(Starting at first light, I suppose...?

I'd like to get Elihu in on things when I can, but we're not quite ready yet. We'll see what happens. As long as everyone is having fun, though, I guess...)

Harry reaches the crossroads within half an hour of first light. She hangs the larger rucksack from a convenient tree branch and begins rummaging through her smaller rucksack for a bit of bread, cheese, and fish jerky. "Big one's fer ye," Harry says to the morning air, as if expecting Adam to appear from it. "Most of a roasted chicken, some day-old stew, and more of what I got... bread, cheese, and a mix of jerkies. Aleskin fer us each."

When Harry spoke, Adam sat up from his laid out position on the ground. He had been asleep. He rubbed his eyes, being used to being up at night and sleeping during the day. He shaded his eyes and squinted even in the early morning sunshine. "You have my gratitude." He took the chicken and consumed it quickly. He then ate the stew and drank the juice. He wiped his face with his sleeve. The rest he put away in his pack. "So now we head to another mansion?" He stood and continued to shade his eyes. "I am ready. You say you are a ship's captain? From where do you hail?" He kept his eyes forward so as not to frighten her further with his face.

Harry answers whilst carving off a piece of cheese with her knife. "Grew up in a similar town. Been a sailor all my life. Sea always called t' me." She gestures to the southwest as she pops the chunk in her mouth. "Reckon th' old Stockbridge place can't be more than a mile down th' road. Sign and gate are partly overgrown, but oughta show signs of bein' recently disturbed." Harry takes a swig of ale to wash down her breakfast and stows the remainder for later. "Don't know how long th' place has been abandoned. Generation or two, maybe."

Adam began walking the direction she gestured, and thought about her answers. "If you do not wish to tell me, you may as well just say so. I am originally from Boston." He went on, "How similar? Did dead things refuse to stay dead there as well?"

Harry pauses as if trying to recollect something. "Author from my childhood wrote somethin' that reminds me of home... 'Cursed th' ground where dead thoughts live new and oddly bodied, and evil th' mind that's held by no head. Happy is th' tomb where no wizard has lain, and happy th' town at night whose wizards are all ashes. Th' soul of th' devil-bought hastes not from its charnel clay, but fats and instructs th' very worm that gnaws. Out of corruption horrid life springs, and th' dull scavengers of earth wax crafty to vex it and swell monstrous to plague it. Great holes secretly are digged where earth's pores ought t' suffice, and things have learnt t' walk that ought t' crawl'." She gestures broadly. "Welcome t' Collinsport."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:38, Mon 25 Oct 2021.

Adam looked at her sidelong with his blue eye, "So...yes?" Turning back to look in the direction they walk. "Collinsport is not new to me. I died here." He looked at her to see how that bit of information sat with her. "Cyrus Collins put me into this...I use the term loosely...body." He clutched his shovel to the point that his knuckles turned white, "I have always wanted a dog. I think Cyrus will make an excellent Rottweiler."

Harry snorts and laughs. "Ever try t' housebreak a Collins? Personally not sure it can be done. Distemper runs in th' family." She continues to walk, her eyes vigilant for a gap in the roadside foliage that might indicate the entry to the old Stockbridge property. "Expectin' this Cyrus fella t' pay his kin a visit, or that just wishful thinkin' on yer part?"

Adam looked over at her darkly, "I can break him." Then back at the road, "I am told he will be here soon. If not I will bring their manor down around them." He did not speak for several breaths, "Do not let my jolly disposition fool you, I have done my share of killing."

Harry's piercing gaze meets Adam's. "Done my share as well. Ain't proud of it, though." She returns her gaze to the roadside. "Never makes things better. Just... some folk need killin'. Know what I mean?"

Adam nodded and fell silent. He had nothing further to say on the current subject but would not turn aside a change of said subject.

Harry points ahead. "We're gettin' close, recognize that tree. Chestnut, old one." She begins combing through the foliage, once closer to it. "Sign and gate should be somewhere nearby."

Adam watched as she looked looked around the entrance. "What do you expect to find in an abandoned manor?"

Harry glances over her shoulder at Adam. "One or more missing persons, or clues where they might've gone. Not holdin' ont' much hope, just followin' up on th' sole lead I have."

Harry suddenly spots something: a sign--

STOCKBRI

The rest has rotted away.

The right side of the sign has had ivy clinging to it until fairly recently, like someone uncovered it...

Harry examines the area around the sign more carefully. Yes, there's a high, black, iron fence... and over here, an large iron gate. And yes... there's a mansion way back there, not-quite hidden behind the scattered trees... At night, one could easily walk right past the whole place, but by the light of day...

...Heavy clouds slowly drifting in from the east, though...

Harry examines the ground and foliage nearest the gate for similar signs of disturbance. Footprints or other indicators of recent human passage. "This is it, th' old Stockbridge place. Deputy Gallow and his companion headed here for reasons unknown."

Adam spoke in reply to Harry, "Well We have found our intended destination. I will go first, I am accustomed to pain. If any is to be handed out, I should be first in line." He moved toward the strange Manor house. He moved slowly and paid careful attention to those who might be in the windows or movement of any kind he might notice.

12:51, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 7 using 1d20.  v 9 wisdom.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:51, Thu 11 Nov 2021.

(Wis roll, please...)



Adam thinks he sees something at one of the downstairs windows of the house, but the second he looks right at it, there's nothing there, and it's as if there wasn't anything there in the first place.

...He thought, though... that it might have been someone looking at him...

Harry shrugs and follows the big man once he is through the gate. "'Spose ye do know a thing or two 'bout pain. Will take yer word for it, at th' least."

---

13:51, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 18 using 1d20.  Check Vs. WIS 14.

Adam stopped and looked at the house. He pointed with his shovel, "There was someone in that window I am sure of it."

Harry looks in the direction Adam is pointing. "Could be one of our missin' persons, or whoever made 'em go missin'. This bein' Collinsport, could also be a ghost. Not that ye see many of those in broad daylight."

Approaching the house, Harry sees no sign that anyone has been here recently...  There's a spot of rotten wood on the front porch leading up to the front door that's been broken through as if someone's foot/ankle/leg went through it, but that might not be recent...

Adam went first and carefully went around the rotten spots in the porch. He put his hand on the door, "Shall I open this? I am intimately familiar with locks."

Harry makes a circuit around the exterior of the house, taking careful note of its windows. She counts shuttered versus unshuttered, broken versus intact. "Folk were leavin' th' house empty for a time, reckon they'd shutter all th' windows. Glass bein' fragile and costly, might even shutter 'em durin' a storm like we had recently."

Some shutters are closed. Some are open. Some are falling off or have fallen off.

And yes, a few panes are broken.

