-
- The Manor is a timber hunting lodge filled with stuffed, skinned and mounted trophies of animals and monsters, hanging alongside weapons, rusty traps and paintings of prized hounds and horses. Everywhere you go within the hall, dozens of glittering eyes seem to track you from the mounted heads that cover every wall. Occasionally, the faint sounds of a baying pack of hounds seem to echo through the rooms.
- The Master is an enormous, shambling wreck of a man, clad in worn, stained clothing and with a massive, shaggy beard. He communicates mostly in grunts and scowls, seeming to stare at nothing and mutters to himself constantly. Occasionally, glimpses of his limbs and torso reveal horrible, barely-healed scars and oddly precise tattoos in what appear to be arcane designs.
- The Mistress is a terrified mistress who is desperately trying to maintain the attention and affection of the Master. She is young, beautiful and growing desperate enough to do something rash in order to escape the Manor.
- The Staff are regimented and tightly trained – all bear weapons and appear to belong to an elite military unit, but perform domestic chores and labour about the manor.
- The Heir(s) is a single daughter who is dour and severe, with an intense stare that seems to cast a chill on its target. The smallest lapse in decorum or etiquette seems to invoke her silent ire.
- The Hunt is a pit full of half-starved wild boars, used for baiting animals and men alike.
- The Demesne are semi-permanent herding camps, linked by animal trails and log roads.
- The Dungeons are a network of limestone caverns that extend far beneath the manor. The upper areas are worked and used for storage and security, but the lower reaches are unexplored.
- The Secret is that the area is infested with doppelgängers, although not everyone has been replaced yet.
- The Manor is a tall manor on a point overlooking an isolated cove. Built of the local white chalk, it has patios and stairwells that extend down the cliffs below it. Seen from the day, it is an attractive structure, but moonlight bleaches the white walls to the color of unburied bone, and causes the building to shine with unnatural brightness. The cove below constantly washes up old bones and the corpses of the drowned.
- The Master is ancient and decrepit, having to be fed and cleaned by members of his staff and family. He wanders in and out of lucidity, raving about ancient battles, betrayals and intrigues. Anyone knowledgeable about local history will quickly realize that his rantings reveal secret details of many of the past century’s major events. In the odd times that he is coherent, he displays a razor-sharp wit and seeks to draw newcomers into convoluted plots.
- The Mistress is attractive, with raven-black hair and full red lips, but her horrendous temper makes her beauty perilous. She’s given to psychotic rages, and nobody is safe from her when her anger is triggered. Too bad the Master of the house dotes on her every whim …
- The Staff are wracked with deformities – twisted limbs and misshapen faces are common – but they appear happy and competent, running things with smooth skill.
- The Heir(s) is hidden and not discussed, but whispered rumors are that the infant has been hidden since birth and is somehow terribly unnatural.
- The Hunt are a hyaena-like, humped and cackling pack with a hunched and hooded keeper.
- The Demesne are small villages built at the junctions of rivers and valleys, connected by rough trails.
- The Dungeons are built around a single shaft with a circular stairwell that drops straight into the earth. The occasional archway leads to a network of old mining tunnels and drifts, scattered with ancient, rusted equipment.
- The Secret is that the area is haunted by a variety of ghosts and spirits, making moving about after nightfall very dangerous
- The Manor is a huge, squat keep, built in an ancient style, now crumbling and enveloped by ivy. It is filled with empty rooms, rotting furniture and dusty wall hangings. If examined closely, the tapestries depict ancient crimes – murders, rapes and much worse – all the perpetrators and victims appear to be members of the same family.
- The Master is long dead. His remaining family seem reluctant to mention his name or speak of him, especially in the presence of any of the many painted portraits of him that hang about the place. Closer examination of the portraits reveals them all to be the same image – that of a robed, grey-haired man with odd whitish eyes – save that all the backgrounds are different.
- The Mistress is pampered and demanding, but oddly skilled at getting what she wants. Something about her just seems to encourage compliance; perhaps it’s the odd sibilance in her voice, or the sinuous sway of her walk.
