The Assault on Von Schreiber Manor

"Assault on Von Schreiber Manor" is the ninth episode of the Dungeons and Dragons adventure, Sword of the Godslayer. It follows episode eight, "The Guardian of Soliton"

Synopsis
With Captain Hrothgar imprisoned and awaiting trial, the adventurers seek for unlikely allies as they launch an assault towards the conspirators that has been plaguing the city of Soliton.

Strange Bedfellows
Seiveril helped the group escape from the city guards and brought them to the Thieves' Guild and took a rest in one of their storage rooms. The next morning, Lira and Marley were the first to wake up. Finding themselves surrounded by crates and barrels, they opened one out of curiosity and found a giant's amputated arm. Unruffled, Lira moved out of the way for Marley, who was eyeing the large rings on the giant's fingers. However, Sei came in and stopped them, saying that everything in the room already had buyers.

Since Rob had told the group that he had recognized Baron Dominic's voice as that of the one who had kidnapped him, they asked Sei about the von Schreiber manor. She gave them directions, but warned that the guards were looking for them since they had escaped arrest. As a thief and charlatan, Marley eagerly gave them tips on disguise. He suggested that they pretend to be foreigners, and they all darkened their skin with soot. Lira also tied a bandanna around her brow to hide her elven ears. Finally, Seiveril also mentioned that the Captain Hrothgar surrendered himself to the city guards, as though he is not guilty with all the charges against him, he is a vampire, and vampires are not welcome in the city. Sei pleads the party to help her save captain after they clear his name.

Incognito
As the group walked together in the market, Marley and Nicolas led the way and spoke to each other in fake accents. However, the deception was barely believable and a guard began following them. Luckily, the adventurers noticed in time and quickly dispersed into the crowd.

When the guard caught up, he was surprised to only find Nicolas, Azula and Minos. He asked them where the others had gone, but Nicolas insisted that they were only three. As Minos suggested that it was just the heat, the guard wandered away, confused. The adventurers regrouped and finally reached the large, enclosed manor. From a nearby alley, they could see two guards standing just inside the locked gate.

Few of them could scale the eight-foot fence, thus Marley volunteered to climb up and provide reconnaissance. Before the rogue left, Rob handed Lira and Marley his Rings of Whisper, which he got from his father, to allow them to communicate from a distance. Marley reported that, aside from the two they could see from outside, there was a guard standing alone just below him and two others patrolling the back of the house.

In an attempt to get the gate open, Nicolas walked in front of the two gatekeepers and seemingly collapsed from heat stroke. One of them quickly unlocked the gate and approached him with a waterskin. At the same time, Lira ran up out of "concern" for her friend. As she knelt beside them both, she pickpocketed the man's keys.

As the ranger supported Nicolas by the arm and left hurriedly, the guard returned to the gate. However, upon realizing he could not lock the gate, he began arguing with his fellow gatekeeper on which of them had the key. Hearing the commotion, the guard near Marley came over to listen. Marley took the opportunity and jumped down and hid in a bush beside the house. However, as he tried to open a window, the lone guard heard the rustling of leaves and came to investigate. Lira quickly sent Scout around the far side of the house, through the fence, then into the same bush as the orc.

When the guard stopped in front of the bush, the giant weasel darted into the open and startled him. The two gatekeepers looked up and wondered aloud what the unusual beast tasted like. As Scout shouldered open the gate and ran down the street, the two chased after him. Lira bristled as she watched the two fire arrows after her beast companion, and seriously considered breaking her cover to protect him. Fortunately, Scout was able to hide from the guards despite his injuries.

As the individual guard took over the watch at the gate, Marley threw a rope over the wall for everyone to climb. After unlocking a window, the large group began filing into the manor. However, as Rob started to enter, the patrolling guards came around the house and saw him.

The sorcerer quickly cast Sleep, which was, luckily, enough to knock them both unconscious. They pulled the bodies into the manor with them and, as Lira bound their arms, Azula also suggested that they strip them of their clothing so as to delay them once they wake up.

The group began to explore the house. When they reached the entrance hall, they noticed a family portrait depicting a family: two parents and their children, two boys and a girl.

