GHOST-HAUNTED HOUSE 3.

Dust—blown by the wind—sifts down from the attic in an

occasional grey rain. Paranoid characters may think the
house is breathing.
The haunted manor house is a classic adventure 4. White sheets cover some of the house’s larger pieces of
locale. Every town and city—and many villages—has furniture, creating easy hiding places. When a breeze
such a locale: an old, ill-favoured house lurking amid sighs through the house, they utter and move throwing
the myths, rumours and legends of the locality. dust into the air.
OUTSIDE THE LAIR
GHOST’S APPEARANCE
1. A riot of weeds, thick bushes and several sickly trees
grow closely about the haunted house. 1. This faint spectral outline of swirling dust is vaguely man-
2. A scattering of rotten, smashed furniture—perhaps shaped. As it moves, it picks up wind-blown leaves,
thrown from the house—lies on the ground. scraps of paper and the like.
3. No vegetation grows within 15-foot of the house. The 2. The sound of incessant sobbing presages the arrival of
twisted trunks of several fallen trees lie stark upon the this child-sized ghost who drags its severed head along
bare ground. the ground behind it.
4. Deep shadows gather closely about the haunted house 3. Clad in clothes of old cut, this translucent man has a
on all but the sunniest days. huge bloody hole in his chest and is missing both eyes.
4. Drawn, haggard and wearing the clothes of a servant,
tears streak this spectral woman’s cheeks.
W H AT ’ S G O I N G O N ?

1. A single crow perches on the house’s roof; at the sight of

TREASURE
the characters, it ies away, cawing loudly.
2. The loud sound of something heavy being dragged 1. A gold locket, still attached to a ne chain, hangs from a
across the oor comes from an upstairs room. nail driven into the back of a door.
3. The wind moans through the house’s eves, giving the 2. A small leather-bound book, “Vilimzair Aralivar: How to
impression the building is sighing. Be More Like Him” lies forgotten on the oor.
4. At the characters’ approach, the nearest door ies open Examinations reveal many notes in the margins.
and then slams shut. 3. A crack in one wall reveals a secret compartment lled
with old gold and silver coins minted in a far-off land.
4. Caught on a torch sconce, this beautiful white and dusty
M A J O R L A I R F E AT U R E S
lace shawl utters in the gloom and—at rst glance—
seems to be alive.
1. Some of the house’s once stout oorboards are rotten
and prone to collapse. Characters standing on such a
oorboard may lacerate an ankle.
TRINKETS & TRASH
2. The supports of the main stair’s bannister are weak and
collapse if leant on. 1. A bent and tarnished silver spoon lies amid the dust. A
3. One part of the house caught re long ago; here, the faintly engraved coat of arms decorates the handle.
bricks and timbers are blackened and scorched. Such 2. With a big slash across the canvas and extensive water
areas are likely unsafe and prone to collapse. damage, this once ne, but now ruined, portrait hangs at
4. Minor poltergeist activity—small moving objects and so a crazy angle on the wall.
on—beset the characters wherever they go in the house. 3. Amid a pool of dried blood, a splintered wooden stake
and a small mallet lie on the oor.
4. A slashed and torn blood-stained pillow lies amid a
M I N O R L A I R F E AT U R E S
swath of dirty feathers.

1. Cobwebs, covered in dust and pregnant with many tiny

spiders, festoon the ceilings.
2. The oorboards creak throughout the house, making
CREDIT
sneaking about harder than usual.
This is a short system-neutral extract from Monstrous Lair
#35: Ghost-Haunted House by Robert Manson.

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