17th Ulriczeit 2511 (Angestag): Pursuing Purser; Disgruntled Dwarf; A Book about Cheese; Stilted Dinner Conversation

The party began to tell some of their stories. Lucius lapped up all of the details, despite their rather stilted telling. Gunnar was quiet, not particularly interested in reliving glories past. After what seemed like a long while refreshments arrived, brought in by Jurgen. They consisted of light snacks and both white and red wines. The party drank a little, nibbled to little, Lucius scribbling away all the while. By mid afternoon Lucius had amassed a lot of hastily scribbled notes. He bundled them into his arms and said he needed to work some more in the library. He invited the party to make themselves comfortable, giving them free reign to explore the house and the grounds. Jurgen brought the party to their nicely appointed room on the first floor. They got settled and then decided to look around the snow-covered grounds of the house. They made their way back through the sunroom and out into the grounds. While working their way down the western edge of the house Salundra noticed that they were being followed. Ferdinand almost gave away this fact, but there pursuer didn’t notice. Salundra decided to confront the man pursuing them, who is wearing the gold and black delivery of the household. He was startled to have been caught but quickly composed himself. He said he was Josef Specht, the Purser to Lady Karstadt-Stampf, and enquired as to what they were doing in the grounds of the house. When they announced that they had been invited, he seemed quite surprised. He was quite sceptical and asked if they had any proof. Salundra handed him the letter, with the household seal clearly visible and Lucius’ signature at the bottom. Josef rolled his eyes, commenting “Oh! It is the young master who invited you”. “Well, perhaps I shall see you at dinner later”, he said as he made to leave.

The party continued their explorations. They walked around the edge of the maze, encountering one of the groundskeepers while they were walking. He seemed a little surprised to see them but he was polite and seemed to recognise them from their exploits. He bade them farewell and proceeded to push his wheelbarrow along the cleared path. As they reach the far side of the maze they spotted a small house against one of the perimeter walls. Rather unstealthily they approached the kitchen window, instantly being spotted by the woman working in the kitchen. She opened the window and challenged them. When they said they were guests she let them on the way, seeming a little unhappy to be disturbed. From an upstairs window of the house an older woman waved frantically and happily at the party. This was rather undignified, but Salundra return to the gesture with no small measure of amusement. They proceeded up the eastern side of the house, spotting the kitchens, dining quarters for the staff, but not being able to see anything inside the round tower as it had no windows on the ground floor. It was getting cold now and they decided to proceed back inside. 

The wine and nibbles we are still out in the sunroom and they decided to eat a little more. Gunnar was fed up with all he had seen. This way of living, these people were not to his liking. He reasoned that whatever was going on was none of his business or interest and decided to return to the centre of the city. Salundra and Ferdinand watched him go, his progress through the gates not impeded by the guards in any way. Dinner was probably still a couple of hours away and they decided to rest. Ferdinand returned to the bedroom and use the time to study his grimoire. Salundra sat in the sun room and found a book to read, The Smoked Cheeses of Sprinthof, A Handy Guide to the Best Cheeses of the Reikland by Klaus Eckhardt der Fresser. Surprisingly, it’s in its fourth printing. Many people have said that if it were not for Der Fresser, the rest of the Reikland would have been denied a chance to sample its fine smoked cheeses.  Personally, Salundra is amazed that anyone’s gotten past the pompous oaf’s god-awful prose…

The time passed and eventually Dietgar, who introduced himself as the Head Butler, came to fetch them for dinner. He guided them to the main dining room in the house and in that room was a long table that could seat at least twenty people, but it was only set for five. Dietgar indicated two seats for them to take and said that the other diners would arrive soon before taking his leave. Josef came in through the same way they had just entered. He nodded to the guests as he moved towards a seat next to where Ferdinand stood. It wasn’t long before a side door opened, it being held open by open by Dietgar for Lady Hellin Karstark-Stampf. She was hard to age with a pair of spectacles on her nose, but it was clear that she wore her wealth. She was dressed in a fine gown, black in colour with gold floral detailing. Her hair was styled up and she had expensive jewellery. Dietgar pulled out the chair at the head of the table and everyone stood until the Lady was seated. Lucius came into the hall, still carrying a bundle of notes, not knowing where to place them. Jurgen helped his master and took a seat beside Saundra. Food arrived promptly, as did Brunhilde, a senior member of the kitchen staff, possibly the head cook. She was the woman who had been waving so vociferously at Salundra earlier in the day. She walked up the the soldier and took her hand in a most undignified handshake, exclaiming how pleased she was to meet her. She also waved at Ferdinand… it was most odd. Lady Hellin tried to hide her displeasure, but it was perceptible to her guests. The Lady suggested that Brunhilde leave them to their meal, and she headed out of the hall. Conversation was stilted and Lady Hellin’s displeasure was now directed at Lucius, though it wasn’t clear whether it was general displeasure or more specifically related to the surprise guests. Joseph tried to talk to Ferdinand of his magic, but the topic fell flat. Lady Hellin announced to Lucius that Niederstadt Haus, a nearby estate, had recently been occupied by Lord Erich von Holzenauer and that she expected they would be invited to a tedious ball soon! As the dinner seemed to be coming to an end, Josef stood and went to Hellin, whispering something in her ear. She stated that she had some business to attend to and excused herself. Lucius had partaken in a lot of wine and Jurgen steered him towards bed. 

