Neva wince slightly at the thought of leaving the poor man alone, but Raliscar's suggestion was good. If there were other dangers, they best take care of those first.
"Yes, wait here for a bit. We'll be right back. If you get scared, head for the front door. You'll find our friend Felgar there."
She paused for a moment and thought. "That's 'Felgar'. Speak clearly and don't make any hasty moves towards him."
He nods, pursing his lips, before asking in desperation as the group prepares to exit "You will be back? Yes? I... I don't really want to venture out there alone." Beyond that, he renews the grip on his painting knife, and sits back watching the door, in the off chance he may need to use it.
"Yes, yes. We'll be back for ya. How about ye give us a word or phrase to say so ye know it's us when we return? Then, you can hole up in here until we make sure it's safe for you ta come out. How's that sound, Ausio?"
Once the frightened and traumatized man is settled and the group is ready to head back up into the house, Raliscar nods. "Right. Let's clear the rest of the first floor, then on up to the second." He checks his crossbow and ensures its loaded and ready for bear.
Vyshael nods, "Sounds like a plan."
As Rutter led the way forward, Neva remarked "We should also check the grounds and the servant's quarters. But for now, let's focus on searching all those rooms we ran through, and the top floor, some of which we haven't seen."
The man nods in response, offering, "Two short knocks, followed by a pause, then two long knocks." He settles in, looking at least a little comforted by the way the team is handling the threats.
In exploring the house, there is nothing left to find. The remaining rooms, unopened in the fight, have no threats within them. It seems the last enemy to fight was the one that had led them on a crazy chase into all the obstacles she had available in the house. Even the servant's quarters and yard were bare of any danger, as most of the servants were likely attending to the ball when the chaos erupted.
Rutter takes his time searching each dead undead as they retrace their steps. He particularly looks out for one that matches the description of the musician brother that they had come looking for, though he also looks for any that he recognizes from around town. He points out the former lady of the house that had been featured in the paintings in the basement. "Maybe we get that guy out of the house before we break it to him."
Neva followed along after Rutter, doing her best to put the corpses in poses fitting of the solemnity of death. She said a small prayer over each, while resigned sadness and righteous anger fought an pitched battle in her heart.
Trapped between despair and a desire for vengeance, her hands trembled slightly.
Given the time and opportunity to wholly examine the dead, none of them resemble the particular one you are looking for. It's hard to recognize the families present, but Rutter can tell that they are all part of the lower, upper class. No big names or families present, mostly what is known as new money, still looked down on to an extent by those born into wealth over a long line.
Vyshael says, "So, now, the question is what happened to the brother -- and who made all these blasted zombies... so, two questions. If we didn't find any clues, I guess we'll need to question that horrible woman, and best we not do it near the man in the basement."
As Neva performs rites and prays over the dead, Raliscar offers her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. His eyes are cold and hard in the presence of such death and tragedy, but there's warmth in the sympathetic crease in his brow and in the nod he offers. Before she has a chance to say anything, he simply says, "I know, lass. I know," before giving her shoulder another squeeze as he steps away to deal with another batch of bodies.
---
Raliscar nods gravely at Vyshael's words. "Aye, lad. An' I don't have a good feelin' about any of what we might learn."
"Considering the pay on this gig, it's starting to look like a bust."
Rutter sighs as he collects his thoughts. "Let's have Felgar drag the prisoner to one of the back rooms and keep her quiet. Then Vyshael and Raliscar and Neva, if you'll leave me with a light, bring the survivor out to the courtyard and see if a change of scenery calms him enough to tell us how many guests, entertainers, and servants would have been at the party. I'm going to walk around again and count the bodies. I'd like to know if the brother is the only one missing from this."
Neva thanked Raliscar for his comfort by giving his hand a squeeze. She then moved to help comply with Vyshael and Rutter's plans.
"I'll deal again with the survivor. I don't think I can face the jester again."
She gave Rutter some light and an admonishing glance to say Don't kill her.
Vyshael says, "Agreed, but remember, we need what's inside her head, metaphorically, not literally."
