Phantasmal Rift Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
phantasmods) wrote2017-10-26 03:40 am
phantasmods) wrote2017-10-26 03:40 am
DUNGEON - SILVEREAGLE MANOR
AREA GENERAL
Tucked into the head of a mountain valley, Silvereagle Manor is really more of a castle than a manor, with great stone walls blocking it out from the outside world. Once a well-maintained historic site (complete with vacation hotel and associated gift shop), a century of neglect has caused it, like every other remnant of civilization outside of Incendia's time loops, to fall into complete disrepair. The main building - a four story manor house with a tower - is still standing and doesn't look like it's going to cave in while you're inside, but that's about the best that can be said for it. What were once well-manicured gardens between the buildings and the walls have overgrown to the point that there is very nearly no path through from the rusted, broken gate to the front doors - and that's the path that's in best condition out of the lot. Trying another entrance is technically possible, but it's going to be an extreme amount of hassle, and characters approaching by glider or other vehicle will find that they have quite a bit of difficulty if they try to land within the grounds.
Inside, the halls and rooms are surprisingly well-maintained. The responsibility for this lands squarely on the magically created 'staff' and effects that still operate throughout the castle. Brooms sweep hallways by themselves, suits of armor animate to remove intruders, vases of flowers remain eternally fresh beneath their century-old layer of dust. Even without the dust, there is the sense of having stepped into the home of something ancient and magical - as is only proper, as the home of the Ahnrenti family who were once considered the custodians of the source of the planet's magic.
Or so says the battered-looking tourist information sign in the entrance hall, under the family crest of a silver eagle carrying a branched stave in one taloned foot and a lightning bolt in the other.
The visual distortion effect of this Fissure isn't immediately obvious unless you're careful to look for it. Rather than the typical corners-of-your-vision visual effects, the main Fissure causes the shadows cast within to become far deeper than they ought to be, almost cartoonishly so. It's impressively easy to hide yourself in - or find something else hiding within - a patch of pitch-black shadow, vanishing completely from sight. However, it's the other effect of the Fissure that characters are likely to be more concerned about.
DUNGEON-WIDE EFFECT: A NEW YOU
Those who enter into the Fissure will find that the magic within takes hold of their bodies and doesn't let go. Veterans of Keystone Reef will recognize the type of transformative magic at work, but the array of possibilities this time is much wider than it was in the aquatic Fissure. Characters could potentially find themselves with the body of any other kind of sentient being - while the transformation magic will generally keep to 'bipeds of about your usual size,' even that has exceptions.
The transformational magic is also unusually potent. The effects will not fade in areas of localized stability - you'll have to leave the dungeon or wait for the whole thing to be stabilized for the effects to fade. In addition, characters who find themselves as members of races that have magical, psychic, or other inherent powers may find that they manifest those abilities in addition to or sometimes in place of their own - an effect that is fortunately also limited to the dungeon area.
Characters might also find that their clothes shift as they wander around the Fissure, putting them through their paces in various forms of spooky (or ornate, or ridiculous) costumes. Please see individual floor descriptions for more information.
Resource: Dark Crystals
Frequency: Small ones common, large ones uncommon to rare
Type: Energy/magical resource
Environment: All over
Familiar by now to anyone who has paid much attention to the Fissures in general, these magical deposits are pitch black and do not reflect light in any circumstance, seeming to absorb it into their depths. Vantablack's got nothing on these babies.
Hazard: Clean-Ups
Danger level: Low
Type: Fissure Effect
Environment: Anywhere inside the buildings, including the stables and gardener's house
Activity: Constant
And similarly to the mines, here's another case of abandoned magical tools running amok - this time, it's all the various cleaning and tidying supplies that once kept the place looking nice. Dusters and rags that have seen better days fight a losing battle against a century of abandonment; brooms with most of their bristles fallen out move dust from place to place around the floor.
If you disturb them, they'll probably chase you away a short distance with stuck-on cobwebs, but otherwise they don't bother anyone. Just a part of the spooky scenery, really.
FRONT GARDENS: SUBFISSURE ZONE
The entrance gardens overgrow what was once a wide carriage path, practically a road in its own right, leading up to the impressive front entrance of the manor. A loop just before the building itself circles around the remains of a stone fountain, the statue in the center tilting dangerously to one side and the whole thing overgrown with ivy and moss. Around the path are the ivy-wrapped husks of what were once impressive-looking lamp posts to light the way - when the entrance gate is opened, some handful of them even attempt to flicker to life, their lights obscured by the plants and mildew that cover them.
Aside from the ivy choking the buildings and lamp-posts, there's still a few other plants that have grown wild without human supervision. What were once flowerbeds bursting with color now have only random patches of late-season flowers, but there are roses and the greenery of any number of bulbs hidden among the vines. There's also heaps of ivy crawling over what were once fruit trees a little further back from the path, but the majority of these have been strangled to death by the vines and left to rot where they stand.
The front entrance itself has a facade of columns supporting a balcony up on the third floor, which leaves those on the front steps with plenty of space to take shelter from the drizzling mountain rain. The lights framing the twelve-foot-tall double doors to the entrance hall function a bit better than those on the path, and are mostly steady with magical light the color of warm flames, only flicking every minute or two. While the doors were probably once locked, there's evidence of thieves come sometime before the end of the world to loot the inside, and the doors swing open to anyone who can pull hard enough to dislodge them from the dust and the rust on the hinges.
SUBFISSURE EFFECT
From the gates up along the path all the way to the doors, and spreading out into the gardens on either side, is the effect of a secondary Fissure, marked not by a visual effect but by a slight humming, both heard and felt as a faint vibration in the throat. As characters converse, this humming will grow steadily into an itch, eventually compelling them to speak the honest truth that's on their minds.
Attempts to outright lie will, in contrast, cause characters to choke and stumble over their words; even if they should manage to force the words out, they will sound like only loud mumbling to the ears of any listeners, the syllables suddenly drowned out by the humming sound that permeates the area. Speaking honestly will relieve the itch for a time, but the feeling won't entirely vanish until characters have emptied everything that weighs on them or left the area entirely.
