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title: The Old Man Upstairs
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A hovering, spectral head upon a neck that stretches several feet in length, like an unnervingly fleshy snake. He wears a tattered hood that is just as translucent as the rest of him. The Old Man (or “Mister Upstairs”) is the ghost of a priest who built a humble church to [[Our Lady of the Black Rose]] two hundred years ago on what were, at the time, the outskirts of the small town of [[Vesper Ridge]]. He was murdered in cold blood by fanatical followers of [[the Keeper]], and his restless soul has haunted [[Cairwick Orphanage|the site of his church]] ever since. However, before his death he had the foresight to hide several sacred texts of the Black Rose in an isolated chamber within [[the Labyrinth]], and he’s held out hope that someday they would be recovered by fellow adherents of the faith. Now, after many years, our party has found them: a three-volume series of scriptures titled Hymns for the Blossoming.