6 Eleasis 2993
It’s a beautiful late-summer day when the party makes ready to head to Thorham to help Din move house. Before departing, Fen chats with Burton behind the bar - something about the way in which Din came to buy the Drachedandion Manor doesn’t add up, and Fen wants to understand a bit more about the Factors in town before asking Din a few questions. Barleyman explains that there are four Factors providing financial services in Gosterwick:
- Prosperity Factor on Imperial Avenue
- Silent Factor on Stone Street
- House of Coin, the imperial establishment responsible for tax collection
- Rarities Factor, the newest factor with a focus on antiquities, run by Wicktrimmer, a retired Goblin adventurer
In Thorham, the party finds Din making final preparations. Fen peppers her with questions about the sale of the manor, but the halfling who sold it to Din, who went by the name of Ace, does not match the description of the trickster Milo from the other day, and Din’s description of the Silent Factor seems to match what Fen heard earlier that morning.
With Din’s belongings in tow the group heads to the manor. The once grand estate is now overgrown with vines. A pair of gargoyles with forlorn expressions keep watch at the front. Near the entrance Axle notices a small dart in the railing, and shortly thereafter (and much to his delight) discovers a spring-loaded firing mechanism opposite it. Circling the house, Grexes discovers a second entrance, which appears to lead to the kitchen and has a compost heap near it with nothing newly laid.
When Din admits that she doesn’t have a key to the Manor, Huzzah! inspects the deed and believes it to be a forgery! While discussing what to do, Din is nearly in tears. After much discussion, it is decided to help Din move in but that Din will avoid spreading out and settling in too much while the party investigates further.
As Din returns to Re-Store for more belongings, the party explores the house, looking for further traps or other dangers. The entrance foyer, lit by natural light shining in through murky windows, reveals the disarray that awaits in the manor, but also hints at how finely appointed the place once was. On the south wall hangs a portrait of a silver Dragonborn clothed in purple — no doubt Rhogar Drachedandion himself, the former(?) owner.
Behind the painting Axle and Fen discover a safe containing a letter from Lord Burdock threatening Rhogar should he not change his mind about a mysterious issue.
South of the entrance foyer is a dining room with 14 dust-covered place settings, all missing silverware. In the corner of the room is a cherry tree growing out of its pot. The sideboard is empty, but the dust in the room reveals halfling sized hand- and footprints.
West of the dining room a pantry brims with ingredients from around the world but reeks of decay. Investigating more closely, Axle discovers 10 gold pieces worth of rare spices, a large decaying rat, and a brass key.
The pantry opens into a kitchen with a large wood oven and a dented suit of armor by the connecting archway. It also features a stairway down into what later proves to be a root cellar.
North of the kitchen the group finds a greenhouse room with a thriving garden and a large desk. This turns out to be a mimic that strikes out at Axle when he ventures too close. In the ensuing chaos Axle is knocked unconscious and the rest of the party destroys the creature. Realizing that the armor in the pantry was just as out of place as the desk in the greenhouse, the party discovers that the armor is actually living. Though it cannot speak, communication is quickly established, and the group learns that the armor belongs to Rhogar, who loved it and whom it loved. The desk mimic was another beloved inhabitant of the manor, Pudding, and Clank (the armor) was distraught at Pudding’s death.
When asked, Clank reveals that the cherry tree is another “friend“ — named Blossom — and that there is also a gargoyle named Chip. Clank brings the group to the great hall on the north side of the foyer to look for him, but ultimately finds him in the bedchamber west of the great hall.
There the party also finds the remains of Rhogar, a skeleton now just three months later. With some difficulty Clank communicates the magic used to kill Rhogar seems to have been psychic damage.
Having seen all the books in the great hall and the bedchamber, and hoping to learn more about how Rhogar made Clank, Axle asks about Rhogar’s favorite books. Clank brings him three:
The last contains three parchments, scrolls of animal friendship, create/destroy water, and comprehend languages. Clank also shows Axle an old spell book with color spray, blur, and jump in it, as well as a book entitled Warforged: Real Boys, or Not?, which came out decidedly in the negative. In the meantime Fenpenny finds a primer on the Thoracin language.
At Clank’s suggestion, Axle also checks under the bed, where beneath a loose floorboard he finds the actual deed for the house and 20 platinum pieces.
In an effort to make sure the entire manor is safe for Din, the group checks the root cellar, finding a barrel of cherry brandy, three glasses of cherry jam, and three giant rats, which they dispose of quickly.
Before Din returns, Blossom gifts the group a picnic basket with the phrase “let the feast begin“ written on the underside of the handle. These magic words cause the basket to be filled with enough food and drink for 15 creatures for 24 hours.
The party explains everything to Din, leaving her with the real deed and promising to look more into the sale. On their way out of town they stop at Zushekt’s Toggles and Wobbles to discuss the obelisk — the goblin is convinced “the sun“ referred to in the inscription above the incised ankh refers to this obelisk, ultimately meaning there must be two other obelisks with moon and star motifs respectively, in Arden Vul. Fen purchases The History of the Thorcin Peoples and the group returns to Gosterwick and the Dancing Horse, where they trade their newly acquired brandy for additional lodgings for their growing number of co-cohorts, at least until the night of the 14th of Highsun.