Korriban smiles as all of the differences seems to be resolved between Callie and Lantressa. "Well. That's good. We're all getting along!" When the groups is upstairs, looking over the musicians, Korriban looks around the room for more valuables.
When Callie mentions Ruan, Korriban nods. "Yeah. But, we'll find him. I have faith in that."
Downstairs, Korriban watches as Callie opens the eastern door of the dining room. He looks with her at the door down the stairs. He doesn't notice anything out of place. "Perhaps a wine cellar. Maybe a creepy basement~. Who knows what'll be down there?" A few seconds pass before he turns to Callie. "So, do you want to explore the rest of the house before we go down to the creepy basement? Let's do that. Best plan ever."
When Callie opens that door, Korriban groans at the sight of more zombies. He continues to try and strike them down. When it's over and Teodor begins to pour whiskey on the zombies, Korriban just watches and proceeds to search for more stuff.
"Hey Riceak, you're big and strong, would you mind carrying the elf so she doesn't slip away while we're looking around the house?"
Callie shakes her head in disgust at the continued desecration of bodies throughout the house. She seems to wave a hand over her torso and suddenly she has a vial of clear liquid in her hand, stoppered with a silver seal. She offers the holy water to Teodor.
In the meantime, she muses, "I wonder what KILLED them all, you know? We can see they're dead, but seems like they all dropped dead on the spot, more or less, then arranged. You all didn't see a sign of struggle, did you?" Callie shudders. "It suddenly occurs to me we ought be quite careful." She frowns at the servants' corpses they just returned to inanimate states. "I wonder why the musicians weren't animated, but the house staff were."
Callie nods at Korriban's "best plan ever" with a wry smile. "Alright, let's do the house first."
Callie continues through the northern kitchen door, then listens at the next two doors for sounds of zombie shuffling.
"Sure. But I'll have to drop her if we get in a fight. I won't be able to fight efficiently carrying her around. And no need to apologize Lantressa. We all have to share the blame for the miscommunication so no harm done. I was just merely suggesting ideas for possible tactics. A result of being a mercenary and caravan guard. I've done my fair share of adventuring so I'm good to go. Just don't...um...ask me to swim when sharks are around okay?"
Riceak picks up the unconscious elf and carries her to where the others are.
"Hm...Judging from all you of listening to what's going on inside, I guess I lifted her onto my back too soon then. Should I just drop her and get ready for combat?"
He also listens to Callie's suspicions, and nods before speaking, "I don't recall seeing any signs of a struggle. But my guess: poison. So don't eat or drink anything until we can properly verify it's safe which I highly doubt any of it is since they've all been out for some time and are most likely spoiled. Even just glancing at the wine I can tell it's no good and it's not just because of the year either!"
He chuckles a bit before continuing to talk, "Well seems I'm a better comedian than our little demented jester here. Anyhow, I believe we should search this place for any survivors although I doubt we will find any I'm afraid."
Korriban looks at Callie when she wonders about how they died. "Well, given the fact that the costumes are covered in holes from crossbow bolts, we can assume that they died from the elf's crossbow." He shrugs at Riceak's suggestion. "Poison is a good suggestion. Maybe both."
"Oh, that's what those holes are. I... I guess was trying not to look too close." Callie smiles sheepishly. "Still... we managed to put her down. we might be more experienced than many but the nobility is full of members of the military, someone should have been able to put up something of a fight. Maybe they did and cleaned up the mess afterward when setting up their grim little 'scenes.' Otherwise, she had to have been invisible the whole time..." Something dawns on Callie. "Have we searched her yet?"
"Korriban, this is not your time to feel a boob," Teodor admonishes.
Callie raises an eyebrow. "If he's destined to be cock-bawd of the Rosa as he claims, one hopes he's already had that opportunity," she says matter-of-factly.
"But I can take a look if it makes one feel better. Riceak, prop her up there a minute..."
Callie takes some time to give her a look over, checking both places that as a former pickpocket, she knows people tend to keep things, as well as places she'd hide her own belongings.
