War for the Crown Gameplay

"I don't sense any magic," Sarina confirms. "This all is really here."

As the party opens the front door and makes to walk inside, Corey reaches out a hand and stops them, reaching out gingerly with his foot and kicking aside a rug. Beneath it is a well-disguised pit trap. "... think that's new?" he jokes nervously.

Deeper into the room, Adelaide sets to picking the locks on the chains and doors, and everyone prepares for danger before opening the heavy double doors. This massive feasting hall was once an elegant entertaining space, but now the silk banners are frayed and the plaster crumbles from the walls. Several couches and chairs have been dragged onto the dais at the north end of the hall and stitched together with webbing and bones, forming a warm nest. A soft, hissing voice echoes through the room from one of the pillars in the back. "Who... daresss disturb the spider princccce?"

Unable to see who's speaking, Adelaide decides to improvise. "Our deepest apologies, your highness, we had reason to think someone was being held here against their will," she comments with a small bow. "After all, there were two padlocks in addition to the locked door. It does spark the imagination, yes?"

Momo huffs a breathy complaint about the sanctity of arachnid royalty, but folds her arms and waits to see how it'll play out.

"Oh, is that why I couldn't get that door open anymore? Curious. I'll have to speak with Master Mosle about why he would have done that," the voice muses. "It's been some time since I've had visitors. How are my delicious subjects?"

"Truthfully, a bit perplexed," Adelaide answers, throwing in another bow for good measure. "You see, we are the new stewards of Stachys, and as such were hoping to meet with Baron Telus. I wrote him a letter some time ago to that effect, and when we didn't hear back, there was naturally some concern. We certainly didn't expect this state of affairs!"

"I don't believe I ever received a letter," the voice tuts. "Another matter to discuss with Master Mosle. Though I would appreciate it if you did not insult my home."

Oh, that's what I was afraid of. "I apologize if I seemed disparaging, I only meant to indicate surprise," Adelaide answers with a smile. "I also hope this isn't overstepping, but would it please your highness to speak face to face?"

"Oh, we already are," Baron Telus lets out a strangely high giggle, his voice suddenly moving from behind the pillar to directly above the group, revealing a person clinging to webbing along the ceiling, skin half shed from his body to reveal an arachnid chitin and sharp limbs.

"Ah, now I can see you better!" Adelaide answers, trying to channel a positive response rather than a shrill one. She has a sinking feeling her face turned pale involuntarily. "Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Baron Telus. Since the error in communication occurred, an introduction may be appropriate. I am Adelaide Morilla, and with me are the other four stewards of Stachys."

"Ah, so they found heirs to old Allis after all," Baron Telus laughs again and skitters on the ceiling. "Glad you could come here." He casts a quick spell and his eyes glow violet, "Why do you have magical defenses up? Are you afraid of me?" his voice carries a playful, teasing edge.

"Oh, we weren't sure what we'd find here, and thought safety would be prudent," Adelaide answers with a laugh. "We already had to deal with wolves on our way in, would you like to hear about that?"

"Not really. Wolves don't taste very good," Araig smirks. "But do tell me, how are things outside? I'm feeling rather peckish, after all, and the servants were rather delicious."

Adelaide blinks, thinking. "I suppose I've no experience eating wolf myself, so I'll defer to your judgment on the matter. Ah, but I don't believe we saw anyone outside on our way in." Only focus keeps her from raising her rapier protectively, concerned with the logical follow-up to that answer.

Her suspicions prove correct, and Josie manages to fire a few arrows before Baron Telus fires a beam of scorching hot light at Adelaide and repositions around the pillar. Adelaide hisses in pain, but looks sharp. "He's an ettercap, but keep him alive because I've never heard of someone turning into one," she relays quickly, trying to decide what to do. "He has a ranged web attack and a poisonous bite, but he's no mage. There's something on his head assisting him."

Momo conjures a burst of light behind the pillar and the Baron screams, clutching his eyes in agony. As Josie goes to nock another arrow, Corey suddenly scoops her up one-armed and deposits her next to the pillar. Nodding in thanks, Josie quickly looses two arrows at the monstrous noble. The first goes wide, but the second lodges cleanly into his leg. The Baron hisses in pain, then howls immediately afterward as Sarina's magical bolts strike true. Still clutching his face, the spider-like creature crawls halfway down the pillar and blasts Josie in the face with a magnificent explosion of color. The archer drops her bow in a daze, but Corey immediately capitalizes on Telus's lower position with a hefty glaive swing. The ettercap unceremoniously crashes to the floor, and is quickly patched up and bound.

[Placeholder for sarina detecting magic on him and seeing something else on him but not knowing what it is]

Adelaide wrinkles her nose at the gap in Sarina's knowledge. "I wonder if what you're detecting is what turned him," she comments, frowning as she examines what little she can. "Ettercaps are spider-like aberrations. They normally capture their prey through ambush and command spiders... but I've never heard of a human turning into an ettercap before. They don't have innate capabilities for disguises, and I didn't... think Baron Telus was a mage." She mulls on the interaction before and the battle. "This crown only explains his attack on me, not the colors thrown at Josie nor the ability to sense our protections. So there's more to figure out there. Regardless, if he had magical ability to disguise himself, though, hm... At any rate, it seems more likely that he was turned like this around when Baroness Voinum stopped hearing from him, if not sooner."

"Ah'm willin' ta bet findin' this 'Master Mosle' fella'll clear things up,'" Corey points out. "Ain't nothin' gonna just pop up and tell us what's goin' on here."

"Potentially untrue, depending on what our investigation of the baron himself had yielded," Adelaide notes tersely, standing up. "Also quite likely that Mosle won't be able to fill in all the gaps. Nevertheless, I'm sure he'll be able to fill in a few, and hopefully investigating the manor will cover the rest."

”Perhaps this is some outlandish coup by Count Lotheed,” Momo suggests, a spitball theory meant more to provoke discussion than to be correct. ”If we have to reconcile the facts with what we see before us, I believe ‘a wizard did it’ is a fair explanation.”

Adelaide considers this while examining the room. ”’A wizard did it’ is certainly plausible, though Count Lotheed doing it would raise more questions than answers,” she comments after finding nothing of interest. ”My personal speculation is a curse or perhaps a ritual gone wrong. Though, I think the main question to address is if someone afflicted the baron with this, or if a greedy grasp at power went... mm, I would say wrong, but for all I know it may have gone right.” She shakes her head. ”Stay vigilant while moving about, by the way, ettercaps are fond of traps.”

”Joy,” Momo grumbles, taking care to touch as few things as possible.

After finding both the northwestern and southeastern doors blocked, and the northeastern room containing a stash of treasure, the group moves to the western door of the entry hall, and opens it after hearing voices on the other side. On that side, there's a group of four men playing cards around a table, wearing ragged uniforms bearing the crest of House Telus, who all rise to their feet and draw weapons when the door opens. "What're you doin' here?" the nearest one demands.

”Good day to you too,” Adelaide answers drily, though with a small smile. ”Investigating the matter of Baron Telus’s disappearance, since the Count hadn’t gotten around to it and we’re new in his barony. I don’t suppose any of you are ‘Master Mosle’?”