Duskmourn: House of Horror | It's a Beautiful Day

Niv-Mizzet has been doing something strange in a courtyard in the Ninth District. Niv-Mizzet doing something strange is nothing new; it's him taking over a public area and convincing the Azorius to seal it on his behalf that's a little out of the ordinary. Whatever he's doing is likely to have some fascinating scientific applications. Time to go and bother a dragon!

You make your way to an alley near his mysterious project. There are Boros guards on duty, protecting the perimeter. What to do now?

• If you try to distract the guards, proceed to door seven.
• If you want to bluff your way inside, proceed to door eight.
• If you want to go and get a cup of coffee, proceed to door nine.

You've heard rumors that the Izzet guild is up to something unnatural in the Ninth District, and it's time to go and investigate for yourself. As you approach, you see Boros notices, warning of necromantic energy in the area, but you don't detect anything. Drawing closer, you see Boros guards on duty, protecting the perimeter. This is getting strange.

Nothing seems to be exploding or on fire, although there are an unusual number of researchers in the area. What to do now?

• To bluff your way past the guards, go to door eleven.
• To confront the guards, go to door twelve.
• To leave and get a cup of coffee, go to door nine.

Supposedly there's been a massive surge in necromantic energy in the Ninth District, and you've been meaning to go and see what's going on. As you approach, you detect no necromancy, but you see Boros notices that warn of it and Azorius ward lines webbed around the area. They're not strong enough to keep people out, but they'll discourage most citizens. As you get closer, you see that there are also guards standing watch.

You've confirmed that there isn't any necromantic energy here for your guild to be blamed for, but what could be important enough to make them lie about it?

• To sneak past the guards, go to door thirteen.
• To ask the guards what's going on, go to door fourteen.
• To leave and get a cup of coffee, go to door nine.

The Izzet League has commandeered a section of the Ninth District, and you have been asked to gather more information. You head for the area where they are supposedly working. Notices hang around the district with the Boros seal on them, warning of a surge in necromantic energy, but you don't pick up on anything—they're clearly lying about whatever it is they're doing here.

Guards are standing watch at the ward lines, preventing you from getting any closer. What are you going to do?

• They lied first. To lie to the guards, go to door fifteen.
• To demand admission as a free citizen of Ravnica, go to door sixteen.
• To leave and get a cup of coffee, go to door nine.

You have been explicitly forbidden to go to the Ninth District, which is currently under Izzet League jurisdiction, but no one can get mad if you just happen to wander in that direction, right? There are some nice cafés in that area. Maybe you were just looking for breakfast!

There are guards posted outside the area Niv-Mizzet has closed to the public. Some of them are familiar to you. Do you …

• Create a distraction? Go to door seventeen.
• Greet the guards as old friends? Go to door eighteen.
• Walk away and get a cup of coffee? Go to door nine.

Thinking quickly, you purchase a cage of pigeons from a passing vendor and rig a rudimentary trebuchet, using it to launch the birds at the guards. The cage bursts on impact, and there are suddenly panicking pigeons everywhere, feathers flying. It's easy to sneak past amidst the chaos.

The courtyard is packed with researchers; you blend in easily and are able to follow the conversations enough to determine that the focus of Niv-Mizzet's attention is on an anomaly in the back quadrant of the restricted area. You move through the crowd to find the anomaly.

It's a door. Just a door.

The design is wrong for the district, and no one's getting too close, but it's still just a door. What's so scary about a door?

• To wait for an opportunity to approach the door, go to door ten.
• To turn around and get that cup of coffee after all, proceed to door nine.

This is a scientific endeavor! Surely you're allowed inside! You approach the guards, show them your guild affiliation, and request admission, saying that it's on important guild business. They're dubious, to say the least. Their instructions don't include letting you in. You insist, and they push back. Your credentials do not impress them.

You try to return to the distraction plan, but they're watching you now, and you're intercepted. You are taken off to spend the day in Boros custody. Sadly, you have reached …

An ending. At least you lived? To try again, return to the beginning.

