Taxidermy

A small, portly man (Orsunn) whistles merrily while dashing between crowded workbenches piled with knives, marbles, and wet blobs of skinned mammalia. A gagging, eye-watering stench overwhelms the room. Bones bob in fizzing barrels of bleach. Equine hides dry on racks near a simple wooden closet and a puffing kettle on a stove.

• Orsunn: The Horselord’s taxidermist. Stats in sidebar, hp 5.
• Personality: An artist obsessed with his work; perhaps the only person in the castle whom the Horselord respects as an equal.
• Reaction: Takes profound interest in the PCs and immediately tries to match their eye color to marbles in his extensive collection. Tolerating this prodding encourages Orsunn to lead the PCs to the closet to tour his “special work.” PCs without judgment or criticism are regarded as close friends and offered tea and jovial conversation.

Orsunn

Short, sporting a blood-spattered apron and a crude bowl haircut.

AC 6 [13] HD 1 (5hp) Att Knife (1d6) THAC0 19 [0] MV 120′ (40′) SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (1) ML 8 AL Chaotic XP 10

• Possessions: Key to closet door, pouch of polished marbles of rare stone (350gp).
• Knowledge: If friendly, Orsunn freely shares the following information:
• The Horselord locked up his rebellious younger son, Finnian (Area 20).
• There’s a secret passageway somewhere in the Great Hall (Area 13).
• The Horselord is working on his masterpiece in his sanctum (Area 26).
• Horses running free in the bailey yard (Area 5) makes the staff go crazy. Closet: Locked (Orsunn has the key). Inside is a ghastly taxidermied tableau:
• Horse head: Mounted on the rear wall.
• 4 human corpses: Dressed in farmers’ garb (2 male, 2 female), perfectly preserved and standing in frozen poses.
• Polished wooden chest: Contains 20 eyeball-sized white marbles carefully crafted as human and equine eyes (100gp each).