Story of a Louisiana Plantation

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For the book in the 2024 game, see Lost Plantation of Louisiana.

Story of a Louisiana Plantation
Item information
Class	Clue
Type	Book
Author	Marquis de Champfrey
Location	Derceto library
Game Information
Appears in	Alone in the Dark (1992)

Story of a Louisiana Plantation is a clue in Alone in the Dark (1992).

Alone in the Dark (1992)

Transcript

If Rocks Could Talk or

The Story of a Louisiana Plantation
* *
by The Marquis de Champfrey.

After the criminal selling off of
Florida by the foul usurper, my father
elected to remain in this inhospitable
land where we were free at least to
express our royalist feelings and hope
our country would come to its sense. In
1818, a certain Pickford bought up
Ledoux’s land, after the poor fellow
had ruined himself in unfortunate
speculation. Pickford soon turned out to
be the most loathsome human we had
ever encountered.

He was an adventurer of the
worst kind, nouveau riche and bloated
with a grotesque sense of
self-importance. First came the
incessant army of men with shovels,
digging into the mountain of earth
that was to fill in the surrounding swamp.
The undertaking was quite stupendous.
We learned from a slave that the final
objective was to connect the existing caves
with another one, of gigantic proportions.

Wracked by a mania of persecution,
Eliah Pickford constantly fired his
workers and hired new ones. He did all
he could to keep anyone from learning
about his plans. My father was amused,
and said: “The poor fool will end up
getting lost in his own cave!” The walls
went up and tongues started wagging.
Our detestable neighbor had been a
sailor; a ruffian grown rich on
questionable trade. Distasteful stories
were told of him.

[INSERT MAP PICTURE]

When the work was finished,
Pickford invited us to the opening of his
rambling mansion, which he named
“Derceto”. My father asked what
the strange name meant. Pickford
answered: “Derceto reminds me of
Astarte, the fertility goddess. Around
here, the name is Shub-Niggurath, I
believe”. That a name so steeped in evil
should be said aloud came as not such a
shock to my father, as he himself
confided in me some while later.

We left immediately.

In June of 1862, Derceto was
burned down in unexplained
circumstances; it was undoubtedly the
deed of some jealous Yankee or another.
It was amazing to watch the servants
rushing into the flames to try and save
their bullet-riddled master. After that
terrible night, Derceto fell into ruin.
Its blackened walls were soon
overgrown, as human-built works
always are, by ever-present nature.

In 1875, the property was
eventually bought by a gentleman whose
name was Howard Hartwood. I was
sorry that my father, who delighted in
fine conversation, was no longer alive to
enjoy the company of this new neighbor.
Learned and well-versed in history, he
had made a particular study of piracy.
It was Hartwood who told me that
Pickford had commanded a ship that
flew the flag of piracy. That explained
the scoundrel’s great wealth!

Hartwood was fascinated by
Pickford, and undertook a great deal of
research in attempt to find some
treasure that he was convinced the pirate
had hidden. He went through the ruins
inch by inch. He then had the burnt-out
house rebuilt exactly as it had been, and
refurbished the library that had
miraculously escaped the flames on the
night of the great fire.

Hartwood set about studying every
volume in that library and often talked
to me of his research. He was a
handsome widower, deeply attached to
his son Jeremy, who was later to
become a professional artist.

Hartwood worked incessantly,
first from the room I offered him, then
from his own freshly-restored home,
which he re-baptized Derceto; I
imagine he hoped to enlist the help of the
god of good fortune in his treasure-hunt.
As far as I have ever been able to tell,
all his searching came to nothing.
There was no lost treasure to be found
at Derceto. I learned of Hartwood’s
death while I was in Paris. But that,
as they say, is another story.

Trivia

• This book can be seen in Shadow of the Comet in the hotel lobby in Illsmouth.

See also

• Lost Plantation of Louisiana

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