“It is not a uncommon notion that sacred items to have guardians or some type of protection if someone disturbs the items for the wrong reasons. But it could be they are suffering from a guilty conscience. I’ll let you folks take the lead I don’t want to cause to much trouble.,” says Dormark.

Quote from Hexblade37 >>

Baern listens to Sandu and remarks "oh, well, hmmm, I'm going to Krezk to, ah, well to try to find my mother, and Dormark and Galqarin said they'd come with me."  "I was hoping you all would too."  He hestitates for a second before continuing "but if something must be done for Ireena to be safe first, I can help."

'We first secure Ireena's safety. Then we can go search for your mother, Baern.' 

Sandu's voice was firm yet soft. The dwarf had mentioned his missing mother, a sentiment he could relate to. But they had promised Ireena a safe haven and they were close to make good on that promise.

The talk about the difference between busting and burning down doors brought another difference to Sandu's attention.

'Dormark, Baern, Galqarin: could you, uhm, wait outside the orphanage, please?' There was no easy way to state it so he went with blatant bluntness. 'It's just that you're made of metal, you're the only dwarf we've seen in Barovia so far and you're a bugbear: you kind of stand out.'

He motioned at Valerie, Ioben and himself. 'We want to speak with the sick guy, not intimidate him.' He shrugged. 'Somehow I don't think being scared to death is just an expression here.'
The way Sandu stressed the word here and glanced around clearly showed he still had his reservations about the land. 'Let's not take an unnecessary risk, okay?'

He laid an hand on the orphanage's front door, awaiting an answer before he pushed it open.

Quote from Furujiru >

'We first secure Ireena's safety. Then we can go search for your mother, Baern.' 

 

Baern looks a bit awkwardly at Sandu.  "Well, that's what I said, yeah, ah, of course.  We have to help Ireena."

When asked to wait outside the young dwarf just shrugs and says "sure".

"Galqarin, what else do you know about Krezk?  Do you know anyone there?  Are there any dwarves?"

"I not been there", Galqarin admits. "Krezk smaller than Vallaki. St. Markovia has abbey on hill above village."

“Alright let us know how it goes,” says Dormark to Sandu. He than goes find someplace to take a seat and rest.

Mid-Afternoon - Day 5 - St. Andral's Orphanage

Ioben, Sandu, Valerie -  You enter through the main, heavy-set, doors of the Orphanage.  Into a hallway which is wood-panelled and dimly lit. The wooden floors are old and worn and the steps of the main staircase sag with age.  A pile of children's shoes lays by the western wall.  As you enter you notice a door to your immediate left opened just a crack.  A small child, a girl, peeks through at you.  As soon as you look in her direction she pushes the door shut and you hear the hasty pitter-patter of little steps as she runs away on the other side.

((St, Andral's Orphanage - Entrance & Initial Hallway))

Baern, Dormark & Galqarin - You stand and wait patiently outside.  Though it is mid-afternoon it is a little darker than previous days; most likely on account of the dark rainclouds you can make out through the mists.  A gentle rain starts to fall as you wait.  There are a few locals milling around the streets, a couple of which enter the church.  As the rain starts to fall you notice that people quickly seek shelter under what they can - storefronts, trees, building out-croppings and the like.

From where you stand you can see Ismark walk to the entrance to the church and look up inquisitively at the darkening clouds.  Spotting half the party standing outside the Orphanage he looks over and shrugs in mock-exasperation at the weather, rolling his eyes.

"Should we wait in the church?" asks Baern.

'That was odd.' Sandu hesitantly said. Granted, they were a bunch of strangers intruding into a home full of kids without parents and the more he thought about it, the more familiar it felt and the more sullen he became.

He put a hand to the side of his mouth. 'Hello?' Sandu spoke loud and clear. 'Is anyone here?'

There was a brief jolt at the back of his head between his neck and right ear. Something had happened somewhere. Zazi? Sandu took a couple of steps forward in the hall. 'We're looking for Milivoj. We might be able to help him.' 

He waited for a response.

