Le Coteau des Ombres

Overview

Le Coteau des Ombres (The Shadowed Hill) is the family estate of Comte Émeric de Puyrault, located on the northern outskirts of Lyon overlooking the Saône River. Once a thriving aristocratic property, it was devastated during the Revolution and Napoleonic wars, and is now slowly being restored under Émeric’s stewardship.

Location & Access

• Distance from Lyon: 30-minute carriage ride from Place des Terreaux
• Route: Along Route de la Croix-Rousse, ascending toward and beyond the Croix-Rousse hill
• Surrounding Area: Aged vineyards, quiet orchards, neglected farmland
• Atmosphere: Remote, quiet, slightly melancholic

Estate Composition

Main Manor House

• Stories: Three-storey stone residence
• Layout: U-shaped, with main floor, upper floor, servants’ quarters
• Condition: Partially fire-damaged during Revolution; gradually restored
• Key Rooms:
  • Entrance hall
  • Dining room
  • Library (intact; contains pre-Revolution texts)
  • Salon
  • Kitchens
  • Bedrooms (mostly dust-sheeted)
  • Master suite
  • Private study
  • Servants’ quarters (attic)
  • Cellars (disused, damp)

Additional Structures

• Wine Press: Crumbling, partially functional
• Stable-House: Partially converted; functional for horses
• Walled Garden: Overgrown but still fragrant

The Chapel

• Status: Nailed shut; Émeric refuses to enter
• History: Desecrated during Revolution; “people’s trials” held there with subsequent executions
• Atmospheric Notes: Locals sense something wrong about it; Thérèse refuses to approach

The Vineyards

• Condition: Half-productive; vines bear small, black clusters
• Local Name: “Les raisins de la honte” (the grapes of shame)
• Reputation: Villagers claim they taste faintly of ash and iron; some say they whisper in the wind
• History: Once produced full-bodied Beaujolais; now diminished

Historical Notes

• 1793: Seized during Siege of Lyon; used as revolutionary barracks
• Revolutionary Period: Looted, damaged, used for executions
• 1795–1806: Napoleonic quartermaster station; wine sold to fund military
• 1806–1814: Abandoned, looted multiple times
• May 1814: Émeric returns under Bourbon Restoration; begins restoration
• August 1814: Current condition—partially restored but still bearing war’s scars

Local Reputation

The villagers fear the estate. They believe it is “tainted by blood and silence.” This reputation is:

• Partly superstition (Revolution trauma)
• Partly genuine (sensing something odd in the vineyards or chapel)
• Partly practical (bandits avoid well-guarded estates)

Staff

The estate maintains minimal staff:

• Jules (steward, mid-50s): Lives in gatehouse, protective and loyal
• Thérèse (cook/maid, elderly): Warm-hearted, refuses to enter chapel
• Lucien (stablehand/groundskeeper, 30s): Ex-soldier with military bearing

Visitor Potential

If the investigators accept Émeric’s hospitality, the estate becomes:

• A safe haven in Lyon
• A base for local operations
• A place to rest and recover
• A window into rural aristocratic life post-Revolution

Keeper Notes

• The estate is not inherently dangerous or supernatural, but it carries psychological weight
• The chapel is the only location with genuine atmospheric strangeness
• The vineyards may contain subtle clues or atmospheric moments
• The library contains pre-Revolution texts useful for research
• The estate’s isolation makes it valuable for planning or hiding
• Do not make it supernatural—the wrongness is human and historical

Campaign Design Notes

Le Coteau des Ombres represents the investigators’ potential integration into Lyon’s social structure through Émeric. It is a place of recovery and respite, not horror—though the memory of what occurred there lingers.

Campaign History

Chapter 2 — Lyon

The investigators stayed at Le Coteau des Ombres as guests of Puyrault throughout the Lyon chapter, using it as their base of operations. They were ambushed by ciimba on the road up to the estate — their first encounter with the zombie children. Augustus was bitten and fell sick. The party killed the creatures and burned them in a bonfire in the back garden.

After the destruction of Savarin’s cell, the survivors rested at the estate for several days before departing for Vienna. During this period, Puyrault proposed to Georgiana and was refused.

Connections to Other Files

• Emeric_de_Puyrault — Owner and resident
• Jules_Steward — Estate steward
• Therese — Cook and household staff
• Lucien_Stablehand — Groundskeeper and stable master
• [Chapter_2_Lyon](…/chapters/Chapter 2 - Lyon/chapter-2-overview.html) — Primary location for social subplot

Relationships

• Owned by Emeric de Puyrault — Comte Émeric's family seat
• Managed by Jules Steward — Jules maintains the estate