|
|
| At the end, this story behind
this edungeoin is a Romeo and Juliet like tale. There were
two houses. THey were both from the same bloodline (the
Rolmphs) who drove out the other part of thier family
. When the other family rejoined them, they lived in the
house but seperately. In the final generation, the girl and
a boy of the other family fell in love. To prevent their
marriage, both families turned to other planer allies one
the devils from hell and the other s demons from the abbis.
Buyt both families were brought low when the outer planer
entities discovered they did not plan on paying for the
deaths they had performed for them. Both families were
cursed with unlife and held captive in the house forever.
Maybe some day, heros would dind a way to kill the house and
free the spirits allowing the two lovers to be reunited. |
|
| 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 town 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. This glass 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. 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 140 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 from the Outer Planes brought forth creatures more powerful than the dwarfs the occupied it. The few survivors of this event fled from the house. They were mad the rest of their troubled lives. 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 "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." |
Ground Floor Room - Map Upper Floors Room - Map Dungeon Description - Map - Area Out Building Description Graveyard Description Building Map Legend The Orbs Norman_Castle Permanency Items House of Stone Monsters Intro to th House of Stone Dungeon House of Stone History House of Stone Environs The House as a Monster Stats Town of Rock Haven Endgame Ptolus Coast Near HOS Camber Map Camber PDF Camber in Revolt Camber-Evil City North Coast Area Map Durgle Lorth Map Twillendale Tierith Storch Random Tables Random Stuff Barbed Devil EarthElemental Devourer Ground Floor - Historic Origins Ground Floor - Bare Ground Floor - Walls Upper Floor - Bare Icons - Building, Items Area of Rock Haven and House |
| Current Conditions 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. 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. 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 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 town 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. This glass 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. 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 140 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 from the Outer Planes brought forth creatures more powerful than the dwarfs the occupied it. The few survivors of this event fled from the house. They were mad the rest of their troubled lives. 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 "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." 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. 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. 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 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. |
|
