Many of you know each other through the Stratford Caravan Security company. Recently, you have each been contacted by Dr. Jean deMontagne, some of you directly, some of you after a friend recommended you, to take a seaside vacation at Delarosa Manor. The locals call it Crane House. It is forty miles up the coast from Crosspoint and situated between King’s Head and Jackson Village. You should set out on Monday, November 2, and thus arrive on November 3 or 4.
This is a working vacation. Dr. deMontagne asks that you search the house for a small, brass coffer once owned by Louis Merrikitt and marked with two strange symbols. He offers you ten shillings each to compensate you for that small task, and he offers another hundred for the coffer, should you find it. He tells you that the manor is yours for the month of November as you wish, although the actual task should take no more than a day or two.
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On acceptance, they each receive a second letter providing detailed directions for reaching the house from Crosspoint. Dr. deMontagne provides them with a cart and a horse, giving it to Will Stratford. The cart should be able to hold any equipment that they wish to bring with them.
By default, the coffer is on lamina 1 in Louis’s room on page . All of the ghosts contemporary with Louis will know that it was Louis’s. Laurel knows that it is in Louis’s room.
Thank you, my friend. Your company at the house will be appreciated. The house is two days journey up the coast, following the roads as I shall now describe. I am making these directions as precise as possible since, I am sorry to say, information about the house is extremely difficult to find in the nearby villages, nor in any case is it advisable to stop and ask your way once you are near King’s Head. Do not mention that you are looking for Delarosa; the locals are loathe to discuss the manor. Bring everything you need from Crosspoint. I shall provide food daily, but if there are any delicacies you desire, by all means bring them.
Meet your comrades at the Market Gate on the northeast of the city. Take the seaward road out of the Market Gate. Follow it 25 miles; the road will veer to the left, away from the sea, to enter into the environs of King’s Head. You shall begin to see farms. Follow another six miles and you will come to the village. You may wish to stop for articles you did not remember to bring from Crosspoint, but heed my advice regarding the locals. There are two inns here, should you arrive in the afternoon. The more reputable is Markhouse. You are now nine miles from Delarosa Manor; the road north is marshy, and it is inadvisable to traverse it after dark.
When you are ready to finish your journey, go through King’s Head to the little church at the north end of the village. From here the road veers left to Richard’s Cross. There is a sign to Richard’s Cross and a sign to Jackson Village pointing the same direction, as if you had no choice but to go west, but in fact there is a choice. The sign to Jackson Village has been altered, and a little-used road continues north toward it. Examine the area around the sign, and you will see that farmers occasionally use the hidden road. Follow it north. Do not rely on advice from the locals, who will tell strangers to go to Richard’s Cross even if you are traveling north to Jackson Village. Delarosa Manor is on the northward path, halfway between King’s Head and Jackson.
The road shall meander, as you are moving through a marsh and the road must follow solid ground; do not deviate from it. Eight miles up, a path leads to the right, into some low hills that separate the marsh from the haven. Delarosa Manor is on the other side of those hills.
When you enter Delarosa Manor, congregate first in the parlor. It is immediately to your left after you enter the main doors. Once all have arrived, go upstairs to the bedrooms surrounding the balcony. The bedrooms to the southeast are most comfortable.
Jean deMontagne
