Test Drive My D&D Mystery

[Mars Ultor]

I'm writing a mystery adventure for D&D 3.5 (the rules won't matter that much), and I want to make sure that it can be solved. I've tried to give several ways for the players to figure things out, but I'm concerned that since I know the story it's clear to me but won't be clear to others. I'd appreciate if you would "play along" and try to solve the mystery. Please ask questions or offer suggestions.

I'm going to post things in segments instead of all at once. If you think that another way would be beneficial, please recommend it.

The party is 3rd level and has six characters; a human fighter, a dwarf cleric, a human paladin, a halfling rogue, a halfling druid (female), and a elf druid/ranger (female). Two of the players are a little inexperienced, but this adventure doesn't depend on the rules, it's mostly some skill checks and thinking. It's a low arcane magic world in general, but none of the players has any access to arcane magic, anyway.

The setting is basically British post-Roman/early medieval, there are numerous city-states, small kingdoms, petty warlords, and vast areas of wilderness.

The Setup

The party has been traveling with an earl. They know him somewhat but they have a friend NPC (not appearing in the adventure) in common who trusts both the group and the earl and has recommended them to each other.

As they are nearing Hendford Manor, the earl's estate, the weather turns bad; heavy rains, high winds, thunder and lightning. The roads become muddy and difficult to travel. The earl invites them to stay in his manor for the length of the storm.

Upon arriving at Hendford, the horses are stabled by inconsequential NPCs and the party and earl enter the house. The entry hall is filled with mud, and there are puddles and wet spots from the water running off the travelers. They are brought upstairs to clean up and change into dry clothing.

The house has a main section and two wings, the general shape is _\.__./ This is not to scale, but it's the basic layout. The two small dots at the bottom of the diagonal lines are towers. They are incorporated into the building, they aren't a separate area inside, but each tower holds one additional bedroom, and the roof is accessible through a door in the ceiling. A ladder, stored along a wall, is available in both of the tower bedrooms. There is also a small projection off the back of one side which is for the servants and storage.

The inside layout of the house is not completely necessary, but there are some ways the house is involved in solving the mystery. The wing on the left contains a sitting area, like a second living room, which is open to the hall. The rest of the wing is the earl's office and study. This room is filled with hunting trophies, unusual weapons, and inserting tapestries. There is a large desk and two smaller desks in the room, a table, a liquor cabinet. Some shelves with various objects, and a fireplace with sufficient wood. There are windows on the outside walls and at the end of the wing, and a terrace on the side of the wing, facing the central courtyard.

The other wing has a closed sitting area and closet where it attaches to the main house, and the end of the wing contains the earl and lady's bedroom. They also have a balcony, opposite the other one, which faces the inside of the courtyard.

The party is co-ed and the four males members are given one tower bedroom, the two females are given the other. After changing the party comes down for dinner and meets:

• Earl Oswin, bearded, slightly overweight, jolly, an advisor to the king
• Lady Godelina, the earl's wife, younger than the earl, pretty, severe
• Osgood, the earl's son, he appears fat, drunk, and stupid
• Oslina, the earl's daughter, pretty, doe-eyed, the model of a medieval lady
• Aunt Evelyn, an elderly relative, over-styled, appears vain
• Miles, the steward, late thirties, stern looking, looks at everyone with suspicion
• Leon, the jester, thin, pale, very nervous, seems a little off
• Doris, the maid, any Monty Python while playing woman
• Winston, the butler, older than dirt, talks in a whisper and trails off, moves at a glacial pace

Everyone except the servants, Doris and Winston, are sitting at the table in an large dining hall. Fires burn in multiple fireplaces. Some obvious things you notice are that the earl is happy to be home and is drinking freely. His wife, Lady Godelina, does not look happy. Osgood, his late-teen-aged overweight son, is drinking heavily. The earl is talking about his trip and describing how he met you, and your recent heroics.

You may make Spot checks or the equivalent, ask questions, or talk to any of the listed NPCs.

[JNAProductions]

I stab the butler! He did it! :P

I'm not seeing any mystery. It seems like the Earl might not be the best father/husband, or maybe the wife ain't the best, or maybe the son has issues, but I see no mystery here.

[jayem]

I presume the challenge is to be revealed in act 1 (it might be worth making sure they know that something will happen?).

With that in mind, (with no clear focus, and with minimal metagaming)

I'm going to look round my (male) room briefly before lunch (particularly for obvious entry points, and anything unusual, perhaps scoping out a semi-clear route to the other tower in case of emergencies) and then at dinner ask the Earl about the history of the house:
who built it?
which are the oldest parts?

(OOC I'd be thinking about other 'stereotype' chat conversations. Perhaps one of the characters could flirt with the daughter, or try and deal with the Butler, basically they all do something natural with their time)

[Mars Ultor]

Nothing unusual about the house, except that it was built years ago by the Aventinians. The earl has lived here for years and had it renovated several years ago, he says it's very ordinary. It does have the balconies, which is a nice feature, and lot's of fireplaces. There's a wine celler/root cellar downstairs but it's actually pretty small.

The son seems like kind of a dunce, not particularly interesting or interested in anything. He smells from wine.

The daughter makes a big deal about how accomplished the adventurers are, but she's just being polite. She's supposed to be charming and a good host and that's what she does. Nothing malevolent, but after a while you realize she's a good hostess, but there's no actual interest in you.

The wife seems unhappy, she explains that it disturbs her when her husband is away. She's also polite, but it's obvious that it's forced. She seems a little angry at the earl, but you don't see them interact much and he appears oblivious. Eventually someone will notice that she wears long gloves; before dinner, during dinner, and in a family portrait; she's got on different pairs of long gloves. She also doesn't show much skin at all; she's got a high collar, and no cleavage. The daughter and aunt are a little more fashionable; the daughter shows off a little skin, the aunt is older and more demure.

The butler, Winston, has been there forever. He's ancient and it seems almost too much effort for him to speak. He seems like he's about to keel over and shuffles along from place to place.

The aunt, Evelyn, is ditzy and talks too loudly and laughs too much. You get the sense no one is a particular fan of hers. After a while she become tiresome and you wish you could escape the conversation.

The jester, Leon, is a nervous guy. He's tells you some dumb jokes, but seems as if he's trying to hide that he's upset about something. "Why do dragons sleep during the day? Because they fight knights." He seems simple and maybe a little emotionally disturbed.


Miles, the steward is a serious guy. He's very interested in all of you and asks a lot of questions of you. He wants to know about your families and where you're from. Once he determines that no one in the party is related to anyone in the nobility or knows that much about politics, he loses interest.

Doris, the maid, is a big gossip and will talk about anything you want to talk about. She seems willing to thing the worst of anyone at a moment's notice. She has a little bit of a strange smell, the druids thinks it's plants or herbs, but can't quite place it.

