“I’m still confused as far as I can remember birds don’t have horns, wether we imagine them having them or not they simply don’t” looking at Rufus “and what’s all this talk of him being a God? I was under the impression he was just as mortal as the rest of us.” Still confused he follows them to the door, whispering so only Rufus can hear “I’ve never been much of a religious type, but uh when’s this is all up maybe you could bless me with your Godly powers or something… lost a few of my toes and wouldn’t mind having them again”
Miralen is standing just behind the bronze statue when it captured Rufus' and Radallion's interest, studying it's artful and unique design, when Svetlana throws a cloak over it. "Svetlana, the Doctor actually confirmed that we are not in Barovia. He was on his way to Barovia, when he ended up stuck here, like us," She explains, and proceeds to slide the cloak off the bird, because covering it seems disrespectful and who knows, it might give us some knowledge here somehow. "I'm going to check out this room." Miralen walks to the east door, opens it, and peeks in.
Rhykal follows Svetlana to the door Rufus had suggested, closely behind, hand at the hilt of her sword and prepared to strike, just in case — the moment she next expects an unassuming closet, she’s sure, is the moment some untold monster emerges to destroy them all. She attends little to the talk of gods, beyond directing a skeptical eyebrow toward Rufus; shehas, after all, had a lifetime’s fill of witnessing what could be done in pursuit of godly power, or of the gods themselves. “If only one might seize upon the godly power to get us the hell out of thisplace,” she says, wryly, as she peers through the door behind Svetlana.
After thoroughly searching the foyer, Rufus notices the only recent activity in here (The candles, fingerprints, kicked up dust) are most likely from the doctor and the party's recent trafficking. No hidden mechanisms or meanings were found in the statue or pedestal.
As Svetlana carefully creaks open the wooden door to the west, she, and all those looking in are greeted with a lightless hallway extending about 15 feet before curving to the left. As you peer in, you see an ethereal and translucent figure walking for a split second before it vanishes around the corner. One door on the south wall, and one door on the west wall can be seen, the hallway then turns north, out of eyesight. Once the figure is no longer illuminating the hall with dim light, the hallway becomes completely dark, and those without dark vision are unable to see in.
As Miralen opens the east door, she discovers a dimly lit sitting room, only illuminated by the dim moonlight emanating from the window. as she takes a deep breath, dust fills her lungs. Cobbwebs are strewn across this room, and a thick layer of dust settles on the mantle of a stone fireplace in the east wall and suits of armor standing guard in each corner. Furniture, and a piano are in various stages of disrepair in this long unkept room. 2 Doors lie closed, one to the north, and one to the east.
As you all investigate new areas of the house, a familiar dwarven voice can be heard: "...I don't believe it..." Followed by slow footsteps moving back out to the porch. As any party member checks back, you see that Ansur is gone.
Round Summary: 18 (High) Rufus: Foyer Investigation 18- investigating around the room, you see only signs of recent use, most likely by the doctor. 18 (low) Svetlana: Dialogue, Opening West door - Discovered: hallway 15 Rhykal: Dialogue, No action 11 Miralen: dialogue, opening east door (PERC 18)- Discovered: Sitting Room 4 Radallion: Dialogue, No action
Rufus produces another small tube and punctures it will a small blade. The familiar green glow floods the chamber as he secures it into his crossbow. (casting light on crossbow).
He stands behind Svetlana and peers over her shoulder into the western hall. "Did you see that? Paranormal activity. A resident spirit. Does it desire us to follow?" Rufus pulls at the white cloth tied around his neck, his face a study in discontent. "This place holds secrets that beg to be discovered. I think--Ansur??" Rufus moves to the doorway and peers out onto the porch and into the mist, looking for any evidence of Ansur. "Not again!"
"Yes Rufus," the last of the Dusk Elf maidens agrees with the mysterious alchemist "since we're supposed to communicate with spirits, we might as well start with this one..."
