Zelinda backs away from the swarming buzzards. "Everyone! Watch your heads!" she calls out, pulling a bomb from her satchel and tossing it into the mass.
Cael plys his blade, slashing back and forth, in an effort to bring down as many birds as possible.
As the murder flows around them, Ansgar bats at them with his shield again.
Between Ansgar's shield, Caeldren's blade and Zelinda's bomb, you manage to down most of the ravens, the few remaining birds scatter away like confused insects.
As Norm finish throwing up, he stands up.
"That hurt! Do we have anymore left in that wand? I sure could use a few of those. And Cliff too"
It takes Zelinda a moment to calm down from the adrenaline, looking around for more of those nasty birds. "Sure thing," she finally responds, pulling the wand from her belt.
"Anyone else?" she asks after she's satisfied with her work.
"Thank you, that helped! Shall we continue? Ansgar, after you"
Norm bows to Ansgar with a smile.
Ansgar will take Zelinda's of some healing, "Thank you, the crows really took it out of me there."
"I guess we go through one of the doors then." Ansgar walks over to the more southern door. "From the shape of the building, we will open ourselves up to fewer enemies inside."
When he gets to the door, Angar will look at Cael, "Can you check the door over first and see if you can tell what's inside, no need to barge in unprepared."
"Sure thing boss, let me get a bit of that healing too first though."
After getting healed by Zelinda Cael walks up the to door and listens at it. If he doesn't hear anything he'll try the door.
If the door is locked he'll pull out his any-tool and set to work.
Once everyone is healed up, Zelinda will stow away the wand and draw her sword once more. She comes up beside Ansgar and and has a look around the general area while Cael deals with the door.
The sound of the house straining and creaking gives this long, high-ceilinged room an additional sense of age and decay. The place smells damp, the unpleasant tinge of mold lacing the air as surely as it stains the wooden floor, walls, and furniture in pallid patches. Moldering trophies hang on the wall to the northeast: a boar, a bear, a firepelt cougar, and a stag, yet they pale in comparison to the monster on display in the center of the room.
Here crouches a twelve-foot-long creature with the body of a lion, a scorpion’s tail fitted with dozens of razor barbs, huge batlike wings, and a deformed humanoid face.
You all smell a momentary whiff of burning hair and flesh.
The preserved monster in the center of the room is a Manticore.
"Someone's upstairs, crying."
Zelinda strains to hear anything, but falls short. "Are you sure? I don't hear anything. Could just be your imagination running away with you. There shouldn't be anyone here, should there?"
"I'm sure. Can't you hear it? Let's go." Cael gestures forward, but waits for confirmation from the group.
Norm takes a few step closer to the creature
"Wow! That... That's a Manticore! I've read about them and seen pictures of them, but never seen one in real life. It's magnificent!"
It is clear that Norm wants to move closer, but is a little cautious after what's happened since they arrived.
"Sorry, Cael, I can't hear it either. Must be this place getting to you."
"A manticore..." Ansgar mutters, hoping that the person who slew the beast wasn't here. "Lets move in a bit, I can't hear anything either, but lets get closer to the stairs and see."
Zelinda follows closely to Ansgar, weapon ready.
With Ansgar leading the way, you walk up the stairs into the upper floor of the manor, where you find yourselves in a hallway with two sets of double doors as well as multiple other doors leading into various rooms of the house.
Zelinda's attention is grabbed, her head tilting to the side to better hear the sound. "I hear it that time. Seems to be coming from further upstairs."
"Huh, are you sure? Now I don't hear it. I coulda swore I did though just a second ago.
"I'm still not hearing anything, but since both of you have heard it, let's go check it out....carefully!!"
Ansgar shrugs at everyone's comments. He can't hear anything but trusts his companions.
"Might as well start here." Ansgar says as he comes to the first door and tries to open it.
The door opens into a room with stairs that go back into the first floor.
Norm peaks in, Cliff right beside him.
