ROCK HAVEN AND THE HOUSE OF STONE



A thick, dark gray fog lingers forever on a low hill overlooking the hollow where the village of Rock Haven is nestled. None of the residents goes near the hill and all of them profess a horror of the place that goes beyond the ominous appearance of the fog. It is only with reluctance that they will speak of their fear and what is behind it. For despite the presence of something so dark seeming, the hollow itself is a beautiful and desirable place to live."

Important years in the History of the House.
The time when the party arrives at Rock Haven will arrive in year 0 for this history.
-945 - Un'kapat the Stone Elemental destroys the village of Silbery where Archmage Dundercough had his home. Dundercough swears vengeance.
-940 to -920 Doundercough tracks Un'kapat without success.
-919 Dundercough begins developing the spells Etherialness to travel through stone, Meld with Stone to allow him to materialize in the stone and a special Stone Elemental to glass that would kill him.
-890 Dundercough locates the elemental in the Wax Rock quarry near Rock Hollow.
-888 Dundercough traps the Un'kapat in the quarry and turns his body to Rainbow diamonds.
-648 The Dwarf clan Thar'ak leaves their home to establish their own home and find fortune
-632 The clan finds the Wax Stone quarry and estabilsh a home which becomes the House of Stone.
-627 They find the rainbow diamonds and begin mining them. The main part they reserve for the house
-622 They begin building the House of Stone. Their decent into madness begin.
-434 The Rainbow Diamonds are mostly gone and the first sections of the HoS are finished.
-422 The first families arrive at Rock Haven and settle there
-416 The Normans battle the Thar'ak dwarfs and drive them out of the HoS
-206 The Normans split the family
-202 The fog spells are cast to try and keep the Normads from getting in
-144 The final battle begins and the HoS becomes "haunted" or alive if you prefer.
The house has been abandoned for over 140 years when the party arrives.

The people of Rock Haven don't know most of this. They remember when the town was settled, that the Thar'ak dwarfs built the original HoS the battle between the humans and dwarfs that drove the dwarfs away. The descent into madness by the Normads is remembered and the appearance of the fog. The last thing about the house that they remember is the night "the house changed" which was when the final stages of the battle for the house occurred.
For 139 years nothing was heard from the HoS and the people there learned not to approach it after several of the more curious folk returned to their town crazy or not at all.
Then 5 years ago the disappearances began. So far 12 people, mostly children, have been abducted and their fate is not known. Something has gotten out of the House.

Map of Rock Haven

Nestled into a hollow, the hard winds blow over the village leaving it calm in the midst of even violent weather. Although the rain is plentiful, it is good for the crops and has carved itself several rivulets that flow merrily into a large pond at north end of town. Several of the families have taken up aquaculture and are breeding several varieties of fish there. Some areas are designated "swimming holes" and are reserved for recreation. The area of the hollow not occupied is cultivated with nut and fruit trees. The trees that have failed are turned into a fragrant firewood that hugs the hollow like a cloud of incense. Some families have taken to breeding a semi-flightless bird called butterhens.

Butterhen


They happily feed on small pellets of food made from a combination of ground nuts, leaves and fish meal that their keepers scatter through the orchards. The trees get the benefit of their guano and the village enjoys the delicate flavor of the birds. The birds understand that they are protected from predators (other than the villagers) inside the hollow and seldom venture onto the flat land above. Many of the homes here were built hundreds of years ago. These homes were made from the Wax Rock and require no real maintenance. However, the rock is a poor insulator compared to lumber and tend to be very drafty. The wooden homes are deemed more comfortable and casual but those of Wax Rock are still prized as ancestral heirlooms. These are owned by the more influential families.

Above the hollow is tillable, fertile land that is good for farming almost any crop. Many families live in the hollow but walk up the hill to the flat land to their family land plots. The crops are varied, but are mostly barely enhanced varieties of plants that are native to the area. The folk living in the hollow are jealous of their good fortune and seek to keep their place hidden as much as practical. For this reason the crops are not laid out in square patches that tend to be intermixed into maze like patterns that look like random variations from above. The trees in the hollow have been grown over the years to hide the home that are sheltered under them. Only a few traveling merchants know of the place and those of the village who travel to the outside world are always evasive about it's location.

Until recently.

In the place where the adventurers are staying, 3 of the village elders have been sent to bring back a group of mercenaries strong enough to venture into the fog to stop the abductions that began 2 years ago and have claimed the lives of 8 people, 5 of them children. The kidnappings have had no witnesses and the trails of the creatures although always of a strange and varying form invariably lead into the fog.
They offer the party a bounty on every monster head they bring out of the fog (they suspect there are many) and the prize of a Rainbow Diamond when the abductions have stopped for a year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the quite distant past, a great Earth Elemental Un'kapat became incensed at a perceived slight by the great mage Dundercough. Un visited the forgottten town  Silbery where Dundercough had his domains and destroyed it utterly. Dundercough swore revenge on the elemental, but for decades Un hid from him, coming into the non-solid realm only to work mischief on the mage and his associates. But after years of research, the mage discovered a spell that would allow him to travel through the solid stone, command elementals, turn rock to mud and other magic that allowed him to track down Un'kapat at last. Un didn't know that the mage had found a spell called "stone to glass". But not even Dundercough knew what effect that spell would have on the Earth Elemental.