(the stairs look like they are going up, but I can't tell for sure.)

Ioben walks quietly into the hallway, looking around at the age and lack of care that was evident on every surface. I guess it doesn't matter which city you end up in, if nobody wants you then nobody cares to look at how you live. He slowly made his way further into the building, past the stairs to make sure no children were hiding under there.

Perception: 16
Investigation: 12

There is the sound of movement from the door to the party's left.  Moments later a woman in her mid-sixties appears at the door; she wears a frilly blue dress, with her hair neatly tied at the back, her face is stern yet not unkind.

"Yes?  Can I help you?  My name is Ms Belasco."  Much like her appearance her voice carries a level of authority with it.  "You mentioned Milivoj.  I am afraid the boy is unwell at the moment and cannot see visitors."  She casts her eye over the party, "If you will excuse my bluntness - you do not look like locals.  Why are you here?"

Ioben's checks:

Ioben turns to face the woman as she enters the room. Speaking in a calm voice he says, "We have just come from Father Lucian. We have been helping him with some things around the church. He asked if we could come to check in on Milivoj as well, as we have skills that may be beneficial. Yeska was also worried about his friend. What can you tell us about the situation?"   Persuassion: 10

“I don’t see why not better than sitting in the rain,0 says Dormark as he moves toward the church.

(This probably would have come up already in the group's many miles of travel, or perhaps we've already mentioned it, but...). "Dormark, do you rust at all?"

“No the magic part of my being prevents that. Doesn’t mean I like being soaked,” says s the warforge.

Quote from IrRy0 >>

There is the sound of movement from the door to the party's left.  Moments later a woman in her mid-sixties appears at the door; she wears a frilly blue dress, with her hair neatly tied at the back, her face is stern yet not unkind.

"Yes?  Can I help you?  My name is Ms Belasco."  Much like her appearance her voice carries a level of authority with it.  "You mentioned Milivoj.  I am afraid the boy is unwell at the moment and cannot see visitors."  She casts her eye over the party, "If you will excuse my bluntness - you do not look like locals.  Why are you here?"

'Matron Belasco.' Years and years of conditioning and hard to break habits flooded back into Sandu's person. He straightened his back and pulled his shoulders back so he wouldn't slouch,  lifted his chin to look the elderly woman in the eyes and licked his lips for better enunciation. He bowed and continued. 'Like my friend mentioned, it is true that we are here on behalf of Father Lucian. We have cause to believe that whatever ailes Milivoj can be cured and, furthermore, that we have a way to alleviate his condition. But to do this, we need to see and speak with him.'

Sandu's tone was calm and warm yet resolute. He had found that people in similar positions like Ms Belasco reacted more positively to that approach and he hoped she would follow suit.

OOC: Does this require an additional Persuasion roll? Or is this more like helping Ioben's first roll? 

Ioben - You notice Ms Belasco's face soften briefly at the mention of Father Lucian.  "Oh well.  If that is the case."  She starts, seemingly taking your assertions at face-value, "You'd best follow me.  I am afraid that the boy is in quite a bad way."  There is a hint of genuine concern in her voice, "He has been unresponsive since being taken ill; he won't be able to answer any questions.  I always told him that he would be taken ill if he stayed out in the cold and rain, but would he listen?"

She gestures for the party to follow her, heading back through the door she appeared from.  Following after, you find yourself in a large room which is likely the main social area of the Orphanage.  It contains an old couch, a few mismatched stuffed chairs, chests crammed with worn toys, and two small dining tables surrounded by chairs. Three young girls crowd around a dollhouse in the south of the room. An older boy paces the room with a toddler on each hip as he tries to sooth them.  An older girl sits on the couch and reads aloud to four more gathered toddlers.

The room erupts into a den of chaos and noise; the children seemingly more at ease since the party has been accepted.  Ms Belasco leads you through the room to the back of the Orphanage.  Taking a set of keys from around her waist, she locates the correct key and opens a door to a small bedroom.  The first thing that hits the party is the smell; putrid, sweat, mixed with an earthy / mud smell.  The bedroom is sparsely furnished. The floors are covered with dirt and an old shovel lies on the ground at the foot of the bed. A sickly young man sleeps fitfully.  He is covered in sweat from fever and has blood mixed bile on his lips.  His pallor is yellow tinged and deathly pale.