"... Hoping that he wants to communicate more than to scare or hurt us" Svetlana completes mentally. “Let the others talk, Svetlana!” her Voices in her head can't avoid having their say. "So the spirits will take it out on them, at worst". "Not that spirits necessarily have to be hostile... The distrust towards dead people is sometimes a little exaggerated". "Right... We are dead, for example, but we don't want to scare or hurt anyone". "We communicate... We're good at communicating, aren't we, Svetlana?" "This seems beyond doubt to me..." Svetalana concedes.
The Savage Wanderer, as soon as she recovers from her brief internal confrontation, notices two things. The first: Ansur is no longer there (perhaps she had absentmindedly perceived him moving away?) - and just to make things better, after leaving the house, he left the door open, so that any predators can enter comfortably. The second: Rufus seems ready to go out to look for him!
"No, Rufus!" she closes the door she had just opened and runs to the entrance door, fixing her azure eyes, now a little worried, on the man "Wait for us, not alone! This place, even if it is not Barovia, as Miralen states, it is undoubtedly dangerous all the same. If we split up and go half into the mouths of predators, while half face the spirits of the house, we only risk being massacred on both fronts. We don't have many advantages. Being in group is one of them. Let's not waste it. Let's decide together and let's act together," she turns to everyone "do we want to go out to recover Ansur? Or do we want to continue exploring the house? I personally am worried about him and I would like to make at least a brief attempt to go out to look for him and bring him back. But I will neither be useful to him, nor to you, and even less to myself, if I go alone and get myself killed. I will go if we all go. If you prefer that we continue to explore the house... that I will do, together with you - and Ansur will have to fend for himself".
"Fear not, Svetlana," Rufus says, gently patting her shoulder. "Not only do I have no desire to be devoured in the fog, I have grown fond of your company. That, and we have been led to understand that the spirits in the home wouldn't allow us to escape. Although, Ansur seems to have escaped their grasp..." he glances warily onto the porch "...or else fallen into it. I do wonder what it was he did not believe."
Checking that his bolt is properly loaded, he continues. "But, personally, I am disinclined to leave the home just now. At least here we have the company of the professor. And the ghost in the hallway. I propose we continue our exploration locally and wait to see what does or doesn't develop with Ansur. I agree with you that we are stronger together. I posit we are even stronger with a roof above our heads, hot tea, and a potential ally in the professor."
"By the by..." he adds, looking Svetlana over with concern. "Are you having head pains? I have noticed you wincing now and again."
Miralen opens the door to a sitting room, dusty and in disrepair, and discovers that there are two more doors. She also notes that there are suits of armor standing guard in each corner. Curious as to why there are so many in here, she decides to go to the one to her right and investigate it. (maybe peeking inside? however you can check out a suit of armor).
Rhykal turns at the sound of Ansur’s voice, the surprise vanishing into — nothing. She swears under her breath, following after Rufus’ own footsteps to the front door, though lingering to peer outside a moment or two longer. For him to have vanished so abruptly — well, Rhykal can only imagine something had taken him, though that leaves the problem of what. This place certainly doesn’t seem to have much in the way of clear answers for what. “I’d prefer to confirm whether he’s … recoverable as well,” she says, jaw tight, feeling something tighten in the pit of her stomach -- no matter what she does, control seems to be slipping away from her, again and again and again. All she has is the potential to keep these strangers safe -- but still, she takes a slow breath, turning to face the others; it feels strange, and stilted, to communicate decisions like this — to make decisions as a group -- though she makes an effort to disguise her discomfort at the task, her newness to it. The community that she has known -- well, it had not been characterized by its forays into democracy. “Whatever … we do, it’s worth noting that the doctor told us he believes the parlor specifically to be warded against evil — assuming that has any truth to it, it may be worth keeping in mind.”
As Rufus and Rhykal Take a moment to observe the missing Ansur, footsteps can be heard still, walking around to the side of the porch. the footsteps begin to fade as Rufus returns back to the view of the hallway, activating his light. As they discuss their next path forward, Miralen makes a discovery in the sitting room. Mesmorized by the old and dusty suits of armor... she investigates more curiously. a slight touch of the armor, and from the cracks come a family of spiders racing out and relocating. as soon as that happens, the suit begins to lean forward and crash atop Miralen. the group hears a large clamor as pieces of spider infested armor cover the halfling. Miralen was startled, and accrues a stress point, but no damage. All the while, Radallion hears word of tea... searching around the already investigated room proves fruitless, as no tea is to be seen. Perhaps the parlor?
