The young man with the brown unruly hair shrugs and smiles at Mikaela as Ilithienne slides past the freckled knight. "The drow seem eager to revisit the darkness she is born out of." He muses, ready to follow the freckled knight with the candle into the haunted cellar. 

Perception: 13

Mikaela stands back, following after Ilithienne. She turns to the man who had commented. "She can surely see in the dark better than I can. So best she go ahead."

Kallista follows Ilithienne, "Please be careful, walking headfirst into something like this cannbe dangerous."

"I think the worst I can expect is some stale cheese" Ilithienne smiles kindly to Kallista taking a few steps down.

Aruzhal brings up the rear of the group, watching behind them. He calls to Lady Kindernis: "It should go without saying, but allow nobody to come down here, lest they be lost to the cellar as well."

Rolled Perception: 8

He starts to light the lanterns as the group reaches the bottom of the stairs.

The temperature noticeably drops as you make your way down the creaky wooden stairs, as is custom for cellars, but unnerving given the possibility that it might be haunted. Lady Kindernis, Idra, and Tam stand at the top of the staircase, watching your descent. The stairs don't go far. Fifteen feet below ground at most. They lead into a small cellar room, about 15 feet by 20 feet. Barreled goods are arranged in a row on the left side of the room from where you entered. At the end of the room opposite to the stairs, an arched doorway leads to presumably more storage space. Nothing in this room presents itself as outwardly suspicious. The smell of pickled fish emanates from two of the barrels closest to the far wall (coordinates 1,1 and 1,2).

"Time to investigate," Mikaela says. "Perhaps there is some clue here?"  She begins by focusing her senses inwardly to try to detect any presence here. (Divine Sense: Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the type but not its identity. Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.)  She walks slowly towards the arched doorway - through if possible - to extend the area covered.

Ilithienne approaches the entrance to the other room (hall) coordinates 3.1. with her rapier pointed towards the archway.

"I don't think there is anything dangerous here" she speaks glancing towards the entrance.

"How do you know?" The young man with the brown unruly hair asks the drow, and curious as ever, he cautiously checks on the contents of the barrels, starting with the closest one.

Investigation: 16

Aruzhal files into the small room, watching closely for any sign they may be being watched (or any sign of danger).

He taps Gavyn on the shoulder - his senses are sharpened. (Casting guidance)

As Aruzhal touches him and speaks some strange words, Gavyn looks up at the white dragonborn with curious dark eyes. "Did you just use some magic on me? Would you care to tell me what to expect? Will I turn into something interesting?" He asks excitedly, completely forgetting about the barrels.

Aruzhal narrows his eyes. "Your senses have been heightened. Stay vigilant, continue your search."

"Hey, that's quite convenient, thanks Aruzhal." Gavyn says, giving the white dragonborn a  thumbs up before resuming his search of the barrels.

Gavyn, searching the barrels, finds nothing out of the ordinary. Some foul-smelling "fancy" cheese, butter, molasses, olive oil, pickled mackerel, pickled beets, and pickled... well, pickles.

As you pass through the doorway, the lantern's orange glow reflects off something metallic on the ground in the next room. Lying on the cold stone floor is a discarded silver platter.

The cellar room is divided down the middle by a shelf lined with glass bottles on both sides, reaching from floor to ceiling, acting as a support. Both the wall opposite the entrance and the far left side of the room are lined with barrels mounted on wooden pallets, equipped with tarnished brass spigots. The stonework seems more imperfect here, with large gaps visible between the brick walls, exposing hard-packed earth behind them.

As all of you make your way inside, a tiny scuttling sound is heard, and the dark shape of a rat is seen squeezing into one of the holes on the west end of the room.

Mikaela, using her Divine Sense, perceives no unholy presences. However, something feels wrong. The supernatural is at work. Fiendish residual power seems to radiate from the darkened corners of the room.

 

Gavyn merrily samples some of the pickled foodstuffs from the barrels before following the others into the next cellar room, taking brief note of the rat before starting to look around the shelves for the exquisite bottle of Thayan Merlot.

Aruzhal glances at the silver platter.

"The lady of the house mentioned picking up this platter caused the shaking and the rattling. Perhaps if we do the same it will reveal what is causing the disappearances."

"Sure, why not, go ahead." Gavyn says with a shrug, still going through the shelves for that precious bottle of wine.

Mikaela quickly shares that although there are no unholy presences now, she can sense a residue of fiendish power in the dark corners of the room. 

"Aruzhal, You may certainly try it," she says. She keeps a close watch to any shadowy spots where she'd sensed the fiendish energy. 

"It's always fiends isn't it," Kallista sighs. She drops to the balls of her feet and starts feeling around on the ground for any etchings on the ground that don't feel like they're just the stones being joined to one another.

Ilithienne steps next to Kallista and puts her hand on Kalli's shoulder. "...or a drow. Do not forget the drow." she adds and smiles sheeting her rapier. "It doesn't look like much... I mean this cellar. I was expecting a dungeon at least."

She walks towards location 2.2 to take a look on the other side of the cellar.