Viktor just nods at Svetlana as he stops mounting the ladder to head down. He then begins to aid her in searching the room.

OOC:

Investigation check: 6

With arms folded, Mittens looks distrustfully at the room they were in. The Durst’s taste in decorations was sorely lacking, though he shouldn’t find that as a surprise by now.

Seeing that the others were thoroughly searching this room, Mittens cautiously heads out into the hall and peeks into the other rooms. Best to be thorough.

Svetlana and Viktor check out the master suite. The jewelry box on the vanity is made of silver with gold filigree (worth 75 gp). It contains three gold rings (worth 25 gp each) and a thin platinum necklace with a topaz pendant (worth 750 gp). There don't seem to be any clues pertaining to the monster though. As the party explores, you slowly realize that Uncia and Hazel are nowhere to be found....

Meanwhile, Mittens explores the other rooms. There is a door with the ladder that leads upwards, seemingly to an attic space. There's a bathroom but nothing remarkable inside: it contains a wooden tub with clawed feet, a small iron stove with a kettle resting atop it, and a barrel under a spigot in the east wall. If Mittens turns the spigot, no water comes out.

Dusty shelves line the walls of a storage room. A few of the shelves have folded sheets, blankets, and old bars of soap on them.

Dust and cobwebs shroud the elegantly appointed bedroom to the south, which connects to an adjoining nursery. The bedroom contains a large bed, two end tables, and an empty wardrobe. Mounted on the wall next to the wardrobe is a full-length mirror with an ornate wooden frame carved to look like ivy and berries. The nursery contains a crib covered with a hanging black shroud. If Mittens pulls back the shroud, he sees a tightly wrapped, baby-sized bundle lying in the crib. If he tries to open the bundle, he discovers that it is empty...

When Mittens enters the bedroom, he sees a skeletally thin young woman standing inside. She is dressed like a nursemaid, and she is ghostly in appearance. The expression on her face is one of terror, and she wails when she sees Mittens. Then she lunges to attack!

Time for initiative! I hope you enjoy my hand-drawn coordinates for the map. When describing your movement, use the coordinates. For example, Svetlana moves to H3. :) I might move us over to Owlbear Rodeo in the future though for maps to give you guys control over your tokens.

Lorin - 8

Svetlana - 11

Viktor - 10

Mittens - 14

Nursemaid Specter - 3

Everyone is up first!

The last of the Dusk Elf maidens suddenly freezes, struck by an eerie feeling, as she hears Mittens make an abrupt movement from a nearby room: "Maybe Mittens is in trouble!" she becomes alarmed and runs to check.

Upon seeing the ghost, Svetlana prepares to defend herself and extends a hand, trying to drag the tabaxi behind her: "Ever heard the saying 'curiosity killed the cat'? Let's try to prove it wrong... Come back and blast her while I keep her busy".

'Or at least I hope I can keep her busy...' the savage wanderer thinks.
'Svetlana! How do you plan to kill a ghost!?' the Voices in her head start complaining
'Run Svetlana!'
'You can't do anything to it!'
'My companions have magic... They will take care of it. I just have to resist'
'Choosing a safer solution, like running away, isn't really a thing, is there?'
'It seems safer to me to help my friends eliminate this threat once and for all!'

[[ OOC: Svetlana runs to F3 (coordinates are great! Bright idea), then she has no more movement, so she stops there and Dodges - attacks against her have Disadvantage ]]

Viktor will follow Svetlana reaching down to grab a flash of water from his belt as he rushes past Svetlana and Mittens "Pelor, please let this work." he says as he makes a movement with the hand holding the flask trying to splash the water on the creature and then drawing his glaive to prepare for battle.

OOC:
Movement: 30 feet to H3

Action: Splashing Holy Water on the Nursemaid Attack: 20 Radiant Damage: 8

It takes Mittens a second to process what he’s seeing in the bedroom, but when he finally comprehends that there’s an angry ghost in the bedroom, he lets out a rather colorful curse before summoning his ghostly hand to pummel the spirit while scrambling back as fast as he can.

Chill Touch Attack: 8 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll. 

necrotic damage, and it can't regain hit points until the start of your next turn. Until then, the hand clings to the target. If you hit an undead target, it also has disadvantage on attack rolls against you until the end of your next turn. 

