Lord Alric’s former residence — and the campaign’s first proper dungeon crawl. Five sessions of layout, traps, sub-bosses, a real boss fight, and post-clear looting. Pulses with blue light from outside; from inside, a “shit heap” overgrown with debris, stalked by something behind a heartbeat.
The party entered in Session 16, set up whistle signals (1 = leaving, 2 = enemy / come to me) before crossing the threshold, and emerged in Session 21 to church bells, cheers, and flowers thrown toward them.
Layout
- Grand foyer — two stone sentinels flank the door (animate to seal you in). A large following-mirror (reflection lags by a heartbeat, contains the hag’s power, teleports anyone who shatters it). A defaced statue.
- Hallway with the murmuring painting — fresh paint that wasn’t there a moment ago. A young Lord Alric’s voice. Destroyed by Elijah in Session 16 — a shadow creature came out of it.
- Ballroom — image of a long-ago time, ethereal musicians and dancers. Bardic inspiration if you play along with the band.
- Lord Alric’s study — table with a hag rune crudely etched into it. Ruasar tried to scratch it out and a large humanoid materialized to attack.
- Hidden stairwell — Platform 9¾-style magic walls (poke through, step through). Yort Li found a weeping ghostly woman just inside.
- Game room — five coins with the silently-screaming faces of each party member (except Fernie). Pocketed by Cisco.
- Master bedroom — accessed by passing through the foyer mirror.
- Lady Serenna’s chamber — a wooden skull-contraption set up over a hag rune. Freed her soul in Session 18 (and trapped Ruasar’s head permanently in the contraption).
- First-floor hallway — sentient rug encounter. A giant rotting humanoid stuck mid-squeeze in the stairwell (Session 21).
- Blood rune room — table with a bloody rune, candles, and a stone bowl. “The blood remembers.” Visions on offer at a price; Edward’s preserved goop poured in here in Session 20 for the silent-scream apparition.
- Innermost chamber — a sunless sea, something beginning to awaken, red eyes and a long tongue. Where the manor’s hag (impersonating Lady Serenna) was finally killed in Session 20.
Inhabitants
- Pale ghosts / poltergeists — drawn by vitality. “We hunger.” “Save us with your flesh.”
- Animated armor in the foyer — picked Lorien’s own sword off the floor and threw it back at him. Knocked him out.
- A shadow creature from the destroyed painting.
- Stone sentinels flanking the front doors.
- A sentient rug in the first-floor hallway.
- A giant rotting humanoid stuck mid-squeeze in the stairwell.
- Lady Serenna — sub-boss, killed in Session 18.
- The hag wearing Serenna’s shape — boss, killed in Session 20.
Boss fight
The hag in Lady Serenna's shape + three shadows
Innermost chamber, Session 20. Serenna grabbed Lorien in an icy grip and morphed into the hag. Ruasar dealt the killing blow. The manor exhaled out years of rot.
“When one hag dies, others will rise.”
Loot
Manor spoils ( Session 21)
- Grimoire wrapped in chains — taken by Lorien; felt inherently heretical, that he should burn it.
- Wooden toys with the initials SA.
- A pile of gold from Lord Alric’s false-bottom foot locker. Cisco pocketed half on the way out.
Visited in
- Session 16 — entry, foyer, mirror, ballroom, study, poltergeist combat starts.
- Session 17 — poltergeist fight, mirror destroyed (teleporting Elijah and Fernie to the master bedroom), animated armor combat. Lorien downed.
- Session 18 — hidden stairs, game room, Lady Serenna sub-boss, skull contraption traps Ruasar permanently.
- Session 19 — sentient rug ambush starts (cut short by IRL power outage).
- Session 20 — rug combat, blood rune room, boss fight in the innermost chamber.
- Session 21 — looting, the giant humanoid in the stairwell encountered (left alone), triumphant return to Brackenford.
State
Cleared. The manor “exhaled out years of rot” after the boss fell. No reason to ever go back.