#25900
Bottom of the Steps~
   A set of rickety wooden steps lead up to the tall front double doors of this
huge house.  It appears that this place must once have been a very elegant
place, possibly even the home of a socialite, but why a socialite would build a
home in the midst of a forest such as this is beyond your comprehension.  Be
careful on those steps, they are old and gray and appear to be rotted in many
places.  
~
259 0 3
D0
~
~
0 0 25901
D1
~
~
0 0 26643
D2
~
~
0 0 25907
D4
~
~
0 0 25930
E
credits info~
   Haunted Mansion by Kaan for Dibrova
This is part of a five zone package, a Haunted Mansion nestled deep in the
Dark and Sinister Forest.  There are ghosts and spectres, rats and spiders,
a cellar and an upper level, a ballroom and a study.  That sort of thing.
This is a zone geared toward experience gain - the objs are minimal, in fact
I do not believe I even included the objs file since there really wasn't
anything to offer, just a two junk eqs.  The exp for the mobs is jacked up
to compensate for the lack of eq, as well as the gold the mobs carry.
 
Links: 00e, 02n, 04w, 06s, 07
~
S
#25901
Northeast Corner of the House~
   The steps leading up to the front door lie just south of you, old wooden
things that appear to be just about to fall into decay.  Listening for any sound
from within the house reveals nothing, it appears that it may be deserted.  
~
259 0 3
D2
~
~
0 0 25900
D3
~
~
0 0 25902
S
#25902
North Side of the House~
   Empty, black windows stare at you from the wall of the house, giving a you a
cold feeling of dread.  Every indication you get tells you that the place must
be deserted, however you still have the sensation of being watched.  You cannot
see any sort of entrance from here, save the windows, and just in case someone
does live here, it would be best to leave those windows intact.  
~
259 0 3
D0
~
~
0 0 26647
D1
~
~
0 0 25901
D3
~
~
0 0 25903
S
#25903
Northwest Corner of the House~
   You can see a set of doors laying on the ground just south of you - those
must be the doors that lead into the cellar.  No other entrances are visible to
you from your current vantage point.  
~
259 0 3
D1
~
~
0 0 25902
D2
~
~
0 0 25904
S
#25904
West Side of the House - Cellar Entrance~
   A set of what were once white painted steel double doors are laying closed at
your feet, doors that you assume would lead to the cellar.  The paint now has
mostly chipped or worn away, leaving the doors a sort of dirty, brown and white
and gray combo color.  Leaves blow past you, the breeze which carries them
smelling of something familiar - almost like blood.  
~
259 0 3
D0
~
~
0 0 25903
D2
~
~
0 0 25905
D3
~
~
0 0 26657
D5
~
door~
1 0 25938
S
#25905
Southwest Corner of the House~
   To the north you can see the double doors which lead the way into the cellar.
The walls of the house are of chipped wood siding, the paint that once covered
the walls flaking and peeling,completely gone even in some places.  You cannot
see any other ways into the house from here except the cellar.  
~
259 0 3
D0
~
~
0 0 25904
D1
~
~
0 0 25906
S
#25906
South Side of the House~
   You stand here wondering what sort of person would build a home in the midst
of a wood such as this.  This home was very obviously once a very fine home, the
type which is built for politicians or persons of extreme wealth.  It has long
since fallen into decay - a crumbling, wasted ruin.  There could be no chance
that anyone might still live here - could there?  
~
259 0 3
D1
~
~
0 0 25907
D2
~
~
0 0 26649
D3
~
~
0 0 25905
S
#25907
Southeast Corner of the House~
   To the north, you can see the rickety steps which lead up to the front doors
of this home.  You have to wonder to yourself, though...  Do you really wish to
enter into this place?  There is obviously no one living here anymore - at least
it seems that way.  You hear a small skittering and a thump from within.  
Probably just a rat or a squirrel.  
~
259 0 3
D0
~
~
0 0 25900
S
#25908
Front Hallway~
   You give a start as you realize that the door is closed, even though you know
you opened it yourself.  The paneling that once must have shone with the care
and polish of good housekeeping has long since been eaten away by vermin from
the forest, small holes dot the walls from those intrusions.  Some faded
pictures hang along the walls, old pitted and worn metal sconces next to them.
Although all of these things here now seem worthless junk, at close inspection
you can tell that they were once extremely expensive pieces.  It seems strange
that the items were never taken when the old occupants left, or at least
auctioned off by relatives.  The hallway heads into the house to the west.  To
the east is the front door .