Near the town of what is now Rock Haven, the mage caught up with Un. The spot had a type of stone called "Rock Wax" that had the consistancy of soap. Un found the stone consistency there rest full. Dundercough used scrying spells on the area to alert him when Un arrived. Un was resting just under the surface of the stone when the mage materialized and dived into the rock to kill him.  Un fled deeper into the rock but Dundercough followed him which was a huge surprise to the elemental. Just as Un turned to attack the mage, the spell was cast and in an instant the elemental turned into glass. But even the mage couldn't have predicted the type of glass Un became.

Rainbow Diamonds
This glass-like rock was clear as crystal but as hard as stone. In fact it is almost as hard as diamond and has a different refractive quality that makes it look similar to the surface of a DVD even when the facets are very small. For this reason the rock is named "Rainbow Diamonds". Since it is perfectly clear and very strong, it is much prized to allow fortresses to have spy holes without weakening the defenses. As such it is unique and much prized. It's limited quantity makes it even more valuable than it properties. Although the house has several features built of this fabulously expensive material, it is guarded jealously by the spirit of the house and once included in it is not allowed to be removed without retribution from the house itself. Most of the windows on the ground floor of the House are made of this material.
When viewed from afar, all you can see are the refractive surface, but when you get close enough, they become perfectly clear.  Most Rainbow Diamonds these days are rather small and usually "opal cut" that is, a domed oval.

But their was a more dour effect to this spell. The soul of the elemental "leaked" into the surrounding stone and was imprisoned. Just like a hologram, each piece of the soap stone contains his essence and when joined together can form a bit of its consciousness and change it's form. In the stone of the house, it still lives. It has become imprisoned and has no means of escape open to the mind of the elemental. The party will find past attempts to placate the spirit to allow the fortune in

340 years later a family of Dwarfs named "Thar'ak" left their ancestral home to strike out on their own and find a fortune that was just theirs. They searched for years but didn't find the fortune they sought. In desperation they consulted a human sage who had some of the documents of Dundercough and told them of the episode with Un. A visit to a soothsayer encouraged them to seek out the body of Un as the source of their family wealth. They discovered it and began to mine it out. To protect and hide the entrance to the mine (which was at the top of a hill and completely exposed).

Although they found their fortune here, it was rather short lived (by dwarven standards) as the size of the elemental was not large when compared to a diamond mine.  Although the body was huge by creature standards, it was small when talking about a mineral deposit. Even though the Thar'ak family was very careful in controlling the sale of their unique product, it didn't last forever and eventually the last of it was gone. Long before that happened though the curse of the elemental had claimed the family line and pushed them into madness.

The House of Evil began as a small building built to be a home for the human servants the Dwarfs hired to do their housekeeping tasks as the Dwarves worked the stone below. As their wealth grew so did the building. But as time passed and the lords of the mine passed into madness, the built layer upon layer of buildings. Some parts started as out buildings but the growth of the house encompassed them and made them a part of the enormous structure.

The house was built of the stone removed as part of the mining activity. It is built primarily of the Wax Rock, but also includes some wood, more solid stone and metal as the whim of the elders directed. And so layer upon layer, room around room and wall across wall the house grew until a final cataclysmic summoning of Demons from the Outer Planes brought forth creatures more powerful than the dwarfs the occupied it. Most of the survivors of this event fled from the house. The rest who stayed were mad the rest of their troubled lives.

The mines were extensive and with the normal proclivity, many areas were transformed from simple mine tunnels into elaborate tombs. The dead of 6 generations were laid to rest there. Alas, their rest was not permanent as many of them were raised from the dead.

Wax Rock
The house is located on what the locals describe as a Wax Rock quarry. This Wax Rock stone has several special qualities. First it is rather soft. Soft enough that it can be carved like very hard wood. Next, it is a brilliant white color with blue lines running through it. The most valuable of this stone has bright sky blue veins and the least valuable pale blue tree-like grains.  Most of the special properties are unknown to the simple people living in Rock Haven. Although they do have one area that is still quarried, it is not the section that the soul of the elemental was imprisoned in. The people know of the dangers of that rock and shun it even when someone (usually a short lived adventurer) brings a piece out of the Home or from the land within the unmoving fog.

The house was originally built by Dwarves (there should be lots of low rooms and tiny doorways in the old section) who mined the Wax Rock. But when the Thar'ak family had long been sunken in madness and squandered their gold on building the house, they were driven out during a battle inside the house by a family of humans who were just as mad and evil as the dwarfs. They were the "Normads" and worshipped the goddess Gloomera. The patriarch of the family during the battle was Yetic Normad who was an adept Necromancer of 5th level. He was determined to drive the Dwarfs from their home and use it as a fortress to begin a war of conquest.

