Home Is Where The Horror Is...

A Strangelight research crew has uncovered an Orgothstructure while on a routine expedition into the Widower's Wood.

Informer: Kenneth Kooi

Pitch

In the twilight years of the Orgoth Invasion, a pair of wounded warriors, Lyra Fairhame, a Paladin of Morrow and Dimitri Garvis, a Menite Exemplar, staggered towards a manor in the outskirts of Corvis in search of safety. They were welcomed by the lady of the house, Dame Thiana, who promised them rest and safety from their Orgoth pursuers.

However, at the stroke of midnight, Dame Thiana revealed her treachery, leading the Orgoth to where the exhausted pair slept. Both were struck down. As they died, an ethereal scream filled the house, two intertwined voices cursing their needless deaths and the treachery that had undone them.

For years, the manor fell into disrepair, gaining the reputation that it was cursed. When Dame Thiana died, the building was left empty until it was swallowed by the Widower's Wood.

A Strangelight research crew has uncovered the structure while on a routine expedition into the Widower's Wood in search of Orgoth artefacts. At what they believed to be a nexus of strange forces, they chose to investigate the ruined manor.

They never returned.

The PCs have been contacted one way or another, and have been sent to investigate the disappearance.

Alternatives

• The forgotten manor is obviously haunted on first inspection. However, as the PCs continue to explore the ancient structure, they will eventually discover the terrible truth. The house is not haunted as first thought. In fact, the haunting IS the house. Damned for her actions by both Morrow and Menoth, Dame Thiana's spirit has been trapped in eternal torment within the house and now permeates every inch of the forsaken structure. Now mad, Dame Thiana believes that if she harvests enough souls, she can barter her way into Urcaen. The PCs are in the very belly of the beast. And it's still hungry. Anyone knows how to kill a house?
• For her service, Dame Thiana was gifted with many servants by the Orgoth, including several Dreads, which have remained in the house for untold years. It is the Dreads that have lurked in the shadows of the manor, lending it the reputation of a haunted place. An Excruciator has also taken up residence in the basement, using the Dreads to gather "subjects". The Excruciator has just gotten warmed up on the members of the expedition.
• A far more terrible secret is that even in death, the souls of the Warriors were not allowed to pass into the afterlife. Struck down by infernal Orgoth weapons, their souls were forced to linger, railing at forced imprisonment within a pair of Fell Blades that were buried deep beneath the structure. The supernatural cries of torment of both Lyra and Dimitri have been what has been giving the Manor its dark reputation. It was this faint trace of soul energy that drew the Strangelight researchers to the manor in the first place.
  
  The first researchers to pick up the weapons have been driven utterly mad by the sheer torment emanating from the swords (Neither Lyra nor Dimitri is evil, but they can't help it at this point) and have stalked their comrades through the cavernous bowels of the house. The Expedition survivors are in very bad shape and may not survive if the PCs do not intervene. And who knows. Maybe someone might even be able to free the lost souls.
  

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Contact: Kenneth Kooi