The earl, whom you've met before, is a jolly guy. He's a little more clever than he appears, and always tries to find the bright side of a situation. He appears a little disappointed in his son, is affectionate toward his wife and daughter, either doesn't realize or doesn't care that the wife is unhappy with him.

[Mars Ultor]

After Dinner

Dinner is mostly uneventful. Aunt Evelyn makes a big deal about how she's only going to have a little bit to eat, "a lady must watch her figure." It's apparent that she doesn't actually keep that much of an eye on her figure.

The earl shows you his library, (it's on the main floor) it's an enormous room filled with comfortable couches and chairs, several tables and scribe desks and a few bookcases filled with books, scrolls, and sheafs of loose paper. He says his grandfather was very much into books, he spent a fortune finding books and making copies. His father was very big on genealogy and his life's work was trying to put together a family tree of all the nobles. He believed if people could see they had common ancestors and living relatives there would be more of an effort to find peace and unite the smaller fiefdoms.

His father died recently and Godelina, the earl's wife, was kind enough to gather all his book and papers. They're somewhat organized, and available in two large, thick books, a few scrolls, and several bundles of paper. The earl is particularly proud of one set of scrolls, which is nothing but family trees all drawn out on large sheets of vellum. He notes his wife did a good job putting everything together. His father just had piles of papers everywhere. The lady carefully read everything over and grouped it together. He intends to have a sage come and see what can be done with everything.

Miles, the steward stays with you all for a while and then excuses himself, he says he has work managing the house and its affairs. The son goes off shortly afterward. The Lady Godelina comes in and insists that the earl must go to bed, she's concerned about his health. He often comes home sick after being on the road and he must get his rest. She says the maid, Doris, will show you to your rooms. You are left alone in the library for about twenty minutes, and then Doris comes to take you upstairs.

Doris' peculiar odor is very noticeable as she leads you upstairs to the second floor. Upon reaching the upstairs, Doris points out her room, indicating a door down the hall, just where the servants' extension juts off the main house. She says to feel free to knock if you need anything during the night.

As you pass the doors to the earl's room you can hear him snoring loudly. When you pass another door, Doris explains that Winston was the butler for the earl's father and was given his own room in the main part of the house. One of the party hears a "clunk" from inside the butler's room as you pass.

If you knock, or open the door, you see Winston has knocked over a small step stool in front of an armoire. He says that he was reaching for a book on the top shelf and he lost his balance.

[Mars Ultor]

The Murder


The storm continues to rage outside as you go to your rooms. When morning comes everyone hears a loud scream. The party rushes down the stairways into the main corridor, and others open their doors and step out into the hall. Everyone seems to be around except for Miles, the steward.

Doris says that Miles is dead, he's been stabbed. She went to his room and found it empty, his bed hadn't been slept in. She knew he sometimes fell asleep in the earl's study, working on paperwork. When she went to find him, she entered the study only to discover him slumped over the desk, dead.
Everyone, except Doris, is in their bedclothes, and they all start heading toward the study. I'll assume the party grabbed weapons and maybe shields as they left their rooms.

Arriving in the study, the party can see that furniture has been knocked over, the pitcher and bowl from the washstand are on the floor, and papers are scattered around. Miles, still in his clothes from last night, is sitting in his chair, slumped over the desk, with a stab wound in his back. An investigation of the body reveals that although there is a knife wound in his back, he has also been poisoned. There is some dried ink on his fingers and the heel of his hand. A quill with some ink in on the desk in front of him. Several large sheets of paper are on the desk, as well as a penknife and other quills, a bottle of ink, a blotter, a burned out candle, and the earl's seal. There is a small journal on the desk, it looks as if several pages--in different places--have been carefully torn out.

A search of the room reveals that there is ample wood stocked near the fireplaces, but the fires have burned out. A wine goblet in on the floor; the goblet and the rug where the goblet fell have residue of red wine and something else, perhaps poison. There are several weapons and trophies on the wall, but a single-edged dagger is missing.

After finding the body, a more thorough search of the room reveals that the shades have been pushed back, and a window is partially open. The window sill is somewhat wet and a grappling hook and rope can be seen dangling outside.

The balcony drapes are drawn, and the door is closed, but unlocked. The floor and carpet near the balcony are wet. Under the desk is an unsealed scroll tube. Inside is a letter addressed to a noble named Burton, finalizing the marriage arrangements between the earl's daughter, Oslina, and Burton's son, Linton. The letter suggests that Burton is a noble whose holdings are about four or five days travel away in another kingdom.

A Knowledge: Local, Nobility & Royalty, and/or Knowledge: History check will inform that Lord Burton is known as a particularly brutal leader, and that he and his father and grandfather conquered the lands they rule from the previous noble family, which they then executed. Although nominally under the authority of a nearby king, Burton does what he wants and keeps pushing his boundaries.
A Knowledge: Nobility & Royalty check will inform that although this marriage would be an advantageous move for the earl and his daughter, it's not at once clear where the advantage lies for Burton and his son, Linton. But Earl Oswin does have a good reputation, no particular enemies, and is known for his advice and good humor. Having met the daughter, she's pretty enough and knows how to play the part of a noble wife.

If the letter is examined closely, it is apparent that is has not yet been signed or stamped by the earl, but the text of the letter itself mentions the earl and their prior negotiations. There are also a little bit of a design around the edges of the parchment although there are some erroneous marks--just little lines and marking which look like they could mean something.

Is there anything anyone would want to do now or perhaps the previous night? Is everyone coming in to the murder room? Are you posting guards at outside doors? Any other questions? Is there anything in particular you'd like to investigate?

[jayem]

Well after getting permission, it seems to make sense to keep people in/out, and investigate.
(quite what we do if told to leave, I'm not sure)
We also need to check our own alibis, we have just arrived, after all and should be under suspicion.

I think we need to be aware of the possibility of at least 2 murderers (poison and stabbing), but not commit.

With that in mind we need to find dagger and poison.

Some pair needs to look at the journal, find what's missing.
Ask the butler about the wine. Get him to help search outside (beneath the window?) or somewhere.
Get someone else to help search inside for intruders, somehow subtly check top of Butlers armoire.
Congratulate daughter Oslina about marriage, find anything from reaction.
Look at window, does it open from outside, if not why was it opened... (especially if there was a door)

Current suspicion, murder to prevent marriage or to prevent obstacle to marriage. Rope suggests someone healthy and athletic (us!, Leon, Winston, external) but could be surprised or it could be a red herring.

[Mendicant]

In addition to Jayem's ideas, an examination by someone with Knowledge: Nobility/History of the Earl's family tree would be in order also; interrelated family trees means interrelated claims to titles. The Earl's daughter might provide a useful pretext for her prospective in-law's warmongering, or help legitimize and solidify conquests. If that's the case, it would speak towards motive.

Is there mud in the room? It was pouring rain; there should be mud and water in the room, not just near the door and on the window silll. (I'm guessing right now that there isn't.)

A character with a good heal skill might be able to determine if Miles was dead when he was stabbed. (I'm guessing he was.)

