Party at Haggelthorn Hall

Party at Haggelthorn Hall

Type	Dungeon
Status	Explored November 907 TA
Location	Haggelthorn
Hex	7514
Campaign	The Siren's Song
Adventure #	128

What Has Gone On Before...

The Party at Haggelthorn Hall is a celebration of the destruction of the Great Storm and the finding of the wings of the Wanton Wench. In Elias' mind, it is also marks the beginning of a business partnership with the Merchants of the Wanton Wench.

You are met at the front door by Frederick the Butler, an impossibly tall and thin man with thin lips and haughty expression. He wears a fine suit of excellent weave, albeit a design that went out of fashion some decades ago. He wears a simple silver necklace with a set of small stones set in a circle about his neck.

The necklace stones will glow when a Haggelthorn needs him. It also lets him know where the Haggelthorns are all times.

The party is ushered into the ballroom of Haggelthorn Manor to meet with Elias, who is sitting in an overstuffed leather chair near the fire. A small table with a whiskey decanter sits in the middle of five additional chairs that have been arranged around the fire.

Elias Haggelthorn is the patriarch of the family.

He was married to Henrietta Haggelthorn, but she died many years ago - apparently of a poisoning. His father took the Hall back over from the Brimbleweeds who squatted on the property some seventy-five years ago. Elias has two sons - Mortimer and Maxwell. Mortimer is tall and fair, Maxwell is tall and dark. Both look slightly elven, although their mother Henrietta was a short, stout woman of human descent. Mortimer is currently is Teufeldorf, and Maxwell is on a Tang Trader on the Great Sea - both on family business.

• He will ask their tale.
  • He knows of the Wanton Wench having met with Henry Hyde in early May (May 1-3) and concluded business with him - giving him a chest to take to the Overlord. Where is it?
  • He is intensely interested in Java. He had heard about her from his man in town (Ashby Baker) who had bought a few barrels of coffee beans from Jareth just a few months ago. Ashby had told stories about how Java could imitate any sounds and even cast spells. He will treat Java like a most important person.
• Elias takes the letter and reads it. After a few moments, he gets up and paces to the fireplace, crumples the letter and tosses it in. "You don't know any assassins in Portsmith, do you? I need to have Jana Blackfire killed. The bitch is proposing a search of all ships and cargo coming into the port for contraband and other items of a sinister nature. Sinister nature. Bah. Enough. She is going strangle my trade east to the dwarves."

The Gifts

Well, there are lots of strange things that happen in this old house. Paintings move about, furniture tips over, wailing can be heard in the old green house. The usual stuff.

The staff has reported seeing the ghost of my grandfather Thaddeus Haggelthorn near his portrait in the Game Room upstairs. Now, ghosts aren't new here. But Thaddeus hasn't ever been seen before. He was angry accusing the maids of stealing "his book" whatever that is. Well, he turned Gretchen into an old lady. I had to give the staff time off - a holiday - to recover. And since then, it has gotten worse. Things have gone missing - most recently the gifts that I prepared for tonight. They were wrapped in bright, gaily colored paper right on this table.

• Gretchen Horn - upstairs maid + book thief
• Marisol Merrywidow - downstairs maid
• Zachary Pearson - groundskeeper/handyman
• Anna Lee Morrow - housekeeper (matron)
• Chase Wallace - footman

On staff:

• Eleanor Lacy - cook
• Frederick Morrow - butler

We searched the Hall and even did some scrying on the contents. But, alas, we could not find the gifts.

So, I brought a mystic, Ostelinda Gray, a trusted family friend, in to find out if there was some connection to the spiritual world. She was in the middle of a reading. She had been talking about a dream and opening a door. Miss Gray suddenly made shuddering noises as if being strangled croaking out a few last words: "Five are true, four are lies. And there are some fibs mixed in with the truth."

And then she died. She is still upstairs in the Smoking Den. I'm not sure what happened, but her death is clearly tied to your gifts and the strange happenings in the house of late.

