The Collector's Menagerie
Feb. 2nd, 2026 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerThe title of the D&D adventure I put together most recently is The Collector's Menagerie. This became evident to my D&D players only after the initial combat encounter in the adventure. They'd defeated an owlbear in a wealthy person's mansion. After killing the monster they rescued the man in the tuxedo who'd called for help... and they got to him just in time as he was nearly dead. Kiarana came through with a cure spell just in time to revive him. Then they learned... the rest of the story.
The man in the tuxedo was not the lord of the manor. He was Jenkins the Butler. The lord of the manor, Lord Eito Asano, had died recently. In questioning the butler— who was alive but very weak— and adding in some knowledge from two PCs who knew a bit of background about Asano, they determined:
Especially with other house staff alive and under threat, the group resolved quickly that they needed to conduct a room-to-room search. The butler told them that a few staff were holed up downstairs, in the kitchen. In addition to that bit of info they heard a few noises as clues: a deep male voice begging, "Help! Help me!", coming up from a servants' stairwell as if in the distance; a loud chirping, as if from large birds, coming from the direction of one of the rooms on the main level, and the sound of wood scraping as if something heavy was dragged a short distance on the floor, coming from another room on the main level.
The party let the butler go and lined up to investigate one of the rooms.
Yes, in the mansion of a whodunnit murder mystery, they let the butler escape after the first scene! 🤣
The man in the tuxedo was not the lord of the manor. He was Jenkins the Butler. The lord of the manor, Lord Eito Asano, had died recently. In questioning the butler— who was alive but very weak— and adding in some knowledge from two PCs who knew a bit of background about Asano, they determined:
- Lord Asano died some number of days earlier. According to the butler, he died of old age; not an injury or foul play.
- Jenkins and the household staff were keeping mum about Asano's death as it had been his wish to summon his sons from the capital city before publicizing his death.
- Asano was "old money", having inherited wealth 50+ years ago from a now-defunct noble family. (That family was House Sujin, rivals of Ryuu-Han's ancestors, House Hannam.)
- Asano had a penchant for collecting exotic things— particularly exotic creatures.
- Asano reputedly had "bangin'" parties when Otonio Tashara was a kid and too young to attend but has been a recluse for the past 10-15 years.
- Asano employed some kind of magic that fortified the cages his monsters were kept in. The magic seems to have lapsed, or been countered, or something, as the cages all opened at the same time recently.
- Several household staff are still in the mansion, hiding from the monsters and trying to stay alive.
Especially with other house staff alive and under threat, the group resolved quickly that they needed to conduct a room-to-room search. The butler told them that a few staff were holed up downstairs, in the kitchen. In addition to that bit of info they heard a few noises as clues: a deep male voice begging, "Help! Help me!", coming up from a servants' stairwell as if in the distance; a loud chirping, as if from large birds, coming from the direction of one of the rooms on the main level, and the sound of wood scraping as if something heavy was dragged a short distance on the floor, coming from another room on the main level.
The party let the butler go and lined up to investigate one of the rooms.
Yes, in the mansion of a whodunnit murder mystery, they let the butler escape after the first scene! 🤣
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Date: 2026-02-03 07:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-03 07:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-03 07:55 pm (UTC)^ This is what I'm avoiding, here. 🤣
no subject
Date: 2026-02-03 08:51 pm (UTC)