Creak, it's not the easiest thing you've ever done, but after a minute or so you manage to pop the hasp open on the lock.

"Good job" said Gralwynn, a little begrudgingly, "But was that lock supposed to keep us out, or something else in?"

Gralwynn inspects the newly unlocked door's frame, looking for scratches, cracks, chipped paint, anything to indicate an attempt at a forced exit.

(Not sure if this is perception or investigation, I'll roll both, Drama, use which one you want)

Perception: 17

Investigation: 4

Creak gives a short kookaburra laugh before realizing the truth to what Gralwynn said, “Didn’t think of that.” He steps behind Gralwynn as she looks at the door. Don’t have to be faster than a bear, just faster than whoever is closer and all that.

Gralwynn, you look closely and don't see any kind of indication that escape or forced efforts on the door were made in either direction.

Balmaris will walk over to one of the other doors (south one?) and check it while the others play with the locked one

The door appears to be unlocked, as do all the other doors in this hall.

He opens it quietly and slips inside

[Stealth: 10]

(OOC - seriously - every check I've made in this game has been single digits *sigh*)

(Hopefully this means you get them out of the way now, and not when a vampire decides to wrestle you for sport ;) )

Balmaris, you open the door and reveal a very dusty, but otherwise orderly, spare bedroom. The only noticeable feature is a single doll in a yellow dress with a wedding veil on sitting on a windowledge.

Is the doll covered in dust too? He will pick it up and inspect it

It is a very dusty doll! It looks well-made and has withstood whatever weird test of time this house has imposed upon it.

Meanwhile, can Creak peak inside the now unlocked door?

Balmaris will hold on to the doll for now and move on to another room.

Absolutely! You open the door and can see that this room contains a bricked-up window flanked by two dusty, wood-framed beds sized for children. Closer to the door is a toy chest with windmills painted on its sides and a dollhouse that’s a perfect replica of the dreary edifice in which you stand. These furnishings are draped in cobwebs. Lying in the middle of the floor are two small skeletons wearing tattered but familiar clothing. The smaller of the two cradles a stuffed doll that you also recognize.

Balmaris, as you move around the hallway in a counterclockwise motion, you enter another room, this one full of furniture of all sorts covered with thick white sheets, as if prepped for storage. There are mannequins, coat racks, chairs, crates, and a stove in the room. Near to the stove, you spy a chest with the lid somewhat cracked open, making the sheet fall strangely.

In addition, those also exploring find that the remaining room is another spare bedroom, this one with no distinguishing features.

Ongoing Map:

"Hey Fin! We found those kids!" Gralwynn shouts out, just barely containing a laugh of irony and fear.

Following her outburst, she goes over to inspect the remains, "maybe one had eaten the other in their seclusion?" She whispered.

Investigation: 10

Creak mimics the laugh, equally creeped out, then follows up with “That’s not something that you want to see.” 

Creak gives the room a once over, Perception: 6

Creak, looking about the room reveals nothing new that you haven't already spotted.

Balmaris will open the chest

Inside the chest, you find the skeletal remains of a woman wrapped in a blood-stained cloth. The gaunt face that remains is strikingly similar to the ghostly woman you all encountered downstairs.

Medicine 14+

"Well that explains some things...." he'll close the chest and about that time he'll hear the commotion going on in the other room and go join the rest of the party.