The Mühle Estate [BG themed Darkest Dungeon]
Jan 22, 2016 3:14:11 GMT -5
Progress, Weylin, and 4 more like this
Post by Ladon on Jan 22, 2016 3:14:11 GMT -5
Foreward
It has been nearly thirty years since I last spoke to my estranged father. He disapproved of my decision to embark upon the crusade, and saw my faith as little more than ignorance. In kind, I saw his rejection of it as a defense mechanism to cover up his own extravagant trappings and addiction to a sinful lifestyle. Needless to say, when a courier arrived with a wax-sealed letter bearing the family crest, I nearly burnt it on principle. I would have, too, if it weren't for a nagging sense of doubt that lingered at the very corners of my mind. I wanted to know what was so important that he would reach out after all this time.
When I opened the letter, I couldn't make sense of what I read. There were at least half a dozen pages crammed inside, and none were in a tongue I could recognize, let alone comprehend. His hand-writing, once elegant and sophisticated, now looked like a child's script. I took the letter to a scholar in the church, and he referred me to a scholar from the next town. I spent the next month in the hamlet of Innsmouth by the coast, and worked in the local church while the scholar did his work. The result was a delirious mess that told me only two things for certain: My father was dead, and I had to return home. Evil had taken over our estate, and it was my duty to drive it back into the abyss.
Letter Transcript:
I traveled to Ipswich, and met up with an old friend: Tsukiyo Kionchi. I first met Kionchi during my crusade, where he had been contracted by my CO to help us as a mercenary. He was a good man, and although he professed no faith he was always conveniently within air-shot during sermons, and always volunteered for the most religiously charged missions. When the commanding officer caught him cheating at cards, he wanted to execute Kionchi on the spot. Instead, I convinced him to make him serve the crusade for another two years free of charge, and Kionchi agreed. Now that I need to return home, there was nobody else who I wanted the help of more than this old friend.
Thankfully, Kionchi didn't immediately laugh me out of the room. We agreed upon a reasonable deal: He would get 40% of the net profits from this expedition, if it turned out to be profitable, and in exchange he would stick around for as long as it took. With the agreement made, we set out to Danvers, the last stop before we must trek across the wilderness to reach my estate.
It was in Danvers, as we stopped for supplies, that we came across him: The caretaker. He had been the right hand man of my father, and as I set my eyes upon him I knew at once that he had lost his mind. He barely recognized me, but when I said my name he recoiled in horror, and began to feverishly warn us not to go to the Mühle estate. When we said we were going anyway, he paused briefly and then burst into laughter. Once he composed himself, he offered to be our coach driver, to "chauffeur us into hell." We accepted.
The old Road.... When I was growing up, it was a well maintained dirt path through the wilderness. It was once lined with wild flowers, and the trees were full of red breasted sparrows singing their merry tunes. Now it is naught but a derelict, serpentine path lined with thorns and dead trees. Life herself has abandoned it, a clear warning to all of the danger we face. I can see the dilapidated manor on the edge of the horizon, perched high above the moors. We plan on settling in the ruined hamlet called Amesbury, and establishing it as a staging post to secure the manor itself. I will update as we progress.
We have reached the manor, but not as we expected to. The road became increasingly dangerous, until finally the coach herself gave way. Its tire snapped, and we veered off into the undergrowth. Kionchi and I loaded ourselves up with what we could carry, and the caretaker strapped the rest onto the horse. We decided to press ahead to scout the way, with him following just far enough back to avoid any chaos. We stumbled across a bandit hunkered under a tree, and as soon as he saw us he dove for his knifes. Kionchi put a musket ball through his abdomen, and I drew my blade. Before he had so much as unsheathed his dagger, we had dispatched him. Then it was simply a matter of stripping him of his coinage, and finding his camp. We soon found three tents tucked in a clearing off the road, and pillaged them for their stolen goods. We decided to keep a weather eye out for the other two, and sure enough, we found them further down the road. Again, we took them by surprise, and again we dispatched them with haste; although one did manage to get a stab through my plate.