Approaching Haggelthorn Hall

Haggelthorn Hall - Outside View

Outside

As you move through the woods towards the manor house, the only signs of wildlife you see are a few owls. Periodically, the trees thin out and you get some glimpses of the manor house. As you come over the crest of a small hill, you get a good view of the manor.

Haggelthorn Hall sits upon a hillock which is otherwise covered with trees and shrubs. The estate wall and the manor itself are made of cut stone. The house reflects a gothic style with intricate carvings, statues, and scroll work in abundance. You surmise that the building is a two-story structure (with the exception of the tower which looks like it may contain three or four levels). The graveyard and slave quarters lie at the bottom of the hillock.

Graveyard

You see a lone figure moving about in the graveyard. The lone figure is human-like in form. From the distance that you are away, no details can be seen. It looks as if the figure is pulling up weeds and small plants and putting them into a pile. After a few minutes, the figure heads for the slave's quarters (the small building near the manor) and goes inside. You do not see the figure come back out.

This is the corpse of the last person to have betrayed the Haggelthorns. He will do his duties until a new traitor is found. Current = Roland Dumpt (see Room 17). Current - Gretchen Horn who stole books from him to sell at Bull & Finch.

The graveyard seems to be in better repair than the rest of the house. A pile of freshly picked weeds attests to this fact. Second, there seems to be a trail of footprints (of a fairly fresh nature) between the graveyard and the slave's quarters. All of the graves seem to be weathered, and the reddish clay soil is for the most part unbroken.

Checking out the footprints, you find that they are unremarkable belonging to one human-sized creature. The footprints are evenly spaced and there is no evidence that the creature has been dragging a corpse or running. You assume that the figure you saw walking around in the cemetery made them. The footprints seem to connect the servant's quarters with the graveyard. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to the footprints. The figure seems to just wander around picking weeds and tending to the graves.

Graves of note:

• The head of Derek Brimbleweed is buried under a headstone that reads: Grave Of Unnamed Baby Boy, October 31, 790 TA. Digging through the reddish-brown clay yields a cloth sack containing a severed and slightly decomposed head. You also find a small plain wooden coffin. The coffin is child-sized.
• A fresh, unmarked grave in the yard contains the body of Sebastian Finch.
• A fresh grave with an elaborate tombstone reads, " Ostelinda Gray, Mystic, Friend, Advisor".

Front Entrance

The stone wall running between the north-east corner of the graveyard and the tower seems to be in good repair. There are a number of vines and overgrown bushes lining the wall.

Greeting you on either side of the entrance to the hall are large statues of chimera. The statues are not of exceptional quality, but they do send shivers down your spine. The walk up to the front door is a simple stone path overgrown with vines and crawlers. To the right and left of the path there are several large bushes.

Haggelthorn - West - First Floor

Haggelthorn Hall - West - First Floor

Room 1: Entryway

The front door is of thick oak construction. The hinges are newly installed as are those in the northwestern door. The walls of the large hall are darkly paneled and sport several very ancient and tattered heraldic banners. The center of the room is filled by a large wooden table on which sit three silver candlesticks.

The three silver candlesticks are quite heavy, and you think that they may be very old and solid silver.

Room 2: Anteroom

This room is a six-sided hexagon with a door on each wall. There are two sets of armor in this room. Each carries a long sword and shield. The floor is a checker board pattern of white, brown and black hex-shaped tiles.

Room 3: Kitchen

The sweet smell of baking bread and boiling stew greets your nose. The kitchen is an oddly shaped room. It is roughly 35 feet by 40 feet with the corners cut out. The room contains a number of large tables, cauldron pots, and brick ovens.

Two doors lead to pantries. The first is a small room containing several large wooden casks, a rack of wine bottles, a pan of tepid water, and about forty tankards. Behind the second door, you find four deer and carcasses hanging to cure. There are several very sharp knives in this room.

Room 4: Wine Cellar

There is a moist chill in the air here and thick moss growing on the ceiling of this room. In the eastern corner is a desk with a ledger book, several pens and inks, and a chair. Several hallways beyond are filled with wine racks.

