The Hawthorne Mansion: Breaking and Entering

Darkness flooded over the ground, the sky whirling overhead as the sun set in an instant. It was replaced by a looming full moon, gracing them with plenty of silver light to reveal their transfigured surroundings. Most changes were subtle: the smashed gate had been restored and was hanging open, the vines and hedges stirred with a soft breeze and the hoot of an owl pierced the night. John hadn’t realized how unnaturally quiet it had been a moment earlier until just now…

Not everything was so peaceful. Where the windows of the manor had formerly been dark, they were now glowing yellow with light. The shape of the building was slightly different too. The ominous spire and spikes were gone and the marble walls sparkled in the moonlight. It was somehow uglier and, even though it was less overtly evil, John still felt a deep discomfort looking at the mansion. Nowhere that Vanessa called home could ever be anything less than a horrorshow.

“Okay, what just happened?” Erica turned to him, and John had no answers for her at all. Normally, defeating anything hostile inside of a barrier destroyed it, and they felt like they were back inside of the real world now… but none of the normal world-shattering stuff had happened. Well, there was one way to find out. He activated Astral Observe and looked up at the manor.

The headache-inducing overlay of colors and energy still covered the building, but where it had previously coated the grounds they now stood on, he only saw a single tangled line of mana along the wall and gate. It was as though they’d stripped back one layer of something far more complicated, or maybe it was more accurate to say they’d cleared a single room.

As he turned back to face Erica and Moira, something caught his attention. There was a fading glow coming from inside the gatekeeper’s shack. He walked towards it slowly, weapon out and ready for anything, or so he thought.

It was the smell that hit first, acrid, stinging, slightly metallic and nauseating. Fortunately, Astral Observe rendered the scene in as little detail as possible, but John made the mistake of opening his eyes to see things normally. He immediately stumbled back, almost falling as bile rose in his throat.

The body had been thrown through the door, much in the same way that Moira’s hammer had sent the mannequin flying, but whatever had killed the groundskeeper hadn’t stopped with just that. His chest was torn open, broken ribs visible amidst bloody viscera and intestines. Spatters of red were everywhere from the gruesome ****. Worst of all, the man’s eyes had been torn out, leaving two gaping sockets staring into John’s eyes. The sight of their empty void stuck in his imagination, persisting even when his eyes were closed.

It was too much. John doubled over and vomited back up his dinner as the girls ran to him.

“Lady’s grace…” Moira whispered at the heinous sight, paling a little, though she pulled herself back together almost immediately and her expression turned to steel.

The berserker was focused on John. She knelt by him, placed her hand on his back and said nothing as he ran out of food to regurgitate. When he wiped his mouth clean, she silently gave him a hand up. Only when he could stand properly on his own two feet did Erica turn to Moira and finally spoke, “That’s a confirmed ****, Warden. Situation’s escalated, how do you want to handle it? I can call the Lord Protector if-”

“No,” the paladin shook her head. “He can’t know I’m here. We’ll handle this carefully and thoroughly. Nobody goes home until the job is done.” A glow suffused her hammer and shield as she recited, “‘We are the instruments of the Lady’s will, and in Her name we will render judgement for this crime against Her children.’” The light dissipated in a wave, radiating from Moira and washing over John and Erica.

You have been conscripted by Moira Brighton.

You have been granted the Lady’s Favor for 1:00:00.
+2 All Attributes.
Minor magic resistance versus Evocation and Mind-altering spells.
+10% holy damage added to base weapon damage.
These bonuses are temporarily removed if your RP with Moira Brighton drops below zero.

The fear that had wound through John’s muscles lessened and he found it easier to breathe. The taste of bile faded away, replaced by a tiny hint of lavender. The darkness around them brightened slightly as the moonlight chased it away. He tightened his grip on the Thorn and called his new dagger to his free hand.

Erica hefted her axe on one shoulder and gestured at the bright windows of the mansion, “You heard the boss, dude. Time to double down and go for broke.”

Together, they began the trek up the long path. Moira led the way, her armor clinking as she marched with solemn determination. Erica was more relaxed about it, much like how she’d been in the Crystalline Cavern, but she never dropped her guard. Their approaches to the situation may have been different, but John noticed that they both spent almost as much time glancing back to check on him as they did surveying the path forward.

“Alright. Listen up. Rule number one: don’t die,” Erica said. “Whatever happens, make sure you come crawling back. Limbs optional, life mandatory.” She padded the advice with humor, but John listened intently, knowing that his partner wasn’t just joking around. “Rule number two: civilians first. If you’re caught between smacking some monster in the face and rescuing a screaming lady hanging over a giant lava pit, prioritize lives. We can hunt down something that gets away, but we can’t resurrect anyone.”

She took a deep breath, and her voice was more somber, “Once we get inside, we’ll stick together. No ‘splitting up to look for clues’. That’s how someone gets dragged through a revolving door… or gets their face eaten by a geist. I prefer your face intact, got it?”

John nodded. After what had happened at the Inferno, he wasn’t about to run off by himself and play hero. It’d almost killed him once. Never again.

