Having determined this wing of the house has nothing of interest except a large hole in the floor, the team cross the main room to the other side.
The first room they come to has nothing but a ripped and moulding carpet. As they look into what was clearly once a drawing room, Sara's magical sense alerts her there is something there.
Everything this room once held now lies jumbled over the floor in a soggy mess: torn pages, scraps of fabric, and splintered remnants of furniture. Doors hang askew in the north and east walls, but the door to the south has been smashed from its hinges.
The team searches through the debris. Saturday eventually discovers a hidden compartment in the wall behind a collapsed bookcase that contains a stack of notes. On examination, it looks to be details and locations of criminal enterprises owned by the previous occupants, though they are now long out of date.
Jayson thinks he may have found the source of magic that Sara detected as he holds up a faintly glowing red potion.
Looking into the next room Sara sees that ivy has overgrown the empty window frame, casting this room into cool shadow. A low shelf, its wood warped and cracked, stands against the south wall, and a desk has been overturned and smashed in the eastern part of the room.
She also hears whispers and babbling, snatches of words that when added together sound like apologies promises to "the family". Sara realises this room contains another haunt.
Razpen double-checks the current room but finds nothing new.
Sara applies her religious knowledge to suppress the spirits at least temporarily. Once again, the spirits are likely to become active in a few hours until what truly happened here becomes public.
After searching the ivy-covered room and finding nothing of particular interest, the group continues to the last room left to explore.
Only a single, aged worktable still stands in one corner of this room, though the clay fragments of an oven and rusted metal suggest it was once a kitchen. The ceiling has completely fallen in, leaving this room open to the sky above.
Sara scans around for magic once more, blocking out the known sources. She discovers nothing new.
Jayson heads back to the room with the deteriorating floor and uses various healthy boards from around the place to reinforce the area.
The team check out what the hole, only to be disappointed that there is nothing of interest down there.
Sara spends 10 minutes examining the glowing potion and realises it is a lesser healing potion.
Razpen hears local bells tolling out the time, it is approaching midnight.
The bells chime midnight as the group finally settles down to sleep. Their dreams are disturbed by sounds of the reawakened spirits but no harm befalls them.
They gather their gear and depart at first light, heading straight for the front door and thence to the Grand Lodge to report in.
When the group catch up with Calisro Benarry she asks them two questions: did they find anything interesting, and did they last the whole night without fleeing the manor in terror.
When the group describes what they experienced and what they found, Benarry claps them on the shoulders appreciatively and tells them that they’ll need bravery like that to make a name for themselves. She also assures them that she will make sure the evidence is processed and that the appropriate steps are taken to lay the spirits to rest before the demolition proceeds.
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Waking up and stretching out the kinks in her back from the warped and uneven floorboards, Sara comments to her compatriots "Well, I must say I'm very nearly disappointed! Whole lot of fuss for not much of anything here, seems to me."
Sara sets out to work her contacts about the escaped creature.
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After talking to Captain Benarry, Jayson rubs his shoulders where she hit them. He looks at Sara and says, "That hurt!" Then his mouth breaks into a lopsided grin, "I think I'm gonna like the Horixon Hunters!"
Jayson reaches into a pocket,"Oh, hey Miss Sara! Before you go looking for clues, let's check out this list that Cap'n Kline give us!" He hands the list to Sara, trusting in her information gathering skills.
Sara reminds the group that Eando Kline, leader of the Vigilant Seal faction, has requested they locate and identify the creature aboard the wrecked ship and decide what its fate should be. The ship possibly dates back to the Silent Tide invasion of the late 40th century and has only recently washed up and snagged on a reef of other wrecked ships, leaving it partially out of the water. Despite its unstable situation and the fact that it’s been above water for only a few weeks, it’s become a favoured waypoint for smugglers.
During her preparations, Sara also learned that there are rumours the creature scared off the smugglers and that one of them was seen with acid burns on their face.
Kline's instructions told the group how to contact Captain Semiri Balogog, a cheerful rainkin half-orc with sun-dark skin and thick braids of black hair adorned with gold rings. She has provided ferrying services for Pathfinder agents for over a decade and loves hearing about agents’ missions past and present. Arrangements have been made for her to transport the team to and from the wrecked vessel.
The weathered boards of the ship’s main deck are cracked, warped, and thoroughly covered in a thick, stinking carpet of algae, seaweed, and barnacles. The sodden mess squashes and scrapes underfoot, while squawking gulls circle overhead. The ship once boasted three masts, but they are now broken off only a few feet above the jagged railings. Whatever other distinguishing features might have once existed on this vessel are either long lost or utterly obscured. Empty doorways lead into cabins to the fore and aft, and a dark opening descends into the lower level.
When they arrive, before setting foot on the deck, the Pathfinders scan the area. Everyone except Sara notices some recent scuff marks through the growth on the deck, indicating something has been moving around. Jayson and Razpen each see a small area that looks like the algae has been burned away, but there are no scorch marks.
Razpen detects nothing magical on this deck within 30 foot of him other than items he is aware his colleagues are carrying.
As the team starts to spread out, moving carefully across the treacherous terrain, they find only slime, barnacles, and general signs of recent activity on the mostly ruined but potentially once glorious vessel.
The Pathfinders explore the upper deck thoroughly. The only notable feature is that while there are few intact items remaining, those that are present are stacked neatly by type.
Peering down to the lower deck through one of the grates reveals what looks like some of the smugglers' hoard, though again unusually neatly arranged. Crates of the same size are stacked together. Furniture of a like type are neatly arranged as one pile.
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"Well, if we're not even trying to be sneaky, might as well be friendly, I suppose," Sara says to the group.
She moves up next to the ladder, readies a bullet in her sling, and calls down into the hold "Hullo, down there! Is there anybody home? We will defend ourselves if we must, but we'd much rather talk if possible!"
Between what you see when peering through the grates and what Sara sees as she starts down the stairs ...
Sharp beams of sunlight light filter down through cracks in the main deck to cast this cargo hold in a dim light. Though the ship’s original armaments are now little more than rotted ballista mounts, this area shows signs of recent activity, including intact shipping crates, a recently broken crate, a few boxes, and faint trails worn through the slippery vegetation growing over the deck. Wooden doors in finer condition that the rest of the boat stand to the north and south, but the stairs leading further down now lead only into dark, scummy water.
In response to Sarah's call, she hears some shuffling and grunting sounds coming from under the stairs but no verbal reply.
As Sara progresses into the hold and continues to talk in a friendly and inviting manner, a creature shuffles out from under the stairs.
It gestures and vocalizes but does not speak. It does not appear threatening but also not overtly friendly.