The Spice Merchants Of Sel-kai: Part Eleven
General Summary
After a surprisingly quiet evening, the party resume their exploration of the Orgillion Manor and led by Cherry, they carefully make their way upstairs from the imposing ground floor entrance hall. At the top of the wide sweeping marble staircase, they find a large circular library and study. A small iron spiral staircase leads up to the top floor but the party decide to clear the second floor first; there is a faint smell of sulfur from the top of the stairs.
There are numerous books and diaries that detail the running of the manor and its estate. There is also a small but priceless collection of old heavy arcane tomes and Sylke takes two that catch her eye: "The Shards of Klarkash-Ton" and "De Vermis Mysteris". There is also a notebook that belonged to Tobias Orgillion, the last of the family. Clearly interested in his ancestors and their history, Tobias had begun to assemble a family tree and his scribbled notebook contains anecdotes, dull records of marriages and deaths and the following interesting note: "scandalous marriage of Leopold and Desidara Damssen – came to live at manor with her insane siblings, "Larkrise" and "Sunset" – both later placed in asylum". You assume that the asylum mentioned was the Hadeshill and given the date … this is just a few years before the fire and the closing of the place. Relevant?
The room adjacent to the library is a long hall with numerous display cabinets and tables, the majority smashed. There is more evidence of the fight that took place between the manor's human occupants and the ghouls encountered. The noise of splintering wood draws the companions to a music room to the west and a short fight with four ghouls. Sharna covers the party and defeats two of the ghouls when Cran is concussed but wisely steps back to allow the murderous warrior room to swing his terrible axe; the two remaining creatures are cleaved from shoulder to hip in seconds. Ugnan swiftly deals with the wounds that Cran took and the party continue to explore the west wing of the second floor.
This part of the house seems deserted but more evidence reveals the fate of the slavers who took over the house and in one of the rooms, one of the slaves who managed to flee at one point. In one of the master bedrooms, the party discover the remains of a child who had bled to death after taking a vicious slash to the neck. Bearing tell-tale manacle marks around the wrist and ankles, it is obvious that the slave tried to hid in the bedroom having locked the door but then bleed to death; the bed that he had climbed onto is deeply stained. In the last small bedroom in the western wing, the group find a small artist's cubby which has a collection of dried inks, expensive pens and charcoals. The person who used the room was probably female judging by the empty perfume bottles on a dresser and a talented artist. There are sketches of horses, local flora, local scenes (coast, moor and fen) and a single study of two people, twins it appears and the phrase "L and S" recorded underneath the sketch.
With little more to discover, the group head into the eastern wing. They find a small study that reeks of sulfur and a collection of bones dating back years. The bones have been neatly sorted and stacked in groups with three comfortable arm chairs arranged to "view" this macabre display. Oddly, there are no skulls present. Leaving this room, they enter a long hallway a ghostly spirit coalesces from the shards of glass scattered over the floor and rushes towards them, taloned hands outstretched ….
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