NOTE: The ledger book is for the Haggelthorn household (the Brimbleweeds never opened it). If studied carefully, one will find that there are several bottles of poisoned wine for unwanted guests.

It looks as if the second hallway was under construction as it is shorter than the rest.

At the end of the third hallway is a secret room containing several bottles of priceless wine. In addition, several Potions of Healing and Poison antidotes can be found by a careful search.

Room 5: Art Gallery

A dark narrow hallway runs to the south. The floors in the hallway and room are made of cut stone. The ceilings are out of your view. The hallway is unadorned except for a periodic torch holder on the wall.

The hallway breaks into a large room - a gallery of sorts. You can see the vague outline of statues, the dark forms of paintings on the walls, and what looks like an ancient altar against one wall. The room has several large windows which give some illumination for you to see by.

NOTE: There are only two magical items in the room: the door in the northeast corner and the altar.

The door in the northeast corner is very strange. It has a blue and red haze across it. Several strange runes are carved on the door, and you notice a slight shimmering around the edges of the door.

The exact source of the magic seems to be strange runes: a petrifaction glyph of warding.

The large windows on the east wall looks out over a dark courtyard filled with trees and hedges.

1. This is a statue of a old woman wearing a large hooded cloak. Her hunched form and disfigured face are quite revolting. In one old gnarled hand is a staff, and the other carries a lantern. The workmanship of the statue is very good.
2. The scene portrayed by the gruesome statue makes you want to turn away. Carved in a black polished stone is the effigy of a young man being eaten by a large lizard-like creature. From the look on the young man's stone face, it appears that he is in great pain.
3. This is a statue of a young man dressed in a chain mail shirt, leather trousers, and leather boots. The young man is dark-featured. From his belt, hangs a plain long sword. On his right hand, the young man wears a falconry glove. A young hunting hawk sits on the extended forefinger of the man. This statue seems to face statue 4.
4. This is a statue of a young woman. She is very pretty with fair features. She is dressed in a formal court dress with a large voluminous cloak. Her hands are crossed and she seems to be watching statue 3.
5. This object is not really a statue. On a dark pedestal sits a large glass crystal. The crystal is about three feet in diameter. It is a sphere with many facets. The crystal glows slightly.
6. In the corner is an ancient wooden altar of some sorts. The altar sits on a large dais. Several steps lead up to the altar. There is a canopy hanging over the altar. In front of the altar is the statue of a priest wearing robes. All that you can make out of the priest is that he is praying. The altar area is very dark, but you can see four small objects on the altar. To the left side of the altar is a standing candelabra. A black taper sits in the holder, but it is not lit. On the back wall (above the altar), several strange runes of some kind can be seen. (see the Bricklebon below)
7. This is a painting of three figures. The first figure is that of a dead boar. Sticking from the bloodied hog is the shaft of a dagger. Next to the boar is an injured young man. His blood stained shirt belays the fact that he has been gored by the boar. He is crawling towards the third figure, an old man. The old man is sitting just out of reach of the young man. His hands are cupped and filled with water. An evil grin runs across the old man's face.
8. This painting is mostly black. From the blackness peers the leering face of an old man. Yellow stained teeth and wild unkempt gray hair are the most prominent features of the painting.
9. This is a painting of a young knight dressed in plate armor carrying a lance. He sits on his horse overlooking a great chasm. On the far side of the chasm is a large white castle. The knight seems to be watching the castle closely.
10. Two figures are battling on a great battlefield of corpses in this painting. The stormy plain shows no signs of life except for the two figures. The first figure faces you. He is dressed in a red cloak and tunic. He is fighting with a spear and wears a silver helmet with golden wings on top. He sports a red beard and long red hair. The second figure is dressed entirely in black. He wears black plate and a black cloak. He is fighting with a black longsword.
11. The final painting is simply an dark silhouette of a skeleton against a red background. The skeleton is standing with arms crossed, but no other features can be determined.

