Seeing the open attic as an invitation, Regeris hangs back and whispers briefly that he's going upstairs before he hauls himself into the attic, watching constantly for anyone. Once in, he starts looking for disturbances in the dust.
Not having any idea what else to do, Tassira opts to keep an eye on the way the party came. If the worst happened and this ended up being a trap, she'd at least make sure she could see it coming.
Regeris anticipates the strike as he raises himself up into the attic, placing first his head and then his upper chest in a terribly exposed position before he can get his feet back under him and come back to his guard. The dim light is just enough to make out the shape of the entire space. The light is coming from a louvered panel just to Regeris's right hand. All around the rim of the trap door where he sits the layer of dust is disturbed. Following the markings leads right to the panel itself. Placing a hand on it, he realizes it swings outward on a hinge built into the top of the panel and leads out onto the building's eaves - an exit onto a path through the Shingles.
Looking around the cluster of nearby roofs he sees no sign of anyone else. If your quarry came this way, it would appear that her escape was clean.
Emi's wanderings take her to the bucket, the litter of tiny shavings and the window that looks down on the lane behind the rowhouses. Sitting on the windowsill is a half-carved piece of wood. Picking it up, Emi realizes the woodworker was making a carved key. Judging from the number of shavings on the floor, she likely sat vigil at this window for a while before you got here.
"It seems like they're always a step ahead of us," Nebbin says unahppily. "If they're gone, should we go over to the other apartment still? Maybe they left something there?"
Emi tucks the wooden piece away to look at more carefully later.
"Might as well take a look around the other place. But carefully, if they expected us there it could well be booby trapped."
What is the group's plan for entering Penderghast's flat? The door is locked and no one answered Nebbin's knocking. The gate in the back is latched and you've not explored the rear of the home.
"We didn't really finish looking around the back of the place. I spotted the elf before we were done. There's a high fence, and so probably a back door. If the front's locked, we can try the back first and go from there..."
"Maybe Nebbin and I can stay at the front door until the rest of you have checked out the back," Kayleigh counters. "I'd hate for Rolth to just stroll out the front doors while we're all around the back."
"Let's look at the back first. I can pick the lock if necessary but there may be a more elegant way in."
With Kayleigh and Nebbin agreeing to guard the front, Regeris heads to the back with Emi (Tassira going where she wills) to get an idea of what's on the other side of the gate and the security of the gate. If it looks clear, he'll try the gate's lock with Emi as lookout.
Tassira opts to go with Kayleigh and Nebbin to stake out the front door.
Nebbin keeps a watchful eye, looking for Rolth and blonde elves and anything else that might be inside and pose a threat.
In the lane around back, Emi and Regeris find that the latch on the gate bears no lock. Despite your attempts at discretion, the gate is hideously loud on its rusted hinges. Beyond the gate you find a small weed-choked plot of dirt, not evidently used for any purpose. A bay window on the rear of the house should look out over the yard, but its curtains are drawn shut. There's a short flight of steps up to a narrow rear entrance, and when Regeris inspects this door he find it locked.
Regeris easily defeats the lock on the rear entrance in mere moments and quietly pushes the back door open. The room beyond is a drab kitchen, its gloominess magnified by the drawn shades and the stone-cold hearth. Pots and pans hang on the walls, the house cutlery seems to be in its place. Nothing suggests that this could be the home of a serial murderer. There's a narrow hall that leads to the front of the house, and a stair that branches off the hall and leads to a darkened upper story landing.
Neither Regeris nor Emi detect any signs of life in the house.
Once they're inside the house, Emi suggests to Regeris "if you want to start looking around, I'll go let the others in."
Emi makes her way to the front door, keeping an eye out for traps. She checks the door carefully before unlocking it for Nebbin, Kayleigh, and Tassira.
She opens the door with a sardonic "Welcome to the House of Horrors".
Kayleigh gives Emi a polite nod and enters, looking around. When nothing looks out of the ordinary, she asks, "Did you and Regeris find something? Or...was that 'House of Horrors' crack somewhat sarcastic?"
After looking around a bit, the priestess adds, "Actually, it's not that surprising, really. Penderghast likely lived a double life: the one he shared with his respectable associates and a second grisly one he shared with Blondie and his necromancer chums."
Moving cautiously and carefully and very prepared to encounter a trap, Regeris starts padding through the house.
Nebbin enters carefully, expecting horrors, though relaxes as Kayleigh's words and the sights before him dispel that fear.
He looks around, hoping he can help find some sort of clue so they can stop this killer.
Tassira is the last one in, her eyes glowing with arcane sight.
The lower level of the home is as unremarkable as the kitchen. There's a sense of wealth - leather, marble and wrought iron - but none of it looks very lived-in. Searching through closets and drawers you find some odd items: a set of well-kept surgical instruments, a possibly-human thigh bone. But nothing that seems that out of the ordinary for a noted anatomist.