Adam waited for Harry to return and tell him one way or the other on the door.

Harry replies to Adam's query. "May as well. Given th' shape of th' place, surprised th' door's intact."

Adam looked the door over especially the handle/lock, as if he were going to try and pick it. After a moment he took a step back and attempted to simply kick it in.

We'll never know if the door was locked or not... it crashes inward, leaving just an open doorway.

Inside are a few old pieces of dusty furniture here and there, nothing terribly surprising.

No other people, no movements, no sounds after the initial crash...

Adam makes a gentlemanly "after you" motion.

Harry smirks at the big man and steps through the doorway. "S'pose there ain't much need for quiet."

Adam followed Harry but said, "Be careful of rotten floorboards."

Harry steps into the gloom of the old house, pausing to kneel and light her lantern. "Floor should be in fair shape 'cept where th' elements have found their way in. Still, better safe than sorry." She skims the floor for any sign of recent passage before climbing to her feet. Raising the lantern high, Harry glances around what she assumes are the foyer and entry hall. "Should check th' kitchen and fireplaces first. Folk need warmth as well as shelter. Those oughta give us an idea whether anyone stayed here, and how recently."

Adam nodded and began looking around to find the fireplace. He did not need the light, but assumed she did so he said nothing.

People have been here, in at least the last three weeks. Some signs are older, some newer. Footprints. Spiderwebs all over-- but not in the middle of the doorways. Things like that.

This is indeed a large entry hall. On the right is a staircase that leads up to the second floor, a small part of which can be seen from a railing that runs off around the top of the left side of the upper story of this room.

There are hallways leading off to the left, straight ahead, and under the stairway off to the right.

The footsteps... mostly seem to go straight ahead, and off to the left, although there's signs (though fewer) that someone's used the stairs, too.

From where you're standing, you can only see down the hallway directly in front of you. It has a door on the left, a door on the right, and then the hallway turns off to the right, and there's a door facing you. You can't, of course, see what the hallway does after it bends off to the right.



There's no fireplace in this room... better look around...

Adam pointed at the footprints. "Perhaps we follow?"

Harry nods her agreement. “May as well. Best lead we have.”

As you move forward, you can see the hallways to the left and right.

Left has a door on the left, a door on the right, and a door at the far end.

Right has two doors on the right-hand side of the hallway.

All the doors are closed...

Harry follows the footprints leading down the lefthand hallway, pausing to ascertain which doors were opened.

For lighting reasons, it's harder to tell in this hallway with all the doors closed... but Harry's best examination suggests that there has been a little activity to and from all three doors... most especially the one in the middle, the one at the far end.

Harry opens the two nearest doors, left then right, briefly surveying the rooms beyond before moving on to the door at the far end.

You can tell that the door on the left was once a library, with bookshelves around the walls. Most of the bookshelves are broken now and in many places have come away from the wall altogether. Those few shelves still intact are empty but there is a pile of books in the southwest corner.

The room on the right was once a writing room or study. Against the wall under the windows is a large wooden writing desk partially broken and riddled with damp rot. There are three drawers in each pedestal and a large central drawer; the latter is closed but the others are all open — two obviously broken open forcibly.

As for the door at the end of the hall, it was once a sort of large living area... A door in the north wall looks like it leads onto a small patio, the now cracked and overrun with weeds.

There is a pile of refuse in the southeast corner of this living area, but otherwise, the room is bare.

Each of the three rooms has a fireplace...

...Do you actually enter any of the rooms to investigate further? Or just stick your head in from the doorway...?

Harry will enter the large living area at the end of the hall, checking first to see whether the fireplace had been recently used. She carefully does a circuit of the room, testing for weakened floorboards and keeping an eye out for telltale disturbances in the dust and grime, giving the refuse pile a wide berth. She finally returns to the door from which she entered, crouches down, and only then takes a good long look at the refuse. "Reckon some critter makin' a nest, or folk clearin' space on th' floor," Harry mutters to no one in particular.

It has not.




--As soon as Harry enters the northern half of the living room, a voice says:


this statement is followed by a prolonged burst of insane and fiendish laughter.

Harry narrows her eyes at the outburst and attempts to discern from whence the voice came. Recollections from a hundred hours of classic horror films fill her mind. Harry's gaze sweeps over the walls, floor, and ceiling seeking some telltale which might reveal a human agent behind the 'welcome'. "Right fine welcome 'tis, too. Does my host have a name, that I can thank 'em proper?"

---

OOC: Does the voice sound male or female? Does it seem at all familiar to Harry?

The voice neither replies, nor speaks again.

(The voice was male. It did not sound familiar to either Harry nor Adam.)

Harry simply grunts and continues her circuit of the room, rapping on the walls and listening for potential hollow spaces. "Bloody poltergeists. Least th' damnable beast was chatty."

Harry finds no hollow walls.

The footprints in the dust are less reliable in this room. Someone's gone from the door, to the patio, back and forth, more often than not, with a lot of back and forth. A lot of trips to carry stuff outside? Or a lot of trips to carry things inside? It's impossible to tell.

The pile of refuse remains an uninteresting pile of refuse. Investigating further would involve spreading it around or something (maybe with a stick? Or...?)

Harry draws her knife and crouches down beside the refuse pile. She moves various pieces of detritus aside with the knife-tip. "Walkin' to and fro th' patio. Gatherin' wood or kindlin' mebbe. Or this were th' only door they could get in through."

The pile of refuse contains nothing of value except a single large gold earring. Might fetch a coin or two in town... Otherwise not super interesting...

Harry pockets the earring, heads back out to the library, and immediately moves to inspect the pile of books in the corner. Afterward she does a circuit of the room much as she did in the living area, checking the bookcases for possible hollow spaces behind them. She steps carefully to avoid potentially rotted floorboards.

A quick inspection of the pile of books shows that there are 14 books in the pile untidily thrown into the corner and now covered with cobwebs, vermin droppings and harmless mold... All have been partially spoiled by damp, mold, and mice, but are still legible.

Most are of a routine nature-- histories, collections of romantic poems, and so forth... the only ones that differ are one book about appraising gemstones and jewelry, a book on the medicinal properties of herbs and flowers, and some sort of philosophical treatise involving mathematics or something.

Harry finds no hollow spaces behind the bookcases.

OOC: Are any of the books scribed as opposed to printed? Any of the histories about the Stockbridge family or Collinsport?

(Scribed vs. printed: about half and half. None of these are about the Stockbridge family nor Collinsport...)

Harry wraps the herbalism and mathematics books in a bit of sailcloth and stows them in her rucksack. She gives the fireplace a brief inspection before heading across the hallway to the study and its desk. Harry cursorily checks the open drawers, then turns her attention to the center drawer. She gives it the briefest tug to see whether it can be opened with minimal effort.

