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Once Varor is free, Bashiel follows after Zamanda. He hopes to cover the aasimar in case something unusual jumps out once the side door is unlocked.
He holds a hand on the hilt of his longsword, generally uneasy.
Pel follows the others to the side door, but glances back at the servants' quarters as he does so. He hopes failing to search it doesn't come back to bite them.
Zamanda attempts to scale the hedge:
[dice=Climb]1d20+2
Once over successfully, she approaches the side door to see if it is locked. If it is, she tries unlocking it, resolving to practice her lockpicking skills more.
[dice=Disable Device]1d20+3
The side door, likely used by servants, is unmoved by Zamanda's efforts. Yet, she does get the sense the door is somehow barred or barricaded on the other side and not merely locked.
Zamanda nods and moves to the Servant's Quarters, trying the door there, and attempting to unlock it if it is not open.
Zamanda and Ilsa (along with anyone else) head over to the servants' quarters and discover the door is not only unlocked, but swings slowly open at Zamanda's touch, the hinges squeaking slightly with the motion. Inside is a clean and well-kept living area, everything put into its proper place and undisturbed. A set of stairs lead up, presumably to the bedrooms. There is are two storage closets on this floor, both neatly stacked with uninteresting tools and supplies required to maintain a manor such as this. To the east of the area is a fireplace, cold with a set of ashes in the bottom, easily a couple days old, at least.
Zamanda searches the place, looking for keys or anything that might help them know more about or get into the other building.
As Varor lies on his back, staring at the sky and waiting for his pain to die, he starts to consider everything that's led up to this. “Hey Kalem, who do you think the most normal in our little group is?”
Pel follows Zamanda into the servants' quarters and searches along with her. He's looking for any indication of what might be going on in the mansion and also for a key to make entry easier.
Kalem extended a hand to help Varor up. With a slight smile he said ”Pel. Gods know how he puts up with it.”
It was funny, he thought to himself. A few days ago he was ready to strangle the elf. But the cleric was growing on him. And that is when it dawned on him. It was because the elf had earned his respect in the tunnels. His smile grew as he thought of sweat that ran down the elf’s face as he carried the lycanthrope back.
”Lets go see how our fellow misfits are doing in there.”
"From these ashes, it seems like the servants left even before the party began. Though maybe I just misunderstood Deyanira's description of events." He takes the end of his longsword and briefly sifts through the ashes in search of anything unusual.
While the rest of the team begins searching for a key or other useful items, Bashiel heads upstairs to check for any signs of occupancy.
A search of the servants quarters reveals nothing especially noteworthy. There are no signs of a struggle or violence. Yet, it is clearly a place that was occupied. Upstairs, you find bunkbeds, all neatly made, and various outfits and clothing for a small troupe of household servants. Yet, you do not find any keys.
Zamanda sighs, and decides to try another burglar trick. She turns her traveler's any tool into a grappling hook and ties it to some silk rope, to see if maybe they can get up to the second floor and maybe in through a balcony door... or a window if necessary.
We might have to climb up. Someone want to try throwing this up to that balcony?
”Sure. I’ll give it a shot...”
"Its barricaded... from the inside? Why would they do that if something dangerous happened within? Wouldn't they have wanted to-" Suddenly a few other possibilities begin occurring to Bashiel. A party where everyone inside went mad, expecting some kind of enemies outside. Or maybe even the people inside were trapped there by someone who only needed to delay them from escaping... His brow furrows as he follows the rest of the team out of the servant's quarters.
'Whatever it is, it's idle speculation right now... we need a way in.'
Seeing what Kalem and Zamanda are planning, he comments "A good idea with the balcony."
While the party tries to get the grappling hook up, Bashiel does an inspection of the courtyard, looking for any evidence of what may have transpired here at the manor.
Pel swallows hard at the prospect of climbing again. The hedge is one thing, but relying on only a silk rope? That's simply not something that seems logical to the arcanist.
Taking it slow, Pel tries to climb the rope but finds it to be surprisingly difficult to grip. It's only several attempts later that Pel manages to make it more than a couple feet off the ground.
