Carnevale - Session Three: Into The Dragon's Den
The children of House Benicio were woken to find sunlight streaming into the ruined church building. Paolo wanted to see them. An opportunity had shown up, and there was no time to waste. At the first night of Carnevale, they had seen Carnelio the red dragon with a group of hypnotised attractive young people. It was the dragon's habit to take these people back to one of his townhouses, where they would end up as his dinner. But Paolo had just discovered that Carnelio had been summoned to an urgent meeting at the Palazzo immediately upon returning home in the early hours of the morning. It was likely that the five young people were still alive. Paolo wanted Adrianna, Chiara, Deltorro, Greta, Matilde, Stefano and Via to go and rescue them before Carnelio could return and eat them. The siblings knew that the risks were great, but they all agreed that the risk was worth it.
A giant-blooded gondoliera, Valeria, propelled the group down the canal while they laid their plans to enter the house. They decided to disguise themselves as more festival-goers who had been hypnotised by Carnelio, and quickly got themselves matching costumes, including masks for an animal representing the seven sins. The city itself was bustling, with some people still in Carnevale finery from the previous night, and many more at work. The city bells rang to sound out the hour, and a parade of dwarves led by a censer-bearer went past, chanting for some religious reason. Thinking about the treacherous Marco, the group looked to see if he was with the dwarves, but he was not there.
The siblings arrived at the manor, and Valeria rowed them around it. A series of stairs led to double doors on the second floor. There were signs of (relatively) recent renovations, which had removed the servants' entrance on the ground floor. The group staggered up the stairs, to find no gatekeeper and the doors locked. Adrianna picked the lock, and they hurried in. The house had elaborate decoration, featuring a large candelabra burning without candles in the centre of the main hall, and sweeping staircases going upstairs. The torches made the house extremely hot and smoky, just how a red dragon would like it. Throughout the house, art celebrated the gold dragon emperors of Auromia, romantically hearkening back to a utopian age where dragons ruled over humans: propaganda through the medium of fine art.
A giant-blooded gondoliera, Valeria, propelled the group down the canal while they laid their plans to enter the house. They decided to disguise themselves as more festival-goers who had been hypnotised by Carnelio, and quickly got themselves matching costumes, including masks for an animal representing the seven sins. The city itself was bustling, with some people still in Carnevale finery from the previous night, and many more at work. The city bells rang to sound out the hour, and a parade of dwarves led by a censer-bearer went past, chanting for some religious reason. Thinking about the treacherous Marco, the group looked to see if he was with the dwarves, but he was not there.
The siblings arrived at the manor, and Valeria rowed them around it. A series of stairs led to double doors on the second floor. There were signs of (relatively) recent renovations, which had removed the servants' entrance on the ground floor. The group staggered up the stairs, to find no gatekeeper and the doors locked. Adrianna picked the lock, and they hurried in. The house had elaborate decoration, featuring a large candelabra burning without candles in the centre of the main hall, and sweeping staircases going upstairs. The torches made the house extremely hot and smoky, just how a red dragon would like it. Throughout the house, art celebrated the gold dragon emperors of Auromia, romantically hearkening back to a utopian age where dragons ruled over humans: propaganda through the medium of fine art.
The siblings made their way swiftly through the ground floor, investigating the western wing of the house. They knew that time was not on their side. There were a number of very fine dining rooms and lounges, before they discovered the servants' quarters. These were abandoned, and a staircase leading down had been removed as part of the renovations. Next to it, a pantry was full of rotting raw meat, delicious for a dragon but revolting for a human. Finally, in the kitchen, Stefano met a ghostly servant who warned him that she was bound to attack intruders. She seemed to be friendly, though, and so he managed to fast-talk his way out of a fight. The ghost was that of Valentina Bianchi, who was bound to serve the master of the house - even when the House di Conti that she served died, and the physical building was usurped by a dragon that she despised. Valentina told Stefano that Carnelio used magic on the top floor to enter the downstairs, and that he had a guest currently staying in the east wing.
With this information, the di Benicios decided to go upstairs. The entire upper floor was a museum of arcane oddities that Carnelio had collected, as well as a house chapel that had been converted into a draconic privy, guarded by spirits of living fire. After a tough battle, the group was victorious. They searched the floor, and looted a few interesting trinkets in the process, including a vial of dragon's blood and some healing potions. There was also a drawer in a desk with a blank metal plate where a lock should be. Using magical fire, it unlocked, revealing a silver orb that acted as a key for teleportation to the ground floor.