The entrance to the Hawthorne Manor was set up similar to the Brightons’ home, with a roundabout for cars before the entryway. It wasn’t quite the same, though. At a glance, John could tell the difference between a family that had real money, old money, and one that was selfishly rich. The Brightons didn’t need gaudy, gold trim on their windows or a coat of arms burned into the door to show their wealth. Even though Moira could be a real pain, at least her family had class.

One car was parked in the roundabout with the engine still on, idling quietly. The driver-side door was open and nobody was visible inside. It was eerie enough on its own, but the way the windshield had a gigantic hole in it was deeply unsettling. Something had punched clean through it. Heavy footprints in the gravel led away from it towards the front door, which was closed shut. Long lines were scored into the surface, visible in the moonlight as they approached. Something had left deep claw marks. Something that hadn’t gotten inside.

John shivered as he looked at the dark hedges surrounding the roundabout and over them, across the massive lawn to the forest at the edge of the property. If whatever had done that was still lurking out in the night, then he needed to stay alert.

While he was hesitant about approaching the front door, Moira was not. She walked right up to the ravaged wood and grabbed the handle, tugging on it hard enough that John swore he could hear the lock groan. It held firm, and the paladin gave up on walking straight through the front door with a frustrated growl.

Instead she took a couple steps back and sized up a window.

Wait, wait, wait. She’s not going to…

“Oh boy, here we go…” Erica muttered as the paladin took a running start towards the glass. One hundred and something pounds of red-headed paladin dove shoulder-first at the window and… hit a wall of crackling white. Moira was launched backwards violently, high enough that she completed a full somersault before landing in the gravel with a spray of rocks. She slid back almost a foot, using her hammer to stop her momentum. Her hair whipped about her face and it was hard for John to make out her expression.

Whoa. That’s hardcore.

She stormed back towards them, trying to brush herself down, “Carpenter, can you get us through that?”

“Considering who made it?” Erica shrugged, smoothly grabbing one of the raven feathers from her hair, “I’ll give it a try, but no promises. Watch my back. This place is…” She didn’t finish her sentence; the expression on her face as she looked from the busted car to the distant treeline said enough.

Moira took up a guard position behind the berserker as she started to draw a circle of runes, leaving John to stand awkwardly in the open with no idea how to avoid looking like a total imbecile. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, spinning his weapon in his hand. With his nerves on edge, it wasn’t the smartest idea in the world and he fumbled it on the third go. The Thorn clattered loudly against the ground as he scrambled to pick it up. The noise echoed in the night and a crow cawed its disapproval as it flew overhead.

“Newman.”

He looked up, cheeks burning. Moira met his gaze with a firm stare that reminded him uncomfortably of the kind that his mother used whenever she scolded him. Her tone was quiet, balanced, and so calm that it was anything but.

Thankfully, he got bailed out by Erica. Her runes flashed once and fizzled out, leading to an exasperated sigh, “Sorry, no dice so far. This thing’s harder to crack than your chastity belt.” The berserker waved in John’s direction, “Give me a hand, dude. With the… thing?”

What is she talking about?

“The thing?” he asked.

“The ‘thing’.” This time, she put extra emphasis on the word and made a circular shape with her fingers.

Oh! The keystone! Why didn’t she just say so?

“Right. Gotcha.” John opened his inventory and was about to withdraw the Solaris Keystone when he glanced over at Moira. The paladin wasn’t looking in their direction, but Erica had been intentionally cagey about the relic for a reason. Maybe he should be too.

He extracted the glowing ring of fire, doing his best to hide it from view, and crouched beside his partner. She carefully took it from his grasp, placing it in the center of her runes and started adjusting three of them.

Watching Erica work was fascinating. Her magic was nothing like his, and even though John couldn’t begin to understand what she was doing, he could appreciate the display of skill. It helped that glowing runes were easy to watch. One glowed bright blue and flipped itself horizontally and the color of the rest switched to green.

Moira’s voice startled him, “I should care that the two of you are keeping secrets from me.” She hadn’t moved, but her stance seemed to have tensed slightly. “That’s what my father would do. ‘It is sacrilege in the eyes of the Lady to withhold her servants the tools and aid they require in their duty. No price is too great for the preservation of man.’ Whatever it is, I should care.” Her head tilted up in the direction of the moon and all three of them were quiet for a moment, Erica’s runes circling the keystone.

I don’t like where this is going...

It seemed like the paladin had more to say, but all that came out was, “Will this work?”

Soundlessly, the runes clicked into place and the keystone pulsed with energy. A shimmering doorway appeared an inch or so off the wall of the manor, showing the same view of the mansion’s interior as they had seen through the window. Erica passed the keystone back to John and stood up, gesturing at the portal, “Already has. Let’s get inside before it closes. Gentlemen first.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be ladies-” he tried to say, before being unceremoniously shoved in.

A crow landed on the awning and picked at its feathers as one of the three humans, the male one, disappeared into thin air. It watched the remaining two take a moment longer in quiet discussion, then vanished as well. Stillness returned to the manor grounds and it took flight again, starting another loop of the property. The crow passed over the hedges and lawns, circled over the trees and ignored the crumpled balls of black feathers hanging from them as it had so many times before.