Assuming that few if any items of interest would be left out by Elspeth in obvious locations such as the living room or the kitchen, Charlotte opted to search the basement instead. It was easy enough to find, as the door was ajar and the declining stairs were a dead giveaway as to what type of room they lead to.
Even if there was nothing of value to be found down there, Charlotte figured she could always check other rooms of the house later. However, this seemed unlikely, as in her experience the basement and the attic were the two places in any home where unique or otherwise random objects normally found themselves winding up.
Hopping carefully down the stairs into the dark recesses of the cellar, Charlotte relied on the dim light coming from a lantern hanging from the ceiling. It glowed a fantastic purple flame that enveloped the entire room in a warm violent shade. Charlotte began to look around, finding few things of interest at first.
There were boxes full of clothes, some old carpets and rugs rolled up into a pile, some old furniture, and the occasional stack of parchment paper. Charlotte almost gave up on the basement and was about to head back upstairs, when out of the corner of her eye she noticed.....