Star starts rummaging through the drawers in the spare room. In the first couple of draws, he finds nothing but moth-eaten clothes. Then he finds a smaller drawer containing an iron key.

Emma slowly peels herself off the doorframe. Everyone had already left the room, headed to various places. It was good to know those she travelled with are content fighters, mages... whatever. And yet, that they showed no fear at all, as if they've forgotten about the ghost the moment it had gone out of their sight... Children who don't feat the fire end up getting burned, and Emma didn't want to be there when that happens. Well, unfortunately, it's not that she had much of a choice.

She hesitates for a brief moment, considering which pair she should follow, but then instinctively follows Vice and Juniper. Away from the ghost - better.

Perhaps she joins the two just in time to hear the end of Vice's idea of staying the night in the house, but Emma doesn't comment on it. She wants to oppose the idea, but sleeping out with the wolves sounded just as bad, and she knew that if everyone else would decide to stay, she wouldn't go without them.

On the bright side, if they do end up sleeping here, it would mean Emma would have time to use the kitchen here.... if there are any ingredients. She should ask for permission, but with the only residents being a ghost and a dog... she'll apologize if anyone comes asking, but if she's locked in this house, she's not going to starve, too. That's too much for one to take.

"I'm going to search for the kitchen." Emma states before she begins descending the stairs. Just in case some armour, ghost or monster-locking parents kill her, at least the others would know where to find her. She'll search the first floor first, then go up if she can't find it. 

Kal leaves star to search the first room while he checks the other doors.  He looks around the storage room, taking in the dust and mold covering everything, then finally steps in to take a closer look, moving towards the partially opened chest to see what might be inside.

@Emma(FireCat6)

Emma descends back down to the first floor. When everyone first entered the house, they were too hurried to check on the infant; no one explored this level. Unlike the third floor, this floor is still well-lit and relatively tidy; there is hardly a cobweb.

Emma decides to start looking for the kitchen by starting with the door closest to the bottom of the staircase. And as luck should have it, this door leads into the kitchen. The kitchen, gloomy as it might be, is tidy. The shelves are neatly stocked with dishware. The worktable has been wiped clean, and a cutting board left behind as the only oversight. The iron pipes of the oven snake out like a willow tree caught in a windstorm, twisting up and into the ceiling. The door to the pantry hangs ajar, and a dumbwaiter sits in the corner, its gate yawning open.

@Ka(VanderLegion)

Meanwhile, up in the attic of the house, Kal continues to explore the storage room.

He makes his way around the forgotten furniture to the partially opened chest. When he swings open the trunk, he almost recoils at the newfound treasure: a frail, bleached skeleton wrapped in a bloodstained bedsheet. From what remains of the skeleton's clothes, Kal determines that this must be the remains of the nursemaid.

Kal pause for a minute at the discovery of the bones, but after some thought, pulls the bedsheet from the chest and lays it out on the floor to examine the bones, trying to see if he can find evidence of how she died.

"Star," he calls down the hall, just loud enough to be heard from the other room.  "I found the nursemaid.  Or, at least, what's left of her..."

(Looking for obvious signs of death, such as broken bones/skull, cut marks on bones from something like a sword slash, etc)

Medicine?  8

“I thought that too,” Juniper allows Vice gently, “if there’s a way out. But he doesn’t seem like a hunter. He’s tame. My instinct says someone is feeding him.”

“Yeah,” Juniper nods to Vice’s idea of resting, “you’re right. We have shelter from the elements here. Emma, wait, I’m coming with you,” she continues, as the guild woman leads the way downstairs, Juniper on her heels, casting a glance over her shoulder to Vice which asks, ‘are you coming?’

“Lancelot, come with us, little one,” she coos energetically if Vice stands to follow Emma too. 

@Kal(VanderLegion)

Kal examines the remains of the nursemaid, but is unsuccessful in determining the cause of her death.

@Juniper(DandDSince1973)

After taking a moment to await Vice's reply, Juniper starts heading down the stairs. Lancelot is climbs down the stairs just behind her, following her pace. At the bottom of the stairs, on the first floor, Juniper watches as Emma quickly finds the kitchen.

"You don't know that. He could be a vicious hunter under these cuteness. Can’t judge them based on appearance, that’s how they get you.” Vice raises an eyebrow at Lancelot, and says encouragingly, “Right, buddy? You a hunter?” But the dog just wags his tail happily and follows Juniper downstairs.

“Okay, Lancelot. You’re not making my case here.” Vice murmurs defeated, and follows them a step behind.

Star pockets the key, and heads towards Kal calling. "The spirit's remains," he comments neutrally on sight of the bones. "Poor woman. Should we take her with us? Bury her properly? No wonder she cannot pass on. Also, I found a key," he adds, apropos of nothing.

Emma enters the kitchen, looks around for a brief moment, then turns around. "It's too clean, too tidy, and there's light? I don't know what's with the third floor, but I don't believe this place is empty... even excluding the dog and... the ghost. Even if nobody is here now, what if they return later? Or what if there are parents in the basement, keeping some monster in check?"

Juniper chuckles at Vice’s lightheartedness. When she arrives at the kitchen, she doubles back to the front door through which they entered. She tries the door again. Still locked? Looks through the windows again. Any sign of the children?

