Dread Possibility: The Baynesbrook Home for the Aged

[Rock of the Fraternity]

As life expectancy increases with the onset of modern medicine and modes of employment which do not require people to work themselves into an early grave, societies are faced with the possibility of citizens too old to work, yet still too healthy to die. While some people might be content to lock their elders up in the attic or turning them out to die in the wilderness, not everyone is so sadistic. And yet, not every caring soul can afford to support their elders without negatively affecting the rest of the family.

Mr. Baynesbrook, late of Mordentshire, has come up with the solution.
The Baynesbrook Home for the Aged is a beautifully refurbished building, set in the suburbs of Mortigny and staffed by friendly and competent professionals. The Home accepts any and all senior citizens who can no longer stay with their family for one reason or another. On-site staff provides round-the-clock medical support, chefs acquired from the better restaurants of Dementlieu create meals that balance the residents' physical requirements with the fondest dreams of their palates, and family is welcome to visit any and every day until their beloved elders pass away. When this happens, the Baynesbrook Home for the Aged offers interment services if the grieving relatives can not afford a proper funeral -- and the best part is, the Home only asks for a token sum every year!

It is widely known that Mr. Baynesbrook is a graduate of the Universities of Mordent and Dementlieu, who has traveled extensively to distant lands in pursuit of the treasures of the ancient world, and people assume he is paying most of the Home's costs out of his own pocket so as to give something back to society.
In addition, people whisper that Mr. Baynesbrook has some kind of understanding with Jacqueline Renier, which affords the Home its peerless security and pays for at least some of the bills. Certainly, a few of the Renier elders have decided to make the Baynesbrook Home for the Aged their last residence in this mortal life, and are apparently living in the Executive Suites; amid all the luxuries of the Home, the Executive Suites are reputed to be excessive in their comforts and delights.
Envious rumours indicate these delights are often illegal, involving opium from Hazlan, strong licquor from all over the Core, and youthful prostitutes off of the streets, but nothing has ever been proven. If Mr. Baynesbrook or his staff ever hear such rumours, their usual response is that of indignant denial. None of the residents has ever claimed that anything inappropriate happens at the Baynesbrook Home for the Aged. To them, it is a tranquil haven to spend their golden years, and for many of them these years are decidedly more golden than they would have been if they had stayed at home.

This is true for all the elders at the Home, including those who are logged in Mr. Baynesbrook's private ledgers as the permanent residents.

It is true that Miles Baynesbrook (NE male human Rog 6 / Cry 4) was once an adventuring archaeologist who travelled far and wide in search of the treasures of the ancients. During his career, Miles frequently found himself face-to-face with the Ancient Dead, horrific guardians of magnificent treasure troves. All too often, he had to turn tail and flee to save his life. Finding himself entering middle age, scarred from too many battles and with too little coin in his pocket for his own liking, the tomb raider considered whether there might not be another way to get his hands on the treasures of the Ancients. A luminous idea formed in his mind.

Acquiring a building in Richemulot and locating a superior staff to serve there was child's play. Persuading several of the Ancient Dead that their current whereabouts had become untenable due to the rise of archaeology and the growing interest of historians from the Core and the University of Tvashtri in Sri Raji was only slightly more difficult. Offering these Ancients a place where they could hide in plain sight and convincing them to take the chance was quite tricky, but in the end Baynesbrook succeeded.

Today, the innermost of the Home's Executive Suites are actually the resting places of Ancient Dead from a number of locations. Comfortably settled in lavish suits that have been decorated with as much of their home tombs as could be carried to Richemulot in secret, the Ancients enjoy what they most desire; solitude and peace of mind. The Baynesbrook Home's security staff is skillful and paid very well not to bother the permanent residents, and any Ancient who feels the need can charter the services of the on-site medical staff - all of them trained as Clerics of the ancient faiths that spawned the Ancients - to perform ceremonies in their sanctum.
In addition, the Ancients have the option of recruiting undead servants out of the Home's private cemetery whenever a short-term resident passes on from natural causes. For the more energetic of the permanent residents who still feel the need for such things, there is the option of hunting down visitors of short-term residents - only after they have left the Home, of course.

For this, the Ancients pay Baynesbrook what they themselves consider to be a modest salary - minor trinkets and sparing amounts of coin from their treasure troves - but which the canny archaeologist has been able to pawn into a sizeable fortune. Rather than being dependent on the Reniers for the Home's continued survival as an oasis of peace and luxury, Miles Baynesbrook is paying off Jacqueline Renier to keep her wererat kin out of his Home - apart from the elders who have taken up residence there and any family visitors they might have, of course.
After the Ancients, Renier residents are certainly the safest on the Home's premises. They are never molested when an Ancient takes it into its head to wander the corridors and kill a handful of short-term residents, be this for sport or because of some ancient obligation or obsessions. Miles Baynesbrook takes such events in stride, collects a sum in damages from the permanent resident that did the deed, informs the family of the deceased that their beloved relative has 'gone to a better place' and asks whether they have special wishes with regards to the remains. While he honestly works to make the Home a wonderful haven for all residents, he does not care a whit for any of them, only for the continuing success of his operation. Any relatives that manage to discover their elder was murdered are quietly taken care of before they can leave the premises, or offered to those Ancient Dead who still enjoy hunting live prey out in the wild.