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Teodor stage whispers to Callie, "PSSST! HE'S A VIRGIN! DON'T TELL EVERYONE, HE'S SELF-CONSCIOUS ABOUT IT."
Callie shrugs, then smiles at Korriban. "Good for you. Lot of venereal disease in town. Best find a person worth the risk first. Of course that isn't to remark on anyone's home or occupation here. Just how it is in general."
"Oh, that's what those holes are. I... I guess was trying not to look too close." Callie smiles sheepishly.
Korriban chuckles. "Don't worry about it, Blue. Completely understandable." He smiles. "To be honest, I'm surprised I decided to get close enough to notice. Walking dead things really unnerve me."
"Still... we managed to put her down. we might be more experienced than many but the nobility is full of members of the military, someone should have been able to put up something of a fight. Maybe they did and cleaned up the mess afterward when setting up their grim little 'scenes.' Otherwise, she had to have been invisible the whole time..." Something dawns on Callie. "Have we searched her yet?"
Korriban's face shows realization. "No. We didn't." He then turns to Riceak. "Put her down. We have to search her and check her things. Maybe even take them."
"Korriban, this is not your time to feel a boob," Teodor admonishes.
Korriban groans at this. He manages to calm himself down enough to say, "Teo, you've really got to get your mind out of the gutter. It's like every other sentence with you."
Callie raises an eyebrow. "If he's destined to be cock-bawd of the Rosa as he claims, one hopes he's already had that opportunity," she says matter-of-factly.
Korriban's face turns red as she continues the conversation with Teodor. With a strained smile, he looks at the ground and says, "Are we really talking about this? Really?"
"But I can take a look if it makes one feel better. Riceak, prop her up there a minute..."
Callie takes some time to give her a look over, checking both places that as a former pickpocket, she knows people tend to keep things, as well as places she'd hide her own belongings.
Korriban looks at Teodor before joining Callie with looking over the elf. "Can I help?"
Teodor stage whispers to Callie, "PSSST! HE'S A VIRGIN! DON'T TELL EVERYONE, HE'S SELF-CONSCIOUS ABOUT IT."
Korriban's face lights up as Teodor loudly "whispers" that.
Callie shrugs, then smiles at Korriban. "Good for you. Lot of venereal disease in town. Best find a person worth the risk first. Of course that isn't to remark on anyone's home or occupation here. Just how it is in general."
Korriban is shocked to hear that. He turns to Callie, face still red. He gives a smile. "Well, as a worshipper of Shelyn as well as Calistria, I do believe in more romantic ideals. As for my home, it's no problem. We make sure no diseases are spread at the Rosa."
Lantressa couldn't help but stare at Korriban as the revelation about his...status, was revealed by Teodor. She seemed shocked and finally said, "So, let me get this straight, you live in a brothel, surrounded by willing women who share my current profession, and you haven't?" She finally started laughing, doubled over as he responded to Callie about why and finally collected herself. She sat down for a moment and said, "I'm sorry Korriban, I'm honestly not sure if I should be shocked at your reticence or in admiration of your will power." She stood then and approached him, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder she said, "I'll admit, if I wasn't, well, of the heritage I am, I would likely be the same way." She grinned wickedly and finished, "Unfortunately for you I am descended from two humans, an incubus, and a succubus. You, sir, are a challenge."
Callie nods at Korriban's offer to help. "Absolutely. If you can just hold that edge of her sleeve there... stupid bells are getting in the way..." Callie is careful to search her without molestation.
Korriban is shocked to hear that. He turns to Callie, face still red. He gives a smile. "Well, as a worshipper of Shelyn as well as Calistria, I do believe in more romantic ideals. As for my home, it's no problem. We make sure no diseases are spread at the Rosa."
