Nita cranes her neck up to see what the artist fellow is commenting on, but then nods "Not it is not".
She does look over the whistle, briefly wondering if it is magical, but having no way to know she simply comments that it is interesting.
"We have water." a simple statement when one of them discovers the pump and unsticks it. "Thus the quickest path to our deaths is alleviated."
Walpdrop is much more overjoyed as he laps up the water produced by a test pump
The water is stale, bland. It does not refresh; it does not quench. Hopefully it sustains. At least somewhat. You do hear movement from below the water pump -- small scurrying creatures in the well deep below (obviously not a cistern, then). Apparently creatures, perhaps Kobolds or Xvarts live beneath the long building.
And you continue to search the premises.
Alas, Everett can see that much work will need to be done to restore the two altars to Shelyn, something he can do beautifully, given time. As for the profaned busts of Shelyn adorning the roof of the building, like leering, Cenobite Gargoyles with needles in their heads, that will take more time.
Sanchia Corvus can confirm that the Silver necklace and bird whistle, while beautifully crafted for Shelyn, is not enchanted with any magical properties.
The pale ghost gets a slight frown of sympathy from the gnome. "You should rest." she tells the ghost, in a tone one might hear for a softly stern grandmother. Looking up to the others, she asks "Does anyone know the proper rites to help her?"
Whisper follows along, just taking in the details, and not being terribly concerned about the defilements to the altar.
When they reach the bedroom, and the sad floating dancer, and Nita asks about proper rights, Whisper simply gives Nita a quirk of the eyebrow to say, "Don't look at me."
Whisper does address the ghost aloud, not sure if she'll notice or not. "Who killed you?"
They still had to explore further but it seemed there was time before anything important happened and Everett couldn't let the desecration stand. So he did what he could to remedy the situation. He started off by wiping the altars down, carefully chipping away the filth and damage where necessary with a small knife.
Once the damaged surface had been removed, he set about building up layers of paint trying to recreate how each altar would have looked before the damage. This was a painstaking process, one with no short cuts. A process than Everett hoped the The Eternal Rose would appreciate, even if he knew he was far from the best of artists.
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Everett was more than a little put out by the disrespect show to the altars and he murmured, "That's not right."
Cassynder nods somberly at Everett and Nita's assessment of the desecration.
He takes up the whistle after Nita's done inspecting it, turning it over in his hands for a moment or two, before turning to Everett and handing it to him. "I feel you'd use this best. And the Muse of Muses would rather see it used than left to tarnish here."
When they've explored deeper and encounter the ghost, his eyes widen and he makes the Sign of the Sword. He listens to Nita's question about rites and shakes his head.
"My training as a child was in thievery and my training at the monastery was mostly martial, as the Inheritor prefers action to ceremony. Everett?" he asks, turning his head towards him. "She shares your faith, so I believe you'd stand the best chance of communicating with her."
Whisper spots Everett trying to clean the altar.
"Eyes still watching us. Now's not a good time."
She pulls out her scroll of prestidigitation that she had intended for more practical purposes. "This may not work," she warns. Attempting to channel energy into the magic inscribed on the scroll, she tries to activate it.
The scroll disintegrates... and just spreads more dust on the altar. She rolls her eyes. "Dammit." This is as close to apology as she can get, and she walks away.
Everett was surprised when Cassynder handed him the whistle and he said, "My isn't that exquisite work! This should really be on display somewhere, perhaps in a gallery..."
When Cassynder spoke about the ghost, Everett mused, "I wonder..." as he considered if and how he could help.
When Whisper mentioned eyes watching he nodded before murmuring, "Maybe you're right, I'll come back to this later."