In answer to Graxx, Doozey hops off of Biscuit to approach the eastern door and sniff around the area near the door, hoping to pick up any traces of freshly rotting/necrotic flesh, or the faint shuffling of feet just beyond it. Or perhaps even the smell of the fresh flowers brought in by the late Acolyte.

"I think... its a door." He said plainly, as then knelt down before it searching then for scuff marks in the floor from either sharp toed feet or claws, if not other signs of the undead having breached as far. "One.. we will need to have opened, I would presume. And shortly at that." He said aloud, but soon trailed off tapping his forehead and muttering, "Wait... Bone Pit, wasn't it?"

Frowning, he then glanced back to Cassyt, "Speaking of first families. Anything in that book of yours on where they'd be kept, as far as your late fellow Acolyte would go to?"

As Doozey was doing all that, Biscuit kept his eyes laser focused on the other path for any signs of... sudden movement!

Perception: 18.
(*Ignore 2nd roll Roll if Keen Hearing and Smell will not contribute)

Survival: 20.
(*ignore 2nd roll in sequence if Hunter's Bane not applicable)

Cassyt receives the key from Utar and reaffirms that she'll run if told to do so. In a similar vein, when Graxx asks her to snuff her oil lamp, she does just so. She readjusts her goggles and says: "Yep, working as intended!"

Shortly thereafter, the acolyte answers Neya's and Doozey's question in one go: "The first families are the wealthy and the powerful: successful merchants, political leaders, military officers, and their families. We refer to them as 'first' because theirs are the first crypts one comes across when delving in the catacombs. They are just around the bend, past the fresco on the south wall." She point to the passage leading to end of the L-shaped room. CRAP cannot see that area just yet (you'd have to make an active choice to go that way.)

@Utar: Scanning the room with your natural darkvision, you do not spot any unexpected movement. Nonetheless, something does pique your interest. You notice that the fresco in the south wall of this chamber has taken plenty of damage over time. If you'd like to look more closely at it, please roll either an investigation or a survival check. 

Graxx and Doozey then begin to wonder about what lies behind the door to the east. Asked to sniff and listen, Biscuit focuses and picks up something, though not what his master expected. The beast paws at Doozey in a periodic manner until the halfling understands what the mastiff is trying to drive at. Among the dead silence within the catacombs, the periodic sound of dripping water can be heard. Apart from that, there is only dead silence again, at least for now. 

Noticing that the group is intrigued by the door to the east, Cassyt shares some info: "That door leads to the Funerary Banquet Hall. Many families hold funeral banquets when their loved ones are interred. Middle class and wealthy families prefer to rent a banquet room in an inn or host the banquet in their homes, but the faithful of Kelemvor don't charge for the use of this room, so it's popular with poorer families in Phlan. If you'd like to investigate the banquet hall, the door should be unlocked."

@Doozey: You try to look for specific signs of the undead in this chamber. What you find are spots of blood on the ground, near the walls. It looks like the blood was wiped away and washed, but those on cleaning duty must have missed a few spots. You reckon that's the trail of Sister Bethel's blood that Yovir had mentioned. 

(@Ori: I'd say that both Keen Hearing and Smell and Hunter's Bane are indeed appropriate in this situation.)

Utar moves towards the fresco, the damage its sustained doesn't seem like normal wear and tear or water damage... The symbol of Torm on his pauldron glows softly for a moment as he casts guidance.

[Skill]Survival[skill] 24 plus 1

(OOC: I'm posting a bit earlier than usual today. Please refer to OOC Chat.)

Utar approaches the fresco and looks closely at it. The portions that are still visible are quite artistic in approach, despite all the damage and the lack of any consistent scale. Utar notices that a few of the visible portions look a bit too geometric in relation to the rest of the fresco. Focusing on those details, he deduces that a centuries-old map of the catacombs must have been embedded in the fresco once. However, the damage has claimed most of this map. Utar can see how the map would have gone unnoticed to less careful observers.