"Of course not. Good professionals ensure quality business after all." She raises an eyebrow at Teodor, and then turns back to Korriban. "Honestly, your sexuality is none of my business--nor anyone else's in my opinion. But since it's been brought up, my unsolicited advice is, whether it's true or not, don't let people rile you over it." She raises an eyebrow at Teodor, then returns to talking to Korriban. "My sense is that other people who make a big deal about other people's sex lives or lack thereof generally themselves have little notable experience of their own to speak of."
"And as it is, we've probably tortured you enough with the subject."
Lantressa couldn't help but stare at Korriban as the revelation about his...status, was revealed by Teodor. She seemed shocked and finally said, "So, let me get this straight, you live in a brothel, surrounded by willing women who share my current profession, and you haven't?" She finally started laughing, doubled over as he responded to Callie about why and finally collected herself.
Korriban's face flushes red as Lantressa laughs, reaching to his ears. "Well, those women have pretty much raised me since I was nine. They're family to me. Aunts. Sisters."
She sat down for a moment and said, "I'm sorry Korriban, I'm honestly not sure if I should be shocked at your reticence or in admiration of your will power."
Korriban rubs the back of his neck. "Well... uh... thank you, I guess. I mean, I am a flirt and I have dated a few times. But, I guess I just haven't found Miss Right yet.'
She stood then and approached him, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder she said, "I'll admit, if I wasn't, well, of the heritage I am, I would likely be the same way." She grinned wickedly and finished, "Unfortunately for you I am descended from two humans, an incubus, and a succubus. You, sir, are a challenge."
Korriban lets Lantressa lay a hand on his shoulder. At her first sentence, Korriban gives a small smile. However, at her wicked grin and sultry statement, Korriban's face turns red. He tugs on the collars of his shirt and leather armor. He nervously says, "Things are going to get interesting from here on out, aren't they, Tress?"
Callie nods at Korriban's offer to help. "Absolutely. If you can just hold that edge of her sleeve there... stupid bells are getting in the way..." Callie is careful to search her without molestation.
Korriban nods and helps out with searching the elf.
"Of course not. Good professionals ensure quality business after all." She raises an eyebrow at Teodor, and then turns back to Korriban. "Honestly, your sexuality is none of my business--nor anyone else's in my opinion. But since it's been brought up, my unsolicited advice is, whether it's true or not, don't let people rile you over it." She raises an eyebrow at Teodor, then returns to talking to Korriban. "My sense is that other people who make a big deal about other people's sex lives or lack thereof generally themselves have little notable experience of their own to speak of."
Korriban's face begins to cool down as Callie says her piece. He smiles and rubs the back of his neck. "Thanks, Blue. Feeling a little better."
"And as it is, we've probably tortured you enough with the subject."
Korriban sighs in relief. "Thank you! It was getting really awkward."
Korriban lets Lantressa lay a hand on his shoulder. At her first sentence, Korriban gives a small smile. However, at her wicked grin and sultry statement, Korriban's face turns red. He tugs on the collars of his shirt and leather armor. He nervously says, "Things are going to get interesting from here on out, aren't they, Tress?"
Lantressa turned and began to walk away from him, her fingertips staying on his shoulder as long as they could and said, "Oh yes, I think that is a given." She looked at the others, "So, is there somewhere here that we haven't explored yet?"
Korriban gulps at her confirmations. When she asks about exploring, Korriban says, "We can check the rest of this floor. I think there might be a couple rooms left. Then, we can explore the rest of the upstairs. Then, the downstairs. We can do these in any order. I think the recent talk has taken my mind off of exploring the creepy basement."
There's not much to be seen in the kitchen--well, nothing beyond the three dead men, and what you'd normally expect to find in a kitchen.
The elf, on the other hand, has quite a few things in her pockets...
In the Elf's Possession:
- Her light crossbow, which is of masterwork quality
- a completely clear potion in a small vial
- two bilious green potions in her belt pouch
- a slender auburn wand
- 18 crossbow bolts, one of which is noticeably different than the others, steel-colored and painted with a screaming demon design
- 4 smoke bombs
- 4 vials of alchemist's fire
- a gray, knobby wand
- a masterwork dagger
- a set of masterwork thieves' tools
- a set of masterwork manacles
- sealing wax
- a small pouch containing several dark black, gritty rocks
- fine jewelry (which you suspect is stolen) and cash (which could be too). The cash totals 150 gold pieces and 54 silver pieces.
