Madame nods. "Let's." Masamune then takes up the lead to head into the room the ogre came from.
The room is a fairly large hall supported by 4 tall columns. With closer inspection, you determine that much of the debris were wooden cages or kennels, at one point set up along the walls but now scattered about the room. A bed of furs and rags sits in the center of the room with a smaller heap of bones - small animals and birds, primarily - and partially eaten turnips beside it. The room reeks like compost and rotten food.
A few moments search of the bed and you find a large pouch with coins in it. 77 gold coins, to be more exact.
There is one other exit, roughly across from the door you entered by, a door that leads deeper into the keep.
"Guess it's time to move soft...and carry a big...well, I guess none of us carry a big stick...or even sword. Oh well, let's get on with this. Alara, perhaps you could look and listen to what you might hear through the other door?" He says as he ushers the group onward.
"Can do." Alara nods, and carefully moves over to the other door and listens.
Piper cringes at the smell. He does smile at the coins that the team finds. When Alara goes forward, Piper decides to hang back for now, figuring that his clumsiness might get them in trouble again.
Quietly, Alara moves to the door and listens... but hears nothing. All seems reasonably quiet in the castle - or at least anywhere near this door.
Piper stays back with the rest of the group. As Alara investigates, he signs: 'Do you hear anything?'
Alara signs back: "Sounds quiet to me. This door's quiet, at least."
Piper nods and slowly approaches the door and moves next to Alara.
Unfortunately, he trips... a lot.
Piper's clumsy attempt at being quiet provokes no response this time. And beyond the door is found a short hallway. It is obvious from the layout and your previous explorations that one end leads to the throne room where Kikonu held court with his dire corby followers only yesterday.
There is also another door across the hall, leading to chambers unknown.
Alara moves to investigate the unknown door.
The door appears well-used in years past, though it is dusty now. No sound comes from behind it, nor does it appear to have ever been built with a lock.
Alara waits for the others to gather round before she peeks inside.
When given the go ahead, he moves up to be near the ninja before she moves in.
Piper moves closer to Alara.
Masamune makes sure to stay close enough to assist if needed, but far enough away to not interfere with Alara's scouting.
Beyond the door, Alara finds a chamber that once was set up to be a latrine. The wooden seats are reasonably intact, as is a bench and table, but the crockery has long ago been smashed. Dust covers everything. It is apparent that the dire corbies don't use this particular room - as is evidenced by the piles of corby droppings that you have encountered elsewhere.
It seemed odd to Rawnie that the corbies would leave any room untouched, so she decided to cast Detect Magic while glancing over the room and trying to remember if it's significance made her recall anything.
Piper is surprised that there is no droppings in this room. He racks his brain for why this is.
He also uses the Detect Magic spell, his eyes glowing blue.
Nothing detects as magical, nor is there any significant lore known about dire corbies and bathrooms, nor about Brinewall's privies.
Though perhaps a fan of irony might note that one of the places where the dire corbies don't leave their droppings... Is the john.
"Perhaps there is another way to go...because this just seems to be the place that they go..." he whispers as he takes a couple of steps back.
Piper looks at Jacen as he makes he joke. He thinks for a moment. He then pulls out his chalk and chalkboard. He starts to write something on it. When he's done, he flips it around, showing that he wrote a big '4' on it.
Alara groans. "...boo."
"Come on--let's... let's just move on." She walks out of the room and towards the double doors in the main hall.
Masamune stands there confused for a few moments. Why do they keep the bathroom so clean if they just are going to go anywhere. Do they just not use the bathroom! Shaking his head and determining that it was just one of life's mysteries that he would never figure out Masamune nods at Alara. "Right behind you."
As Alara makes her way to the double-doors off the main hall, she spots a change from the last state it was in the day before. The head of Kikonu (that Masamune lobbed at the corbies) has been set on the lord's seat - like a beheaded king's head set upon a throne. There are no other creatures in the hall, though.
The double doors may once have been intended to be moderately fancy with decorative carvings in the shapes of fish. These have been marred by deep scratches and gouges, possibly from an axe. The wood exposed by the gouges is well-weathered so it appears that most of the damage is many years old.
The door is closed, but its mechanism is clearly in bad shape and wouldn't be able to hold or secure the doors any way. It looks like all that would be needed to open them is a push. And all seems quiet within.
Piper follows Alara. When he sees the severed head on the throne, his head tilts. At the doors, Piper looks at the woodwork, clearly impressed. He looks to Alara. He signs: 'Shall we, dear?'
Alara nods and gently pushes the door open.
The doors open into a large circular room, probably once used for entertaining given what remains of its decor and arrangement. A ring of pillar supports a balcony just over fifteen feet above. A flight of stairs winds up to the balcony along the southern wall. Faded paintings of dancing elves decorate the walls, spattered here and there with ancient bloodstains. It appears this was once the site of a serious battle.