A dagger in the back, at night, in the Earl's study suggests at least the possibility of mistaken identity. It might be worth it to have the party face convince the Earl to let one of the more fighty, high initiative PC's accompany him. (I think the dagger was an attempt at a red herring: an assassin with a grappling hook wouldn't leave his rope behind, and he would have brought his own knife. No need to broadcast that to the perpetrator though. It's also a good idea to see who's most eager to assume it was an assassin from outside.)

If I were in the party I'd keep the poison under my hat, and make sure someone with good bluff/sleight of hand was the one checking the wine with the butler. Do as much as possible to keep the poisoner from knowing we're aware of his/her involvement.

If there *are* tracks in the room, someone with track should compare the prints and see if they can get a sense of where the climber came from and where he went.

[Mars Ultor]

The storm is still raging outside. The rain is coming down heavily, the wind is howling. You can hear thunder and lightning getting closer.

You all give each other an alibi, you are positive the murderer(s) isn't amongst the party members.

You close off the upstairs study--the crime scene from other members of the household.

The journal mostly looks like an accounting book, it's just numbers and some scrawled references. Some pages have been carefully torn out, but you can't tell what the pages might have contained, except numbers.

Winston, the butler, says there's a small liquor cabinet in the room with several small amphorae of wine inside. It's ordinary table wine, and usually only Miles and the earl drink it. If guests are present a better quality wine is provided from the cellar.

Winston obviously doesn't want to go outside--heavy rain--but he dresses in a heavy cloak and goes with a party member (I assume the ranger?) to search outside. When the ranger and Winston return they track mud into the downstairs entry hall and leave puddles from their wet cloaks. The ranger reports that she doesn't find any tracks or imprints of anything beneath the window, but the rain would have washed them away. The grass and flowers don't appear to have been trampled though, and the grappling hook rope appears to be too short to reach the ground. You'd have to jump down from the rope, not that much of an issue, but you probably couldn't jump up to reach the rope and begin climbing.

While the butler and ranger are outside, you can search the butler's room. The inside of the armoire has just regular clothing and personal items. The top shelf (inside) has a book or two on the shelf. The large one contains information about the Nobility and Royalty in the area. He's got personal information scrawled in the margins--what foods someone likes, how they like their bed prepared, or the names and ages of children. He also has a small string-bound book which is the equivalent of Butlering for Dummies. Winston has also written in the margins of this book. He has yellowed paper tucked into one of the books with a small, penciled map of the house and estate. No secret doors or anything are marked, just notations about the names of servants and what the buildings are for. You see it's pretty old and some names were crossed out and rewritten, it has several names you're not familiar with marked on the different bedrooms, Osbert & Winifred, Osfred, Osdela, and Godwin.

When you search the top (outside) of the armoire, you find a long, double-edged dagger; the missing pages from the journal, they contain just columns of numbers but some are circled and a "W" is written next to some of them; there's also a pouch with a surprising amount of coins (for what a butler would be paid, chump change for an adventurer).

You don’t find anyone else inside the house except the named people.

Oslina thanks for your kind words. She is very matter of fact about the wedding; it’s an agreement that will benefit her family and her future husband seems tolerable and has broad shoulders. She's glad that her in-law's lands are not too far away should she or her family want to visit each other. Her older sister got married to a man more than a week a way, they only see her once or twice a year.

I just want to be clear as to the room. This rectangular room in which the body was found, is on the second story and there are several windows. The door and open window are at the opposite ends of the room, set into the short walls of the rectangle. The long wall on the right has the balcony. The rogue says that the shutters and windows are easy enough to open from the outside if you have the right tools. The balcony door would take some work. It was (and is) raining heavily and the wind is blowing, it’s unlikely the windows or balcony door were opened by Miles (the dead man).

If you investigate the rope and grappling hook, besides being too short to reach the ground, the rope itself is not very heavy. It would be okay for a Halfling, an elf, or a light human. A human fighter, with no armor, might be too much for the rope—at least it certainly isn’t the rope you would choose to climb.

Leon, the jester, is thin and pale, but he could possibly climb the rope. Winston, the butler, is older than dirt and can’t climb a step-stool, a rope is out of the question.

[Darth Ultron]

Well, I hope you had all the players agree to the murder mystery.....and I do mean the full blown ''ok, we will not be playing D&D at all, but more of a free form adventure.''. Most of the characters will have useless combat abilities for a mystery. And it's really a bummer to have a character with tons of all combat abilities and not be able to use them.

So...did the earl and the daughter not mention the upcoming wedding for a reason? It seems odd, unless there is a reason. Like when a character reads the letter and is like ''yo, earl baby, why did not not speak up about your daughter getting hitched? Is the Earl just going to say ''I did not say anything to make it a dramatic plot point for the DM's mystery."

The big thing though is....what is the players interest? Like old steward is dead, and there is some, um, mystery about his death...maybe. So why do the characters care? Even if the earl....for no reason is like ''hey random band of bloodthirsty all combat adventures will you solve this mystery even though your not detectives, law enforcement or have any type of real mystery solving abilities" why do the characters want to do it? Other then ''well this is the DM's railroad, lets ride along''?

The more action combat characters will just want to get dressed and go follow the trail outside and ignore all the stuff inside.

[Mars Ultor]

Your own knowledge of history and/or Nobility & Royalty, as well as an examination of the family trees shows you that the earl and his wife are sort of distantly related. There’s a complete tree for the earl’s side of the family, it goes back generations. The other family trees are very patchy. The earl’s great-great-great grandfather and the lady’s great-great-great-great aunt were brother and sister. Aunt Evelyn is related to them both, as her great-great grandfather was the earl’s aforementioned 3x great grandfather’s brother. The information mostly covers the earl’s family, there are bits here and there with information about other families. The earl’s eldest, currently married daughter, has her own sheet with partial information for her new husband’s family, and a sheet was started for the daughter Oslina’s new family.

Burton of Hidcote, the groom-to-be’s father, is not a popular figure. His family originates in the area of Hidcote, named after either a small village or an animal pen depending on whom you ask. Burton’s father and uncle, both now deceased, gathered their relatives into a war-party and made their way in the world by killing everyone they met, usually cruelly, and grabbing their treasure and lands. They selectively moved across the north conquering minor nobles on the fringes of established kingdoms. They didn’t threaten the powerful rulers and they didn’t kill a vassal worth going to war over. Currently the Hidcotes are nominally “nobles” serving a king in a neighboring kingdom, but Burton pushes his boundaries and often finds “historical reasons” for absorbing neighboring land. (He’ll proclaim that his uncle killed the original noble and married the widow (whom then died an untimely death. Burton will claim that the widow was from a landed family and that the area he annexed was her unpaid dowry.)

The family tree of the Hidcotes, suggest that Miles, the dead steward, was Burton’s second cousin once removed. Miles’ shares the same great-great grandfather as Burton’s father.