Rutter does as he says, retracing steps through the house and counting the dead, and trying to determine their class (guest, servant, entertainer). Though the others clearly suspected he might use the time alone in the house to execute the murderer, the advantage he takes while unsupervised is much more practical - he lifts a few of the most valuable accessories from the dead or the home.
When he finishes, he meets the others outside to compare the number he counted with the numbers provided by the surviving host to try to figure out if more people escaped than the one musician they had come to look for.
Despite the condition of the place when he makes his walkthrough, Rutter does manage to pick up a couple nice, if not gore-covered, baubles. He picks up four different pieces, but most of the valuables had already been found on the crazy elf.
As he does the count and returns to Ausio, the man is still somewhat shaken from the events. The daylight and fresh air do help to clear his senses. At first his count is much lower than Rutter's body count, but then he is reminded that they also wanted the number of servants and entertainers. When it's all said and done, the count is only one shy, the Varisian musical prodigy, and the very person you were asked to find by his sister Deyanira.
Neva questioned Ausio further about the missing musician. Did he arrive? Where did he last see him? And before that, how did he know to hire this musician, and how did he make contact?
"Well, that's a pickle. Where'd the boy get to then I wonder." Raliscar grumbles at the news, obviously puzzled by the boy's absence.
Rutter pockets the jewelry. 100 gp won't buy us much with our tastes now. Ain't worth trying to make something up about where it came from - they wouldn't approve. I'll just spend it on something that'll help everyone out, though.
After counting up the missing and coming up with 1. "Hate to say it, but it's a little suspicious."
Vyshael nods, "Agreed. I'm just trying to figure out if this was a set-up meant to kill us, or if the boy is actually missing and elsewhere."
Ausio is trying to be helpful, talking about how Lady Olauren handled most of the planning in between sobs. He is able to recall that she was excited to book the most recent big name in entertainment for the city. She knew that if she could make connections at the beginning of his career, it could reap rewards for their own notoriety. He did arrive, and perform, much to the delight of the guests.
Neva nodded at Ausio's story, and gave Rutter a "Yes, it does look suspicious" frown.
Perhaps we can track his "big name" though some of our contacts? she mused aloud, all the while wondering what they'd have to tell the distraught sister.
"Well, I guess we're at impasse then until that twisted elf wakes up an' we shake 'er down." Raliscar frowns at the lack of clear direction or answers and gruffs and grumbles into his beard.
Vyshael nods, "I don't know if she'll tell us much, but I do think we need to learn what she knows.... And I'm not one that's quite mastered the subtlety of enchantment magics.".
As the group spends time giving the house one final walk through, the elf wakes roughly an hour after she was knocked out. Looking at all those assembled, she twists lightly in her manacles, and smiles with a bit of a sexual snarl.
Raliscar's mouth screws in disgust beneath his beard at the elf's expression and the dwarf grunts in dismay. "Bah, but yer off yer blasted rocker, elf. Why do all this huh? Who helped you?"
The elf bats her eyes, and coyly smiles at Raliscar, before her face twists into a nasty snarl of hatred. She spits at the dwarf, and her demeanor changes, "F*!+ off! You ugly filthy wretch! You won't be able to hold me! I'm not saying shit to you lousy bastards! " Her laugh is more maniacal than her previously consistent giggle during the fight.
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Raliscar shoots back with a sharp, incredulous tone, "Ugly?! Filthy?! Of course I'm filthy, ye batty loon! I had ta cut my way through a house full o' zombified gentry an' chase yer bony arse all through the blasted manor!" He throws his hands up helplessly and stomps in a small circle for a few steps before spinning back toward the elf and waggy a meaty, calloused finger her way, "Now, it's plain as the ears on your head tha' you didn't turn all those poor people into monsters. So who did, hmm?"
Neva stood tense beside the others and watched Raliscar's interrogation. Will she really tell us anything, or is she too far gone?
Vyshael says, "Well, we won't let you go, so you'd best hope we can hold you."
