Adventure #1: Welcome to Eureka

2023/02/19 Session 1: Welcome to Eureka (Campbell, Doug, Gryffon, Madeline, Ronn, Zak)

18 Deepsnow 5023 VA

After an eighteen hour sail up the coast on the Golden Enterprise, the troupe arrives in Eureka with their shipment of mining supplies. After an over-long discussion about the price of an inn stay and how comfortable they need to be, the heroes chose the Bayside Inn to make their home for their brief stay in town.

In an effort to find some mischief to get into, the team ended up at the Diver Bar. After some light conversation with the bartender, the group is directed to one Blaine Glostic who can often be found at the Empty Net tavern. The Empty Net generally maintains a crowd rougher than that of the Diver, but off the adventurers go seeking the stories of this mad townsman.

For the price of a pint (then another and another) of ale, Blaine tells the story of his visit to Charnok House one dark and stormy night. In short, he was confronted by a banshee, a ghostly apparition about 12 feet tall. Taking an interest in gaining some battle scars, the troupe determines to visit this haunted house and discover the secret of this apparition.

As they left the tavern, they encounter a representative of the city council who offers them a deal. If they investigate Charnok House and are able to rid the town of the curse it holds, a reward will be given. In the meantime, the representative said, the sheriff has been alerted to the adventurers’ presence and a pass to carry weapons within town limits has been granted.

The road to the abandoned mansion known as Charnock House winds through the rocky coastal terrain, often offering a view of Humboldt Bay below. Low clouds press upon the travelers; occasional patches of sunlight appear out over the water. A stiff wind blows in off the waves, carrying the briny stink of churning salt water. The house is located four miles up the coast from Eureka and is accessible by an old road. Curious townsfolk follow the party for part of their journey engaging the band in conversation, asking about their intentions, and repeating the same rumors and stories heard in town. As soon as the silhouette of Charnock House comes into view, this escort of townsfolk grow grim-faced and retreat toward Eureka, leaving the band alone to face the mysteries and dangers of the haunted house.

The decrepit house sits on the highest ground in the area. Around it, a stone wall has crumbled in many places, exposing the interior grounds. An ornate metal gate lies open at the end of the road, swaying slightly in the wind. Wild flora grows throughout the inner yard, but all the years cannot hide the evidence of a well-tended garden that once sat here. The party traveled to the house, passed through the broken gate, and marched straight to the front door. They opened the door and stepped into the entrance hall. 

As they stood in the hall a banging noise was heard coming from the second floor and they went to investigate, finding a man gagged and bound in a locked bedroom at the end of the hall. A section of the rotted floor collapsed in the room and Eyrowyn was dropped roughly into the abandoned living area below, bruised but not beaten. The man, Ned Shakeshaft, tells them he was ambushed from behind on the road and woke up here. The party released him from his bonds and he led Dartina to his clothes and meager possessions in an upstairs storeroom. Exploring the rooms turned out to be a fruitless endeavor involving rotten floors, insect swarms, and a single crystal bauble. The armored form of Chane was too much for the rotted floor and he found himself back in the entrance hall amidst a cloud of dust and a pile of rubble. The party decided to join him via the stairwell and leave the mysteries of the second floor to someone else.

Back on the ground floor the band followed a trail of footprints across the dusty floor to first the library and then the large living area at the western end of the mansion. In the library, Heratio found the shelves empty, but amongst a pile of books in the corner three notable volumes were found. The remainder of the party spread into the living room where the footprints came to an end in the center of the room. Approaching the end of the tracks the band was subjected to a loud and malevolent voice, “Welcome, fools–welcome to your deaths!” Booming, fiendish laughter then echoed throughout the room.

  Terrified and frightened, Garnet, Chane, and Dartina refused to approach and sidled from the room. Eyrowyn noticed Ned preparing to attack Horatio and a single strike with her staff was enough for him to cease and beg a misunderstanding of his intent. Despite the discovery of a secret panel in the floor leading to a stairwell, half of the band could not bring themselves to conquer their fear and investigate further, leaving Horatio, Eyrowyn, and Ned to discover a large chamber and several bandits in the space below. A quick sleep spell cast, the sound of a door slamming shut, and the three of them had bound two bandits upon the floor before them.

  Unable to brave the trap door, Garnet, Dartina, and Chane backtracked to the kitchen, anticipating a stairwell to the cellar would be found thereabouts. Finding a set of stairs leading down from the scullery they were startled to approach and hear hideous screams–as if of a soul in torment–rise from the cellar below. At this, Chane simply turned and walked away leaving his companions to investigate without him. They descended the stairs and he began to further explore the house’s ground floor.

  In the center of a wine cellar wrapped with shelves and a scattering of broken wine bottles lay a human corpse clad in plate mail; a longsword lying at its right side and a shield covering its legs. Investigating the body, Garnet was able to determine that this poor soul had been slain and not fallen victim to some accident, but in investigating was infected with rot grubs.

Responding to the grunts of pain, Ned threw open a secret door and fired a crossbow at the presumed intruder. Dartina was able to swat the quarrel aside and help Garnet through the doorway and into the well lit barracks of  whatever bandits, pirates, or ruffians were based in the secret cellar room.

Facing another swarm of insects and having finished his search of the ground floor with nothing more than spider bites and a box of copper coins and a few pouches of colored sand, Chane gathered his will and descended through the secret hatch and down the stairwell to join the rest of the band. Arriving just in time to burn out the rot grubs from a badly wounded Garnet.

Having secured the captives and left them to the questioning of Eyrowyn and Chane, and not wanting to watch the removal of rot grubs from Garnets arm, Horatio set about a search of the captains quarters. Finding the spellbook of a mage with a greater and more impressive repertoire of magics than those in his own. An ominous sign of encounters yet to come.

And so we left our band of gentle adventurers for a time to re-enter a world less fantastic and lives less filled with peril.