FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST - DAGGERHEART : SESSION 1 RECAP
The players made their way up the stairs to the second floor where they found a long hallway with doors that stood ajar on both sides of them. Choosing the first door they found a bedroom for a boy from the scheme of the furniture, the toys lying on the floor and the artwork they found hanging on the walls. There was little of interest in the room, so they moved onto the room across the hall, which they discovered to be a girl's room. Decorated in lighter colors, with a small dressing table, a rocking horse in one corner, and a large dollhouse made to appear a small scale version of the home the party was currently exploring. Everything appeared undisturbed as if the occupants had left for a family outing and never returned.
Proceeding to the next room they found a well appointed study, dominated on one side by a large, dark wood desk carved with reliefs of ships, sea creatures and the ever rolling waves of the endless ocean. The desk was neatly organized, a silver inkwell sat closed on the desk with several quills awaiting their owner's return nearby. A brass gilded frame held a painting of the Lady Roberts and a drawing the children had no doubt presented to their father, and treasuring it, he had it displayed on his desk. Built in bookshelves held journals, ships logs, charts, and ledgers. The group split up to search the room, Seventh of Dusk looking through the desk drawers, Holly went out on the balcony which stood open as if inviting them outside, while Topaz went over to the fireplace to search the hearth. The Infernus Seraph found a black basket hilted cutlass hanging above the mantle, several bit of scrimshaw art, and a carved ivory box. Opening the box she found a large, old black iron key that was covered in what appeared to rust, corrosion and algae as if it had been under water. Out on the balcony Holly was admiring the view of the ocean below and she understood why the Captain had built his home here. As she turned to go back inside she was greated by an image of the ghostly Lady Roberts backing out of the study onto the balcony, a look of fear and pain on her face as she clutched her side. The phantom moved to the right side of the balcony, climbed over the rail and vanished. Moving to the railing Holly saw a sturdy wooden trellis that moved up the wall from the ground below to the roof above, old dead vines entwined in the workings.
As Topaz showed the strange key to Seventh, Holly came back in to share what she had seen. The party discussed ascending the trellis, but thought perhaps they should explore the other rooms on this floor before making the climb. The moved back into the hallway just in time to see the apparition of the Captain pass through a door into a room down the hall. Moving past the other doors the party decided to investigate this room, thinking the figure of the owner of the house was trying to lead them to something. Pushing open the heavy wooden door, they found a dark bedchamber, a huge canopy bed to their left, a large hope chest at the foot of the bed, a fireplace directly across from them, a white oak carved lady's dressing table stood near one of the windows, and two overstuffed chairs rested on a bearskin rug. As they began to explore the room grew cold and they found the ghost had appeared near the fireplace. As he turned toward them his eyes glowed a hellish red a sword in his right hand, the same dark basket hilted cutlass they had seen in the sitting room downstairs. He moved past them, oblivious to their presence and advanced on the image of Lady Roberts who appeared near the foot of the bed, her stance leading the party to believe she shielded something. The Captain slashed at her and she vanished. He then moved to the bed, casting aside the drapery of the canopy he stabbed downward with the weapon again and again before vanishing. The three companions looked at one another, a mixture of fear, disbelief and apprehension. Holly finally summoned up the courage to open the canopy and found the images of the boy and girl lying there, their little bodies marked by the violence of the blade of their father. In horror Holly closed the curtain again.
The group decided to go back to the study and climb the trellis to see what awaited them on the roof of the house. They decided caution was their best option so they took their time and proceeded up one at a time, testing the trellis to ensure it was sound and would hold their weight. Once they had all made their way up they found an nicely made leather tri-corn hat and an exact duplicate of the dark basket cutlass lying there on the window's walk. As they debated touching the items to investigate the image of Lady Roberts appeared again. She was recoiling from something the players could not see, then her face wracked in pain, she moved the low railing, and with one look back threw herself over the edge, disappearing into the fog below. The party discussed the scenes playing out before them, deducing that the Captain murdered his family for some reason. As they spoke Topaz saw an image of the Captain hanging from a rope on the tower nearby, but before her friends could see the spectral scene vanished.