The Bricklebon

The canopy overhanging the altar radiates a strong aura of magic (or perhaps something on top of the canopy). It is impossible to climb up to see on top of the canopy.

The priest statue is actually a human skeleton bent into a kneeling position. Over the skull of the skeleton is a mask of sorts. The mask looks like a symbolic representation of a hideous demon. Covering the rest of the skeleton is its cloak. The mask, cloak, and skeleton do not seem to be magical.

The candelabra is a large brass object, very large and very heavy. It is obviously not the same as the ones on the table in the dining hall. The black candle in the holder radiates a strong aura of magic.

On the back wall (above the altar), several strange runes of some kind can be seen. These runes seem to be different from the ones on the magical door. One might interpret the symbols as a chant of sorts. The symbols radiate an aura of magic.

The four objects on the table are: a tinder box (with flint), a book, a jar of dried herbs, and a small brazier (with a candle underneath). The brazier and herbs seem to be magical. The book is bound in a dark red leather. The pages are very well worn and a black bookmark is present in the tome.

Picking up the book, you scan the pages quickly. The book seems to be a series of incantations and prayers. The marked prayer has to do with summoning a creature called the Bricklebon. It is hard to glean much from the prayer except that the Bricklebon is a wily beast that will provide great service to any who is more clever than him. To summon the Bricklebon one needs to light the big candle, chant the prayer on the wall, light the brazier, add the herbs, and read the incantation from the book.

The Ceremony of Summoning

Taking the hideous mask and cloak off the praying skeleton, your character puts them on. The skeleton crumbles into a pile of disjoint bones. Taking the tinder box, you light the large black candle. Almost immediately, your mind reels and dizziness overtakes you. Looking at the wall, the runes that were previously unfathomable are now as clear as day. Reading them, you soon find yourself chanting a melodic verse. Your hands spring to the tinder box, and quickly the brazier is ablaze. Adding a few pinches of the dried herbs, the sweet smell of lilacs fill the room. Your mind races out of control. Your eyes skip between the chant on the wall and the prayer in the book. From your lips, utter words in a language unknown to you. Not noticing that the room has grown almost pitch black, you continue to chant. Frenzied, time passes.

"I'm here already," a gruff voice behind you brings reality flooding back. You stand and turn to see a curious sight. In front of you is a small green demon. Hairless with green glistening skin resembling a wet pickle, Bricklebon smiles at you with yellowish teeth and red eyes.

The Bricklebon Contest

The three-foot tall demon is leaning against a golden two-pan balance scale. The scale is almost as tall as the demon. Bricklebon holds a small bag in one hand. In the other, he holds a set of forty weights. The weights are small metal cylinders with the numbers "1" to "40" marked on them. The forty cylinders are set in eight rows of five in a wooden block. "In my left hand, I hold a bag of gems and jewels. The total weight of the bag is between 1 and 40 dragoons." The demon places the bag on the left side of the scale. "In my right hand," Bricklebon continues, "I hold forty weights ranging from 1 to 40 dragoons. They are yours." Bricklebon hands you the wooden rack and weights. "This is the Scale of Logic. He who masters the scale, masters me. Several of the weights that you hold in your hand are real, and the rest are deadly. You must choose the minimum number of weights that you might need to weigh this bag of gems. If you choose incorrectly, you will be my servant and must give me all of your precious possessions. If you choose correctly, I will be your servant and you may keep this bag of gems. Which of the weights do you need to weigh my bag of gems?" Bricklebon smiles thinking himself terribly clever. (ANS: 1 3 9 27)

Haggelthorn - East - First Floor

Haggelthorn Hall - East - First Floor

Room 6: Formal Ballroom

This is the formal ballroom/hall of the manor. It has a vaulted ceiling which is hidden in the shadows. The floor of the hall is cut stone, and a large rug adorns the center of the room. In one corner is a large stone fireplace, and one wall is given to a large staircase leading to the second level. The room is open with very little furniture. The east wall incorporates an old facade that holds three tall, stained-glass windows.