18 (High) Rufus: CastlightPerception 18to track Ansur: Can hear footsteps 18 (low) Svetlana: Dialogue, No action 15 Rhykal: Movement,no action: Can hear footsteps 11 Miralen: Movement,Investigation 13WIS SAVE 6: failed save; startled 4 Radallion: Dialogue,No action
New round!
good job with pace everybody. Just an FYI and a reminder-- outside of combat, you can take as many free actions (such as dialogue) you'd like. You can also use your full movement, a bonus action, and an action before you must wait for progression. if you choose to provide dialogue In one post, but didn't post an action, movement, or bonus action, you can still make more than one post that includes any of those things. However if you have only posted dialogue or free actions, and everyone else has posted in the past 24 hours, I will assume that you did not want to declare any other actions and progress the story. Let me know if this makes sense in OOC or if you have any questions!
The suit of armor falls and crashes on top of Miralen, startling her. She quickly crawls out from underneath the dusty, spider infested pieces, brushing herself off. She looks around the room and decides that, for now, she'll come back and maybe check out what's behind these doors, and goes to follow the rest of the group down the hallway where they've just seen a possible spirit of the house.
"Have you grown fond... of my company?" the azure eyes of the last of the Dusk Elf maidens dilate in wonder at the unexpected words from Rufus and she was probably about to add something but...
...the Voices in her head promptly begin to protest: "Let go of these thoughts, Svetlana!" "Now you have to think about how to get out of here alive!" "You will focus later on what this gentleman from outside the Mists thinks..."
...As if that wasn't enough, the Savage Wanderer hears a large clamor as if an unfortunate explorer had been hit by a falling set of pans.
"Miralen!" Svetlana exclaims, worried, turning towards the open door that the woman-child had entered to explore alone.
Since it is not Svetlana's turn yet, waiting for Rufus to take his turn, before declaring Svetlana's movement and actions.
Rufus turns to Rhykal. "The parlor is warded against evil? That is useful information. In the event we face a mortal peril, we should retreat here."
Rufus is about to run to Miralen's aid, but she seems to be capable of freeing herself. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. One room at a time, together." He nods at Rhykal and Svetlana. "Perhaps those most accustomed to close confrontations ought to go first?"
Rufus delays his turn until after Svetlana and/or Rhykal.
"It's really good news, to know of a place of relative safety" the last of the dusk elf maidens sighs, somewhat relieved "And as for my occasional headaches…" she decides to respond, a little embarrassed, to the kind alchemist "don't worry, it's not too bad and there's little that can be done about it. I'm working on it. But you were very thoughtful first of all to notice it and secondly to take an interest in it" her azure eyes light up with gratitude. "Thanks Rufus".
"Ok, so Ansur will be left to fend for himself" Svetlana combs absent-mindedly her brown hair for a moment, as if to reassure herself about the wisdom of this course of action. "Spirits we are seeking? Well, let's go and meet them".
The Savage Wanderer closes the main door and goes back to the one beyond wich a ghost had been spotted. She looks around some moments... If the translucent figure does not show up again, she turns the corner, the same way the figure did and politely announces her coming: "Excuse me, occupants of this house... I would not like to disturb you, but you would be doing me a great courtesy by giving me a moment of your time to receive me and whoever is accompanying me".
"We are guests, after all... Maybe courtesy will help us not to upset the ghosts" Svetlana thinks - fate may have forced her to live more in contact with wild nature than with people, lately, but that doesn't mean she doesn't remember the rules of etiquette.. "Well done Svetlana, maintaining good manners is important!" the Voices in her head this time mostly approve "I always reminded my poor little Arkady of this..." "But caution is also important... Why do we always to be the ones scouting ahead?" “The woman-child just did it too... but she knocked over a pile of pots!” "Collaborating effectively with your allies to get out of this distressing situation, at the moment, seems to me to be the best form of 'caution' possible!" Svetlana closes the question.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Rufus follows Svetlana into the hallway. "Perhaps we can concoct an alchemical remedy," he remarks upon Svetlana's confession of head pains. He pauses to investigate the table on their right, touching the contents, rifling through any papers, and testing any drawers.