Seventh decided he needed some insight into the violence of that night long ago. Things were just not adding up in his mind. With little warning he took up the the hat and placed it on his head. Immediately he was overcome with visions of a life at sea, a large water logged chest submerged in water, of riches untold, of a life made and happiness attained, only to have a darkness from the past, a promise unfilled unleash an evil presence bent on revenge. Snatching the hat from his head Seventh was left shaken and breathless. He shared the visions with his companions, but they were hesitant to let him try touching the cutlass. Instead Holly laid her small Faerie hand upon the dull, black basket of the sword and suddenly she was inside the home, seeing through someone else's eyes. First she entered the home, passing through the large double doors of the entrance, then moved into the sitting room where Captain Roberts sat reading a book, his wife across from him knitting, the children playing quietly near the fireplace. Suddenly the Captain looked up to stare at Holly, his face a mix of disbelief and anger. The scene shifted with Holly now stalking the home, moving from room to room, the cutlass held white knuckled in her right hand. No, not her hand, the tanned hand of the Captain. Next she was in the master bedroom, Lady Roberts shielding her frightened children behind her. The sword lashed out, cutting the slender woman along her right side. Holly turned to look into the mirror of the dressing table, seeing an image of Captain Roberts, his eyes glowing a ghastly red, staring back at her. With a yelp she yanked her hands away from the sword, looks of concern on the faces of her friends. Her voice shaking, Holly told them what she had seen.
They decided to go back down to the study, and looking around they found a trap door. The door led to an attic, part of it set up to look much like the shipboard quarters of a captain, a large table with sea charts, maps, navigational tools and a map of the nearby coast with the cliff showing prominently on it. They noticed a faint "X" marked on the area of the house and wondered at what it might mean. Taking the map the party descended back down to the second floor to the study. There the searched the ships logs the captain had kept for his ship, The Raven's Wing. Topaz suggested starting with the final one and working their way back. The final journal was found and Topaz read it. The last entry talking about the purchase of the land and plans to build the home with his wealth. Thumbing back they found an entry where the Raven's Wing had encountered a storm at sea, unable to avoid it they sailed through it hoping to ride it out. The storm lasted several days and when it ended abruptly the crew found themselves on dead calm waters, little wind and a mysterious island off their port side. Their mast damaged and in need of repairs the Captain decided to lead an expedition to shore for lumber to make his ship seaworthy again. In their exploration they found a hidden cove and curiosity led them into the shadowed area surrounded by tall, dark cliffs. At the end of the waterway they found a temple rising from the water. Details were lacking, but the Captain spoke of finding a submerged chest in a pool in the temple's shrine room. Taking it, they made their way back to ship, securing the chest in the Captain's quarters. The crew set about repairing the ship, but the chest had been seen and rumbles of spoils and the splitting of such began. That night a mysterious woman appeared to the captain and told him without the key he could not hope to avail himself of the treasure within, but the key came with a price. The key would unlock unlimited wealth if he would make tribute to Ran, goddess of the waves. In a moment of greed and weakness Roberts agreed without asking what form the tribute may take. The woman smiled and laid a heavy, corroded iron key on his desk, turned and disappeared in the shadows. Reading the Captain's journals they found mention of a cave on the rocky beach below that was hidden during high tide, the perfect place for hiding his treasure.
The party decided it was time to seek out this treasure, obviously some sort of curse placed upon it that had taken the family. They made their way to the beach and after some searching they found the tide was in and decided to wait for the tide to go out so they could have hope of locating the cave. As the sun came up and the fog and tide receded they found a cave below the cliff where the home sat like some dark bird. The tunnel was narrow, the stench of brine heavy in the air, with standing pools of sea water causing them to wade forward, the smaller Ribbet and Faerie having to fly or swim at points to trek deeper. After some time they finally found a cave with a dark salt water pool taking up much of the area. At the center stood a large rock, stop it sat a large, water logged chest, its iron banding covered in barnacles and rust. Topaz, bearing the key, decided to approach and open the chest. As she got closer, she took out a gold coin and laid it on the top of the chest, asking Ran for her blessing as she moved to insert the key. As she took out the key, a ghostly image rose up from the water near her, an angry looking spirit who moved to prevent the Infernus from touching the chest. The party squared up for a fight as Topaz stumbled back involuntarily and fell onto her backside in the shallow water.
This was a long section so it will be recapped in two parts for all of our loyal readers. Best to leave you wanting more, right? So be on the lookout for the final installment of this adventure for our Daggerheart group in a few days. We hope you are enjoying these. Please comment below with your thoughts and whether you are enjoying these recaps. As always thanks for your support.