~
259 ci 0
D1
~
door~
2 0 25931
D3
~
~
0 0 25909
S
#25909
Inner Hallway~
   The hallway has opened up into a tall, arch ceilinged hall, wide enough by
far to be called a hall, rather than a hallway.  Wide crystal chandeliers line
the ceiling, most of them missing pieces in spots - the crystal cracked or
fallen along the floor, dirt and grime accumulated through the years all over
the surface of the once-fine crystal.  The place would be quite impressive were
it not for the fact that the signs of abandonment were so clear.  There is a
small coat closet to the north, the main living through an entryway to the
south.  
~
259 0 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25910
D1
~
~
0 0 25908
D2
~
~
0 0 25911
D3
~
~
0 0 25915
S
#25910
Butler's Pantry~
   This large, walk in closet was made to hold coats for large numbers of guests
during social functions.  This was a place the butler could keep most of his
serving tools and extra linens, and maybe the occasional nip of brandy when the
master had his back turned.  Now the shelves and racks which would have held the
coats has long since fallen into ruin, a crumbling mass of splintered, rotted
wood falling in on itself.  
~
259 a 0
D2
~
~
0 0 25909
S
#25911
Main Living Quarters and Social Gathering Room~
   All parties, balls, and any other sorts of social functions always ended
finding their way into this large room.  Business deals larger than most kings
make in a year were made in this room, newlyweds made their vows and new years
were brought in in this room.  The torn wallpaper, the broken chandeliers, and
the rotted furniture gives you a terrible feeling of sadness, a feeling of
immense regret.  
~
259 0 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25909
D2
~
~
0 0 25912
D3
~
~
0 0 25914
S
#25912
Main Living and Social Gathering Room~
   The room makes a large dogleg, the echoing chamber you stand in large enough
that even with that dogleg, you can see most areas of the room from anywhere you
might be standing.  The floor, made of hard cherry wood is eaten away and rotted
in many places - the footing here quite treacherous.  There seems to be nothing
of value left in this place, only a lingering feeling of overwhelming loss and
sadness.  
~
259 0 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25911
D3
~
~
0 0 25913
S
#25913
Main Living and Social Gathering Room~
   The large dining room just to the north and more of this once-opulent room to
the east, your choices are basically the same.  Too much ruin, too much lost,
you can understand why the old occupants of this home might never ever want to
leave.  But what purpose would they serve - staying here for all eternity?  
~
259 0 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25914
D1
~
~
0 0 25912
S
#25914
Dining Room~
   The gilded wooden table, long enough to seat ten men with elbow room, lays at
an angle as one of the legs has been chewed through by rats or vermin of some
sort.  The candelabra that decorated this fine table, along with the linen has
slid to the ground in a heap just next to the table.  Another of the beautiful
chandeliers that you are finding typical of this place hangs above the table,
long trails of cobwebs streaming down from its decor.  The main room is to the
east and south, the hallway to the north.  
~
259 0 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25915
D1
~
~
0 0 25911
D2
~
~
0 0 25913
S
#25915
Hallway~
   You can almost imagine the men in their fine black coats, the tails almost
long enough to drag the floor.  They would walk through this hall, admiring the
fine oil paintings and sipping their brandy or whiskey, as the bright light of
the chandeliers above lit the room as if it were high noon in the sun, no matter
what the time of day or night.  Just north of you lies a swinging door,
presumably to the kitchen, for through an open way to the south lies the dining
room.  
~
259 0 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25916
D1
~
~
0 0 25909
D2
~
~
0 0 25914
D3
~
~
0 0 25920
S
#25916
Kitchen~
   So far the only piece which you have seen here that has escaped the elements
and the wild animals of the surrounding forest is the thick wooden carving table
which sits dead center of this room.  It is filthy, covered in rat droppings and
cobwebbing so thick that you wouldn't know it was made of wood were it not for
the holes drilled deep into the far side of it where the knives were to go.  
Steel tables line most of the walls, an old broken down cooler resting in the
northwest corner.  
~
259 0 0
D2
~
~
0 0 25915
S
#25917
Stair Landing~
   The hall in the upper level seems much more dark than the lower reaches.  