I'll stay within 5 feet of, although behind, Svetlana and Rhykal.
As you all carefully traverse the dark hallway, Rufus' light illuminates the broken and decaying hardwood floors that lie underneath your feat. the smell of mildew fills the air here. A quick glance at the table you pass reveals an old teacup and saucer, apparently unused for quite some time as cobwebs and dust have collected. Next to it is a tome, with different colors of stained leather on the front. tooled patterns of yellow cosmology atop a blue background are stamped into the leather. As you all round the corner, you get a better glimpse of what you now recognize as a form of spirit. this tall man sweeps a straw broom mindlessly down the hall. all is quite as he slowly dissipates, revealing a set of doors further down the hall.
"I'm afraid the remedy will be far harder than that to get, but thank you all the same!" The last of the Dusk Elf maidens smile to Rufus; she then looks curiously at the tome next to the cup and points it out to him: "I doubt I would understand much about it... but perhaps it might be of interest to you. It could be about... arcane knowledge, right?" in the meantime she turns the corner, ready for a dialogue or a fight with a ghost... but the ghost in question beautifully ignores her polite words and vanishes.
"So much for dialogue with spirits..." Svetlana sighs "I suppose it's useless to wait for him to reappear" she explains to the others. "He ignored us now... he would probably ignore us later too. Let's continue our exploration. He was sweeping the corridor... So this must be a reception area, to be kept clean. And perhaps the most interesting room will be the one furthest away, furthest from the entrance, in the heart of the house".
The Savage Wanderer walks towards the door at the end of the corridor and (always following the logic of trying not to immediately antagonize any occupants of the house) she knocks politely. If after some time however no one answers, she opens the door (assuming that there is no one able to speak) and looks (for the moment without entering) what is in the room.
“I’m still confused as far as I can remember birds don’t have horns, wether we imagine them having them or not they simply don’t” looking at Rufus “and what’s all this talk of him being a God? I was under the impression he was just as mortal as the rest of us.” Still confused he follows them to the door, whispering so only Rufus can hear “I’ve never been much of a religious type, but uh when’s this is all up maybe you could bless me with your Godly powers or something… lost a few of my toes and wouldn’t mind having them again”
Miralen is standing just behind the bronze statue when it captured Rufus' and Radallion's interest, studying it's artful and unique design, when Svetlana throws a cloak over it. "Svetlana, the Doctor actually confirmed that we are not in Barovia. He was on his way to Barovia, when he ended up stuck here, like us," She explains, and proceeds to slide the cloak off the bird, because covering it seems disrespectful and who knows, it might give us some knowledge here somehow. "I'm going to check out this room." Miralen walks to the east door, opens it, and peeks in.
Perception 18
Rhykal follows Svetlana to the door Rufus had suggested, closely behind, hand at the hilt of her sword and prepared to strike, just in case — the moment she next expects an unassuming closet, she’s sure, is the moment some untold monster emerges to destroy them all. She attends little to the talk of gods, beyond directing a skeptical eyebrow toward Rufus; she has, after all, had a lifetime’s fill of witnessing what could be done in pursuit of godly power, or of the gods themselves. “If only one might seize upon the godly power to get us the hell out of this place,” she says, wryly, as she peers through the door behind Svetlana.
After thoroughly searching the foyer, Rufus notices the only recent activity in here (The candles, fingerprints, kicked up dust) are most likely from the doctor and the party's recent trafficking. No hidden mechanisms or meanings were found in the statue or pedestal.
As Svetlana carefully creaks open the wooden door to the west, she, and all those looking in are greeted with a lightless hallway extending about 15 feet before curving to the left. As you peer in, you see an ethereal and translucent figure walking for a split second before it vanishes around the corner. One door on the south wall, and one door on the west wall can be seen, the hallway then turns north, out of eyesight. Once the figure is no longer illuminating the hall with dim light, the hallway becomes completely dark, and those without dark vision are unable to see in.
