(It's a long one, buckle up)
“Welcome to Mr. Squirrels’ Wild Ride where the ride never ends and you’re not allowed to get off.”

The party find themselves on the third floor of this crooked house, with only two rooms left unexplored. They have collected all relics except for one, a pin, which they need to get into the attic and face whatever is up there.

The Library

Grimm opens the door to a library littered with Dusty tomes and cobwebs. A desk sits in the center of the room and atop that is a Cheshire cat with golden eyes. It speaks to the party:

C: “Tell me a tale.”
G: “Tell *you* a tale?”
C: “Yes, write it down in this book. Sit in the chair and tell me a story. If it’s acceptable, these books will record it with words and illustrations.”

Skeptical but rolling low insight, Grimm sits at the desk and begins writing. The cat smiles as Grimm closes the book and all of the pages begin filling on their own.

C: “Would anyone else like to help me fill out the library?”

The cat kicks another book onto the desk. Beau decides to give it a crack.

C: "I suppose that's acceptable. Anyone else who would like to help fill this library of mine?"

Osiera steps forward hesitantly and tries to write a story. The cat is not impressed even though she is inspired by the guidance and friendship around her.

C: "Could someone else with something more *interesting* to write step up?"
O: "That's really *fucking* rude" Osiera mutters to herself as she walks away.

Zora sits at the desk and writes one final story, pleasing the cat. It looks around at everyone, "Thank you all, you have been ever so helpful". It winks and then vanishes.

{Party can roll hit dice as if they have taken a short rest (+4 for each die)}

Investigating the Library

Zora find 4 bottles in the drinks cart that seem to contain healing potions. She waves the potion in Osiera's face, "Oh, Osieraaa... Is it healthy?" The potions are indeed healing potions and she divides them between the party. Eleana pockets one and Grimm hands one to The Bag Man to hold for him.

Eleana is skeptical about the weird interaction the party just experienced so she starts investigating the books. She notices that each title is a name, the the three on the desk are familiar: Grimm Halvrek, Beauregard LeRoux, and Zora Zorin. At this moment, those party members feel an inescapable urge to attack the closest person to them in the room with the strongest thing in their arsenal.

The Girls are Fighting

Beau snaps his head towards Osiera and flaming tendrils shoot out from his hand (Hells Lash). Osiera is burned and poisoned within an inch of her life. Beau snaps back into his body and see's what he has done.
        B: "Oh!! I apologize. I deeply apologize. I don't know what came over me."
Hurt and angry, Osiera has to hold herself back from punching Beau because she knows that one hit to his armor would knock her out. She instead backs away.
        O: "What the fuck?? What the fuck was that?? Leave me alone!
She looks around at the rest of the party, recognizing that Grimm and Zora also seem to be affected by the same charm as Beau.
        O: "Eleana, Jiwho, watch out!"
Grimm starts growling and shaking his head but manages to snap out of this charm. He notices Zora about to swing at the drow and attacks her (with reckless and savage). Jiwho tells Eleana to run as he disengages and runs over to Osiera. Eleana drops the books in her hands, says "Zora, snap the fuck out of it!", and also runs towards Osiera. Zora smites Jiwho's badger killing it in one swing but is still unable to break the charm. Beau says "Zora, snap out of it!" with honeyed words, charming the already charmed Zora.
        B: "Alright, we all settled now?"
        G: To zora "Sorry I hit you in the head, do you need this healing potion I just got?"
        Z: "If you hit me in the head, I'll hit you back. No, I'm good."
        G: "Alright... just saying."
The party notice how hurt Osiera looks and try to help her. Zora lays her hand on Osiera's burns and heals her. Jiwho cures her poison.
        E: "Beau, what the fuck!"
        B: "I didn't mean to! I don't know what came over me."
        O: "Beau, that was so fucked up, what was that?"
        B: "I don't rightly know to be honest with you. I don't like to scrap like that."
        O: "How are we supposed to fight this hag upstairs if we keep using our resources on stupid shit and dealing with each other and not... the big stuff. This is fucked."
        B: "It could be worse."