Perhaps more interestingly, Utar also notices this: the map is severely damaged and much of it must indeed have been due to time and water, but some of the defacing looks more intentional. Perhaps a cleaning agent or even acid was used to destroy some of the up-until-recently remaining portions of the map on the wall. 

Doozey looks to the door again at the suggestion, giving it another hard look. "... Best we should have a peek, just in case.. Make sure none of them aren't lurking within beyond even my senses." He suggests to the party, then regards Cassyt directly once more. "There wouldn't happen to be an underground river or, uh... any other water sources nearby would there?"

Graxx will approach the blood and see which way the trail leads.

9

Staring at the fresco, Utar momentarily thinks that whichever artist produced it certainly had a passable degree of talent. Tilting his head, he suddenly sees the intricate hidden meaning within the artwork, whispering, he can't hide his admiration, "very clever..."

Motioning to the group, he quietly calls the Kelemvorite over and points out his discovery. "Cassyt, I believe this artwork shows a map of the catacombs. I also think that someone has deliberately removed pieces of it to hide certain sections, do you know which portions of this map have been erased? It might help to narrow our search?"

Graxx looks over and looks at the artwork.

"Good eye, Utar.  I never would have seen that."

Neya directs her attention to Doozey staring a hole through the door and says, "It's worth a look. If there's nothing in there, very little time is wasted and we can carry on deeper. If there's something inside, we can deal with it accordingly."

She first tries to listen through the door to try and discern if anybody is on the other side. She then opens door slowly and silently as to try and not to alert what/whoever may or not be in there, and looks inside.

Perception (listening through door): 7

Sleight of hand (stealthy open door): 22

Utar spends a few more seconds staring at the fresco before calling Cassyt over. It takes a few moments for the acolyte to see what the cleric is pointing out to her but, once she does, she begins to furiously take notes and draw sketches on a different journal than the one she previously read. "Fascinating, but simply too little," she says after clicking her tongue. "Too little of this map remains. It helps me confirm where the bone pit is, but I'm afraid that's it." She then points to the passage at the end of the L-shaped room. "It's that way, but I could have told you that just by the process of elimination."

A second later, while examining the droplets of dried blood on the ground, Graxx independently concludes that the path leading to the First Families of Phlan area is the more likely direction to follow. Between his own analysis and what Cassyt said, the barbarian is now pretty sure the door to the east is not where Sister Bethel was attacked. Nonetheless, Doozey and Neya raise convincing points about checking it for any danger. While convincing the group, Doozey also asks a question about water sources. Cassyt responds: "As far as I know, most of the tunnels and crypts stay dry, but there might be puddles of pooled moisture here and there. Also, the catacombs are quite vast; I wouldn't be surprised if we hit some knee-deep water in some of the sections that stray beneath the Stojanow River, if we even go in such direction."

As the acolyte wraps up her response, Neya finishes listening at the door. Perhaps it was the fact that Cassyt was still talking, or perhaps there was nothing to hear to begin with, but in the end, the monk can't pinpoint any noises from the other side. Deciding to be careful nonetheless, Neya quietly opens the door and thanks the Kelemvorites in her thoughts for keeping its hinges well-oiled. What she sees is indeed a banquet hall, as Cassyt had called it, and it looks surprisingly pleasant when considering its location. Many colored lanterns and small incense burners are placed within, and are actually lit. The long tables within are boards lain over a pair of trestles fashioned of wood planks, with benches for seating. A smaller room in the southern corner of the hall is sealed with a locked iron gate, which is the most plain feature of the banquet hall. Neya sees no movement inside.

"Well uh, I'm glad we've identified this map... Which will make a good project for an initiate or a noble with a penchant for art or history to restore..."

Utar turns from the fresco and waits for Neya to beckon the less stealthy members of the group into the next room.

Graxx traces his hand against the blood.,

"The attack came from this way to the First Families.  We should proceed with caution and ready for battle." says Graxx.