As Miralen opens the east door, she discovers a dimly lit sitting room, only illuminated by the dim moonlight emanating from the window. as she takes a deep breath, dust fills her lungs. Cobbwebs are strewn across this room, and a thick layer of dust settles on the mantle of a stone fireplace in the east wall and suits of armor standing guard in each corner. Furniture, and a piano are in various stages of disrepair in this long unkept room. 2 Doors lie closed, one to the north, and one to the east.
As you all investigate new areas of the house, a familiar dwarven voice can be heard: "...I don't believe it..." Followed by slow footsteps moving back out to the porch. As any party member checks back, you see that Ansur is gone.
Round Summary:
18 (High) Rufus: Foyer Investigation 18- investigating around the room, you see only signs of recent use, most likely by the doctor.
18 (low) Svetlana: Dialogue, Opening West door - Discovered: hallway
15 Rhykal: Dialogue, No action
11 Miralen: dialogue, opening east door (PERC 18)- Discovered: Sitting Room
4 Radallion: Dialogue, No action
Rufus produces another small tube and punctures it will a small blade. The familiar green glow floods the chamber as he secures it into his crossbow. (casting light on crossbow).
He stands behind Svetlana and peers over her shoulder into the western hall. "Did you see that? Paranormal activity. A resident spirit. Does it desire us to follow?" Rufus pulls at the white cloth tied around his neck, his face a study in discontent. "This place holds secrets that beg to be discovered. I think--Ansur??" Rufus moves to the doorway and peers out onto the porch and into the mist, looking for any evidence of Ansur. "Not again!"
Perception: 5
"Yes Rufus," the last of the Dusk Elf maidens agrees with the mysterious alchemist "since we're supposed to communicate with spirits, we might as well start with this one..."
"... Hoping that he wants to communicate more than to scare or hurt us" Svetlana completes mentally.
“Let the others talk, Svetlana!” her Voices in her head can't avoid having their say.
"So the spirits will take it out on them, at worst".
"Not that spirits necessarily have to be hostile... The distrust towards dead people is sometimes a little exaggerated".
"Right... We are dead, for example, but we don't want to scare or hurt anyone".
"We communicate... We're good at communicating, aren't we, Svetlana?"
"This seems beyond doubt to me..." Svetalana concedes.
The Savage Wanderer, as soon as she recovers from her brief internal confrontation, notices two things. The first: Ansur is no longer there (perhaps she had absentmindedly perceived him moving away?) - and just to make things better, after leaving the house, he left the door open, so that any predators can enter comfortably. The second: Rufus seems ready to go out to look for him!
"No, Rufus!" she closes the door she had just opened and runs to the entrance door, fixing her azure eyes, now a little worried, on the man "Wait for us, not alone! This place, even if it is not Barovia, as Miralen states, it is undoubtedly dangerous all the same. If we split up and go half into the mouths of predators, while half face the spirits of the house, we only risk being massacred on both fronts. We don't have many advantages. Being in group is one of them. Let's not waste it. Let's decide together and let's act together," she turns to everyone "do we want to go out to recover Ansur? Or do we want to continue exploring the house? I personally am worried about him and I would like to make at least a brief attempt to go out to look for him and bring him back. But I will neither be useful to him, nor to you, and even less to myself, if I go alone and get myself killed. I will go if we all go. If you prefer that we continue to explore the house... that I will do, together with you - and Ansur will have to fend for himself".
"Fear not, Svetlana," Rufus says, gently patting her shoulder. "Not only do I have no desire to be devoured in the fog, I have grown fond of your company. That, and we have been led to understand that the spirits in the home wouldn't allow us to escape. Although, Ansur seems to have escaped their grasp..." he glances warily onto the porch "...or else fallen into it. I do wonder what it was he did not believe."
Checking that his bolt is properly loaded, he continues. "But, personally, I am disinclined to leave the home just now. At least here we have the company of the professor. And the ghost in the hallway. I propose we continue our exploration locally and wait to see what does or doesn't develop with Ansur. I agree with you that we are stronger together. I posit we are even stronger with a roof above our heads, hot tea, and a potential ally in the professor."
"By the by..." he adds, looking Svetlana over with concern. "Are you having head pains? I have noticed you wincing now and again."