Again, not to be a broken record, but they'll probably be worth a few coins. ...Maybe not in Collinsport, but maybe in a bigger city. Or, who knows, maybe one of the Collins family likes old books. Daniel seemed the type.




It hasn't been used for some time, it seems.



The open drawers are empty.

The main drawer is locked. There's no sign of a key lying around...

OOC: That many books would be heavy and awkward to carry, unless I can foist them off on poor absent Adam. His player has not logged into the game for just under a month, do we want to reach out to him via rMail? Might retrieve the other books later, circumstances permitting.

Adam knelt by the desk and said, "Shall I open it? My familiarity with locks and such." This time, however, he drew a set of lockpicks from a pocket on his long coat. They look small in his hands but well used.

09:17, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 7 using 1d20.  v 10 Dex +1 for Grave Robber to pick lock.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:02, Wed 09 Feb 2022.

Harry gestures freely. "Be my guest. Woulda just forced it, myself." While the big man works, she does a circuit of this room exactly as she had the prior two.

The lock-picking is successful.

The central drawer seems to contain nothing but valueless documents— receipts for household payments, mostly. A casual perusal tells you little save that
--this was once a well-run and prosperous family
--indeed, someone was pretty fond of wine back in the day. Based on the prices, it was the good stuff, too, not cheap, even by 18th-century prices.

Harry finds nothing else of interest in the room other than the desk. The fireplace in this room has also not been used for a long time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:37, Thu 10 Feb 2022.

Adam is disapppinted with the contents pf the drawer.

Harry returns to the desk after finishing her circuit and reviews the documents in the center drawer. The dates on the receipts and the names of the businesses or individuals to which they were paid are her main interest.

---

OOC: The dates should give us an idea about how long the house has been abandoned. As for the names, just curious whether any are familiar. And if any are still around, it gives us more leads to potentially pursue.

(Roll INT, Harry, please)

12:52, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 3 using 1d20.  Check Vs. INT 13.

There are no dates in the papers after 1780.

The people owed are businesses, not people's names, with one exception: "a pair of candlesticks, silver," brought from "Ezra Braithwaite."

Harry retrieves the bundled books from her rucksack, unwraps them, and inserts the collection of invoices and receipts somewhere toward the middle of the thicker of the two. She wraps them up once more and stows the bundle anew. "Curious what th' town records... or gossips... may have t' say 'bout these Stockbridge folk. Odd t' abandon th' house even if they had debts, lest they was fleein' someone... or something." She backtracks to the foyer, then starts down the hallway opposite the one she had just explored.

This hallway has only two doors, both on the right-hand side.

Harry opens the door nearest the foyer first and looks inside before proceeding to the farther door.

The only thing of any note in the first room is a clump of tiny red mushrooms apparently growing out of the floor all around the fireplace in a roughly semicircular formation. Otherwise the room is bare.

Harry stares in silence at the mushrooms for a time. She eventually shakes her head, closes the door, and moves on to the farther door. "Hate t' think what half a fairy ring augurs."

Adam followed Harriet. "I'll let you handle talking to people." When they made their way into the room with mushrooms he threw her a look, "Mushrooms only grow in darkness, and must have excriment." He shrugged, "I suppose rotting floorboards would suffice for excriment."

Is ther anything in the room of value?

(Not that you can see just by sticking your head in the room and glancing around.)



This, the second room on the hallway, is empty. The only matter of interest is that the quantity of plaster on the floor, fallen from the ceiling, is significantly greater than elsewhere.

Adam will have a walk around the mushroom room to see if there is anything of value.

Glancing around, Adam sees nothing new. Just the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the fireplace, the mushrooms.

Adam knelt to the mushrooms and tried to see if they were familiar.

He's occasionally seen the same kind in the woods. If he remembers right,
--these should not be eaten raw
--it's a little risky to eat them cooked
--but either way, they aren't lethal. They'll just make one sick.

Leaving the mushrooms he followed his companion. Cathing the eye of Harry he  made a motion that indicated the mushrooms would make them sick.

Harry acknowledges Adam's findings with a grunt. "Ain't th' least bit surprisin'. Handy if ye need someone ill." She circles the empty room. rapping on the walls as before.

Harry finds nothing of interest by rapping on the walls of the room, unless one wishes to count a conscious observation that the rot on this side of the house seems worse than on its opposite side.

Harry returns to the hallway and, rapping on the wall opposite the doors as she walks, thence to the foyer.  She then starts down the middle hallway toward the rear of the house.

The third hallway now in front of you has a door on the left, a door on the right, and then the hallway turns off to the right, and at the bend, there's a door facing you. You can't, of course, (yet) see what the hallway does after it bends off to the right.

Harry continues to find nothing suspicious about the walls so far...

Harry proceeds to the door on the left and opens it to peer inside. She does the same afterward with the door on the right.

Adam followed Harry who seemed to have a plan on how to explore this place.

The door on the left opens onto a room in which a wide, long table stands (in the center of the room). Between the two windows on the other side of the room, a broken chair stands against the wall, and a heap of broken ceramicware can be seen in the northwest corner.

Something-- covered up by a large, white (but badly-stained) tablecloth-- is on the table.

Harry steps to the table and unceremoniously pulls the tablecloth from whatever it is covering.

On the dinner table, as it turned out, lay the body of a man, a human, perhaps somewhere around 30 years of age.

Later, Harry and Adam would have time to realize the man was wearing the torn and blood-stained clothes of a sailor.

For the moment, though, it was hard to say much of any detailed description about him, because there wasn't time. Mostly, there was only time for very quick impressions-- man, white hair, pale and bloodless, insane look in eyes, long fingernails, attacking.

(Harry, before anything else happens, roll DEX please)

16:54, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 12 using 1d20.  Check Vs. DEX 18 (+1 Danger Bonus).

Harry manages to jump back before she takes any damage.

Now the ball's in her (and Adam's) court...

Harry wracks her brain in an attempt to identify the manner of monstrosity before her. "Some kinda revenant'd be my first guess... demon-possessed corpse, mebbe."

---

23:04, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 14 using 1d20.  Check Vs. INT 13 (+1 Teratology, +1 Danger Bonus). Success, thanks to those bonuses. Harry recognizes the type of creature; knows if it is higher or lower Level than her, and its name if it is famous; and also recalls information useful to defeating it (such as special weapons needed, etc).

(--Noting the bite marks on the neck, the ragged breathing, Harry realizes this is a victim of a vampire (this one might be classified as a type of "thrall")-- who has gone completely insane (probably incurably so? but who knows for sure), probably as a result of being a victim of repeated vampire draining.

--It is lower level than she is (although dang, almost everything is).