Zora and Beau

Zora stares at Beau. "Uh, can i help you?" he asks. Zora keeps staring. Realizing the reason she is mad is due to his charm he tries to explain, "Oh! that's right... uhm, I've never had this issue before. Here's the thing about this issue, it isn't a regular charm. I can't just end it. Eh, you'll be fine in a day."
E: "In a day? We don't even know if we'll be alive in a day. What did you do to her?"
B: "We'll be alive in a day, I'll promise you that. She's under a charm, a little gift of mine from a long time ago. I've always had a way with words."
Z: "He is quite convincing."
O: "Alright. Well, let's not look too closely at that situation."

Grimm leads the party to the next room. Beau and Zora hang back as beau searches the rest of the room but only finds more books, crumpled paper and quills. Noticing that they are alone, Beau pulls out a rolled up contract and hands it to Zora, "When this is over I want you to read this. I don't want you to do this when you're underneath this little effect here. I don't like tying anyone into a contract they don't understand." He leaves the room. Zora wordlessly pockets the scroll and follows.

Trophy Room

The party find themselves in a stuffed trophy room with artifacts and taxidermized animals scattered all over.

Black Phillip

Beau walks into the room and sees a stuffed black goat with an uncanny resemblance to Black Phillip. Only Beau sees the goat come to life as it begins walking around the room. It gestures up towards another slain trophy, a monstrous crow with six black eyes on the top of its head. Beau looks up towards it and in the back of his head Phillip whispers something to him. Some party members notice Beaus unease for a split second before he returns to normal.

Exploring the room

Eleana rummages through the room looking for a pin but finds broken spears and hunting equipment. Osiera notices a trapdoor in the ceiling and points in out to the party as the likely entrance to the attic. As Beau takes an antler that is hanging on the wall, the party hear an awful cacophony of what sounds like screaming and barks and hissing before weasels begin shooting out of the walls, conglomerating into a massive Weasel King. The group obliterate the weasels.

Drawn to a towering bear in the corner, Osiera notices a strange lump and loose stitching on its neck with what looks to be human skin inside of it. She can smell rot and mold emanating from it. Desperate for the figure to not be her sister she looks inside and sees a dead woman (not Dierdra) with a golden hair pin. In a horrific display Osiera rips the bear open and the woman's dead body thuds on the ground, immediately decaying to dirt leaving nothing but the pin behind. Osiera takes the head of the bear and wears it as a hat. (badass)
B: "eugh."
O: "That's fucked up."
B: "I believe that was the last thing we were looking for."
(In undercommon)
J: "And i thought our old world was fucked up."
E: "Yeah, this whole house is a horrorshow. Let's go upstairs."

The Attic

Looking around, the group finds themselves in a cramped space glowing eerily red with runic symbols etched on every surface. Each marking seems to correlate with the the artifacts they've collected. Opposite them, they see a small door with similar flickering light flooding from the cracks in it.

They each carefully place the artifacts in their correlating spots and the room begins to fill with a crackling arcane energy. The barrier to the next room shimmers and dissipates and the now unlocked door opens slowly before them revealing a small room littered with teeth. In the center of the room is a bubbling cauldron surrounded by the slumped bodies of Phillip and Adela. A cloaked figure sways, turned away from them.

Brian

Suddenly Eleana hears the sound of glass tapping coming from her bag. She pulls out a jar filled with a brain swimming in green liquid.
B: "In there. In there. Things we can find. Tools that will help us."
E: "Oh, so now you choose to help! What's in there?"
B: "Won't know until inside. But can sense it. Can sense it from here. Almost as though it's just within our reach."
E: "Okay Brian, Thank you." She tucks him back away.

The party all react as you would if you saw a person you've been traveling with all of the sudden pull a brain out of their bag.

E: "Okay. Okay, guys. A hag gave this to me... and she said it would help me. And she gave me a train ticket here."
B: "What the hell."
E: " I don't know, eh, I don't know but she said it would help me... so.
Zora looks at Beau.
G: "I feel like we should go in."
B: "Hold on. We gotta figure out this hag situation."
O: "Yeah what's wrong with us guys?"
E: "Guys! Guys, we can talk about this after. Let's get through this house. Please."

