Runt ha no idea what the conversation is pertaining to and is trying hard not to act confused. She is content to eat and feign listening.

Finally after dinner is finished, the maid slowly starts taking the plates away. Vlad says, "Please come with me. I shall show you to each of your rooms."

Devarus opens his mouth as if to answer, but stops short uttering more than a syllable. Even in the time spent in Vlad's presence, enjoying a fairly nice meal, and avoiding some of the awkwardness that came with it all, the half-drow couldn't quite bring himself to speak completely without reservation.

He tries to cover up the initial stutter in simply nodding and rising along with the others. But unless a situation necessitated it, or appeared Vlad intended to split them up too much, Devarus is as quiet as a church mouse for the trip.

"Your hospitality is appreciated." Elsara replies, opting to follow him to their rooms. She wonders if she'll be sharing a room, if they'll be across from one another, and what type of pretty things will be decorating the room.

Vlad led them upstairs to the 3rd floor. He had readied a room for each of the party. The rooms were very similar to each other, clearly intending to be used as guest rooms. All the rooms had a thick red carpet in the middle of it. Some rooms had their bed on the left corner of the wall opposite to the door. Other rooms had the bed with a side against the right wall. There were sets of drawers positioned against the front wall. The opposite wall also had a large window with luxurious red curtains. The windows overlooked either the front yard or the backyard of the estate (depending on which side the room was on). Some rooms had a writing desk on the left wall (If the bed was up against the right wall) while others had a writing desk on the right wall. For lighting, the rooms all had a small golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling over the middle of the room.

He would show each of the party their rooms one by one and once they would enter, he would then lead the rest of the party to the other rooms; repeat until everyone is inside their respective rooms. He first showed a room to Deva, then to Val, then to Elsara and lastly Runt.

((IRL has been really hectic these last few days so sorry for the slow posts))

Val thanks Vlad for his hospitality and bids him and the rest a good night rest. Then he goes directly to the window and opens it, letting the fresh and cold air of the forest enter the room.

( It is still raining? ) 

((Yes it is still raining))

Elsara seems a little put off that her magical home she made the prior day isn't nearly as fancy as Lord Vladimir's estate, but she appreciates the hospitality. After twenty minutes or so, Elsara leaves her room and goes to knock on Runt's door, awaiting a response (in spoiler below).

Devarus lingers by the door frame of his room, if but to watch the others reach their own each in turn. Each time he also makes a mental mark for their position before ultimately returning to his room and closing the door. For the next ten or so minutes at least, Devarus inspects the room from the flooring to the walls. Despite being a gracious host, the whole expected dislike of half-drows not withstanding, his mother's words echoed in mind, urging some caution.

Investigation: 6.

It also begged the question of Vlad possibly being the reason for them. But why? And why settle so far away from civilization, and in so dark area. Was it familiar to the underground condition? Was he some noble exile? It all irked him to no end, but his initial focus remained the investigation first. Once self assured there were no hidden passages, disconcerting remnants of previous occupants, or worse, Devarus waited a few minutes more before taking a peek outside of his room. If the way seemed clear of either of Vlad, maid, or armored butlers, then his next stop leads him to knocking quietly on Val's room door.

Perception: 14.

Stealth: 9.

Deva looks around the room. He finds some extra clothes Vlad left for him and also presumably for the other guests as well. The checks the carpets and the flooring. There is one loose floor board. Opening it, Deva finds that it was not any secret compartment but just a floor board that had come loose with time and no one noticed. There was a nest of common house spiders under it. With their webs disturbed, the spiders scatter and flee to different parts of the room.

After the unfruitful investigation, he peeks out the hall ways. There appears to be no one there. He sneaks out and tries to quietly knock on Val's door. The knock was louder than expected and the sound of Deva knocking echo throughout the halls. It summons a rat from the side of the hall that's in the same direction as the stairs to Deva. *squeak* *squeak*. The Rat looks up at Deva. It seems harmless.

Given Elsara's waiting on Runt, she'll probably have used her comm back to base to send a message back to The Guild. "We've located Victor Silversurge at a manor of a Lord Vladimir in the forest. They're letting us stay the night, we'll report back tomorrow."

Devarus grimace from the noise soon turned into a look of confusion at the rat. Although it appeared harmless enough, it also raised more questions. Enough to question if it was paranoia, his mother's warnings, or just plain stubbornness to find fault in their host that was really compelling his actions. Because surely the master of the house's servants wouldn't allow such rodents to so boldly stroll about the...

Devarus glances back to Valwyrn's door, then over to the mouse... then back over to Valwyrn's door. "Mr. Valwyrn?" He asked, looking to the rat as he knelt down to offer his hand.

@Elsara: Cathrine's Voice rings out from the other side of the sending stone, "Understood. Stay alert and goodnight."

@Devarus:The rat sniffs his hand before running off back to wherever it came from.

@Val: You hear Deva knocking on your door.

@Runt: You hear Elsara knocking on your door.

"Or... maybe not Mr. Valwyrn?" Devarus asked himself. He then looks to the door again. If he neither saw or heard the elf in the next few seconds, then Dev, being just curious and presumptuous enough to follow an old lead, tries to track down the rat again without making too much undue noise. He hoped, at least, but knew hope would only get him so far.

Survival: 19.

Does Val open the door?

I'm going to wait for a little while longer for Val or Runt to respond before I move with Deva's Rat chase.

Val goes and open the door curious of who may be.

( sorry rough week ) 

Runt let's Elsara in as it saves her the time of going to someone else's room instead.

"Ah, wait, oh, uh, so... huh..." Devarus stammered out as he looked between Valwyrn and the direction the rat ran off several times before ultimately settling on smiling to the druid. "Well, I suppose this makes things a little less awkward then my chasing a random rat." He said, chuckling a bit, then clearing his throat as if to refocus himself. "Where was I? Oh yes. I wished to talk to you, and perhaps the others even to find out if you noticed, uh... anything during the meal. I'm afraid that I was... well..." He bows his head in shame. "A bit distracted during it."

"I am sorry Dev " says Valwaryn after inviting him in seeing that the half-elf is in some kind of distress. " I didn't notice anything unusual, despite the fact that our noble didn't seem particulary eager to return home, or happy to see us. What are you talking about? what should I had noticed?" he asks curious.

Devarus opens his mouth to speak, hesitates for a second, then shook his head. He then looks one more time down the halls before making a gesture, asking if Val to let him inside. Whether its inside the room or not, Devarus answers the elf, if albeit more tense if continuing the conversation in the hall. "Honestly, I don't know. Part of why I asked. My mother... I'm not sure if I mentioned this before you all, but she's something of a ranger of a sort. So, before coming here I asked her about this area, and she warned me against getting this deep into this particular forest. Something about the... uh... the dangers increasing greatly beyond a certain point. So, the fact that his rather nobleman seeming fellow -- our host, to be more exact -- is living here is most peculiar, to say the least." He expressed.

"From what little I saw of him directly, he didn't strike me as some eccentric researcher type or hunter... so.. why stay here? Even if this place is reminiscent of our..... -his- ancestral home, it's... still peculiar. I'd wager he's an exile or something else, but I need more to be certain." He admits.