Critter: Bramble weasels
Danger level: Low to moderate
Type: Magical Animal (domesticable)
Environment: Front and rear gardens, in the tangles of ivy and rose vines
Behaviour: Ambush predators
Significantly larger than normal weasels, these tubular mammals largely hunt songbirds, mice, and the like that have taken to nesting in the various vines and briars of the manor grounds. They blend in quite well, considering that they're a little bit vines themselves - rose leaves or ivy growing from their backs in a way that's a little more severe than just bits of branches stuck to their fur. The creatures are as much plant as animal, and if there's a patch of sun, you might see them vying for the best spot to nap.
At about four feet in length, these creatures don't pose much danger to the average person, as they're not that inclined to wrestle with something much larger than they are. However, for anyone who might be smaller than usual, they could be a problem indeed...
Critter: Shadow birds
Danger level: None
Type: Magical Animal
Environment: Front and rear gardens, in the tangles of ivy and rose vines
Behaviour: Flighty
Go wandering around in the vines and you might stir up a nest of these small birds, which seem to hang out in groups and take flight very suddenly in small flocks. However, you'll never spot them in the bushes directly, no matter how hard you look - as long as they're under the shadows of the leaves, these birds possess the ability to vanish entirely. If you manage to see one without the shadows, they appear to be black at first glance, but with a bit of iridescent green sheen and green flight feathers just barely tucked under their wings. A favorite snack of the bramble weasels.
REAR GARDENS
The gardens around the back of the building are, fortunately, largely free of ivy. Accessible through grand glass doors in the ballroom, the balconies, and a number of smaller doors on the ground floor, the rear gardens are not by any means not overgrown - and while they appear beautiful at a glance, the mess of bramble-thick climbing roses is significantly more unpleasant to try to make progress through.
For those who manage to get beyond the rose beds, there's a couple of outbuildings here that may be of a passing interest to any explorers.
One is the old gardener's house (as described by the informational plaque just inside the door that's still legible), which was once full to brimming with garden tools in the front section, with a small apartment in the back. Although the roof has sprung a leak and much of the contents have been ruined as a result, there are still a large number of tools that are usable, the metal enchanted to be impervious to rust. It looks like someone would be getting their money out of that lifetime guarantee, if they were still around.
The other is the stablehouse, which serves as both a barn and the housing for the ruined remains of a carriage. There's touristy plaques here as well, which talk about the history of the stablehouse and the general state of the grounds, as they once were. There's also stalls set up for eight horses - two matched teams of four, to trade off on pulling the carriage - and all the tack and the like that would be required for such. As in the gardener's house, while most of it is ruined, there's a few tools and bits of harness here that have been magically preserved... As has the main carriage itself, should you fancy to pretend to take a ride.
Hazard: Vampire Roses
Danger level: Moderate
Type: Magical plant
Environment: The rear gardens
Activity: When disturbed
Be wary of the patches of blooming, blood-red roses a few places in the overgrown gardens - these exceptional roses are more predatory than decorative. They shift slowly towards any source of heart near them, trailing vines looping around whatever they might come across. Their thorns possess a numbing agent of sorts, so you might not even notice the piercing of your skin until it's too late... On the other hand, luckily, these hungry flowers are dispatched reasonably easily by giving them a good pruning or burning.
GROUND FLOOR
The wide doors leading in from the front garden open up to a grandiose entrance hall - two tall floors, with the obligatory paired winding staircases coming down from above to frame another pair of too-tall doors. The majority of this floor has unusually high ceilings - almost double the height of a normal room - which really makes the entrance hall's total height closer to three stories than two. One wall is overtaken by what looks to have been some kind of ticket exchange for the historical exhibits found mostly on this floor. On the higher level, another counter serves as the check-in and check-out for the luxury tourist hotel that overtakes most of the second floor (see below). There are also a number of benches and dilapidated chaises to sit upon, if you should feel so inclined.
And then there's also... music. The echoes of ballroom dance fill the entrance hall, and indeed almost all of this floor and the hallways of the second. Following the sound, as might be obvious, leads to the uge double doors at the far end of the entrance hall, which open into a massive ballroom. Unlike the rest of the building, the ballroom is well-lit by a chandelier that doesn't so much as flicker, and the inside of the room is lacking in dust. In fact, the place is almost completely spotless, save for the wide windows and glass doors at the far end, which open to a large back patio and the overgrown gardens beyond. While the inside of the glass is pristine, the outside is every bit as covered in dust and mildew as every other window, resulting in a grey smokescreen that's useful for telling whether it's day or night outside and not much else. The music flows regardless of hour, however... as do the ghostly figures of dancers on the floor.
Other than the entrance hall and ballroom, this floor is mostly home to a number of sitting rooms and dining rooms that have been converted into museum-like exhibits about the history of the building. One of the larger dining rooms is now a cafe, which once served food brought in from the kitchens beside it on this floor.
The costume theme for this floor is fancy - ballgowns, princes and princesses, if it sparkles or it's made of velvet, this is where it belongs.
Hazard?: Ghost Dancers
Danger level: Tiring
Type: Magical echo (Fissure Effect)
Environment: The ballroom
Activity: Always
Music drifts constantly out of the ballroom, and inside you'll find the specters of numerous past dancers moving in time to it, wide colorful skirts and dashing men both. These dancers are translucent at best, and seem like they could easily be walked through - until you manage to catch the attention of one or more, who will pull you into their constant circles unless you have a dance partner of your own. Those with partners can pass freely through the ballroom floor, but those without had best stick to being wallflowers if they don't want to get passed from dancer to dancer until they flop over from exhaustion.
These dancers are not actually ghosts - they're just the magically animated echoes of dances past, for the ballroom has seen many. Attempting to use mind-reading or any similar such abilities on them will reveal a whole lot of nothing, as they don't actually have true minds at all.
Critter: Skeleton dancers
Danger level: Annoyance
Type: Fissure Creature
Environment: Various in the manor; primarily the first floor but may be found elsewhere
Behaviour: Jovial
Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Skeleton Joe?
These dancing skeletons - sometimes with various accessories from about the manor attached to them - simply want attention, and as a result, they intrude in a character's line of sight as frequently and obnoxiously as possible. They'll eagerly dance in groups rather than competing for attention.