Maybe it is the size of the lower halls - with so much room, there would be more
space for the light to travel, making things seem brighter.  A neutrally
flowered wallpaper lines the walls here, with the same type of sconces set into
the walls as downstairs.  Doors lead off from this hallway at inetrvals,
presumably into bedrooms.  
~
259 0 0
D2
~
~
0 0 25926
D5
~
~
0 0 25918
S
#25918
Narrow Hallway~
   The stairs seem solid enough, through the dust and grime which covers most of
the old ratty carpeting you can see where the holes in the wood are and how few
there are.  Nothing is visible from here in the upper reaches, just a short
staircase and a landing at the top where a hallway heads off into darkness.  
You have an uneasy feeling, peering into that darkness, as if you were violating
someone's private sanctuary no matter how long ago they passed away.  
~
259 a 0
D2
~
~
0 0 25919
D4
~
~
0 0 25917
S
#25919
Narrow Hallway~
   The narrow confines of this hall seem so different and claustrophobic after
being on such a wide hall as the one just south of here.  There was once a plush
carpet lining this hall, which you can see leads to a set of stairs, probably
the way to the living quarters.  The carpet is still robust in some spots, but
wet and mottled, with what sort of substance it is probably best that you do not
investigate all too much.  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25918
D2
~
~
0 0 25920
S
#25920
Hallway~
   The hallway seems to widen even more than it was, although of course this is
an optical illusion rendered by the fact that there are open exit leading south
and north from here.  The entire southern wall has opened into what was a gaming
room, where the men could take leave of their women in order to find a bit of
sport in competing with each other.  To the north is a narrow hallway leading
off in darkness.  
~
259 0 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25919
D1
~
~
0 0 25915
D2
~
~
0 0 25921
D3
~
~
0 0 25922
S
#25921
Gaming Room~
   An old billiards table still rests upright in the southwest corner of the
room, its surface torn to shreds by the forest vermin.  A dicing table has
fallen into wooden clumps after having its legs all rot our from beneath it.  A
dart board lays against the wall on the floor, askew and broken in the center
most probably by its fall from the wall where it must have hung.  
~
259 0 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25920
S
#25922
Hallway~
   The hallway makes its grand entrance into the ballroom from here, never truly
ending but more flowing into the Grand Ballroom just west of here.  The way into
the ballroom is strewn over withe spider webs so thick that you will certainly
have to cut through them with a blade so as not to get them stuck to your
clothing.  A set of wooden double doors rest closed against the north wall and
to the south is a short alcove, a closed door against its west wall.  
~
259 0 0
D0
~
door~
1 0 25923
D1
~
~
0 0 25920
D2
~
~
0 0 25924
D3
~
~
0 0 25925
S
#25923
Study~
   As you force the doors open from the hallway and step into this room, you get
a breath of fresh air blown into your face - a clean, woody scent like that of a
well kept library.  Astonished, you look around at a study which has somehow
preserved itself where the rest of the house has fallen prey to time and the
elements . A layer of thick dust covers the desk and the shelves which line the
walls, books seem a bit crisp but other than that it all seems in perfect shape!
How astonishing!  
~
259 0 0
D2
~
door~
1 0 25922
S
#25924
Alcove~
   The small in the west wall seems so unobtrusive as to ask to not be noticed,
in fact it almost seems out of place.  The area you stand in is only wide enough
for one person to stand, almost too small to turn around in.  This door
obviously leads somewhere private.  
~
259 0 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25922
S
#25925
Grand Ballroom~
   The wind screeches in through a small break in one of the many window panes
which line the walls of this immense chamber.  Tattered draperies hang at angles
from the tops of these six foot high windows, ragged and stained from countless
years of grit and grime.  The same immense chandeliers that line the ceiling in
the outer hallway also ring this chamber, with an extremely large oen directly
in the center.  The lights in this room must have been fantastic when they were
all lit during a ball or masquerade.  
~
259 0 0
D1
~
~
0 0 25922
S
#25926
Darkened Hall~
   The flowered wallpaper may once have looked comfortable and sedate, possibly
even soothing to the eye as one traveled down this hall to their room where they
might sleep or love another.  It is now tattered and stained by time, the
flowers appearing wilted and sick, as if a plague has infested this home and
found its way into the wallpaper and into those flowers in that wallpaper.  