A mahogany table has been set up on the large carpet - along with six overstuffed leather chairs. A silver and walnut stand sits near the table filled with a heaping pile of roasted coffee beans. While this is clearly not the typical configuration for the room, it is simply elegant - with silver candelabras glowing with white candles and a roaring fire in the fireplace.

Stained Glass Golem

Room 9: Private Dining Hall

The room is a private dining hall. There are rich tapestries hanging on the wall, a large walnut table and 16 chairs occupy the center of this room.

Haggelthorn - East - Second Floor

Haggelthorn - East - Second Floor

Room 18: Gameroom

This richly furnished game room holds a number of large tables. These tables contain crude pool, shuffle board, and billiards tables. Along one wall are racks of cues, balls, pucks, and the like. No less than five fireplaces are available to keep the room warm. Lush chairs are spread throughout the room. Several musical instruments, including a curled horn, nine-stringed lute, and a harp hang on the wall. A large picture of a handsome man leaning on a cluttered mantle hands askew on the north wall.

The man is Thaddeus Haggelthorn (770-832 TA) - who steps out of the painting to chat with the party.

Room 19: Upstairs Maid's Room

This room is plain with simple stone walls and floors, bed, and furniture. The pieces are well crafted and clearly old. The room is well maintained.

This is Gretchen's room. She shares the bed with the other upstairs maid - Marisol. They are away on holiday at the Inn.

If searched, the party will find a lead-lined box at the bottom of the dresser. It covered with small etching of mythical beasts - although upon looking away, the image is forgotten. It seems impossible to remember what beasts are on the box. The top is locked with a grid of squares and letters.

It is locked with a puzzle. The box is non-corporeal in the dreamlands unless the puzzle is solved.

Inside, the box contains a bag of rubies worth several thousand gold and a bag of 200 gold pieces. A card inside the box reads "Finch & Bull".

Gretchen is selling the books to Sebastian Finch - a seedy little man who is giving her rubies in exchange for them.

Room 20: Nanny's Room

The door to this room is locked.

This room is plain with simple stone walls and floors, bed, and furniture. The pieces are well crafted and clearly old. There is a gold cross and prayer beads here. In addition, there is a spellbook which can be used to summon the Bricklebon using the clues from the slave's quarters. A bronze key will be found on the nightstand of this room.

Upon entering, you notice the room is cold and a breeze is coming through a broken window in the corner of the room. This indistinct figure suddenly takes on a nightmarish shape, not quite human or animal or fiend.

Room 22: Office / Library

A chandelier illuminates book-filled piles of crates covering this libarary's wooden floor. Finely carved bookcases line the wall, their contents disorganized and incomplete. Glass domes protect various precious relics, though many appear to be missing.

This is where Thaddeus's Book - "Edges of the Dreamland" was taken by Gretchen.

A number of volumes stand out in color in dreamland - most of them ancient tomes - several on summoning creatures from beyond the world, a number of treatises on death and the afterlife, several on contacting the dead, etc.

Room 25: Toy Room

The door to this room is locked.

This lavishly paneled room is a children's playroom. Esoteric symbols - all-seeing eyes, talismanic seals, and even an alphabet written in an arch for spirit communication - has been carved into walls of this chamber. The floor is covered with luscious pillows, exotic rugs, and piles of comfortable blankets. A large table and two chairs take up the entirety of the eastern wall. The table is piled with any kind of toy imaginable. Toy chests are pushed up into the corners of the room and several bookcases overflow with brightly colored children's books and tablets.

In dreamland, this door is scratched near the bottom creating an opening large enough for a small creature to crawl through. The door is locked.

This is where the gremlin lives.

Gremlin Filcher

Room 26: Children's Bedroom

The door to this room is locked.

This room was used by the Haggelthorns for their children. The walls in this room are made of polished stone, and there are several nice rugs and antique tables adorning the corner. Paintings on the wall show a young boy about three standing on a bridge in the country, a young girl of five weaving a crown of dandelions in a field, and an older boy of 14 or so dressed in hunting clothes standing near a horse with a bow.