If "destroyed," the skeleton reforms in anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, though there's really not that much difference between them. If actually removed from the manor, they crumble into dust. They prefer to dance to the tunes coming from the ballroom, but they're respond to any music and even just the clapping of hands, especially if you find them on other floors.
SECOND FLOOR
The second floor is home to the luxury part of the luxury hotel - almost the entire floor is converted guest rooms that proceeded to become expensive hotel suites before being abandoned. There's half a dozen themed suites on one side - one beach-themed with seashells stuck to the dusty walls, for example, and another themed after roses that overlooks the back garden - and the other side is smaller, somewhat cheaper rooms converted from the servants' quarters.
Dividing them in the middle, of course, is the two stories of the entry hall and ballroom - the upper level of the entry hall being the only way on this floor between the two sides, though you can also go up and down servant staircases at either end of the building. There's also a laundry chute near the staircase at either end. The ceilings on this floor are of a normal height.
While the floor on its own isn't particularly interesting unless you have a deep interest in dusty, mildewy bedding, those exploring will find their steps followed by the random closing (and sometimes, locking!) of doors behind them. Best to put something in the door to force it to stay open, or you might get stuck inside - and heaven forbid that you get stuck in one of the inner rooms of some suite, where the people passing by in the hallway won't even be able to hear you banging on the door.
The costume theme for this floor is, unsurprisingly, bedrooms. For some, that might mean PJs and a nightcap - for others, it might mean a costume better inclined towards other uses of a bed.
THIRD FLOOR
The third floor is the beginning of the family's private quarters. While one side is yet more guest rooms that have been converted into suites (how many guest rooms does one manor even need?), the rest of the floor is filled with sitting rooms and other more personal chambers - a trio of offices, a nursery, and, of course, the library (see below). Unlike the bottom floors, this section lacks the more touristy aspects and museum-esque plaques - although it was probably maintained along with them at the time, it's only site staff who would have been allowed up here.
This is exceptionally obvious in the hallways, which are patrolled, on a constant basis, by a number of animated suits of armor, ready to bodily remove anyone they find who doesn't belong. In theory, they'll allow members of the family and servants to pass. In practice, no one has the magical signature that matches a member of the Ahnrenti family - and as for being servants, which is the method the building's restorers and staff used to get around, there's not an immediately obvious way to be taken for one. However, one of the offices on this floor was converted to a staff room, and there's still a few badges there that you can take that signify your 'employment' - too bad you have to get past the suits of armor in the first place!
The other two offices, complete with sitting rooms, are now records and storage rooms - the century old paper is dusty and faded, but you might still be able to make something out if you were so inclined. There's also cabinets full of magical artifacts, some of which are actually still in decent repair. On the forward side of the building is a wide open balcony overlooking the entrance gardens and providing shelter from the rain to the vicinity of the doors below.
The costume theme for this floor is twofold - you might find yourself in a maid or butler type outfit, or you might suddenly find yourself equipped for sneaking around, in a ninja outfit or a catsuit. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to who gets which.
CRITTER: ARMOR GUARDS
Danger level: More than a bit threatening
Type: Magical Construct
Environment: Patrolling the third and fourth floor of the mansion
Behaviour: Defenestrative
Clanking around the third and fourth floors are some of these nasty pieces of work. They’re giant bulky suits of armour, animated by some kind of magic and are busily patrolling the top two floors of the mansion, where the family’s private quarters are. They won’t enter the library and generally stay out of most rooms but patrol the hallways very dutifully. What is clear is that they mean business. And their business is keeping outsiders away -- namely, you! Should you be unfortunate enough to encounter one of these goons, you’ll find yourself very firmly escorted back onto the lower floors where the ‘public’ belong, if force, by necessary. You can try and put up some resistance but they are armour and are impervious to anything that a suit of armour could be reasonably expected to stand up to.
They’re clanky and noisy, though, so as long as you keep your wits about you and your ears open, you might be able to sneak around them.
LIBRARY
Untold years of abandonment should have left the library an untenable mess, but upon reaching this level of the mansion, you’ll find the worst that awaits is a pervasive smell and must and neglect. Presumably, the staff keeping the rest of the house tidy have been hard at work in here, too. Even for all their efforts, however, the air is still thick with dust so if you’re prone to sneezing, it’s probably better to sit this floor -- and the next, come to think of it, given that the library is so gargantuan that it takes up an enormous chunk of the third and fourth floors all by itself.
When you first enter through the enormous oak doors, you’ll be greeted by a surprisingly humble looking desk that was probably manned at some point by some staff member or other. There’s no one here now, of course, but if you care to take a look behind the desk, you’ll see there’s still traces of them left behind -- some abandoned staff badges, a huge catalogue of all the books currently at the library… and bugs. Lots of bugs. You’re not squeamish, are you?
Once you pass the desk, you can make your way down a small corridor into the actual library itself. It’s like a giant ballroom, with a spiral staircase directly in the center, leading to the second floor of the library. If you head up, you’ll find the second floor is much like the same, with the only difference being the stairs leading down and the lack of a front desk. You can exit out onto the rest of the fourth floor here, if you’re so inclined, but why do that when you’ve got a whole library to explore?
After all, this place is labyrinthine, which isn’t helped at all by the Fissure effect making the room even gloomier than it normally would be. Thankfully, even with all the shelves in here, it’s difficult to get lost. The bookshelves are arranged in rings spreading out from the staircase in the center of the room, five on each floor for a total of ten altogether. At north, south, west and east (as the compass points) there are breaks in the shelves serving as little hallways that will allow you to either move between the aisles or to the center of the room. There’s a pair of handy dandy signs pointing to the center of the room and the exit, so as long as you keep your wits about you, chances are you won’t get too turned around.
You’ll have plenty to do even if you do get a little lost, though. The shelves don’t just stretch out horizontally, they’re enormously tall, too and every single inch of them is crammed with books. Even the tallest among you won’t have any hope of reaching the top shelves, but thankfully, there are ladders scattered to and fro up and down the bookshelves to give you a leg up. If you’re looking for something in particular, it’s probably a good idea to double back and check the catalogue, which will tell you the aisle and shelf number of anything you’re looking for. Otherwise, browse to your hearts’ content, bookworms!
