptly stopped.
"Dude, what just happened..?" asked Sans, "I feel... weird." Indeed, all of the other's hairs stood up as a chill wind swept through the nursery and the bedroom, raising goosebumps. "I don't know," said Theronicus, "I don't feel righ-"
Before Theronicus could finish, a glowing transparent purple figure launched itself from the crib at him! "GODS ABOVE!" he yelled as it raked its ghostly claws across him, knocking him down as the figure disappeared into the ceiling. "Shit! Ghost!" yelled Sans, "or maybe a wraith! Specter?" "Theronicus, are you alright?" exclaimed Kat, rushing to by his side. Theronicus stood up and touched the blackened marks that the strange monster had left on its armor when it clawed him. "I'm... ehh... I'm fine. Did it get anyone else?" "Nah man, but it went up into the ceiling!" said Sans, "How do we get it from here?"
"Allow me, my good people," said Ashara, drawing more of his infernal glyphs, "if the ceiling is in the way, then we shall simply remove the ceiling! Kosk'vai'yel!"
As Ashara finished his eldritch incantation, he pointed up into the ceiling, but no purple ray came out of his hands. A nasally voice rang out across the nursery, saying, "Section 4A, clause 61. Quote, 'The aforementioned ability (henceforth referred to as an Eldritch Blast) shall only be targeted at a certain number (exact amount varies according to will of the soul-binder (exact amount can be changed at any time by the soul-binder, taking effect immediately)) of creature(s) within uninterrupted line(s) of sight and effect, originating from-" "SHUT UP!" yelled Ashara, "Ahem. Well, it would seem as though the terms of my pact prevent me from casting at objects or creatures that I can't see." "We should move back into the bedroom," said Kat, "It's less enclosed, which means that it at least won't be able to come out of the walls."
"Yeah, let's- FUCK!" Karrid yelped as she dove out of the way of the spectral monstrosity as it stuck itself out of the ceiling and tried to grab her. She swung her punching daggers in an arc, but they passed through the transparent arm, leaving barely any wound. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! Back into the bedroom!" she yelled as she scrambled to her feet and raced through the door. "Circle up tight, watch each other's backs!" barked Theronicus, scanning the ceiling for the ghostly form. As the team assembled, Sans chuckled and said, "Hey, Karrid. You literally said 'Yeah, let's fuck.'" The two nervously laughed and elbowed each other. Karrid braced to dodge out of the way if the thing came back, Sans had his finger guns cocked, Kat seemed to be channeling some sort of thunderous wave in preparation, Ashara was drawing his runes, Alex had nocked an arrow, and Theronicus had his shield raised. "There! Þrumabára!" yelled Kat, releasing her thunder spell. A wave of sonic force knocked the ghostly monster back as it floated down from the ceiling towards Theronicus, letting out a loud BOOM! that shook the whole house. As it staggered back, seemingly fully affected by the shockwave, Alex's arrow shot through its head, followed by Sans' "ELDRITCH BLAST SINGLE FINGER GUN!" and Ashara's infernal "Kosk'vai'yel!" As it reeled from the team's combined assault, Theronicus lifted his longsword high and shouted, "Ilmater! End the suffering of this trapped soul!" His sword blazed with an unmistakably divine light as he brought it down in a mighty chop on the specter's head.
The entirety of it's ghostly body shone with a light brighter than the sun, and the specter slowly dissipated. As it faded, it whispered something too quietly for anyone to hear it. Karrid, panting, said, "Aww, fuck! I didn't get to do something cool!" Theronicus smiled, and said, "Don't worry, Karrid. You did well, dodging it in the nursery." "Yeah, but- Holy shit, Alex!" Karrid said as she saw Alex kneeling and signing to her while looking at the wall closely. "You found another?" she asked as Alex felt around and then pushed inwards, opening a secret door in the wall.
"Fuck, you're pretty fucking observant!" said Karrid, "Now c'mon! I wanna see what cool shit is behind this one!" Karrid ran into the dark, dusty secret passage, and the others followed behind her.
