A Cordial Invitation

* Gerry Smithington
* Calvin the Clumsy
* Ladian Thegnshield
* Henry Honkinbottom

**A Cordial Invitation** is a one-shot adventure, set at a formal party in the lavish Peyton Manor in Minerva as part of the Aurelius Centennial Celebration. It features the debut of Gerry Smithington, alongside halfling Henry Honkinbottom, human bard Calvin the Clumsy and dwarven ranger Ladian Thegnshield.

## Featured Characters

### The Team

* Gerry Smithington
* Calvin the Clumsy
* Ladian Thegnshield
* Henry Honkinbottom

### New

* Hosea Peyton
* Celene Peyton *(appears as dead body)*
* Godfrey Wilson
* Jolkir Mammiah
* Karla Mammiah
* Helena Quatre
* Brok

### Deaths

* Hosea Peyton
* Godfrey Wilson

## The Story

### Act I - Lavish Beginnings

Gerry the Gnome stepped off his carriage, paid for and arranged by Hosea Peyton, owner of Peyton Manor and host of the party. Whilst taking in the view of the grandiose house, he met halfling and brother of Harold Honkinbottom, Henry Honkinbottom, a much more successful iteration of his brother. They spoke briefly and agreed to take a stroll inside, however on entry the two felt a sense of pain in the head and a slight cloudiness of vision briefly. Inside the manor, they witnessed what could have been one of the most pathetic displays of musical talent humanly possible from Calvin the Clumsy, attempting to "play" his lute in front of the ginormous statue of Kindra in the centre of the main lobby. however the pair chose to omit this detail when introducing themselves to him. Calvin somehow managed to impress the likes of a beautiful dame named Karla Mammiah. She praised the young bard until being interrupted by her husband and elf, Jolkir Mammiah, he scoldered the three. He also insulted Hosea and the party's festivities while he was at it. The elf took his wife to the bar for a drink. Shortly after this interaction, a mysterious fortune teller named Helena Quatre tried to seduce one of the three, and offered Henry a fortune, seeing a dark future and a void inbound. After, Hosea Peyton made his way down the grand staircase and introduced the guests to his home and the celebration, he nervously said:

*“Good Evening Ladies and Gentleman, and allow me to welcome you all to the Peyton Manor! As owner and host tonight I, Hosea Peyton, remind you all to have a great time and remember.. life is for the living. I mean hell… anyone of us could be dead tomorrow!"*

After his opening speech, Hosea spoke to his hired bodyguard/bouncer for the evening, Ladian Thegnshield. He was impressed by the dwarf's recent tale of slaying 25 goblins by his own hand and decapitating Isleger The Bold. Gerry, Henry and Calvin greeted the two and made quick friends with Ladian. Hosea took the opportunity to slide out of the discussion, using the excuse of the Butler, Godfrey Wilson, needing his help. This allowed the group of four opportunity to explore the manor, they first took a trip to the dining room, where the bar was. Here Brok, a bouncer and occasional bar tender, took their orders and served them in true Orc fashion. After the first round of drinks, Brok offered the four a shot of 'Botanic Panic', a homebrewed shot made by Hosea himself which only the toughest could stomach. All but Calvin could handle the shot, with the bard vomiting all over the expensive marble flooring. Brok laughed at the bard. The Orc's respect for the gnome, halfling and dwarf grew after they proved their alcoholic worth, and allowed them to explore Hosea's Wine Cellar. Inside the Wine Cellar, Gerry found an invoice from Gunther G. Grottley for two crates of Reckedan Seshvetica's very own 'Darkies' cider. Henry found a bottle of expensive Favillian Deep Rose Wine and sneakily stole it without the Orc seeing. Ladian spotted a hidden door in the corner, but chose not to explore it at this time due to Brok supervising the four. The dwarf also noticed a pristine looking gold safe in the cellar and kept this in mind for later.

Returning upstairs to the main lobby, the group ran into political activist Florean Glastoras, a friend of Hosea Peyton and guest at the party, who claimed to be hosting a rally the next day at Kirholm University, in Kirholm. After the conversation, the group took a trip to the library, where they inspected the books and caught a librarian from The Great Library of Minerva. The old man firstly stated he was there to look for a book on botany knowledge that Hosea Peyton allegedly allowed the library to have. Henry accused the man of lying, after checking all the books in the 'B' section of the library, finding none regarding botany knowledge, to which the old man admitted he was looking for books on psychic malleability. They scared the librarian off as he ran away literally pissing himself. With the library now empty, the four looked around, finding a glass cabinet containing a Peyton family heirloom, The Ivory Blade, however it was inaccessible at the time and not really necessary. Calvin assumed that simply a library existing in a manor surely meant that a book being pulled would open a secret entrance to something, and encouraged the other three to start flinging books out their respective bookcases in hopes of discovering a hidden room. They were wrong, and made a massive mess for no reason.

