Session One

***You find yourself in a strange place, and must take a moment to gather your bearings. The road seems abandoned, in fact the whole village might be abandoned. All along the road, as far as you can see through the mists, the houses are as dark as tombstones, and the shops have been boarded up. The sudden sound of gravel crunching underfoot draws your attention back to your immediate surroundings, and you look to see that you are no longer alone as figures emerge from out of the mist.***

## The Party

* Alyssandra, the Human Paladin/Warlock.

* Dakria, the Dragonborn Bard.

* Kalil, the Half-Elf Sea Sorcerer.

* Mirarook, the Half-Orc Monk.

* Tansy, the Tiefling Light Cleric.

## The Arrival

The five characters meet each other in what seems to be a long-deserted village shrouded in heavy fog. After introductions and discussion about how they all had arrived there, they attempted to explore the area for signs of life or escape. Their search, and the sound of children crying, led them to an old stone house, where they found the source of the crying: two very young children, a boy and a girl.

These children introduced themselves as Rose and Thorn, and asked the party if they were there to help them, explaining at there was a monster in the basement, their parents were missing, and that their baby brother, Walter, was all alone inside the house. They begged the party to go inside and save their parents and brother, attempting to appeal to Tansy in particular.

As the conversation stretched on, however, the party began to grow suspicious and notice worrying details. The fog was creeping closer and growing thicker, and even Kalil's magic could not part it. The boy had fallen silent and stopped crying, instead glaring at the party from behind Rose. Rose didn't so much as react to an attempt at intimidation. The children grew more frustraited and insistant as the party questioned them instead of going inside the house.

## Into the House

### The Foyer

As the party examined the room, they discovered, judging from the names on all of the portraits and the repeated heraldry throughout the room - a solitary windmill - that this home belonged to the Durst family, a family of human aristocrats. None of the portraits were of the children outside.

### The Main Hall

Moving further into the house, the party found themselves in a large hall with many doors leading to other rooms, a fireplace to the north, and a spiral staircase leading upwards. While inspecting the hall, they noticed that the wall carvings that had seemed to be a simple decoration of nymphs frolicing amid flowers and vines was actually full of snakes instead of vines. In an attempt to find a way down to the basement from this floor, they began to search the other rooms.

### The Closet

Dakira and Mirarook searched and found a closet, full of many cloaks, coats, and one top hat. In searching the pockets of the clothing, Mirarook found a torn scrap of paper which mentioned a "red book" of some kind.

### The Dining Room

When Tansy approached the door to this room, she heard the sound of people dining inside, but was unable to make out more than a few words - "basement," "keys," "tomorrow night," "children," and "attic" - which led her to ask one of the others to join her. When Kalil put his ear to the door, however, he heard nothing. The group decided to go inside.

The room was indeed empty, and though the table had many plates and glasses set out as if prepared for a meal, there was no sign that anything or anyone had been here before them. Though the room was empty, they found many things of interest before they left.

Tansy, searching for a secret passage, found that the woodland scene of deer carved into the walls had wolves lurking between the trees, and later looked out a window to discover that the fog outside had finally reached the house, enveloping it so closely that it completely obscured the view outside. When Dakira used Detect Magic, she was stunned by the realization that the spell was detecting everything inside the house, including the house itself. Kalil meanwhile, while examining the fireplace, saw his reflection and that of the rest of the party reflected in the polished stone, all of their reflections standing completely still and staring at him.

### The Kitchen and Pantry

After leaving the dining room, the party found their way to the kitchen. The kitchen, similar to the rooms before it, was completely neat and tidy, nothing dirty or out of place. They found a dumbwaiter that led upwards into the house, though it was too small for any of them to attempt to use it. Thinking the door to the pantry might be a door to the basement, they unlocked it and went inside to find it was well-ordered and fully stocked.

Dakira, still under the effects of Detect Magic, strongly advised the party against eating any of the food.

### The Den

The final room the party searched was a den that would not be out of place in a hunting lodge, with mounted animal heads, thick furs, and a trio of stuffed wolves stationed as if circling the room. The party was unable to find much in this room besides a few crossbows, a deck of cards, and a set of dice.

Afterwards, the party left the room to make their way up stairs.

## Things Gained

* A note about a "red book".
* Three Crossbows, one each of Hand, Light, and Heavy.
* A deck of playing cards.

## Developments

The party has reluctantly entered a haunted house under some duress and begun to look around.