With old age creeping up on him, Miles is obscenely wealthy, but growing concerned for his own retirement. He is not ready to die yet, but does not want to spend eternity as his permanent residents do. He has been researching magical and alchemical methods of prolonging his life in his private study with the aid of Renpu-Rem, a member of his medical staff. Rempu-Rem (CE Clr 5 / Alp 4 of Set) has suggested several promising paths to pursue, some of which involve hideous human sacrifice or alchemical experiments. The two researchers perform both of these with vagrants they snatch off the streets during the night of the new moon.

The Baynesbrook Home for the Aged is a level 2 Sinkhole of Evil with a taint of Greed at the best of times. This increases to level 3 when the permanent residents engage in the dark rites of home or engage in a spot of recreative slaughter, and to level 4 when Miles Baynesbrook and Rempu-Rem engage in their darkest experiments.

[order99]

BRRRRRRrrrrrrr.......

I wonder if the 'kindly' Mr. Baynesbrook would mind a relocation to Gothic Earth? I think I shall ask him-by the light of day and with several bodyguards of course...

[Joël of the FoS]

Interesting. But how is he able to persuade Ancient Dead to come to his retirement home? Aren't these dusty guys a bit one track minded? Why would they abandon their crypt to "live" there?

[Cromstar]

Interesting. But how is he able to persuade Ancient Dead to come to his retirement home? Aren't these dusty guys a bit one track minded? Why would they abandon their crypt to "live" there?

I could actually see this being appealing to a number of Ancient Dead, depending on their cultural origins.

In the real world, a surprising number of mummified remains were not intentionally mummified. Nearly all the mummies found in eastern Asia were unintentionally mummified by ambient conditions after death. Mummies formed in societies that don't have specific mummification beliefs and rituals are likely to be less attached to the specifics of their lair, I would suspect.

Going to VRGttAD, it notes that the Ancient Dead have a fixation on the trappings of the mortal world, hence the predilection for expansive tombs full of their riches and the like. Since relatively few cultures (real world examples include the Egyptians, the Canary Island natives, and the Filipinos) have an actual dedicated practice of mummification, it would not be unreasonable to assume that D&D mummies from other societies are either a) spontaneous mummies born of the soul's stubborn refusal to move beyond the mortal world or b) made personal arrangements for the mummification process to happen to them following their death.

In the case of 'a' above, chances are the ancient dead in question was not actually prepared for becoming a mummy. If they had the good fortune to die and be buried with some of their worldly possessions, there is a chance the new home is less posh than they'd like (Oh, look, the family mausoleum...just me and 14 generations of my ancestors in a moldy, stone hole in the ground.). The other ones are unlikely to have any goods unless they've amassed a treasure over time (silly adventurers, carrying all that gold on them all the time to keep it from disappearing while they are out of town)...and if they have managed to amass a treasure, they'd probably love a chance to upgrade from their cave/bog/coffin in the graveyard to something comfortable.

For those who ball into category 'b' ...well, if a better deal comes along for them...and the pitch line 'no pesky adventurers raiding your resting place' might sell reeaaaally well with some mummies.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

rock, your mind goes in wonderfully odd directions sometimes. This is something I would not have come up with in a million years, but I like it a lot.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

BRRRRRRrrrrrrr.......

I wonder if the 'kindly' Mr. Baynesbrook would mind a relocation to Gothic Earth? I think I shall ask him-by the light of day and with several bodyguards of course...

Miles is quite attached to Richemulot, but he would love to expand his operation - and in the end, he goes where the money is. If you have a solid business offer for him, you should be safe.
... For now.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Interesting. But how is he able to persuade Ancient Dead to come to his retirement home? Aren't these dusty guys a bit one track minded? Why would they abandon their crypt to "live" there?

A lot of it falls under Cromstar's category b. ^^
Miles has a silver tongue and convinced the Ancients that their sancta were now on the major universities' "hitlist", so to speak. No matter how many tomb-raiders they killed, more would come until they were worn down to dust.
In contrast, the Home for the Aged is not on anyone's list and its Executive Suites can be decorated to the most exacting specifications. There were even priests available to bless or curse these new quarters to order, to give them the familiar funk of home, and their treasures would be safe there.
So do the Ancients get what they want; all the solitude, all the ritual, and no petty disturbances...

[Rock of the Fraternity]

rock, your mind goes in wonderfully odd directions sometimes. This is something I would not have come up with in a million years, but I like it a lot.

Thank you kindly!