After that we arrived at the hamlet with no further incident, and quickly found that it was all we had expected it to be. Most of the outer shacks had been burnt to the ground, leaving only a few squalid lodgings and the town square. The Abbey, the Sanitarium, the local Tavern, the Guild Hall, and the Blacksmith all stood, in a way, but they were all half collapsed. The parts that did stand were boarded up, and their valuables had long since been stripped away. Kionchi and I spent the day establishing a small set of tents in the main square, but when it came time to go to bed he simply took his bedroll and set it up under the largest clearing he could find. I suspect that his time in the claustrophobic old road may have gotten to him somewhat. I can only pray his discomfort is temporary.
We spent the first week working on beginning to clear rubble out of the tavern so we would have a respectable staging ground for any new arrivals, and we were soon joined by two old friends: Enyo Hanabi, and Chinda Nagisa.
Nagisa is a strange woman. She was an alchemist and a doctor by trade, and left school early to run off and fight a plague that was devouring a city a month’s journey away. The next time I saw her, she told me that she had arrived one week after the plague had broken, and then gone in search of another one. From that day on, she never did stop wearing that infernal plague mask, though she still hasn’t found her plague. She has a weather eye, and we’ll need it to scout future ambushes. Shame her vision seems to lose its capability once night falls.
Enyo Hanabi is a complicated woman, albeit one after my own heart. She too serves the divine, and she is my only companion in this dark time that understands the true depths of the Eldritch horrors that lie ahead. Unfortunately, neither of us are without our sins. I cannot resist taking that which has not been bequeathed to me, and she... well... I will simply say that her tastes are somewhat impure. We once shared a bed, and ever since I have avoided anything even vaguely bestial that involved her participation. Once we establish a tavern I suspect prostitutes will come to fill it, and I will have to warn them away from welcoming her patronage. With any luck, the fire of the lord will burn her sins away, as I pray he does mine, so that we might both focus solely on the true evil we face.
After a long discussion, I decided that heading to the manor seems like an awful idea. It's a clear path, certainly, but the ruins that surround us are far more pressing. The wealds are miles away, but even from here I can smell their fetid corruption. As for the wealds, well... there will be a time for that, but it is not now. We must confront all three and clear them of any taint. Only then can we truly face what my father unleashed.
Technical Breakdown
I am playing Darkest Dungeon, and I wanted to name characters after BG ones and write about it as I progressed. I think it'll be fun to write about these characters slowly becoming disgusting and losing their minds. If you don't have the game, get it. That is all.
The Diary of Robert Mühle - Page One: Establishment
It has been nearly thirty years since I last spoke to my estranged father. He disapproved of my decision to embark upon the crusade, and saw my faith as little more than ignorance. In kind, I saw his rejection of it as a defense mechanism to cover up his own extravagant trappings and addiction to a sinful lifestyle. Needless to say, when a courier arrived with a wax-sealed letter bearing the family crest, I nearly burnt it on principle. I would have, too, if it weren't for a nagging sense of doubt that lingered at the very corners of my mind. I wanted to know what was so important that he would reach out after all this time.
When I opened the letter, I couldn't make sense of what I read. There were at least half a dozen pages crammed inside, and none were in a tongue I could recognize, let alone comprehend. His hand-writing, once elegant and sophisticated, now looked like a child's script. I took the letter to a scholar in the church, and he referred me to a scholar from the next town. I spent the next month in the hamlet of Innsmouth by the coast, and worked in the local church while the scholar did his work. The result was a delirious mess that told me only two things for certain: My father was dead, and I had to return home. Evil had taken over our estate, and it was my duty to drive it back into the abyss.
Letter Transcript:
Ruin has come to our family.
You remember our venerable house, opulent and imperial, gazing proudly from its stoic perch above the moor.
I lived all my years in that ancient rumor shadowed manor, fattened by decadence and luxury, and yet I began to tire of... conventional extravagance. Singular unsettling tales suggested the mansion itself was a gateway to some fabulous and unnameable power. With relic and ritual, I bent every effort towards the excavation and recovery of those long buried secrets, exhausting what remained of our family fortune on... swarthy workmen and... sturdy shovels. At last, in the salt soaked crags beneath the lowest foundations, we unearthed that damnable portal of antediluvian evil. Our every step unsettled the ancient earth, but we were in a realm of death and madness. In the end, I alone fled, laughing and wailing through those blackened arcades of antiquity. Until consciousness failed me.