"Let's take this floor first, before going downstairs again. If there really are someone crying, they might need help.
Norm indicates the door to the right and down the short corridor, but waits for the others to go first, before following.
"Yes, I agree. Why are there so many stairs here?" Ansgar says as he moves over to the next door.
This bedroom features a child-sized bed, a chair next to a toy box, and a looming stone fireplace big enough for a child to get lost in.
Opening the door, Ansgar steps into the room and looks around.
"Where do you think the noises you were hearing were coming from?" Ansgar asks the others.
"I'm not sure, I though it was upstairs, but where up here, I couldn't beat. Cael says while looking around.
Zelinda nods, "Definitely above us."
Ansgar nods and goes around the room, looking under the bed around the chair and up into the fireplace.
"If you are in here and need help let us know." Ansgar says a couple times as he searches.
Ansgar must make a DC 14 Will save or take Wisdom damage.
"Aaachhh!!" Ansgar growls, shaking his head. "Stop it! Stop it!"
Panting, Ansgar straightens up catching his breath. "I just had a vision. My parents were trying to kill each other, but they were different. My mother wielding a torch while my tumor infested father has a knife..." Ansgar thinks for a moment, eyes closed. "I think the vision was given to me by something haunting this place, but I don't know..." Concentrating a bit more, Ansgar opens his eyes. "I feel a bit... slow, and my mind is a tad foggy."
Raising his blade and shield and shrugging his shoulders, "Let's get on to the next room, either someone is in trouble and needs help, or we need to deal with what has happened here so less prepared persons don't find themselves in trouble."
Ansgar will lead the way to the next door and open it.
Zelinda looks at Ansgar with a bit of worry, but rather than fuss over him, she just nods in agreement and follows closely, keeping an eye out for further attacks.
This large room features two padded chairs and a long couch facing a wide alcove lined with stained-glass windows. These windows depict a diverse array of animals and plants—from north to south are a large pale and ghostly scorpion, a gaunt man holding out his arms as a dozen bats hang from him, a moth with a strange skull-like pattern on its wings, a tangle of dull green plants with bell-shaped flowers, and a young maiden sitting astride a well in a forest while a spindly spider the size of a dog descends along a string of webbing above her.
"The windows, all those things, they're stuff necromancers use in their magic. Whoever owned this study must have been a necromancer, or wanted to be..." Cael tightens his grip on his rapier and, after taking a deep breath, casts detect magic and sweeps the room looking for magic auras.
"Oh good. That's exactly what we needed," says Zelinda, sarcasm dripping from her words.
"You are right, Cael! Nice catch!"
Norm curiously walks closer to study the window closer
"Someone didn't feel the need to hide their fascination with this stuff. And with what we have seen so far, they were more than just fascinated by it, but actually went through with some of these experiments. Again, we should be careful moving forward. No way to tell what monsters are awaiting us!"
Norm does a quick search of the room, to see if there is anything interesting in here.
As Ansgar suggest moving on, Norm follows him.
"That's not too surprising given the amount of undead crows about." Ansgar says about the revelation of necromancy. "We should probably check it all out though."
Ansgar walks into the room and looks around, casting detect magic on the area.
You make a careful inspection of the room and don't find anything of notice, magical or otherwise.
"Next room? Ansgar, after you...
Norm will wait for Ansgar to go first and then follow.
Ansgar nods to Norm, "I bet our luck is going to run out soon. Be ready."
Ansgar goes and opens the next door.
A stone fireplace sits in the northwestern portion of this chamber. Paintings hang on the walls to the north and south, each covered over with a thick sheet of dusty cobwebs that obscures its subject from view.
Norm takes a look around the room from the door.
"Should we go look at those paintings?"
"Probably..." Amsgar sighs, moving over to the closest one and pulling the cobwebs aside.
"Here, let me help"
Norm uses a combination of mage hand and prestidigitation to remove the webbing from as far away as possible.