Anything that worries the Firemind and the Izzet League enough to set up these sorts of security measures is something you probably shouldn't be messing with. You turn around and head for your favorite coffee shop, where you place your order. The sweet rolls are fresh from the oven, and you're able to get a table outside on the sidewalk where you can watch the people as they go about their day. It really is a beautiful, beautiful day. Maybe later, you can go back to your workshop and tinker with your latest project.

Congratulations! You have reached …

A pleasant, if ordinary, ending. To try again, return to the beginning.

After about an hour of waiting, the researchers rotate, and there is no one in view of the door. They have no guards posted this deep in the courtyard. This is your chance. You approach stealthily. Nothing happens. It's just a door. What do you do now?

• To try the knob, go to door nineteen.
• If your curiosity is satisfied, maybe it's time for coffee? Go to door nine.

There isn't much natural energy around here to provide cover. Looking around, you find a flower shop and are able to gather an armful of half-dead flowers from their trash bin. A ripple of magic calls the flowers back to full health, and you approach the guards.

"Delivery for the Guildpact."

They are not sure about letting you through, but they also don't want to offend Niv-Mizzet. In the end, you're allowed to pass.

The courtyard is packed with researchers; none of what they're saying makes any sense. You follow the movement of the crowd to find the focus of their activity.

It's a door. Just a door.

The design is wrong for the district, and no one's getting too close, but it's still just a door. What's so scary about a door?

• To wait for an opportunity to approach the door, go to door ten.
• To turn around and get that cup of coffee after all, proceed to door nine.

You have every right to see what the Izzet League is up to, especially if they're claiming necromantic activity in a major district. You approach the guards, present your guild credentials, and demand admission. They are unimpressed and tell you to go away before they're forced to detain you for disturbing the peace.

You try to back up and bluff your way inside, but they know you now. You are taken away to spend the day in Boros custody. Sadly, you have reached …

An ending. At least you lived? To try again, return to the beginning.

If there's one thing you know how to do, it's sneak. You study the area until you find a narrow strip of shadow large enough to conceal you, and you follow it past the line of obviously bored guards, into the courtyard beyond.

The area is packed with researchers; none of what they're saying makes any sense. You follow the movement of the crowd to find the focus of their activity.

It's a door. Just a door.

The design is wrong for the district, and no one's getting too close, but it's still just a door. What's so scary about a door?

• To wait for an opportunity to approach the door, go to door ten.
• To turn around and get that cup of coffee after all, proceed to door nine.

You decide to go against every instinct your guild has worked to install in you and approach directly. The guards watch as you walk toward them and respond tersely when you ask them what's going on. After several attempts, you have learned nothing about the reason for the wards and are becoming frustrated.

You try to retreat and sneak inside anyway, but the guards are on edge, and you are caught. You are taken off to spend the day in Boros custody. Sadly, you have reached …

An ending. At least you lived? To try again, return to the beginning.

Sometimes dishonesty is the only remaining option. You approach the guards, claiming that you were summoned to resolve a discrepancy in the paperwork. They aren't sure, but you're convincing enough that you're able to bluster your way past them and into the courtyard beyond. Once you're inside, they seem to view you as someone else's problem; you're left unsupervised.

Izzet researchers are everywhere, discussing disturbances and irregular fluctuations with grave sincerity. You follow the movement of the crowd to find the focus of their activity.

It's a door. Just a door.

The design is wrong for the district, and no one's getting too close, but it's still just a door. What's so scary about a door?

• To wait for an opportunity to approach the door, go to door ten.
• To turn around and get that cup of coffee after all, proceed to door nine.

You storm up to the door and demand admission as a free citizen of Ravnica, citing the absence of detectable necromantic energy in the area as proof that they're hiding something. Since the invasion, that sort of thing is frowned upon, and you're almost surprised when it doesn't work. Only almost, though.

You try to change approach and claim that you need to review the permits for this public disturbance, but the guards aren't buying it. You are taken off to spend the day in Boros custody. Sadly, you have reached …

An ending. At least you lived? To try again, return to the beginning.

Oh, you need to be loud and attention-grabbing? This is your element! You whip up a crowd in no time at all, whether by staging a street performance or by recruiting a bored passerby for an arm-wrestling competition, and before long, you have a good distraction brewing. Shouting "fire" in a crowded alleyway may not be polite, but it works, and the yelling provides you with ample cover to slip past the distracted guards.

