#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 0 0 0 0 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 0 0 0 0 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 0 0 0 0 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 0 0 0 0 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 0 0 0 0 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 0 0 0 0 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 0 0 0 0 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 0 0 0 0 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 . ~ 259 260 0 0 0 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 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 0 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 0 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 0 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 0 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 0 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 0 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 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 0 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 0 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 0 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 0 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 0 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 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 0 0 0 0 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 4 0 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 4 0 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 0 D1 ~ ~ 0 0 25946 S $~