Episode 18
General Summary
The Unlikely Association head to the mayor's estate to begin their investigation into the Unnatural Happenings in Nistaun. The house has long been abandoned, with wooden bars nailed across the main entrance. Atlas and Godric enter through a broken window, and begin searching the place.
The manor looks as though it has been robbed multiple times in the past 5 years, as anything of worth seems to be missing. Veda spends some time in the library searching through the many books, eventually finding a strange Book of the Occult. In the music room, a harp and a piano are found - with the harp being noticeably less dusty. As Leah strums a few notes, a sound can be heard upstairs. Heading up to investigate, Atlas, Godric and Leah find the master bedroom; which is locked, and seems to be where the sounds were coming from. Inside the room, a locked chest reveals a very nice looking rapier as well as a set of leather armour and some coins. Under the bed is an expensive looking fishing rod, and long-dried blood stains.
Across the hallway, Leah finds a nursery. As she enters, the door slams behind her, and an ethereal voice demands to know why she is here. The voice belongs to Matilda, the deceased wife of the ex-mayor, and she isn't happy with the party's intrusion. Matilda suggests they look in the mayor's study for answers, and continues to cause minor mischief until the party go.
In the study, the group find a journal which documents how the mayor became convinced that his wife had cheated on him, and that his daughter, Delia, was not his own. A scrunched up note also seemed to suggest that the mayor did indeed kill his wife and child - something which the ghost of Matilda also heavily suggests, though doesn't outright say.
The party then head to Nistaun Churchyard, where they are attacked by a trio of angry ghosts. The ghosts are defeated, but not before Veda is left in a state of pure terror - ageing her 40 years. A fourth ghost appears shorty after, and thanks the adventurers for quietening the graveyard. This ghost, Arthur, claims to have been buried without his favourite boots, and promises a reward if the party can either return his boots, or bring his nephew Jason to his grave, as it was apparently his responsibility to make sure the boots were buried. Arthur does have something slightly useful to say, as he reveals that around 5 years ago, a lot of people were buried in the graveyard but their souls weren't present. A lot of ghosts were formed around this time, and he could often hear screaming in his mind that would come and go... among the strange deceased was Abraham Gatehouse, Jeanie Gatehouse's husband and owner of the Old Mill before it burnt down, as well as Kethis Cooke, the owner of the Inn on the Lake.
The party find the mausoleum of the Gatehouse family, and debate about whether they should dig up Abraham's body to speak to it, but ultimately decide not to... for now.
Back at the The Horn & Sprite the party find the place cleared out, other than a drunkard sitting alone at a table by the name of Patrick Truby. Patrick used to run the stables before all his horses ran away. The group speak to Namu Virilly for a while, and the depressed tavern keeper seems to earn their sympathies. The group decide to rest before investigating more in the morning. Everyone has a pleasant enough sleep, except for Eva who is wracked with strange visions and nightmares...
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