Introduction to the House of Stone
This is perhaps the ultimate haunted house!
This adventure can be used anwhere in almost any campaign that allows
moderate magic and supports undead and outer planer creatures.
Early History of the House of Stone
The House was constructed about 550 years before the begining of this
adventure. Originally, this was just an mansion made of wood and river
rock. It was the home of an adventurer named Revelant Ralph who made a
tiny kingdom for himself that encoumapsed the area around the river
Hooto. He ruled this kingdom for 30 years then passed the lands and the
House to his son Rampant.
Rampant was also an adventurer and roamed the lands around his kingdom
seeking gold and gems to expand on the mansion his father had left him.
During one of these adventurers he discovered an item of vast value. It
was discovered at the bottom of one of the deepest lakes in the land
(Lake Lateate). It was a live-sized carved human heart. When the item
was cleaned of the thick crust of silt, it turned out to be made of
purest unflawed ruby. Overjoyed with his discovery, Rampant took the
huge gem back to his house, intending to sell it.
But once in the house, the gem began to beat like a real heart.
Consulting the local priest, it was found the item was very strongly
magical. They didn't suspect that the item was now "alive" and begining
it's work of ruin on the family Ralph.
The Origin of the Heart
Originally, the heart was part of a dead god whose name is left for the
DM to determine. Long ago, there was a battle among the gods and the
dead god lost. Knowing they could not really "kill" the god, they
decided to make it as difficult as possible to reassemble him. So, his
physical body was cut up into 15 pieces and hidden all over the
multi-verse. His soul was also dismembered into 15 parts and each was
hidden on a different outer plane. The Heart of the House is one of
these parts. The spirit part of the heart is in the Outer Plane of Hell
where is suffers perpetual heart ache. It is tortured by the devils for
all time. This has turned the heart into an evil thing that seeks to
subvert anyone coming into contact with it.
The heart is now a cursed magical item similar to a mithal (a artifact
power magic item that affects a very large area). It is in the shape of
a heart carved out of a gigantic ruby. The influence of this magical
heart is cumulative and it's influence on
successive generations is devistating.
The Ralphs Corruption
It began working it's influence on Rampant as soon as he arrived at the
House. Rampant never sold it. He began spending hours watching the gem
beat finding it beautiful and fascinating. Unknown to him, it was
turning his thoughts to evil. Soon this began to affect his behaviour.
His rule became brutal, his attitude irritable and his actions violent.
Rampant had two sons. They were the only ones that Rampant would allow
to see the heart. They too fell under the influence of the cursed item
and turned to evil as well. Rupert became an evil priest and Relit was
trained to take over the kingdom when his father died. On the death of
his father Relit assumed the kingship and began a rule of terror and
conquest. This is how it began.
The family Ralph contined to become more evil with each succeeding
generation. About 300years ago, this culminated with Renig Ralph who
was the human tool the heart had been waiting for. He was massivly
intellegent and obssed with the study of magic. Through his adventures
in his early life, Renig gathered much wealth and brought it home to
use in his research.
The House Becomes Stone
The subject of this research was suggested to him
by the heart. He was investigating a way to bring the house to life!
With the help of the heart and his obsessive study Relit became a 25th
level mage. After a lifetimes study, he set his plan to convert the
house to a living thing. On the night he planed to perform the final
step in the conversion, he held a fete and invited (commanded) all the
local royalty to attend.
While the people danced and made merry below, he worked in the Wizard
tower and at midnight, cast the final powerful spell. The power of the
spell killed everyone below 4 HD immediatly and trapped their souls
inside the house. The rest were affected and also turned into a
variety of evil creatures. The wood and stone of the house were turned
into the living stone that now makes up the house. This is the place
where the Ralph's dynasty ruled. Each generation added their own
touches to the evil that makes up the house. And so, the House of Stone
still stands as an evil blight spreading it's evil over the countryside.
The Hook
There are a number of ways to get the party interested in visiting the
house. One is to spread a roumer that it contains the most valuable
ruby in the world; it is worth the ransome of two kings. Another could
be that members of the local community contact the party for assistance
in overcoming the evil the house has spread. Still another could be
that the gods the party worship tell them to remove the house that has
become a nexus point of worship of their gods enemies.