This belonged to the children in the portraits. It looks as if little has been changed in the last 30 years. The bones of the youngsters can be found here.

NOTE: A magical bow and quiver of arrows hang on the wall. The heads on the arrows show the outline of a bear. They will instantly slay black bears.

Room 27: Old Bedroom

The furniture of this bedroom has been pushed to the room's perimeter, the jumbled assortment casting strange shadows in the light of the flickering fireplace. A glittering silver circle with spidery symbols spreads out about 20 feet in diameter before two large windows.

On a desk in the corner are a number of letters written to the abbot in town asking his help in killing the other Brimbleweeds and splitting the treasure.

This magic circle is made of thaumaturgic powder and has been used to keep a malevolent presence out of the dreamscape.

Room 28: Parlor

The scent of stale smoke permeates this room. A moth-eaten rug stretches before a dormant fireplace surrounded by a beautifully carved mantle, and a magnificently cared bar stocked with hundreds of rare liqueurs stand along a stony face of an exposed wall in the west.

Room 29: Phantasmagoria

Fine velvet curtains drape the walls of this richly furnished theater. Four rows of wooden seats fill the room, and a fire-lit lantern stands at the rear. The lantern's bronze latticework frame holds 8 circular glass slides that slowly revolve in front of the lens, projecting horrific images of multi-limbed fiends on a small screen, eerily illuminating the chamber.

Room 30: Smoking Den

The smoke of incense hands heavy in the air of this chamber, which is dimly lit by a smoldering fireplace. The fog drifts through the richly appointed room. The walls are covered with heavy maroon drapes which billow slightly.

NOTE: Upon entering the room in the mundane world, the party will be attacked by the gremlin - who will try to steal Finn's glasses and take them back to the dreamlands.

In the center of the room is a round table with several chairs. A set of tarot cards sit in the center of the table. A small leather mat sits in the center of the table - its slick surface appears almost wet and the hide shimmers.

Slumped over the table is the form of a young woman, premature grey streaks running through her auburn hair. She is thin and dressed in dark green robes. Her hands are bloody, having scratched something into the table. Her face is red and bloated - eyes bulging and mouth open gasping for another breath.

These yield the cards of the tarot which need to be put into the appropriate spots:

• II = high priestess
• XXI = the world
• XXVII = FALSE
• MXX = FALSE
• 0 = fool
• XVIII = moon
• XII = hanged man
• CXXII = FALSE
• CCXI = FALSE

If the party solves the puzzle, the room will go grey - as if washed with color. The temperature will drop becoming chilly with a damp, oppressive weight. Chironomous will feel removed from the Gyre.

Room 31: Hallway of Trophies

This hallway snakes about the second floor of the Manor. The dark, wood-paneled walls reflect the warm glow of magical candles that are placed in small sconces on the walls and on end tables throughout the area.

A large pelt rug covers the floor at the top of the stairs and the preserved heads of dozens of animals hang lifelessly on the walls. In addition, a number of preserved animals stare at you with dead, glassy eyes - a lion and lioness, several bears, a baboon, a warthog - and the largest piece is a giant eagle stuffed and mounted in mid-flight.

In the dreamlands, the dead animals begin animating - disturbingly gasping for breath as other bleat and mew.

Animal Zombies

Dreamlands

In the Dreamlands is Lucy Haggelthorn - wife of Thaddeus Haggelthorn - grandmother of Elias Haggelthorn. She was killed by a nasty artifact that transformed her into the Dream Render. Now, she walks the Dreamland halls of the Manor looking for souls to take. She is glad her husband escaped and looks kindly on her grandson Elias. All others, she hates!

Lucy Haggelthorn - the Dream Render

This strange creature appears as a blurred, indistinguishable humanoid. As the illusory aura disperses, a tall humanoid with white mottled skin, large purple eyes, protruding ears, and a mass of tentacles dangling at its mouth and chin is revealed, causing unspeakable terror to well up deep within your soul. As you look on in horror, it raises its odd-looking appendages towards you and laughs in a deep sinister voice.