Masamune does look around in wonder a bit looking around at the signs of battle he whispers a short prayer under his breath for the fallen before stepping in.
Piper enters the room, amazed by the architecture. He moves carefully, trying not to raise any noise. He looks at the paintings of the dancing elves.
He is rather curious as to the bloodstains. He examines them, trying to figure out what the combatants were. He also racks his brain for any information on what battles may have gone on here.
He keeps an eye out for any enemies, trouble, and anything interesting.
Piper has no recollection of any battles known to have occurred in the ballroom at Brinewall Castle - however, the clear evidence of battle on the room more than hints at what befell the castle when all contact was lost with it. In fact, he notices that one of the participants in the battle that marred the room must have been a creature of prodigious size or strength. There are deep gouges in the walls (amid the larger bloodstains) that may have been made by a heavy cleaving weapon like a greataxe. An ogre or even larger giant could left such terrible evidence behind.
There are no significant remains of warriors or other battle participants left behind, but a couple of the gouges in the walls have some crud that may have been the flesh, bones, hair, or even clothing and armor of the poor victims of the brute.
Alara looks at the paintings of dancing elves, her face turning sorrowful when she sees the bloodstains. "...oh."
She crosses the room to examine the double doors on the opposite wall.
Piper hums at the bloodstains as he looks them over. He writes on his chalkboard: 'I'm not familiar with any battles that may have occurred here. However, given the signs here, I may know what was here when all contact was lost with Brinewall. Looking at at the deep gouges and the larger bloodstains, one of the combatants must have been either quite large or very strong. It was probably armed with a heavy cleaving weapon, like a greataxe or something. An ogre or a larger giant, most likely. There's also some evidence of flesh, bones, hair, clothing, and armor from the victims in these gouges.'
The double doors opposite the grand entrance are very similar to the others, though in a bit better repair and fully closed. They appear to be neither locked nor trapped.
Alara notices a couple of smallish black feathers stuck between the doors as if they closed on one of the corbies and were pulled free.
Alara holds up a hand and signs: "Corbie feathers in the doors. I think there's more past here."
The room seemingly safe, Rawnie looks around in it a bit, trying not to fall behind and get lost nor to get ahead and attract attention.
Masamune nods in assent at Alara's signs and pulls out his weapon readying himself for any combat ahead.
Piper nods at Alara and gets his flute at the ready.
Staying behind his brother, he rubs his hands together, hiding them under his robe sleeves.
Alara opens the door.
The double doors open into a short hall with a pair of double doors opposite the entryway and two other single doors on either side. All of the doors in the hall are sturdy and utilitarian in design - much simpler than either of the doors in or out of the ballroom.
There are no other feathers in the hall, though it looks like there's a stain on the floor in front of the double doors at the other end.
Piper looks at each of the doors and the stain. He signs: 'Which way first?'
"I'm following you lot...I just am here to make sure you all get home and that our dear friend is cured. Best I can tell, we have to go everywhere to be sure we cover all the ground..."
Masamune moves over to the double doors at the other end and once everyone is ready opens them.
Up close, it is clear that the stain on the floor in front of the other double door is dried blood. There isn't a lot of it, but definitely a smear.
Beyond the door is an unusual sight.The walls and floors of the room beyond are decorated with countless preserved creatures ranging from small birds and forest creatures to more fearsome predators like badgers and small bears. Several look relatively fresh and others look like they are partly preserved remains of humans. The freshest of all is the head of a dire corby near the center of the room. It looks like someone (or something) has been trying to skin it as part of the flesh is peeled away. A set of small knives is arrayed around the corby head. There is no obvious sign of the owner of the tools.
Piper, with flute still in hand, steps into the room. He inspects the room, the tools, and preserved animals. He does turn away in disgust from the dire corby head.
Masamune walks over and picks up the dire corby head turning it all around trying to examine it closer.
A quick flash of metal suddenly appears low at Masamune's side. A small figure seems to have lashed out with a blade at the samurai. She appears female, dainty, and elf-like and wears a brightly colored dress that looks like it is made of butterfly wings and flowers. She also has a sadistic look on her face as her knife jabs into Masamune's side. Fortunately, it's barely much of a scratch (2 hp damage to Masamune).
Initiative
Masamune hisses in pain as the creature stabs him and he responds by swinging his sword at the fey creature.
The small creature dances aside from the warrior's attack and she's off - moving so fast her features blur. She tucks and rolls under Masamune's legs, affording him no opportunity to keep her at bay.
She closes the gap to Alara and lashes out with her blade, striking the elven woman (for 4 hp), before she wheels away again to curve around behind the group.