When Callie listens at the doors to the north, she hears nothing, so you push your way in. For the most part, there's little besides the horror that you've seen in the rest of the house--there's a brief nasty surprise in the east, where you find a solarium with large windows and a nobly dressed animate corpse strumming at a large, now very broken, harp for an audience of the deceased. Once you've eliminated that threat, you make your way slowly to the north and west, finding more and more rooms: a small office for the butler (complete with murdered butler), a larger office for the man of the house, you'd guess, a sitting room with two posed corpses sitting before the fire and wearing giant lion masks, and, in the northwest corner, a small sitting room where four bloodstained corpses slump over their hands of cards. There doesn't appear to be anything else of interest or value on this floor, and no sign of Ruan's body, either...
Riceak put her down but then he noticed...odd.
"That's strange. Something about her dress...it feels off. Just feels rough under my hands. Like...well more like leather than a dress. And not only that she seems to weigh way more than she should....that's if she is really a she. And no I'm not checking. I'm a gentleman so you can forget about me doing that."
"Biggest cock I've ever seen wouldn't weigh that much. Probably enchanted armor. I'd look great in it, but maybe one of the ladies would prefer it."
"I'll examine it for magic, but let's leave the dress on her for now, we don't have a lot of time. We can, however, make good use of these," Callie produces the manacles from the elf's satchel and rebinds her in those.
Callie then casts detect magic and tries to identify any magical items (including the dress). ()
Korriban looks at the stuff they found and shows interest. "Smoke bombs, alchemists fire, potions, wands, and more. All sorts of neat things." He picks up the odd crossbow bolt. "Now, what's up with this, I wonder?" He looks at the odd black rocks.
Korriban tilts his head. "Don't know what those rocks are."
When Riceak brings up her dress, Korriban's brow raises. "Really? That's... odd."
Korriban aids in removing the undead threats from the remaining rooms. When he comes to the two with the lion masks, he looks at them and says, "I feel like I want one of those masks. I would like one of those masks." He looks at the others. "So, which way do we go? Up or down?"
"Hmm...Might as well go up," Riceak said.
Callie is too focused on the magic items to have anything else occur to her.
She nods at finishing what they started upstairs.
When Callie casts detect magic, she discovers that not only are the potions, wands, and unusual crossbow bolt magical, but the elf's dress is as well. She's not entirely sure what the crossbow bolt or the magical dress do, but the potions she figures out as a potion of invisibility and two potions of cure moderate wounds, while the wands are wands of cat's grace (the auburn wand, which has 11 charges remaining) and a wand of sculpt corpse (the grey one, which has 5 charges left). Perhaps Lantressa can identify the bolt and the dress...
A quick survey of the second floor reveals nothing else of interest: the master bedroom, which was where Olauren Carowyn's corpse had been set, with an adjoining bedroom, and a study. There are terraces on both sides of the house, one overlooking the road and one overlooking the garden, but neither has more bodies (either moving or still). Ruan's body, not among the musicians, isn't visible anywhere.
Which leaves the basement, it would seem.
Teodor searches the items and comes up on the small black rocks. He sniffs them and tastes them. "Ah, beggar's candy. Lovely." He pockets them.
Tressa watched Cassie's magic as the woman tried to identify the items, at least that's what Lantressa assumed she was doing. She figured it might be time she started to learn how to do that and resolved to ask Callie for some pointers later on. The upstairs was as dismal as the rest of this place had become and ultimately revealed nothing of interest. With that accomplished she sighed and said, "So, who wants to go down into the basement of the dark, creepy, house of death first?"
Riceak thought it odd that Ruan was not among the dead musicians.
"Odd...Ruan is not here. Nor is his body. How strange. Hm..."
