Kessintra nods, barely managing to let go of her lyre in order to draw her longbow. She repeats Garrick's words over and over to herself as they head further and further into this forbidden place. Her spirits are almost deafening as they voice just how much they aren't supposed to be here. She should be able to see perfectly, but the darkness in the throne room is overbearing. So many stairways and doors. She stops to listen for any indication of which direction Ireena is in. Surely she must still be crying...

Perception: 22

You hear nothing. Then, Striker slithers through the door to your left, beckoning you to follow him.

Kess, it’s Striker! This way! Good job buddy! Lead on!

The doors open to reveal another set of double doors ten feet ahead. Between these doors, a ten-foot-wide corridor stretches north to south. At each end of the hall, floating in the darkness, is a human skeleton clad in the rusted armor and tattered livery of a castle guard. Striker goes to the right and pushes against the wall, revealing a secret passage. It leads to another corridor. This arched corridor has been swept clean. Oak paneling decorates the walls to a height of four feet. Mounted on the east wall above the wood paneling are three unlit oil lamps spaced ten feet apart. A plain wooden door is set into the west wall, and light seeps through its cracks. A staircase at the north end of the west wall ascends into darkness. He slithers up the staircase. 

Dark alcoves line the walls of this long hall. The ceiling has fallen here, leaving rubble strewn across the floor. Overhead, the beams of Ravenloft’s roof are exposed. Lightning from the dark clouds above sporadically illuminates the hall, lighting the faces of life-sized human statues in the alcoves. Each visage is frozen in terror. Right at your feet you can see a small puddle of blood.

Seeing the blood on the ground makes Kess feel like she is going to be sick, but she forces herself to hurry after Striker.

Chipper follows along, calling Skipper to his side. Upon seeing the anguished statues he comments, "Hopefully whatever caused these is long gone." He scans the room quickly before the blood pool is pointed out. "Gertruda?" he asks the others. If she perhaps had jealousy...

[[ Are the anguished statues in poses that suggest they were petrified mid-combat or so? Such as a by a medusa/cockatrice? ]]

"Her...?" Kessintra thinks back; yes, Gertruda had been missing from the room when it happened. Even Strahd overlooked her. "She came to the castle on her own...On a mission? But I could've sworn she was charmed...Maybe by one of the consorts to attack Ireena?" She grits her teeth; if only they had removed the charm while they had the chance. She looks around for where Striker went or any other signs of a struggle.

Perception: nat 1 + 3

The statues do not appear to be petrified mid combat. Striker is standing by the blood, a little confused, as if something important was missing here.

Seeing Striker's confusion, Kessintra tries casting faerie fire centered on the blood in case something invisible is around.

Garrick will pat Striker on the head and then look around for a sign as to where the source of the blood (Ireena?) went (e.g. blood trail or smear on wall)
Investigation: 16

There doesn't appear to be anything invisible. You can see a small, feint trail of blood heading down the hall.

Kess ends concentration on the spell and reluctantly follows the others after the blood trail.

At the end of the hall is a wide spiral staircase and a path to the left, where the blood leads to. Opening the door at the end leads you to the study. 

A blazing hearth fire fills this room with rolling waves of red and amber light. The walls are lined with ancient books and tomes, their leather covers well oiled and preserved through careful use. All is in order here. The stone floor is concealed beneath a thick, luxurious rug. In the center of the room is a large, low table, waxed and polished to a mirrored finish. Even the poker in its stand next to the blazing fireplace is polished. Large, overstuffed divans and couches are arranged about the room. Two chairs of burgundy-colored wood with padded leather seats and back cushions face the hearth. A huge painting hangs over the mantelpiece in a heavy, gilded frame. The rolling firelight illuminates the carefully rendered portrait. It is an exact likeness of Ireena Kolyana. Below the painting is the real Ireena, currently unconscious with bite marks in her neck.

"Ireena!" Kess rushes over and kneels next to the girl, taking notice of the unsettlingly similar portrait above as well as the bite marks. She instinctively reaches into her pack for the healing potion. "Is this your way of helping her, Strahd?!" It has to be him. Maybe he saw Ireena bleeding from whatever attacked her and couldn't control himself. She can't contain her rage.

With the mention of charming brought back, Chipper quickly casts Detect Magic to see if there's any evidence of such meddling while Kess takes to caring for the fallen Ireena.

There's no magic around. Ireena slowly stirs back to consciousness. She becomes somewhat calmer when she sees you. "Where are we? Are we.... in the castle?"

Kessintra relaxes somewhat as Ireena wakes up.

"Yes. We heard you scream and then Striker led us to that hallway with the horrible statues. There was blood and we followed it to you in...here." In the rush to get to her, Kess hadn't paid much attention to the room at first, but now she pauses to examine it more closely. It's unnerving how immaculate the chamber is compared to all of the areas they came through to get here, and the portrait makes it feel like the place is some kind of shrine to Tatyana.

Perception to take closer look around room: Nat 1 + 3

"Do you remember what happened?"

Seeing Ireena is awake and being attended to by Kess, Garrick looks around also (perception 5, investigation 8) looking at the ancient tomes for anything useful or valuable.

Ireena responds, "I was in the hallway with the creepy heads when something, or someone, grabbed me from behind. I screamed, they bit me, and I feel unconscious."

The books are of varying topics. There are epic novels, theological texts, bestiaries, recipe books, and more. There are over a thousand books. The sheer number would make the collection worth a fortune, but it'd be extremely hard to transport.

Kess listens carefully to Ireena, frowning thoughtfully. She examines the bite mark on Ireena's neck more closely. Strahd and the consorts had been with them, so she wonders if it was one of the servants or even a vampire for sure.

Perception/Arcana? on bite mark: 5+3 guidance= 8/22+1 guidance= 23