Abaal rather tersely (but understandably) cuts another of Akazim's history lessons short and moves to check the northernmost door leading out of the atrium. Though perhaps the teeniest bit offended, Akazim does as Abaal asks and moves to join him in investigating the northern door. As with all the other doors encountered thus far, this one is not locked and so Abaal is able to slide it open...
...to reveal a small room containing piles of broken, rotted beds and bedding as well as several empty chests sitting at what would have been the foot of each one. It stands to reason that this was probably the servant's quarters. Two more doors exit from this room - another to the north and one to the east.
As you look around, you spot something on the room's western wall. It seems like the outline of a secret door, rendered visible by the curling and chipping of the lacquer that covers the wooden wall.
Meanwhile, Hanlin hangs back and decides to try the southeastern door that leads from the atrium while Ingrge moves to open the remaining door that exits from the entry hall Neither door is locked and they easily slide open. As they do, the scent of rot and decay assails the nostrils of both men and they realize that they've entered into the same room. Two long, low dining tables run parallel in the center of this room, surrounded by the tattered remains of seating mats. Iron lanterns hang from the ceiling but are dark now.
As Hanlin and Ingrge's eyes adjust to the dim light, they spot the source of the smell - the corpse of a man, hanging suspended upside down from a lantern in the center of the room. A look of terror is frozen on his face.
Though it has an odd, mummified quality to it, the corpse is not ancient at all. In fact, you're certain that it's only weeks old. Furthermore, whoever this man was, he was completely exsanguinated - but there are no bloodstains on the floor underneath the body.
The only signs of injury you can even find are bruised bite marks.
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Ingrge tries to withstand the assault on his nose and checks out the body, a sense of foreboding in what he finds...
"Odd...this fellow looks to have been dead only a few weeks...looks to be drained of all blood. With the bite marks, it appears to be from a blood-sucking creature...be alert..."
Ingrge continues to look over the rest of the room to include searching for any signs or tracks of the creature that did this...
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Cirri frowns. "It's bugbear time."
She flips her spellbook open to a drawing of the rugged humanoid and casts Alter Self. Her figure changes and mutates to match the beast.
The smell is even worse than ever. "Maybe I can smell something particularly strong." Cirri's voice is now hoarse, like she's smoked tobacco for the last few decades.
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Akazim steps past Abaal into the littered dorm room and over to the western wall. He reaches out to trace the line of a hidden door.
"Do you see this, Abaal?"
"Why would there be a hidden door in the servants' quarters? Surely they knew it was there, so whatever is in it wasn't a secret from them. And the owner must have known it was there also given its location in the manor. So what were they hiding and from whom?"
It's unclear if his murmured questions are rhetorical or not, but confident in the ability of his lone present ally he slides the hidden door open.
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"Blood sucker? Show me." Asks Hanlin, with a slight air of being demanding. He eyeballs it with his limited healing knowledge.
"I just am not seeing it, but blood suckers... could we be dealing with vampires? Or maybe just some wildlife getting in here and feeding on him?"
He draws out a wand, built out of a small, silver plate cross. "A wand of protection from evil, we may be needing it in here. The command phrase is: 'Get outta my head!'."
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It's unclear if his murmured questions are rhetorical or not, but confident in the ability of his lone present ally he slides the hidden door open.
Abaal takes position in front of the doorway . Abaal stands ready with his blade held high to confront whatever danger lies beyond the hidden portal.
Depending upon where the door is in relation to Abaal there might be a cover bonus to AC.
Unaware of the grisly discovery that everyone else has made in the nearby dining hall, Akazim and Abaal focus their attention on the hidden door in the wall. It also appears to be unlocked and so Abaal readies himself as Akazim slides the door open...to reveal a small, windowless room. Piles of bedding and storage chests fill this room, as well as a low table and several cushions, and a writing desk with a shelf of books above it. The room hasn’t seen use in many years but otherwise appears to be in good repair.