Riceak had an idea...one he did not like. He didn't mention it out loud as well for unless they asked the elven jester the swordsman had no proof.
"Also...I have not seen the Lord of the Manor as well. Maybe the guards rushed him to the basement before they too were killed by our now thankfully unconscious jester of villainy and her undead trope of evil. Ha! I made another funny!"
He then sighed before speaking, "You know it's no fun if she's knocked out."
Korriban smiles at as she reveals what she has found. When she brings up the wand of sculpt corpse, Korriban's face scrunches in disgust. "Ew... why would someone make that spell?"
When it comes to the silver coins on the elf, Korriban is hesitant. He uses a stick to flip the coins over, seeing if any of them are Chelish mintage.
When Teodor sniffs and licks the rocks, Korriban's face shows disgust. "Okay then. I don't even want to know what those 'beggar's candies' are."
Korriban stays behind in the room with the two lion mask wearing corpses as the others go upstairs. After a while, Korriban joins them, wearing one of the lion masks (after cleaning it off, of course). When the others look at him strangely, he merely shrugs. "What? I wanted it. Besides, I think I look good in it."
Korriban searches the upstairs throughly, not finding anything. When the upstairs is done, Korriban heads downstairs and to the stairs to the basement.
With that accomplished she sighed and said, "So, who wants to go down into the basement of the dark, creepy, house of death first?"
Korriban smiles and raises his hand, excitedly hopping up and down. "Oh oh! Me! Me! I want to go down to the basement first! After all, I've got more than enough physical scars! Let's add some mental ones!"
"Also...I have not seen the Lord of the Manor as well. Maybe the guards rushed him to the basement before they too were killed by our now thankfully unconscious jester of villainy and her undead trope of evil. Ha! I made another funny!"
He then sighed before speaking, "You know it's no fun if she's knocked out."
Korriban raises his hand to show five fingers. "Eh. I give it a five. Fairly decent." He then smiles. "Don't worry. Stick with me and soon you'll be saying jokes and bad puns in your sleep."
Callie says to Teo when he tastes the "rocks" and identifies them as "beggar's candy," knowing he means some kind of drug, "Oh. I see. Careful. Stuff might be laced with something."
At least it's not shiver, thank gods. Callie might look temporarily pale before she distracts herself with attending to something else.
To the elf's belongings, Callie says, "I wouldn't mind holding onto the wand of cat's grace. The sculpt corpse I'd personally inclined to break, but we should probably turn it over to Kroft as is for evidence. Obviously she used it on these corpses. Or some of them." She looked at Riceak, nodding at his concern. "Including perhaps making the Lord of the House unrecognizable. But we'll soon see..."
As they go back downstairs toward the cellar, Callie says to Korriban, "I'll be right behind you. Do we need light?"
Korriban shakes his head. "Nope. No lights on me. I do have some tindertwigs on me for my more... flammable and explosive combat options."
"Not, do we have light, but do we need it? How dark is it?" Callie peers down the stairs.
"If you want I can cast a spell."
Korriban blinks. "Oh. Sorry about that. As for if we need light, I don't know. I could sneak down there. Check it out and let you guys know."
Peering down the stairs, it does indeed seem to be dark down there--no torches or windows in evidence. At the bottom of the stairs, you find a door leading into a cellar proper: a well-stocked wine rack and several large casks line the walls of this stuffy room, and some burned out torches sit in wall sconces. A small wooden door, which on investigation proves to be locked, sits in the southeastern corner.
Riceak held up a finger to his lips for the others to be quiet. He motioned to Korriban to check the door for traps and to see about unlocking the lock. He made several hand signs for the others to stand back the moment Korriban had unlocked the door, as Riceak would immediately kick the door in.
"What the hell is he doing?"
Korriban looks at Riceak. He seems to get the gist of what the man is signing. He stealthily moves forward to the door. He checks to door for traps, unlocking the lock and disarming any traps that may be there using his masterwork thieves tools, and checking for the possibility of what's on the other side.