But the dwarfs who remained after the battle with the demons were doughty and although the humans won the house, their losses were high with only Yetic and a handful of his family and cohorts surviving. The most powerful of these survivors was Danic the younger brother of Yetic. The effect of the house on them was much more pronounced than the dwarfs as they were already of an evil nature and more easily influenced in that direction. During the battle much damage was done to the house and it's fixtures. Although most of that damage has been repaired, some rooms still show the signs of it.

Once the house was won Yetic and generations of descendents began transforming it into a Temple/Fortress and searching for more of the Wax Rock. As they busied himself with evil plans. For generations although the family remained clearly separated into those who were descendants of Yetic and those of Danic the two worked together at their common goal of creating a fortress house with a militia of mercenaries.
After 210 years, the descendants of Danic began to have plans of their own. First they sought to distinguish themselves from the Yetic descendants by changing the spelling of their last name. One of them found the name spelled "Normad" and began using. They thought they had done more and given more to make the house than the other half of the family. They much desired the house for there on use alone as the houses influence on them was very pronounced. For a time, the entire clan of Danic left for a long time to find the power necessary to overthrow the other half of the family and take possession.

The sects of Gloomera and Rahsee have been opponents for as long as Berth has existed. Danic told a high level priest of Rahsee named Ouptah Ga'lean of the house, its nature and his brothers intention to use it to spread the worship of Gloomera. The two of them and some retainers returned to the House after 4 years to see what the state of his brother and his plans were. The priest traveled disguised as a servant. Together they found Yetic more mad than before and the changes in the House profound.

The old Grand Ballroom has been turned into a temple. A group of 4 Priests of Gloomera have their own rooms in that area and perform obscene rites there. Dozens of foot solders are now housed in the New Barraks. He has his rooms in the remodeled area of the kitchen. Yetic reluctantly agreed to put Danic, Ouptah and their folk in the War Room during their stay.

For months Danic and Ouptah quietly investigated the rooms and the tombs. In the tombs they found dozens of undead who had been raised by Yetic to become part of his army. The control of Yetic was easily overcome by Ouptah who when the time was right used them in the 3rd battle for the house.

This 3rd battle was conducted by stealth. One night there was a banquet in the Victory Hall and all of the people of the house except for the servants were feasted. A powerful sleeping potion was introduced to the wine which was of most excellent vintage provided as a gift from Denic to Yanic. The followers of Denic were ordered by him to abstain from drinking is "to leave more for our generous hosts". Once it had taken effect, they began the offensive.

Ouptah turned the undead below into his warriors (all dwarfs) and led them into the rooms of the house. The priest would enter a room in the house and command the undead to kill anyone who moved. Each one was then added to the troops of Ouptah. Several of the human servants managed to stay ahead of the undead.

The priests of Gloomera were the only members of Yanics folk not to attend the feast. After much of the house was under control of Danic and Ouptah, he heard the sounds of the battle and ran to the victory hall to find the people there slaughtered. He retreated to the temple and succeeded in retreiving the most powerful bodies from the hall. He then barricaded himself and the other priests there.

Danic now occupied most of the house. However, the human servants had found refuge in the old Throne room. Several died protecting it from the undead but succeeded in blocking the doors with help from the good gods (Pantheon).

The priests used a scroll of resurrection to bring Yanic back to life. He was furious with the loss of the house. He most unwisely used a arcane scroll to cast a spell of Demon Summoning. He brought several of them out and sent them into the house to win it back for him. But they had their own plans. They returned to the victory hall and created their own domain in the house.

The battle, the spells and the evil that had obsessed the people of the house succeeded in awakening the spirit of the Elemental Un'kapat. His body was the Wax Stone the house was made of. He controls any part of the stone, but can't do anything about interior walls made of something else.

Notes on the Normad Family
The family colors are Blood Red, Black and Gold.
Their flag and shield are 4 alternating black and gold diagonal stripes with a red diamond in the center.

Author Notes

"I must admit I was inspired by the trip to the Winchester Mystery House tour I took yesterday. I had a lot of fun modifying the old Manor Dungeon to the Stone House dungeon, but it was simply an overlay of the original dungeon with a new purpose and some window dressing. The only original thing in it was the idea that the house was not only sentient but able to modify itself at will to torture and lure visitors to death. If I overlay that concept with the idea that the house is continually growing outward as well as being sentient and able to change it's rooms, doors, windows and the rest at will, it becomes inspiring as a way to design my own mansion from "the ground up". If I mix the walls within walls and rooms within rooms" ideas from the Gloriana novel, I could design something really special!

I invented a new history to go with the Stone house, but it mostly grew up from the needs of the rooms that were already documented.
A new and more coherent, mysterious, god centered (to go with the current pantheon) and familial will really help not only the creatures, characters and plot devices used, but will help the layout and floor plan as well."