- The Staff are oddly uniform in appearance, dress and features, moving about their duties with silent, mechanical precision.
- The Heir(s) are several adult men and women, who come and go often and constantly plot against each other and their parents.
- The Hunt is a huge pack of shaggy, feral dogs led by a shambling bear-like fellow with a rusty halberd.
- The Demesne are mostly savage wilderness – all the inhabitants cluster around the manor itself in a sprawling slum.
- The Dungeons are dug into the raw earth and are full of twisted roots, hanging vines, moss and mold. The plants often seem to be the only thing keeping the tunnels from collapsing, and in some areas, they haven’t even managed that.
- The Secret is that the Master has a secret alliance with surrounding humanoid tribes for some nefarious purpose of his own.
- The Manor is a shining pleasure-palace, with high white walls, turreted towers and carefully landscaped ponds and gardens. Its placid tranquility and languid calm are restful, but the gardens are full of unnaturally vital blood-red roses, the ponds are bottomless and bitterly cold, and the high, ornate windows seem to glare menacingly when seen out of the corner of the eye.
- The Master is an enormous, shambling wreck of a man, clad in worn, stained clothing and with a massive, shaggy beard. He communicates mostly in grunts and scowls, seeming to stare at nothing and mutters to himself constantly. Occasionally, glimpses of his limbs and torso reveal horrible, barely-healed scars and oddly precise tattoos in what appear to be arcane designs.
- The Mistress is a terrified mistress who is desperately trying to maintain the attention and affection of the Master. She is young, beautiful and growing desperate enough to do something rash in order to escape the Manor.
- The Staff have bestial features, oddly enlarged teeth and smell of wet dog. They seem loyal, though, and travel about in groups whenever possible.
- The Heir(s) are an indistinct horde of grubby, wild and violent children. It’s impossible to distinguish ages or sexes under the grime, scabs and snot, but they seem to be everywhere within the keep, and see everything that happens.
- The Hunt are lean, reddish hounds that work with a crew of silent red-coated huntsmen and seem to feed only on blood.
- The Demesne are fenland villages with stilted huts, where the inhabitants move on flat-bottomed boats over deep mires and marshes.
- The Dungeons are a seemingly endless labyrinth of rough-piled stone, dotted with small alcoves that hold unnerving pieces of statuary or small oddly-stained altars. The sounds of footsteps seem to echo throughout the halls, making it seem like people are always moving around down there.
- The Secret is that the manor is the old lair of a necromancer and a warren of the undead.
- The Manor is a fortified manor house with a solid gate, paved courtyard and solidly-built hall. The courtyard is dominated by a stone statue of a seated man leaning on a great sword. Time has eroded away most of his features, but the carven eyes remain intact, and glare down fiercely at anyone entering the yard. The statue’s base is ringed by disturbing engravings in an unknown language.
- The Master is a fit and charismatic middle-aged man with a distinctive strip of white hair. He is charming, welcoming and invites the party to stay as long as they desire. Occasionally, you might notice him staring at one of you with an expression of awful hunger, but that might be your imagination.
- The Mistress is locked in a tower and rarely spoken of. Something seems to scrabble at the inside of the barred doors and windows, though, and faint shrieking and odd chanting can be heard echoing down in the night.
- The Staff are an unshaven crew of slovenly ruffians who are oddly respectful and subservient around the family, but cruel and bullying to all others.
- The Heir(s) are a son and daughter in their teens who spend much of their time in the wilds outside the manor. They are fit, tanned, and occasionally seen sneaking inside in the middle of the night, naked and splattered in mud and less wholesome things.
- The Hunt are a hyaena-like, humped and cackling pack with a hunched and hooded keeper.
- The Demesne are a scattering of strongly-built farmsteads, all barred and defended night and day.
- The Dungeons are built around a single shaft with a circular stairwell that drops straight into the earth. The occasional archway leads to a network of old mining tunnels and drifts, scattered with ancient, rusted equipment.
- The Secret is that the manor is the old lair of a necromancer and a warren of the undead.