Korriban hears the whispers from beyond the door. He turns to the others and whispers, "I hear two voices. A man and a woman."
Callie whispers back, "Do they sound frightened or upset? Don't wanna kick the door in if they're prisoners."
Korriban replies with, "Not sure. Let me get a better listen." He puts his ear and tries to listen to what they're saying.
Korriban can hear that the two voices don't sound overly panicked--more worried or concerned. He can't hear the exact conversation, though.
He's also not immediately able to get the lock open, but no traps or dangers materialize and he's confident that he'll be able to get it with a few minutes' work.
Korriban whispers to the others. "They sound worried or concerned. Can't hear the exact conversation. They might be survivors. I can get the door unlocked with a couple of minutes of work. Want me to do that or just knock on the door? If they're friendlies, I don't want to unlock the door and spook them."
"Riceak, I know you were keen to kick it down a minute ago, but I think we should knock. We should just be at the ready if they are hostile."
Korriban leans forward and raps on the door with his knuckles. The quiet voices in the room suddenly cease. After a few seconds, the male voice calls out, sounding uncertain:
"W-who's there?! I warn you, you'll never get through that door--and even if you do, I'm armed!"
Callie leans against the door. "Ruan? Is that you? This is Magda's friend, Callie Cobalt." ()
Korriban says, "Don't worry. We've come to help. We've taken care of the undead upstairs and have the elf clown tied up."
"R-Ruan? No, I d-don't know who that is." The male voice on the other side of the door sounds shaken, almost sobbing (and, sadly, not like Ruan's). "Hold on! I'll unbar the door..."
There's a scraping sound from the other side of the door, the low murmur of voices, and then the door creaks open. A well-dressed man with a scruffy bear and big, doe eyes opens the door . He's holding what looks like a paint knife loosely in one hand, clutched as though he'd been preparing to stab someone with it. "Come in, come in! I'm Ausio Carowyn. Thank sweet Shelyn you're here. We were greeting the Westerkiers when the elven acrobat we'd hired as an entertainer went crazy! I saw her open fire on one of my guests with her crossbow, laughing all the while in the most frightful, shrill way. We've been locked up here since, and every time we got the courage to try to sneak out, we heard that horrid, shrill laughter. You say you've tied her up? She's not dead? Are you sure it's safe?"
He goes across the room to stow the paint knife on an easel, and as you follow him into the room you find that it's a small workshop, barely fifteen feet long and ten feet wide. There's a makeshift shrine in the corner topped with a songbird, a tawdry divan, and several scandalous portraits of someone whom you'd guess was Olauren Carowyn when she was alive. There's also a living young woman, a pale-skinned human, standing up from the couch and smoothing her skirts. She stops short as you enter, staring at Teodor. "Oh, by Abadar's holy light," she murmurs, staring at him. "It's you."
Lantressa nodded as the man asked if they were really safe and she nodded saying, "Yes, the psychotic woman has been captured and thoroughly restrained."
When they entered the next room Tressa looked around curiously at the paintings, the man had at least some talent. It was the young woman who caught her attention though when she stood up and approached Teodor. Curiously she looked at him and asked, "Who's this? Your girlfriend?" Looking back at the woman she said, "You've got good taste, she's rather cute."
Teodor walks into the room, annoyed that some of the rich folks apparently survived and no sign of Ruan. When the young woman speaks, his jaw drops.
"I ...it's ...I'm ...I ...I ..." he stammers.
When Lantressa speaks he snaps out of it. "What?! No! This ..." he looks again to the pale skinned girl. "This is my sister. Cristina. I ...what are you doing here? Are you ok? " He nervously fidgets.
Callie raises a big ol' eyebrow at Teodor and the woman he identifies as his sister, as obviously there's some drama there. But, knowing she's the last person who should judge someone on family drama, she says nothing, and turns to Ausio and the situation at hand.
