The Skovlan Mansion
The Skovlan Mansion is an ancient, abandoned manor house located in The Deathlands, far from Doskvol. It was built by an aristocrat of the Kingdom of Skov long ago. Its architecture is in the Skovlan style, heavy and oppressive, with many looming pillars and few windows. The cavernous Eastern wing is home to a large, automated gallery of antiquities, established in the year 427 by The Sun who Ate the World. A story of Skovlan history is carved into the door to the gallery.
Demon Squad was contracted by The Gondoliers to enter the mansion and retrieve an artifact from the gallery within. Previous entrants to the mansion had been overtaken by madness, and so The Gondoliers had us participate in an anti-madness ritual before trekking across The Deathlands. Outside the mansion, Demon Squad encountered The Disparate Gang, who would not approach the house, but who would trade us weapons for artifacts we would retrieve upon exiting.
The mansion, having been abandoned for so long, had been claimed by the roaming creatures of The Deathlands. As we entered the mansion, Lief took her spectral form and located the gallery of antiquities. When we entered the gallery, an automated message welcomed us to the gallery and repeatedly instructed us to enter the tram, despite the tram no longer existing.
The artifact we were to find was a book with runes on the spine. The color of the book was liable to change, however, and its color indicated how dangerous it would be to interact with at that moment.
Elmer Dink located the box from which the voice emanated; an electroplasm device integrated with a ghost, like a non-mobile automaton. He pressed a button and a message played in Skovic which none of the party could understand. The Butler attuned with the ghost within and requested a directory of the items in the collection. The box responded that only the king can request this information, and that he died 498 years, 328 days ago. The hall of antiquities contained 728 artifacts, curated by this dead king. The Butler tricked the ghost in the box by convincing it he was the king.
There were three podiums holding books in the hall. Lief stole some rare marbles that had been made perfectly round. Psspsspss stole some valuable gems. There was a suit of armor that granted invisibility to the wearer with in, but which did not itself turn invisible. The Butler stole the helmet and Elmer stole the codpiece. Elmer requested information on artifacts pertaining to hair regrowth, but the information on the topic had been deleted.
The box announced that too many artifacts had been taken, and activated "Protocol D-Niner-Forty-Niner," which caused sixteen mechanical jesters, partially ruined by age and neglect, to come cavorting into the hall of antiquities, scrabbling and badly cartwheeling. The Butler shot one of the automata, causing a violent chain reaction explosion among the others, attracting the attention of the dangerous animals that had been lurking about the house.
Thanks to Lief's forethought to make a path through the labyrinthine stately home with a length of rope, we were able to quickly find our way back out through the entrance. Overall, our take included eight jewels (which Psspsspss kept for himself), 5 super-round marbles (kept by Lief), five additional jewels (taken by Patch), three books (including the artifact for which we came), a hat (taken by The Butler), the invisibility Helmet (taken by The Butler), and the invisibility codpiece (taken by Elmer). Of these items, The Disparate Gang received the helmet, the hat, and one jewel as payment.
The two extra books were kept by Demon Squad despite being infested by spirits. Psspsspss attuned to these books to determine what they are. One is an in-depth history of the Skovlan People containing many dirty secrets, but not much of value. The other is a treatise on the ancient Skovlan understanding of electroplasm, containing some known information and some information that seems alien to us. The Gondoliers paid Demon Squad 30 coin for the third book.