--It's technically a living human, so she or Adam should be able to just kill him or knock him out. It might be hard, though, since this... person... is barely one bite away from dying and rising again as the living dead. (If you kill it, you mmmmmight wanna stake the heart afterward.) What I'm saying is that, being so close to being an undead, it might be harder than average to take down... Being from 1966, Harry has heard stories about drug addicts hopped up on PCP ("angeldust") who feel no pain and have stronger-than-normal-human strength. So... yeah, should probably expect that.))

Harry curses under her breath. "Poor bloke's one step away from becomin' a vampire. Don't know if 'tis kinder t' try and save him or just put him out of his misery." She lashes out, slamming the wretched sailor's jaw with a fist. "He's no use t' us dead, so kind or not we try and save him.."

---

11:34, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 7 using 1d20.  Check Vs. DEX 18 (+1 Danger Bonus). That hits, unless his AC is greater than 11. Rolled 8 using 1d2+7.  Non-Lethal Damage.

Adam sidestepped and moved around to the side of the man who would be vampire. He struck with the flat of his shovel.

Adam's blow hurts the man badly... but not quite enough to knock him out.

(GM rolls a die)

...The man attacks Harry again, and almost succeeds, but Harry is just barely able to dodge out of the way of the attack.

(Okay, y'all's turn again...)

Harry throws another right hook at the sailor's jaw and connects. "Might have t' shut th' poor bastard up in th' Collins mausoleum, don't know that he or anyone else'll be safe if we take him t' th' gaol."

---

16:24, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 7 using 1d20.  Check Vs. DEX 18 (+1 Danger Bonus). 16:25, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 8 using 1d2+7.  Non-Lethal Damage.

There, that did it, the man goes down, unconscious. If no one actually tries to wake him up, he should be unconscious for at least the next hour or two, if not more.

Harry draws her knife and cuts the tablecloth into strips. She uses a few strips to bind the sailor's hands behind his back, and others to bind his feet and knees. The last few strips Harry knots at the center and uses to gag the poor wretch. She listens to make sure the man can breathe normally through his nose before standing. "We can pick him up later on our way back t' town," she tells Adam. "Still plenty of daylight left for us t' explore this place. Should a vampire be makin' its home here, will like as not be in th' cellar."

Adam nodded on agreement. "I have fought the restless dead. I carry stakes and a mallet for just these occasions. While we have sun light on our side let us be enterlopers."

if entrance to the cellar is known, he will head that way.

Harry heads back out into the hallway and checks the door on the right. "Like as not we'll find the entrance t' th' cellar near th' kitchens. Let's have a peek here first though, in case there's another victim laid out as supper."

The next room seems to be some sort of small drawing room... Two stuffed armchairs stand near the fireplace of the room. The covers of both have been torn or cut and the stuffing has been pulled out; however, the wooden frames are still intact. The pieces of a broken table lie on the floor near the north wall.

Harry raps all along the walls as she has done before, briefly checks whether the fireplace has been recently used, then steps to the wood-scraps by the north wall. She pokes through them looking for a table leg, or piece thereof. "Make a nice cudgel if I can find one," Harry mutters to herself, "or a stake if I sharpen one end t' a point."

The fireplace has not been recently used. Harry finds nothing suspicious along the walls.

Harry finds a nice table-leg for use... not quite pointy enough yet, but it's an okay club...

Adam shrugged, "So into the cellar now?"

"Just makin' sure there's no surprises might crop up 'long our path of retreat," Harry says in reply. "Reckon fightin' our way outta this place is th' last thing either of us wants."

Adam nodded, "Agreed, I will lead the way." He held his shovel like a spear, holding it in front of him and making his way slowly to the area most likely to contain an entrance to a cellar.

When Adam approaches the last door on this floor (that we know about so far, anyway), he and Harry are mildly pleased to see that the wall to the left leads to... a back door! A small (partially broken) window in the door in question shows that it leads to the outside, facing east. So that's good... a third way to get out in case the front door and/or the door where the scary voice was heard are problematic for any reason.

Which leaves the remaining door (that we know about) on this floor... open it..?

Adam will check to see if the remaining door is locked. That will determine his/their next course of action.

Harry takes a peek at the clouds through the window in the back door, then checks her pocket-watch against the prevailing daylight. "Good we started at first light, just edgin' int' late mornin'. If th' weather holds we've plenty of time ere it gets dark."

---

OOC: As a sailor and ship's captain, can Harry get a sense of whether there is a change in weather coming? 00:48, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 7 using 1d20.  Check Vs. WIS 14 (+1 Profession Bonus).

Harry, what does your sense of things tells her the weather is likely to hold, with no rain coming for at least the next 12 hours, very likely longer.

The door in question is not locked...

Adam slowly opened the door.

This is obviously the kitchen. It is dirty and damp, with patches of grey mold and a few cobwebs on the floor, walls and ceiling. In the corner to your left is some iron cooking equipment with a chimney above. Next to it, under the window, is a cracked and discolored stone sink. To the right of the sink a small, closed wooden cupboard is fixed to the wall about 5’ above floor level.

Against the far wall a flight of wooden stairs leads upwards from left to right; even from the door it is obvious that the woodwork is decayed and a few of the treads are missing.

There is an additional door inside the kitchen, to the right (east wall).

Harry steps through the door past Adam and pads to the cupboard on the wall. Using her recently-salvaged table leg, she opens the cupboard door just enough for the light from her lantern to illuminate the cupboard's interior.

Large centipedes swarm out of the cupboard and attack!

You are under attack from three very large centipedes which seek to bite you.

(Roll Dex, Harry...)

17:48, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 6 using 1d20.  Check Vs. DEX 18 (+1 Danger Bonus).

CRUNCH. Harry stomps one centipede, taking it out of action forever, and nimbly dances out of range of the other two.

...But they move toward her...

(Your move, folks)

Harry roundly swats a second centipede using the table leg as a makeshift cudgel. "Seen big'uns before, but never in Maine. Just die already, ye damnable pest!"

---

18:26, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 10 using 1d20.  Check Vs. DEX 18 (+1 Danger Bonus). 18:28, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 8 using 1d6+7.  Lethal Damage.

Adam used his shovel to make the bug go splat. "I am afraid I am unfamiliar with these creatures."

07:21, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 4 using 1d6.  Damage.
07:20, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 4 using 1d20.  v str 17.

"Are you injured?"

The centipedes are now dead. And icky.

Harry shakes her head in reply to Adam's query. "Nah, I'm fine. Blessed with quick reactions. You?"

Adam nodded, "I am uninjured. Shall we proceed? I assume you want door rather than stairs?"