Movement: move to E4

He was more surprised by Mittens yelp than by the walking armor, maybe because the tabaxi was so fast to react that by the time the rogue understood the situation the scream had already happened. Silent like a shadow, Lorin moved sideways and waited for someone to engage the enemy in melee. As it raised its arm he used his right hand to pull the tiller of his already loaded heavy crossbow. The weapon was leveraged from his back, arching from his shoulder, where his left hand caught its side and slid through it, at once balancing its body and supporting its weight. The right arm brought it to his side and the trigger was pulled.

Viktor anticipates Svetlana’s answer and Lorin nods to the finding. It could only be the way to the basement, the way to the monster. It could only mean stealth was possible. A few seconds in which, hopefully, all of them could shower whatever waited underground with attacks. If he was an optimist, the rogue would even consider the possibility of they outright defeating the target. His nature, though, was different and he found himself satisfied with the notion that damage freely inflicted would be good enough. Then came the scream.

“Specially considering that this cat is inclined to haunt me if he dies.” He answer to the barbarian, waiting for her and the newcomer to dash ahead. An action borne not only from his ranged combat style, but from healthy distrust towards the addiction to the team. Until being certain he was no monster, the shadar-kai would rather keep the man’s back in front of his crossbow.

Lorin ran to the door, weapon ready when Viktor entered melee. As her attack caught the attention of the enemy, he fired the shot.

“If you are a victim of the Dursts know that we are here to defeat their monster.” He said pulling a second bolt and ducking to the side, taking cover behind the wall.

Notes: Lorin moves to F3, then attacks after Svetlana is in melee, as to trigger his Sneak Attack (5 damage). He spends his action to make a ranged attack with his heavy crossbow (18 to hit, 5 magic piercing damage, 10 magic piercing damage with Sneak Attack). Then he moves to F5, hoping to get cover.

P.S. The coordinates are an amazing addition. Thank you.

Svetlana runs toward Mittens' aid and braces herself to avoid an incoming attack. Mittens curses loudly and unleashes a spell at the specter before retreating. The ghostly hand clings to the specter but doesn't appear to hurt it. Viktor runs up close to the specter and throws holy water, which screeches in pain. Lorin attacks with his crossbow, and due to the magic imbued within the weapon, the bolt strikes hard and true. With one last wail the spirit's essence dissipates into the ether.

@Makkiu, note that Svetlana didn't quite reach melee range this turn but Viktor did so sneak attack applied. (I count diagonal as 5 feet still.)

Combat is already over!

Viktor just puts his weapon away on his back and looks around the room “Hopefully we come across a church after this. I will need to restock on holy water now.” He just looks at Mitten “Are you okay my friend?”

"Yeah, I- I'm fine,'' stammers a shaken Mittens. Looking distrustfully at the room where the spirit was, he adds, "I know we've only been here for maybe ten minutes, but I already really hate this place."

Viktor just nods “I understand, Barovia is a harsh place. Take strength in knowing only the strong survive here and you’ve proven yourself strong today.” He says patting the cat on the back. He then just goes and begins to search the room looking for anything of interest or value.

OOC:

Investigation check: 18

'Huh! Listen to what this human puppy insinuates, from the height of his handful of decades of experience!' the Voices in Svetlana's head go wild at Viktor's words.
'Really! "Only the strong survive", right? So all of us who were massacred would be weak?!'
'I would like to see how 'strong' he would be if the devil Stradh came looking for him at the head of his soldiery!'
'Apart from the fact that those who oppress the weak should be more ashamed than the weak who are oppressed...' Svetlana tries to calm the psychic cacophony that is currently making her head ring painfully 'Viktor was certainly not referring to you... You, despite the wickedness of the Devil Stradh, after all still have (kind of) a life... in me'.

The voices in her head seem calmed by her thoughts, so the last of the Dusk Elf maidens regains sufficient lucidity to articulate words: "A nursemaid who becomes a ghost..." she shivers slightly "She must have fallen victim to the machinations of the Durst. Perhaps she witnessed some atrocity committed by them - and was then murdered for this - or perhaps even worse she was corrupted by them and induced to carry out some act herself that marked her forever".