The ground floor was Carnelio's dungeon. The five hypotised young men and women were in cells, guarded by a fiery suit of ceremonial armour wielding a massive hammer. A terrible fight broke out, but eventually the siblings were victorious, and freed the prisoners. Rather than teleporting upstairs, knowing that Carnelio might return at any time, they decided to look for another exit downstairs. They passed through the dragon's torture chamber, and found a set of stairs leading down into a dark and flooded basement. Around the water, the walls were coated with a strange slime. The family was apprehensive, but decided to investigate. Matilde touched the slime...
...and the group found themselves outside, on the street, blinking in the sunlight. They were soaking wet, and could remember exploring the flooded basement, finding it empty, and then leaving the house. But there was a strange feeling of unreality about the whole thing. Feeling traumatised, the group and the prisoners hurried to where Valentina was waiting for them, so she could take them back to Paolo.
Suddenly, there was a horrible noise as a massive red dragon burst into the air, over the centre of the city. Morignus the Red, ruler of Vanzenia, bellowed in rage and breathed torrents of fire down upon his own city. The noise was deafening, and people were screaming and fleeing as the enraged dragon destroyed an entire district of the city. No one knew what was happening. After an hour or so, the dragon landed, but smoke still poured up into the sky from the rising flames.
The group returned to Paolo and rested from their ordeal. Their sleep was restless, and Chiara and Via had vivid nightmares about drowning in slime, while Matilde could almost remember horrible, dagger-like teeth. When they awoke, Paolo had more information for them. The people that they had rescued had gradually returned to normal, and he had taken them home. As for the dragon, rumour had it that the cause of Morignus' rage was that his daughter, Rubina, heir to Vanzenia, had been killed by condottiere. What's more, her skull was being paraded around by a preacher, who was spreading word that the dragons could be killed. The strangest rumour of all, though, was that one group of people had survived Morignus' rampage when a young girl had held back the fire. Was she a new saint, come to deliver them from the dragons?
With this information, the di Benicios decided to go upstairs. The entire upper floor was a museum of arcane oddities that Carnelio had collected, as well as a house chapel that had been converted into a draconic privy, guarded by spirits of living fire. After a tough battle, the group was victorious. They searched the floor, and looted a few interesting trinkets in the process, including a vial of dragon's blood and some healing potions. There was also a drawer in a desk with a blank metal plate where a lock should be. Using magical fire, it unlocked, revealing a silver orb that acted as a key for teleportation to the ground floor.
The ground floor was Carnelio's dungeon. The five hypotised young men and women were in cells, guarded by a fiery suit of ceremonial armour wielding a massive hammer. A terrible fight broke out, but eventually the siblings were victorious, and freed the prisoners. Rather than teleporting upstairs, knowing that Carnelio might return at any time, they decided to look for another exit downstairs. They passed through the dragon's torture chamber, and found a set of stairs leading down into a dark and flooded basement. Around the water, the walls were coated with a strange slime. The family was apprehensive, but decided to investigate. Matilde touched the slime...
...and the group found themselves outside, on the street, blinking in the sunlight. They were soaking wet, and could remember exploring the flooded basement, finding it empty, and then leaving the house. But there was a strange feeling of unreality about the whole thing. Feeling traumatised, the group and the prisoners hurried to where Valentina was waiting for them, so she could take them back to Paolo.
Suddenly, there was a horrible noise as a massive red dragon burst into the air, over the centre of the city. Morignus the Red, ruler of Vanzenia, bellowed in rage and breathed torrents of fire down upon his own city. The noise was deafening, and people were screaming and fleeing as the enraged dragon destroyed an entire district of the city. No one knew what was happening. After an hour or so, the dragon landed, but smoke still poured up into the sky from the rising flames.
The group returned to Paolo and rested from their ordeal. Their sleep was restless, and Chiara and Via had vivid nightmares about drowning in slime, while Matilde could almost remember horrible, dagger-like teeth. When they awoke, Paolo had more information for them. The people that they had rescued had gradually returned to normal, and he had taken them home. As for the dragon, rumour had it that the cause of Morignus' rage was that his daughter, Rubina, heir to Vanzenia, had been killed by condottiere. What's more, her skull was being paraded around by a preacher, who was spreading word that the dragons could be killed. The strangest rumour of all, though, was that one group of people had survived Morignus' rampage when a young girl had held back the fire. Was she a new saint, come to deliver them from the dragons?
Art: 'Staircase in the Palace of Caprarola.' Hubert Robert, c. 1765
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