Furthermore, your Knowledge suggests that the earl benefits from aligning himself with a more military powerful family. There are independent lands between their holdings, so he might not be concerned that Burton will invade him. Burton benefits because he allies himself with actual nobility and his new daughter-in-law will give him and his some more respectability. The earl, while not powerful himself, is an advisor to a king and is well thought of generally.


There doesn’t appear to be any mud at all inside the room. The windowsill is wet, and the floor and carpet near the balcony door are wet. The carpet also has some wet spots where the water and wine were spilled.

The heal check suggests that Miles was dead when he was stabbed. The cleric thinks there would be more blood if he were alive when he was stabbed.

The earl is happy having a bodyguard, and suspects the people from Devon killed Miles. They’ve always hated him, and they’re jealous bastards. The party’s Knowledge Local affirms that there are occasional border skirmishes with the neighboring kingdom of Devon, but you’re not aware of any major conflicts or attempts to invade anyone.

Could you be a little more specific about this: “If I were in the party I'd keep the poison under my hat, and make sure someone with good bluff/sleight of hand was the one checking the wine with the butler.” I’m not sure what you’re getting at.


There are no tracks in the room. There are the previously mentioned wet spots, and the area near the balcony door, but otherwise the carpet just has scattered drops of water. The fire had been going throughout the night, until Miles was dead and unable to add more wood. It’s possible there were other areas of minor wetness that are now dried.

[ATHATH]

Well, I hope you had all the players agree to the murder mystery.....and I do mean the full blown ''ok, we will not be playing D&D at all, but more of a free form adventure.''. Most of the characters will have useless combat abilities for a mystery. And it's really a bummer to have a character with tons of all combat abilities and not be able to use them.

You could have the murderer(s) attack the party after they are absolutely sure that they have been caught- there are many abilities that can allow someone to teleport out of or break restraints.

[Mendicant]

In re: the poison:

I wouldn't share with the family/suspects that we knew the victim was poisoned. I strongly suspect that the stabbing is a misdirect and wouldn't want the killer to be aware what we knew. Hence, whoever examines the wine for poison (or does any other poison-related investigating, really) to have skills that let them do it on the sly.

[ATHATH]

Idea here: Have a schrodinger's mystery. Whoever the PCs capture/defeat is the murderer. You'd have to come up with motives and such for all of them, though.

[Thrudd]

Why hasn't anyone looked at the balcony yet? Somebody clearly came in from there, since the carpet is wet. Is there any reason to think the door would have been locked? If the rope isn't long enough to get anywhere, and there is no evidence of tracks below the window, that is clearly a misdirection, unless it leads to a lower balcony or window you didn't mention.
Since we easily noticed the wetness in front of the door, we would also have noticed any wet tracks elsewhere in the room or leading out. It also was quite recent - so as soon as I came in the room I would have thrown the balcony doors open and looked around for anyone running or hiding.

Go out on the balcony and look for points of access and examine it - is another balcony close by, that someone could jump or climb to? A window above? A section of roof that could by walked across? Investigate any rooms that could have led to access to the balcony.

Search the murder room for any other secret points of egress, hidden doors etc.

Does the knife found in the butler's room have any evidence of blood? Question the butler regarding the pages found above the armoire. Also show them and the journal to the earl and ask what they mean, is he familiar with the journal, is it the official accounting ledger? Most likely a frame job, since the Butler seems so old and feeble. Although, he was clearly putting something on top of the armoire earlier, so he could be the poisoner, or he could have taken the pages but isn't the murderer. The pages may have been torn out at any time prior to the murder, any time in the past. Did the Steward recently take over his role from someone else, and inherited the ledger that was found? If the pages contained something that needed to be hidden, why would someone write them down in the book in the first place? Unless this is a private ledger notating the "real" expenses, rather than the official expense ledger which would normally be seen by the earl. Has the earl ever seen the journal that was found in the steward's room? The entire thing with the pages may be a part of framing the butler, making him look guilty of something when really the pages are nothing special and don't show anything suspicious (the earl might be able to clarify this if he seems surprised by the contents of the pages).

At some point after finding the stuff above his armoire, try to "accidentally" knock the butler over, trip him or bump him violently from behind - something that might trigger a reflexive reaction revealing that he isn't as slow and feeble as he seems.

Interrogate everyone privately regarding whether they have recently had contact with Burton or traveled to his barony and gauge their feelings re: the baron and the marriage. The Jester might be upset because he is in love with or having an affair with the daughter, and the upcoming marriage is bothering him.

Isolate Doris and examine her, does she still smell? Does her smell match the smell of the ink on the steward's hands or the stain on the carpet? Or any of the wine amphorae found in the steward's room? Can the smell be identified? Search her room. The person who first finds the victim is always a suspect.

Are doors locked with keys, or simple latches and bolts? If there are keys, ask who in the house has keys or a skeleton key for any/all rooms. It seems likely the butler and maid would have something like that. If the balcony door was locked, it could have been unlocked with such a key (although it seems strange such a door would even have a lock, since nobody is expected to access the room from the balcony, besides the inhabitant).

[Darth Ultron]

There are no tracks in the room.

Careful here, this is getting close to jerk DM territory. You have the murder with ''no evidence'' and then you have the boring history wall of text that few will follow and a whole house of cabbage head folks and a mystery.

I can see the red flag of ''you know X'', some small detail that your not saying, like ''an mark on a scroll'' or whatever that your just sitting on and waiting for a player to, randomly, say ''oh, I move the book case and look for a secret door and make a metal detector out of two copper coins and an egg shell and find the metal box with the scroll on it.'' And..somehow you think ''knowing the name of the earls dead parents '' will somehow make a player say ''I look for the secret door'', as the two are...well...not connected at all.

I can see your going to have the problem of telling the players ''here is 100,000 words of text'' and then you will sit back and be like ''ok, what do you do?"

[Mendicant]

No tracks in the room *is* evidence. No tracks + the bs grappling hook + the poison = 3 different threads that point towards the same conclusion: the knife in the back is a red herring.

[jayem]

And the noise directly led us to the papers and the wrong knife.
Before the Butler confrontation, I'd like to ask everyone about knives/pointy things in the house and then look at them, (it gives the Butler a chance to give an innocent explanation for his, we might find the bloody knife, or another knife missing, and it forces the suspects to commit to something.

Also we want everyone's (we don't have anything at all for the Women and Jester) alibi's.

(Good point about the balcony, also can ask people about the hook).

Hindsight will tell, (the storyteller could be making it all up lost style), but I'd say we've made about the expected progress. It's been what 30 minutes game time (15 minutes set up, 15 minutes post murder)?
And we have a list of contradictions with the rope, and balcony. Clearly some visitor(s) who just talked (&kissed?/gave poison) either before or after Miles was there. Anything about the hook that suggests not premeditated? If not then the (faked) exit must have been planned.
We have the accounting trail, clearly somethings dodgy with something called W.
We haven't made progress with the wedding thread, or the envelope.