On the other side of the ward lines, the courtyard is crawling with researchers, and none of them make any sense. Still, you follow the patterns of their movement to find yourself facing an incongruous door. Surely this can't be the reason for all the fuss?

• To wait for an opportunity to approach the door, go to door ten.
• To turn around and get that cup of coffee after all, proceed to door nine.

You approach the guards openly, greeting them as old friends, and ask what's going on. They're under orders not to discuss their assignment, and no amount of cajoling convinces them that they should risk talking to you. It's a dead end.

You try to wander away and gather a crowd, but you've attracted their attention. You are taken off to spend the day in Boros custody. Sadly, you have reached …

An ending. At least you lived? To try again, return to the beginning.

You try the doorknob. It turns easily. All this fuss, and the door isn't even locked!

Maybe that's a bad sign?

• To open the door, proceed to door twenty.
• To back off and go for coffee, return to door nine.

On the other side of the impossible door is an impossible hallway. You know this district well enough to know that this hall would be cutting right through solid stone, but it looks like the entry to an ordinary, if large, residential home. You think about that coffee again, but the door is compelling, and you find you can't turn away.

As you step into the hall, the door slams shut behind you. When you look back, it isn't there anymore; the hall extends in the direction where the door should have been, innocuous and unthreatening.

There are five exits remaining from where you are. Which way do you go?

• If you are a member of Izzet or Simic, turn around and go down the hall that replaced the door, to door twenty-one.
• If you are a member of Selesnya or Gruul, go through the doorway to your left, and head for door twenty-two.
• If you are a member of Golgari or Dimir, take the trapdoor down, to door twenty-three.
• If you are a member of Orzhov or Azorius, go through the doorway to your right, to door twenty-four.
• If you are a member of Rakdos or Boros, walk straight ahead, to door twenty-five.

At first, the hallway is completely normal. But gradually, it changes around you, the wooden walls giving way to glass, through which you can see what seems to be the interior of a vast aquarium. Terrible fish and unspeakable, formless things swim there, captive leviathans with dead white eyes and flaking scales. The air grows cold, and smells of mildew and salt.

The hall ends at a short wall with two doors. One is marked with a graven fish, the other with a book. Which way do you go?

• If you choose the fish door, go to door twenty-six.
• If you choose the book door, go to door twenty-seven.

You pass through the door and into another hallway. As you walk, however, the smell of new growth, loam, and bonfire smoke addresses your nose. You continue forward, and the walls drop away around you, replaced by endless forest. The floor is replaced by earth littered with twigs that crunch under your feet, and high above, you can see a hanging moon, slightly distorted, as if viewed through a pane of thick glass.

The trail branches to the left, deeper into the trees, and to the right, toward the sound of a chuckling brook. Which way do you go?

• If you go left, go to door twenty-eight.
• If you go right, go to door twenty-nine.

Down you go, descending a rickety ladder into a normal-looking basement that somehow extends off into the gloom in every direction. You begin to walk, and, bit by bit, the shadows transform around you, becoming choked with cobwebs and seeming to move of their own accord. The floor turns soft, the boards dense with rot, and through them, you can catch a glimpse of moving insects, spiders and centipedes scurrying off on their own business.

The floor ends abruptly at a vast chasm. A rope bridge extends across it. What do you do?

• If you go back, go to door thirty.
• To cross the bridge, go to door thirty-one.

The hallway opens out around you as you walk, becoming a vast, echoing foyer with walls of grimy white marble. The ceiling is a high dome, choked with cobwebs, and the floor is polished stone that reflects you as you walk—but wrong, as if you were two steps to the left of where you are. Your shadow is likewise unaligned with the rest of you, distorted and stretching too far behind you for the light. This place is wrong.

On the far wall, two doors beckon. One is marked with a lantern engraving, the other with a moth. Which way do you go?

• If you choose the lantern door, go to door thirty-two.
• If you choose the moth door, go to door thirty-three.

The air grows hot around you as you walk, and the floor begins to echo underfoot, as if it has been replaced with steel. You glance down, confirming that you are now walking on a latticed metal catwalk above a room filled with vast machines. When you look up again, the walls are gone. In their place, pipes snake off into the distance, occasionally spitting gouts of steam. This doesn't seem like a very safe place to be.