With book tossing now over with, the group returned main lobby and began to walk upstairs to take a more detailed look at the manor's rooms. However, only a few steps up, all four individuals began to feel lightheaded and dizzy. They all collapsed and blacked out.

### Act II - Psychic Awakening

The time was 1:00am, Gerry and Ladian awoke in what appeared to be a guest room, both very confused. They stepped out into the hallway to also find Calvin and Henry leaving their guest room. The four had no idea what happened and why, and proceeded to walk down the corridor. On the wall was a blood written cry for help stating "I CAN'T FEEL THE REAL ME". Ladian's astute survival skills allowed he to notice the fresh pools of blood leading towards the storage room. Upon investigating, they found a dead woman with claw marks on her head, as if she tried to claw her brain out. They also found a note mentioning a button in the library.

Walking down around in the upper main lobby, the group overheard and argument between two familiar voices, upon closer inspection it appeared to be Godfrey Wilson (the butler) and Jolkir Mammiah. Jolkir was accusing Hosea of being responsible for this, showing disdain for the man as previously shown in Act I. The butler was offended by how Joklir was talking about his master and assertively suggested the elf calmed down and waiting until help arrived. With the exchange over, the four asked Jolkir what he was complaining about, to which he announced that more people have died, for example five people in the dining room. Calvin asked of Karla Mammiah's whereabouts and learnt that she was upstairs resting with a "headache".

The four characters took the opportunity to explore the manor to search for clues and most importantly, Hosea Peyton, seemingly a suspicious individual at this point. Firstly, they tried to leave through the front door, but when trying to, felt an immense pain to the head and unwillingness to leave, as if someone or something was keeping them on manor grounds. They then checked the dining room for the bodies. The bodies indeed were there, however none of them were identifiable. Next, they searched the library to where they came across two hostile and dangerous possessed people, screaming that they can't feel themselves. The group had no choice but to kill them in combat. Thanks to the note in the storage room, Calvin found the button behind a family portrait of the Peyton family, unlocking the cabinet and allowing him to retrieve The Ivory Blade.

Returning to the main lobby, Jolkir was worried about his wife as he didn't hear from her in a while. Ladian also mentioned the safe found in the basement earlier in the evening. This led to a 15 minute argument amongst the party, debating whether to go to the safe in the Wine Cellar or upstairs to find Karla, Calvin wanted to save his one and only fan. Democracy decided that Karla was more important. In Leah's bedroom, Karla was seen rocking back and forth on a young girl's bed muttering "I'm not me. I'm not me. I'm not me" to herself. She became more agitated as the group got closer to her, she was clearly under possession like those in the library. Calvin thought that playing her the song that he sang earlier at the party would soothe her spirit, however it worked the opposite. She was on the verge of a full blown rage. Gerry suggested to go and bring Jolkir to help calm the confused woman down. This was a correct assumption, as the words of her husband helped her fall asleep and thus no longer be a threat to the group and herself. The elf's respect for the four grew tremendously for saving his wife.

Whilst upstairs, the group led by Gerry decided to check the Study, to which they found a letter from Celene (Hosea's wife) stating that she placed Leah (their daughter) into care of a distant family member due to the "circumstances back home" and the "cards that have been dealt". She praised her husband for all he did and apologised for what happened. They also found what appeared to be a combination for the safe in the Wine Cellar. Ladian also found three health potions. In the Wine Cellar, they opened the gold safe to reveal The Caduceus Charm. The group explored past the secret door, uncovering the Hidden Room. In here was the body of Celene Peyton, who committed suicide due to suffering from the terminal illness of Thelmis and due to the Mind Flayer's influence. Here Calvin also found The Serenator.

