Last Time on Emberheart Z: The Haunting of Yellowcrest Manor

🔥Last time on Emberheart Z!🔥

Yellowcrest Manor, decrepit and abandoned...

It was meant to be an odd but simple job: recover a book said to reside in an abandoned manor house in what was once Old Lordaeron. An easy in-and-out before the Expedition went on with their Hallow’s End celebrations. A quick paycheck and nothing else.  What was the worst that could happen? 

...As it turned out, a lot. 

The expedition blindly stumbled into a full-blown, grade-A classic exorcist haunting: Kiri saw a burning red-eyed shadow man hiding in a mirror, Zugtu was attacked by a vicious china cabinet, Slade saw blood that wasn't there, and was ambushed by nails that weren’t there, alongside Blazo on the stairs. Things only got worse when they reached the master bedroom; splitting the party, the "ghosts" haunting the house launched their attack in earnest. Torick, Kiri, Zugtu, Blazo, and Jibling were trapped inside when the door slammed behind them. Blood began pooling on the ceiling, pouring down the walls, and onto their heads. The windows rattled and scratched like bones. Deep, dark laughter echoed in their minds. The fireplace ignited on its own with a deep purple flame and burned out of control, threatening to choke them with smoke. Most inside screamed to be heard, but outside, Ioneid and Slade heard nothing. If it wasn't for the fact that they saw the door slam of its own accord, they would have had no idea their fellow expedition members were in danger.

Poor Sarah...

Eventually, the door was forced open (thanks to Jibling punching through the old wood at the expense of Slade’s forehead), and the room returned to its original state as if nothing had happened. After being thoroughly sick of the shenanigans, they found what they were looking for... sort of. They discovered the book, a leather-bound journal with intricately carved brass fittings and clasps, and an embossed cover featuring a lemon tree with the rising sun behind it—a symbol they had seen throughout the house. The book was also haunted by a ghost, not quite the malevolent force that had been hounding them, but interested in them just the same. Her name, as the book revealed, was Sarah, a servant to Baron Viallis Yellowcrest and his family, who stayed on as the family's fortunes declined. Desperate to regain what he had lost, Viallis struck a deal with Kel’Thuzad—trading money, power, and his own immortality for a dark price: the murder of his wife, three children, and four loyal servants who stayed out of love rather than duty. These killings were part of a ritual intended to empower the greater works of the Cult of the Damned. Judging by Sarah’s missing tongue, it’s clear what conclusion Viallis reached. However, it also seems he was tricked; his power and immortality were merely tools to guard the ritual. Otherwise, why would his essence still haunt the house and the Expedition members? Still, Sarah, speaking through the shifting, self-writing pages of her journal, begged for help to perform the ritual again—to reverse its effects and free herself and the other victims of Viallis. 

Through some trial, error, and the magic of the Bronze, which turned the clock back on the old ritual circle (discovered under the rug in the master bedroom), they performed the rite. Viallis threw everything at them: household objects, crumbling architecture, ghost flames reigniting from the fireplace in an attempt to set the house on fire, shadow tentacles choking the words into silence, and finally an army of the dead threatening to break through the windows and swarm them - all while they were trapped inside the house itself. The expedition withstood the onslaught and ultimately banished the dark wraith who was once Baron Viallis Yellowcrest.

Finally outside, book in hand, the last view of the house revealed a puzzling scene: themselves, as they were at the start of the night, entering the house as if it was the first time. The group kept walking rather than ask further questions.

Sarah’s Journal

---------------------What awaits the Expedition? Find out next time on Emberheart Z!!------------------

AN: Happy Halloween, ghouls, ghasts, and ghosts! This was another of my events, and hopefully will become something of a tradition in the guild: The Emberheart Halloween Episode. This year was a mix of the CoC scenarios “The Haunting” and “Edge of Darkness", and the Dungeons and Dragons adventure "Sarah of Yellowcrest" from the Candlekeep book. The players who made it put the transmog system to work, crafting costumes like they were trick-or-treating. I’ll never not laugh at how quickly they committed to the bit on the admittedly last-minute Call of Duty: Zombies/Left 4 Dead aspect of the event. They boarded up windows, started rationing rifle shells- the whole thing!