Elena Dunwoody
THEN
A librarian at Miskatonic University, Elena has been assigned to seek out certain rare antique volumes reputed to be somewhere in Malton. An adept in the practice of augury and dream interpretation, she patiently unravels the clues as they unfold. Before her induction into the Department of Arcane Studies, Elena worked for fifteen years in Miller Library [12,92] on the western side of the Miskatonic University campus.
The largest of the three, Kelley Library [11, 93] holds the university's medical and legal book collections. Their law library is acknowledged as the finest in the city. Purvis Library [8, 97] in the south of campus holds the regular collections and student coffee shop.
Miller Library is the second in size of the three libraries at Miskatonic. James Miller was a highly successful mining entrepreneur who operated the largest number of lead mines in Great Britain. A noted philanthropist and benefactor of the arts, he donated the funds for building Miller Library when the university was founded in 1690.
There is an iron safe in the basement that holds the notorious book, the Necronomicon. It is so dangerous, the lie was perpetuated that the book is only a fictional work. This was considered to be an excellent ruse to keep thieves at bay; nobody tries to steal what nobody believes exists. Disbelief in the volume's reality, as well as the dozens of wards put on the book and the place where it is kept, has preserved the precious volume all these decades.
Miller Library is also home to the Miskatonic Arcane Studies Department and the University's jewel, the Special Collections: ancient and rare texts, manuscripts, diaries, handwritten correspondence and occult ephemera held in the climate-controlled archives.
NOW
Currently, Elena is working in the Curton Mansion in Chancelwood. All four blocks of Curton Mansion, inside and out, are quick revive points. A dream showed her that behind one of the decorative wall panels in the mansion there is a hidden entrance to a secret library under the great house. Unfortunately, almost every room in the house is filled with decorative panels to add architectural interest. But Elena works tirelessly with her trusty crowbar. That secret will be revealed in the end and Miskatonic will receive new volumes and perhaps a few forbidden texts.
There'd already been some little successes while searching for the hidden library. When starting on a new room, Elena had been pleased to see a massive Victorian desk. She knew it was the kind that had sectret compartments worked into its design. After hunting half a day, pressing at carvings, twisting knobs, feeling underneath for latches, she'd eventually located a sliding panel behind which was a hole sized to admit one finger. She'd shoved her finger in, depressing a spring latch which released a tiny door. Prizing it open with her nails, she'd discovered it held a small roll of pages, twenty in all, crinkly old sheets covered with brown fountain pen scratches (Hooray for India ink, Elena thought.) A letter? Examining the pile of foolscap she was astonished to find it was the manuscript of an unpublished short story by M.R. James entitled "Where Moonlight Holds Court".
Elena Dunwoody (talk)
Searching Curton Mansion all night
She has been lucky, though. Her relentless searching paid off when she found the legendary Eye of Vision, a palm-sized sterling silver talisman. It was said to confer the ability to project the wielder's astral body at will. Unfortunately, the object of power didn't come with instructions. But if she could master its use, Elena knows she would be able to travel Malton as she pleased, safe and free to discover what was going on all over the city. It would be good to see what was happening at Miskatonic University and other far-flung locations. Knowledge is indeed power.
Elena has also discovered evidence that Aleister Curton possessed another magical artifact, known as The Hand That Seeks. It is fabled to be an object that confers the ability to find lost and hidden things, effectively turning the user into a dowser-diviner while wielding the talisman. She has no idea what its effective range might be, if it has any limitations. She imagines a scenario where the mage might be able to use a pendulum and map in order to narrow down the general locale where a sought-after object in a far location could be found.
|