Up ahead, the catwalk branches in two directions. Which way do you go?

• If you choose left, go to door thirty-four.
• If you choose right, go to door thirty-five.

The surface of the water is choked with weeds and lily pads; the back of an enormous fish briefly appears between two patches of green, then sinks again, out of sight but not out of mind.

The only other door is on the far side of the room. What do you do?

• To go back the way you came and take the book door, go to door twenty-seven.
• To cross the room, go to door thirty-six.

You open the door blazoned with the book and find yourself in a massive library, shelves stretching toward the unseen ceiling. Maybe here you can find out what's really going on with this place! You take down a few books and settle into an armchair, beginning to read.

The air is still and cool, and the silence is all … until it isn't. After a while, you have the distinct feeling of being watched, but when you look up, there's no one there. You go back to your book.

Time passes, and eventually, you try to rise. You can't. Looking down, you see that the chair has swallowed your legs, and is spreading up your midsection, devouring you by painless inches. You scream, but no one comes. No one ever comes.

The books fall to the ground as the chair takes your arms and hands, and in time, your head is swallowed. You are still awake and aware; you can still see.

Finally, you understand why they wanted people to stay away from the door. If only you had some way of warning the next innocent who comes along. If only you could move.

You are now a permanent fixture of Duskmourn. This is …

An ending.

You move deeper into the trees and hear bells ringing sweetly in the wind. Following them leads you to a clearing, where strange, beautiful figures made of wicker woven with flowers dance. A twig cracks under your foot, and the figures stop, turning toward you. For a moment, it seems you may be in danger … and then they beckon you forward to join them.

The wickerfolk do not tire. You dance with them for hours, reveling in the green world around you. One tucks a flower behind your ear, the perfume sweet and heady. Your dance continues until your feet grow tired, and you turn to go, refreshed and satisfied.

You reach up to remove the flower from your hair, and a thorn pricks your finger. You frown as your flesh fails to bleed.

By the time you feel the wicker wrapping around your bones, it's far too late. The dance will continue ever on.

You belong to Duskmourn now. The wickerfolk will keep you safe. This is …

An ending.

You head toward the sound of water and are rewarded when you emerge from the trees to find a small stream running off into the distance. The water is clear, the stones beneath it round and smooth from erosion; a fish flashes by, silver in the moonlight.

There is a strange creature crouching on the bank, fur striped in many colors, a bunch of balloons tied to one horn. It wears a human-like mask. What do you do?

• If you run back the way you came, go to door twenty-eight.
• To approach the creature, go to door thirty-seven.

You walk carefully back the way you came, returning to the basement. The shadows are squirming now, alive with some unseen, unknown force. The air is oppressive. You approach the ladder back up to the hall and are almost there when one of the shadows unfolds into a long, spindly-limbed horror, its face featureless apart from the mouth that splits it almost entirely in two. It has a lot of teeth.

You run, but running isn't enough. Running could never have been enough.

No one hears your screams.

The cellarspawn kill quickly, if not gently. Your fear, more than your flesh, will feed Duskmourn. This is …

An ending.

You start across the bridge. The room behind you quickly drops out of sight, and nothing new appears ahead of you. Still, you keep going. Fear is beginning to grow in your chest. Is there no way out of here? Is there no possible escape?

The sound of the rope snapping behind you is almost a relief. The bridge falls, and you fall with it, down, down, down, into a bog filled with rotting plant matter and decaying bodies. The stench is unspeakable. You manage to keep your head above the surface as you wade to the shore, which is hard-packed earth, welcoming and cool. You collapse there to rest for a while.

Something moves behind you in the gloom. What do you do?

• If you stay where you are, go to door thirty-eight.
• If you go to investigate, go to door thirty-nine.

The lantern door leads to a pleasant valley, the sky like a painted canvas overhead, a perfect, flawless twilight. There are no clouds. There are no stars. There's no way you're still inside the house, not with the size of this valley—but the air is still, and the sky really does look painted, like something artificial that will never change. A small house is perched on a rolling green hillside nearby, smoke drifting from the chimney.

