Walking up the narrow brick path to the two-story, stucco and stonework Irondale Inn, you are immediately taken with the simple 1830s construction of the building. The large windows, the green shutters thrown wide, and the two brick chimneys you can see from here give you the impression of a cozy country house.
Or, perhaps, of a spider, crouched and watchful.
Basic Information
The Irondale Inn was a new family home in 1838, constructed in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania for the master of a nearby ironworks. A plush, comfortable building with all the necessities, it also served another purpose; as a way-station for slaves on the underground railroad. Now, the Irondale Inn is a popular bed & breakfast, managing to maintain a rural feel just a hundred yards or so off the main street of town, and only a little further from the local University.
Rumor has it that the Inn is haunted, perhaps by three distinct spirits, the most commonly reported one being an old lady who opens and closes the doors. Guests have reported seeing objects hovering in mid-air over the staircase landing, and at night hearing movement and the clattering of pans within the kitchen. None of the ghosts have been reported as hostile, however, and the center of their activity seems to be a large, iron heating vent leading into the basement.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- A haunting in the Irondale Inn could result in harm to a guest.
- If the guest is an NPC, they could hire the PCs as an adventure hook.
- A friend sends the PCs a letter, asking for their help investigating the Inn.
- The PCs see a report in a newspaper about the incident.
- Alternatively, the guest might be the PCs themselves!
- PCs could be visiting the local university or friends, staying in the Inn without a clue about the hauntings.
- PCs could be in town as part of a tour of haunted locations.
- If the guest is an NPC, they could hire the PCs as an adventure hook.
- The ghosts at the Inn suddenly start scaring people; perhaps they are trying to warn them about something?
- The ghosts at the Inn are former slave-owners, killed and hidden in the basement when they tracked escaped slaves to the Irondale Inn. They might strike out at descendants of the ironworks master who built the house originally, or the owners of other local businesses, or the owner of the Inn itself, while leaving the guests alone.