Book the Second, Chapter the Second: An Unexpected Arrival

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

The party will recall that there was no churchyard near the family chapel, this being strictly a small building used for family services once a week upon Sunday, when a deacon journeys from Lowhaven, a small community located about one mile south of Highdark Hall, and ministers to the Altumbers.

Spoiler:

[dice]0[/dice]

As fortune would have it, today is the Sabbath, and the party will be able to speak to the deacon either before or after services, as they wish. No doubt he is approaching even now.

[jp1885]

Once all the bones and associated relics have been collected, Lepus will help haul William back up out of the pit.

If all goes well, he will suggest they leave the caves forthwith, find a clergyman and arrange a suitable burial for the pilgrims' mortal remains.

[Mr. Handy]

"I agree," says Henry. "He would know where to find suitable consecrated grounds."

[SunlessNick]

William will leave the others to that task, and return to the Hall to bathe and get out of his filthy clothing.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

The party carrying the burden happens to run into a young gentleman in the clothing of a cleric, riding slowly on horseback in the direction of the chapel. The pale, thin, bespectacled fellow, once introductions are made, proves to be the Reverend Mister Frye, deacon to the Altumber family, on his way to service. Curious, and not a little startled, by the appearance of these new acquaintances and what they carry, he makes inquiry if he might be of service.

Meanwhile, within Highdark Hall, whilst William avails himself of hot water and a change of clothing, he overhears quiet but sharp words exchanged between Lord and Lady Highdark. The exact nature of their heated exchange, made during their preparations to attend chapel, cannot be ascertained; however, the manservant who assists William in his ablutions proves to be something of a gossip, and lets slip the information that Lord Highdark suspects Her Ladyship of harboring a lover, and intends on tracking down the guilty party and exacting rough justice from him. Her Ladyship, in exchange, makes use of a familiar idiom regarding a goose and a gander; a reply which amuses the manservant but not his master.

[jp1885]

Oblivious of his dishevelled and rather noisome state, Lepus thinks nothing of addressing the cleric, rather than stepping back to allow someone more suitable to do the honours.

"Reverend, you have heard the legend of the poor murdered pilgrims, yesno? Well their remains are found and we would ask you to inter them in consecrated ground. See, we have their bones."

He opens a sack for Rev. Frye's inspection.

"Note ye the holy medallions mixed therein - proof that they be pious men deserving of a Christian burial."

[SunlessNick]

"One hopes his Lordship meets with the success he is due," says William to the manservant. Once he is back in clean attire, he will seek out Miss Ravenscroft, reasoning that she would not be welcome at chapel with Lady Highdark - she was present when the idea of venturing into the caves was raised, and may wish to know how it turned out. Since she is of similar disposition to Lord Dunwich, he also makes mention of the green glow and the marks of the creature, in cae she is interested.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, they were clearly martyrs," says Henry. "It will be good to lay them to proper rest after all this time."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

The Reverend Mister Frye is taken aback by this strange encounter, nearly falling off his steed, an elderly, mild-tempered mare. He alights upon the ground, brushes off his clothes, although they are in no great need of it, and wipes his spectacles upon the sleeve of his shirt, replacing them and blinking rapidly at the party one by one.

"Dear me, dear me. How extraordinary. Martyrs, you say. Be that as it may, even the lowliest sinner is worthy of decent burial, if I may be so bold as to offer an opinion. This is not a matter to leave until the morrow. I see you have among you one who rivals Samson," he says, indicating Ivan, "so digging a common grave should present no particular problem. If you gentlemen would be so kind as to accompany me to the Altumber family cemetery, there you shall find a place where deceased servants have been laid to rest. Surely His Lordship and Her Ladyship can have no objection, given the evident great age of the remains, and the impossibility of exact identification. We should have just enough time for a brief prayer for their souls before I am required at chapel.

"As far as the medallions, even an eye as untrained as mine can tell that they are of very unusual design, and might interest an antiquarian learned in such matters. However, if you decide to inter them with their deceased owners, that is certainly your decision to make."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Discrete inquiry of certain servants who are more versed in the secrets of Highdark Hall than one might suspect reveals the information that Miss Ravenscroft is currently engaged in experiments in natural philosophy, Lord Highdark having indulged her eccentricities by providing her with a small but adequately supplied laboratory, instead of the usual gifts of jewels and fine clothes. By this time, Miss Ravenscroft has grown to place a certain amount of trust in the adventurers who accompany the French magician to whom she wrote, and has yielded the information required to access the laboratory. In brief, one first obtains admission to Miss Ravenscroft's bedchamber on the second floor, enters a hidden stairway via a nearly invisible entryway, climbs two flights of narrow stairs in total darkness, and emerges, via another secret door, into the room. Herein are found alchemical equipment, prisms, a fine microscope, and so forth.

During her conversation with William, Miss Ravenscroft elicits great interest in what was found.

"I suspect, though I cannot be certain, that the green glowing light came from a substance which might be of great use to me in my researches. If I am correct, it produces a hitherto unsuspected form of motive power; a sort of 'cold fire,' if you will.

"As to the marks left by what appears to be a creature of great size, I can only speculate. Some time ago I was engaged in a series of experiments involving the growth of brutes. I achieved only modest success; rats the size of fleas, and mice as large as cats. It occurs to me now that some of the elixirs which I developed at that time went missing. Whether this has anything to do with your as yet unseen badger of prodigious size, I cannot say. Such an animal would be a great danger to man and beast."

[Mr. Handy]

"I think it only right that the medallions be buried with their owners," says Henry.

[SunlessNick]

"Both matters seem worthy enough of attention, Miss Ravenscroft," says WIlliam. "How large could do you think one of your elixirs could make a fox? We saw a nest of kits in the same cave, but the creature had not molested them."

[jp1885]

Curiosity gets the better of Lepus.

"Aye, we should bury them with their owners forthwith... though if old Lepus may cast his eyes over them first..."

If the others are willing, he will examine the medallions and make a note of any interesting runes and inscriptions. However, as he is also keen to see the pilgrims put to rest, he will not take too long over this.

[Rooter]

Vincent also examines the medallions, should some aspect of them suggest something to his Esoteric Knowledge.

[Mr. Handy]

Henry also examines the medallions and sketches the symbols upon them.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"Both matters seem worthy enough of attention, Miss Ravenscroft," says WIlliam. "How large could do you think one of your elixirs could make a fox? We saw a nest of kits in the same cave, but the creature had not molested them."

"The Elixir of Diminution, if applied in the proper amount, might reduce such to the size of mice. The Elixir of Augmentation, similarly made use of, would perhaps increase a beast of this kind to the size of a bear."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Curiosity gets the better of Lepus.

"Aye, we should bury them with their owners forthwith... though if old Lepus may cast his eyes over them first..."

If the others are willing, he will examine the medallions and make a note of any interesting runes and inscriptions. However, as he is also keen to see the pilgrims put to rest, he will not take too long over this.

Spoiler:

INT = 15 + 1 Esoteric Knowledge = 16[dice]0[/dice]

Lepus is able to detect, upon one of the medallions, a blessing, inscribed in crude Latin, which is said to protect the wearer from all poisons.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Vincent also examines the medallions, should some aspect of them suggest something to his Esoteric Knowledge.

Spoiler:

INT = 9 + 1 = 10[dice]0[/dice]

Similarly, the Frenchman discovers a medallion inscribed, in a mixture of French and English, with a blessing which allows the wearer to see clearly in any situation where there is the least bit of light, such as a large room lit by a single candle, or a moonless, cloudy night, in which a single star shines. He realizes also that such a blessing cannot have any effect in absolute darkness, such as deep underground.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Henry also examines the medallions and sketches the symbols upon them.

It is quite obvious to the learned man of science that the medallions are inscribed in a hodgepodge of languages, as if they were carried by a party of persons as confused in their tongues as the inhabitants of Babel. They also seem to be blessings of some sort.

Spoiler:

This will be based on WIS = 11, more a matter of intuition than knowledge[dice]0[/dice]

Although the preternatural is a field of study outside his usual area of knowledge, his experiences with the uncanny have given him a feeling for such, to the degree that he can infer that all the medallions, save those already discovered by the pair of magicians, as inspiring as their messages might be, are without true supernatural power.

[SunlessNick]

"The Elixir of Diminution, if applied in the proper amount, might reduce such to the size of mice. The Elixir of Augmentation, similarly made use of, would perhaps increase a beast of this kind to the size of a bear."

"That is certainly large enough to have produced the traces we discovered," says William. "It sounds like a remarkable discovery. There are many times we might have been grateful for such a thing on the battlefield."