Harry rubs her face with her palm. "Lest there's a stair headin' down hidden 'neath that stair headed up, like or not th' door's our best bet."

There do not seem to be any further stairs down directly below the stairs up.

Try the new door?

Adam will test if the door is locked.

It is not locked.

Adam will press his ear to the door to see if perhaps there is noise.

Adam hears nothing.

Adam will carefully open the door.

This room has suffered the effects of damp and decay more than most in the house. Mold grows in patches on the floor, walls and ceiling; there are many cobwebs, though even these appear to be decaying. A large copper boiler, dented, split, discolored and empty, stands under the window; a small heap of crockery shards is on the floor beside it. Stairs lead down into the darkness of what is presumably a cellar.

Harry clears a path through the cobwebs with her makeshift cudgel, and gingerly tests each step of the stair as she descends. "Best go one at a time, in case 'twon't bear both our weights."

Adam ageed and added, "Quietly if possible."

As Harry sets her foot on the first step down, a piercing scream is heard from somewhere on the floor above...

Adam looked at Harry and shrugged as if to say "your call"

Harry turns her eyes toward the ceiling, then toward Adam. "Screamer can wait. Cellar first," she grunts. Checking the cellar door for a lock, she adds, "Hope ye can knock this door off its hinges if somehow 'tis locked behind us." Harry cautiously eases onto the first step again and, once sure it will bear her weight, does the same for the next step, and the next, and so on until a step gives out or she reaches the bottom.

Adam followed catefully picking stairs and hoping not to fall.

This was obviously a wine cellar. Wooden bottle racks — mostly broken — line the north and west walls to a height of 6 feet. There appear to be no intact bottles left in the racks, though there are several with broken necks. Broken bottles cover the floor beneath and near the racks.

Against the east wall, near the foot of the stairs, are two large metal storage bins which appear to be empty. In the center of the room lies a human corpse-- a soldier-- no, a naval officer, in full dress uniform. His sabre lies by his right hand.

Adam took measure of the Navy man in attempt to discover if he was restless dead.

Harry studies the condition of the dead man's corpus and clothing compared to that of the sailor upstairs, and assesses to the best of her ability which combatant's navy he had served in based on his uniform. "Only four of significance involved in the war," she mutters aloud, "Continental, English, French, and Dutch." Harry glances at Adam fleetingly, "Don't care for the way he's laid out with his weapon at hand. Think he's like our lad upstairs?"

---

23:05, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 16 using 1d20.  Check Vs. WIS 14 (+1 Profession Bonus). That is a failure unless Harry can claim the +3 bonus for her Special Knowledge (Collinsport Native) asset.

Harry and Adam note:
--the man seems to be with the naval forces of the United States (well, he was). He's maybe in his mid-to-late twenties (well, he was), and so not young enough to have served in the war.
--the man seems to be actually dead, not just dead-looking.
--the man has been bitten by a vampire-- indeed, Harry's opinion is that that's what killed him-- he's been overly-drained of blood. As such, it's possible that he might turn into a vampire soon-- but not, she thinks, now, during the daylight hours. Tonight, very possibly, if no one cuts his head off, burns him up, nor drives a stake through his heart soonish.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:46, Sun 03 Apr 2022.

Harry grunts. "We find many more bodies hereabouts on th' verge of turnin', and I'mma start lookin' t' torch th' whole damned place ere sunset." She directs Adam to the corpse. "Care t' separate his head from his body? Ye got th' shovel for it. Dunno if I've enough lamp oil t' set everythin' aflame, but can certainly try."

While Harry talked, Adam had already taken up posotion. He put the broad head against the neck of the corpse. He put his foot on the shovel and pushed down.


14:21, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 1 using 1d20.  V 18 Str (+1 added) shovel slashes neck

Welp, that's one guy who's never going to get up again. So much for that potential threat.

Harry retrieves the sword from where it lay, as well as the belt and scabbard from where they would have hung in life. "Reckon we oughta return th' sword t' his kin if we can. Th' head oughta be burnt or buried separate from th' body."

Adam pointed, "Upstairs. The screaming?"

Harry acknowledged Adam's words with a grimace. "May as well. Don't much fancy havin' t' come back here t' set matters aright. Best t' finish it all in one go, if 'tis possible."

Nodding Adam headed for tge screaming.

Harry and Adam head up the main stairs they passed when they first entered the house.

They now stand next to a balcony that runs around the top of the entry hall.

There are two doors on the hallway to the west, and three to the east.

Then there's a hallway that leads to the back of the house, but it starts right before the western hallway-- can't look down it from where they're standing.

Everything is quiet again... there're no further auditory clues so far to help indicate exactly where that screaming came from...

With no other optionsAdam went to the west, to the first door.

(Wis roll, please Adam...)

21:38, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 10 using 1d20.  Vs 9 wis

OOPS. Adam's massive size (and therefore weight) causes the rotten floor to cave in right before he gets to the turn off for the north hallway. He goes right through the floor.

(Roll DEX to try to control your fall to take less damage, Adam...)

03:43, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 18 using 1d20.  V 10 dex

Owwww. Falling fail. Adam gets hurt from falling on bits of wood...

(Adam takes 2 damage.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:04, Sat 30 Apr 2022.

Harry carefully inches forward to avoid collapsing any more of the floor. "Ye okay down there? Any way out that don't require a ladder or a makeshift block-and-tackle rig?"

Adam called back, "Nothing broken but my head hurts." Then "I'm a bit dizzy to try and climb."

Harry calls downward again, her voice softer. "Best attempt th' stairs, then. Either way, reckon we lost th' element of surprise." She probes the floor to either side of the Adam-sized hole with the table leg, attempting to ascertain the safest route forward.

---

15:34, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 10 using 1d20.  Check Vs. WIS 14.

The sides of the hole would maybe hold Harry... but honestly, the safer bet would probably be to use the back stairs to check that side of the second floor.

Harry retreats and meets Adam at the foot of the front stair. "Floor up there might support me well enough t' look around some, but like or not th' back stair may prove th' better option." She moves past him and retraces her steps back to the kitchen. Once there, she inspects the back stairwell and probes several steps with the table leg. "Wanna go first, or shall I? Dunno where ye'd end up if ye fell through."

Adam nodded, "I will go first, just not quickly." He headed to the stairs.

The stairs creak, and they're very narrow compared to the other stairs, and a couple of steps are actually missing, but the ones that are there hold even under Adam's weight, and it seems like they'll even be okay to descend again later (as long as one is careful and not hitting them at a hard run nor anything like that).

So, now Harry and Adam are upstairs. Along the north wall of this new area, the staircase descends to the ground floor of the rear of the house.