This left Salundra and Ferdinand some time and they decided to explore the house. They were cautious, but managed to get a good sense of the west wing, where their room was located and the main body of the house. Between this exploration and their earlier walking of the grounds, they were forming a picture of the house’s layout. They decided to turn in and see what tomorrow would bring.

18th Ulriczeit 2511 (Festag): Bump in the Night; Nothing Cooking; Bloody Evidence; False Accusation; Thumbs Up

Salundra and Ferdinand woke with a start – it was still dark. Banging sounds were coming from the attic above them and seemed to be moving towards the eastern end of the house. They roused quickly, grabbed a lamp and starting following the sounds from below, moving from the west wing to the central building and then to the … Dietgar. The head butler was standing in front of them as they opened a door to enter the east wing. He enquired as to what they were doing up at this hour (1 – 2am) and suggested they would be in trouble if they woke the Lady of the house. The said they’d heard something from the attic, but he said it was most likely the structure settling with the weight of snow still on the roof. Salundra mustered all of the authority she could, but Dietgar was unwilling to allow them to go any further, suggesting that they return to their room until morning. The sounds had stopped and they reluctantly followed his advice.

In the morning Jurgen came knocking in order to bring them to breakfast. As they passed the main front door, while making their way towards the hall, a somewhat frantic maid came to Jurgen. Brunhilde was missing and no progress had been made on breakfast. Josef entered through the front door and Jurgen caught him up on the missing Brunhilde. They proceeded to Brunhilde’s room, but it looked like she had not slept there, the bed appearing not to have been slept in. Josef excused himself and Josef went to get Dietgar. Salundra and Ferdinand inspected the room, noting a fine dress and bonnet hanging in the wardrobe, a simple wooden box on a dressing table, and discovering a blood-stained dress identical to the one Brunhilde had been wearing hidden under the mattress. The blood stains were substantial and focussed around the neck of the dress. The blood looked to be at least a month old…

Dietgar arrived to the room, he was only semi dressed, breakfast not being  a meal he was typically on duty for. Notably he wasn’t wearing his white gloves, revealing a ’T’ symbol on his right hand. When he saw the guests notice it, he hastily covered it up and announced he needed to let Lady Hellin know. Her room was right across from Brunhilde’s and soon she emerged, giving a cursory glance into the missing cook’s room. She announced that all staff were to be gathered in the dining hall.

Lady Hellin spoke to the household staff, announcing that every inch of the house was to be inspected, and she ordered Dietgar to ensure the gardeners and stablehands did the same in the grounds. Salundra interrupted, showing the bloodied dress. Lady Hellin was quite displeased to have been disrupted, and wondered how Salundra and Ferdinand had come to have such a damning piece of evidence. The clear suspicion was enough to set Salundra off, but just before she could speak her mind, a rather bedraggled and probably hung over Lucius stepped to her and asked for calm. He guided her to the entrance hall where he voiced a suspicion against his own mother… pleading with the guests to stay and investigate. Jurgen had joined them too as the other household staff set about their task. Dietgar went out the front door towards the stables.

Salundra guardedly said she’d stay, particularly when Jurgen said there had been other disappearances asking that they help, not for Lucius or the Lady, but for the staff of the house. They decided to search the attic; Lucius seemed thrilled to be living in a real adventure. Jurgen guided them to the library in the first floor of the tower, and opened a ceiling hatch from which a collapsable stair/ladder emerged. Jurgen prepared two lamps and Salundra led them into the attic, with the others in tow. Between Salundra and Ferdinand they could follow the trail of disturbance from the night before. It brought them from the east wing towards the central house. Soon Lucius’ bravado turned to fear and he excused himself, claiming it was too dark for him to see anything. Salundra, Ferdinand and Jurgen continued across into the west wing… the trail still apparent. In the south-west corner of the attic they found a disturbing sight; a makeshift alter with red candles, an ornamental dagger and thirteen human thumbs. They knew it was something sinister, but neither Salundra nor Ferdinand recognised the what it was. Jurgen, however, did… remembering stories of Morr’s brother, the God of Murder, Khaine, from his youth. The colour drained from his face. Remembering how Dietgar had blocked their movement through the house last night they reasoned that they would bring him here to see his reaction. They made their way out of the attic, down to the front door and towards the stables. Deitgar was there waiting for reports from the grounds staff. He agreed to follow Salundra and Ferdinand and they returned to the alter… only to find the blade and thumbs now gone!

And we’ll leave it there…

Until next time,

Owen