Oh. And Speaking of bookworms…
Critter: Bookbugs
Danger level: None
Type: Fissure Effected Animal
Environment: The darkest, dankest corners of the library
Behaviour: Creepy-crawly
Once they were just innocent silverfish scuttling around the library, but time and exposure to magic and the Fissure have swollen these babies to… let’s say upsetting proportions. With the smallest being the size of housecats and the largest approaching the size of mid-sized dogs, it’s quite the shock to look up from a book and see one of these absolute units scuttling across the floor. In actual fact, they’re quite timid and prefer the dark and the quiet, so you should be able to chase them off with no fuss. They’re just… nasty.
Hazard: Flying Books
Danger level: Potentially annoying
Type: Object
Environment: Floating around the library
Activity: All the time
With the library being so huge, you have to wonder how the staff kept anything in order -- this is how, it turns out. All the books in the library are enchanted to return to their designated spot if left out without a reader. This is great in theory, but in practice and with the extent of the neglect, the enchantment has started to go a little… wonky. Sometimes it still works fine - in fact, sometimes the books are inclined to be helpful and will float over to form platforms and staircases for anyone who wants to reach up to the higher shelves. But most of the time, they’re just floating around aimlessly and getting in the way. If you’re not careful, you might even lose one of the books you’re reading when it tugs itself out of your hands and tries to return to its shelf. The effect will wear off once any books are removed from the library, thankfully.
FOURTH FLOOR
Another Subfissure has overtaken this floor (as well as a good portion of the roof above it, if you're the sort who is inclined to find some way to sit on top of any building you come across to brood). This floor is also patrolled by the suit of armor guards, so keep your eyes peeled as you go exploring!
The highest level of the manor, the fourth floor is primarily home to the personal living quarters of the family. Half a dozen opulent bedrooms, once even fancier than the ones in the hotel, make their homes here, each with an attached dressing room and bathroom. The indoor plumbing seems to have been handled by magical rather than mechanical means - as a result, if you're so inclined, it's still entirely possible to get hot water enough to fill the various bathtubs. (You might want to scrub them down before you even think about scrubbing yourself, though.)
Indeed, there's a great deal of overt magic here, as a decent portion of the rest of the floor seems to be taken over by research spaces and places designed for the crafting of magical items. Each tool is carefully tracked and numbered by the historical site staff, and there's also some old paintings and other extra decor and furniture crammed into these rooms - but if you have your heart set on trying to make something, no one's here to stop you.
The floor is largely divided in two by the upper floor of the library, positioned over the ballroom and entrance hall in about the middle of the building. There's a servant hallway running to either side if you don't want to risk the chance of dust, however.
Fittingly enough with the Subfissure effect (see below), the theme for this floor's costumes is classic movie monsters. Get your Beetlejuices flowing.
SUBFISSURE EFFECT: OLD FILM
Brought to you by our very own Eric, this Subfissure's effect is immediately noticeable when you step onto the fourth floor. Everything is eerily silent, and rendered in black and white - with a slight graininess to one's vision that make the resemblance to old movies incredibly obvious to those who have actually experienced old movies. Even motion seems to be jerky at the low framerate of the first movie cameras.
That doesn't mean that sound has entirely disappeared, however. As those who recognize the setup might think to look for, there are subtitles - but you can only see them when you blink or close your eyes. After all, how else is someone supposed to get a black background around here?
TOWER
Up a set of stairs near the middle of the fourth floor, one will find... Well, initially, more stairs, as the tower extends quite a bit above the rest of the building. Eventually, after about three loops on the spiral staircase, the tower opens up into an actual room - one fortunately high enough to be above the Subfissure effect of the floor below.
The windows of the circular tower room are sealed off against the elements, but it's most likely going to be the machinery that characters arriving here notice first - namely, the giant telescope in the center of the room, and the various pulleys and tracks that allow it to rotate. Interestingly, the roof doesn't appear to have an obvious opening out of which to look, with either the telescope or your own eyes.
This is due to the runes around the edges of the room - when activated, the entire ceiling vanishes outright, allowing an unmatched view of the night sky. Or, at least, it would be unmatched if not for all the clouds and rain between you and the stars. The invisibility effect only applies to the roof itself, however, which creates the interesting impression of being beneath a dome of flowing water during the heavier rainfalls.
A series of tables and bookshelves around the room are host to star charts and similar maps of the heavens - a number of them with magic-related notation on them. Considering that this chamber wasn't open to the public, someone must have been doing active research here before the place was abandoned. Indeed, while the telescope itself is old (and in need of more than a little TLC), the various other instruments in the room are more in line with the technology level of Incendia. It seems, at a glance, that whatever research was being done here was looking for signs of life out among the stars.
The tower may be relatively small, but it still has its own fitting costume theme - space. Astronaut or artistic representation of the sun, all things about the heavens gather here.
BASEMENT
The basement of the manor is accessible through servants' stairs down from the first floor, near the kitchens. At first glance, it's much as you'd expect - the home of what was once a wine and pickling cellar, and apparently open to the public at one time as well, as the reproduction barrels and shelves of jars have their own little informational plaques.
However, that's only about a third of the basement space. The rest is accessible only through a roped-off, locked door - but what good adventurer would let themselves be stopped by that? The lock on the door is still solid, but the door itself is not, and the boards give way easily to a good solid thumping.
The area beyond is largely undecorated and clearly had been sealed off - aside from the dust (which is significantly lighter here than in other places), there is little to no sign of the damages of time. This section of the basement is a single open room, which appears to be a temple of some sort, with columns surrounding what seems to be at first a glowing pool of water in the center of the room, and an altar at the back.
Closer inspection will reveal that the rippling glow comes not from water, but from a truly massive piece of polished magical crystal embedded in the floor. It churns with energy obvious to even those who aren't particularly magically sensitive, the colors in it shifting like opal even as the observer remains still. At a solid eight feet across, it's the central feature of the room... But do you dare risk touching it?
