The corners of Ember's mouth turn down in a frown as she realizes she volunteered Cork for something he might be scared of too. Maybe he also would have preferred to stay on the same level as the burning hearth--the large fire and all its light a warm comfort.

At Ozyre's words, the candle seems to mirror her emotions, spooking just as she does in a jump of flickering flame. Popping out from within the folds of her oversized scarf, Aggie chitters at the gnome, the rapid chatter clearly a scolding of some kind. When she realizes he was only joking, Ember quietly giggles, but moves closer to be right on the gnome's heels. 

When they enter the kitchen, Ember stops in her tracks and sniffs at the air. "Do you smell that?" she whispers. 

((Can she try and identify the smell? Rotten food or... rotten FLESH? Would that be a nature check and can Aggie help her with it using his Keen Senses? If with help: A TWO for a total of 5, if not: A NAT ONE. Dice did me real dirty there.))

As Thurodim goes for the sheets, [Sound of Cork Popping] steps around him to get a better look. 

He braces himself.  Unless there is a very quiet survivor here, the chances are good that something unpleasant is about to be revealed.

After being scolded, Ozyre just gives a slight grin and a shrug to Aggie.

In the kitchen, the gnome gives a suspicious look towards the stinky door. "Probably a pantry. You might want to, um, cover your eyes for a second though. Just in case it's evil rotten fruit that petrifies you with its gaze. Y'never know." With that warning given, he cautiously opens the door and inspects its contents.

Behind Ozyre, the candlestick is set on the dusty table with a quiet clunk as a mischievous little wizard plans her revenge. She'll wait to be sure there's no threat in the pantry, but she's poised to make her move.

((Stealth: 13)) 

In the kitchen, Ozyre and Ember prepare to open the door next to them. Ember, judging by the smell, it could simply be one of those funny-smelling cheeses old people seem to enjoy for some reason. Except this is one is particularly unpleasant. However, you’re soon proven wrong. On the other side of the door, you find, as Ozyre guessed, a pantry filled with food that has gone bad. Vegetables that have wilted and become rotten and spoiled, fruits that have begun to form mold, and meats that has become festering masses filled with maggots. Dozens of flies are buzzing around and feasting on the spoiled reserve of food.

On the second floor, the barbarian and the scholar also make a grizzly discovery. As the bed sheets are removed, you find two bodies laying motionless. Their skin seem to have dried up and taken a more pallid tone. Their eyes are sunk in and the bodies emit a foul odor of the early to mid stages of decomposition. One of the bodies bears the a pair of tusks on the lower jaw, while the other has long dark hair. Some parts of the skin have dark-colored bruises. The corpses are extremely emaciated and the bed sheets have started to grow large yellowish-brown stains with and acrid smell.

"It's okay if you want to leave." Thurodim says grimly to [Sound of Cork Popping] beside him. He didn't particularly want to stay himself but he realized these were people of the house lying here and he wanted to know why they instead of bravely fighting the toothy dragon chicken, these two had died in bed, as cruel a fate as anyone could have.

Thurodim trying to understand cause of death.
Investigation: 6
Medcicine: 17

Ember waits for that moment of tension to build as the door slowly opens and, just when the contents of the pantry are revealed, tries to jump scare the gnome. "BOO! I'M AN EVIL STINKY CHEE--oh." The smell doesn't seem to bother her too much as she steps into the pantry to investigate its contents. She scoops up a handful of maggots to inspect their size and stage of development. 

Then she turns to Ozyre. "Something really bad happened here... didn't it?"


((Can she try and determine from the state of decay of the food and size of the maggots just how long ago things seemed to have been abandoned? Would that be a Nature check?: NATURAL ONE for a 4 ARRGHHH *rages*))

"ACK!" At Ember's scare, Ozyre clutches his heart and falls down onto his back. He waits a couple seconds for just the beginnings of worry to kick in, and then sticks his tongue out and blows a raspberry. With the vicious cycle of vengeance satisfactorily perpetuated, he gets back up onto his feet and takes a look at the rotten food. "Things are definitely not the way they are supposed to be. Good news is, not every creature is repulsed by this place! Just ones that aren't flies or maggots. Or us.

"Anyways, that's just one mystery solved. What say we see what's behind door number two?" Without wasting any time, the gnome heads over to the larger door on the other side of the room and flamboyantly reveals its contents to Ember.

Rather than step away, the Kenku stands silent for a solemn moment, looking upon the fallen.  His beak cracks open and from his throat comes a sound almost like a sigh.  

Then he steps forward to assist the large human in examining the bodies for a cause of death.  He holds the torch and points out anything unusual he can see.

Ideally, he is performing the help action here.

Seemingly impressed by the birdman staying with the truly horrific scene, Thurodim nods grimly at the assistance provided and has the bodies looked over more carefully with [Sound of Cork Popping] 's much appreciated help.

Investigation: 14
Medicine: 12

(Thanks Bart but I suspect [Sound of Cork Popping] would have done a better job without the fumbling Thurodim ;-)

Ember, you have no idea how long these maggots have been there. In fact, you didn’t even know that this could happen to food if you leave it to rot.