You start toward the house almost without intending to, and the occupants come out to greet you. They are smiling. Their eyes are filled with screams. They garland you in ropes of flowers and lead you to their table; their cider is sour, but their honey cakes are sweeter than anything you've ever tasted. The smell of the meat turns your stomach. You do not eat it.

They lock the door when dinner is over. They bring out their holy book, and they read to you, and you understand. At last, you understand.

Welcome home.

You belong to the Cult of Valgavoth now. This is your home. This is …

An ending.

The door with the moth leads to an attic choked with cocoons. They twitch and thrash in their bed of cottony webbing, moving toward the moment when their terrible occupants will emerge. You are not safe here. You are not safe anywhere in this house, but this room feels … hungry. You are less safe here than you have been anywhere else.

• If you go back and try the lantern door, go to door thirty-two.
• To go forward, across the attic, go to door forty.

You feel the footsteps vibrating through the catwalk even before the hulking figure emerges from the steam. They are easily seven feet tall, built broad and solid, like a walking wall. They wear a heavy leather apron, and a studded leather hood decorated with fishhooks and twists of wire. They carry a pickhead axe in one hand. In the other, they have a cleaver.

They haven't seen you yet. Do you …

• Run back the way you came? Go to door thirty-five and take the other path.
• Freeze, and stay where you are? Go to door forty-one.

The air gets hotter and hotter as you walk, until sweat is dripping from every inch of you, and it feels like an effort just to keep breathing. When the bone-armed figures come out of the steam and gather you close, you're too sick with the heat to fight them off. They drag you back to their master, a tall, sinuous figure dressed in white leather and silver spikes. Before long, you have forgotten how to scream.

But they will happily try to remind you.

The razorkin enjoy playing with their prey, but they will spare you if you join them. Either way, this is …

An ending.

As you are crossing the room, a vast tentacle whips out of the water and wraps around your waist, jerking you off your feet and into the brackish water. There isn't time to scream. It would be a waste of air, anyway.

Not that you took a breath before you were submerged. If there's any mercy in this house, it's that you're dead long before you see what's waiting at the bottom.

Your bones will be swept away with the tide. This is …

An ending.

Cautiously, you approach the strange creature. It turns slowly toward you, and while you can't see its face behind the mask, you have the sensation of being watched. It doesn't seem aggressive. You move closer, and it comes to meet you. Shyly, the creature offers you a balloon.

Some time later, you are living with your new friend in a burned-out pantry, one the nightmares which roam the house seem to mostly avoid. When monsters get too close, your creature, your beastie, chases them away. You're not sure which of you is the pet and which the keeper, but either way, you're still alive, and surely the Izzet League will send a rescue mission soon.

Surely. They have to.

There are worse ways to lose yourself to Duskmourn. This is …

An ending.

You do not move. The rustling behind you gradually fades, until all is silence.

The sludgy water begins to pull back from the shore, like a tsunami in slow motion. You look up, and it is towering over you in a fetid wave, seemingly frozen. You do not move. It crashes down and swallows you in an instant. At least it was quick.

Your bones will never be found. This is …

An ending.

Curiosity is a dangerous thing. You rise and walk toward the rustling. The air around you grows gradually lighter and lighter, filling with an intangible light. There is no sign of whatever made the sound. Still, you continue walking.

Continue walking all the way to door forty.

The chamber you step into is large and airy, the ceiling choked with drifts of white webbing. There are shapes snared there. Don't look too closely. In the distance, there is a sound like wings.

It is too late to run. It is too late to go back. It is far too late to go for coffee.

All is light and silence.

You have seen the face of Valgavoth. This is …

An ending.

You freeze, hoping that perhaps the things which hunt the house aren't attracted to movement. The vibrations cease as the figure stops walking, then turns and slowly trundles off into the steam. You exhale. Safe, if only for a moment.

You are preparing to continue on when hands reach up from underneath the catwalk and jerk you over the edge, into the steam-choked air. As you fall, you have time to consider your choices, and to regret. Oh, so much regret.

Then the ground approaches, an endless field of burning coals, and regrets are at an end.

At least it was quick, if not painless. This is …

An ending.