The Family Plot
You walk along an overgrown path southwest, around low hills dotted with buckthorn, boxwood, and wild bramble in flower. After a quarter of an hour you arrive at the gates of Courlander cemetery.
Headstones and monuments line the sides of hills, overlooking a small river running southeast.
This is the Lisport family cemetery. All Courlanders mentioned in the text are buried here, except for Melody (whose body was never found) and Aaron (who died with the Astronomers). Elizabeth Mardel is buried here, as is Alan, though theirs are makeshift graves. John Alegar and his descendants are also buried here, including all of Meril’s immediate ancestors.
John Alegar was responsible for the tombstones for all those who died in 1898 , as well as young Elroy who died at age five. John chose the quotations for all except Lady Melissa and Lord Courlander, who had already chosen their quotations.
Clumped together on one hill are the tombstones of those who died in 1898 as well as Elroy’s immediate parents. There is a small rounded pillar marking his parent’s tombs, but no such markers for any later tomb. Up to Elroy Courlander I, each man who served as Earl has the Lisport seal on their marker. The seal does not include the melody; this was added in the late 1800s.
1. Here lies Elroy Courlander 1811-1882
2. Here sleeps Emily Courlander 1815-1885
3. Here sleeps Lady Melissa Courlander “Walk the golden streets” 1856-1898
4. Here lies Elroy Courlander, Colonel, Lord of Lisport “Men of courage, be strong” 1849-1898
5. Here sleeps Elizabeth Mardel “Wisdom is better than weapons of war” 1845-1898
6. Here sleeps Melissa Alegar “The desert cries in sorrow” 1878-1898
7. Here sleeps Meryl Courlander “Join in a song with sweet accord” 1882-1898
8. Here lies Alan Mardel “The end of the upright is peace” 1876-1898
If this is the first time that they have seen the name “Mardel”, remember that any sorcerors might have heard of this family, and that there is a tradition of sorcery in the family.
And just a few steps away are the post-war tombstones. The tradition of including quotations ended with John Alegar’s death, and the tombstones became much simpler (and less expensive). The Lisport seal is not on the tombstones of post-war Earls; if asked, Meril will say that they stopped because there are no earls in Lisport manor. Meril won’t mention that it also helps that it’s less expensive.
1. Here lies Elroy Alegar “Precious in the eyes of the Lord” 1917-1923
2. John Alegar 1868-1925
3. Meril Alegar 1895-1927
4. Mary Elena Alegar 1890-1972
5. Eldred Alegar 1940-1982
6. Miriam Alegar 1941 - 1988
7. Meril Alegar II 1915-1990
Servants from the manor, including the Gallades, are buried in the church graveyard south of town.
The Servant’s House
Arn Gallade lives simply. His one-room cottage contains a bed, a small wood stove for both cooking and heating, and a small table with a single chair by it. Another chair sits in the corner by the bed.
Lisport Manor Grounds: The Garden
Ivy and weeds drape bone-white columns that flank the path leading away from the house towards a small pool. Rising from the pool an imposing statue of a man, left hand on sword, faces away, gazing west, his right hand most likely shading his eyes. His suit is rich but functional, hard leather and trousers, with high boots striding forward.
Waterbugs flit across the pool. Crickets chirp in the grass, and every time the sun pokes out from the clouds you hear the lazy buzzing of flies. Dark clouds are gathering in the north, and a chill wind blows downriver. A handful of walnut trees dot the garden, and oak trees rise up beyond the hedge.
The garden behind the house is mostly overgrown. The hedges, trees, and vines run rampant. But Arn does keep it up as well as he can. He cleans the pool there regularly, cleans the benches, removes walnuts in the autumn before they can take root, and keeps the flowers trim and proper. One of the few times he goes into the house is to bring flower bulbs into the cellar for winter.
The wide path down the center of the garden area is flanked by Roman columns. The center of the pool has a statue of one of the early Courlanders. It was built back when this was the front of the manor.
Each of the garden areas has a statue of an angel, holding water buckets, playing harps, singing from a book, doing the things that angels do in gardens.
The semicircle around the garden is a tall hollow hedge. It can be entered at the top and at the top ends, as well as at the end of the two upper paths. If it were better kept, it would make a nice, romantic tunnel for walking, but it’s a bit overgrown today.
Thin branches from an arch into a bright green tunnel of leaves and twigs. Sunlight shines in myriad tiny shafts through the cramped and overgrown interior.
Except for the areas just in front of the windows, the garden is a grassy lawn. Beneath the windows, however, flowers grow, still tended by the Lisport family’s servant, Arn.
While here, characters might see ghostly faces in the twin’s room, if the ghosts are appearing now.
Wandering Monsters
For the most part, encounters on the grounds will be the same as anywhere else in Lisport. Once Erisu is aware of them, it may call some demons (or undead, if corpses are available) to attack.