While he waits for the others to climb up, Pel busies himself inspecting his wand and other gear in the hopes that the rest of the group will miss his cherry-red face.
As some of the party ascends to the balcony off the back of the manor house, Bashiel conducts a quick inspection of the gardens. Once again, everything appears orderly and neat, with no signs of violence. The only oddity he finds is the one observed from the front: all of the windows have heavy drapes drawn over them concealing whatever is within.
Up on the balcony, Kalem has no trouble securing the rope and helping the others up. There is a bank of windows on one side, then a door with another window on the second. The windows have heavy drapes drawn on the other side and all of their sashes have been closed and locked. The door is of the same sturdy construction found at the servants entrance.
Varor could understand Kalem’s opinion, as far as he could tell Pellius was the second most normal of the group.
The servants quarters holding nothing didn't seem right but Varor didn't comment on it. He didn't know anything about how servants lived and worked.
The suggestion of climbing up the balcony feels like another spike to him. “So has anybody considered what happens if we go in and find nothing? No plague-infested den or people barricading from the chaos outside.”
Ilsa finds the door is locked and, based on the feeling of it, likely barricaded on the other side.
”I’m of half a mind to take my hammer to the wall and make us a door.”
Zamanda gives it a go.
Bashiel looks the building up and down, then adds "A window would be easier." at Kalem's comment. "We are here with the full authority of the Guard, and have reason to believe not all is well inside. A little property damage might be expensive for the Guard to resolve, but if we let ourselves be turned away by a few locked doors, something far worse may occur inside unchecked."
All these words seem more aimed at himself than at the group. He seems to be trying to convince himself that this particular bit of breaking and entering is reasonable.
He clears his throat. "If you go for a window Kalem, I've heard that covering yourself in cloth can help prevent injury."
Zamanda gets a good sense of the lock's mechanism (it's eerily similar to one she trained on) and just when she's convinced she's about to get it to move, she realizes something has been jammed into it from the other side. With a little more time and effort, she may be able to do it.
"Perhaps try again, Zamanda, before we break it open? Any chance at subtlety will be lost otherwise. We still don't know who or what we're going to find inside."
Zamanda tries again, taking her time.
Playfully Kalem punched Bashiel on the shoulder. "That's right, take it easy there lawman. Next thing you know you'll be knocking holes in the wall!"
Bashiel scratches at his beard, clearly embarrassed at having even suggested breaking a window. "Uh, of course. All you Zamanda."
The door unlocks after a couple moments of Zamanda's attention. Her inspection also suggests the door is not trapped.
Within is revealed a massive art gallery with finely framed pieces covering the walls. Great windows look out to the west and south, with an alcove to the east with chairs for musicians. The center of the room has a stairwell leading down and opens to the lower floor.
The room is littered with more than a dozen bodies and corpses strewn across the floor. Yet that's not the worst of it. It seems like some of the corpses have been arranged in various poses after their death. The musicians are still in their chairs, holding their instruments as if still playing them. Two corpses are arranged, leaning up against the balcony facing each other, as if in conversation.
And then, moving about the room, are the others. At first your brain thinks they may be survivors. One pair, dressed in their finery, moves about the northwestern wall from one painting to another, pantomiming appreciation of the art. Another pair, near the stairs, has arms entwined and seems to be moving in a slow, stumbling shuffle vaguely resembling a dance. And then you hear a few strangled notes played from one musician's string instrument.
The stench of decay was becoming all too familiar. Kalem held his hand to his nose as he fought back a gag. Looking at the horror within his eyes went wide. The only saving grace was that he had expected some sort of tragedy to be found within, so it didn’t come as that much of a shock. That...and the pictures did look valuable. So there was no point burning the place down. Even the corpses probably had enough jewels and gold to make the venture worth while.
He lifted his hammer and waited for the word.
Zamanda opens the door, stares, and then turns to the others.
I think those are Zombies or something.
She takes out her bow and gets ready to shoot, but she waits for everyone to be ready, and steps back out of the way when Kalem wants to go past her.
