Halls of the Blood King, part 1

Overview of first session, written by the GM (me).

Player Characters (PCs)

All are humans.

• Walter Whiteside, of noble background, now a Criminal and wanderer who excels at negotiations, diplomacy, and poker.
• Turlough Quince, a ne’er-do-well rogue (Criminal) who is a polymath and masterful imposter.
• Amaris, an Elementalist wanderer who struggles between a path as a healer/cleric or as an assassin, seeking redemption and revenge for her devastated homeland.
• Rathy, a xenoblooded Warrior with a carpentry background, would love to start a slave revolt.
• Malique, a Necromancer with a hunting background and a spirit familiar. Note: this “NPC” (non-player character) is played by the GM as part of the party’s adventures, and will serve as a backup character in the unfortunate case of another PC’s demise).

The manor materialized out of nowhere at the Blood Moon’s rising. For the past few hours, local villagers have been abducted and taken into the house. Our party was more-or-less gathered by Malique, who explained that a powerful undead lord guards secrets, treasures, and unspeakable monsters while his forces pillage the countryside’s blood and souls. The Halls only remain for the Blood Moon’s duration, so there are but a few hours before it disappears, likely taking all those inside to another dimension.

Our adventurers first decided use a small group of villagers (yelling, pitchforks) as a distraction at the front gates. Turlough used a plank to get over the vine fence on the west side. On the east side, Amaris went through a hole in the fence, followed by Walter who paused to ransack a skeleton for some valuables and pass two vials of holy water to Amaris.

The Blood Thrall Guards at the front gate got fed up with the protesters and lack of invitations, so they killed a villager named Johnny. The rest ran away. Malique shot a guard with her bow and Rathy downed the other one. While Malique hacked away at the Biting Gate, Rathy got dressed in a guard’s armor and took the guard’s barbed sword. He also bundled up his backpack and stuff to take with him as best he could in his disguise. Rathy left his large shield and old armor next to the body of Johnny the Bricklayer with a scribbled note, “For Johnny, down with the man, good luck, trowel through this.” Malique and Rathy entered the front (south) garden of rotting red roses.

Turlough climbed through a window into the west guest room. He was surprised by a sobbing banshee waiting for her son – she’s a bit daft and forgetful. Charming her with the gentlemanly offering of his handkerchief, she told Turlough that he could help find her son (lost to her for centuries, most likely) and she gave him a wax seal imprinted with the symbol of her signet ring. She could not remember the name of her son, but she knew her own name: Lenice Albathea. Turlough also sliced, rolled up, and took with him a painting of a regal and austere man – possibly her son. Exiting the room, Turlough took a pouch of herbs and an obsidian dagger from the pockets of the fearfully-frozen lifelike statues in the hallway; some statues were clearly alien creatures (including a Giger-esque xenomorph). When two guards came through with an abducted and gagged prisoner, Turlough pretended to be a statue and they walked right past him.

Walter slipped into the east guest room like a true thief in the night. Amaris followed though the window, tripping, making noise, and cursing. They found a ransacked room in disarray, and blood-stained walls. A fight and a struggle here. Someone lost. Walter checked the clothes in the dresser and found a small silver key with with an old noble’s family crest, and a handcrafted ivory comb.