Mansions of Madness: A 4th Level Adventure for 5th Edition

The Blackstone family once ruled a rather large swath of land from their ancestral estate just outside the village of Darkmoor. Elias Blackstone, the family patriarch, was never content with the the wealth and privilege his station conferred to him. He coveted what he did not have and, in a desperate bid to get it, made a dark pact with a fiend of the lower planes. Elias would allow the fiend to corrupt his children, twisting them into dark versions of themselves in order to spread its evil across the land. In exchange, Elias would be given a great treasure to help him grow his burgeoning empire. 

So, over the course of several months, the changes began. Azria, the eldest, found herself working non-stop in her greenhouse, breeding twisted creations born of death and decay. Deekus, the middle child, found himself driven to delve deeper and deeper into the family library, researching dark magics and forbidden texts. Lastly, Elmira, the youngest child, resisted the corrupting influence of the fiend for as long as she could before succumbing to its malevolent influence. When Elias saw what had become of his family, whatever spark of humanity that was left in him wept. Soon the tears turned into a flood, and Elias cursed himself for making such a terrible bargain. Determined to right the wrong somehow, he set out to find a way to break the curse upon his children. 

He began with Azria. He tried appealing to her good nature, but all that remained was spite and anger. Then he tried to save Deekus, his only son, but found the boy unwilling to listen to his words. Finally, he looked to save Elmira, his youngest, and the purest of them all. There he saw goodness in her still, but the fiend was not willing to part with its prize so easily. Azria and Deekus came for their father and sister, blades in hand. Fleeing through the house with his youngest in his arms, Elias found the doors barred and the windows shut tight, as if held by some mystical force. He made his way to the cellar where he sealed Elmira away behind a false wall so he could go and face his other children. He would save them somehow, if not their lives then at least their souls. He fell to his knees and pleaded with whatever gods would hear him. He begged them to save the souls of his children from their terrible fate and offered up his own life as payment. As he drew the blade across his own neck, the last thing he saw was his two children howling in pain as their physical forms were twisted and their souls pulled from their bodies. 

Unfortunately, no one would ever know the true fate of the Blackstone clan. The gods had intervened, yes, but they only provided the opportunity for salvation, not salvation itself. The two children were split into body and spirit. Their physical forms were still warped and would require cleansing in order to lay their spirits to rest. Poor Elmira, with no one to come for her, eventually died there in the dark, alone. Now the spirits of the three children wander the halls of the mansion, waiting for someone to save them from their terrible fate. If only someone could destroy the vile bodies that stalk the halls, then they could find peace.