Adventure 06 - The House of Bloom

2016-09-22

4th Month (Oceans), Day 30 through 5th month (The Beast), Day 12

Finishing out the caravan trip from Nix to Aedok, the PCs help the caravan guards fend off some Hell Hounds. Though they posed a threat, the PCs were able to defeat them and then bring the caravan the rest of the way to the City-State of Aedok.

The PCs needed time to rest, recover, and train (they reached level 3), and in those several weeks, they surveyed the city-state. One of the rumors they heard was of a supposedly haunted former botanical garden house named the House of Bloom (though now the haunting has lended to its nickname, the House of Gloom).

When they arrived, they soon realized that the house was overrun by the wilderness. The gardens which were at one point beautiful and awe-inspiring, had grown wild and enveloped the house. The PCs took it upon themselves to search the grounds.

They split up: the rogue and archaeologist went to the smaller building, which turned out to be the living quarters of the former owners. The samurai, warrior, and spellcaster went into the gallery house, where the gardens were showcased. In the gallery, the PCs ran across several oddities. One wall was covered with bloody hand prints, which appeared and disappeared based on the proximity of the viewer. Another room had a poisonous plant which ejected cold spores at the samurai. The spellcaster was able to destroy it with a fiery attack. The hand prints were never removed.

However, in the living quarters, they found a room which was below freezing and another room filled with rot grubs. After a harrowing fight, the two were able to survive long enough for the others to meet up with them and defeat the rot grubs.

After that, all of them returned to the gallery house in order to search the upstairs. Once there, they encountered a ghost-like child who attacked them. While attacking, he continued to reference his missing sisters and some atrocity which happened to his father. The PCs defeated the ghost and were able to recover a journal from the house.