Quiella finds no evil auras in the dining room area.
In Fortress of the Nail, the group used a statue to turn a picture into a gateway to Hell in order to rescue Zarta Dralneen.
Valik and Melufiuos hears some sort of whimpering coming from the northwest, while moving closer Halkale pinpoints the noise to the door on the eastern side of the sitting room.
Melufiuos does not find any magical auras in the two open rooms.
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William moves closer to Halkale. "What is that you hear? Someone else... living here? Animal or humanoid? Or fiendish..."
Noting the clear and present threat, William will move close to the door in question and prepare to do his best to keep a safe gap between any threats and the party's back line.
"If there is anyone living here I would not expect them to be in full control of their faculties any longer, but I am always willing to give the benefit of doubt if it can save a soul. Civilians should not be expected to pay the price for a soldier's work."
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When William asks about the portrait, he replies, "Back when we were in the Fortress of the Nail, we used a statue to turn a picture into a gateway to Hell in order to rescue Zarta Dralneen. But since this one is non magical, I guess this is not like that."
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As William gets near the door, the whimpering sounds more like high pitched sobbing.
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Hearing the sound of a potential victim, William grits his teeth and utters a brief prayer to Bright before turning to Melufiuos. "Mel... I think there is someone in there crying. While I'm aware of the potential dangers, I feel it my duty to attempt rescue and recovery of any civilians in the line of fire. I trust you to have the firepower to intervene if things go south... or if it turns out not to be a civilian."
He places his musket on his back, then steps up to the door. "Citizen, I am here to help. I am going to open the door now, know you are with friends."
He takes a sideways glance towards Mel and mouths the words 'I hope' before turning and opening the door.
William opens door to reveal a closet with a young human girl inside cowering in a corner. Upon seeing the man, little girl shifts into a defensive fetal position and continues to hysterically sob.
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Quiella drops her sword and rushes to the girl's side, offering a comforting hand. "You're safe with us; we're good."
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Melufiuos attempts to disbelieve the girl, but she still appears completely real.
In response to Quiella's comforting words, the girl's crying slows and she wipes her nose with a sniff. "H-h-h-honest?" She asks through sob, "You're really good people?"
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William nods. "Affirmative citizen. Our mission is to purge this edifice of evil and harmful beings, allowing for peaceful habitation."
He looks at the girl for a moment, then thinks, mulling over the words in his mouth before speaking again. "Erm... We are here to shoot bad things and help good people. Like you."
He reaches his right hand to the girl.
Still looking quite afraid and confused, the girl does not accept the extended hand, but moves a little closer. "Is Mother, Pa, and Tarcey with you?" She asks, poking her head out of the closet to look around with excitement, which is short lived when she does not find who she's looking for, "Pa and Mother and Tarcey and me, we hit the road. Pa says we’ll walk and walk till we’re in Egorian, and that’s where he’ll find work. We walked so long, and I got real tired, and it got real dark and windy, and the rain made Tarcey cry. And Mother said, 'Let’s wait inside,' but Pa said, 'No way'—he said he heard there’s bad things live in Osty-garde. And then I dunno. Maybe there’s big, prickly cats. Maybe they scared me and so I hid from the thin men. I dunno. I want Mother and Pa."
Melufiuos stays vigilant against ambushes while the others speak to the girl, but senses nothing out of the ordinary.
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"Where are your mother and pa? Why are you in here if your pa wanted to stay outside?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
"The thin men drug Mother and Pa through the mud. In here, in Osty-garde. And Tarcey was crying and they didn’t even care. Mother and Pa said I’m supposed to never go off without them. When the scary statue chased me, I hid here, and Tarcey went off by himself. When I heard Pa shouting upstairs, I wanted to go up but I was too scared. Can you help me find them?" The little girl replies to Quiella's questions, shuddering throughout.
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William gets down on one knee, putting himself at eye level to the little girl.
"You did good. Is your name by chance Tilly? Tilly Anders? Listen to me carefully. We are going to do everything we can to get you out of here safe and sound, and we'll do everything we can to find your mother, father, and Tarcey. To do that we are going to need your help as well. Can you tell me what your Ma and Pa looked like? What they were wearing? We will also need to know what these thin men looked like, and what they said. The more you can tell us the more we will be able to do for you. When is the last time you saw your Ma and Pa?"
"Yes, my name is Tilly. Tilly from Kintargo. Pa says I’ll be Tilly from Egorian soon. I dunno how long I've been here since they took Mother and Pa, I was hiding from the scary statue. The thin men are really skinny and really mean. Their skin looks like mud. They grin real big but they never talk, except they maybe talk without words. I dunno." The girl answers, then proceeds to give descriptions of her Mother, Pa, and Tarcey. None of the descriptions match people or creatures you've seen here.
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William stays at eye level with the girl and pats her on the head. "You're going to have to stick closely with us. We'll protect you from these mud men but you'll have to keep an eye out for safe places to hide when things get really scary."
He tosses her the magic earplugs from earlier. "Keep these around your neck. If any more of those prickly cats show up put them on as quick as you can."
William will check the room Tilly was hiding in for anything useful and then begins to listen at the other doors. "We had best not leave any threats behind us... we do not want to be caught between the hammer and the anvil so to speak. But let us make haste."
The thin men's description is not recognizable to William.
The girl offers a shy smile as William offers to help her and nods in understanding. "Thanks for helping me find my family!" She then puts the earplugs around her next as requested.
The closet Tilly had been hiding in appears empty.
* * *
Progressing clockwise through the ground floor of the manor, the group first comes to what appears to be a private library. Esoteric books cram the shelves of two long bookcases. The shelves flank a desk whose surface is buried beneath dossiers, receipts, bureaucratic seals, and other symbols of office. A spiral staircase on the eastern wall rises to a second level.
Taking a long look around in the room, Halkale first spots an ominous collection of tomes called 'The Gates Ajar.' The library appears centered on them, but it's difficult to tell the subject matter of the books without leafing through them.
The dossiers and other papers also look like they may hold some interesting information, but similarly would need to be looked through to find anything of importance.
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As soon as he gets an 'all clear' from Halkale, William will move forward.
"We must remember to catalogue these on the way out, but for now there are lives at stake. Lets move upward. Be on guard... This is where Tilly said her parents were taken, so expect resistance. Tilly, this is the time when things can get messy quickly. At the first sign of danger retreat to this room and wait for one of us to tell you all is clear."
He flexes the joints in his spiked gauntlet, tightens up his armor, making sure the spikes stay at the shoulder and elbow areas most prominently, checks his musket, and proceeds up the stairs.
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Since we are rushing through, Mel makes a mental note to come back here and check for traps later.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Uh, I dunno. Hiding in the closet I slept a lot when I could." Tilly replies to William's question.
As William attempts to pick up one of the books comprising 'The Gates Ajar,' his hands erupts in greenish unnatural fire. Not only is he injured, he no longer feels able to touch the books.
Taking time to sort through the dossiers reveals an ambitious plan to amass an army of demons and serial killers and hide them in this isolated estate. The plan details inmate transfers to a prison named Sinner’s End. There is a list of prisoners provided.
You recall Sinner’s End recently burned down, claiming the damned souls within. With this in mind, it appears that evidence within the dossiers implies that their deaths were faked and the prisoners were taken to Ostergarde to swell the ranks of the hidden army.
The receipts on the desk specify that a man named Tancred Desimire funded the construction of Sinner’s End. In addition, the insignias on the seals and symbols of office match the etching found on the silver pommel you found in the stables.