Attempting to shine your light east and west down the hall reveals nothing
except the fact that you still cannot see farther than the ten feet your light
illuminates.  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25917
D1
~
~
0 0 25929
D3
~
~
0 0 25927
S
#25927
Darkened Hall~
   The floor creaks beneath the carpet as your feet sink in with each step.  It
is somewhat unnerving to be in such total darkness that your light only shines
as far as your outstretched arm.  It gives you an uneasy sensation that anyone
could be ahead or behind, watching and waiting for the perfect moment to assault
you, to stab you in your back.  For that matter, anyone could now be downstairs
in the main hall, listening as your steps creak down this old hall.  There is a
closed door to the north.  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
door~
1 0 25932
D1
~
~
0 0 25926
D3
~
~
0 0 25928
S
#25928
West End of the Hallway~
   The hallway ends at a set of double doors that appear to have been painted
white when they were in their glory.  They now are the same dull brownish gray
color that so much of this building has adopted over the time since it was left
deserted.  Two sconces are set into the wall on either side of the doors,
marking this a bedroom fo importance, possibly even the Master Bedroom.  There
is a door to the south, slightly cracked open but certainly not inviting by the
looks of the darkness beyond.  
~
259 a 0
D1
~
~
0 0 25927
D2
~
~
0 0 25936
D3
~
door~
1 0 25934
E
sconces~
   These old tarnished remnants remind that at one time this place was a very
fine place, not the dirty ruin you see today.  How old could this place actually
be?  
~
S
#25929
East End of the Hall~
   The short jaunt that the hall made in this direction has ended at a set of
doors.  One lies just south, one lies north, and one lies to the east.  The only
one which has its door open is the one to the south.  You hear a muffled banging
to the north - could it be that someone still lives here?!?  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
door~
1 0 25935
D1
~
door~
1 0 25937
D2
~
~
0 0 25933
D3
~
~
0 0 25926
S
#25930
Front Steps~
   Looking at the way these wooden slats bow under your weight and feeling the
way the entire structure sways beneath you as you climb to the front door, you
wonder if maybe this wasn't a bad idea.  Better hurry up that front door and get
inside before the whole thing collapses!  
~
259 0 3
D4
~
~
0 0 25931
D5
~
~
0 0 25900
S
#25931
Top of the Steps at the Front Door~
   The doors lie just ahead, very large and very imposing.  The steps still
creak and groan under your weight, swaying with every step that you take no
matter how careful you are.  
~
259 c 3
D3
~
door~
1 0 25908
D5
~
~
0 0 25930
S
#25932
Bedroom~
   This looks to be one of the guest rooms where the master of this house might
allow an acquaintance to spend the evening.  The decor does not look as if it
were cheap by any means, but certainly very neutral and without any taste in one
direction or another.  The tattered wastes of a down comforter lie all around
the bed, its mattress torn to shreds.  The dresser still seems intact for the
most part, but filthy from the dirty feet of rodents scurrying about on it.  
~
259 a 0
D2
~
door~
1 0 25927
S
#25933
Bedroom~
   Because the door has been propped open for who knows how long, this room is a
bit more run down than many of the others on this level.  There is vitually
nothing left of the bed which used to occupy the room, only some torn bits of
cloth and some timber which the bedframe was made from.  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25929
S
#25934
Master Bedroom~
   Larger by far than any of the other rooms on this upper level, this room
boasted a bed large enough for five people to comfortably sleep, a huge carved
alabaster bathing vessel and along the north wall, a beautiful marble fireplace.
The bed is, of course, in tattered ruins now, the marble fireplace stained
almost beyond recognition besides the fact that it once was a fireplace and the
bath tub is so stained with rot and grime that it is almost impossible to
believe that someone may have once gotten clean in it all.  
~
259 a 0
D1
~
door~
1 0 25928
S
#25935
Bedroom~
   You cautiously walk into the room, expecting to find some vagrant or even the
master of this house, but instead find a broken window with a shutter which
bangs incessantly against the wall outside.  With the window open, the sound is
amplified to the point of hurting your ears.  This bedroom looks much like any
of the other rooms on this level, quite a disaster with no hope of any type of
remod.  
~
259 a 0
D2
~
door~
1 0 25929
S
#25936
The Nursery~
   You can still see a bit of the baby blue wallpaper that covered this room,
the broken ribbing of a crib or playpen lies in the southwest corner.  You
suddenly feel such an immense surge of pity and regret at the fact that the
people of this home must have been either torn from or killed in this home.  
