Horatio:

Horatio follows the others out. As Titaani comments about Bavlorna's state of affairs, he replies, "But everyone is afraid of her, and those talking heads are all actually dead people. They claim she killed them.. and made them like they are. Look, I once took work with a traveling merchant caravan as a wheelwright's apprentice. I thought it would lead to more work, it didn't. What it did do was show me how big and strange the world is beyond our local town. In one city I saw a large group of homeless looking teenage boys beating up a local merchant. I was about to jump into the scrap when one of the other guys from the caravan saw me and pulled me to the side. He said, 'look at that raggity fellow over there just watching, he's their leader.' Sure enough, there was some creepy old dude, as homeless and ragged as you like, watching approvingly. Some people confuse wealth with power. I don't think this... creature, is so much for wealth. I think she wants power. I think she wants to watch other people lose what they find valuable... because she likes it when others suffer. Like those former kings unable to die, or those animals brutally skinned. Like... us. She's playing with us. This place is way more dangerous than we're meant to see. Like that merchant didn't see the dangers walking past those boys on the street... That's the game she plays. If we want to beat her, we actually need to be the ones getting the jump on her."

Ben:

”it seems we have a task,” says Ben tightly, leaving the room last and listening carefully to the Hag lady’s words.  Concerned that she doesn’t cast a shadow, he wonders if she is but an illusion or is perhaps somehow supernaturally able to mask her shadow…

He tries to check the pool’s stonework to see if there is anything in the structure causing the problem.

Masonry:  17

The remainder of the party retreats downstairs.

Ben makes a cursory visual examination of the stonework of the pool, which appears to be structurally sound.

The well stands in the middle of the murky clay-tiled pool. It is tall - nearly reaching the wooden ceiling above you, and about five or six feet in diameter. There is a three-foot-or-so gap between the top of the well and the ceiling. In one corner of the pool stands a tall, dirty, freestanding mirror in an oval frame, and floating on the water is a large lily pad.

As Cad's ritual completes, he sees an aura of conjuration magic around the mirror, and an aura of indeterminate magic emanating from the lily pad. Upstairs, in the hallway they just passed through at the top of the stairs, he senses an aura of transmutation magic around something, as well as several indeterminate pings apparently coming from the occupied study they just left.  There are also a couple of clusters of arcane signatures at the limits of his senses, near the very top of the building, presumably on the third floor. The whole house exhibits vague arcane properties. There is a lot here; they begin to saturate Cad's senses. 

Cadwallader:

Cad ignores Titaani's question until his ritual is complete. "This ritual enables the caster to perceive magical auras around enchanted objects, and sometimes I can make a guess at an object's use based on its aura. For instance, that mirror in the pool? It's enchanted with some kind of conjuration spell. Those usually have to do with summoning beings or objects, so I'd guess it's some kind of portal. Mostly I just get that a thing is magical without knowing what it does; that's what the Analyze spell is for. That lily pad has an enchantment on it too, but it doesn't line up with any of the main arcane schools, so I can't even guess what it does. But I can guess that the old toad upstairs probably sits on it, based purely on her looking frog-like."

"I said we'd work on unclogging the fountain; I never said anything about the pool. I don't like the idea of wading out into that filth. Could we drill a few holes in the bottom and let it drain?"

Matilda had an incredibly sour look on her face.

" I'll have a look at the stupid fountain. Pass me one of those dummies so I can prod the bottom......unless I can borrow a spear?"

Stagnant water fills the moldy clay pool to a depth of about one foot. Drilling holes through the bottom of the pool looks theoretically possible with an appropriate tool; as far as you know there is nothing below it but 35 feet or so of thin air and wooden stilts.

The seven dressing dummies stand in a corner nearby. They are adorned with shoddy, home-stitched garments. One wears an ugly, black pointed hat. None emanate any sort of magical auras that Cad can detect.

Ben:

”A good idea, Matilda,” says Ben, “I have a spear we found in the marsh of dead men, why don’t you work out a search pattern and I will prod where you direct as we search for some sort of drain…”

Realizing Matilda may not want to wade through the slimy water, Ben offers to Help by doing the physical part of the investigation.

There is no obvious way to approach the well without wading through the water in the pool. The water looks (and smells) quite dirty, but you can easily see the bottom of the pool even in this light. It is empty and unoccupied.

The well itself is solid stone all the way around and has no doors or openings or controls. You were able to see earlier, from the vantage of the stairs, that the tall well is open on top and brimming with water. Getting a better look inside would require scaling the well itself (maybe 7' above the waterline of the pool) and then peeking within.

Ben:

”If you would like to look inside the well, you can ride on my shoulders and I will boost you up so you can see inside,” says Ben, offering to keep her out of the water as they investigate.

Matilda takes Ben up on his offer...

Ben:

Helping Matilda up on his shoulders, Ben uses the spear for balance as he carefully enters the mucky water.  As they approach the well, he hands the spear up to her.  “Be careful—no telling what is in there,” he says, steadying himself and boosting her as she needs to be able to see.

The water is warm and the bottom of the pool is a bit slimy and slippery, but Ben is able to transport Matilda safely and dryly across the pool and boost her high enough to get a good look inside. 

Matilda observes that it is completely full with calm water. She can only see a few feet down the well through the water, but she sees no obvious clogs or other problems.

Cadwallader:

Cad frets from the side of the pool: "Careful with the girl, Ben! Matilda, use both hands! No, if you're going to..." With the kind of irritation unique to the very old watching the very young being what they consider very foolish, Cad flaps his hands at the pair. "You can at least use a light," he grumbles, casting a light cantrip upon the tip of the spear.

Matilda uses the lit up spear tip to probe the bottom of the well, confused as to the problem.

Matilda plunges the glowing spear into the well water as far as she can reach. She can see at least ten feet down, and she can see nothing but clear water. There's something wrong with the water itself, though. It makes her skin tingle uncomfortably. (She may make a Nature check to see if she can ascertain more!)

Matilda rubbed her arm experimentally....

Nature: 20

Matilda finds that the water is mildly acidic—not enough to cause damage, but enough to bring up an old memory of an abandoned aqueduct. There is something organic and alive in this well, spoiling the water and plugging the plumbing – a living ooze or jelly of some sort. Possibly dangerous.

Matilda tapped Ben on the head and pointed back out of the pool before revealing her suspicions and muttering about shoving Bavlorna in there to clear it out.....

Titaani's gnomish ears prick up, overhearing Matilda's suspicions.

"Maybe whatever is in there is friendly," she says hopefully. "And perhaps intelligent enough for us to coerce it out?"

Ben::

”Hmm,” considers Ben as he moves back to dry ground.  “I am no expert in such creatures, but perhaps it is unwilling to be stuck and would be just as happy to be freed.”

Looking around, he says, “Unfortunately, my rope is still in my house, far, far away from here.  Is there anything here we could tie together and use as rope to lower something down to lure it out?  What do oozes like to eat anyway?”