A beautiful ending to Death House.
(Long post)
We finished Death House today and what a serious way to introduce the players to Barovia.
I was worried that my players would not pick up on Rose and Thorns desires to be buried in the crypt but prepared to let it go. They found the bones, they were possessed by the ghosts, they learned the terrible ending of being forgotten and starving to death, but never learned about what to do with the bones. Perhaps it was on me for not mentioning it and waiting for the players to ask.
They were all out of the house on the third floor balcony banged up or unconscious save one person. The warlock turns right before jumping through the swinging scythe and says “I’ll be right back”.
He dashes up the stairs through a hole in the wall, blasts a hole into the children’s room, dodging the rats and scoops up the bones, a faint tingle of excitement from Rose swells within him.
He asks her “what can I do for you?” And in response says “I wish for my brother to be buried in the crypt with mother and father.”
The warlock makes a B line for the balcony, jumping through the scythe and climbs down to meet the rest of the party. Nobody, I mean NOBODY dares renter the home.
Immediately, Rose throws a tantrum telling him she does not like it when people do not listen to her. She materializes and attacks along with Thorn.
The party cannot wrap their heads around wanting to be buried next to their parents that locked them up and starved them to death and basically in kids terms tells them they have Stockholm syndrome and there must be a place where they would feel at peace.
With a successful persuasion check after the bard cast Friends Rose calms and admits she always loved the apple tree on the hill her brother and her could see from their window. She dreamed about that tree, with its big branches and delicious looking apples. She recalls beams of sunlight hitting the tree in the afternoon and how lovely it looked.
She led the party to the tree where they found a long dead stump. They dug a grave for her and Thorn, finally laying them to rest and gaining a level up. It was amazing and I was not expecting it at all. Just wanted to share!
Photo is not mine! Courtesy of
u/akitaWLockwood on Reddit.