"I'm Callie Cobalt, and we are freelancers assisting the guard. This is Korriban, Riceak, and Lantressa... and I guess your friend knows Teodor well. We've been sent here directly by Cressida Kroft." Callie points to the now shackled elf on Riceak's shoulder. "She's currently bound in her own chains. I won't promise you're out of all danger, but there are no more undead upstairs and I think she'll remain unconscious for awhile. We plan to deliver her to Field Marshal Kroft once we've finished our investigation here."
She takes a breath, and lets the man and woman let that sink in.
"I know you've been through a great deal, but there's more for us to do here. How did you escape here? Did she lock you up or did you lock yourselves in here? Did you see anyone else run? We are looking in particular for a missing musician named Ruan." Callie gives a physical description of Ruan.
She adds, "You must have been penned in here a couple days. Are you hungry?" She reaches into her haversack and quickly produces bread and cheese wrapped in a cloth.
There's a scraping sound from the other side of the door, the low murmur of voices, and then the door creaks open. A well-dressed man with a scruffy bear and big, doe eyes opens the door . He's holding what looks like a paint knife loosely in one hand, clutched as though he'd been preparing to stab someone with it. "Come in, come in! I'm Ausio Carowyn. Thank sweet Shelyn you're here. We were greeting the Westerkiers when the elven acrobat we'd hired as an entertainer went crazy! I saw her open fire on one of my guests with her crossbow, laughing all the while in the most frightful, shrill way. We've been locked up here since, and every time we got the courage to try to sneak out, we heard that horrid, shrill laughter. You say you've tied her up? She's not dead? Are you sure it's safe?"
Lantressa nodded as the man asked if they were really safe and she nodded saying, "Yes, the psychotic woman has been captured and thoroughly restrained."
Korriban enters the room, nodding at Ausio. After he hears Ausio's telling of the events and Lantressa responds, Korriban nods responds with, "Yep. As my friend said, we've taken all of her things and tied her up. She's knocked out. Should be safe."
He goes across the room to stow the paint knife on an easel, and as you follow him into the room you find that it's a small workshop, barely fifteen feet long and ten feet wide. There's a makeshift shrine in the corner topped with a songbird, a tawdry divan, and several scandalous portraits of someone whom you'd guess was Olauren Carowyn when she was alive.
When they entered the next room Tressa looked around curiously at the paintings, the man had at least some talent.
Korriban looks over the paintings with Lantressa. He says to her, "Pretty good stuff, huh? Wish I could make something like this. If I could, I'd try to paint your portrait." He chuckles.
There's also a living young woman, a pale-skinned human, standing up from the couch and smoothing her skirts. She stops short as you enter, staring at Teodor. "Oh, by Abadar's holy light," she murmurs, staring at him. "It's you."
Korriban is surprised by the woman's reaction to Teodor. He watches them both carefully.
It was the young woman who caught her attention though when she stood up and approached Teodor. Curiously she looked at him and asked, "Who's this? Your girlfriend?" Looking back at the woman she said, "You've got good taste, she's rather cute."
Korriban watches Teodor's reaction to this. He chimes in. "Yeah. She is pretty cute."
Teodor walks into the room, annoyed that some of the rich folks apparently survived and no sign of Ruan. When the young woman speaks, his jaw drops.
"I ...it's ...I'm ...I ...I ..." he stammers.
When Lantressa speaks he snaps out of it. "What?! No! This ..." he looks again to the pale skinned girl. "This is my sister. Cristina. I ...what are you doing here? Are you ok? " He nervously fidgets.
Korriban is shocked. "This is your sister? Wow..." He then looks between the two. An idea slowly comes to him. He smirks to himself and approaches her. He bows to her and says, "Hello. My name is Korriban Balros. I'm a friend of your brother. A pleasure to meet you."
As Callie explains the situation, Korriban nods. "Exactly as Callie says. We also have reason to believe that this elf is connected to a greater necromancer. Anything that you can tell us would be beneficial to put an end to all of this. Anything that you can also tell us about Ruan would be appreciated. His sister is worried about him."