Alika quickly and quietly calls for light from her patroness, and her scimitar starts to emit a soft glow.
Sarenrae's glow suffuses the room, bringing like until darkness. The arrangement of things has not changed, however.
Garran sniffs in the room, trying to detect what Alistair smelled.
"Anything change with the fire out?" Callie asks Alistair via message.
Whatever is is that Alistair smells, none of you can pick up on the scent of it.
It is still there...I am coming in to you.
Alistair continues towards the room at the end of the hall. He ties to open the doors along the hallway as he walks down. His rapier in hand ready for any surprises.
Alistair opens the remaining doors on the lower level and discovers they contain a bathroom, a study, and a pantry, all of which appear to be empty.
"My invisibility will run out soon. Shall I check the stairs while I've got it?" Callie asks the party. If she gets consent, she will head up the stairs, moving at full speed () but trying to be as quiet as possible otherwise.
Over the message, Garran asks Alika, "Alika, do you have a spell that allows you to see invisible creatures - or perhaps that allows you to end any active invisibility?"
Responding to Callie, Garran says, "Let's stay down here. We'll check upstairs once we're sure the first floor is clear."
"Oh, good point. I have such a spell if Alika doesn't. I'll stay put."
Over the message, Garran asks Alika, "Alika, do you have a spell that allows you to see invisible creatures - or perhaps that allows you to end any active invisibility?"
Responding to Callie, Garran says, "Let's stay down here. We'll check upstairs once we're sure the first floor is clear."
"Not at the moment, no."
Following Garran's excellent idea, Callie casts see invisibility. Besides herself, can she see anything else?
"No one I can see standing by the fireplace."
Alistair glances back at Garran as he checks the rooms.
...clear...
The nobleman walks into the area at the end of the hallway and glances around. As his eyes get to one side of the room he walks his eyes back slowly with his ears are trained on the other side of the room.
Once everyone is together again he nods towards the stairs.
...up...
Over the message, Garran whispers, "Callie, check in each of the rooms while looking for invisible beings."
Just as she begins to fade back into view, Callie refreshes her vanish spell, whispering the invocation words quietly.
She then peeks her head into the lower floor rooms in the following order: the pantry nearest the living room where she stands, then the study, then the first room they looked at, and then the empty room next to the stairs. She is not doing a thorough search, just looking in each room and seeing if someone is, for example, crouched behind a table or standing in a corner.
She will move at full speed (), checking two rooms per round.
If she sees no one there, she will head up the stairs and see what she sees at the top of the landing.
Although you are thorough, you find no invisible attackers waiting to stab you when your back is turned. As far as you can tell, the lower floor is empty of attackers.
Callie reports to the party via message, "No one down here. Going up the stairs."
This is an open room used to train and practice sword fighting. Practice dummies stand in the western corners, to either side of a brick fireplace. A
fire burns inside, as down below. The ceiling is 14' high, with exposed rafters giving the room an open feel.
There is a fire burning in the fireplace in this room as well. You don't notice any assailants, however.
Callie reports she sees nothing via message but notes again that there is a burning fire in the fireplace in what appears to be a practice room.
Garran lifted the carpet in the entryway to see if there were any trapdoors under it.
Garran frowned. The lack of any kind of sign that anyone was there, either in the downstairs or upstairs, didn't make sense. The fires were lit, the door was barricaded with a chair, and yet no one was there. Was there a cellar whose entrance they had missed?
Garran whispered back via the spell, "Perhaps we should search very thoroughly room by room for any signs of a trapdoor leading to a cellar or something else. Are there any other rooms upstairs?"
Still by message spell
Callie reports she sees nothing via message but notes again that there is a burning fire in the fireplace in what appears to be a practice room.
Another fire...not normal squatters then. Put the fire out as well. But be ready...this just might bring out whomever is here.
Why both fireplaces...it is not that cold....out.After a pause...
Shit...the school was burnt down, right?...there anyway to control or increase a fire...by magic. I want everyone to keep their heads about them and remember where your exit is.
"Perhaps we should search very thoroughly room by room for any signs of a trapdoor leading to a cellar or something else. Are there any other rooms upstairs?"
Agree...we should start from top and work our way down.
"I used up my waterskin downstairs. Is there any water or something in that pantry down there?"
Callie looks around in the practice room to see if there's anything useful for putting out the fire, like maybe a bucket of powder one might use to chalk up the dummies or heavy cloth that could be used to muffle it.
You see a bucket of sand near the fireplace that would make it easy to put out the fire. You also smell the same thing that Alistair was talking about. It's a pungent smell, and likely stronger up here. You know that you've smelled it before, but what it is eludes you.
"Okay, I'm getting that weird smell too. Gonna put the fire out." Callie picks up the bucket and pours the sand over the fire. At this point she starts fading into view.
Callie takes moment to put out the fire, plunging the room into, if not darkness, deep gloom .
The group hears Callie's message while they ponder what to do...
Callie casts light on her buckler.
"Let's start down here and do a thorough search of the first floor - if there's a hidden cellar, this is where it will be. We should keep watch that no one tries to sneak past us and get out of the house."
Ok, Callie come join us as we search this ground floor. I can not place the smell but it is there.
"The smell was stronger upstairs, but I am happy to go back down with you for that reason." Callie goes back down the steps and help them search.
"Yeah... best stick together while in uncertain circumstances," agrees Alika as she moves her scimitar about to get better lighting in all the corners of the room.
The group thoroughly searches the bottom floor:
Several partially constructed rapiers and daggers sit upon the work table. Nothing in here looks too valuable, but you could put together a tool kit if you wanted to collect the tools.
This room contains a free-standing tub, along with alot of different kinds of soap.
This room has a desk with a leather-bound chair behind it, along with two cabinets filled with books, which turn out to be books on swordfighting and philosophy. The neatly stacked papers and ledgers on the desk are all accounting documents related to his academy. It looks like before the death of the King, Vancarlo was doing quite well for himself; after the death, his income took a sharp decline.
This room is well stocked with food and water, but most of the perishable food has spoiled.
Callie takes a book on swordfighting off the shelf and thumbs through it.
"No cellar here that I can see. Upstairs?"
Callie finds the book more interesting.
"Let's search everything upstairs. There's got to be something."
Alistair follows to the upstairs.
The group ascends the stairs in quick succession, seeing
This is an open room used to train and practice sword fighting. Practice dummies stand in the western corners, to either side of a brick fireplace. A fire recently burned inside, as down below. The ceiling is 14' high, with exposed rafters giving the room an open feel.
Seeing the other door, Garran says, "Let's check this room and see what's here." He moves to the door and listens carefully before preparing to open it.
While waiting, Callie eyes the exposed rafters, and, bored, tries to jump up and grab one of them.
As you pull yourself into the rafters, you can see...a humanoid insect with red skin wielding a pair of odd-looking swords. It locks eyes with you, a bit surprised that you climb into the rafters.
As Callie pulls herself onto the rafter, her playful expression turns to a surprised, "Hey!"
Whipping her blade into her hand with a practiced flick of the wrist () she thrusts it at the surprised bug-creature.