Resurrection City V: Hell Hath No Fury

[Andrew D. Gable]

"Oh no, far from it," Lord Townsend says. "The old fellow's quite a character. Helpful around the house here, too." He sighs. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but we're having some visitors over at Raynham, and I have to be there to meet them. Some of those dreadful Spiritualists from London, here to hunt up dear old Miss Walpole. A pleasure meeting you all."

The butler comes over and shows Townsend out.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Diggory stands. "A pleasure, Lord Townsend."

After Townsend's left, Diggory turns to Trevor. "So, what now? It's grand of you t' have me up here, Walsingham. I do appreciate it. Nice to get away from the city."

 

[JimAde]

"Well I suggest we settle in today. Tomorrow maybe we can take a long walk around. I haven't done that for a while, and I like to keep tabs on occasion. Do you ride?"

[ooc: I'm assuming Trevor has a couple of horses. I didn't spend any actual ranks in Ride, but that just means nothing fancy, right?]

 

[Old Fezziwig]

"I never have, no, but it sounds like it'd be relaxing." Diggory pauses. "Say, ye don' happen to have a library here, do ye? If ye do, an' ye don' mind, I'd be very grateful if ye'd let look around it, see if I can unearth something to read. Some Tennyson, Browning, or even Dickens."

 

[JimAde]

"Certainly," Trevor says rising. "This way." He leads Jamison through the rambling house, up a broad, curving stair and opens a pair of panelled walnut doors engraved with unicorns rampant. The doors swing inward, revealing a wide, shallow room with vaulted ceiling. Tall, narrow windows dominate the opposite wall, dazzling the men with sudden sunlight. "My grandfather was something of a scholar," Trevor continues entering the room. "He had this library built and we've been adding to the collection ever since." He gestures to one of the orderly shelves nearby. "My own additions have mostly been social theory and philosophy, here. Over there are my father's contributions, mostly military history and natural history. There's a little bit of everything, though, so I'm sure you can find something."

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

Diggory makes himself at home in the wood-panelled library, taking comfort in being among books that aren't the references of a warlock. One of the servants enters and lights the large fireplace. His attention is automatically drawn to a large, impressive-looking painting hanging over the mantlepiece. The painting is a tryptich, the left panel depicting the boy Arthur drawing Excalibur from the stone, the center depicting the final battle between Arthur's knights and Mordred's soldiers, and the right panel shows the battle of Sir Gawain with the Green Knight.

Trevor points out a large book on the table -- the Macallistair family Bible -- and finds a page. The page is a brief story of the supposed curse on the family to which Lord Townsend referred. According to it, an ancestor in the 1600s, one Rev. William Macallistair, had a small parish in Cornwall. There was a young woman in the village named Anne Wilcox, who was popularly supposed to be a witch. Wilcox was arrested and tried, and on April 24, 1662 was hanged. Before her death, she cursed those who had part in it, and most of all Rev. Macallistair. The story then goes on to list several misfortunes -- all of them minor -- which have befallen the family throughout the years, supposed to be the work of Anne Wilcox, or "Black Annie" as she is also known.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Jamison pauses for a moment after reading the page Trevor points out. "The supernatural follows us around, doesn't it, Walsingham?" Diggory grins a bit. "No rest fer the wicked, then. So...have ye had any experience with Black Annie?"

 

[JimAde]

Trevor chuckles. "Only that time I broke my arm when I was twelve," he says. "I'm sure it was the curse. It couldn't possibly have had anything to do with the fact that I was on the stable roof trying to recover a cricket ball." As he speaks, Walsingham paces a bit looking around the library. He pauses at a charcoal drawing of a striking young woman. He seems lost in thought for a moment then says, "Anyway, I'm sure you can find something to read in here. I'm going to toddle off and talk to Jukes about this dog business."

 

[Old Fezziwig]

"Certainly. Thank ye, I'm sure I'll find something to read." Jamison waits until Trevor has left and studies the Walsingham Bible a bit more, and then searches around the library for books on the local area and so on.

OOC: If there's time, Jamison'll take 20 on his Research check (total 24), if not, the roll yields a 5 (nothing found, I'm sure), and Diggory spends the time reading the first interesting book he comes across.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

Trevor finds Jukes outside in a corner of the garden. He looks morose when his dog is mentioned, but blames Black Annie. "It had to have been the old witch," he says. "I've seen her imps running about on these lands many a time."

The next morning, Trevor and Diggory set off and horseback to explore the estate. Just southeast of the Walsingham house is a smaller manor, which Trevor identifies as belonging to the Northcotes, an old Norfolk family. In the circular tour, you next come across the foundations of a third manor, whose stones are blackened and soot-stained. Diggory identifies this, much to Trevor's satisfaction, as the ruins of Oakwood Hall, the home of Edward Macallistair, son of Rev. William. Finally, the expanse of the Oakwood stretches on the horizon.

Spot checks here at the Oakwood.