As Nicolas and Azula admired the intricate chandelier depicting the goddess Izar, Lira inspected the dining room. When she tried to open a cabinet however, she flinched from a poisoned needle hidden in the handle. After finding only silverware inside, she called Marley over to help her inspect it, since she was convinced such a protected door hid something important. Upon finding a seam bisecting all the shelves, Lira passed the rogue her crowbar. However, even after splintering one of the shelves, neither of them could figure out what the cabinet hid.

The two returned to the main hall when Auren called their attention to a sound of piano coming from upstairs. Marley and elven cleric went up first to investigate. The others followed close behind, but were careful to stay out of sight. Marley whispered down that they could see a piano on the next floor, but its bench was empty, despite the music obviously coming from the instrument. When the orc considered throwing a piece of bread at the piano, Lira sharply stopped him. She instead handed up a piece of wood from the cabinet they had broken, suggesting that it could at least reasonably have fallen from the ceiling.

Marley tossed the chunk in an arc and it landed flat on the seat. The music stopped abruptly and Lira felt a sudden unease as a girl's voice asked whether they enjoyed the music. They saw a brief glance of a ghost resembling the young lady from the portrait, before she faded from sight.

Auren, who had been standing next to Marley, abruptly moved away from the group. He went to the piano, sitting down and smoothly continuing the piece that had been playing earlier. Realizing that the cleric had been possessed, Marley tried to coax the ghost into coming back out, but just missed a strike from the irate ghost's mace.

Seeing this, Azula insisted that they just allow the ghost to finish her piece. Lira felt uncomfortable with being vulnerable to an attack, but settled down on the floor with the others to listen. As the ghost finished playing, she abruptly noticed Rob. Still controlling Auren, she swept toward the sorcerer and cradled his face, asking "Rikheart" where their son was. As the others tried to convince the ghost who Rob really was, she angrily attacked them.

Reminded of the time she had been hallucinating from Maev's enchanted bow, Lira was careful not to actually hurt Auren. She restrained the cleric from behind as Azula and Nicolas came at him with rope. However, before they had finished, the ghost fled his body. With the ghost distracted, Nicolas and Marley helped Rob wash the soot from his skin. At this, the ghost finally recognized the sorcerer and calmed down. She told them that they needed to stop her little brother Dominic, who was planning to kill thousands of people using the scroll he had taken from Rob. Though they tried to keep questioning her, the ghost only sat back at the piano and slowly vanished.

The group continued through the house and came upon the family treasury. Lira joined her fellow adventurers in looting, and came out with several Guided Arrows and Boots of Haste. She mused that, as a wood elf, she was already the fastest, but supposed that the boots still had uses. Afterwards, they noticed that one corner of the vault had a section of wall protruding oddly. Azula and Firroth broke a hole through the stone with a warhammer, but could only make an opening big enough for a hand. Marley pressed his face against it but could only see an opposite wall.

Lira went to the bedroom across the hall, where she had noticed a vanity. She casually broke the mirror and returned with a shard. Putting both her hand and the shard into the hole, she saw that there was a hidden staircase in the wall. The group went up one more floor and returned to the corner of the house where they had seen the staircase. After moving a table, they easily found a trapdoor that led downwards into a crypt. They climbed down to the bottom of the shaft until they reached a pair of double doors. Rob immediately recognized the design on the door as the one same door they tried to escape to when they were kidnapped.

At the creak of wood, a figure on a throne at the end of the hall stood and greeted them coolly. Nicolas stared at him and the four other soldiers waiting for them, then slowly pulled the door back closed. They glanced at each other nervously a moment, before the group heard murmured voices on the other side, then heavy thuds on stone. Curious, Marley peeked through the door again and was grabbed by a giant hand. As they watched in horror, they recognized a flesh golem with the face of Rob's father.

Godslayer Expedition

 * Auren
 * Azula
 * Firroth
 * Lira
 * Marley
 * Minos
 * Nong-Poi
 * Nicolas
 * Rob

Soliton Thieves' Guild

 * Seiveril

Von Schreiber Manor

 * Denise von Schreiber (ghost)
 * Dominic von Schreiber
 * Rickheart (flesh golem)
 * Thevir (briefly)

Next Episode
"Assault on Von Schreiber Manor" is followed by episode 10, titled "The Soulless One".