Rutter leans against the wall observing the interrogation, "So why didn't you want to play with the people you let go? Or were you just not able to stop them? We counted three missing: the owner of the house, who we found in a hidden room; a musician, by all accounts a talented young fellow; and a suspicious servant - a very beautiful young woman, whom the owner had never seen before. He wasn't sure if his wife had hired her, but he thought she and the musician might have left together to do 'what young people do', since he'd seen them making eyes at each other before you showed up. I think she might have been your partner."
The woman scowls and turns her nose up at Raliscar, especially when he mentions what was done as being beyond her capabilities. You can tell that, although thoroughly twisted, she understands and is cognizant of her actions. She just seems to take a twisted pleasure in the disturbing nature of them. As Rutter spins his tale of love lost, she looks at the little man with disdain, and an unconcealed sense of superiority. He can tell, she clearly doesn't think he knows what he's talking about.
Rutter shrugs, "Or maybe she didn't even have a partner. Told you all questioning her would be worthless. We should've just killed her. We came here and did all this for nothing."
Rutter shrugs, "So what happened to them, then? Start with the musician: where'd he go when you crashed the party?"
Raliscar gruffs and grumbles under his beard at the bony-arsed elf as Rutter, thankfully, takes the reins of the conversation.
She looks at Rutter, "Why don't you tell me? You know SO much already." the sarcasm dripping heavily from her tongue. "Dead is dead.. unless it's undead. hehehehehe, what do I care of musicians, or maids, or manor owners?"
"Somebody made you care enough to come here, ye bony twit! An' yeah, yeah, ye can smirk all ye like. We get it: yer sick an' twisted an' ye enjoyed tha' mess in there. But yer not in there anymore, lass. Yer out here. With us. An' th' halflin's got a temper!"
Vyshael growls, "He's not the only one," then turns to the insane woman, "Seems unlikely that you ignore the living as beneath you, especially given how much you seemed to enjoy playing with us."
"You don't need to care about them much. Just care enough to live. Because if you can't tell me what happened to the people I'm asking about, you're no use to me. And if you're no use to me, and you're capable of all this - I'm justified to just end you right here. So I'll ask you one last time: what happened to the musician?"
At Raliscar's words the elf turns to Rutter with a lifted eyebrow, "A temper, huh? Does that mean he's going to hurt me... cause me pain?" She asks interested, while biting her bottom lip just enough to draw a little blood. When Vyshael adds his bit, wriggles with some excitement, "You too, half-blood? Not sure if it's your violent human half, or your pleasure-seeking elven side that's offering. We'll just have to find out." She squeals a little with glee.
When Rutter asks again about the musician, She looks pensive, "Oh, wait, are you more interested in men, or only have a thing for Varisians? That's a shame half-man, you had some potential for a 'little' painful delight. Tee he he he he"
Neva stepped up and put a hand on the woman's shoulder.
"If it's pain you want...." her voice trailed off and then she began a lower prayer. Healing energy flowed through her hand into the woman's body.
Once the healing was done, Neva looked directly into the woman's eyes.
"There's not going to be any pain, you poor, broken girl. There's just going to be darkness. And judgement. So, either tell us what we want to know, or get ready to meet the Grey Lady.
Neva looked very, very closely to see the woman's reaction.
Raliscar pats Neva on the shoulder and shakes his head, "No sense waitin', lass. We're gettin' nowhere with this bony trollop." He turns to Rutter then and nods apologetically, "I was wrong before, lad. Should'a listened to ya. Let's send 'er packin' ta Pharasma's court now and be done wi' this mess."
Vyshael says, "I'm sure there's some useful information in that blasted head, though I'm starting to doubt our ability to shake it out. Generally, if the solution isn't to stab things or use rather unsubtle magic, I'm at a loss to the solution."
Neva stifled a sigh, not wanting the woman to see her frustration. She thought about what they'd learned so far, and took up a new line of questioning.
"Why don't you start by telling us why you decided to join the Carowyn's party. He didn't think you were invited, but he remembered your dramatic entrance well enough. Why join this party? Is this a personal or business venture for you? Either way, it's clear that you enjoyed yourself."