-----------------
As soon as the first person comes through the door, the zombies turn as one towards the intruder just as the <snick> of a small bow can be heard.
A tiny crossbow bolt embeds itself in your arm, tearing the flesh and leaving a nasty wound. You see a woman suddenly blink into existence on the far side of the room, opposite the opening to the floor below. An elf with her blonde hair pulled back into a long, flowing ponytail, she wears what looks like a jester's outfit and cackles gleefully. "Welcome to the party! I'm so glad you could join us, but I don't think you have an invitation, do you?"
Kalem winced as the bolt hit him. His eyes flashed red (literally) and his fingers elongated into claws. His hammer burst into flames. With a roar he ran at her:
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Ilsa reels at the stench of decay. Even when she saw it all in her waking dreams, the smell was never this strong.
Taking one last breath of cleaner air, she plunges ahead after Kalem. Seeing most of the walking dead arrayed on the right side, she wills a nightmare into existence in the form of a slick black grease.
"Go left!" she cries out. "I'll try to block the right!"
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Bashiel strides through the now open door, the stench spurring him to pick up the pace. He hears the crossbow bolt plinking off Kalem's armored hide rather than seeing it, but he has absolutely no trouble spotting the source. His eyes narrow as he takes in the urgathoan (?) jester and the roomful of horrors. "Osiris free them-" is all he mutters before he turns his attention to the elf.
He spits out "You'll pay for this defilement, servant of Urgathoa."
He draws his Bardiche with a smooth tug and moves forwards to engage the first of the zombies.
Pel's jaw drops as he enters the house. He hadn't been optimistic about what they'd find, but he certainly hadn't expected this. The apparent servant of Urgathoa seals the tragedy of the situation. The only thing they can do now is avenge the fallen.
The arcanist moves over next to Ilsa before casting a spell at the largest group of zombies.
Zamanda steps in and shoots at Blue Zombie.
Zamanda's arrow clatters to the floor, falling from her bow after travelling less than a foot. She is embarrassed.
The disgusting stench of death is not what he expected when Zamanda opened the door, nor the grotesque displays of undeath.
Seeing that the side of the gallery to their right has been engaged Varor decides to dash to the left to ensure that the zombies don't outflank them.
Kalem: Ruin GM's best laid plans (hit)
Ilsa: Grease
Bashiel: Hit
Pel: Burst of Radiance
Zamanda: Miss
Varor: Double move
Kalem's instincts and naturally thick skin allow him to shrug off what could have been a dangerous wound. What the elf's attack did accomplish, however, was to enrage the tiefling who threw himself towards the zombies with abandon, cleaving one of them in half. Bashiel followed up and slow another after Ilsa created a slick surface to slow the onslaught, but when Pel called forth a blast of light, most of the zombies in the room are destroyed outright. Varor quickly approaches the last of the zombies in the room, joining Kalem on the west side of the gallery.
The elf cackles as Kalem ignores the effect of her shot, "Tee hee! Oh, you'll be fun, indeed. Come my little party crashers! Come and play with meeeee!" This time she casts a spell and a ray of dark green energy lashes out towards Kalem, after which she places one hand on the banister and leaps to the floor below then runs off into another room to the north.
The last zombie -- ignoring the elf who just ran up next to it -- attacks the flaming tiefling, slamming a rotting arm towards Kalem.
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Kalem was bludgeoned and sapped of his strength, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He had corpses to loot! With that in mind he swung his hammer at the last zombie and, when it dropped, immediately began seeing what was easily sellable.
“Kalem now it's not the time!” Varor says before he runs down the stairs after the elf.
Bashiel starts tensing himself to make the leap down to the lower floor when Ilsa's comment brings him to his senses. "-Right." He shakes his head in frustration and growls "I doubt I'd catch the mad elf in this armor anyway."
"On the other hand, we shouldn't give her enough time to unlock or break a way out of here. She has to answer for her crimes."
He advances to the top of the stairs and surveys them and the floor below for any traps waiting for the group.