Of Course there’s a Family Curse 

Sir Reginald Gobbleton and his blushing bride Lady Maribell escort you through the forest to a large open swath of rolling green hills. On the top of one particularly green hill sits a large three-story manor house in classic Gothic-Victorian-Rennaisance style with sweeping large columns, enormous stained glass windows and a beautiful covered porch complete with several hanging swings. Sir Reginald hops off his horse and escorts his lady love down and then says proudly, “Welcome to Gobbleton Manor my friends. Please let us retire to the drawing room for drinks, laughs, and tales of the good old days.” He strides confidently to the door and it opens before him. A tall, lanky man with a lazy eye and wearing a dusty butler uniform steps forth and bows deeply. 

“Welcome home, my lord, my lady, and…assorted riffraff,” he says in a deep simpering voice. The butler’s one good eye looks you up and down with suspicion. The other one slowly drifts sideways as if trying to sneak away.

“This is Jeepers,” says Sir Reginald. “My family’s loyal butler. Jeepers, these sharply dressed folk are my friends. They are here for the feast. Please take care of the horses for us.”

“As you command,” says Jeepers. He bows low again and waves you inside.

Gobbleton Manor (I’ll add a map later. It’s currently on a packed computer).

Main Hall – A large room with heavy curtains, the main hall features a staircase leading up to the second floor, an impressive coat rack, a thick carpeted floor and a number of small tables.

The Parlor – The parlor has windows opening out in two different directions showing the rolling hills of the estate. It contains a fireplace, several comfortable chairs, and a table with needlework.

Sitting Room – Adjoining the parlor is a small sitting room with a huge mirror on one wall.

Library – The library is chock full of books mainly pertaining to plants, cooking, history, and hunting. Kori is often found here reading when not at dinner.

The Dining Hall – A long table with multiple chairs runs the length of this huge room. A fireplace in the far wall illuminates the strange decorations adorning the walls including paintings of the current living family members, horse shoes, and bats, a golden statue of a ball of yarn, and a number of porcelain horseman who all appear to be missing their heads. A grand piano and a harp sits in one side of the room.

Garden – The garden is filled with long vine-like plants that hang along the walls. In the center of the room is a large gaudy indoor fountain that tinkles with flowing water. Flowers in red, orange, and brown populate the many pots placed around this room. Bustard can be found here gently pruning the plants.

The Pantry – The pantry is full of all your standard cooking tools and essentials from a spice rack to barrels of vegetables.

The Kitchen – A large cutting table dominates the center of this room. Pots and pans hang from the rafters above a large oven and cooking stove. Fig is usually here cooking something.

The Cellar – The Cellar is dark and musty. The floor is stone but the walls are primarily dirt. There’s an odd smell of rosemary in the air. Lines of old and dusty wine racks, many of which are empty run along the wall. There’s a secret door behind one of the wine racks. A successful perception check DC 16 finds that the rack can be pulled forward which causes a door to open in the wall.

The Dire Fowl Cave – A large tunnel winds its way for about fifty feet before opening up into a large cavern. In the center of the room is a large pot on a fire pit. The contents within bubble loudly. Several torches along the wall glow with an odd red light. The third rock to the left of the pot hides a small box. A perception check DC 20 finds. The DC is 10 if the player’s received Madam Grim’s hint. Inside the wooden box is the Turkey Knife. Jeepers can be found here with Lady Maribell tied up in a corner after he has kidnapped her.

Turkey Knife – Weapon (dagger), rare (no attunement)

The Turkey Knife is a +1 dagger. It has a single serrated edge and a curved wooden handle. The dagger deals an additional 1d6 damage to any creature with wings.

The Portrait Room – This long room is filled from floor to ceiling with portraits of the Gobbleton family going back dozens of generations. Tradition holds that when a Gobbleton dies, a portrait of them is placed in this room. All of the men and women in the painting have the same pointed nose and long neck that characterizes the family. One of the oldest portraits is Galliford Gobbleton. He is a regal-man hold a crossbow across his shoulder. A secret door is hidden behind his portrait. An Intelligence check DC 15 notices that the trigger to the crossbow is in the wrong place. Pressing on the trigger opens up a small keypad. The password is 11, 25, and 3 (Madam Grim’s lucky numbers). This opens a door to the ritual chamber.

The Ritual Chamber – Along the walls of this room are runes written in Abyssal that symbolize power and strength. In the center on the floor is a ritual circle written in magical symbols. An Arcane check DC 12 identifies it as transmutation magic. Several bowls rest along the walls containing blood. Anyone who drinks the blood while standing in the ritual circle will be cursed with lycanthope (turkey) curse. Otherwise, the blood is poisonous requiring a successful Constitution save DC 14 or the victim takes 1d8 damage a failed roll. The victim may make a new save at the start of their next round and continues to take damage each rounduntil they make a successful save.

The Lounge – Filled with a number of couches and paintings, the lounge also had a dart board on one wall. Another set of stairs lead up to the third floor. Raven likes this room. She enjoys watching people come and go.