Vesla Browntooth

Zora sprints into the room but gets grappled by Adela. Her nose grows long and her entire image transforms that of the hag, and where the hag once stood now lies an unconscious Adela. The windows shatter as a mangey weasel enters the room. The party is badass and obviously kills the hag.

As Osiera delivers the final blow, the hag turns to her and as she withers away exhales "You'll neverrr finndd yourr sisster".

Eleana hears a franting tapping from Brian and she pulls him from her bag.
E: "What?"
B: "Now we must look. Now. This place it wont remain the same for long."
The cauldron begins evaporating into smoke. Eleana runs towards it and looks inside.
B: "Write them. Write them down on my jar. Inscribe them. Please. You must.
Eleana sees arcane symbols inside of the cauldron.
B: "They are - They are so magic. You must inscribe them into my vessel."
The party are witnessing this thinking Eleana has gone batshit crazy. Brian whispers something only Eleana can hear. (Brians Message) Eleana cuts her finger and inscribes the runes on the glass with her blood.

{The party levels up!}

It was all just a dream

Phillip and Adela stand up, looking around confused. As the party rub their eyes the house suddenly returns back to normal. The only indication of anything creepy happening in this house are the teeth still scattered on the floor and three names etched on the wall. The first name that is scratched out is Vesla Browntooth, the next two names are Stonoga Blackstinger and Golub GrayGullet.

Adela is worried about Phillip but he is wordless and seems annoyed.

A: "Why are you all here?"
B: "We came looking for you. We were offered a wonderful dinner."
A: "We were in the middle of preparing dinner just now."
E: "Adela, you were passed out a minute ago."
A: "No, we were in the middle of preparing dinner and getting ready for the big day. Right Philly?"
P: "Yes, of course. You see friends we were getting ready for a lovely three course meal and in the middle of making our making dinner we passed out and began experiencing horrific nightmares... until just now, when this whole thing seemed to snap us out of it."
B: "Well you seemed to have a hag problem."

Eleana eyes Phillip suspiciously. He seems to be a little stressed and catches Elaena's glimpse.

P: "Adela, why don't you meet us downstairs so we can host our friends for dinner."

Beau notices that Adela keeps glancing at Osiera with an inquisitive look.

A: "Of course. friends, if you need anything I'll be downstairs." to Osiera "I think I may need to talk to you. Are you from around here?"
O: "No, I came through the fog yesterday."
A: "I can't shake the feeling that I've seen you before, we can talk about it downstairs. Philly, I'll be downstairs."

Phillip being sus

P: "Now that she's headed downstairs, I can talk a little bit more in detail. You see, I know later on this evening she will be asking me to return to our chateau as soon as possible. But I know something in these lands is afflicting me in a strange way. And in order for me to face it I must stay here. You all are welcome to use the guest rooms that we have. -- I would like to give you this.

He hands over a bag of gold (900gp, 150gp each)

P: "I'd appreciate if you'd let me know if you hear about any other issues happening around the area of Wickermoor Hollow. I'd like to do what I can to help these people. You see, I've been quite negligent in the last few years. Now, why don't we all head out of this dusty attic and head back downstairs."

Osiera's Tarot Reading

Adela stops what she's doing when the party arrive downstairs. "Listen, I know I got to know you all pretty well on the train but I didn't get to know this one as well as I'd like to. Do you mind if I steal them for a few minutes?" The party look at eachother and Beau leans into Osiera, whispering to her in Elvish, "Keep your guard up around her." Osiera reassures the party but mouths the words "stay close" before following her into the parlor.

Osiera sits across from her cautiously

A: "take a seat there for me. First I've got a couple of questions. Do you mind telling me a little bit about who you are and why you're here?"
O: "What do you want to know?"

Adela seems uncomfortable.

A: "Have I seen you before? Have we met and you're just playing some joke on me?"
O: "No, I don't think I've ever seen you before."
A: "See, it's just kind of weird. I swear I've seen you before. Anyways--"

Osiera crosses her arms defensively and skeptical.

O: "Look, I don't know you. I- my sister has gone missing. She left behind a journal that had drawings of this mansion so I made everyone come here first thing in the morning."

