Role: The castle’s front entrance, given a mind and a mouth
Status: Active, guarding the front gate
Overview
First met in Session 1 as a sneering, gaunt figure treated with open contempt by guests and staff alike, the Doorman turned out in Session 2 to be something far stranger: not a person standing at the front door, but the front door itself, semi-sentient and very much alive. Its knocker is a grotesque, spinning face; ornamental wood trim around the frame doubles as rows of teeth; two windows to either side snap open like eyes; and the entry rug unrolls and curls like a tongue.
Session 2
When the party came looking for a way out through the front gate, the Doorman gloated that it always ends the same way — guests “crying and whinging” in front of it, begging to leave — before naming its price: none may leave until the Count has had his fill, but it would be willing to look the other way in exchange for a fair maiden’s blood, brought to it alive. It named no one specific, but pointed the party toward the master’s chambers in the castle’s upper reaches as the place the Count “keeps his snacks,” refusing to share with his lesser agents. Strangely, it seemed entirely unable to perceive Clover, the infant (later toddler, later teenager) traveling with the party, even though everyone else in the room could see her clearly. It also confirmed the front door lets out into the courtyard and across the drawbridge — a second route to the ruined chapel, if the party can ever satisfy its price.