[Mars Ultor]

Well, I hope you had all the players agree to the murder mystery.....and I do mean the full blown ''ok, we will not be playing D&D at all, but more of a free form adventure.'' [. . .] The big thing though is....what is the players interest? Like old steward is dead, and there is some, um, mystery about his death...maybe. So why do the characters care? Even if the earl....for no reason is like ''hey random band of bloodthirsty all combat adventures will you solve this mystery even though your not detectives, law enforcement or have any type of real mystery solving abilities" why do the characters want to do it? Other then ''well this is the DM's railroad, lets ride along''?

I appreciate your concern that I'm forcing the players into this scenario, but you're starting with the assumption that they're "bloodthirsty." I've incorporated small puzzles and cryptic documents into prior adventures and those are the things they get excited about. They enjoy roleplaying as well, not just combat. Also, it doesn't mean the fighter can't do anything because he doesn't have Spot. Perhaps he won't find the clue, but there's no skill check to understand something. I think they'll be interested in it and I've mentioned it's something I'm considering to several of the players and they're interested, hopefully the whole group will enjoy it.

So...did the earl and the daughter not mention the upcoming wedding for a reason? It seems odd, unless there is a reason. Like when a character reads the letter and is like ''yo, earl baby, why did not not speak up about your daughter getting hitched? Is the Earl just going to say ''I did not say anything to make it a dramatic plot point for the DM's mystery."

That's an oversight on my part. Now I know to have it mentioned during dinner.

[Darth Ultron]

I appreciate your concern that I'm forcing the players into this scenario, but you're starting with the assumption that they're "bloodthirsty." I've incorporated small puzzles and cryptic documents into prior adventures and those are the things they get excited about. They enjoy roleplaying as well, not just combat. Also, it doesn't mean the fighter can't do anything because he doesn't have Spot. Perhaps he won't find the clue, but there's no skill check to understand something. I think they'll be interested in it and I've mentioned it's something I'm considering to several of the players and they're interested, hopefully the whole group will enjoy it.

Just checking. A lot of people don't like mysteries and more so a lot of people don't like mysteries in D&D. Some people are find just putting away the character sheet and free from playing a mystery....but some are not. And the players with any types of non combat abilities will have lots to do, while the combat ones just sit there. It might make the more combat ones feel left out. Yes they can role play, but that is only part of D&D. When player A has a character do a dozen skill checks and other roll things, player B does not feel so great putting away the dice bag and siting there like ''um, does my character see anything?''. And it only gets worse when it's something like ''roll a check'' and the character can't or will get a low roll.

You might want to add some combat. For example, some type of attacker to distract the characters from the murder or even just a bandit or wild animal/monster.

That's an oversight on my part. Now I know to have it mentioned during dinner.

That is what makes complicated mysteries hard.

[Mars Ultor]

Careful here, this is getting close to jerk DM territory. You have the murder with ''no evidence'' and then you have the boring history wall of text that few will follow and a whole house of cabbage head folks and a mystery.

I can see the red flag of ''you know X'', some small detail . . .

I can see your going to have the problem of telling the players ''here is 100,000 words of text'' and then you will sit back and be like ''ok, what do you do?"

I can't decide if you're pointing out the issues as you see them, or if you're just complaining you wouldn't want to play this adventure.

There's already been evidence presented so far, as referenced by other posters. There's evidence that's yet to be discovered.

Although there are some small details, I've also included some broad things that I'm sure will be noticed (such as the dagger as a red herring).

A lot of the text will be eliminated by just referencing that the earl's father worked on family trees and providing them with props. Obviously the genealogy provides information or it wouldn't be included. I've considered cutting it entirely, but then I'll need another motive for the murder. I'm not against a new motive, I just haven't thought of one.

[Mars Ultor]

Firstly, in regards to the question about the poisoned wine, the druids can see a little bit of residue in the goblet and it appears the open amphora may be poisoned as well. The other amphorae are sealed with wax, and the seals are all pretty similar. They'd have to have been poisoned at the time of manufacture, and there's nothing distinguishing these jugs from each other. They all have a vintner's name and the date scratched on the bottom, but are otherwise nearly identical. (They're made of clay, by hand, so it's possible there are small differences, but nothing more than the regular variation is apparent.)

The poison itself is simple, it seems mostly a common poisonous berry and perhaps a toxic leaf. The poison is of darker color than wine, but mixed with wine it wouldn't be noticeable.


The balcony door is unlocked, presumably from the inside. There's a bolt opposite each hinge, no keyhole, no way to lock it from the outside.

The balcony itself is not easily accessible from anywhere else but inside the room. It's possible that someone could have climbed down from the roof on a rope, but it's a steep slate roof and the rogue thinks the heavy rain would have made it difficult, although not impossible. You don't see a rope dangling, but it could have been pulled up. It's also possible to have thrown up a rope from the courtyard below, but you find no rope.

There are no tracks or wet spots other than what's I've mentioned, but you do notice there is a small overhang over of the balcony and that seems to prevent a lot of the rain from coming in. However, the water running off you enlarges the already existing wet spot when you come in from the outside.

There are no hidden doors or secret anythings in this room.

The butler's knife doesn't match the wound. His blade is double-edged, the murder weapon appears single-edged. The butler's blade is clean of blood, but the sheath is dusty. The dagger doesn't slide out easily, the leather hasn't been properly oiled and it's sticking to the blade. It appears it hasn't been used in a long time.

The earl studies the ledger and the torn out pages and surmises that Winston has been skimming from the household purse. He's in charge of paying the staff, deliveries, ordinary supplies, etc., and it looks like he helps himself to some of the money occasionally.

Winston, the butler, has always handled the petty cash, the dead steward handled the larger stuff. Winston and Miles have always had a difficult relationship and Miles was a suspicious sort, the earl is surprised the theft has gone on so long with the steward having noticed it.

The earl is aware of the ledger but he's never been interested in numbers. When he took control of the remaining family wealth years ago, he made an all-or-nothing bet on a stone bridge and ferry by the town down the hill and since then it's grown into a city. He's collecting more in taxes than he ever thought possible and doesn't worry about money.

You bump Winston and now he's fallen and he can't get up. He's in agony and a heal check suggests a broken hip. I'm going to assume you heal him. Or you can withhold healing and interrogate him, it's up to you.

Except for the earl, everyone claims they've only had contact with Burton the one time he and his son visited the manor for several days. It was after that visit that the marriage proposal was first made. The lady was initially against the wedding, but she says her husband convinced her, and her daughter will be nearby so they'll still see each other. She's not lying, but she's not particularly sincere.

Leon, the jester, is extremely nervous and denies knowing anything. He starts to hug himself and rock if you question him.


