Evening October 1st, 755 BC, Pont-A-Museau, Richemulot
After our heroes gathered themselves and checked to make sure Nthntuck
and Vinzent were not dead, they banded together and waited. Vinzent and Tuck (shorthand to make life
easier on both the writing and the reading) stirred after about 30
minutes. No one had been able to find a
way in or out beyond the big metal door, but Tuck was a trained tracker and
immediately followed the rat’s trails into a pile of rotting and destroyed
furniture. In the furniture was a small
chest with Falkovnian gold coins and a diamond, that Elaine found, then passed
out mostly equivalent wealth to everyone, leaving herself a big ole diamond to
replace the pieces of quartz she had been using as casting material
components. Tuck wanted none, and
continued to throw aside furniture until he found a cupboard. Opening the doors, he found a small hole
leading behind to another stairwell.
With everyone’s help, they moved the furniture to see a gently sloping
staircase that was covered in condensation.
The sound of rushing water and some mechanical clanking came from
beyond. They took the stair case, which
gentle curved left until it ended at a large docking area, where two enormous
waterwheels turned, powered by an underground canal. One of the waterwheels was wooden, while a
second was metal or stone and set into the far wall, spinning at a very
different, more deliberate and mechanical pace than the wooden one.
Vinzent considered destroying the wooden waterwheel as the others
looked about, seeing the only way out as a small hole in the ceiling that a
metal rod attached to the far waterwheel
seemed to be going upwards into.
That or the canal, which no one could see very far down. As Tuck checked the walls for any kind of
hidden script and Drew for doors, Violet shapechanged into a wasp to check out
the areas down the canal.
The canal’s ceiling quickly slopes down at both the entrance and exit
from this room, making escape through the canal questionable at best. Violet then flew upwards, being able to fit
through the small hole. It traveled up
and up, somewhere around 30 feet, before popping out into an attic of some
kind. It had a catwalk that lead to a
door that was wedged shut but with no lock and the clock tower of the school on
the other side. Inside the room was a
cacophony of noise from hundreds and hundreds of turned and grinding
gears. Too many for just the clocktower,
Violet realized.
She came back down and told the others what was going on upstairs as
Dimitri had a minor breakdown. Then Tuck
spotted Graves at the top of the stair well.
Graves ran. The heroes pursued.
During the run, Dimitri made contact with Graves after a few failed
attempts. Graves ran all the way out of
the basement and left the metal door unlocked, allowing our heroes to leave. Standing in the servants hallway, they
gathered their breath before Tuck picked up Graves’ trail. They all went down a small corridor along the
side of the house that lead to the ballroom, where the wedding was to be taken
place.
The ballroom was much like the rest of the house, dirty and empty and
rundown. They looked about for Grave’s
trail when a sudden whirring of mechanics dropped 8 couples of marionettes to
the floor, that all began to dance.
Marionettes that were made of corpses, lacquered, screwed, nailed, and wired
together in a macabre scene. Horror
checks were made. Two failed: Drew and
Dimitri. Drew ran in utter terror back
the way he came, while Dimitri stared dumbfounded and … almost intrigued. Vinzent followed after Drew, Dimitri
following them. Tuck, Elaine, and Violet
shrugged off the horror and continued to track Graves, back into the game room.
Drew was a mess, doing everything he could to leave. Vinzent and Dimitri tried to help, taking
Drew back to the library. In the
library, they found it ransacked. Chairs
overturned, books thrown off shelves, an entire mess. Dimitri threw his hands in the air in
frustration. Meanwhile, Tuck, Violet,
and Elaine all continued to follow Graves’ tracks, which lead to the
library. Which also lead to two sets of
double doors being open and the sight of the mechanical dancers to very much be
seen by everyone in the library … including poor Drew and Dimitri. Dimitri was already oddly fascinated by the
things, but Drew manned up and got his aversion in check.
Dimitri, Drew, and Vinzent search the library as Tuck, Violet, and
Elaine head out into the main hall, checking on Madame Tuvache. In the main hall, more of the marionettes
fall to the floor, these ones armed and attacking. Other than a very minor scratch along Tuck’s
chest, the stupid things had a mechanical pattern and were very easily
avoidable. They headed back to the
library.
There, Vinzent and Drew found a secret compartment in a clock on the
mantle, which had three scrolls in it.
None of them could read the ornate writing, but they could tell two were
the same. With everyone in the library,
Drew gathered his items as Tuck continued to track Graves, finding him heading
into a side door. It lead to a tea room,
with a strange orange glass door. Elaine
tried to open it and got gunk on her hand.
After a few minutes it became corrosive and ate through her hand and
down to the bone before they washed it off.
They found a very nice silver tea set (Violet has appraising and knows
what everything is worth) and they dolled it all out not particularly caring
too much for who got what. Another
tracking check and Tuck takes them out another door that leads to the main hall
way. It only takes a minute for them to
traverse the warrior-puppets. Dimitri’s
obsession seems to only be getting worse, though he does calm his mind enough
to finally succeed on an ESP attempt (after a few failures) on Graves, whom he
still has psionic contact with. He reads
Graves’ surface thoughts:
“I’m sorry … I’m sorry … please go away … I’m sorry …”
They head into the East Wing of Jerterriere and find a small room that
Graves’ footsteps led to. They bust down
the door to find the old gaunt man sitting on his bed.
Vinzent: “Is Lambert here?”
Graves: “Yes.”
Drew: “Is he alive?”
Graves: “… no.”
Next time, they learn more from Graves, and try to find poor Madame
Tuvache.
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