You remember our venerable house, opulent and imperial, it is a festering abomination. I beg you, return home, claim your birthright and deliver our family from the ravenous clutching shadows of the Darkest Dungeon.
You remember our venerable house, opulent and imperial, gazing proudly from its stoic perch above the moor.
I lived all my years in that ancient rumor shadowed manor, fattened by decadence and luxury, and yet I began to tire of... conventional extravagance. Singular unsettling tales suggested the mansion itself was a gateway to some fabulous and unnameable power. With relic and ritual, I bent every effort towards the excavation and recovery of those long buried secrets, exhausting what remained of our family fortune on... swarthy workmen and... sturdy shovels. At last, in the salt soaked crags beneath the lowest foundations, we unearthed that damnable portal of antediluvian evil. Our every step unsettled the ancient earth, but we were in a realm of death and madness. In the end, I alone fled, laughing and wailing through those blackened arcades of antiquity. Until consciousness failed me.
You remember our venerable house, opulent and imperial, it is a festering abomination. I beg you, return home, claim your birthright and deliver our family from the ravenous clutching shadows of the Darkest Dungeon.
I traveled to Ipswich, and met up with an old friend: Tsukiyo Kionchi. I first met Kionchi during my crusade, where he had been contracted by my CO to help us as a mercenary. He was a good man, and although he professed no faith he was always conveniently within air-shot during sermons, and always volunteered for the most religiously charged missions. When the commanding officer caught him cheating at cards, he wanted to execute Kionchi on the spot. Instead, I convinced him to make him serve the crusade for another two years free of charge, and Kionchi agreed. Now that I need to return home, there was nobody else who I wanted the help of more than this old friend.
Thankfully, Kionchi didn't immediately laugh me out of the room. We agreed upon a reasonable deal: He would get 40% of the net profits from this expedition, if it turned out to be profitable, and in exchange he would stick around for as long as it took. With the agreement made, we set out to Danvers, the last stop before we must trek across the wilderness to reach my estate.
It was in Danvers, as we stopped for supplies, that we came across him: The caretaker. He had been the right hand man of my father, and as I set my eyes upon him I knew at once that he had lost his mind. He barely recognized me, but when I said my name he recoiled in horror, and began to feverishly warn us not to go to the Mühle estate. When we said we were going anyway, he paused briefly and then burst into laughter. Once he composed himself, he offered to be our coach driver, to "chauffeur us into hell." We accepted.
The Diary of Robert Mühle - Page Two: The Tutorial
The old Road.... When I was growing up, it was a well maintained dirt path through the wilderness. It was once lined with wild flowers, and the trees were full of red breasted sparrows singing their merry tunes. Now it is naught but a derelict, serpentine path lined with thorns and dead trees. Life herself has abandoned it, a clear warning to all of the danger we face. I can see the dilapidated manor on the edge of the horizon, perched high above the moors. We plan on settling in the ruined hamlet called Amesbury, and establishing it as a staging post to secure the manor itself. I will update as we progress.
We have reached the manor, but not as we expected to. The road became increasingly dangerous, until finally the coach herself gave way. Its tire snapped, and we veered off into the undergrowth. Kionchi and I loaded ourselves up with what we could carry, and the caretaker strapped the rest onto the horse. We decided to press ahead to scout the way, with him following just far enough back to avoid any chaos. We stumbled across a bandit hunkered under a tree, and as soon as he saw us he dove for his knifes. Kionchi put a musket ball through his abdomen, and I drew my blade. Before he had so much as unsheathed his dagger, we had dispatched him. Then it was simply a matter of stripping him of his coinage, and finding his camp. We soon found three tents tucked in a clearing off the road, and pillaged them for their stolen goods. We decided to keep a weather eye out for the other two, and sure enough, we found them further down the road. Again, we took them by surprise, and again we dispatched them with haste; although one did manage to get a stab through my plate.