Doris smells like potpourri and you find several herbs and flowers and such in a little basket in her room. One of the plants in the basket is hemp, but nothing that's poisonous. She's got a few pages of herbal "recipes" on some parchment tucked in the basket. When isolated and asked about her plants, Doris says, "I made it, the lady and that druid girl taught me how to make my perfume. Do you like it? The lady used to do her gardening, but after what happened with her poor baby she gave it up. A long time ago the lady made it and then I copied out the instructions from a book. When the tutor for the children was here, she taught me a little reading, you know."

"She was a young woman, the tutor, said she was training to be a druid. I always wondered about them druids—no offense—and them always cavorting about in the woods. Dancing here and there, and rubbing up against trees. Taking off their clothing, men and women druids alike, and running around, hopping into cold streams, and rolling around in the grass. I can’t imagine why you would take a job as a tutor if you could be jumping about in the altogether and laying in the sun. A woman of my years of course, inside the nursery teaching the little ones about which berries you could eat or how to write their names, but a young woman like her, she should have been there, living free, comingling with the other druids if you get my meaning. I mean all those unclothed young men and women, circling those enormous stones that are standing up, pointing into the air. That’s a little obvious for my tastes, but it’s not my place to judge.”

“She used to go around with Leon while she was here, going off into the kennels and spending time alone there, just them and the dogs. Not a big fan of dogs, they’d eat you as soon as look at you, I say. They never bit those two, though, those dogs loved Leon and Dwyn. What a fair girl she was, never knew what she saw in Leon. He’s not a proper jester, is he? Keeps the dogs well, but always hugging them and rubbing them. Not my business, he can rub whatever dog belly he pleases, but it’s unseemly isn’t it?”


The doors are mostly latched or bolted. You haven't encountered anything yet with an actual lock.

[Mars Ultor]

Alibis

I'm going to assume that you pick an unoccupied room and question them separately. This leads me to think I've got to include a minor NPC assistant so the suspects can be watched while the entire party plays Good adventurer/Bad adventurer with the individual suspects. Diplomacy, Intimidation, and Sense Motive, would be the likely ways to question someone, so I'll assume that's what you do.


The Earl

The earl is wearing his nightshirt, and a cap.

“It had to be someone from the Kingdom of Devon, most likely Honiton, to the south because they’re all animals down there. They’d kill their mother for a copper coin. Mothers, they’d kill their mothers for a copper coin. They don’t all have the same mother obviously. It’s not like everyone in Devon is related. I hear they marry their own sisters though and that’s why the whole kingdom is full of sneak-thieves, backstabbers, and idiots.

They’ve always hated Somersetters, jealous they are, jealous. It’s a pig-sty of criminals and imbeciles. They do make good lace though, it you want a nice dress for your lady, or a bit of lace for any other reason, you should go to Honiton, they make the best lace.

Also, good soil in Devon, you can grow anything there. I’m not a particular fan of fruit, a bit too sweet for my tastes, but you can get good fruit in Devon, strawberries particularly. My old auntie loved strawberries, we used to call her “old Auntie Berry” because she loved berries so much. You know, strawberries aren’t actually berries because they have seeds on the outside, but they’re remarkably good to eat, even if you don’t like fruit. And you can get the best ones in Devon.

Tin, too. There are tin mines all over Devon, the whole kingdom is bursting forth with tin. Their tinsmiths are pretty good, too. If you want good tin, good lace, and strawberries, you go to Devon. They’re horrible bastards, though. Bunch of thugs and swindlers. I think they did it.”

The early was tired and a little drunk and slept soundly through the most of the night. He remembers being half asleep and telling his wife the roof was leaking.

The Lady

Lady Godelina, the earl's wife, whose nightgown and robe covers her completely, doesn't seem like she was a fan of Miles, but doesn't seem like she's a fan of anyone. She always has her arms folded or covered by her sleeves, but she adjusts her nightcap at one point and it's possible that a more sharp-eyed member of the party detects that she has old burn scars on her forearm. The lady suggests that the people from Devon are always plotting against her husband, but she doesn't seem to actually believe it.

The Daughter

The daughter, Oslina, is wearing a sleeping gown and a robe. Her hair is bundled and wrapped together in a little sack on her head. She says that Miles appeared to be a loyal and hardworking employee and that she can't imagine who would wish him harm. She says that she left her room during the night because she thought she left an earring downstairs, but then realized it was caught in her hair and returned to her room. While downstairs she saw Aunt Evelyn coming out of the kitchen with a knife. She's never trusted Aunt Evelyn, she's a phony. Online seems mostly credible, but her earring story doesn't ring quite true.

The Son

Osgood, the earl's boy. "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son." He seems witless, is half dressed under his robe, has red eyes, and smells of wine. He says maybe it was Leon, the jester, or Winston, the butler, or "Stop pressuring me! I don't know anything! Leave me alone! I was in my room all night!" You get the sense he's clueless and dishonest.

The Maid

Doris, the maid, is gossipy and rambles on. She suspects everyone, and says the brother and sister, are always conspiring together. "I've seen them sneaking into his room at night with their arms around each other. It's not my business, but everyone knows all these highborn families are incestuous. Can you imagine? Having private relations with your sister? No, seriously, can you? What's you sister look like? Are you close?"

Doris says the jester is peculiar and she doesn't understand what the earl finds funny about him. "He isn't even a proper jester, he can hardly juggle. He loves the dogs though, can get them to walkabout on their hind legs like a person. He used to spend a lot of time with Lady Godelina, she brought him over in the marriage. Sometimes they whisper together and she hugs him, can you imagine? A person of her breeding with a person like that? But the heart wants what the heart wants."

"I would never tell the earl, it isn't my place. And I'm not sure why Leon would want the lady, she's older than him and has her . . . problem. It's nothing. It's not my place to talk about it. I've said too much. It isn't proper to gossip."

"Anyway, why shouldn't the lady have some comfort when the earl is always out there gallivanting about with people like you--no offense--and getting himself involved in things. Probably always rescuing desperate maidens, who are thankful for being rescued. Very thankful, if you know what I mean. Have you ever rescued a maiden? How thankful was she? Was she thankful more than once?"

"Lady Godelina could definitely kill someone, a few times I've overheard the lady say to the earl, 'Oswin, I couldn't sleep last night on occasion of your snoring. I swear I will smother you to death with a pillow if that continues.' The earl seemed to trust Miles, that the lady didn't seem to like him--she not a friendly sort--except with the jester--and that sometimes he (Miles) would get all high and mighty, but only when the earl wasn't around."

"Winston is an odd bird. He used to sneak off at night with a small backpack, but hasn't done that in many years. Miles and Winston didn't like each other and I caught them involved in whispering arguments a few times. You know how people are."

"A long time ago, I once saw Winston bathing--it was an accident--why would I be creeping around try to catch people all unclothed rubbing slippery soap all over their wet bodies? It wouldn't be proper. Anyway, Winston had scars on his body. He's a good butler, very slow, as you know, but a good butler."