Bedrooms – Each bedroom is unique and matches the taste of the individual family members. Kernal Herring’s is neat and tidy with military paraphenelia decorating the walls. Grandma Lulu’s bedroom has lacy bedding, portraits of fuzzy cats on plates, and a closet filled with old but frilly dresses. Sister Raven’s bedroom has lots of paintings of scantily clad men lifting weights and posing. Her closet is filled with clingy dressing gowns. Cousin Kori has a lot of books in her room. Cousin Bustard has an ant farm and a number of small plants in jars.

Master Bedroom – The Master Bedroom features an enormous four post bed, extravagant furniture and beautiful curtained windows.

The Trophy Room – A number of stuffed animal heads hang from the walls. You have your standard deer, bear, and wolf as well as some odd animals like a beaver, a chipmunk, and a porpoise. In addition, the walls hold a rack of different crossbows from various brands and sizes.

The Game Room – A card table, a billiard table, and a ping pong table are all set up in this room and ready for play. Kernal Herring can be found here whiling away the time.

The Alchemy Room – The door to this room is locked. Sir Reginald has the key but won’t part with it willingly. A successful Dexterity check with thieves tools DC 16 will open the door. This room is filled with various chemicals and concoctions. Three large desks are practically overflowing with bottles, beakers, and jars. One wall has a huge number of labeled bottles filled with alchemical ingredients. A quick search finds a journal. The author scribbles frantically but several key phrases stand out, “I’ve searched for a cure but there isn’t one. The family suspects. I must be going mad. I’m beginning to like the changes. I am beginning to enjoy the pecking.” The rest appear to be a number of formulas and ingredients with the words “failure” tacked on to them.

Linen Closet – This closet has spare blankets, pillows, and cleaning supplies.

Reading Room – A small cozy room with several empty bird cages hanging from the walls. A couch, a fireplace, and a coffee table filled with small books on bird watching are all that can be found here. Grandma Lulu haunts this room.

Bathroom – Indoor plumbing. Who knew the Gobbletons were so forward thinking?

Secret chamber – The secret chamber has a staircase leading down to a closet in the master bedroom. The walls of this room have holes that allow someone to see into the adjoining rooms.

Guest Bedroom – Every guest bedroom is pretty much the same. It has a nice feather bed and pillow. A small chest for storing items. A vanity and mirror for getting dressed up.

Attic – The attic is filled with old stuff. Toys, furniture, chests full of moldy clothes, and a boxes of random junk collected over two hundred years. One of the walls has a secret door. A successful perception check DC 15 sees that it can be slid aside. In the next room is a bunch of dead and mummified adventurers. There are dozens of them. Each one is labeled with a year dated every 10 years. The most recent was 10 years ago. 

Characters

Sir Reginald Gobbleton – Human, Male. Age 30. Sir Reginald is a tall, thin nervous-looking man with a pencil thin goatee and a sharp nobleman garb. He’s very prim and proper and exceptionally melodramatic.

Lady Maribell – Human, Female. Age 21. Lady Maribell is a young noblewoman from a small district so far away that you have never heard about it. Her family lost all of their fortune due to the gambling habits of her late father. She has long black hair, ruby lips, a slim waist, and heart-shaped face. She’s timid, mild, submissive, and all about improving her station in life.

Jeepers – Demon, Male. Age 400. Jeepers appears like a short bulky man with a slight hunchback. He has one odd eye that wanders. Both eyes are orange. He dresses in a worn butler’s uniform and talks with a deep grumble.

Fig – Animated Tree, Female. Age 55. Fig appears as a short squat woman in a bulky dress with a dirty white apron. Her eyes are green and her skin is like rough brown bark. She doesn’t speak but is a very good cook.

Uncle Kernal Herring – Human, Male. Age 60. Uncle Kerning is a barrel of a man with a thick walrus-styled mustache. He has dirty blond hair, brown eyes, and wears an old soldier’s uniform with multiple badges and awards. He says he used to serve in 85th preserves. Calvary was his specialty. He likes games and horses. His wife, rest her soul, died in a fire years ago. His children are Kori and Bustard.

Raven Gobbleton – Human, Female. Age 38. Raven is Reginald’s older sister. She’s had three husbands all of whom are gone. They were delicious. Raven has short brown hair, piercing brown eyes, and likes to show off her legs. She’s a horrible flirt with any male character with a Strength score higher than 15. Bonus if he has a good Charisma score.

Cousin Kori – Human, Female. Age 25. Kori is a shy young, woman with twitchy hands. She wears thick glasses that make her bulging eyes even larger. She’s a bookworm and prefers stories to people.

Cousin Bustard – Human, Male. Age 23. Bustard is a short man with shifty eyes. He chuckles randomly to himself often at the most inappropriate times. He has a green thumb and enjoys plants.

