The Ninth Lantern Guesthouse
Blue light from the indoor pool flickers across the bridge while something below the water counts the arriving guests.
The Ninth Lantern Guesthouse is a dark, opulent pagoda built into a mountain plateau above jagged peaks and endless mist. Its grand entrances lead toward a glowing indoor swimming pool and a castle-like reception hall, where demonic hospitality conceals a gathering of cultists, oni, and bound fiends.
Cold mountain air leaks through the high windows, carrying the mineral smell of snow and the faint scent of sandalwood smoke. Blue pool-light ripples across black marble, red silk stirs without wind, and magical lanterns hiss while distant chanting rises through the pagoda's beams.
☠ Threat
The guesthouse is ruled by Ghorzai, an oni host who wears the identity of its founder as a living mask. He feeds the mountain gate with stolen memories and intends to open it fully, allowing a court of demons to descend into the valleys. His servants use etiquette, hospitality, and enchanted contracts to delay intruders until the ritual reaches its final stage.
History
The pagoda was raised 118 years ago according to the mountain garrison survey, when the plateau was still a waystation for imperial officers. Its founder, Vaskur of the Ninth Lantern, converted the post into a luxury guesthouse for nobles, merchants, and pilgrims. The building became a secret cult sanctuary after Vaskur invited an oni adviser from beyond the veil and began trading guests' memories for supernatural favors.
Encounter Table
CRMasked tiefling servants carrying trays of untouched food and sealed contracts.
A red-robed cult cantor whose voice is layered with the whispers of stolen guests.
A pale oni hound made from steam and wet silk, with blue lanterns burning inside its ribs.
Rumours & Whispers
The mountain guesthouse serves meals to people who died years ago, and the dead leave satisfied.
A blue swimming pool glows beneath the pagoda even when the building is shuttered for winter.
The host remembers every name spoken under his roof, including names that have never been told to him.
A locked spa on the first floor grants perfect health, but every visitor forgets one person they love.
The pagoda's black staircase was carved from a demon that still dreams beneath the marble.
Quest Hooks
Quest giver: Hedvig Sorm, a blunt provincial bailiff
A magistrate's heir vanished after booking a private winter retreat at the guesthouse. The family wants the heir recovered quietly before rumors of demonic bargains spread.
A signed mountain charter granting safe passage, plus 4,000 gold pieces
Quest giver: Oivara Kett, a shrine keeper from the lower pass
The blue indoor pool has begun glowing across the mountain at night, and shepherds report hearing voices calling their childhood names from the mist.
A blessed obsidian charm that grants resistance to psychic damage once per day
Quest giver: Brask, a scarred tiefling courier waiting at the mountain road
A rival fiend offers the party a bargain: kill Ghorzai before the gate opens, and the fiend will reveal the location of a lost vault beneath the plateau.
A map to the lost vault and one favor owed by the lesser demon court
Corridor Notes
Black cedar corridors are lined with red silk panels embroidered with guest names, most of them scratched out in silver ink.
Small bronze bells hang beneath the eaves indoors, chiming whenever demonic magic is used nearby.
Thin blue runes crawl along the floorboards like illuminated veins, all pointing toward the reception hall.
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