Once again returning upstairs to the main lobby, the only room left to try would be the Master Bedroom on the second floor. However the door was locked. The butler claimed that one of the groundskeeper's had the master key to the manor, and that he was last seen outside near the Greenhouse. Outside, they found Hosea's dead dog, Jazz. They also found a mortally wounded Helena Quatre, who fell into the arms of Calvin. Wanting to save her, Calvin used a magic spell to heal the life threatening bite to the stomach found on Helena's body. She was incredibly grateful and returned to the Manor to wait for help. Before entering the greenhouse, the four went to the Gazebo. The Gazebo was made for the Peyton family to celebrate the birth of daughter Leah, even having her date of birth (11/04/91) etched onto the bench found inside. Inside the group encountered a phantom, who cryptically spoke in riddles, he said:

*“The manor bleeds. The minds present bleed. Isn’t it hindsight a wonderful thing? You try to fix things without realising your working with broken tools. What keeps you here? Your desire for treasure? For bloodshed? Or is something else keeping you here?”*

The phantom is confirmed to be of Hosea Peyton. It requested that the four leave it to peacefully remain at the gazebo, they respected its wishes, after Gerry stole a silver lantern.

Arriving at the Greenhouse, the group explored the inside, immersing themselves in the beauty of all the plants amateur botanist Hosea had collected over the years. Ladian found a plant named Amerii, native to Ghadames, which he kept for later use. This moment of peace was rudely interrupted by the growl of a werewolf at the far end of the greenhouse. Attempting to sneak was a waste of time, as Ladian smashed a glass and alerted the werewolf into starting a fight. The mangled corpse of the other orc groundskeeper was seen next to the monster. The group slayed the werewolf, with help from the silver lantern found in the Gazebo. The werewolf was revealed to be the groundskeeper seen at the beginning of the evening outside by Gerry and Henry. They obtained the master key to the Manor. Their celebration was short-lived however, because they collapsed yet again in a sudden flash.

### Act III - Flayed Minds

A few hours had passed, and the four heroes were awoken by Jolkir Mammiah, once a nuisance but now a friend. He explained that the four had been missing for 4 hours and was advised by Helena that they were last seen at the Greenhouse. He ushered them to return to the mansion as it wasn't safe outside. They followed the elf back to Peyton Manor.

Back inside the main lobby, Helena Quatre and now a sane Karla Mammiah were found waiting together. Karla thanked the four for their help and hugged Calvin. The butler's whereabouts was unknown, Karla claimed to have seen the butler go upstairs looking distressed. The group had only one place left to check, the Master Bedroom. They walked up the stairs to hopefully find Hosea and an answer to what was going on all this time.

Inside the Master Bedroom, the four found a dead Hosea Peyton. Upon closer inspection, it was confirmed he died during the party. Just like the other possessed individuals, he had claw marks on his head but he had slit wrists. The group were taken aback by the revelation, ruling him out as the one behind all of what happened. Whilst processing the newly uncovered information, Godfrey Wilson, the butler, sneaked up behind Ladian and stabbed him with a knife. The dwarf stumbled back into a candle which set the room on fire. The butler was possessed, he screamed about fulfilling "his" will and "his" commands. However his speech was interrupted as he stabbed himself shortly after, collapsing and disintegrating into the air.

A Mind Flayer took the place of the Butler, and began to fight the four heroes in the burning Master Bedroom. He proved initially too challenging for the rag tag bunch of warriors, constraining Calvin in at tentacle and fatally wounding Henry. The bard managed to escape the Flayer's grasp and the Caduceus Charm saved Henry from dying multiple times during the course of the fight. The fire spread very quickly inside the bedroom, causing part of the floor to fall through, nearly ending the life of Ladian, however he managed to climb out of the whole and avoid death. The wooden support beams on the ceiling began to collapse, with one falling on Henry Honkinbottom. This trapped the halfling and ruled him unable to fight for the duration of the battle. Calvin, with the aid of Gerry and Ladian, was able to put the Mind Flayer to death with the Peyton Heirloom, The Ivory Blade, once and for all. The fire had nearly consumed the whole room at this point. Calvin tried to assist the trapped halfling but was unaware of the unstable floor, he fell through into the blaze. Henry was bound to follow but just at the right time Jolkir, the elf, saved Henry saying "too many people have died today". Ladian, Gerry, Henry and the others still alive in the manor fled through the front door, now able to leave due to the Mind Flayer's grip no longer being present.

Outside, the morning light shone down on the three, as they discussed what happened. During this, a mangled and severely injured Calvin 'the truly Courageous' limped out through the front door, somehow surviving the fall and blaze. The horror was over. The manor burnt down and only those alive to tell the story set out to continue their lives.

## Trivia

* Kiva, a tiefling thief, was also in attendance at the Peyton Manor Centennial Celebration in 99 A.A., stealing off many of the rich party attendants. She left early, never seeing the horrors that occurred later that night.