Hollie let’s put a steady breath as the others conclude their preparations. She then draws her rapier and nods to the group before opening the door and stepping inside alongside Draxtherian.
This oak-paneled chamber must have once been breathtaking, but is a sad sight now—the floorboards are warped with moisture and the paneling scratched and spotted with mold. A grand piano, its surface splotchy and keys warped, leans tiredly in the southeast corner.
Lunal directs the floating rock of light to sit on top of the piano (gently), then scans the room for magic.
"I heard that playing!" Shae whispers to the others while pointing at the old piano. She scans the room for threats (or hidden pianists).
”Me too,” Hollie adds to Shae’s comment. She cautiously moves through the room looking for signs of life.
Even with the rain battering the outside of the decrepit mansion, Hollie can hear faint sounds emanating from the piano, though it doesn't appear that the keys are moving.
Hollie, curious and concerned, slowly approaches the piano. When she arrives, she gently rests a hand on its surface, wondering what is going on.
When Hollie touches the top of the piano, she notices that the wood is a little crumbly, as if it is rotten. She catches a whiff of mildew, but nothing else happens.
The rain continues to fall on Lunal, Krovek, Cator, and Kazaht.
”It…it must be magic. I can still hear it playing, but the keys aren’t moving…” Hollie mutters.
Cator enters and attempts to detect magic at the piano.
Cator detects magic in the room when he enters... but after concentrating, it's clear that the magic is the items held by Shaedeen and Hollie.
The piano, and the remainder of the room, are non-magical.
"Somehow, no, its not magic" Cator tells Hollie.
With only one door leading deeper into the Misgivings, Shaedeen checks it for traps while the others finish up examining the outer room.
Cator checks the east door
Neither door appears to be trapped.
Cator says "door number one or door number two?"
”Ummm…” Hollie thinks, then turns away from the creepy piano and says ”East.”
She then takes point and leads the way through alongside Draxtherian.
Cator heads east.
This is a simple washroom. An ancient metal washtub stands to the north, a ring of mildew crusting its inner surface. A strange, furtive scratching comes from inside the tub.
Hollie will peak into the tub. If nothing threatening or important, she will turn back and head for the southern door from the piano room.
Cator will detect magic and also head to the southern room if he detects nothing
Within the tub looks to be a rat. The creature is a horrific and pitiful sight, a blind, tumor-heavy wretch. It sniffs the air when the party approaches.
It squeaks laboriously and scrambles against the edge of the tub, but its attempt is very feeble.
Hollie audibly squealed at the rat before falling back and closing the door. No matter how much she adventures, there was always gonna be some things she just couldn’t abide. And one was rats.
Cator heads for the other door.
Shaedeen's eyes widen just a bit when Hollie squeals, but when she sees there's no big threat they return to normal. She gets ready as Cator prepares to open the next door.
The party closes the door on the little creature, and then moves to the southern door. There is a narrow hallway that extends east. Across the hall, another door is immediately visible, while at the east end of the hall there is a door, as well as a door to the northeast which appears to lead back into the bathroom.
"EEK!" The short shriek is followed by a violent BZZZTT! and a flash of light. A moment later the acrid smell of burnt flesh and fur fills the room. Lunal stands there, hand outstretched, with a mixture of terror and embarrassment. "It surprised me..."
The diseased rat lies dead, and the stench of the bathroom is nearly unbearable.
Cator looks at Hollie and Lunal "So ghouls don't scare you but rats?"
”Shut up. It startled me was all!” Hollie says, her face blushed in embarrassment as she moves down the hall. Since the plan had been to NOT go the path of main travel, and the next door seemed to head straight back towards the main door, Hollie led the way down the hall to the far door.
"I zapped the ghouls too!" Lunal barks, face flushed as they storm into the next room.
Hollie, Shaedeen, and Drax each look for traps, but find none on the door.
Hollie opens the door, weapon drawn. This dusty room features a long couch caked with white sheets of wispy fungus. Eddies of dust skitter
along the warped floorboards as if caught up by a slight breeze, yet no wind is noticeable in the air.
Each of you hear a woman's voice, coming from the vicinity of the fireplace, whisper the word "Lorey".
Hollie and Drax slowly advance into the room. She will whisper out a quiet ”Hello?” in response to the sound.
Cator heads in after Hollie. Not having heard any sound Cator replies with a confused "uh, hello"
Hollie gasps and takes a step back. ”Shae…” she says nervously.
Shaedeen slips into the room and moves to Hollie's side. "Either someone's messing with us or this place is haunted." She peeks around for anything unusual.
"are you guys... ok?" Cator asks
"We heard a woman's voice...it seemed to come from the fireplace. Said something like 'Lorey.'"
"Yeah...we should just keep moving..." Hollie says, seemingly eager to be moving on from this room. She heads to the door to the south and checks it before heading through.
A mahogany table surrounded by chairs sits in this room. Twin fireplaces loom to the west, while to the east, stained-glass windows obscure what could have been a breathtaking view of the Lost Coast. Each window depicts a monster rising out of smoke pouring from a seven-sided box. From north to south are depicted a gnarled tree with an enraged face, an immense hook-beaked bird with sky-blue and gold plumage, a winged centaurlike creature with a lion’s lower body and a snarling woman’s upper torso, and a deep blue squidlike creature with evil red eyes.
Cator scans the room for magic.
Cator attempts to identify the meaning of the windows.
Cator notes that it was an unusual design choice to fit the rooms
with arguably the best view of the Lost Coast with windows one cannot see through.
Cator notes that the runes on the box are necromancy-related, that the monsters seem not to be emerging from the boxes but rather being drawn in, and that their snarling visages express not rage, but rather fear.
"I think these monsters are being trapped in those boxes. I sense magic in the hallway. Give me a moment and I can figure out more" Cator continues to detect magic to attempt to pinpoint the strength and location of each aura.
A rather gruesome antique—what appears to be a mummified monkey head—hangs on the northern wall here, its tiny mouth gaping. A bellpull extends from the monkey’s gaping mouth. A ratty throw rug partially obscures a foul stain of dark-colored mold on the floor.
Lunal's nose wrinkles. "A foul little trinket, but a magical one worth a bit of money. Don't pull the rope, it will set off an alarm."
Cator muses "we could set an ambush and then pull the rope"