"It would certainly have been useful to talk to her..." the savage wanderer's azure eyes run to Lorin, who had somehow attempted a dialogue "...but, unfortunately, she didn't seem interested in this activity. Maybe she was out of her mind because of the pain or horror".

Viktor notices that the wall behind the mirror has a secret door in it. There sure seem to be quite a few secret doors on this floor! It pushes open easily to reveal a cobweb-filled wooden staircase leading up to the attic.

"This house really presents us with one mystery after another..." the last of the Dusk Elf maidens comments on Viktor's discovery "Perhaps before going down to the basement it is worth visiting the attic? There could be clues on the nature or weaknesses of the monster..." her azure eyes move on the faces of the fellow adventurers, waiting for feedback...

The answer to his words came with a last shriek. The following conversation leaving no doubts about what happened – his attack had put the spirit to rest. Confident of this notion he left his cover and entered the room. Svetlana gave him kind words and he had to admit the creature, if one could call it that, seemed far from sane.

“Considering everything we saw, the Dursts may have killed her just because she was at reach. Hells, I wouldn’t be surprised if they killed her out of boredom.” Lorin said entering the room and retrieving the bolt. Maybe she would’ve spoken if my shot didn’t have her finished. “Traumatic death could be enough to turn her in a mad spirit. What I find strange is how only this part of the mansion seems old and neglected.”

Crossbow still loaded and at hands, the rogue turned his eyes to the secret staircase. Optimistic as always he could not help but ponder if another undead didn’t await from them.

“I agree with going up. If nothing else, it’ll be good to confirm no spirit will come from there and attack us from behind while we fight the monster in the basement.” He then turned to Viktor, half surprised by the name the man had spoken. “You know Barovia?”

Notes: Thanks for the heads up, DM. Last post corrected.

Viktor just looks up the stairs and sighs as the man asked him "Yes, I'm from a town called Vallaki, which lies north-west of the Village of Barovia." his tone as he finishes the sentence makes it clear he won't go any further right now as he switches the subject "Seems like we are going up then." he says just drawing his weapon as he begins to proceed up the stairs keeping his wits about him as he heads into the attic space.

“Yes, Viktor, like me, is from Barovia” the last of the Dusk Elf maidens explains to Lorin. "I recognized the places he mentioned when he introduced himself. So much so that I am also originally from the Vallaki area... Well, at least," she forces a smile "if one day we feel like guiding you all to visit the village, we won't risk getting lost!"

"But, hey, first things first" Svetlana prepares her longbow, since this time the paladin comes before her. "We have an attic to visit" and, looking around and moving carefully, she follows Viktor up.

You take the hidden staircase up to the attic. You arrive on a dusty, cobwebbed landing. There are a few rooms where the doors open easily. There are two small spare bedrooms. The only notable thing in one of the rooms is smiling doll in a lacy yellow dress that sits in the northern window box, cobwebs draping it like a wedding veil.

The largest room looks like it was used for storage. This dusty chamber is packed with old furniture (chairs, coat racks, standing mirrors, dress mannequins, and the like), all draped in dusty white sheets. Near an iron stove, peeking out from underneath one of the sheets, is an unlocked wooden trunk.

As you first enter the attic landing, you notice that the room to the north is padlocked shut.

Although both intrigued by the unlocked wooden trunk and the padlocked shut room, the last of the Dusk Elf maidens first goes to retrieve the smiling doll in a lacy yellow dress...

"How cute you are..." the savage wanderer murmurs to her, as she cleans her from her cobwebs "Maybe Rose will be pleased to have you back!" and he carefully places it in his backpack.

'Yes, it's a beautiful doll Svetlana...' several of the Voices in her head agree.
'My Oksana had a similar one... Though better made, of course... Elven craftsmanship...'
'But wouldn't you be better off concentrating on the Monster?'
'The Monster will be coped with' Svetlana assures, with greater conviction, now that she has seen how skillfully and decisively her friends have helped her prevail against deadly threats. 'But it's important that Rose and Thorn can rest afterwards... Maybe Rose will rest better, with this doll'.