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She stops on a stair and turns to Ander with a smile and a nod. Without saying a word, she continues up the stairs.
Assuming that you follow, you see her lead you back to the keep. You pass the caretakers, but they don't seem to notice the ghost lady, nodding to you as you pass. "Have you found anything?" Darvag asks.
The lady spirit continues on into the mansion portion of the keep, waiting for you patiently at the door.
"I think we might be on to something Darvag.", Yarroth says distractedly as he follows the ghost into the mansion.
Raina follows like a lemming.
Ceidith simply follows behind the rest of the group
Largo nods to the caretakers as they pass.
"The investigation continues."
Kairon finds it very odd that he is following a creature from beyond and wonders to himself if this is the wisest thing to do.
Ander chuckles to himself at the realization that this is *not* the strangest thing he's ever followed around or chased.
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As you step up to the door, she walks through. Finding that the door is locked, you use the key that you were given and you have free reign of the house.
The outside doors are thick oak, and look very sturdy. The main interior is well-lit with candles and oil lamps. The interior doors are much thinner wood that the exterior ones, and therefore not as sturdy.
The ghost woman takes you through the foyer and front room then up the grand staircase. She leads you through the house toward the master bedroom, but stops just before it and walks through the door.
Again, like the other doors, this one is locked, but is also opened by the key given to you by the housekeeper.
As you enter, you see the ghost standing near the door and she looks first at you, then her eyes wander across the room. When her eyes come back to you, she begins to fade away.
A quick glance shows that the three room suite-- comprised of a bedroom, a sitting area, and a study/office-- are in good repair and looks to have been cleaned recently. The wall and floors are richly decorated with carpets, paintings and tapestries that depict various heroic scenes.
The room itself is untidy, but otherwise appears well-tended; the bed is freshly-made and a few piles of laundered clothes lay on the bench at its foot.
There are several things that are readily apparent:
- Each of the three rooms overlooks the courtyard below.
- The area looks lived in, and although it is definitively untidy, it is clean-- everything has been dusted within the last couple of days.
- A bookcase full of books and scrolls stands beside a large, comfortable sofa with two large books laying upon it, each open to various pages.
Upon searching the desk in the office, you find that it is covered in various sketches, random musings and some rather sloppy attempts at poetry. The sketches mostly depict the keep and its people. There are three locked drawers.
The bookshelf contains a variety of books and scrolls that cover a wide array of subjects from heroic stories to dusty histories (mostly on the Moonsea region), from theological debate to dry lectures on law and from poetry to books on long dead languages, all sorted by subject.
The first book on the sofa are titled Moonsea Cults by Thalioss of Tyr, written entirely in Thorass (an ancient derivate of the Common tongue) and is largely incomprehensible. The second book is a bit more modern and seems to be about potential curses and how to counteract them.
The carpets, paintings and tapestries bear artwork that depicts scenes of heroism and sacrifice; among them female knight in shining armor facing a red dragon in a burning village and a priest bathed in light, keeping a group of undead at bay while his congregation barricades itself within his church. The scenes are a bit idyllic in that the side of good always appears to be winning.
"...Huh."
Looking at some of the adornments around the room, Kairon says "Hmmm, someone favors Tyr. I assume this is the young lord's room?"
Ceidith leans towards the drawers, takes out his theives tools, and confidently begins to insert the pins into the locks.
After picking open the locks on the drawers in a flash, Ceidith opens them and peers at their contents. Taking the sketch, he shrugs and puts it in his pockets. He then heads towards the bookcase, and begins looking there. He quickly finds the hollow book, and takes out the holy symbol, and also puts that in his pocket, but not before curiously gazing at it.
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After you have been searching the rooms for a while, and your investigation there is coming to a close, out a nearby window, you see the ghostly priestess standing in the courtyard looking up at the room. Then she catches the attention of one of you, she turns and begins her slow walk toward the Eastern Tower.
Investigation:
"Interesting..why don't you show everyone what was in the hollow book Ceidith? Was there anything in those locked drawers?"
Raina looks around, unable to decipher what others seem to grasp intuitively.
"Nice place for a lighthouse keeper," Largo quips, idly fondling the elegiac tapestries.
"But this lot means about as much to me as a orc's diary. Anyone else find anything this ghost might be keen on?"
Ceidith pulls out the items from his pockets, shrugging as if embarrassed. [b] Didn't seem important[b]
Ancient languages. Text in that language. A shrine to Tyr. That's his holy symbol, right? Always thought it was scales on a hammer, but maybe the gauntlet is an older version.
I think the young master was trying to protect himself while also looking into the secrets down below. Likely has something to do with what we found in the west tower.
Looking out the window, she says, The woman is calling for us again. I think we should follow. Matching words to actions, Raina follows. Bring that stuff we found. Might need it.
"Agreed," Ander says with a nod, hustling out after Raina.
