The party started down the stone path toward the Haunted Mansion to discover if there was any connection to the Darkpetal Knights based on intel given by Londo. When the party arrived in the abandoned mansion, the door was shut behind them. As they explored, magical torches lit and extinguished as they were needed. In different rooms, the party found bodies with poems left on their corpses, similar to the headless body found in the cavern. The poems all detailed some form of adultery, along with a poem hinting to where four keys could be found to unlock the door to the gardens. As the keys were gathered, the party was haunted by a strange abomination. This monster had various body parts that did not all seem to go together, a purple hue to its skin, and weapons sprouting forth from its arms. From its empty eye sockets, a purple and black fluid spilled down its face.
When the group reached the outside gardens, they found a dug up grave with a single black rose growing at the bottom of the plot. It gave off a purple magical aura. Around the rose, the words “Join Us, Pluck the Flower” arose in the dirt, similar in light and style to the enchanted poems left on the corpses. Finding that his strange book reacted to the flower, the Minotaur Sarin Kor hopped into the plot and promptly plucked the flower. The party returned to the mansion to leave, only to find the abomination had been disassembled onto the floor, its various parts strewn about. A chestplate erupted from its chest, and a helmet could be found nearby. Both pieces seemed to have corrupt bits of flesh, flecked with purple, growing and pulsing on the metal. Despite this, Maron donned the helm, as his veins began to glow when he grew near the items. After donning the helmet, the patches of flesh receded into the metal. Azalea currently holds onto the chestplate, wrapped in cloth.
Upon leaving the mansion, a purple apparition of a fully armored knight appeared, congratulating them and telling them to journey to the Blackrose Mansion in the capital. After his message was delivered, the apparition faded. The party left the mansion’s grounds toward Luxen, vying for the quicker river crossing.
Back in the capital, the party decided to seek out Londo in his tower in the palace. Though they roused him from sleep, Londo listened to what they had found in his tower’s common area. He told the party that Count Blackrose was the reclusive owner of this mansion and that it could be found in the noble district on the west side of Luxen. Londo also told the party if they investigate this and bring it to a swift resolution, he had an offer in the works that he would give to them. Afterward, he scavenged his chambers for a couple of gifts he could give to the party.
Wasting no time in the dead of night, the party journeyed to the Blackrose Mansion in the west. Upon arrival, they found the dark stone manor being guarded by two fully armored knights, donned with black armor, halberds, and purple regalia. Upon offering the rose, the party was allowed to enter and guided to a sitting area by an elven servant.
After a short while in the sitting area outside what they assumed was Blackrose’s chambers, the door opened. Out walked a tall figure, clearly wearing a full set of armor, but covered by a large black cloak. The only detail the party could make out from the figure were almost sinister looking metal gauntlets poking out of the sleeves. The cloaked man regarded them for a moment, then departed. A deep voice called for them to enter the chambers.
Inside, the party found enough chairs for the lot of them in front of a dark crystal desk. Behind the desk sat a muscular man with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. He wore armor on his arms, but a fine doublet with a puffed white shirt underneath. At his neck was a large purple crystal. Behind him sat a rotating purple rose contained in glass. During the conversation of potential partnership, the party let slip they were the ones that received letters from The Harbinger. At this, Count Blackrose stood and began to regard his rose. He revealed to them that The Harbinger had in fact just left his office before they came in. Blackrose went on to explain that this “Harbinger” was, in fact, the Harbinger of the next Doom. With this revelation, the party began to reconsider their desire to join, as joining the Doom would mean sacrificing all that you are. Blackrose had mentioned that he had “embraced” the touch of Doom, while his minions were rejecting the touch, explaining their strange behavior and features. He said he was called a “Candidates”.
As Gale and Karth began to appeal to Blackrose’s humanity, he grew frustrated, seemingly at war with himself. Panicking, he sliced open the glass with the rose with his gauntleted finger. A blinding purple light blinded the party, their vision fading. When they awoke, they found themselves in a dark realm, stars above, and a field of thorns ahead.
Through some scratches and scrapes with the thorns, the party found the correct path. The path formed a spectral heart, that dispelled the thorns and opened the door ahead of them. As they journeyed through the next dark corridor, strange sparks of lightning began to trace the walls. A gentle breeze swept across their faces. They felt warmth. The sinister purple tendrils retracted from the walls. The party was now in a large chamber, two figures ahead with potion vials behind them. One of the figures was a woman with dark hair and vibrant blue eyes, blue sparkles of magic around her head and trailing down her back. The other figure was a man wearing a heavy cloak, his hands folded in its sleeves. Darkness seemed to emanate from him.
The woman turned out to be Sarin Kor’s mother (though clearly not his birth mother). She expressed her disappointment at him, even considering joining Blackrose’s cause. She begged him (and the party) to stop him at all costs. The cloaked figure chastised the party, saying the Doom would leave them no power, no followers, no allies, nothing. There is simply nothing when it is brought to completion. He called it a farce for them to even consider it. He faded into the shadows shortly after, saying his time grew short in this realm. Sarin’s mother then stated that the figure was, in fact, The Reaper himself. She explained that Blackrose had not yet fully given in to the Doom, and that they can still stop him in this realm he had created. They had to find bits of humanity and use what they learn as they traverse the realm to defeat him. Before she left, she decided to dispel the blue magic surrounding her, revealing horns, blue dragon wings, and a deep blue tail. Sarin Kor’s mother was Sariel the Half-Dragon. With this, she teleported away in a gust of lightning magic, despite the party calling for her to wait.
With this newfound knowledge and a galvanized team working together now to stop this Count, the party resupplied in this small chamber of respite Sariel had managed to make with The Reaper and continued on into Count Blackrose’s realm.