The Life and Times of a Dead Man - Episode 2

 When we last left off, everybody had gathered at the estate to guard a dinner party from the possible predations of the Sharn Slicer. 

Sabrina casts shadow splinter on everyone (except Dol). Zita is waiting upstairs with Ceseli.

The guests start arriving. 

First arrival is Nina and her nephew Ned Gusenhold. Lady Arlana and Nina greet each other and start chatting and making small talk. Ned does not appear particularly well quaffed nor particularly intelligent (vest isn’t button quite right).

Sabrina casts shadow splinter on them as well. 

Zita continues chatting with Ceseli (and oddly not hitting on her). Ceseli reveals she’s been hearing strange noises at night. Zita speculates that it’s a spirit.

Meanwhile, Ambrose Mugland, the suitor, arrives. He seems boorish but has brought guards who are standing watch outside the house. On his belt, he has a gun (creating of House Cannith) in a holster. He is clean and well dressed. 

“Arlana, If you want to prepare for the future, I have one word…. alchemy. ”

A wonderful vegetarian meal is served. At one point, Mugland grabs Dols leg - but doesn’t persist.

Hendra makes rounds looking for anything unusual.  She does notice a note on the floor which is a love letter from Ceseli’s deceased husband, McCale. From the dates, Hendra realizes that Ceseli had been married less than a year before he was murdered.

Hendra walks around the outside of the house, but doesn’t really notice anything unusual.

Zita continues talking to Ceseli but not seducing her for some reason.

Shortly after Hendra returns, the dogs start barking and howling uncontrollably. Baron is looking at the lift. 

Hendra decides this is a point to go upstairs and look around. With Zita’s help, they pick the lock and enter Lady ir’Dromdol’s room. They find potions. When they show them to Audrey, she confirms they are strength potions.

Audrey and Hendra double check the basement and find a side of beef that has been hacked at with a meat cleaver. 

((at this point - the GM points out that we overlooked a door on the 2nd floor))

Audrey and Hendra head up and enter the unchecked door. Hendra picks the lock and they go up and discover an attic. There is dust everywhere but small footprints of someone having visited recently. 

They discover a steamer trunk. Inside it is half full of finely made children’s clothes. They also find a table and under the tablecloth is a mechanical creature with cymbals. They come back down and lock the attic after them.

About this time, the dinner party breaks up. Lady ir’Dromdol and Barnsworth bid them good night, and not giving them sleeping arrangements. The party meets to discuss what they found. Sabrina observes they’ve not been paid to do this.

Tweety-bear sniffs around for undead, “There are no undead here. But something is a-foul. Death has visited this house. I’m uncertain where, be on guard.” Sabrina says, “Whatever you want to do, but we’ve not been paid for this.”

Audrey hears a moan coming from the lift shaft. She looks and notices that it goes down lower than the lift itself indicates it can go. Sabrina is concerned that they aren’t being paid for this.

The group discovers that there is a room accessible ONLY by the lift shaft. Tweety-bear confirms that is where the smell of corruption is coming from. It looks climbable and Hendra has a silk rope. Everyone except Sabrina, who insists that they aren’t being paid for this, checks downstairs.

In the room, there is the scent of wet animals and spiced herbs. There is a table with chairs and a tea service. 

In the hidden basement, they find faces sealed in the walls (probably stone shape). They are dying. There are a number of others that have had stone shaped OVER the faces. One is moaning and is clearly in pain. Meanwhile, upstairs, Sabrina, feet up on the table, drinking cognac, says to herself, “We aren’t being paid to do that.”

As they are looking. There are 2 growling animal voices:

“Mother? Is you?”

“Mother is you?” 

“You here?” 

“You aren’t mommy”

From the dark comes a two-headed dog.

New pieces of information/clues:

1. Lapdog is named sachi

2. Grandfather is hunting for sport

1. Doctor’s orders! Hunting is also a better climate for his health

3. Ceseli indicates that as she has come back to living here

1. “Atmosphere has changed - it’s not the same”

2. More oppressive

3. Sometimes she hears moaning and cries at night

4. Grandmother tries to dismiss it as either the house below or just building settling

4. Lady ir’Dromdol has 2 strength potions and several empty potion bottles in her room

5. Guest room with broken windows - no evidence of broken glass inside.

6. Meal was vegetarian

1. When Hendra was looking around she didn’t see any meat in the kitchen nor pantry

2. Found a hacked at (not cut for kitchen) side of salted beef in the basement

7. We don’t think there is a correlation with the phases of the moons

8. The attic has been disused but 

1. There is a steamer trunk with boy’s clothes

2. There is a mechanical creature with cymbals

9. Tweety-bear notes that there "death has visited this house"

1. In the hidden basement there is a LOT of "foul" smell

10. There is a weird 2-headed dog creature in a hidden basement that refers to “mommy”