Ms Belasco speaks up, yet her voice lacks the sternness from previously replaced by an emotional plea of sorts, "Milivoj."  She shakes her head sorrowfully, "We didn't want to alarm the children... No one knows what ails the poor boy.  It came on suddenly, not more than a couple of days ago."  She turns to Sandu, a look of desperation on her face, "You mentioned that you believe you might be able to cure him?"

Quote from Losman >>

“No the magic part of my being prevents that. Doesn’t mean I like being soaked,” says s the warforge.

 "Right, that was my guess.  So, the same as me!  Haha"

Baern, Dormark & Galqarin - You make your way to the church as thunder cracks in the distance.  The rain begins to fall more heavily now.  There are a few people situated in the church at the current time; Ireena and Ismark are located in the office to the right of the entrance, the door to the immediate left is shut, in the main hall a priest patiently listening to a lady in her fifties, other than that there are a couple of locals sitting heads bowed in the pews.

Ismark approaches you. "Didn't fancy standing outside and enjoying the weather?" he says jokingly.  "Still could be worse." he adds bleakly.  "Any new information from Mr Blinsky.  Famous, his toys - 'Is No Fun, Is No Blinsky!'"  Ismark smirks, "get anything nice?"

Sandu followed Ms Belasco through the rooms. Every sight and sound added to a nostalgic mix of comfort and harsh sadness. He had been here before. The boy trying to sooth the toddlers was him at age 12. The child reading to the others was him at age 14. Everywhere he looked he saw himself at a different age. The rooms even smelled faintly the same. The children, as far as he could tell, were blissfully unaware of the horrors that lie in wait outside the walls. He closed the door of Milivoj's room behind him. He wanted to keep them that way if just for a little while longer.

'I have a hunch.' Sandu replied to Ms Belasco. 'But it depends on what Milivoj tells us.'

He grabbed the chair and seated himself next to the bed. He reached for the boy's hand and when he held it in his own, a strange phrase surfaced from a misty corner of his mind: 'Fiți în largul dvs.'

'Milivoj,' Sandu gave the boy's hand a squeeze. 'My name is Sandu. I believe I know what ails you. We might even be able to reverse it but I need you to answer me honestly.' 
His eyes moved from the boy to the shovel at the foot of the bed. He had already put everything together but he needed to hear it from the young man.

Sandu took a deep breath. 'Did you take the bones of Saint Andral from beneath the church?'

He watched the boy's face for any response. A soft word fell from Sandu's lips: 'Dezvãlui.' The fringes of his eyes began to darken with black clouds.

OOC: 
2 castings of spells:
- Spare the Dying: not sure if it mechanically would do anything but if felt thematic.
- Detect Magic: because we're dealing with an illness of the magical variety. 

Sandu - You give the boy's (more a young man given his age and relative size) hand a squeeze - it feels cold, yet damp with perspiration.  As you say his name, Milivoj does not stir instead remaining still as though petrified.  Your eyes move to the shovel - clearly the tool used to pry the floorboards in the church, there even appears to be scuff marks of the shovelhead.

Ask you ask about the bones you see little shift in Milivoj's body, but do note rapid eye movement; it strikes you that it is clear that the question has registered as it is a marked change in the boy.  His mouth slightly twitches, it could be nothing but you are convinced that the boy is trying to tell you something.

Casting Spare the Dying you do not know whether the spell had any effect, but are confident the boy's condition is at least stable.  You cast Detect Magic, sure that it will reveal Milivoj's true malady, however you do not get a reading.  There is no active magic occurring - though you discern Milivoj's condition to be un-natural and could well be the result of having previously been the victim of a spell or magical item or creature.

((Looking into Detect Magic I believe it would only show active magic / magical objects and creatures, it also has a range. 

Amended my post to not complete discount it's usage though.))