I leave the Cross and Cowl when it is fully dark. I see the lights at the manor beckoning in the night. By now, the majority of the guests should be present and it will be my best time to gain entry. I debate whether to attempt entry as a guest or to enter using one of the many hidden doors. As I consider the options, I hear an uproar from within the house. I do not know what is going on. It does help to make my mind up for me. I decide to enter through a secret door located on the side of the manor. It takes me a few minutes to locate the activator as it has become overgrown with long years of disuse. The door grumbles open part way before stopping. I find I must push against it to allow my oversized frame to slip in. Once inside, the door is easier to close since its path is now clear. The passage I find myself in is covered in dust and dark as midnight. Even my eyes have difficulty in seeing. I feel around, hearing the scramble of tiny feet on the floor, for a torch that should be somewhere near the door. I find it buried deep in dust and cobwebs. I shake it to cleanse some of the age from it and light it with some matches I carry. As the torch flares to life, the passage reveals the scurrying forms of rats racing away as well as webs hanging about the walls and alcoves that dot the passage. Slowly, I make my way down the passage. I find doors and next to them some small spyholes cut in the wall. I use them to orient myself to the house. One door leads into the dining hall. Some of the female guests are there, eating the food laid out. I hear the murmur of voices, but can not make out very much. There is some concern expressed about the ruckus that occurred just moments before and expressions that the men will return soon with news. I continue to move down the dusty passage. Another spyhole looks into the ballroom. Here, the guests dance to a waltz played by the orchestra. The music, apparently, masked the noise that had attracted my attention earlier. My next discovery answers some of the questions that were running through my mind. I look into the kitchen and see a group of armed villagers. Facing them is a youth, his anguished voice demanding to know how they could do such a thing. I see a tragic tableau laying on the floor of the kitchen. There are three bodies, two men and one woman. The woman lays with a wooden stake driven through her chest, and one of the men has an arrow piercing his heart. I watch as he falls to his knees, tugging at the protruding head. A strange smile crosses his face as he falls forward. The third man appears to have a broken neck. I do not fully understand what happened here. I will have to investigate it further at another time. At the moment, I need to complete my exploration of the manor. I have the feeling that the tragedy I see before me is but a small part of a greater Evil that lurks about the manor. I must seek out the source of this Evil and, hopefully, put an end to it. To that end, I leave the scene at the kitchen. The path I follow takes a downward dip. I am now heading to the catacombs and dungeon that lay beneath the great house. The last time I was here, just a few days back, I had not taken the time to investigate further. Now, I would take the time.