With Fobias’ fiery threat extinguished, the party quickly reacts to the half-orc’s condition and provides him with some much-needed healing. Unfortunately, the wand of cure light wounds sputters after two charges, leaving a substantial gap in their healing capabilities. Regardless of their limited resources, they continue searching Foxglove Manor for answers to their burning questions.
Theo spends some time investigating a magical simian skull, eventually pulling the rope protruding from its mouth and causing a shrill shriek to erupt from the relic, which echoes throughout the rotting building. Mold is growing everywhere, and Fobias begins paying close attention to the fungus in case he can recognize a specific genus. A series of intricate stained-glass windows depicting a treant, sphinx, roc, and kraken emerging from a seven-sided box. After seeing this, Barnaby is reminded of how Aldern would sometimes mention the ‘Brothers of the Seven,’ a secret organization based in Magnimar that is generally cast in a negative light.
As the party moves into the library, they notice a scarf draped across an overturned chair, marked with a distinct bloodstain. Krask investigates, but as soon as he is close, the scarf suddenly animates and wraps tightly around his neck in a suffocating embrace. As he gasps for air, Krask sees a faint vision of Aldern Foxglove tightening the grip around his neck. Krask also feels as if he were Iesha Foxglove, Aldern’s wife while this hallucination is occurring. Although Barnaby attempts to intervene and cut the scarf from Krask’s neck, and Fobias hurls his holy symbol at the active accessory, both are unsuccessful at dispelling the haunt and Krask falls to the ground, unconscious. When he comes to, his memory is still vivid with memory of what transpired, and he sets the scarf ablaze. It smolders to ash, leaving the wooden flooring mostly unscathed. Fobias carefully picks up a book lying between the armchairs (after a mild attempt at cleansing it with his holy symbol), and realizes it to be a copy of “Varisia: A Brief History.” He pockets the potential clue.
With the latest danger behind them, the party decides to redouble their efforts in locating the source of the mysterious sobbing, traversing the spiral staircases up to the attic. At the end of the hallway, they hear the telltale sounds of sadness coming from behind the northeastern door. Krask trips the lock and slowly swings the door open.
Inside the small room, a woman kneels in front of an elaborate full-length mirror, crying softly to herself. The party cautiously enters the room, but their attempts at conversation do nothing to pry the woman away from her own reflection. Barnaby steps forward and places a hand on the woman’s shoulder to comfort her. The figure mumbles incoherent nonsense, but Aldern’s name is heard occasionally through the murmurs. Eventually, the woman’s eyes slowly drift back to her reflection and the sobbing continues while her gaze remains locked with herself. Not dissuaded, Barnaby steps between the woman and the mirror, forcing her to break her stare. Immediately, she snaps out of her trance and shouts, “Aldern! I can smell your fear! You’ll be in my arms soon!” She turns and begins leaving the room, and nobody stops her. The woman walks listlessly through the door and down the hallway. The party follows.
Eventually the woman walks down into the basement, and opens a door that unleashes ravenous rat swarms upon the party. She continues onwards while the party is forced to deal with the latest threat. Even though the rats are taken care of quickly, the woman is out of sight by the time the party gathers themselves. They enter the next room – the smashed remains of an arcane laboratory.
Another set of stained-glass windows mark the eastern wall, this time depicting a healthy man drinking a green liquid and the same man withered away to a corpse-like shell. As Barnaby surveys his surroundings, he suddenly feels compelled to read the books on the far side of the room; most of them contain disturbing images and diagrams detailing necromantic methods. While he thumbs through the pages, he is struck with a series of fractal visions, as if seen through a stained-glass window.
He sees a man poring over meticulous notes, comparing research, and engulfing himself in dusty tomes. Then, the images flashes to the same man searching the forest floor for a handful of fragile, purple mushrooms. It changes again, this time showing the man cutting wood and becoming angry at the results of his experiments. But then, his experiment is a success, and he drinks his concoction before doubling over in severe pain. At the same time, Barnaby drops to his knees and feels an intense anger bubble up at the thought of someone he loves harming themselves in a such a selfish way. His fury burns, and his mind is blind with rage…
Who is the pale woman leading the PCs towards their doom? What evils transpired here to make the Manor so dangerous? Has Fobias discovered a new way to worship Cayden Cailean?