The first note that things might be different on the upper floor is a subtle tang in the air that tickles the back of the throat. The smell gets progressively stronger as one climbs the steps. With a mounting sense of dread, Regeris uses the toe of his boot to nudge open the door to a bedroom and stares into the gloom beyond. The room is dank with the smell of old death and too dark to make out anything but vague outlines. There's a thick curtain on the opposite wall, drawn tight against the morning light. As his eyes slowly adjust to the room and his mind has time to resolve the outlines it occurs to him suddenly that the shadow in the corner that he took for a coat-rack actually looks alot like a man.
His hand on his sword, Regeris raises a hand as he stares into the room. "Everbloom light my path." A white light fills the room.
Kayleigh pauses inside the front door long enough to cast her own light spell before proceeding upstairs (likely with Nebbin).
"Dust bunnies of a size to make you shudder" Emi replies to Kayleigh.
As she leads them back through the house to find Regeris, Emi reminds the others "Until this place has been well checked watch your step, and don't be too handsy with things laying around, there could be nasty surprises set up for us."
His nose wrinkles as he goes upstairs.
"It doesn't smell like it's safe..." he whispers.
Milani's power blasts the shadows of the room to pieces, revealing a fully furnished bedroom. There's a large bed, a bookstand, a desk and a wardrobe. It also reveals the body of a man in the corner, held suspended in a standing position by shackles around his wrists fixed to a spike driven into the wall above his head. He's naked, except for an iron mask that hides his face. He hangs there loosely, surrounded on the ground by the offal of his abandonment, and of his dying. Above his head is a dark symbol that draws the inquisitor's eyes.
Regeris lets out a blood-curdling scream that echoes through the house as he sees the symbol and the body hanging from the shackles. Turning he bolts, running past the others in a dead panic as he tries to escape the hosue.
Kayleigh watches in shock as Regeris--the bravest man she knows (Emi would wear that crown among the women she knows)--bolts from the room in unbridled panic. It shocks her momentarily...until she recalls her own sudden weakness when she'd met the eyes of the necrophidius in the Shoanti burial warrens. More magic!
In a flash, the priestess takes off after her fellow Milanite. "Everyone--after Regeris! We know Blondie's nearby--this trap may well be designed to split us up and make us more vulnerable!"
Tassira promptly casts mage armour on herself and starts running after Regeris!
Regeris makes the front door in five strides, over the stoop in another and finds himself heading down the lane before his self-control begins to return. The dead man is not chasing him. His friends are not dying. He comes to a stop at the head of an alley, gasping for air and sweating profusely. As his heart-rate begins to moderate, some of the other members of the party come racing up, bewildered at his flight.
Looking down at his own hands, he's surprised to find a flush of stinging rash peeking out from his sleeves. He tugs uncomfortably at his collar and mops his brow. His pounding headache does not fade with the panic. Looking up at the others, he realizes he's beginning to trade in some irrational fear for something potentially more serious.
Nebbin bolts after Regeris and the others, easily outpacing them.
He stops a dozen strides away from Regeris and holds out his hands, palm outward to the inquisitor.
"Hey, it's OK," he says in a soothing voice. "There's nothing to be scared of. I'll make sure nothing hurts you..."
Emi is the last to leave after Regeris bolts away. Her first inclination is to see what caused him to flee. But since everyone else follows him, she decides she should do the same. It would be plain silly to press on up the ladder alone. She jogs out of the house and asks "What's up there?" As she takes a position with her back against the wall by the door, weapon readied to come down on anything pursuing them.
Snaily Kayleigh is the last to reach Regeris, but when she does she orders the others to step away from the inquisitor.
"I hate to tell you this, but it appears you've contacted blood veil," she tells Regeris nervously. "You're likely in for several uncomfortable, itchy days, but I'll treat you both mundanely and magically as best I can."
After a thoughtful pause, the priestess starts to speak but then falls silent before casting a quick detect magic orison and scanning the environs, just in case Blondie's made herself invisible and still lurks within earshot.
As Kayleigh explains that Regeris will infect everyone, you all can't help but notice the splotches forming on her own cheeks. While the sweat and the labored breathing are explainable by the sprint down the street in the morning sun, her blood-shot eyes tell a different tale.
Kayleigh's magical detection fails to register anything in range. Her gaze takes in the alley mouth, some passers-by, even the eaves of the nearest buildings. As her eyes pass back down the street towards Penderghast's flat, way beyond the range of her spell, she notices a boy dodging through a small group of people on the other side of the street.
Emi marks the same kid. When he spots your group huddling near the alley he ducks into a nearby shadow and disappears from sight.
"...Kayleigh?" Tassira finally speaks up. "I think you contracted it again."
Goddammit, not again!
"Oh no!" Nebbin exclaims, dithering as he's not sure how he can help anyone. He reaches out toward her before stopping mid-motion, sure she wouldn't him to try to touch her.
I wish I could heal people like she does...
Regeris squats down on his haunches, sucking in hair and clearly deeply unsettled. "There was a magical trap... fear spell. Powerful. It overwhelmed everything I thought.. it doesn't matter what I thought. Just a spell. But there was a body hung in that room too. It was horrible." He shudders for a moment, trying to compose himself.