Another staircase along the east wall climbs to the upper level. This has mostly collapsed— only the lowest six steps are still intact, and there is no easy access to the hole in the
ceiling to where the staircase used to lead. A heap of rotten timber lies in the northeast corner (the remains of the collapsed stairs).

From what you can tell from here, above you just seems to be attic space-- not part of the house meant to have anyone living in it.

To the west side of this area, a hallway leads south...

Harry glances back at the stairwell leading down. "May well want t' leap from a window if we need t' make a quick exit," she mutters to Adam. "Don't know I'd trust those stairs were we in a headlong rush."

Adam nodded his agreement.

Harry peeks down the hall...

...There are two doors on this end of the hall, both on the east side. After that, one gets to the cross-hallway, an intersection that should be just to the left of where Adam fell and made a hole...

Harry cautiously probes the floor ahead of her with the table leg as she makes her way to the nearest of the two doors. She pauses to press an ear to it, listening for any sounds within.

The floor seems stable here.

No sounds from inside...

Harry takes hold of and slowly turns the doorknob, attempting to make as little noise as possible. Should she feel the door-catch release, she pushes the door open as she steps back and readies herself.

Adam stood ready to back Harry's plan.

Hm. Underwhelming. This room appears to have been used for storage. A large oak chest stands under the window, its lid closed. Elsewhere in the room are three wooden chairs-- all broken-- two splintered wooden buckets, and a mildewed sack. Just inside the door is a bundle of what looks like clothing; this bundle carries no dust and appears to have been put here recently.

Harry experimentally prods the bundle with her table-leg. Should nothing happens, she steps over it and carefully crosses to the oaken chest. Again using the table-leg, she attempts to raise the lid.

Adam will look carefully at the clothes to see if they are mens or womens and what sizes.

Harry finds that the chest is empty.

The bundle of clothes are men's clothes. The man not currently wearing them would appear to be of average size (so, they won't fit Adam at all).

A coin falls out while Adam is examining them... he goes through the pockets more carefully. They contain typical personal effects that a man walking around might have-- there are more coins, which add up to almost thirty cents (an average amount for a man to be walking around with). There's nothing, though, that would suggest anything more about the identity of the man.

Harry glances over her shoulder at the sound of the first coin hitting the floor. She returns to the doorway and peers at the collection of coins, seemingly tiny in Adam's enormous hand. "Still ain't savvy on these newfangled coins. Half-cent, cent, half-dime, dime, quarter, half-dollar, dollar," she grunts in irritation. "Quarter-eagle, half-eagle, eagle. Bloody hell. My guess? Tha's about a day's wage fer a farmhand or laborer, and pocket change fer someone with a trade."

---

 ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...nage_(1792_-_c._1837)
 ~ https://libraryguides.missouri...esandwages/1790-1799

Adam nodded, though half in thought. Something about this was bothersome. "This seems wrong. People do not leave money in clothing with such precision. This is exactly what someone should carry, as if the owner might forget otherwise. Hm...I know it is wrong,  I just don't know why."

Harry simply grunts in response. "Will take yer word fer it." She takes a closer look at the clothing, but it could be anyone's in her mind. "Don't these people believe in wearin' colors other than black, white, grey, and brown?"

Adam got a thought, "A priest, maybe? That would make sense."

Harry stares at the big man. "Sense it may make. What it don't make is faith in anyone's vampire-huntin' skills." She jabs a finger at the garments. "Fella presumably had a crucifix, oughta fended off a vampire lest he were defrocked clergy." A snort of exasperation escapes her. "Hereabouts, I wouldn't put it past anyone." She squints and glares at the garments again. "Hope these ain't Reverend Trask's. Or mebbe I do. Conflicted."

Adam handed Harry the money. "Where too now?"

Harry needfully scratches her nose. "All this dust and mold, bah." She pockets the handful of coins. "May as well check th' room beside this one." Exiting the room, Harry moves further down the hall to the second door, taking care to probe the floor for weaker spots with her table-leg as she does so. Again, she takes hold of the doorknob and turns it slow enough to minimize any noise. When she feels the door-catch release, she readies herself then pushes the door open.

Adam followed alert and ready.

A large bedroom, now decaying and dirty. Damp mold covers portions of the walls and ceiling and rubbish is strewn liberally round the floor. In the center is a single mattress which has been badly torn and from which the stuffing protrudes. Under the window is a large wooden chest, the timbers split, its lid closed.

Harry cautiously moves toward the wooden chest, poking through the rubbish along the way with the table leg as she does so. As before, she uses the table leg to lift the lid of the chest.

Adam investiated the bed, looking under first.

The mattress is on the floor. There is nothing under it but flooring.

The chest is not locked, and opens easily. Inside is a pile of old, moldy, ragged clothing — nothing of value — and a bundle of documents, mostly moldy and stained.

Harry will gingerly retrieve the documents, wrap them in a piece of oilcloth, and stow them in her rucksack. "Let's move onward. Can look at these later." She pads back to the door.

The only rooms of the house you haven't seen yet at all (except their doors) are the rooms on this floor toward the front of this house-- two to the west of the big hole in the hallway that Adam accidentally made, and three to the east of it (which will require going back down the back stairs again and back up the front stairs again, so expediency might suggest going for the west rooms first).

Adam headed West toward the unopened doors. He is much less subtle, choosing to kick the furst door in.

Harry waits for Adam before heading to the front hallway and turning west. She probes the floor with her table leg the entire way, to be safe. She pauses before the farther door to check the time on her pocket watch.

What was once a fine master bedroom now stands dirty and decayed. Some of the floorboards are missing and there is rubbish scattered around. A tall wooden wardrobe stands against the wall opposite the fireplace, its door closed.

(As for the time on Harry's watch, I dunno-- whatever you think seems appropriate?)

Adam felt at home in the refuse, the pungent smells did not bother him. He readued his shovel and opened the wardrobe.

Harry notes that she and Adam have four or five hours before sunset. "Good. Would hate t' hang 'round here after nightfall, given all we've done," she mutters to herself. "No good time t' confront irate vampires that ain't daylight." Harry waits alertly for Adam to finish in the other room.

(Wis check, please, Adam...)

18:31, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 17 using 1d20.  v. 9 Wis.

GAHHHH! A flock of bats swarms out and flies all around you, squeaking and flapping and flapping and squeaking!

They soon fly out the bedroom door, or up the chimney. Soon they are all gone.

But they startled THE HECK out of you.

What... what were that many bats even DOING in a wardrobe like that?!?!?!?

Who... they... who put bats in the wardrobe??!?!?!? HOW?!?!?!? WHAT?!?!!?

(Adam takes +2 points toward his next roll. In the bad kind of way, I mean.)