"Aunt Evelyn is a snob, she thinks she's Queen Gunhild. There's a real noble lady, the queen. She's got real class and is a beauty, too, have you met her? (You have actually.) What a lovely, lovely woman. A bit tall though. Didn't you think she was a bit tall? It isn't my place to pass judgement on the queen, but a queen should be a more modest size, shouldn't she? It's unseemly for a woman to be that tall, let alone a queen. Beautiful though, I imagine that's what an elf queen looks like. Have you ever met an elf queen? (One of you has.) She's sure that Queen Gunhild is just like that. Except that the elves aren't particularly tall, are they? Living in the woods tends to make you small I expect. There a bit too small, almost like children, it give me the willies. You're a large elf (one in the party), my dear, I'm perfectly fine with you. But some of them are awfully short aren't they? Of course you good-folk (halflings, two in the party) are small, too, but you're meant to be small, aren't you? It's very becoming on you, you're such darlings. Anyway, the queen is strangely tall, but it's not my place, and Aunt Evelyn is nothing like the queen. She wouldn't have done it anyway--killed Miles--she wouldn't want to get her royal hands dirty."

Aunt Evelyn

"Aunt" Evelyn outright accuses Lady Godelina, the wife, of the murder. Evelyn says the lady has admitted her intentions to murder the earl on prior occasions. “I’ll kill him if he keeps bringing his muddy dogs into the house,” or “I’ll strangle him if he doesn’t stop putting his boots on the furniture.” When reminded that the earl is not dead, it’s Miles, she will say, “Who? The steward? He seemed nice enough. That’s too bad. Poor fellow.”

She will admit that she thought she heard a man and woman whispering downstairs, but couldn’t hear what they said. If asked why she was downstairs she looks up for a moment and then says, "I was sleepwalking! That's it, I was sleepwalking. People do that right? Sleepwalking. Ever since I was a baby."


The Jester

Leon, the jester, is clearly agitated and sits there rocking and hugging himself. He says he witnessed someone fleeing the scene of the crime. He thinks it might have been Winston, the butler. He also says that he saw Evelyn, the aunt, downstairs at dark, when normally she would have been in bed. He claims he doesn't have much of an opinion on Miles, except that he didn't have a sense of humor. But then insists Miles wasn't a nice man, he was a bad man, a bad man. He gets a little teary eyed and his voice goes up. Leon claims he was a little thirsty and went to get a drink—that’s why he was up so late at night.


The Butler

Winston, the ancient butler, has either been healed or is in agony from being knocked over. Either way he says he'll confesses everything. He tells you he used to be a robber and he met Belvedere, the prior butler, on the road returning to Hendford Manor (here). Winston pretended he was traveling to visit a far away town and had been set upon by bandits and was now lost and penniless. Belvedere invited him to stay at the manor, told him how nice the earl was (this would have been the earl's father), and how great the house was.

Winston thought that sounded great, but then realized that after a few days he'd have to leave again. Winston started to think he was getting too old for the life of a highwayman and it was getting harder and harder to fight people who resisted. He decided to kill Belvedere and replace him. He arrived at the manor, told the story of how he found Belvedere dead on the road, already robbed and dying, and offered to help out for a short time. He was taken in and given the butler's duties. He started to steal a little bit of the household expenses, taking a few coins here and there, and also casing the place seeing what he could take. Every once in a while he would decide to leave and would sneak out at night, but after walking a bit, he realized how good he had it here.

The old earl was always interested in history and family trees, he never suspected anything. The current earl never checked the books and had know him for years so he never questioned him. Only Miles was the problem, everyone else liked him. A few months after Miles arrived, Miles confronted him about the missing money and demanded a payoff. Miles started blackmailing Winston and showed him that Miles had tracked everything in his ledger and that's how he discovered things. Winston had the sense that Miles didn't even want the money, he just wanted some power of him.

Miles started getting cockier and more abusive and Winston, who loved it here after all these years, and had grown to be fond of everyone and didn't want to leave. He decided that he would threaten Miles and demand that everything stop. He felt he had lived long enough under Miles' thumb and his health was failing. He couldn't take the stress and worry of being turned in. He went to take his old dagger from the top of the armoire and nearly fell off the stool, it tipped over and he had to catch the furniture to prevent his fall. That's when the party came into the room and saw him.

Later that night, Winston took his dagger and crept into Miles room, but it was empty. He could hear the earl snoring when he was by that door, so he figured Miles was in the study alone. He went in there to confront Miles and threaten him, but found him slumped over the desk, already dead. There was no dagger in him, and the room wasn't messy. He thought it was drafty in the room, even with the fire still burning somewhat, but didn't stop to investigate. He quickly went through the ledger and tried to carefully tear out all the pages he thought implicated him. Then he returned to his room and hid everything on top of his armoire. He fell asleep after a while and was woken in the morning by Doris' scream.

[LokiRagnarok]

Confront the lady regarding the story with the baby and "her problem".
Actually, cross-reference with her genealogy tree first. Is there a deceased, missing, or otherwise special baby listed somewhere around her? Who is the father? What were the circumstances of the special event regarding the baby?
Cross-check the story about the baby with the old butler. He would know.

What does the earl think about the jester? Why does he keep him around?

Who was particularly close with the tutor the Aunt mentions? Who would have been likely to learn about properties of plants, like the Aunt did? Presumably the children? Were both of them around/of appropriate age to have contact with the tutor?

Incidentally, does this place have a proper garden? If yes, who was in charge of it? Investigate the garden for tracks/obviously missing plants. (I don't expect to find any, but it would be stupid not to look.)


(Side note, the monologues made me chuckle).

[Mars Ultor]

A boy, Godwin, is listed on the earl's family tree; he died before the age of three. The butler says there was a pox going around. It upset the lady greatly. Winston assures you that the child was the spitting image of his father, the earl.


If you continue on and ask the lady, she's offended that you ask about this and asks how it's relevant. She says she doesn't know what you could be referring to as her "problem" and aren't you supposed to be tracking down assassins from Devon, instead of delving into her personal life?


Earl Oswin says his wife's uncle, had a small castle and as a child, the lady spent a lot of time there with her cousins. Leon was a boy who worked in the kennels. There was an attack on the castle and the lady's cousins, etc., were killed and many buildings were set on fire. Leon hid her in the kennels, someone set fire to the building, and she and the jester escaped, but the dogs were trapped inside and killed.

Leon was traumatized by the experience, but the family took him. The earl once found Leon curled up on the floor in the kitchen crying during a thunderstorm, the howling of the dogs upset him. The earl took him to the kennels and he knows that Leon sometimes sneaks out to sleep with the dogs.

Leon and Lady Godelina are very protective of one another but he doesn't suspect anything inappropriate. The only woman Leon ever seemed interested in was the tutor.

Leon can tell a few jokes and has learned how to play a (small) harp to a decent degree.


Both children were taught by the tutor, and Doris, the maid, as well. Leon and Doris, to a degree, were the only ones who socialized with the tutor. She taught the children the usual things; the alphabet, simple math, history, and a little bit about plants and animals.