"Let's make sure there is truly nothing in this room that would sneak up behind us as we survey these tunnels, undead or otherwise." Neya says as she waves the group into the room and she starts looking around.

Perception: 10

Despite Graxx's confirmation that their quarry lies ahead, CRAP agrees to make sure they are leaving no danger unchecked within the room to the east. Neya gives the signal Utar had been waiting for and the party enters the banquet hall.

Neya sweeps the room once again and her eyes are drawn to the small room to the southwest corner. What at first appears to be a small room or closet turns out to be a shaft leading both up and down. The group gathers that this is, at least in part, one of the shafts that Cassyt had mention before, built for the purposes of air circulation on for some natural light. Indeed, just as Neya is looking up, a gust of wind comes down the shaft producing an unsettling sound akin to moaning or whistling on windy days. Separately, Neya also notices that the simple iron gate barring the way into this shaft is not very different from the one they passed through on the way down into the catacombs. It seems sturdy, and of relatively new construction. It is also locked.

Finally, there is also a set of block and tackle hanging from a rod above eye-level and within the shaft. There are also handholds which have been chiseled into the wall. Noticing that Neya is carefully taking all of this in, Cassyt speaks up: "This shaft descends into a one of the lower chambers, used by the clergy to prepare bodies for interment. The set of block and tackle is used for lowering dead bodies to the chamber below, after the families in the banquet hall are done saying their goodbyes." A shiver then goes up the acolyte's spine: "You are not considering going down the shaft, are you?"

Utar eyes up the shaft mulling over whether they should descend or not.

"Who holds the keys for the locks, presumably other Kelemvorites for when bodies need to be interred? Would the Kelemvorites who were attacked have held them?"

Pausing, Utar rubs a hand over the stubble growing on his chin, knowing that Cassyt's answer will likely determine whether he would risk descending the block and tackle.

"Would going down the shaft bring us closer to where we think the attacks took place?"

Graxx waits standing guard near the blood trail.

 "Well, the last one was by the bone pit, and Ms, uhm... Cassyt further confirmed it being back the other way." Doozey chimed in the acolyte's place, if Utar's words had been for her. "The other went missing altogether, if'n I recall right. Same for the third, if not miscounting... But, that's not enough to rule this way out altogether. If nothing else, it could be a second exit for us in a tight enough spot should go further below." He expressed, then looked to Biscuit. The Tundra Mastiff barked in agreement.

"Which, let's face it. If there's intelligent undead involved, then odds are we'll definitely going deeper and down. As it would be the smartest choice to avoid detection... until it was time to strike." Doozey affirms. Then, he climbs aboard Biscuit once more, and nudges his side, directing the beast to depart. On his way out he adds however, "Now, back to our other trail before it gets too cold."

Cassyt answers Utar's questions about the keys: "Well, I don't know for sure, but this gate surely looks like the one the Doomguide opened with this key here." She produces the key that Utar entrusted to her after sweet-talking Yovir. The acolyte offers it back to Utar, in case he wants to give the gate a try. "Or maybe you can try picking the lock or breaking the gate, as adventures are known to do. Although I am sure the Doomguide would not like any of that..."

The Tormite then asks a different question, which Doozey responds on behalf of Cassyt. She nods and shrugs, as to show that she does not have anything to add to what the stouling said at this time. When Doozey mounts Biscuit, Cassyt lets out a tiny squeal of happiness.

Waiting outside, Graxx sees that at least Doozey is ready to accompany him down the path leading to the First Families. Utar an Neya are still in the banquet hall, pondering their options. Cassyt is between the two duos, wondering if she has to make a choice. It is plain for everyone to see that she dislikes the idea of going down the shaft, though it is likely because it plays into her fears of the catacombs rather than any more rational reason.

"This shaft is more of a distraction right now. We should investigate where the attacks happened and decide the best way to proceed from there."

Graxx nods.

"Let us carry on then.  Doozey... Do you want to continue to lead us?  I'll be right behind you."