“You’re right,” she responds to Emma, “someone had to light the lights, right? Unless…,” she trails off. “Magic.”

She returns to the kitchen. “I think there’s someone else here. Maybe the parents, maybe not.”

Juniper looks at the dumb waiter. Any evidence of recent use?

“It is too tidy, isn’t it?” Vice says, checking the kitchen. It looks nothing like the decrepit, neglected third floor. A stark contrast. It does seem like someone’s keeping the house (at least this part) in order, but why not the third floor? “Maybe they have a zombie servant.” He jokes, but sees the guildswoman seem to be genuinely concerned, he clears his throat.

“Okay, if there’s someone here, pretty sure they would’ve heard us by now. Besides, it’s not like we wanted to stay here. We’re locked in. We’ll figure a way out the first thing in the morning.” The half-elf says reasonably, already checking the pantry for any food.

"What if they went out for some reason, and will be back soon? How would you respond if you found strangers in your house like that, rummaging through your pantry?" She would probably get angry at them for eating what would have become her dinner - or breakfast if it's in the middle of the night like right now - and drive them away. If someone really wanted her food, they should just ask for it. And an excuse like 'the door is locked', she would probably not believe it.

But perhaps the man was right. After all, they were locked in against their will... against her will, at the very least. The others didn't seem too bothered.

@Juniper(DandDSince1973), @Vice(WhiteByakko), and @Emma(FireCat5)

The dumbwaiter is a two-foot-wide stone shaft containing a wooden elevator attached to a simple rope-and-pulley mechanism that must be operated manually. Hanging on the wall next to the dumbwaiter is a tiny brass bell attached by wires to buttons in other areas of the house. Juniper examines the dumbwaiter; there are no signs of it being recently used. Instead, it is clean, without dust or dirt anywhere inside.

Vice moves to check out the pantry. The pantry is cramped and well-stocked. Casks labelled "wheat" and "ale" sits at the far wall, next to a sack of old potatoes. There are pouches with dried jerky, nuts, and seeds. An entire shelf is devoted to spices, with three racks.

Juniper keeps her eye out for a dog bowl on the floor with water in it for Lancelot to drink, and confirms whether there is a dog door in the front door area. 

Are there windows or other doors in the entry vestibule or the kitchen?

@Juniper(DandDSince1973)

There are no signs of a dog bowl in the kitchen, whether it be for water or for food. There are also no holes, or "dog doors", in or near the front door for Lancelot to enter or leave the house. There seems to be very little evidence to suggest that a dog lives in the house, or than the presence of Lancelot.

There are no windows in the kitchen to let light into the room. However, there are windows in the entrance doors. However, there are still rooms left unexplored behind the doors leading from the main hall.

“Hey,” Juniper says to Vice and Emma, returning quietly back to the kitchen, “there are more doors in the main hall. I think we should see what’s here before resting. I wouldn’t feel safe thinking someone or something could walk in at any moment while our guard is down”

Her eyes on Emma, she leads the way back to the closest door wearing a pensive expression.

If I think too much about this weirdness it will be hard to stay calm. Emma looks like she could snap any minute. I wouldn’t blame her if she did. 

"Probably not worth trying to take her remains with us right now," Kal responds to Star.  "We still don't know if we can even get out of this house yet.  Hard to bury a skeleton if we can't get outside."

"Speaking of which..." he adds.  "I wonder what that key might be to.  Wonder if it'd open the door for us."

Looking back at the skeleton, he says, "Also, this remains look like they've been here a while.  If she was the nursemaid for the kids...I'm guessing they weren't what they appeared either."

At that he climbs to his feet and moves down the hall to head downstairs to join the rest of the group and tell them what he and Star found upstairs.

Vice lets out a meaningful "Ah" as he opens the pantry and sees the overflowing stock of various food. Eat the rich, amirite? He turns to Emma and raises a pierced eyebrow. "You think I had pantry like this? I pretty much grew up on gummy worms and cough syrup." The kitchen at his house was never stocked. With his father always not home, young Vice would splurge the little money his father left behind on huge bags of candy, and spend however long his father decided to leave him alone with an upset stomach and too much energy.

When Kal tells them of the nursemaid’s remains in the attic, Vice’s face remains hard and shuttered. “Yeah, I’d say no one’s living in this house. Not for a long time. Unless they are some sick ****s who just leave corpses around for fun.” Though from what he read on the letter, Mr. and Mrs. Durst might as well be that kind of people. He wouldn’t feel bad about eating their food at all.

"Shall we?" If they’re still checking other rooms on the first floor, Vice will try the door right next to the kitchen.  

While her pantry was nothing like this either, it usually had enough to feed everyone in the house. Feed them with healthy food, that is. "That's a horrible diet. Sweets should be the seal of the meal, not its entirety. Else you'll be hungry again shortly after." If he were still a child and she saw him eating like that she'd probably... no, probably nothing. She'd never have the courage to reprimand another adult, even if it were justified. At most, she might have given him something to eat.

"More corpses," Emma remarks on what Kal and Vice said. "But the food and the dog are here, the fireplace is lit... this house can't be empty. If we search all the rooms... we'll find the residents eventually." Emma means that is best avoided, given everything they've seen in this house. That said, she follows the others anxiously into the next room. At this point, despite all she's done so far, she realises that whatever is in this house, she does not want to meet when alone.