The basement's costume theme is nature - whether it be plants, or animals, or something else, it's the natural world that tends to adorn the bodies of those who descend the stairs.
Tucked into the head of a mountain valley, Silvereagle Manor is really more of a castle than a manor, with great stone walls blocking it out from the outside world. Once a well-maintained historic site (complete with vacation hotel and associated gift shop), a century of neglect has caused it, like every other remnant of civilization outside of Incendia's time loops, to fall into complete disrepair. The main building - a four story manor house with a tower - is still standing and doesn't look like it's going to cave in while you're inside, but that's about the best that can be said for it. What were once well-manicured gardens between the buildings and the walls have overgrown to the point that there is very nearly no path through from the rusted, broken gate to the front doors - and that's the path that's in best condition out of the lot. Trying another entrance is technically possible, but it's going to be an extreme amount of hassle, and characters approaching by glider or other vehicle will find that they have quite a bit of difficulty if they try to land within the grounds.
Inside, the halls and rooms are surprisingly well-maintained. The responsibility for this lands squarely on the magically created 'staff' and effects that still operate throughout the castle. Brooms sweep hallways by themselves, suits of armor animate to remove intruders, vases of flowers remain eternally fresh beneath their century-old layer of dust. Even without the dust, there is the sense of having stepped into the home of something ancient and magical - as is only proper, as the home of the Ahnrenti family who were once considered the custodians of the source of the planet's magic.
Or so says the battered-looking tourist information sign in the entrance hall, under the family crest of a silver eagle carrying a branched stave in one taloned foot and a lightning bolt in the other.
The visual distortion effect of this Fissure isn't immediately obvious unless you're careful to look for it. Rather than the typical corners-of-your-vision visual effects, the main Fissure causes the shadows cast within to become far deeper than they ought to be, almost cartoonishly so. It's impressively easy to hide yourself in - or find something else hiding within - a patch of pitch-black shadow, vanishing completely from sight. However, it's the other effect of the Fissure that characters are likely to be more concerned about.
DUNGEON-WIDE EFFECT: A NEW YOU
Those who enter into the Fissure will find that the magic within takes hold of their bodies and doesn't let go. Veterans of Keystone Reef will recognize the type of transformative magic at work, but the array of possibilities this time is much wider than it was in the aquatic Fissure. Characters could potentially find themselves with the body of any other kind of sentient being - while the transformation magic will generally keep to 'bipeds of about your usual size,' even that has exceptions.
The transformational magic is also unusually potent. The effects will not fade in areas of localized stability - you'll have to leave the dungeon or wait for the whole thing to be stabilized for the effects to fade. In addition, characters who find themselves as members of races that have magical, psychic, or other inherent powers may find that they manifest those abilities in addition to or sometimes in place of their own - an effect that is fortunately also limited to the dungeon area.
Characters might also find that their clothes shift as they wander around the Fissure, putting them through their paces in various forms of spooky (or ornate, or ridiculous) costumes. Please see individual floor descriptions for more information.
Resource: Dark Crystals
Frequency: Small ones common, large ones uncommon to rare
Type: Energy/magical resource
Environment: All over
Familiar by now to anyone who has paid much attention to the Fissures in general, these magical deposits are pitch black and do not reflect light in any circumstance, seeming to absorb it into their depths. Vantablack's got nothing on these babies.
Hazard: Clean-Ups
Danger level: Low
Type: Fissure Effect
Environment: Anywhere inside the buildings, including the stables and gardener's house
Activity: Constant
And similarly to the mines, here's another case of abandoned magical tools running amok - this time, it's all the various cleaning and tidying supplies that once kept the place looking nice. Dusters and rags that have seen better days fight a losing battle against a century of abandonment; brooms with most of their bristles fallen out move dust from place to place around the floor.
If you disturb them, they'll probably chase you away a short distance with stuck-on cobwebs, but otherwise they don't bother anyone. Just a part of the spooky scenery, really.
FRONT GARDENS: SUBFISSURE ZONE
The entrance gardens overgrow what was once a wide carriage path, practically a road in its own right, leading up to the impressive front entrance of the manor. A loop just before the building itself circles around the remains of a stone fountain, the statue in the center tilting dangerously to one side and the whole thing overgrown with ivy and moss. Around the path are the ivy-wrapped husks of what were once impressive-looking lamp posts to light the way - when the entrance gate is opened, some handful of them even attempt to flicker to life, their lights obscured by the plants and mildew that cover them.
Aside from the ivy choking the buildings and lamp-posts, there's still a few other plants that have grown wild without human supervision. What were once flowerbeds bursting with color now have only random patches of late-season flowers, but there are roses and the greenery of any number of bulbs hidden among the vines. There's also heaps of ivy crawling over what were once fruit trees a little further back from the path, but the majority of these have been strangled to death by the vines and left to rot where they stand.
The front entrance itself has a facade of columns supporting a balcony up on the third floor, which leaves those on the front steps with plenty of space to take shelter from the drizzling mountain rain. The lights framing the twelve-foot-tall double doors to the entrance hall function a bit better than those on the path, and are mostly steady with magical light the color of warm flames, only flicking every minute or two. While the doors were probably once locked, there's evidence of thieves come sometime before the end of the world to loot the inside, and the doors swing open to anyone who can pull hard enough to dislodge them from the dust and the rust on the hinges.
SUBFISSURE EFFECT
From the gates up along the path all the way to the doors, and spreading out into the gardens on either side, is the effect of a secondary Fissure, marked not by a visual effect but by a slight humming, both heard and felt as a faint vibration in the throat. As characters converse, this humming will grow steadily into an itch, eventually compelling them to speak the honest truth that's on their minds.
Attempts to outright lie will, in contrast, cause characters to choke and stumble over their words; even if they should manage to force the words out, they will sound like only loud mumbling to the ears of any listeners, the syllables suddenly drowned out by the humming sound that permeates the area. Speaking honestly will relieve the itch for a time, but the feeling won't entirely vanish until characters have emptied everything that weighs on them or left the area entirely.