Other than the food garden, there's a smaller garden the lady used to take an interest in, she was always growing different flowers, but then the kids and the tutor/druid took it over for their studies. Now Doris mostly cares for it. The ranger find no tracks, but the rain would have washed them away. The garden is somewhat maintained and it's obvious that herbs and flowers have been cut from there regularly.

[Mendicant]

Who attacked the castle and caused the fire that scarred the lady of the house?

[MintyNinja]

Possibly doing this improperly but I've just read through it all now.

I have a theory: Osgood poisoned the wine in the study, intending to kill his father so he could inherit. However, he killed Miles by accident. Then Winston came in and stole the pages of the ledger, leaving an unstabbed Miles at the desk. Osgood checks in before the maid and, realizing his error, stabs the steward with a hunting knife from a wall to cover up the poisoning. Check him for a bloody knife?


In all, though, it's tough to really care much about the mystery of it if the players aren't concerned with the family. You really need to engross them during that first day and let them feel comfortable. That will make the mystery part of it all the more interesting.

[Mordar]

I like the run of things thus far...given what we've seen, I think that (for good story purposes) it must not be:

• Someone we haven't met - if the characters haven't physically met the murderer by this point I think it will feel too Bad Agatha Christie. So while the druid tutor is an interesting side-story, I think it should be strictly distraction. Additionally, the room was very nicely set up to suggest someone inside pretending to have either come from or escaped to the outside;
• Miles himself in some bizarre suicide-to-stop-something plot - Sure, it should go without saying, but I'm saying it anyway!
• The Butler - I very much like how you have him set up, and I think a second twist where he really is the killer diminishes the art of what you've done;
• The Earl - his potential motives (cuckolding as suggested by the maid, perhaps discovering some scheme by Miles to assist the Hidcotes) would suggest a more forceful confrontation and no fear of reprisal.

So that leaves the Lady, the Bride to Be, the Sot, the Aunt, the Jester and the Maid.

I'm suspecting the Jester and the Lady...with the Jester acting as a protector of the Lady. Not sure why yet...

- M

[Beneath]

The Earl is the Earl; if he wanted his steward dead he could, presumably, have him executed (I don't know if that power is reserved for the king), or framed for something, or something similar. Probably not him.

His two kids have the opportunity, but we haven't seen motive from them. The butler has motive, but not the means and he's already confessed to everything else, so we can eliminate him as a suspect.

We have confirmed that the dagger was a red herring though, and the rope too.

The Ladies (the Earl's wife and the aunt) have been acting suspicious, but other than that we don't have much to go on. I'm inclined to think the Earl's wife's suspicious acting is a red herring though; maybe she's, like, a vampire or something completely unrelated to the murder.

The Maid and the Jester are possibilities too.

The people on my current likely suspect list are Oslina, Osgood, Leon, Evelyn, and finally Godelina. Oslina and Osgood could be acting together; regardless they and Evelyn seem to be trying to throw suspicion on eachother.

How much interest did Godelina take in the affairs of the household? Did she leave it to Miles and Winston or did she manage the two of them when Oswin was away or inattentive? If she played an active role in managing the household it'd be suspicious if she seemed so apathetic about someone she worked w/ closely being murdered; if not then it's still suspicious that she doesn't care about someone taking care of her money being murdered unless she takes a completely blaze attitude toward money.

We really need a better idea of what was going on downstairs. We know Oslina, Evelyn, and Leon were down there (and Winston). Oslina and Evelyn are lying about why. If Evelyn's telling the truth about what she heard than Oslina was talking to someone else there (maybe Osgood, given what Doris said, but possibly Leon or even Miles before he was killed), unless Godelina or Doris was also out and about. Winston didn't see anyone else, he said.

Leon should maybe be pressed a little harder. Maybe justify it (at least to the Earl) by saying it's not right to speak ill of someone who was just murdered, but we want to get him to go into what he has against Miles. His alibi puts him in position to poison the wine, too, which is more than we can say about anyone else yet. (Edit: after the post below, I agree it'd be better to try to good-cop him than to press him)

I'm starting to suspect, on review, that the knife wound was planted as a deliberate frame job directed at Winston after he was seen up and about with a knife.

[Thrudd]

Someone in the house is secretly a druid, the Jester, the Lady, Doris or all of them. They flew to the balcony in bird form, and entered that way, causing the puddle. They could have left the same way, but it has been stressed that the overhang prevents rain from coming in from outside, so the puddle could only be caused by someone already wet standing there.

However, the poisoner needn't have ever entered the room - the wine amphora could have been poisoned anywhere. In fact, I don't know why we didn't start investigating the wine amphora already. This is the murder weapon. Start investigating the chain of custody of the amphora. Does the wine always stay in the room, or does someone deliver it? Since this is the earl's study, ask him if he knows whether the poisoned amphora is one that has been in the study, had he or Miles opened it on a prior night?
If it was already opened and in the room when Miles entered, then somebody must have entered earlier in the day and poisoned it. Ask Winston who might go into the earl's study besides the earl and Miles. Does someone clean it? Does anyone else in the family go in there? Did anyone see anybody going in or out of the study prior to the murder?
Also, since we've identified the poison, do we know how long it takes to work? Instantaneous, or some hours?

After the lady came in and brought the earl to bed, in the twenty minutes the party is left alone, Miles may be dead already- Winston could have already gone in and ripped the pages out during that time, and was actually putting them up there when the party passed by and heard the thump.
Did anyone go into the study or see Miles alive at any point during the night, after he left the library, to better establish a time line? Doris?

Is there any reason to think that this wine was intended for Miles? If the wine was poisoned or placed earlier in the day, before Miles went there, the poisoner may have thought the Earl would go there first. However, that seems like a sloppy plan, since everyone would know that Miles spends a lot of time in there. Is it possible the poisoner meant to kill the Earl, went in to the study to check on him and found they had poisoned Miles instead, and then decided to stab in the hopes that everyone would miss the poison wine (and so try to cover up that the earl was the real target)? That would be why the knife was grabbed from the wall rather than carried by the killer, it was a decision made in the moment. The stupid and dishonest son could be a candidate for this.

When Miles declared that he was going to do work, the son left almost immediately after. Did anyone actually see where he went after that? Who else was in the library with the party, besides the earl, Miles, and the son? The lady must not have been, because she came in to call earl to bed.

The jumpy jester needs to be convinced or coerced to spill the beans about what he's nervous about and holding back. Can one of the druids cozy up to him, go out to the kennel or something, and play "good cop" ? Try and calm him, make him feel safe, and convince him they want to help.

Don't druids have a secret language? They should try it on Doris, the jester and the lady, see if either of them slip up and reveal something. The excuse, of course, would be that the tutor taught it to them when they were kids, but we all know that's BS. Druids don't teach the language to anyone but initiated druids, right? If that's even a thing in your world.