After the rest, Rosa will walk around the room looking into the alcoves, not touching anything. (What’s in them?) “Do you all think we should search the rest of the house and make sure it’s clear of monsters, or just get out of here?”

"I think we should leave, those poor little children and what happened to them breaks my heart but I can't think what could help them now, I don't think there is much of value down here - can you see anything in those alcoves?" Tengen shivers as she looks around. "These people were seriously messed up, who has a basement like this!"

"What if we try to bury the children properly? Perhaps that give them the eternal rest they deserve... " 

(OOC: You all successfully Short Rest. Feel free to spend 1 or both of your hit dice to recover HP. Remember to add your CON bonus to each roll.)

As you search through the alcoves, you find the following items, displayed almost as if they were trophies.

• A small, mummified, yellow hand with sharp claws on a loop of rope;
• A knife carved from a medium-sized humanoid bone;
• A dagger with a large rodent's skull set into the pommel;
• An 8-inch-diameter varnished orb that looks like a murky eye;
• An aspergillum carved from bone;
• A folded cloak made from stitched ghoul skin;
• A desiccated frog lashed to a stick;
• A bag full of bat guano;
• A withered severed finger;
• A 6-inch-tall wooden figurine of a mummy, its arms crossed over its chest;
• An iron pendant adorned with a devil’s face;
• The shrunken, shriveled head of a halfling;
• A small wooden coffer containing a dire wolf’s withered tongue.

Muirdan sniffs at the bag, and quickly closes it.  "Ech, who would keep this?"

"But giving the children some peace, aye, thats the least we can do for em"

“I say we find as much stuff in this house as is useful, take the bodies outside, and torch this place to the ground.” Rosa doesn’t touch any of the objects, the creature still present in his thoughts. “We have no clue where we are, and the only people we’ve seen are either dead or a monster. We need all the help we can get.”

Milamber looks at the different objects consumed with curiosity. "Perhaps I should check them for residual magical energy. We don't want to destroy anything that could be of value. Besides. As much information that we can collect, the better. Right?"

"I can see anything magical without draining myself, I could do it if you prefer - but I doubt it'll show much. I agree with the ranger, lay their bodies to rest and then walk out of here and never look back. The Morninglord knows I've had enough of this awful place."

Tengen casts Detect Magic and looks over the things found in the alcoves. 

(Is anything magical?)

Nothing seems to radiate any magical presence, just creepiness!

Rosa looks to the group and asks, “So are we searching this house for stuff we can use or not?”

"If we are let's do it quickly, but I tihnk Grythek was right, we should bury those little children properly too."

Tengen backs away from the room the monster was in moving back the way they had come.

“Well let’s go then. Anyone better than me at finding traps like the one I fell into?” Rosa rubs the area where he’d hit the spikes earlier.

Milamber follows, his mind still going over everything they had seen. Something still bugged him. There just seemed as if there was something important about the ritual and altar they saw.

You make your way back to the stairwell leading up from the lowest level of this dungeon basement. Walking around the bend in the stairs, you end up in the first level of the dungeon. Where do you head from here? Back to the stairs up or more investigations on this level?

"We left a couple of turns to check in this level, dind't we ? " says the ranger to the others as they reach the hallway and before they go up the stairs. "We should check it out..." he suggest.

“I agree, let’s look through this level before heading up.” Rosa will follow the ranger.

(Bump)

Milamber nods agreement. "We need to ensure we know as much as possible about this place. I feel like we've missed something."

You head up the stairway, wrapping around the u-shaped landing. Which way are you all headed from here?

Ongoing Map: