December 1880. The characters are tasked to assist in the case of a suspected haunting by a recently murdered landowner on Dartmoor. Investigations will drag them into a confrontation with an ancient horror, and a terrible curse.
Meanwhile, Percy is telling the others about what he and Melody witnessed last night. "...so it seems young Ursula is drawn to the graveyard, which is perhaps an understandable symptom of grief but I daresay you might find a few more restless spirits there, Miss Beauchant."
“Yes, that might be an apt term” says Howard, leading the way to the next destination. He doesn’t look at FitzWilliam as he talks. “I’m afraid his Lordship found the locals a trifle… backwards”.
Turning left out of the chapel it is a short walk to the next room. Opening the double doors, Howard announces the library. It is a largely unremarkable room, containing in terms of furniture a desk and a few comfy looking chairs, but it is more than well-stocked with volumes. Bookshelves the height of a tall man line all four walls.
“My Lady announces that you are free to peruse the contents of the library as you see fit”Howard tells the group. “We have often found the trappings of nocturnal visitations here.”
"Thank you," says Alexander, admiring the collection of books. "I can see myself spending a good deal of time here. Some of this collection must be centuries old."
"Goodness, and I slept through all of it!" Isolde exclaims to Percy. "I am looking forward to seeing the graveyard very much. The young are often much more sensitive to the supernatural and Ursula has had such a shock in her young life. You were very brave, Melody. Oh here we are at the infamous library!" And she sweeps into the room and spins round.
”Have the contents of the library been moved since last night’s event?” said Captain FitzWilliam, as he held up his hand to caution his colleagues about proceeding too far until they knew whether any items had been moved.
“As was stated by Lady Amanda previously” says Howard smoothly, “some books, not too many, had been removed from the shelves, but were returned into place by the staff. Everything else seems to be in order.”
Isolde drifts slowly around the room, "Oh tosh, Captain, can you not feel there is a vestige of an aura still here. If we hold a seance I think this is the room for it." She scans the book titles to see if there are any unusual or interesting books not normally found in such a place; she has spent many a long hour in similar libraries in the great houses around the country.
Captain FitzWilliam stood and closed his eyes, but didn’t feel any particular aura. He waited a moment then opened his eyes again and looked at Howard.
“Could you please ask the servants to leave the books in place if there are any further events? There may be a clue in the titles of the books that are moved.”
He looked around the room some more, and then said, ”Going back to his lordship’s relationship with the local people, what was it that he was doing that they disagreed with?”FitzWilliam looked Howard straight in the face, to see what the reaction to his question was.
OOC,Can I try a psychology roll?
Last edited by Philulhu on Mon Oct 22, 2018 7:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Alexander examines the shelves to see if he can tell which books have been dislodged recently based on the lack of dust or not belonging in the section where they've been reshelved.
OOC,It’s going to take a couple of days with a successful Library Use roll to search through the books to see if there is anything of interest.
Sure Phil, make a Psychology roll.
The room, unfortunately for the purposes of investigating, is very clean and is dusted regularly.
“Well”, says Howard, addressing FitzWilliam’s question, “he had evicted some older tenants who were slow to pay rent, and they were obliged to move in with relatives. That was not well-received in the village”.
"Lady Amanda hadn't mentioned that," says Alexander. "She mentioned that Lord Allingham had wanted to modernise the village, and the villagers objected. Perfectly, I'm in favour of modernisation. The telephone and electric lights are wondrous inventions, though perhaps rather expensive."
FitzWilliam,[b]Howard[/b] seems to be a little resistant to discussing recent events, but there’re no signs that he is lying about anything. He may not be comfortable discussing his employers.
"This is an established library; I have rarely seen it's like. It will take a few days to do it justice. Is there a catalogue do you know, Mr Howard?" asks Isolde. And a bit later she asks, "Have you ever been troubled by the disturbances here, Mr Howard?"
“I’m afraid that this collection is the result of gradual accumulation”Howard tells Isolde. “The books are shelved in no particular fashion. As to your other question, whatever disturbs My Lady, disturbs me also.”
Just then a bell can be heard ringing.
“My Lady requires me” says Howard. The relief is evident on his face. “Please feel free to explore further, I will try to return as soon as I can. As Lady Amanda said, you have the freedom of the house, but I would ask you to please be considerate of those who reside here.”
Captain FitzWilliam sank into a nearby seat and drummed his fingers on the arm as he thought. After a while, he said, ”I get the feeling we aren’t been told the full story. It appears that the butler may be telling the truth, but he doesn’t like to discuss his mistress’ business so the end result is like pulling teeth.”
He grimaced and looked around the room. ”Miss Melody - did you get any information from any of the servants? Were they will to talk to you?”
Last edited by Philulhu on Tue Oct 23, 2018 7:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
"None of the servants have actually witnessed anything, although they've all seen the results of the disturbances each morning" says Melody, "They're all much more afraid of Mrs Beddowes the housekeeper than any ghost.
"Some of them believe that 'the ghost' actually one of the other servants playing tricks on them all.
"The coachman McKenzie certainly believes the ghost is real though, as does Gerald Smith the gardener, he was most interested when I mentioned that Miss Beauchant would be able to speak to the ghost. I had hoped to ask who is was who discovered Lord Allingham's body, but missed the opportunity - none of them can speak freely when Mrs. Beddowes is about!"
Melody glances at Percy.
"Mr. Stringer and I were both woken during the night by Miss Ursula walking to her classroom, she was followed by her tutor. She was sleepwalking I think - like my brother used to - her eyes were wide open, but she was not awake. I thought that she might have been the cause of the disturbances, but her tutor assured Mr. Stringer that although she walked every night, Miss Ursula only every moved from her bedroom to the classroom, where she stands looking out over the graveyard.
"I was just relieved that it was her tutor and not Lady Allingham we met, I fear that the Lady would not have been amused to find me and Mr. Stringer creeping around the halls."
OOC: I'm not actually sure that Melody had met Josephine, other than during the night, so I've just called her Miss Ursula's tutor.
"We'll need to get the information directly from the villagers - if thet are willing to talk to us." Isolde stands looking out one of the long windows at the frosty lawn. "DId Joshephine say how long the sleep walking has been going on? Did it maybe start with the death of Lord Allingham? And I wonder if Josephine has ever heard any of the disturbances whilst she's been up at night following her charge."
