November 14, 2020 The woodland manse was suddenly plunged into darkness and the now-animated twig dolls (Twigmac, Twigjack, and Twigvyn) made a break for it. The dolls scattered to the four winds, (well, actually three), and the chase was on! Eventually, the party caught up with and dispatched all three, but each time a doll took damage, so did the person whose likeness they bore. In any event, with the dolls taken care of, the party settled down to investigate the strange house. They quickly discovered escape from the house was apparently not possible--outside the doors and windows they saw nothing but the infinite abyss of time and space. The house had somehow been transported to a pocket dimension. Later, in the flagstone courtyard, they discovered a well with vines erupting from it. The party carefully bravely investigated the vines, and discovered the vines were quite healthy, covered with tiny blood-soaked thorns, and quite resistant to fire. In fact the vines did not enjoy fire at all, because as soon as Simplejack brought a torch close to the well, a shambling mound burst out of the ground and the battle was on. A fierce opponent the shambling mound proved to be and for a good while, the adventurers were on the ropes. It took everything they had, and then some, but eventually they destroyed the mound. They continued their search of the house and found an altar to Talos (which Travyn reconsecrated to Kelemvor), a mouldering library filled with tomes on Elven History (boring, but the party did find a packet of dust of disappearing in the library), an upstairs bathroom with an iron tub and working blood faucets (try finding one of those on Fantasy Zillow, I dare you!), a stirge-infested hallway, a mute elven ghost lying in a canopy bed (pleading for help and pointing out her window toward the courtyard), a guest bedroom filled with the putrefying remains of half-orc cultists of Talos (think: rotting, slimy, highly flammable Gummy Orcs), and a strange bedchamber-kitchen-dining room all rolled into one (think: Haunted Grandmother Suite or Fantasy Air BNB suite). A real fixer upper and investment opportunity, this one! But, it was not to be. Travyn had other ideas. The gnome began rolling together the slimy half-orc remains into a huge ball of toxic, highly combustible sludge, rolled it right out the door into the courtyard, and up and into the well, where it dropped down to the creepy grotto beneath the house. Then, Cormac ignited the corpse juice ball with a fire bolt, causing a massive explosion to rip through the house. The house imploded and was ripped out of its pocket dimension back toward an endless plane of nothingness. Pieces of the house began falling away here and there, everywhere. Total chaos. Within the chaos, Simplejack got a brief glimpse of the prime material plane, of Xanth the Centaur extended a hand his way. He reached out and grabbed it, as Travyn and Cormac descended deeper into the vortex. Travyn, convinced none of this could be real, disbelieved his eyes and ears and imagined himself right where he was when this all began--taking cover inside the safety of the kitchen fireplace. Simplejack saw Travyn one moment and then the gnome was gone, lost in the chaos. He had one chance to grab Cormac and mustered all his inspiration to do so. At the last moment, he reached down and plucked the Old Man from the vortex. At that moment, all three adventurers were back outside the haunted mansion, in the pumpkin patch, joined by Xanth, Matthias, and Chiao. Xanth asked, "What happened to you in there? You were gone so long...and then this...." The haunted manse was now little more than a smoldering pile of charred debris and scorched bloodthorn vines. PCs present: Cormac, Simplejack, and Travyn Items gained: immovable rod, dust of disappearance, billowing cloak All PCs are now 6th level!