Most Secret: Stately Dee Manor

This Magickal location can best be imagined as a Victorian equivalent to the “Addams Family” TV show of the 1960s. The house is a massive rambling pile in the courntryside of Kent, and its construction is of a variety of styles and floors. From above, the manor appears almost as a growth upon the land, spreading in all directions like a fungal colony of towers, spires, and vast galleries with the air of a haunted mansion.

Background

Doctor John Dee was the Royal Astrologer of the court of Queen Elizabeth during the 1500s, and was rumored to have truck with all varieties of mystical beings. This was all too true, and none more so than the Fey of Queen Titania’s court. Desperate to find the secrets of nature through mathematics, Dee made a pact with the Seelie Court. If Titania would give him the power of the Supernature, he would agree that he and his children would be Titania’s agents on Earth in perpetuity.

The Fairy Queen fulfilled her promise, but like most gifts of the Fey it was double edged. Power and knowledge he gained, as did his children, but they were reviled by society as insane at best and devil worshippers at worst. Avoiding burning at the stake, Dee and his scions were nevertheless…peculiar thanks to the touch of power. This insanity led from parents to children and bred true despite occasional weddings outside the Dee family. Nonetheless, when called by the English crown to aid the country the Dees answered the call, with Dees serving in the English Civil War, the wars against Spain and France, and even one Arthur Dee serving the British cause in the American revolution. After the Napoleonic Wars the Dees no longer were called by the Court of St. James, with the royal family suspecting George III’s friendship with Josephine Dee being a major cause of his madness.

So, the Dees waited. And waited. And waited. Then, to their immense pleasure, the SuperMankind emerged in the 1880s, starting in Great Britain. Flashy costumes, garish names, and wild battles in the streets; it was everything the Dees were looking for. Granted, the current Dees (Comedy and Trajedy) don’t exactly fight for Queen and Country, but they certainly join in the fun whenever possible!

Dee Manor

Due to their curious powers, it is nearly impossible to imprison Carmen and Trajan Dee for long. They inevitably escape (despite the best devices of Doctor Hunter and the magick of Spellbinder) and return home to plan their next escapades. So, why don’t the Queen’s Knights or the Fearless Five simply attack the home and drag the miscreants out?
This is far easier said than done. Part of the reason for the manor’s appearance of a fungal growth is that in a real sense it is alive. When Doctor John Dee first built the manor it was a simple Elizabethan structure of perhaps 30 or 40 rooms. Ever since the late 16th century however, it has expanded at a pace that would astound any observers—if the Dees ever had guests that visited the home. It grows and grows, providing rooms that lead to radically different parts of the home, ignoring physics and rational passages. Some rooms seem alive, others hold monsters and creatures of myth, while yet others lead to realities both mundane and fantastical.

The Servants of Dee Manor

As one might imagine, the staff and residents of such a home are as bizarre as the manor itself. It is unclear whether the house itself turns normal mortals into curious beings, or if the servants are supernatural creatures from other planes; drawn to the home by its own magickal purposes. An example of the servants, the butler Truelove, is provided below:

Truelove: This is the butler of the Dee estate, and while not very tall (5 foot 8) he is virtually square in his muscled bulk, He is bald, and has a long face that is reminiscent of a Easter Island statue. His voice, while gravelly, is always polite and well spoken. This is true even when he is pummeling intruders or opening doors for guests.

Truelove is a neutral SuperMankind 9th level Strongarm whose vital stats are: HP 88, AC 28. His prime attributes are: Strength, Wisdom, and Constitution. His significant attributes are: STR 33, WIS 19, and CON 28. He carries a set of knuckle dusters specially made for his large hands, allowing +5 to hit and damage. His Supernatural Powers are Theme of Mighty Thews 8, with Armor 3, Attribute 4, Might 2d12, and Invulnerability +9 Temporal, +3 Mystical. Shortcomings of note are Odd Appearance, Must obey a Dee, Must remain polite.

The Dee Family

As of this writing, only three members of the Dee family have been seen regularly outside the domicile. This of course doesn’t mean the Genteel Magistrate can’t add more, as the family banishment from proper society means they are rarely seen and even more rarely taken notice of. Only when Carmen Edith Dee and Trajan Edward Dee don their costumes and frolic in the streets as Comedy and Tragedy can any certitude be maintained that they at least are real. Real enough, at any rate.

Lord Albert Quentin Dee

This is a man in his early 40s, with a distinguished salt and pepper moustache and goatee. Like all Dees, he is somewhat mad, and due to an accident he doesn’t talk about traverses the manor in a chair with a steam engine propelling its eight spiderlike brass legs; a gift from his daughter Carmen. He enjoys hunting (sometimes his guests), debate (while guests are in Iron Maidens), and lazy evenings by the fire.

What? Guests in the fireplace? Never! That would be insane. That’s what the hearth in the kitchens are for!

He is polite to guests, but will lose his temper if anyone mentions that he might be mad. The very idea of snapping and becoming furious, why it’s enough to bring him to a rage, it is! The rages last 2-5 (1d4+1) rounds, at which point he will be all smiles again. A dicey place, Dee Manor. But never boring!