Back in the dining hall, the rest of the group nervously begin to look around as they speculate on who or what could have been the poor man's killer. As both Ingrge and Hanlin approach the body to inspect it more closely, the sound of crunching can be heard from underneath their boots. The floor around the body seems to be positively littered with a swarm of dead flies.
Given the exsanguination and bite wounds the first thing Hanlin thinks of are vampires but he's sadly unable to recall any potentially useful facts about such creatures. Ingrge and Malusha both scan for any footprints or other signs of recent passage while Cirri alters her form to try and pick up a scent, any scent. Strangely enough, there don't seem to be any obvious footprints around but Cirri does pick up an odd scent underneath the decay and rot.
Smells like...overripe fruit and vinegar?
It's coming from beyond the southeastern door.
Ingrge does not find anything particularly hinky about the southeast door and slowly slides it open to reveal the mansion's kitchen. Two stoves sit in the southwestern corner of this large kitchen area. Multiple worktables and butcher’s blocks occupy the center, while the other walls are covered with cabinets and other storage areas. A large wooden barrel sits, almost out of place, to the west. The scent of death that is so prevalent elsewhere is weaker here, replaced by the smell of overripe fruit and vinegar.
As Ingrge peers into the kitchen it quickly becomes apparent that this room has seen recent use. One of the tables is covered with earthenware jars and neatly stacked on some of the shelving are what appear to be relatively fresh stores of yeast, rice, and fruit, such as apples. The vinegar smell seems to emanate strongest from the barrel sitting along the western wall.
From his position he can also see a door leading away to the south and one on the far eastern wall.
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Seeing that the hidden room was a dorm or bunk room of some type, it dawns on Akazim what this might have been. He steps into the room to examine the books just to be sure though.
"We know that the owner worked with the Way of the Kirin, and they protected commoners from misdeeds by the nobles. I wonder if they used this room to hide people that the Way was sheltering."
So, after a quick search of the room...
He looks back to the doorway and realizes it's only himself and Abaal in this part of the manor.
"Perhaps we shouldn't have left everyone else... ummm... wherever they are, and we should rejoin them?"
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Abaal holds out his wayfinder igniting its arcane light to see by as well as his particular wayfinder's magical "black light" that allows him to see it there are any magical auras in the room.
Wayfinder Enhancements For members of the Pathfinder Society, a wayfinder is more than a compass or receptacle for an ioun stone. These ubiquitous minor magic items are status symbols and badges of honor among Pathfinders, and elaborate or exotic versions are growing in popularity among those who wish to stand out from their peers. To obtain the following wayfinder enhancements, a Pathfinder must already own a wayfinder.
Discerning (5 PP) This wayfinder functions as normal, except the user can cast detect magic at will in place of light.
Inherited (3 PP) A mentor or older relative who was a Pathfinder passed this wayfinder down to you, and it keeps a minor enchantment from its previous owner. When purchasing a wayfinder enhancement that would normally replace the wayfinder’s ability to cast light with the ability to cast a different spell, the wayfinder retains the ability to cast light, allowing it to cast two different 0-level spells.
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Before he heads into the kitchen with the others, Hanlin will head back to the atrium and call the two fellas "You best come down here and take a look, we found a body." He stands and waits for them before heading into the kitchen. "Take a quick look and tell us what you find before we fill you in on what we, er Ingrge noticed."
Both Abaal and Akazim take a small bit of time to thoroughly examine the small, windowless room; Abaal with his specially-tuned Wayfinder and Akazim with his own two eyes. While the Wayfinder doesn't yield any magical auras, the light it gives off is helpful in Akazim's search. And within the desk the half-elf discovers two things of interest. The first is an old dossier, its contents encoded.
It seems to contain information about an organization known as the Golden League, specifically concerning its agents and extended network. Though you're pretty certain that the information is out of date, it might still be worth returning to Venture-Captain Amara Li.
The second is something right up Akazim's alley - a book of military history! While a casual glance doesn't reveal anything that seems to be specifically encoded, the writing style is clearly that of a scholar writing for other scholars and difficult for the average layman to understand.