Adam swiped at bats, a swarm of them. Their sqieaks and the flap of their wings was enough to terrify him. He growled in fear and frustration. They did fly away and he was a bit relieved but still frightened. "Bats are evil." He inspected the wardrobe. There had to be some reason for a swarm of bats.

The wardrobe contains only two items: a pair of old, cracked leather boots (they look too small for Adam's feet anyway), and a dusty, ragged cloak hanging on a peg (actually, that looks like it could fit Adam).

Adam took the cloak and put it on. He tried to move the wardrobe to see what might be behind. The bats had to come from somewhere.

COUGH COUGH-- yellowish mold spores come up from the cloak when it's disturbed. UGH. This thing should be burned-- by lighting it on fire somewhere and then running upwind, fast.

(Adam, you choose: take 1 damage, or have ANOTHER 2 points added to your next roll.)

It turns out that there's nothing behind (nor under) the wardrobe. This is insane. (Is it more insane than vampires making zombie-like people who attack you, really, though? (Yes, now that you mention it, maybe it is, a little?!?))

Adam threw the cloak aside. It was infuriating not to know where the bats came from, but he pushed on. He went back to Harry and nodded his readiness.

OOC another -2, why not? more the merrier. lol

OOC: Did a swarm of bats just fly out of the room Adam was in? Where did they go, if so.

OOC: And would Teratology tell her if they are natural bats or a vampire in bat-swarm form, on a successful check?

09:50, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 16 using 1d20.  Check Vs. INT 13 (+1 Teratology). Failed, no clue.

(1. Yes.

2. "They soon fly out the bedroom door, or up the chimney. Soon they are all gone."

3. Yes, but you failed it.  :)    )

Adam asked Harry, "Which way?"

Harry jerks a thumb at the other door along this section of the hallway. "Last one before we have to retrace our steps and head up the front stair again."

Once perhaps a fine guest bedroom, this is now decayed like the rest of the house. Rubbish is scattered around; there is some evidence of rodent infestation and some webs hang torpid in the corners. A four-poster bed, once a grand piece of furniture, is against the wall opposite the fireplace. Its woodwork is worm-ridden and the curtains which once screened the bed are torn and stained. There is no bed linen.

This room seems pretty boring. Looks like it's time to backtrack and go check the east wing.

Harry returns the way she and Adam came, down the hall and stair to the kitchen then onward to the front of the house. Once there, she ascends the front stair and turns to the east.

All right then! Here we go! Three doors await...!

Harry heads to the first door and turns the knob as silently as possible. Table-leg held at the ready, she flings the door open when she feels the latch release.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:26, Mon 08 Aug 2022.

Adam followed Harry, shovel in hand. He carried it like a spear, waiting for what might be behind every door.

This bedroom is dirty and decayed; the floorboards appear intact but rubbish is scattered everywhere and webs are profuse on the walls and ceiling. From the doorway, you can see a glint of light in the fireplace from what appears to be a small, highly reflective object. There is no furniture in here.

Adam pointed at the fireplace.

Harry gestures to the abundant webs. "Given what we found thus far, like as not 'tis an oversized spider waitin' fer its next meal," she remarks drolly. Crouching, Harry picks up a palm-sized piece of debris within easy reach... then gently lobs it such that it lands beside the shiny item without directly hitting it.

---

14:18, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 9 using 1d20.  Check Vs. DEX 18.

(She does this from the doorway?)

In reply to They (msg # 209):

OOC: Yes, from the doorway.

Nothing happens.

Still crouching, Harry clears a semi-circular area just inside the door of detritus with her table-leg. "Mebbe it's hidin' right 'bove th' door, waitin' t' drop down on th' next person through." Rising again, Harry probes above the door... once more using the table-leg. She swings the thing back and forth a couple of times, then chuckles. "Or mebbe 'tis jus' an empty room full of cobwebs."

Nothing bad happens so far...

Adam could handle no more indecision. He moved into the room, shovel held like the spear he used it. He was ready for anything this room might throw at him.

Yep, sure enough, now that he's in the room. Adam can see that there are two abnormally large spiders up above the top of the door, each about the size of a cat. Well, all right, a bit smaller, but goodness, isn't that large enough?

(GM rolls dice...)

They attack Adam.

(Before anything, roll a Dex check for me, Adam...)

07:26, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 3 using 1d20-4.  /10 Dex.
How dead is Adam? Really dead or just mostly dead? (Cookie if you know the reference I just made without a google.

OOC: All bonuses and penalties apply to the attribute, not the dice roll. A bonus makes it easier to roll under your attribute, a penalty makes it more difficult. Even so, with DEX 10 and a -4 penalty, a roll of 3 succeeds. (10 - 4 = 6, and 3 < 6.)

(Yeah you're fine. In this game rolling low is good (except when you're rolling to see how much damage you deal in combat I guess).

And that looked like a pretty easy Princess Bride reference to me, although I guess it could turn out to be a case of Mistaken Reference Identity.)

Adam manages to avoid getting bitten by the spiders... so far.

(It's y'all's turn-- time to go on the offensive!)

Harry steps over the threshold and swats at one of the two spiders with her table leg. "Welp, at least they're a tad smaller than imagined. That's good, ain't it?"

---

14:52, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 13 using 1d20.  Check Vs. DEX 18 (+1 Danger Bonus).
14:55, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 10 using 1d6+7.  Armed Damage.

One spider goes down, hard, under Harry's assault...

Adam attempted to spear the remaining spider.

07:40, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 8 using 1d20.  v 17 Str.

Adam successfully kills the second spider. Spider threat ended.

Harry cautiously pads across the chamber and inspects the small, highly-reflective object in the fireplace. "Reckon th' spiders get ample food. Mebbe they eat th' damn bats."

The object in the fireplace is simply a fist-sized chunk of crystal, basically some sort of cloudy quartz. In spite of being somewhat superficially attractive, it has no real value.

(Roll WIS check but subtract 1 from your result, Harry.)

OOC: Subtracting 1 from my result would make the check easier. If you want it more difficult, I should subtract 1 from my WIS. Not that it matters in this instance: 16:54, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 20 using 1d20.  Check Vs. WIS 14.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:55, Mon 05 Sept 2022.

(Yeah, wanted to make it easier, that's why I said it that way.

Oh well.)

Harry gains no amazing insight about why there's a chunk of cheap quartz in the fireplace.

Harry pockets the chunk of crystal anyway, departs the web-strewn bedroom, and pads down the hallway to the second door. "Mebbe we should just burn th' damn house t' its foundation. Would hate t' leave any vampires still strollin' about. Collinsport bein' Collinsport, these're prolly just th' vampire groupies and there's a cult of th' god-damn things we ain't even seen yet."

Adam nodded his agreement, "Agreed. I can get a fire started."

