Dicing with Death: Episode 145

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==Malcifer Recap==
Malcifer Winter, a tall & imposing 25 years old Human noble, is the ruler of Winter's Reach, a hidden village on the edge of the Blumwood on Gade Isle. Thew village is comprised of the Winter Estate House and a small number of villager buildings half a mile away. Around the estate itself is a wall made of rosebushes, where the old real walls once stood before the Conquest of the Kingdom of Gadia took place 130 years ago. 
In the village, the huts were made of former wagons. There was once an orchard, but it was destroyed a year ago by Brimstone, the Fire Incarnate. The lumber-mill however still stands. At the heart of the village is a Church that isn't in the Eridonan style. They worship the "Old Gods" aka the forgotten Gods of Winter.
===Day 1 (Spring)===
It is a dark and stormy day, sometime after the fall of Eridon. Lord Malcifer Winter reads a journal, in a sits in an armchair in front of a fireplace, over the fireplace is a massive family heirloom Bardiche Axe. There is a peel of lighting and Malcifer is called outside by his groundskeeper, "Lord" Rosegrove. Malcifer steps onto the balcony and Rosegrove indicates an old Oak Tree has been hit by lighting and has crashed into a part of the house.
Malcifer goes to investigate the damage, it appears superficial. Malcifer tells Rosegrove to get some lumberjacks and a carpenter from the village. Alone, Malcifer examines the damage closer and finds a wooden hatch into the ground and a ladder down, which breaks halfway down. Malcifer with a lantern heads down, and it leads to a forgotten cellar of the Estate House.
The room appears to be a 15 foot by 15-foot laboratory. The doorway has been bricked over a doorway in the direction of the Estate House. There are several tables and chairs in the room. In a jar on one of the tables is a female human head with the label says "Rose" in old Gadian. On another table is a full skeleton. Against the wall at a 45 degree is a nice fancy coffin that is locked shut, but there is a slit at head level. Malcifer opens the slide and sees a zombie inside. The metal of the coffin was blocking Malcifer's detection spell. Malcifer instinctively possesses the Zombie.
Malcifer hears the workmen arrive upstairs, so after some panicking, Malcifer returns to his body. A lumberjack Edgar, lowers a rope down and climbs down and sees the horrors of the laboratory as Malcifer stands up. Edgar panics and climbs up the rope. Malcifer closes the slit on the coffin, the Zombie now appears to be fully dead. Malcifer then climbs to the surface. There are only 2 workmen, Norman the Carpenter and Edgar. 
Malcifer rejects his poorly cooked dinner from Tomas, and heads to the library and starts to search for information about this lost cellar. The last person to update the house is his Great Grandmother Clarice. 
During the work, Malcifer talks with Edgar in his study. Edgar doesn't confirm that he will "forget" what he saw, so Malcifer attacks him with his Bardiche Axe. Edgar survives the attack, screams, and flees. Outside Malcifer shoots Edgar in the back, but Edgar survives that blow as well and keeps running. Norman the Carpender and "Lord" Rosegrove witness this attack, and both pretend they saw nothing.
Malcifer goes to investigate other extensions that Great Grandmother Clarice adds to the estate house, including a 3-story tower built for a mentally handicapped ancestor with a playroom and art room floors as well as a bedroom. He finds nothing of note.
Malcifer grabs a ladder and heads down back into the underground laboratory and reads the notes there. He then investigates the skeleton and finds it is from an old woman. Malcifer then unlocks the coffin with the zombie inside. Following the instructions in the notes, Malcifer makes an incision into the inanimate zombie's temple then activates the zombie again. To raise the skeleton Malcifer needs to sacrifice a small animal, so he heads outside and asks Tomas to collect a goat and 4 chickens.
Malcifer takes the goat down to the underground laboratory. He follows the instructions and sacrifices the goat to raise the skeleton. Malcifer then takes the goat to the kitchen for Tomas to cook.
===Day 2===
Malcifer heads into the village and heads to the church graveyard. While in the graveyard inspecting the headstones, Sheriff Fredi tells Malcifer that Edgar has been saying crazy stories, but is now locked inside the Sheriff's house.
Malcifer heads over to the Sheriff's house with Fredi. He finds that Edgar is badly injured. Malcifer sees that Edgar won't be healed for some months, so offers to give Edgar at his Estate House to recuperate as an excuse. Edgar protests, but is too injured to stop them taking him to Winter's Estate House.
That night Malcifer talks with Edgar talking about forgetting and keeping his mouth shut when a group 3 bandits are coming for the estate house. Malcifer leaves the house to get skeleton backup. He returns to find a bandit over Edgar's bed and 2 bandits holding Tomas a knife-point. Malcifer sends the skeletons in, the bandits flee at the sight of the undead. One jumps out Edgar's window, breaking it. One flees out the front door, one tries to flee out the back but ends up trapped in the parlor. Malcifer manages to capture the one in the parlor unconscious and drags him down into the underground laboratory.
After some torture, Malcifer is told the story that the 3 bandits are from a village outside of Pinespur and were lost in the woods for 2 days. Malcifer murders the man, flays him, then raises him as his 2nd skeleton minion. It is dawn when he is done.
===Day 3===
Malcifer collects a sledgehammer and breaks though the bricked up portal in the underground laboratory. 
Category:Dicing with Death Episodes
Category:Malcifer Winter Episodes