3rd Book: the Book of the Mountain
Copyright© 2025 by Luvirini
Chapter 4: Exploring the Manor
June 1
The group examines the doors and prepares to enter. Neeia notices one of those undead ravens above the door, so she shoots it to pieces. During preparations, Kieron takes the ghost oil in her hand so she can quickly apply it to her sword, Jaysek and Neeia hold energy balls in their hands, Ra takes a weapon and sword in his hands, then switches to holding a shield in his other hand, and then realizes he cannot open the door with the key because both hands are full. He puts his sword away and opens the door, puts the key back in his pocket, and draws his sword again before going inside.
Inside the room, there is a fireplace and a grand piano. Ra goes to examine the piano and presses one key, whereupon the piano begins to play by itself, causing Kieron and Neeia to start dancing wildly. They also see a woman appearing with whom they dance. The others cannot see the woman at all. Neeia stops after two or three seconds, and Kieron continues dancing for another five seconds. After dancing, Neeia is quite tired, but Kieron is extremely exhausted and feels weak. Ra proceeds to strike more keys on the piano, although both Neeia and Kieron try to talk and sing him out of it.
Nothing special happens with the next keys, except that Neeia begins to aim at Ra, or more precisely, through Ra at the piano. Ra moves aside, and Neeia blasts the piano to pieces. A kind of death cry is heard from the piano, and it affects Neeia and Kieron.
Neeia takes a healing potion, but Kieron states that she is too weak and unwell, that she wants to leave to heal herself. The group moves fifty yards away until the magic level feels normal again. Kieron heals herself and drinks a magic potion on top of that. After that, they rest for almost and hour before heading back to the manor.
They proceed from the piano room and next enter a bathroom. In the bathroom, there is a bathtub with a rat trying to get out. Ra goes back to look at the fireplace that Jaysek is examining, while Neeia puts her baton into the tub so the rat can climb up it, after which it tries to bite Neeia on the hand. Neeia pulls her hand away, and the rat falls to the floor outside. There is clearly something wrong with the rat, and after brief wonderment, they notice it appears to be blind and very hungry. Ra gives the rat food, and Jaysek leads it outside.
The group continues forward, passes a corridor, and comes to a large hall. In the hall stands a large three-yards high manticore statue. On the wall are hunting trophies: the heads of a wild boar, a bear, and a mountain lion.
Ra and Jaysek follow Neeia into the large room. When Jaysek approaches the statue, it rises and breathes fire toward Jaysek, and Jaysek catches fire. The others don’t notice the manticore at all, as it was apparently some kind of illusion. The others thus see that Jaysek, carrying a large fireball, catches fire, and then he shoots the statue with a lightning bolt, and when Neeia shoots after him, following Jaysek’s example, at the same statue, the statue shatters to pieces.
After that, Jaysek extinguishes himself with his magic and then tells the others that the statue attacked him. The group examines the room. Neeia and Kieron hear some sobbing from upstairs. The group heads there. Kieron hides and follows, creeping behind the others. Neeia goes through the first door on the left and down the stairs, which lead to that large room downstairs. They return upstairs and move to the next large room. The room has sofas and armchairs. Additionally, the room has musical instruments, and the windows of the room are stained glass, which Jaysek thinks have some significance.
In the first one is a pale, slightly transparent scorpion; in the next is an emaciated, grim man with sleeping bats hanging from his hands. In the third is a moth with skull-like patterns on its wings; in the fourth are some clock-shaped flowers; and in the last is a young woman in the forest next to a well who is about to be attacked by a large dog-sized spider.
Jaysek recognizes that these are magical components, apparently exactly those needed for transformation into a lich. Kieron explains that this project takes years and typically involves a very powerful mage or similar, but could also be a priest or someone else. They are very difficult to harm physically; it is practically useless to strike with anything other than the right weapon, in this case, a magic mace. Furthermore, they are very frightening, they can paralyze and can still cast the spells they could before becoming a lich, and of course, whatever they have learned since. Liches are also well protected against elemental magic, mind-affecting spells do not work, they are very intelligent, wise, and charismatic. In addition to these, they are good at hiding and moving quietly.
The group continues the journey and comes to the next room, where there are dirty paintings. They clean the paintings, and suddenly the figures in the paintings turn undead-looking, and after that, they feel something strange, but then the figures change back to what they were. On the north wall are paintings of Vorel, who is completely covered in boils, and the entire painting is also covered in boils. Two other paintings of women are also covered in boils.
On the south wall are two adults, Traver and Cyralie, of whom the man has a slit throat, and the woman is badly burned. Next is Aldern Foxglove, who turned into a ghoul, and finally two more girls who were just cold.
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