Critter: Bramble weasels
Danger level: Low to moderate
Type: Magical Animal (domesticable)
Environment: Front and rear gardens, in the tangles of ivy and rose vines
Behaviour: Ambush predators
Significantly larger than normal weasels, these tubular mammals largely hunt songbirds, mice, and the like that have taken to nesting in the various vines and briars of the manor grounds. They blend in quite well, considering that they're a little bit vines themselves - rose leaves or ivy growing from their backs in a way that's a little more severe than just bits of branches stuck to their fur. The creatures are as much plant as animal, and if there's a patch of sun, you might see them vying for the best spot to nap.
At about four feet in length, these creatures don't pose much danger to the average person, as they're not that inclined to wrestle with something much larger than they are. However, for anyone who might be smaller than usual, they could be a problem indeed...
Critter: Shadow birds
Danger level: None
Type: Magical Animal
Environment: Front and rear gardens, in the tangles of ivy and rose vines
Behaviour: Flighty
Go wandering around in the vines and you might stir up a nest of these small birds, which seem to hang out in groups and take flight very suddenly in small flocks. However, you'll never spot them in the bushes directly, no matter how hard you look - as long as they're under the shadows of the leaves, these birds possess the ability to vanish entirely. If you manage to see one without the shadows, they appear to be black at first glance, but with a bit of iridescent green sheen and green flight feathers just barely tucked under their wings. A favorite snack of the bramble weasels.
REAR GARDENS
The gardens around the back of the building are, fortunately, largely free of ivy. Accessible through grand glass doors in the ballroom, the balconies, and a number of smaller doors on the ground floor, the rear gardens are not by any means not overgrown - and while they appear beautiful at a glance, the mess of bramble-thick climbing roses is significantly more unpleasant to try to make progress through.
For those who manage to get beyond the rose beds, there's a couple of outbuildings here that may be of a passing interest to any explorers.
One is the old gardener's house (as described by the informational plaque just inside the door that's still legible), which was once full to brimming with garden tools in the front section, with a small apartment in the back. Although the roof has sprung a leak and much of the contents have been ruined as a result, there are still a large number of tools that are usable, the metal enchanted to be impervious to rust. It looks like someone would be getting their money out of that lifetime guarantee, if they were still around.
The other is the stablehouse, which serves as both a barn and the housing for the ruined remains of a carriage. There's touristy plaques here as well, which talk about the history of the stablehouse and the general state of the grounds, as they once were. There's also stalls set up for eight horses - two matched teams of four, to trade off on pulling the carriage - and all the tack and the like that would be required for such. As in the gardener's house, while most of it is ruined, there's a few tools and bits of harness here that have been magically preserved... As has the main carriage itself, should you fancy to pretend to take a ride.
Hazard: Vampire Roses
Danger level: Moderate
Type: Magical plant
Environment: The rear gardens
Activity: When disturbed
Be wary of the patches of blooming, blood-red roses a few places in the overgrown gardens - these exceptional roses are more predatory than decorative. They shift slowly towards any source of heart near them, trailing vines looping around whatever they might come across. Their thorns possess a numbing agent of sorts, so you might not even notice the piercing of your skin until it's too late... On the other hand, luckily, these hungry flowers are dispatched reasonably easily by giving them a good pruning or burning.
GROUND FLOOR
The wide doors leading in from the front garden open up to a grandiose entrance hall - two tall floors, with the obligatory paired winding staircases coming down from above to frame another pair of too-tall doors. The majority of this floor has unusually high ceilings - almost double the height of a normal room - which really makes the entrance hall's total height closer to three stories than two. One wall is overtaken by what looks to have been some kind of ticket exchange for the historical exhibits found mostly on this floor. On the higher level, another counter serves as the check-in and check-out for the luxury tourist hotel that overtakes most of the second floor (see below). There are also a number of benches and dilapidated chaises to sit upon, if you should feel so inclined.
And then there's also... music. The echoes of ballroom dance fill the entrance hall, and indeed almost all of this floor and the hallways of the second. Following the sound, as might be obvious, leads to the uge double doors at the far end of the entrance hall, which open into a massive ballroom. Unlike the rest of the building, the ballroom is well-lit by a chandelier that doesn't so much as flicker, and the inside of the room is lacking in dust. In fact, the place is almost completely spotless, save for the wide windows and glass doors at the far end, which open to a large back patio and the overgrown gardens beyond. While the inside of the glass is pristine, the outside is every bit as covered in dust and mildew as every other window, resulting in a grey smokescreen that's useful for telling whether it's day or night outside and not much else. The music flows regardless of hour, however... as do the ghostly figures of dancers on the floor.
Other than the entrance hall and ballroom, this floor is mostly home to a number of sitting rooms and dining rooms that have been converted into museum-like exhibits about the history of the building. One of the larger dining rooms is now a cafe, which once served food brought in from the kitchens beside it on this floor.
The costume theme for this floor is fancy - ballgowns, princes and princesses, if it sparkles or it's made of velvet, this is where it belongs.
Hazard?: Ghost Dancers
Danger level: Tiring
Type: Magical echo (Fissure Effect)
Environment: The ballroom
Activity: Always
Music drifts constantly out of the ballroom, and inside you'll find the specters of numerous past dancers moving in time to it, wide colorful skirts and dashing men both. These dancers are translucent at best, and seem like they could easily be walked through - until you manage to catch the attention of one or more, who will pull you into their constant circles unless you have a dance partner of your own. Those with partners can pass freely through the ballroom floor, but those without had best stick to being wallflowers if they don't want to get passed from dancer to dancer until they flop over from exhaustion.
These dancers are not actually ghosts - they're just the magically animated echoes of dances past, for the ballroom has seen many. Attempting to use mind-reading or any similar such abilities on them will reveal a whole lot of nothing, as they don't actually have true minds at all.
Critter: Skeleton dancers
Danger level: Annoyance
Type: Fissure Creature
Environment: Various in the manor; primarily the first floor but may be found elsewhere
Behaviour: Jovial
Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Skeleton Joe?
These dancing skeletons - sometimes with various accessories from about the manor attached to them - simply want attention, and as a result, they intrude in a character's line of sight as frequently and obnoxiously as possible. They'll eagerly dance in groups rather than competing for attention.