They must have enjoyed a tremendous happiness while here and to have it taken
away...  Such a pity.  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25928
S
#25937
Bedroom~
   A quick movement catches your eye in the northeast corner of the room, but
just as quickly you decide that it was most probably nothing.  This must have
been the room that the more important guests stayed their nights, as this room
boasts its own bathing vessel and a larger bed than most of the other rooms.  A
large fireplace lies in the northeast corner, an amenity that all the other
rooms on this level lack, excepting the master bedroom, of course.  
~
259 a 0
D3
~
door~
1 0 25929
S
#25938
Cellar Steps~
   You stand just inside the entrance to the cellar, your head still above
ground, your lower body inside the darkness of the cellar.  The smell that wafts
out from the area below is strong with mold, mildew, and the scent of blood.  
It must be told that many an adventurer has turned from this cellar in fear,
without humiliation or any feelings of inadequacies - this is not a pleasant
place.  
~
259 c 3
D4
~
door~
1 0 25904
D5
~
~
0 0 25939
S
#25939
Inside the Cellar~
   The damp darkness of the underground cellar envelopes you as you make that
last step into this awful place.  An overwhelming feeling of terror permeates
not you as a being in this space, but the space itself - as if the place you are
standing within were afraid, and has been for an eternity.  Shining your light
does not do anything to give you a clue as to what lies in any of the directions
you may travel in.  All you can see is the dirt wall on the west side with solid
wooden support beams running up the walls to the ceiling, holding this old home
up.  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25940
D1
~
~
0 0 25941
D2
~
~
0 0 25942
D4
~
~
0 0 25938
S
#25940
Cellar~
   A small wooden door lies closed against the north wall, cheaply made and not
all that strong looking.  The wall which it is built into is made of loose
mortar and stone, roughly hewn as most cellar walls tend to be.  The west wall
is dirt, marking it as the west end of the cellar - you may continue no farther
west in this damp place.  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
door~
1 0 25944
D1
~
~
0 0 25943
D2
~
~
0 0 25939
S
#25941
Cellar~
   You stand in open air, as open as the air can be in a cellar, darkness all
around you.  The smell of blood and putrid decay still surrounds you, in fact it
is as strong as you have noticed it to be at any place in this cellar.  An
unshakeable feeling of being watched by some malevolent presence also forces its
way into your conciousness, but your limited sight tells you nothing.  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25943
D2
~
~
0 0 25945
D3
~
~
0 0 25939
S
#25942
Near the Wine Rack~
   The way south is completely blocked by a long wooden wine rack, still
partially stocked with old, dirty bottles.  You can see that the cellar
continues south past the rack, but the only thing you can see past the rack is
darkness - quite complete darkness.  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25939
D1
~
~
0 0 25945
S
#25943
Canning Shelves~
   The north wall has been covered over by shelving with rows of canning jars -
some filled, some not - from floor to ceiling.  The wood the shelves were built
from seems to have stood the tests of time, bowing a bit in the center from the
weight of the jars, but not rotting away like so much else in this house.  You
can attempt to chow on some of the goods in those jars, but it isn't recommended
by the general staff here at Dibrova...  
~
259 a 0
D2
~
~
0 0 25941
D3
~
~
0 0 25940
S
#25944
Dry Storage~
   This appears to be a root cellar, a small room with a dirt floor where
foodstuffs such as potatoes and beets were kept.  There are, of course, no such
kinds of food left here, only a few dried out huskes that could once have been
potato skins but are so hard and crusty that they would be inedible.  
~
259 a 0
D2
~
door~
1 0 25940
S
#25945
Cellar~
   You nearly trip over a pile of old trunks which were piled here for use when
the master of the house went traveling.  There appears to be an open area just
south of here - further travel eastward is cut off by the dirt wall of the
cellar.  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25941
D2
~
~
0 0 25946
D3
~
~
0 0 25942
S
#25946
Cellar~
   There is a small area just west of here behind the wine rack that appears to
have been used as a workshop of sorts by either the master of the house or -more
likely- the servants of the place.  The feeling of death, the smell of blood, is
strong as ever - its still not too late to turn back.  
~
259 a 0
D0
~
~
0 0 25945
D3
~
~
0 0 25947
S
#25947
Cellar Workshop~
   A thick oak table was used for puttering around and because it was made with
such sturdy materials, it still remains on all four legs against the south wall
of the room.  A few small tools were left on the table, most of which are
useless now.  
~
259 a 0
D1
~
~
0 0 25946
S
$~