Jerukh casts a final forlorn look at where the small pyre stands smouldering, then follows his companions deeper in the castle complex.
As he goes the alchemist downs one of his extracts which sharpens his awareness
You gain a +2 competence bonus on Perception checks and on all Knowledge checks that you are trained in.
If this spell is active when you have to make an initiative check, you can instantly dismiss this spell and gain a +4 bonus on that check.
With his senses more acute, he watches and listens with renewed clarity;
:
Emi continues down the hallway and checks, rather recklessly, behind the next door while Soli and company careful listen and open the first one.
The first door is easily opened, revealing a sparse room beyond.
Several bunk beds lean precariously against the walls in this
cramped chamber.
Meanwhile, Emi finds her door not so obliging. It takes a few tries, but the door finally gives way to Emi's ministrations and reveals what it had hidden.
Filaments of white, fibrous mold grow all along the walls and
across the bunk beds in this room, giving the room a foul,
musty stink. Here and there, thicker mounds of fungus grow
in nauseating colors.
Randal listens at the door, but holds off on opening it until he is sure the rooms the ladies checked out are clear.
Jerukh too pauses with a scowl at the second doorway;
"Alas molds and their fungal ilk are beyond my knowledge..."
He focuses his stare at Emi, then shakes his head with an awkward smile;
"Ach. I am not able to glean anything from your thoughts either..."
Vigny peers into the room over Soli's shoulder.
You spot, thanks to Soli pointing something out, a loose stone in the wall. Perhaps there's something behind it.
Emi cringes in disgust at room full of mold. Taking a step back away from the door she asks, ”Soliana, do you hafe any idea vhat this mold is? It is only in this vun room, so vhatefer is causing it must be in there...”
I hope it’s not another corpse...
When Soli moves over to check out the gross moldy room, Vigny tells her "Hey, when you're done in there come back. I think there's something up with the wall in here."
Vigny doesn't wait though, and goes on in the see if the loose looking stone in the wall will move.
Jerukh eyes the mold, attempting the discern its nature from a safe(r) distance;
:
As he hears the others talk, Randal's curiosity is piqued. He leaves the door where he was listening and joins them at the smelly grow room.
The mold is mostly harmless, and it might be possible to synthesize some useful reagents from it. It's certainly pervasive enough that it could, in theory, hide a corpse.
You hear something small go "Nyar!" just as you pull your ear from the door.
Behind the stone is secreted several pieces of slightly tarnished fine silver. A little polishing and they could fetch hundreds of crowns.
With a wide grin Vigny picks all the pieces out of the wall cubby. She goes to the other room to show them off to the others.
"Hey! Look what I found in the wall!"
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Emi’s eyes light up as she spins to see what Vigny has found. When she sees it her shoulders slump, her excitement fades to a frustrated frown, and she mumbles, ”oh good, dirty silfervare... surely that vill cure Ameiko...”
"Well no, it won't help with that. I just thought it was a neat find" Vigny replies in a slightly pouty voice.
”Any idea vhat to do here, cousin?” Emi asks moving closer to the door again and looking in at the mold. ”I do not think mold here could effect Ameiko so far avay, but there could be something hidden in it...”
Jerukh shrugs;
"The mood is benign... but could hide something more sinister..."
The healer moves to enter the room;
"Best ware as we search it..."
:
Vigny nods vigorously at Soli to signal her agreement. She keeps forgetting that Soli can't talk rather than isn't talking.
She stows the silver in her belt pouch
Emi wraps one of her scarves around her face and gets out her starknife. Using one of the knife’s blades, she tentatively begins scrape away mold to see what lies beneath it.
"We should make quick work of this search." Randal says, helping the effort, "I heard some noises coming from the room I had my ear to."
Underneath the mold are the headless skeletons of several of the castle's staff. Their limbs bear the scars of heavy slashing weapons, like axes. Further checking of the room reveals nothing of value beyond a few trinkets and coins worth 15 crowns all told.
Vigny stays at the door, watching in case something tries to sneak up on them. The mold is nasty.
Once the mold is upturned, Randal goes back to the door he heard voices from. As the others collect the few valuables, he listens at the door again.
A chill runs down your spine as you feel like you're being watched by something with too many eyes.
Your hair stands on end as you feel like something with too many eyes and legs is looking upon you. You press your ear against the door and hear the bone-chilling call of "Nyar!"
Vigny makes soft humming noises for a moment as she thinks about it, then decides to tell the others, even if they think she's being foolish.
"You know, I really get the feeling we're being watched..."
Jerukh finishes gathering a sample of the mold, then looks up in concern when Vigny voices concern about the group being watched...
He eyes the room suspiciously;
"Could there be more spirits or fey abroad?"
:
You feel as if ice water has been dumped over you as you look about for the source of your tension.
”I vonder vhat happened to their heads?” Emi remarks as she reaches her limit on searching through the mold and simply stops. ”Perhaps you could burn these as vell, cousin?”
Jerukh also tenses suddenly in shock, and locks wide eyes with first Soliana, then Emiliana;
"Ach! W-What was that? Did you f-feel it too? So c-c-cold!"
At his cousin's suggestion to burn the mold, the alchemist nods with a shiver;
"Y-Yes. For warmth as much as c-cleansing the sp-spore..."
He roots into his pack for combustible compounds...
Randal has little experience with corpses, and prefers it that way. As the others deal with the mold room, he continues to monitor the door he is at.
"Guys, no rush, but there's definitely something angry in this one!"
Jerukh pulls forth a flask of alchemical fire before nodding to the others;
"Anyone else have any fire or oil upon them? This is my last... the pyre expended much of what I had..."
The alchemist readies the flask with a tinge of melancholy as he remembers the last fire lit...
"Afraid not" Vigny answers Jerukh. Her hand feels sweaty and clammy gripping her sword in the diffuse eeriness, and she shifts over closer to Randal to wait.
”I am sorry, cousin, no...” Emi answers, ”but ve could grab the benches and table from the other room if you vant?”
After a few minutes, the room filled with mold and the bones of the long dead is aflame. It takes a while for it to burn as the group of adventurers do their best to keep the flames from spreading and setting the whole castle alight, especially the wooden beams that support the ceiling. All the while, there's that eerie feeling of being watched as you maintain the funeral pyre.
The day is growing long when the last embers are burned out. Long shadows stretch to the east where sunlight shines through the windows. Just above the horizon are gathering storm clouds. There will be rain tonight or tomorrow.
Now, there's only the door where Randal heard something angry behind. Sweat, cold and clammy, begins to appear on foreheads and palms. The hair on the backs of your necks stands on end. What horrors lay behind this door? The only way to know, is to open it.