You have to read between the lines, so to speak, but you realize that the book actually contains a fairly thorough documentation of the Way of the Kirin. Their code of conduct, by-laws, and tactical strategies are all recorded in this tome!
As the pair are finishing up, Hanlin proves to be on the same wavelength as Akazim as the cleric's voice can be heard calling for the two men to rejoin the others over in the dining hall.
Over at the entrance to the kitchen Malusha stands peering over Ingrge's shoulder, trying to puzzle out the significance vinegar might have in a place like this.
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"Seems to be notes regarding a clandestine organization of some sort. Lady Amara Li might be interested in this."
The second is something right up Akazim's alley - a book of military history! While a casual glance doesn't reveal anything that seems to be specifically encoded, the writing style is clearly that of a scholar writing for other scholars and difficult for the average layman to understand.
"Hanlin what do you make of-. Hanlin?" Abaal looks about. "Typical. And I am supposed to be the one out in front."
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Akazim hadn't realized how dark the room was until Abaal helpfully lit up his wayfinder.
"Ah, much better. Thank you, my friend. Now, what do we have here?"
This one is interesting. Appears to be in a code of some type. I'll look at it later," he thinks as he sets the first one to the side and continues looking through the desk.
The next book he looks at is titled, Echoes from Nagakino: An analysis of the Battles of Succession in the Akafuto Province.
"Incredible! This is the only book I've ever seen about this particular campaign!"
As he focuses on the rare and important work, he notes that there is some kind of hidden information within the text itself. He turns to share this with Abaal, and is surprised when the thuggish Katapeshi swordsman holds out the other coded text and informs him of its contents.
"Ah, yes, this one also contains coded references to the Way of the Kirin. This secret room makes more sense now."
Hearing Hanlin's call, he stows his historical prize and follows Abaal to the kitchen.
As Abaal and Akazim mull over their findings in the secret room, the rest of the party attempts to solve the puzzle of the vinegar over in the kitchen. Ingrge carefully edges up to the barrel and flips the lid open to reveal...vinegar. This barrel is full to the brim with vinegar.
Each of you know that having vinegar in a kitchen isn't exactly unusual but this quantity of it is. To add to the strangeness, further inspection of the earthenware jars reveals them to be full of alcohol.
After taking stock of the various reagents here in the kitchen, plus the presence of the alcohol, you think that someone has gathered all of these things together in order to make their own vinegar - first by allowing the fruit and other things to ferment to form alcohol and then by allowing the alcohol to oxidize into vinegar.
And since you didn't see any orchards of significant size on the road here or outside the mansion, nor did you see any cultivated rice fields close by, these ingredients had to have come from Nagura.
You also know that vinegar has a wide variety of uses, but that the most common one is as a preservative.
As you consider what to do next, Abaal and Akazim finally rejoin you - after passing through the dining hall and the gruesome scene within.
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Cirri wonders about the vinegar. "Usually you need a lot of fruit and vegetables to ferment into alcohol before it oxidizes into vinegar. The most common ingredients are apples and rice, but... those had to come from Nagura." She scratches her ear.
"There's so much of it here. I wonder what the owner is trying to preserve- eeek!" Cirri recoils and screeches as Abaal pulls out his blade. "W-wait, it's me, Cirri! I turned Ingrge invisible, remember? RIddywhipple, back me up, here!" She takes cover under a table, clutching onto her quarterstaff.
"Hmm? Oh yes, this bugbear liked the name Cirri so much she ate the original." Riddy laughs. "I swore fealty to the bugbear so she wouldn't kill me! But now that you're here, the Great Abaal, I feel safe!"
This is the perfect time for a prank.
Cirri grumbles and grabs a chair to shield herself with as Riddywhipple breaks into full blown laughter.
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"Hmm? Oh yes, this bugbear liked the name Cirri so much she ate the original." Riddy laughs. "I swore fealty to the bugbear so she wouldn't kill me! But now that you're here, the Great Abaal, I feel safe!"