If "destroyed," the skeleton reforms in anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, though there's really not that much difference between them. If actually removed from the manor, they crumble into dust. They prefer to dance to the tunes coming from the ballroom, but they're respond to any music and even just the clapping of hands, especially if you find them on other floors.
SECOND FLOOR
The second floor is home to the luxury part of the luxury hotel - almost the entire floor is converted guest rooms that proceeded to become expensive hotel suites before being abandoned. There's half a dozen themed suites on one side - one beach-themed with seashells stuck to the dusty walls, for example, and another themed after roses that overlooks the back garden - and the other side is smaller, somewhat cheaper rooms converted from the servants' quarters.
Dividing them in the middle, of course, is the two stories of the entry hall and ballroom - the upper level of the entry hall being the only way on this floor between the two sides, though you can also go up and down servant staircases at either end of the building. There's also a laundry chute near the staircase at either end. The ceilings on this floor are of a normal height.
While the floor on its own isn't particularly interesting unless you have a deep interest in dusty, mildewy bedding, those exploring will find their steps followed by the random closing (and sometimes, locking!) of doors behind them. Best to put something in the door to force it to stay open, or you might get stuck inside - and heaven forbid that you get stuck in one of the inner rooms of some suite, where the people passing by in the hallway won't even be able to hear you banging on the door.
The costume theme for this floor is, unsurprisingly, bedrooms. For some, that might mean PJs and a nightcap - for others, it might mean a costume better inclined towards other uses of a bed.
THIRD FLOOR
The third floor is the beginning of the family's private quarters. While one side is yet more guest rooms that have been converted into suites (how many guest rooms does one manor even need?), the rest of the floor is filled with sitting rooms and other more personal chambers - a trio of offices, a nursery, and, of course, the library (see below). Unlike the bottom floors, this section lacks the more touristy aspects and museum-esque plaques - although it was probably maintained along with them at the time, it's only site staff who would have been allowed up here.
This is exceptionally obvious in the hallways, which are patrolled, on a constant basis, by a number of animated suits of armor, ready to bodily remove anyone they find who doesn't belong. In theory, they'll allow members of the family and servants to pass. In practice, no one has the magical signature that matches a member of the Ahnrenti family - and as for being servants, which is the method the building's restorers and staff used to get around, there's not an immediately obvious way to be taken for one. However, one of the offices on this floor was converted to a staff room, and there's still a few badges there that you can take that signify your 'employment' - too bad you have to get past the suits of armor in the first place!
The other two offices, complete with sitting rooms, are now records and storage rooms - the century old paper is dusty and faded, but you might still be able to make something out if you were so inclined. There's also cabinets full of magical artifacts, some of which are actually still in decent repair. On the forward side of the building is a wide open balcony overlooking the entrance gardens and providing shelter from the rain to the vicinity of the doors below.
The costume theme for this floor is twofold - you might find yourself in a maid or butler type outfit, or you might suddenly find yourself equipped for sneaking around, in a ninja outfit or a catsuit. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to who gets which.
CRITTER: ARMOR GUARDS
Danger level: More than a bit threatening
Type: Magical Construct
Environment: Patrolling the third and fourth floor of the mansion
Behaviour: Defenestrative
Clanking around the third and fourth floors are some of these nasty pieces of work. They’re giant bulky suits of armour, animated by some kind of magic and are busily patrolling the top two floors of the mansion, where the family’s private quarters are. They won’t enter the library and generally stay out of most rooms but patrol the hallways very dutifully. What is clear is that they mean business. And their business is keeping outsiders away -- namely, you! Should you be unfortunate enough to encounter one of these goons, you’ll find yourself very firmly escorted back onto the lower floors where the ‘public’ belong, if force, by necessary. You can try and put up some resistance but they are armour and are impervious to anything that a suit of armour could be reasonably expected to stand up to.
They’re clanky and noisy, though, so as long as you keep your wits about you and your ears open, you might be able to sneak around them.
LIBRARY
Untold years of abandonment should have left the library an untenable mess, but upon reaching this level of the mansion, you’ll find the worst that awaits is a pervasive smell and must and neglect. Presumably, the staff keeping the rest of the house tidy have been hard at work in here, too. Even for all their efforts, however, the air is still thick with dust so if you’re prone to sneezing, it’s probably better to sit this floor -- and the next, come to think of it, given that the library is so gargantuan that it takes up an enormous chunk of the third and fourth floors all by itself.
When you first enter through the enormous oak doors, you’ll be greeted by a surprisingly humble looking desk that was probably manned at some point by some staff member or other. There’s no one here now, of course, but if you care to take a look behind the desk, you’ll see there’s still traces of them left behind -- some abandoned staff badges, a huge catalogue of all the books currently at the library… and bugs. Lots of bugs. You’re not squeamish, are you?
Once you pass the desk, you can make your way down a small corridor into the actual library itself. It’s like a giant ballroom, with a spiral staircase directly in the center, leading to the second floor of the library. If you head up, you’ll find the second floor is much like the same, with the only difference being the stairs leading down and the lack of a front desk. You can exit out onto the rest of the fourth floor here, if you’re so inclined, but why do that when you’ve got a whole library to explore?
After all, this place is labyrinthine, which isn’t helped at all by the Fissure effect making the room even gloomier than it normally would be. Thankfully, even with all the shelves in here, it’s difficult to get lost. The bookshelves are arranged in rings spreading out from the staircase in the center of the room, five on each floor for a total of ten altogether. At north, south, west and east (as the compass points) there are breaks in the shelves serving as little hallways that will allow you to either move between the aisles or to the center of the room. There’s a pair of handy dandy signs pointing to the center of the room and the exit, so as long as you keep your wits about you, chances are you won’t get too turned around.
You’ll have plenty to do even if you do get a little lost, though. The shelves don’t just stretch out horizontally, they’re enormously tall, too and every single inch of them is crammed with books. Even the tallest among you won’t have any hope of reaching the top shelves, but thankfully, there are ladders scattered to and fro up and down the bookshelves to give you a leg up. If you’re looking for something in particular, it’s probably a good idea to double back and check the catalogue, which will tell you the aisle and shelf number of anything you’re looking for. Otherwise, browse to your hearts’ content, bookworms!