"And I have blood veil. Inconvenient. You're right I can't go to the temple. Before we do anything else we should complete our search. Penderghast hanging a body with a powerful fear spell over it has to be purposeful."
Initially, Kayleigh doesn't react to her friends' words: She's too busy peering back toward the Penderghast apartment. "There was a boy...looked like he may have been following us or watching us. What?" The cleric wipes some sweat from her brow and then lifts her sleeves to examine her arms.
"Well, at least now we know that getting the blood veil once doesn't make you immune to it," she states sheepishly. The crestfallen cleric nods to Nebbin to let him know she understands and that it's indeed best if he keeps his distance from her and Regeris.
To the inquisitor she groans, "Well, I was planning on staying with you to battle the disease anyhow. Now I"ll just have one more patient to care for. If you want to complete the search of Penderghast's flat, you and I should do it together or stay outside and let the others look around. This illness is extremely infectious."
Kayleigh suddenly begins swaying lightly on her feet and then sits down unexpectedly in the middle of the street. Her flushed face looks vulnerable for a moment before hardening in anger.
"This is so frustrating!" she growls and her fingers grab her golden locks, pulling her bangs back away from her now pockmarked face. Taking a few deep breaths she regains her composure. "Alright...I have a speak with dead spell I prepared for use on Kentarion Jeggare, but in my current infectious condition it might not be wise to visit the Pharasmans. Should I use it instead on the man in the iron mask, assuming the fear effect doesn't chase me off first? If so, we'll need to decide on the two questions I can ask. Also...we might want to remove the mask first, if we can, so we'll have some sort of idea who the corpse is."
Regeris nods weakly. "Perhaps we split from our companions and they can get the cipher decoded and we can investigate this house more. That way we're less likely to infect anyone and can keep to ourselves. Using your speak with dead spell on that body is a good idea."
"Are you sure we should leave you alone?" Nebbin asks. "If you aren't feeling well, and Rolth comes back, I might need to be here to protect you!
"We can wait outside if you want. You should definitely ask who that person is and who killed him."
Emi kicks the house foundation and curses in frustration. She sees no point in trying to catch the kid. He'll be well gone by now.
And how the hell are they sick all the sudden?
"Always just out of reach."
"Go ahead and finish checking the house, talk the dead guy. We'll wait here until you've finished. Then we'll go on to see about the code while you two get set up to recover."
Kayleigh agrees to the plan, stands back up, and walks back toward the Penderghast flat, again casting detect magic and scanning the rooms as she and Regeris make their way toward the hanging body.
"Rolth has had ample opportunities to pick us off one by one - and right now we're on his tail," says Regeris but he's not feeling well enough to argue.
Regeris enters the building with Kayleigh and as they make their way up he looks to her. "There'll be a powerful magical symbol. The best we can hope is that it is either gone, or we can resist it. Ready?"
When reayd he steps in.
Kayleigh frowns, fearing this is another opportunity to show how weak she is compared to her friends, so she asks Regeris to wait a moment, casting guidance on herself, hoping that Milani's blessing will help her resist the powerful magic.
Nebbin grinds his teeth as he paces back and forth a few feet in front of the home, waiting as Rolth again seems to be ahead of them.
"How are we going to get him?" he says in frustration. "Everywhere we go, he's waiting, and ready to run before we can catch him."
Emi sits, waiting. She in a foul mood by this time.
"He's toying with us. He doesn't want to kill us so much as he wants to play with us. Of course at some point he'll decide he just wants to kill us."
The flat seems as before when you get back to it. Kayleigh and Regeris ascend the steps and channel light into the bedroom to reveal its horrors. The body is a pale and ugly thing, obscene in it's nakedness, with obvious marks of torment on the chest, legs and arms. Its shoulders are badly disjointed from hanging from this stake, and you judge he died days ago. The metal mask is fastened by a buckled leather harness.
The desk is tidy. A small pile of papers on the corner is weighed down by a soapstone skull, and under these is a thin green hard-backed journal. The shelves are packed with more volumes of anatomical works, sketch pads and scrolls. A side table holds a rack with two empty vials and a flask of clear fluid, thicker than water. The wardrobe is filled with robes and underclothes.
You regret opening the lower drawer of the nightstand. It's filled with glass and metal instruments of torture and depravity, all laboratory-clean and wrapped in cloth for their protection. The mind wanders to the man bound to the wall, to his fate at the hands of this killer you seek, and to the slow wasting death that must have come like a blessing by comparison.
Detect magic spells reveal the flask and the journal to be magical.
---
The outside crew kicks dust devils in the street waiting for the search within to come to conclusion. Surreptitiously glancing around as you wait, Emi once again spots the boy. He's either watching the house or watching you, and he's not disguising it very well.
Kayleigh takes a moment to inform Regeris that the flask and journal are radiating magic before further concentrating on them to try to discern their auras (power & school of magic). Then the priestess attempts to actually identify each item.
FLASK:
JOURNAL:
"Maybe one of us should pretend we're leaving and then sneak around and try to grab him?" Nebbin whispers.
"I'm not very sneaky, but I bet I'm faster him if we have to chase him."