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After a short conversation, you leave the mansion, following the ghostly lady of Tyr to the Eastern Tower. The tower lies directly behind the mansion, across a short courtyard.
Upon entry into the first floor, you find that this tower seems to be used to store furniture. The ghost is nowhere to be seen.
Largo follows the lead into the tower and blinks through the sudden haze of dust. Motes swirl in the light of the open door like slum flies around a week-dead horse.
"What's the lady want us to find this time..."
His eyes flit around the room and stop on a patch of floor against the far wall. He walks over and crouches down to draw a finger across floor, to where the dust covering the edge of the room suddenly stops to form a rectangular outline. Largo looks to his right, at the antique wooden armoire towering right at the edge of the dust-shadow. He looks back to the group.
"Who's got the strength to move this?"
Raina looks for the ghost and is unable to find her.
Ceidith shrugs, palms the holy symbol and the sketch, and begins to head after the ghost. He looks at Largo. Someone strong. And tall. And handsome. Like me He breaks down into laughter, and begins to head towards the diminutive, couching down when he gets near.
The halfling strains himself against the weight of the armoire, with predictable results.
"Can't tell under that mask. Plant some boots here and I'll vouch for two out of three."
"Have you found something? Why are we moving this furniture?" Kairon moves to the side in order for a stronger member of the party to step in.
Ceidith pushes up his sleeves, exposing a complete lack of muscle, and attempts to push the furniture.
Raina chuckles. Try taking the mask off. Maybe it'll boost your muscles.
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The couches and chairs move easily enough with the two of you working together. As you pull the furniture out, you can see a boarded over door, with a few loose planks at the bottom, near the floor. Largo could easily slip through the opening, but anyone else would take a little work to squeeze through.
A beautiful reading desk of a purple wood fills most of the remaining space. Placed on the desk is a journal. As it is relatively new, it is easy to come to the conclusion that it belongs to the young master.
The journal lacks any easy reference points. There are no dates, just random notes all over the pages, including sentences in the margins. It almost seems like a collection of thoughts than an actual journal.
It is full enough that it could take you a couple of hours to pore through the entire book.
Str check:
Ceidith laughs at Raina's comment, and not-so-easily squirms through the opening. Emerging through the opening, he heads towards the journal, and begins skimming through the journal. Whoever wrote this is not exactly the best writer....
"Is there anything in there?" Largo calls through the opening.
"We should have tied a rope to him," he mutters to the rest of the group. "One tug for yes, two tugs for no, and thirty tugs for 'retrieve my half-eaten corpse'."
Kairon sits down on a random couch to make himself comfortable while they wait for the scout.
Yarroth will help with the rope tied around Ceidith while also trying to keep his eyes open for any possible dangers.
Raina stands back and watches.
Kairon looks at everyone. Smiles at Raina and pats the open seat next to him beckoning her to sit next to him. "So, am I the only one that finds it strange that we are following a spirit around?"
Raina goes to sit next to Kairon, crossing her legs as she does so.
I find it fascinating. It's not often history literally guides you down a path.
I mean, how often have you searched for the records of a kingdom or traced the lineage of a community song, only wishing there was sometime who could just connect those last few pieces together?
No, I don't find it strange. Usually ghosts try to kill you. At least she is trying to help. And I am thankful for that.
Ander gives Kairon a deadpan look and states matter-of-factly: "I once had to chase down and tackle a magical lightning bolt, so no, following this ghost isn't all that weird for me."
Returning Ander's stare with a wry smirk Kairon says "Well, as Raina mentioned, most ghosts I've encountered have been rather aggressive. I just bring it up to point out that we seem to be following this apparition around blindly. Let's just be careful that she doesn't lead us into a trap. As an example, our scout has been in that hole a long time, should we be concerned?"
Turning back to Raina "You are truly an adventurous soul my dear. Tell me more about yourself. "
Cedith is about to turn around and head back out of the crawlspace, when he sees the ghost Uhh... guys? SHE'S here.
What does she want? What's in there? Raina calls out.
To Kairon, I am from the archepelagos north of the Moonshaes, on a small island where I tended the shores with my people.
I grew up with a love of the stories of all the people who sailed by, and as soon as I was of age, I left the shores to explore the world and learn the history of other folk. What about you? Where are you from? What is your people's story?
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Ceidith crawls quickly out of the crawlspace, looking a little shaken, and holds out a journal for someone to grab.
As you look at the journal you find that it is relatively new, and it is easy to come to the conclusion that it belongs to the young master.
The journal lacks any easy reference points. There are no dates, just random notes all over the pages, including sentences in the margins. It almost seems like a collection of thoughts than an actual journal.
It is full enough that it could take you a couple of hours to pore through the entire book.
Assuming that you do take the time to look through it, the last page seems to stand out...
Largo shifts atop his stool as he peers over the table where the book had been set.
"A 'head surrounded by tentacles'?" He scratches his suddenly prickly nape. "Whose treasure were these folk after, exactly?"