Events:

Family Dinner – Just as the sun sets, the family gathers in the main dining room for a large dinner. It’s a five course meal including roast pig, cheese stuffed olives, pumpkin soup, citris salad with roast beets, potatoes au gratin, brocolli with apricot sauce, and a desert of chocolate cream tarts. During the dinner, the discussion revolves around Maribell’s attack and the party intervening. The family will praise the party for saving the dear damsel. Other conversation topics may include the family curse, how Maribell and Reginald met (it was a cute meet at a dance with another nearby lord), and the upcoming wedding. During the meal, Raven will flirt with the male character with the highest Strength, grandma Lulu will pick at her food, the Kernal will attempt to invite the characters to talk about their exploits, and Jeepers stands at the ready suspiciously watching everyone. After the meal, the players may engage in the following activities:

Maribell’s Piano Performance – Maribell will play the piano in the dining room. Her voice is good but the song is strange involving the many ways one can fall asleep. Reginald stands at rapture. Grandma Lulu falls asleep. An observant player (Passive Perception check DC 14) will see Fig standing in the darkness just beyond an open doorway and find it odd that she doesn’t seem to be moving at all. If the player goes to investigate the door will close before they get there. Upon opening, Fig is gone. If the player’s inquire, they will learn that Fig goes home for the night but no one really knows where that is. She shouldn’t be there at all.

The Cousins Hide and Seek – Kori and Bustard will offer to play hide and seek with any player. This will allow the player to explore without issue. The only room they won’t be able to get to is the wine cellar because Jeepers will stop them. Otherwise, Kori is hiding in the garden (Perception check DC 12) and Bustard is hiding in the library (Perception check DC 12). If the players are completely lost, they will see a portrait of the cousins in the portrait room revealing their location. The portrait vanishes once the cousins are found.

A Roll of the Dice – Kernal Herring will offer to play a game of chance with any of the players in the game room. Each play costs 1 gp. The game works as follows: The player and the DM will each roll 3d6. The goal is to get matches. Three of a kind is the highest score, followed by two of a kind, followed by 6 high. Whoever has the highest numbers wins. Ties are re-rolled. On the second roll the player makes, the dice will not have numbers but read D, I, E. The letters change to three ones when the player blinks. Kernal Herring doesn’t see the letters but suggests it might be the wine.

Random Events – For every 10 minutes a player spends in a room without any family member’s present the following events might occur:

1. Turkey Gobble – You hear the faint sound of a turkey gobble.

2. Scratching – Something begins scratching loudly in the room like a rat gnawing on a piece of wood. Just as you think you’ve found the source, the sound stops.

3. Shadows move – Out of the corner of your eye you see a shadow move. When you turn to look closer, you can see that there’s an extra shadow on the wall of a small round shape but you can’t figure out what is casting it. Touching the shadow causes it to dissipate.

4. Feather Fall – Something black slowly drifts down in front of you. It’s a large feather. There’s no sign where it came from.

5. Lights Out – All of the lights in the room suddenly go out. It’s pitch black. You can’t see (even with darkvision). Something grabs your ankle. You kick out and you hear a crash and the sound of breaking glass. When the lights come back on, there’s no sign of what broke.

6. The Water Bird – You hear a dip, dip, dip sound. Looking over at a nearby desk table is one of those drinking bird toys slowly tapping a glass of water. As you watch the bird dips its head and then stops moving. Touching the bird causes it to start bouncing again.

7. Finger Painting – Out of the corner of your eye you see movement. Looking closer it’s a painting of a landscape. However, standing in the center is a large turkey. It glares at you and you glare at it. The turkey then turns and walks over a hill to disappear behind it.

8. Mirror Mirror – In this room, you see a small mirror hanging from the wall. As you get closer to it you see your reflection but as you watch your reflection starts to grow a beak and sprouting feathers. Within moments, a giant humanoid turkey blinks back at you with your eyes. It does everything you do but changes back to normal if anyone else looks at it.

The Curse of the Gobbletons

Years ago, Reginald’s great great great great great great grandfather, Galliford Gobbleton, was walking along the edges of the estate when he came across a most peculiar sight. A wild turkey was standing in the middle of the path and staring at him. Lord Galliford happened to have his crossbow with him, the times being somewhat uncivilized and all so he raised his weapon and shot the bird. Much to his surprise the turkey didn’t die. Instead, it spoke to him. 

“Lord Galliford,” said the turkey, ignoring the large arrow sticking from it.

Galliford wasn’t used to his dinner talking so he shot it again. “Stop that!” said the bird now with two arrows. “I’ve come to make a deal with you.”

Galliford paused. Being the rational man that he was, he considered the situation. He realized that no self-respecting nobleman makes a deal with peasants let alone poultry so he shot the bird again. This time the turkey fell over and with its dying breath it uttered a curse on Lord Galliford and all of his family. Since that time the Dire Fowl has stalked the forests surrounding Gobbleton Manor. We’ve tried to kill the beast but cursed monsters are very hard to dispose of and well we’ve just sort of learned to live with it. Oh, don’t go traveling outside at night. Those that do usually end up dead and stuffed with bread. 

Bed Call – At some point, the giant clock in the main hall crows like a rooster to announce that it is 9:00. That is the symbol for bedtime. Jeepers escorts the guests to their individual rooms. Move on to Chapter 4.