Oh. And Speaking of bookworms…
Critter: Bookbugs
Danger level: None
Type: Fissure Effected Animal
Environment: The darkest, dankest corners of the library
Behaviour: Creepy-crawly
Once they were just innocent silverfish scuttling around the library, but time and exposure to magic and the Fissure have swollen these babies to… let’s say upsetting proportions. With the smallest being the size of housecats and the largest approaching the size of mid-sized dogs, it’s quite the shock to look up from a book and see one of these absolute units scuttling across the floor. In actual fact, they’re quite timid and prefer the dark and the quiet, so you should be able to chase them off with no fuss. They’re just… nasty.
Hazard: Flying Books
Danger level: Potentially annoying
Type: Object
Environment: Floating around the library
Activity: All the time
With the library being so huge, you have to wonder how the staff kept anything in order -- this is how, it turns out. All the books in the library are enchanted to return to their designated spot if left out without a reader. This is great in theory, but in practice and with the extent of the neglect, the enchantment has started to go a little… wonky. Sometimes it still works fine - in fact, sometimes the books are inclined to be helpful and will float over to form platforms and staircases for anyone who wants to reach up to the higher shelves. But most of the time, they’re just floating around aimlessly and getting in the way. If you’re not careful, you might even lose one of the books you’re reading when it tugs itself out of your hands and tries to return to its shelf. The effect will wear off once any books are removed from the library, thankfully.
FOURTH FLOOR
Another Subfissure has overtaken this floor (as well as a good portion of the roof above it, if you're the sort who is inclined to find some way to sit on top of any building you come across to brood). This floor is also patrolled by the suit of armor guards, so keep your eyes peeled as you go exploring!
The highest level of the manor, the fourth floor is primarily home to the personal living quarters of the family. Half a dozen opulent bedrooms, once even fancier than the ones in the hotel, make their homes here, each with an attached dressing room and bathroom. The indoor plumbing seems to have been handled by magical rather than mechanical means - as a result, if you're so inclined, it's still entirely possible to get hot water enough to fill the various bathtubs. (You might want to scrub them down before you even think about scrubbing yourself, though.)
Indeed, there's a great deal of overt magic here, as a decent portion of the rest of the floor seems to be taken over by research spaces and places designed for the crafting of magical items. Each tool is carefully tracked and numbered by the historical site staff, and there's also some old paintings and other extra decor and furniture crammed into these rooms - but if you have your heart set on trying to make something, no one's here to stop you.
The floor is largely divided in two by the upper floor of the library, positioned over the ballroom and entrance hall in about the middle of the building. There's a servant hallway running to either side if you don't want to risk the chance of dust, however.
Fittingly enough with the Subfissure effect (see below), the theme for this floor's costumes is classic movie monsters. Get your Beetlejuices flowing.
SUBFISSURE EFFECT: OLD FILM
Brought to you by our very own Eric, this Subfissure's effect is immediately noticeable when you step onto the fourth floor. Everything is eerily silent, and rendered in black and white - with a slight graininess to one's vision that make the resemblance to old movies incredibly obvious to those who have actually experienced old movies. Even motion seems to be jerky at the low framerate of the first movie cameras.
That doesn't mean that sound has entirely disappeared, however. As those who recognize the setup might think to look for, there are subtitles - but you can only see them when you blink or close your eyes. After all, how else is someone supposed to get a black background around here?
TOWER
Up a set of stairs near the middle of the fourth floor, one will find... Well, initially, more stairs, as the tower extends quite a bit above the rest of the building. Eventually, after about three loops on the spiral staircase, the tower opens up into an actual room - one fortunately high enough to be above the Subfissure effect of the floor below.
The windows of the circular tower room are sealed off against the elements, but it's most likely going to be the machinery that characters arriving here notice first - namely, the giant telescope in the center of the room, and the various pulleys and tracks that allow it to rotate. Interestingly, the roof doesn't appear to have an obvious opening out of which to look, with either the telescope or your own eyes.
This is due to the runes around the edges of the room - when activated, the entire ceiling vanishes outright, allowing an unmatched view of the night sky. Or, at least, it would be unmatched if not for all the clouds and rain between you and the stars. The invisibility effect only applies to the roof itself, however, which creates the interesting impression of being beneath a dome of flowing water during the heavier rainfalls.
A series of tables and bookshelves around the room are host to star charts and similar maps of the heavens - a number of them with magic-related notation on them. Considering that this chamber wasn't open to the public, someone must have been doing active research here before the place was abandoned. Indeed, while the telescope itself is old (and in need of more than a little TLC), the various other instruments in the room are more in line with the technology level of Incendia. It seems, at a glance, that whatever research was being done here was looking for signs of life out among the stars.
The tower may be relatively small, but it still has its own fitting costume theme - space. Astronaut or artistic representation of the sun, all things about the heavens gather here.
BASEMENT
The basement of the manor is accessible through servants' stairs down from the first floor, near the kitchens. At first glance, it's much as you'd expect - the home of what was once a wine and pickling cellar, and apparently open to the public at one time as well, as the reproduction barrels and shelves of jars have their own little informational plaques.
However, that's only about a third of the basement space. The rest is accessible only through a roped-off, locked door - but what good adventurer would let themselves be stopped by that? The lock on the door is still solid, but the door itself is not, and the boards give way easily to a good solid thumping.
The area beyond is largely undecorated and clearly had been sealed off - aside from the dust (which is significantly lighter here than in other places), there is little to no sign of the damages of time. This section of the basement is a single open room, which appears to be a temple of some sort, with columns surrounding what seems to be at first a glowing pool of water in the center of the room, and an altar at the back.
Closer inspection will reveal that the rippling glow comes not from water, but from a truly massive piece of polished magical crystal embedded in the floor. It churns with energy obvious to even those who aren't particularly magically sensitive, the colors in it shifting like opal even as the observer remains still. At a solid eight feet across, it's the central feature of the room... But do you dare risk touching it?
The basement's costume theme is nature - whether it be plants, or animals, or something else, it's the natural world that tends to adorn the bodies of those who descend the stairs.