Miralen opens the door to a sitting room, dusty and in disrepair, and discovers that there are two more doors. She also notes that there are suits of armor standing guard in each corner. Curious as to why there are so many in here, she decides to go to the one to her right and investigate it. (maybe peeking inside? however you can check out a suit of armor).
Investigation 13
@Miralen has triggered a WISDOM Savings Throw, please roll one in IC or OOC :)
wisdom 12
Rhykal turns at the sound of Ansur’s voice, the surprise vanishing into — nothing. She swears under her breath, following after Rufus’ own footsteps to the front door, though lingering to peer outside a moment or two longer. For him to have vanished so abruptly — well, Rhykal can only imagine something had taken him, though that leaves the problem of what. This place certainly doesn’t seem to have much in the way of clear answers for what. “I’d prefer to confirm whether he’s … recoverable as well,” she says, jaw tight, feeling something tighten in the pit of her stomach -- no matter what she does, control seems to be slipping away from her, again and again and again. All she has is the potential to keep these strangers safe -- but still, she takes a slow breath, turning to face the others; it feels strange, and stilted, to communicate decisions like this — to make decisions as a group -- though she makes an effort to disguise her discomfort at the task, her newness to it. The community that she has known -- well, it had not been characterized by its forays into democracy. “Whatever … we do, it’s worth noting that the doctor told us he believes the parlor specifically to be warded against evil — assuming that has any truth to it, it may be worth keeping in mind.”
“Wait there’s tea here?” Radallion glances around looking for the tea.
when he spots it he is going to pour himself a cup and begin drinking, the most relaxed he’s been since entering a haunted house in the woods
As Rufus and Rhykal Take a moment to observe the missing Ansur, footsteps can be heard still, walking around to the side of the porch. the footsteps begin to fade as Rufus returns back to the view of the hallway, activating his light. As they discuss their next path forward, Miralen makes a discovery in the sitting room. Mesmorized by the old and dusty suits of armor... she investigates more curiously. a slight touch of the armor, and from the cracks come a family of spiders racing out and relocating. as soon as that happens, the suit begins to lean forward and crash atop Miralen. the group hears a large clamor as pieces of spider infested armor cover the halfling. Miralen was startled, and accrues a stress point, but no damage. All the while, Radallion hears word of tea... searching around the already investigated room proves fruitless, as no tea is to be seen. Perhaps the parlor?
18 (High) Rufus: Cast light Perception 18 to track Ansur: Can hear footsteps
18 (low) Svetlana: Dialogue, No action
15 Rhykal: Movement, no action: Can hear footsteps
11 Miralen: Movement, Investigation 13 WIS SAVE 6: failed save; startled
4 Radallion: Dialogue, No action
New round!
good job with pace everybody. Just an FYI and a reminder-- outside of combat, you can take as many free actions (such as dialogue) you'd like. You can also use your full movement, a bonus action, and an action before you must wait for progression. if you choose to provide dialogue In one post, but didn't post an action, movement, or bonus action, you can still make more than one post that includes any of those things. However if you have only posted dialogue or free actions, and everyone else has posted in the past 24 hours, I will assume that you did not want to declare any other actions and progress the story. Let me know if this makes sense in OOC or if you have any questions!
The suit of armor falls and crashes on top of Miralen, startling her. She quickly crawls out from underneath the dusty, spider infested pieces, brushing herself off. She looks around the room and decides that, for now, she'll come back and maybe check out what's behind these doors, and goes to follow the rest of the group down the hallway where they've just seen a possible spirit of the house.
"Have you grown fond... of my company?" the azure eyes of the last of the Dusk Elf maidens dilate in wonder at the unexpected words from Rufus and she was probably about to add something but...
...the Voices in her head promptly begin to protest:
"Let go of these thoughts, Svetlana!"
"Now you have to think about how to get out of here alive!"
"You will focus later on what this gentleman from outside the Mists thinks..."
...As if that wasn't enough, the Savage Wanderer hears a large clamor as if an unfortunate explorer had been hit by a falling set of pans.
"Miralen!" Svetlana exclaims, worried, turning towards the open door that the woman-child had entered to explore alone.