Cirri grumbles and grabs a chair to shield herself with as Riddywhipple breaks into full blown laughter.
Abaal looks at the tiny dragon and back at the bugbear.
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"Abaal, what are you doing? Stop! The dragon is joking!"
"Riddywhipple, you cannot joke with a man lacking a sense of humor. It's likely to backfire on you. Or your mistress," Akazim chides the little dragon as he steps in between Abaal and the bugbear. The bugbear that is coincidentally dressed and speaks exactly like their young teammate.
Cirri's lecture on the finer points of vinegar and fermentation are rather rudely interrupted as Abaal arrives and becomes extremely alarmed and violent to find...a bugbear in Cirri's clothes! And surely Mister Riddywhipple is right; the creature clearly managed to consume the young woman and stole her clothes in the process!
And...her...voice?
Zounds!
But maybe Abaal's words will be enough to calm the Sword of Katapesh...especially since Ingrge also doesn't seem to be too terribly alarmed by the bugbear in their midst.
At least Riddywhipple seems to find the sudden levity an amusing and welcome change of pace even if no one else does.
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Akazim rolls his eyes at Abaal's bloodthirsty impulses. "Well, now that that's resolved," he begins, "perhaps we can move on."
As the team gathers in the kitchen, he takes a moment to inform them of what he and Abaal found in the secret room. Mindful of the time he surprisingly manages to keep it brief.
He listens to what they tell him about the dead man hanging next door before popping in to have a look at the corpse for himself.
Once Abaal is sufficiently convinced that the bugbear is Cirri and not a bugbear that stole Cirri's clothes and voice, Akazim quickly loops the rest of the party in on what he and Abaal discovered in the two small rooms to the north of the atrium.
He then steps back into the kitchen to give the hanging corpse a thorough inspection, but with an eye towards identification rather than injuries and cause of death. The man's clothes don't match anything that Akazim recalls seeing in Nagura, whether worn by its citizens or sold in the local shops. In fact, they appear to be the worn but sturdy clothes of a traveler and so this poor soul might have been anything from a wandering bard to a traveling merchant.
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Akazim rolls his eyes at Abaal's bloodthirsty impulses. "Well, now that that's resolved," he begins, "perhaps we can move on."
Blood thirsty?!? Really? Maybe upholstery thirsty.
He then steps back into the kitchen to give the hanging corpse a thorough inspection, but with an eye towards identification rather than injuries and cause of death. The man's clothes don't match anything that Akazim recalls seeing in Nagura, whether worn by its citizens or sold in the local shops. In fact, they appear to be the worn but sturdy clothes of a traveler and so this poor soul might have been anything from a wandering bard to a traveling merchant.
"So an adventuresome traveler--much like one of us." Abaal says arching an eyebrow, and stroking his mustache.
As you continue to mill around in the dining room and kitchen, Cirri finally points out that it might be wise to continue looking around for the time being. And she has a point - there are still several doors that beckon...
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Deciding to make the most of his invisibility - which is very nearly gone - Ingrge moves to the eastern door on the far side of the kitchen. As with the other doors the group has encountered thus far, this one doesn't appear to be locked nor does it appear to be trapped. Satisfied that it's as safe as can be expected to proceed, he carefully slides the door open.
Several barrels, storage bins, and stacks of very dry firewood line the walls of this room. Wall racks hold a number of earthen jars with lids. Though most of the bins appear empty, many of them are labeled for various grains, vegetables, and fruit. A single large window is set in the east wall.
Right away you notice a poorly concealed secret door set in the floor in the northwest corner. Scratches in the wood suggest that stacking boxes and barrels once concealed it further.
With the group in agreement to at least make sure there are no traps in this small storeroom or around the trap door before proceeding anywhere else, Ingrge edges in for a closer look. He gives the room what he feels is a very thorough sweep but doesn't spot any traps within or on the door in the floor.