After that we arrived at the hamlet with no further incident, and quickly found that it was all we had expected it to be. Most of the outer shacks had been burnt to the ground, leaving only a few squalid lodgings and the town square. The Abbey, the Sanitarium, the local Tavern, the Guild Hall, and the Blacksmith all stood, in a way, but they were all half collapsed. The parts that did stand were boarded up, and their valuables had long since been stripped away. Kionchi and I spent the day establishing a small set of tents in the main square, but when it came time to go to bed he simply took his bedroll and set it up under the largest clearing he could find. I suspect that his time in the claustrophobic old road may have gotten to him somewhat. I can only pray his discomfort is temporary.
We spent the first week working on beginning to clear rubble out of the tavern so we would have a respectable staging ground for any new arrivals, and we were soon joined by two old friends: Enyo Hanabi, and Chinda Nagisa.
Nagisa is a strange woman. She was an alchemist and a doctor by trade, and left school early to run off and fight a plague that was devouring a city a month’s journey away. The next time I saw her, she told me that she had arrived one week after the plague had broken, and then gone in search of another one. From that day on, she never did stop wearing that infernal plague mask, though she still hasn’t found her plague. She has a weather eye, and we’ll need it to scout future ambushes. Shame her vision seems to lose its capability once night falls.
Enyo Hanabi is a complicated woman, albeit one after my own heart. She too serves the divine, and she is my only companion in this dark time that understands the true depths of the Eldritch horrors that lie ahead. Unfortunately, neither of us are without our sins. I cannot resist taking that which has not been bequeathed to me, and she... well... I will simply say that her tastes are somewhat impure. We once shared a bed, and ever since I have avoided anything even vaguely bestial that involved her participation. Once we establish a tavern I suspect prostitutes will come to fill it, and I will have to warn them away from welcoming her patronage. With any luck, the fire of the lord will burn her sins away, as I pray he does mine, so that we might both focus solely on the true evil we face.
After a long discussion, I decided that heading to the manor seems like an awful idea. It's a clear path, certainly, but the ruins that surround us are far more pressing. The wealds are miles away, but even from here I can smell their fetid corruption. As for the wealds, well... there will be a time for that, but it is not now. We must confront all three and clear them of any taint. Only then can we truly face what my father unleashed.
Technical Breakdown
Robert Muhle - Crusader
Quirks:
Warrior of Light: +10% damage if torch is above 75
God Fearing: Will only pray for stress relief
Kleptomaniac: Prone to stealing items
Tsukiyo Kionchi - Highwayman
Quirks
Hard Noggin: +15% stun resist
Quick Reflexes: +2 speed
Known Cheat: Is not allowed to gamble while in town
Claustrophobia: Severe fear of enclosed Spaces (acquired after tutorial)
Chinda Nagisa - Plague Doctor
Quirks
Evasive: +5 dodge
Eldritch Slayer: +10 accuracy vs Eldritch, +3% crit vs Eldritch
Lazy Eye: -5 accuracy on ranged skills
Night Blindness: -10% damage if torch below 26
Enyo Hanabi - Vestal
Healer's Gift: +20% heal skills while camping
Quick Reflexes: +2 speed
Deviant Tastes: Is not allowed to visit the Brothel.
Slowdraw: -4 speed on first round
Quirks:
Warrior of Light: +10% damage if torch is above 75
God Fearing: Will only pray for stress relief
Kleptomaniac: Prone to stealing items
Tsukiyo Kionchi - Highwayman
Quirks
Hard Noggin: +15% stun resist
Quick Reflexes: +2 speed
Known Cheat: Is not allowed to gamble while in town
Claustrophobia: Severe fear of enclosed Spaces (acquired after tutorial)
Chinda Nagisa - Plague Doctor
Quirks
Evasive: +5 dodge
Eldritch Slayer: +10 accuracy vs Eldritch, +3% crit vs Eldritch
Lazy Eye: -5 accuracy on ranged skills
Night Blindness: -10% damage if torch below 26
Enyo Hanabi - Vestal
Healer's Gift: +20% heal skills while camping
Quick Reflexes: +2 speed
Deviant Tastes: Is not allowed to visit the Brothel.
Slowdraw: -4 speed on first round