As Ozyre approches the other door, he opens it, only to arrive in the dark shack that Thurodim had investigated earlier. With his darkvision, he sees the same crates, sacks and farming tool as the barbarian. However, he notices a set of two doors that seem to lead down. Probably to some sort of cellar. The doors are locked with a padlock and a length of metal chains.

On the second floor, [Sound of Cork Popping] and Thurodim proceed to the examination of the corpses. You manage to identify the dark bruises as bedsores. This would indicate that the bodies haven’t moved in a long while. Other than those, you don’t seem to find any injuries or wound, at least none that could indicate they were murdered. Their muscles are atrophied and the odor they emit is particularly foul. You hazard a guess that their deaths could go back to 3 to 4 months. It sounds ludicrous to you, but it’s almost as if they simply went to bed one night, and never bothered getting back up. As to what could cause this behavior, it remains a mystery to you.

Aggie scolds Ember much the same way he had Ozyre when he sees the gnome's reaction and her shoulders rise to her ears sheepishly. But then her lips twist to one side, eyes squinted in confusion at the maggots and food. She knows Grandpa taught her something about it, but she can't remember for the life of her. She does, however, remember he said the crawlies are an excellent source of protein. 

When she joins Ozyre at the other door, the bugs are gone from her hand. 

"They locked it real good. Guess they didn't want anyone getting in there, huh? Or..." she pauses and wipes her mouth on the back of her hand, squinting into the darkness beyond the candle's reach, "...getting out?" The little pyromancer pads forward into the shack and presses her ear against the door, Aggie doing the same, and listens for anything beyond the sound of the downpour outside. 


((Perception with adv from Aggie: 8...omg I'm having a HELL of a time with the DDB dice roller lately))

"At least they died together." The massive blonde bearded warrior mutters grimly, replacing the bedsheets to cover the grisly scene. "I don't know the last rites of these people but I will take care of their bodies at first light to see them off into the afterworld." He adds after a while, a bit more solemnly, then looking at [Sound of Cork Popping] beside him to see if he had anything to add before they resumed their investigation of the house. "You are clever. What do you think happened here? Will we find the others in their beds too?" He asks the birdman, ready to go on.

Ozyre inspects the barred cellar door. "Hmm... heavy locks. Leading down. Surrounded by strange circumstance. I can't yet say for certain, but it seems that this could be a dungeon. Most sources recommend having all relevant adventurers congregated for the duration of delves. What say we go check in on Thur[Sound of Cork Popping]dim? I wonder if they've found anything exciting..." He hops over to the staircase and up to the second floor, with or without Ember following him.

When he walks into the room, he can't quite see the occupied bedsheets behind the colossal flaxen bewhiskered combatant. "We found rotten food and a locked door leading to a basement that we should probably all check out together. Do you guys have anything to report?"

[Sound of Cork Popping] doesn't verbally reply to Thurodim's question.  Instead, he takes a long last look at those on the bed, now covered again by the sheets.  Then he turns and points his beak toward the next door and nods, as if to say, 'Let us go and see.'

Goosebumps travel in wakes down the wizard's limbs as Ember shivers, her hackles raised against the Bad Feelings. She watches Ozyre leave to go speak with the others then slowly walks back out into the corridor. 


((Was there anything else to explore on the ground floor? Any other rooms like an office or anything? She'd definitely be keen to try and find some sort of journal or log.))

Thurodim nods grimly at [Sound of Cork Popping] as if he understands, and moves towards the next door. As the Ozyre comes up the stairs he gives him a troubled look. "Two dead bodies in that bed, no wounds." He answers, not sounding like he is prepared to talk about what he saw any further. "Where is Ember?" He adds in a slightly worried tone, his eyes looking around for the girl with the red hair.

Noticing Thurodim's reluctance to elaborate, Ozyre goes over to the bed and looks at the bodies himself. There's a clear and uncharacteristic tinge of worry on his face. While inspecting the bodies, he absent-mindedly says, "Ember's downstairs, looking for doors. She'll be safe, she's not going anywhere we haven't already checked. Maybe we, uh, try to keep her away from this room."

He mutters something to himself in Gnomish, then addresses Thurodim and [Sound of Cork Popping] in Common. "I don't think we're dealing with your average dragon chicken here. Their methods tend to be less subtle. And with the weird no-fly zone for birds and the like..."

Arcana to connect the peculiar corpses to anything supernatural: 23 (19 + 4)

Still not seeming altogether content with Ember being alone downstairs, the massive blonde bearded warrior decides not to tarry, opening the next door, more ready now for another grisly scene.

Perception: 8

Ember, you don’t see any other unexplored rooms on this floor. You find some books in a bookshelf in the living room, but it’s generally literary works.

Ozyre, there is definitely something supernatural going on in this house. However, it’s very difficult to tell what could cause it. Something could have cursed the household, or maybe even a yet undiscovered creature from this contient. With so few clues at your disposal, it’s a bit to early to tell.

Leaving the large room with the two corpses behind, the barbarian and the scholar move to the door directly opposite to it. Opening the door, this room is much smaller, and also less furnished. There are two single beds in each corner of the room. They appear to be smaller in size, as if child-sized. To your relief though, they are empty. Looking around the room, the drawers from the cupboard and cabinets seem to have been emptied as well. Your first impression is this room has been abandoned a while ago.