Since it is not Svetlana's turn yet, waiting for Rufus to take his turn, before declaring Svetlana's movement and actions.
Rufus turns to Rhykal. "The parlor is warded against evil? That is useful information. In the event we face a mortal peril, we should retreat here."
Rufus is about to run to Miralen's aid, but she seems to be capable of freeing herself. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. One room at a time, together." He nods at Rhykal and Svetlana. "Perhaps those most accustomed to close confrontations ought to go first?"
Rufus delays his turn until after Svetlana and/or Rhykal.
"It's really good news, to know of a place of relative safety" the last of the dusk elf maidens sighs, somewhat relieved "And as for my occasional headaches…" she decides to respond, a little embarrassed, to the kind alchemist "don't worry, it's not too bad and there's little that can be done about it. I'm working on it. But you were very thoughtful first of all to notice it and secondly to take an interest in it" her azure eyes light up with gratitude. "Thanks Rufus".
"Ok, so Ansur will be left to fend for himself" Svetlana combs absent-mindedly her brown hair for a moment, as if to reassure herself about the wisdom of this course of action. "Spirits we are seeking? Well, let's go and meet them".
The Savage Wanderer closes the main door and goes back to the one beyond wich a ghost had been spotted. She looks around some moments... If the translucent figure does not show up again, she turns the corner, the same way the figure did and politely announces her coming: "Excuse me, occupants of this house... I would not like to disturb you, but you would be doing me a great courtesy by giving me a moment of your time to receive me and whoever is accompanying me".
"We are guests, after all... Maybe courtesy will help us not to upset the ghosts" Svetlana thinks - fate may have forced her to live more in contact with wild nature than with people, lately, but that doesn't mean she doesn't remember the rules of etiquette..
"Well done Svetlana, maintaining good manners is important!" the Voices in her head this time mostly approve "I always reminded my poor little Arkady of this..."
"But caution is also important... Why do we always to be the ones scouting ahead?"
“The woman-child just did it too... but she knocked over a pile of pots!”
"Collaborating effectively with your allies to get out of this distressing situation, at the moment, seems to me to be the best form of 'caution' possible!" Svetlana closes the question.
Rufus follows Svetlana into the hallway. "Perhaps we can concoct an alchemical remedy," he remarks upon Svetlana's confession of head pains. He pauses to investigate the table on their right, touching the contents, rifling through any papers, and testing any drawers.
I'll stay within 5 feet of, although behind, Svetlana and Rhykal.
Investigation: 8
As you all carefully traverse the dark hallway, Rufus' light illuminates the broken and decaying hardwood floors that lie underneath your feat. the smell of mildew fills the air here. A quick glance at the table you pass reveals an old teacup and saucer, apparently unused for quite some time as cobwebs and dust have collected. Next to it is a tome, with different colors of stained leather on the front. tooled patterns of yellow cosmology atop a blue background are stamped into the leather. As you all round the corner, you get a better glimpse of what you now recognize as a form of spirit. this tall man sweeps a straw broom mindlessly down the hall. all is quite as he slowly dissipates, revealing a set of doors further down the hall.
"I'm afraid the remedy will be far harder than that to get, but thank you all the same!" The last of the Dusk Elf maidens smile to Rufus; she then looks curiously at the tome next to the cup and points it out to him: "I doubt I would understand much about it... but perhaps it might be of interest to you. It could be about... arcane knowledge, right?" in the meantime she turns the corner, ready for a dialogue or a fight with a ghost... but the ghost in question beautifully ignores her polite words and vanishes.
"So much for dialogue with spirits..." Svetlana sighs "I suppose it's useless to wait for him to reappear" she explains to the others. "He ignored us now... he would probably ignore us later too. Let's continue our exploration. He was sweeping the corridor... So this must be a reception area, to be kept clean. And perhaps the most interesting room will be the one furthest away, furthest from the entrance, in the heart of the house".
The Savage Wanderer walks towards the door at the end of the corridor and (always following the logic of trying not to immediately antagonize any occupants of the house) she knocks politely. If after some time however no one answers, she opens the door (assuming that there is no one able to speak) and looks (for the moment without entering) what is in the room.