Adventurers
- Koko (Cleric 5)
- Mandras (Dwarf 4)
- Rarder (Fighter 6) and Konrad Claver (Cleric 3)
After two weeks of rest to give the injured party members and retainers a chance to recover from their wounds, including a curative spell from the Grand Inquisitor for Konrad’s feeblemindedness, and the magic users time to start transcribing and learning new spells, the adventurers set off on a scouting expedition. Jauregi, Rarder’s hired mage, had unearthed from the Four Shields Fort’s old Redwood family archives a series of references to an ancient manor in the mountains, home to a great noble family and rumoured to be the source of the regions abundance of magic. With a vague indication of its possible location, the adventurers decided on a preliminary excursion before committing too many resources.
After several days of travel and exploration (and a tense moment when a very, very large silhouette appeared briefly visible through the thick clouds), the party found a mountain peak, despite being lower than other visible peaks, shrouded in a localised cloud. Camping one final night below it, they pushed on up. After half an hour’s clambering, they emerged into clear view of an enormous, pristine manor on a tranquil plateau. Pondering which door to enter, they entrusted their fate to Koko’s deity, Marnod, the petty god of adventuring fortunes & misfortunes. They found themselves entering the western-most door.
The first room inside was suitably enormous, similarly pristine, furnished as some sort of waiting room. Warily avoiding the open space in the middle, the adventurers pushed through a set of doors into a corridor lined with busts of figures from an archaic era of fashion. A door leading off to the side led to a room with an apparently impromptu boxing ring of some kind with a fancily dressed gentleman enthusiastically scrawling something down to the side, flanked by several figures. The party backed out before anyone noticed them.
The end of the corridor led to a vaster corridor, every surface covered in mirrors but for a carpet running up the middle. Making particularly sure to avoid stepping on any mirrors, the adventurers edged in. Behind them the doors slammed shut and shutters swung across the windows, pitching them into complete darkness. Calmly, they lit a lantern, but as soon as their match flared all the mirrors seemed to take the light and magnify it, dazzling everyone. Now blinded, they clumsily found their way back to doors they’d come through and crawled back down the smaller corridor. On reaching the other end, they paused and waited, catching their breath and hoping that in time they’d regain their vision.
As they did so, however, they heard a loud voice enter the room, barking instructions…