Osiera has flashes of memories in her mind like static. She begins to realize something, her sister has been gone for a lot longer than she wants to admit. In her head she built this image of them still there. They've been gone for at least a few months.
Adela holds out a deck of 22 cards.

A: "I need you to shuffle these and maybe we can get to the bottom of this, and understand what's going on"

As Osiera shuffles the cards one falls out. When she goes to put it back in the deck Adela slams her hand down onto it.

O: "No, don't touch it. That's the one that you're meant to see."

Osiera takes a deep breath and then flips the card, revaling The Hermit.

A: "Hm. There's something about you that sticks out as having been alone for quite some time. And trust me before I was with Philly, oh, I almost don't even remember how long I was alone for. I used to make up people all the time. But you don't need to run away."
O: "Do you think I made up my sister? Is that what you're telling me?"
A: "No. I'm telling you that grief makes you make up memories that weren't there. And if you're saying you came for your sister- cause I never even asked you about that- perhaps she's been gone a lot longer than you want to believe."

Osiera shakes her head.

A: "This place is the land of second chances darling, don't worry. The hermit's not as lonely as it may look. You've gotta break up your routine. It's time to forge your own path now. Be yourself. Be your own identity, not live behind the fact that you two were similar... weren't you? Identical almost."
O: "Yeah, pretty much."
A: "It's easy to look at a book and think that that's the way to walk, but you've gotta start relying on yourself. And only then will you find what you're looking for."
O: "Okay. -- But you said you know me, from some dream?"
A: "I've seen a lot of your friends as well. But I prefer to keep my secrets when I can. Something strange is going on here and I insist that Philly gets us out but I understand his resolve in why we must go through with it. Fates inevitability, you can't stop it from happening."
O: "I can try."

Adela tells her that it's a few hours until dinner and they should all go get some moonlight while they can, enjoy it. Osiera stands up abruptly and walks out.

We out this bitch

When Osiera comes out of the house she has a vacant stare and doesn't say anything.
B: "That face doesn't look like you got the information you were looking for."
O: "Yeah, uhm... yeah."

Seeing Double

Returning to town, a man approaches Jiwho.

"I'm sorry sir, I must have been mistaken. Do you mind if i ask you a quick question? It might seem strange and potentially accusatory but I don't mean to sound as such."

J: "I've had enough of your type throughout my life, I don't need accusatory."

"Well, I'm not the one accusing you but it may come off as such. It's just that you resemble... there was a man who came through these parts about a week and a half, maybe two weeks ago. And apparently in the surrounding area there was a series of gruesome murders. The figure stopped here for a day or two then headed northeast. It's just you look almost as if you are him but you are not. Do you understand my meaning on that? I understand it must sound strange."

J: "No, it is not the strangest thing I have heard or seen. However I have just arrived in town. I can guarantee you that the person you saw wasn't me, but I'd be interested in learning more."

"Well you see, back in my homeland of [[Edwardia]] there was a curse known as The Grey. It gave strange duplications or such of people. I've been studying it for quite some time. I am a teacher at the local school house if you're interested in talking about this."

J: In deepspeech "Duality to remove ones sin."

"What was that? Have you eaten today? It sounds like your stomach is rumbling."

J: "No I have not. I will stop by and see you."
{Jiwho is blessed for 24 hours}

I ain't been droppin' no eaves sir, honest.

The party see two men strolling down the road towards the Druskenvald manor. Jiwho overhears them, "Jeremiah, it's better work. I don't know what we're gonna do. If Foxwillow cant provide wheat to the surrounding areas we're gonna have a serious problem on our hands. We're not gonna have enough food to feed no one. Not to mention, ever since old Jericho Stix dissappeared people are just going missing. There's maybe, what, six or seven of us left in Foxwillow entirely? Once I heard Lord and Lady Druskenvald were here I had to come plead my case myself. Otherwise everyone in Wickermoor Hollow, well, they're gonna have to learn to feed on sticks and stones."

"Shit's getting spicy Squirrel" (Schad)

"As you all stand in the center of Wickermoor village, the Tree of Many Faces staring blankly outward as you all stand nearby, finally having escaped the Crooked House and it's strange temporal deformities, you all finally have a moment to breathe... you think."