A Gazebo and Two Zombies on a Saturday morning

The party deals with some rare flora at the gazebo and decides to finish up the southwest wing before heading back to the armory for a long rest.

This write up is from our Sunday, June 6th 2021 session. Thanks to Jimmy for the screen shots from roll20.

Continued from: The Medusa.

Location:  Near the gazebo outside of Tegel Manor.

Saturday, April 4th, 4433 6:00 AM

Near the gazebo....sounds ominous.

Natalie spotted what appeared to be a helmet and armor with grass growing up through and around them. Getting closer showed bones, backpack, etc. Another one bites the dust.  The gazebo had some signs of battle damage inside and out.

Syndra, hereafter Syndra the Wise, noticed a rare plant - a Vampire Vine.....yep, more ominous stuff...

It attacked Syndra, grabbing at her with vines. The damned thing can MOVE !!!!!  WTF WTF WTF !!!!  Not fast, but the sucker moves....ARGH.

Reebo started off shooting arrows, and the rest of us joined in. 

It threw leaves at us, with a LONG range of attack possible. When it hit, it HURT!!!

With fire-based spells as our friend, we put it out of our misery. Ony Syndra got hurt, and we were dazzled by Shadow Walker's ability to fend off missile type attacks.

No loot on the vines, and the backpack from the fallen adventurer fell apart when Reebo checked it.  One scroll and a couple of potions.

**********  LOOT
   1-dose Diminution and 3-dose Invulnerability   
   Bag containing 40gp, 164 sp, 40 cp.
   Spell Scroll - looked like a cleric spell, with some water damage.
LOOT  ******************

After splitting up the cash, Reebo checked out the gazebo itself.  Folks recovered arrows that were not broken, and one that was already there. Syndra took the extra one, and noticed that it looked pretty unweathered for as long as it must have been in place.

We continued toward the front of the Manor, with discussion of finishing the 'wing' or taking some stuff from the armory to sell. Both ideas had good points to consider, but we were a bit hurt and down on spells.  Of course, by the time we finished the 'wing' it would likely be evening, and a long rest would put us heading back first thing in the morning.

Moving around, we came to a corner and could see the front door again. A previously unnoticed alcove was there too.

Looking in the windows as we passed them, one looked like a man-cave that had seen better days, with a door to the interior. Another was in better shape, and had music playing - wild chamber music, with finely dressed ghosts dancing. Aefir could see a sorta pathway leading to where the alcove area was on the outside.  A couple paintings adorned the walls and a curtain covered a large part of one wall.

Reebo looked for a secret door, but was NOT going to open it if he found one. Perhaps just as well, he did NOT locate one.



We came to a dead end of walls, and backtracked. Another window with water seeping around, moldy all over.  Animal trophies on the wall were messed up too.

Further discussion of whether or not to check out the last room in the picture gallery, then get the loot. Sounded good to do the room, then rest in the armory and head back the next day.

Looking in the last window, it was a room with everything broken, except a padded coffer with a blackish bottle of wine sitting on top of it.

The occasional rat hole in the corner made an appearance as well.

Back to the (not-so) secret door that we found earlier, and to the armory for a long rest was the consensus. We were low on healing, getting more healing back sounded really good.

We reached the secret door area, and Reebo tried to open it again. Initial efforts were not so good, so we headed down to the door we actually used before. Entering, we heard a crash of thunder like the first time we went through.

We went down the hallway to where the armory was according to Aefir's memory, and Reebo opened it. We went in, closing the door behind us. Shadow piton-secured the door.

We did a more thorough inventory of the armory than the first time, noting what would be good to carry back for sales on our first return trip. Other loot would have to wait.

Leaving the armory NOT locked behind us, we headed down to the one (maybe...) room we had not visited. The last time we were close to it, a nasty picture on the wall disrupted our plans and teleported us away.

Passing the room with the live painting, we could hear an arrow strike the door from the other side. We proceeded being careful to avoid the pictures on the walls.

The unvisited room door in the gallery was locked, but Reebo soon took care of that.  The door opened to reveal two rows of copper sheets, a spear and shield on the walls. A copper statue/idol of a gryphon, and the altar had masks of falcon, tiger and wolf.

As Syndra approached the altar in the middle of the room there was a sound of hands beating on drums. Folks inside stepped outside. The sound seemed to start when people got close to the altar, and died down when people stepped away.

We left that room, and wowza!! There were more rooms with doors into the gallery that we had not looked into. So, we went to the next one.

Spider webs and a carpet were all that was in the next room. Aefir sliced some of the spider webs, to see if a giant spider dropped in for a visit. He also looked under the carpet.

Another room, a bedroom, with more spiderwebs (cobwebs?) and a wardrobe.  Three small creatures of some sort were hanging from the ceiling.  OK, NOT cobwebs.

Reebo checked out the wardrobe, but nothing of interest.  Some bones under the bed, likely rats.

A door to the north was unlocked but seemed stuck, so Aefir pushed seriously. It took two tries to find which side the hinges were on, but he got it open.

It looked like a storeroom. Dozens of large urns were in rows in this room. Ten large glass urns contain monsters preserved in stale oil. The monsters include a baby bulette, two orcs, a five-headed hydra, three bugbears, a scorpion, and two apes. The urns were identical and 5 feet in size.

Apparently someone was preserving the bodies for some reason.

A trail of five copper pieces on the floor led to three piled jars in a corner.  A quiver with arrows hung from a peg. Some hand weapons and a leather bag, plus a fat ceramic crockpot.

Looked like a good place for Detect Magic, so Syndra did. The only new shining was from the arrow she got at the gazebo. No wonder it was looking so good after such a long time.

The copper pieces led to some jars that appeared to be full of blood.  Reebo grabbed the copper but left the blood alone.

Another doorway eastward was locked. Reebo earns his treasure, for sure. Hearing nothing on the other side, he tried to unlock it. This door took a couple tries but he did get it.

Out in the hallway, we had a visitor. Paraselene had been on watch, and noticed a zombie meandering along, grinning toothlessly. One tough zombie, and it really smelled bad when Aefir hacked into it.

Aefir looked down the hallway from whence the zombie came, and did his special undead sensing thing. Nothing.  He could see a stairway going up, and a statue of a clown with red hair.  The clown was on a pedestal, with an inscription Aefir could not read at the distance.

Back to the door, Reebo flailed a little but finally unlocked it. A room with a table and bench. A skilet and mug, and another door.  Opening that door we found a corpse in what appeared to be a maid's dress. Dead on a bed, with a wardrobe on the other side of the room. One book was on a table - a dusty romance novel. A small teacup covered with a rotting napkin was on the table too. There was woman's clothing in the wardrobe.



Reebo looked under the bed, and as he got up the woman did too. She came after Reebo, but missed.  Part of one of her arms fell off. Reebo used Mage Hand to pick up the blanket and drape it over the zombie. Well done !!!

Several arrows later, the zombie bit the dust, literally.

We made our way back to the armory for a very long rest.

Continued in: The Ghost and The Mayor.

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