(let me know if we're gonna open the second door or attempt to burn this place to the ground (or, at least, which first))

Harry grins at Adam. "Let's wait until we're on our way out, at least." She stops at the second door and turns the knob just as she had done with the prior door... as silently as possible. Table-leg held at the ready, she flings the door open when she feels the latch release.

Adam stood behind Harry, his shovel at the ready.

Another dirty, decaying bedroom without furniture. From the doorway the floor in here does not look particularly safe; some floorboards are missing while others appear to have suffered partial collapse.

One door to go (the one to the left as you're facing this doorway)...

Harry sets her sights on the final door, then turns her piercing gaze to Adam. "Fancy kickin' this one in? Reckon anythin' movin' about already knows we're here."

Adam grinned as he actually enjoyed kicking in doors. Adam took a couple steps toward the door, and using the momentum he kicked in the door as hard as he could.

(Hmmmm... for reasons of my own, give me an STR check for that, Adam...)

11:37, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 16 using 1d20.  v. 17 STR.

The door comes entirely off its hinges and flies into the center of the room.

..Where it causes the floor to groan in protest. The floor of this dirty, decayed room (with no furniture) is at least as weakened by the damp conditions as the last room.

An important difference, though, is that there's someone in this room.

A man, wearing only his underclothes, is tied up and gagged over in the far left corner.

Just to go by his expression, he appears quite alarmed at the prospect of the floor collapsing and maybe taking him with it.

Harry alternately glances between the bound man and the floor. "Thinkin' it may be easier t' catch this fella from the floor below when this one collapses," she opines, "rather than attempt a direct rescue and risk fallin' through ourselves." She glances aside at Adam. "Got any better ideas?"

Adam shook his head, "No, you are the idea person." Adam turned and headed downstairs. He stopped, "I will call to you when I am in position."

Harry nods once. "Right. Now t' figure out how I get th' floor t' collapse without fallin' through meself." She drops into a crouch at the threshold and eyes the floor. "Rotten floor ain't too different from rotted deck. Been on a few of those in me smugglin' days." Harry carefully probes the floorboards with her table-leg. "Hrm. Should've studied more than just naval architecture."

---

11:27, Today: Harriet MacLeod (aka 'Harry') rolled 16 using 1d20.  Check Vs. WIS 14 (+1 Smuggler Avocation). Close but no cigar. Missed by 2.

Adam handed over his shovel. "Use this. A few hard smacks should do the trick."

The floor groans. It might not be long now, whatever you do. Someone had better get in position below quickly-- depending on how much of the center collapses, this might be difficult, especially if there's a lot of dust from plaster and dirt and mold or whatever...

Adam moved into position as fast as his frame would allow.

(Roll Dex, please, Adam...)

09:58, Today: Adam DeLacey rolled 17 using 1d20.  v 10 dex.
Crap Adam is going to die again.

Adam hurries as fast as he can back down the stairs, and opens the door of the room below-- JUST as its ceiling is collapsing under the broken door above. There is, in fact, a cloud of dust-- but Adam is just able to see the man rolling forward... Adam tries to catch him-- but part of the floor the man is rolling down breaks on its own under his weight. Adam tries to catch-- well, grab-- and the-- oh no-- ow-- and-- owwww...

(Adam, how many HP do you have right now, anyway? Your character sheet makes it look like you have all 6, but is that correct...?)

Apologies, I have three before whatever is happening now.
Bats, spores in coats, and I can't remember what the first one was but yea, I am down to three. Been nice knowing you guys, lol.

(Choice: Adam, you're going to get somewhat hurt by the ceiling falling on you. But will you get pretty hurt but try to save the falling man who's about to roll off the floor above, or just slightly hurt, but let 'im fall?)

Slightly hurt, his altruism only goes so far.

How do you heal in this game anyway?

The ceiling falls on Adam, even though he tries to avoid it doing so (he does manage to avoid some of the damage coming his way, but not all). Ow!

(Adam takes 1 new point of damage.)

But that's nothing compared to how the man rolling off the floor above lands wrong on a piece of splintered timber. OWWWWwwwww.

He's not dead yet, but he's definitely in trouble... Since you're not doctors, it's hard to say if his wounds are unavoidably mortal or not. Might be-- or it might be avoidable...
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:36, Wed 19 Oct 2022.

Adam called up, "I could not reach him in time. He is hurt badly, I think. I am exhausted and I really need to sleep before we continue."

Harry descends to the first floor and returns Adam's shovel to him. "May as well call it a day, then. Let's drag him and our crazy fellow out and put th' place t' th' torch while there's still light. Neither deserves t' die in a fire."

Harry furrows her brow, silently lost in thought for a time. Torching this place to the ground could be of benefit to the folk of Collinsport, she thinks to herself, or it may bring the wrath of any surviving vampires down upon them all. Her experience the prior evening gnaws at her. The I-Ching suggested that a time of dramatic change, of great opportunity, of vast enlightenment, could be upon us. She chews the tip of her thumb. If I destroy the devilry that plagues Collinsport in 1795, will the 1966 I knew be forever lost to me? And even if it is, would Collinsport not be a better place for it? She turns her gaze to Adam. "If you saw an opportunity to change the future for the better, but only at the expense of your own, could you do it? Would you?"

Adam looked at her for a long time as he thought about what she said. Finally he shrugged, "Probably not, mostly because someone else might do it to me, you know?"

Harry slowly shakes her head. "My future may a'ready be lost t' me. Too many loose ends t' tie off." She chews her thumb, again lost in thought. "And if I change things fer selfish reasons, I'm doomed. May be doomed regardless."

Adam looked at the house, "What does your gut say?"

Harry mulls Adam's words. "Vampires'll know someone was here unless they left Collinsport fer good," she replies, "but burnin' th' place down'll send a clear message that someone's after 'em." She glances around the room. "That may spur 'em t' panic, but like as not it'll enrage 'em. Make 'em throw caution t' th' wind and start turnin' everyone they can lay hands on." She returns her gaze to Adam. "May bring other ghosties and ghoulies outta th' woodwork as well, which don't bode well fer th' locals. May have t' keep this war low-key. C'mon. Let's get our pair of survivors outta here and back t' town. We'll hold off on torchin' th' place fer now."

Adam nodded and handed her his shovel. He put on of them over each shoulder and began walking. "When we get close, you will have to carry them yourself. I cannot enter civilization, I am... unfit physically."

Harry snorts and laughs. "If anyone were gonna carry two grown men any distance, I'd think you best fer th' job. I'd need a litter t' easily manage one of 'em, let alone both. Reckon I could rig one up quick if I had suitable materials."

Adam sighed, "I will attempt to remain hidden." He drew the hood of his coat up and over his head.