The Kaldres Manor

[Lichen]

Written by Lichen & Fodder

On the outskirts of the residential part of Acumin sat a two-story manor deemed the Kaldres Manor to those familiar with its businesses and associations. Stretching two stories tall, it's white washed walls were broken by eaves and windows. However, time did not leave the unattended house untouched by its ministrations, nor did war and pox or cleansing fire, all of which in recent cycles had swept through the town of Acumin, forever changing it and the forest around it. The white-washed walls were now brown in spots, and deadly nightshade was creeping up the walls as the house, uncleaned or taken care of by servants, was beginning to return to the forest. Several of the windows were broken, and shattered glass bedecked both the floors of several rooms and the grounds outside

Small trees and shrubs that would eventually grow to a formidable size shrouded the manor, as did the trees of the Dolwoods that surrounded the building. These trees and shrubs, once trimmed, were now overgrown and overwhelming, forming a heavy and near impenetrable wall around the manor, shielding it from even the sunlight. An overgrown cobblestone path led from the main road up to a veranda over-hanging the once-sturdy oak double front doors. At some point, these had been supported on either side by wood carved columns. They were now supported by one, for the other one had been knocked over and had crushed part of the door, leaving the doors permanently ajar and threatening to fall any cycle now. Two large iron knockers rusted a deep orange from neglect adorned the doors, each fashioned into some large beast’s paw, claws outstretched.

Passing through the large double doors presented an open sitting room with a few oak benches. The windows in this room had been shattered, and glass lay all about, the shards reflecting the few bits of sunlight that managed to make it into the manor. There were three doors that led to different areas of the building... the business room, the dining room, and the stairway that led to the top level of the building. The room and the manor itself was filled with a horrible scent that seemed to originate from the kitchen, permeating every single room in the manor with the disgusting smell of corpse gas and rotting flesh. Like most of the building, this room was clogged with spiderwebs that formed an intricately ugly pattern all throughout the building.

To the left was a large business type room with numerous chairs strewn about and a large desk embossed with a large claw that matched the iron door knockers, though they were not nearly as rusty. Behind the large desk was an equally large, high backed leather chair that was remarkably similar in design to a throne, merely missing the typical gold and jewels. At some point in the past few eras, a feral cat had managed to escape and made it's home here, as evident by the smell of cat spray and the ripped up leather of the once noble chair. At the far back of the room was a small door leaving access to the stable out back, where only horse skeletons and dung remained now.

On the right one could enter a spacious dining room complete with long oval table and chairs, most of which had been chewed on or knocked over. A large window spanned one wall, remarkably still intact. It had once given a pleasant view of the grounds surrounding the manor. Now, all that one could see were the bushes that pressed up against the window. Upon the table there was still some silverware, though birds and adventurers had long ago pillaged and stolen the best items, and there was a cascade of half-melted and knocked over candles as a centerpiece. Well, to say centerpiece might be a bit inaccurate, as many of the candles had been knocked out and rolled off the table to reside on the floor. To the back of the room was an open doorway that served as entrance into the kitchen, where the awful smell resided.

The kitchen was perhaps the most horrifying room of all. During the attack on Acumin, the house had been empty. However, this had not stopped undead from entering... which was part of the reason for shattered windows and the entire reason for the awful smell. During the attack, it appeared that some zombie had managed to infiltrate the kitchen and had then been too stupid to get out. When it's mistresses had descended below ground, the animation spell that had held it upright and gave it a semblance of life disappeared, and it had become simply another corpse, fallen in the middle of the Kaldres' kitchen floor. It's decaying flesh filled the house with the horrid scent of death, polluting the entire house with its filth.

Dead ahead, the open sitting room gave way to a curving stairway, the bulk of which was supported by an equally curvy caryatid, which was overtaken by spiderwebs. Thanks to the stairs design and pure luck, most of the stairs were still stable and intact. Midway up the stairs a circular window allowed passer-bys to view the area behind the manor, and allowed a few rays of sunlight to filter into the building.

And at the top of the stairs a landing gave way to hallways on the right and left with an open doorway straight ahead. Being the top floor, it was not in as bad of condition as the bottom floor, for many of the house's infiltrators appeared to have problems with stairs. The hallways flanking the landing each led to identical bedrooms, two in each hallway. The four bedrooms were each adorned with a bed, a large tub, a wardrobe, a window and more than their share of spiderwebs and mice. The open archway straight ahead from the landing opened up into a decent sized private library. The scent of old books and cushy chairs was once enough to lure even the most apathetic reader inside. Now, most of the books lay scattered around the room, and if the bird skeleton in the corner was any indication, they'd been placed that way due to infiltration by animals and then a rapid and panicked flight. The smell of old books was covered by the scent of gore originating from downstairs, and now there was nothing that could possibly coerce people to stay here... unless it was the fact that it didn't seem to be infested with mice, unlike the rest of the house.