Peri:

Peri shrugs off the dwarf's hand, irritated at having to leave these potential enemies behind them. Only one way out, and that maybe blocked by enemies. No, Brandobaris knows, not a situation any half-alert halfling would walk into.  He looks at the bag their new companion has returned. The 3000 copper coins, which would have seemed a fortune just a few days ago when he was a simple sailor, hardly seems worth lugging around the ruins. He supposes he could stash them back in the chest under the bed... The bed! he thinks, snatching up the bag and dashing back down the hall.  He runs back into the room with the bed -- barely remembering to avoid the rug in his haste -- and returns the coins to the chest, shoving it back beneath the bunk. Then he strips the blanket from the bed and dashes back down the hall to his puzzled companions. He lays the blanket beside one of the bodies and with Gerrard's help rolls it onto the blanket, using it as a stretcher to carry the bodies into the armory.

Dwal

Seeing his companions are absorbed in their own ideas, Dwal will go into the room where the corpse held something shiny. Dwal will give it a closer inspection trying to see what he can tell about the corpse.
Investigation: 11

Peri finds that the blankets on the bed are in just as poor shape as the bodies – stiff, fragile, even adhering to the wood in places. It's not usable. (...But your own bedroll, perhaps?)

Dwal can't tell much about the dwarf clutching the gem – an opaque light blue-green jewel. An adult dwarf, unarmored; gender, status , and occupation unknown. Stabbed through the chest.

Kei

Now free from his monetary burden he casually opens the next door (below the Shiny room), albeit without waiting for the others to be ready. Can't be that bad. I mean they've all pretty much been empty rooms. His demeanor, actually improved by the lack of concern for the bag of coins, surprises himself. Wow. So this is adventuring just for the sake of adventure. I could get used to this. He brazenly swings the door wide - expecting much of the same on the other side.

Kei slams open the next door. More of the same. A pile of long-dead orcs lay in the middle of the room amidst old, broken furniture. No dwarves here.

Peri:

Frustrated that the bedding is too rotted to serve as a stretcher, Peri swears and kicks the bedframe, the old wood splintering in an unsatisfying way. He takes a few deep breaths, then kneels down beside the broken bed. "Lord Urogolan," he quietly mutters, "I know I haven't been too observant in the past, but I figure You've got plenty on Your plate and don't need to hear about my worries. But this situation we're in more than likely falls under Your watch, bein' Keeper of the Dead and Lord of the Underhill and all, so here I am. I know you don't usually tolerate foolishness from the Hin, and what we're doing counts as foolish, but we don't have a lot of choice. The dwarf wants the dead untouched, and you better than any of us know how dwarves can get. So we're going through with them blockin' our retreat, and I guess I'm just askin' you to make sure the restin' dead stay restin'." With that, he gets up and rejoins the party.

Gerrard:

Keeping a wary eye out for any restless dead, Gerrard follows Peri's lead.  Once it is obvious the others are done searching, he moves to the unexplored southern door and prepares to open it.  "Ready to continue?" he asks.

Kei

"After all these seemingly vacant room, I have a feeling this one could be different." Kei shifts the grip on his shield while his other hand hovers near his component pouch. "Ready as I'll ever be." Trill lands lightly on his shoulder and nuzzles into his neck reassuringly.

Peri:

Eying the scattered corpses behind them, loathe to turn his back to them, he reluctantly sets himself to face the final door and nods to Gerrard.

This room was once a library or a study. Bookshelves stand against the walls. Piles of books rest on a reading table in the middle of the room. The air reeks of moldy paper. Doors exit to the north, east, and south.

A slender and strikingly beautiful woman with long black hair sits in a chair at the table, looking sad and upset. Her clothing, though well worn, does little to detract from her appearance. She was reading the remains of a book as you entered, and appears startled by your arrival. 

She jumps up. "Oh gods - is he dead?"

Dwal

After trying to retrieve whatever the corpse was holding Dwal will follow along with the rest of the party. 

When the party enters the library and the woman reacts Dwal will hold his tongue but stay prepared for what is to come.

"Must be an apparition of some type. Don't touch her at all.'  

Peri:

His first instinct, on seeing a figure not collapsed on the floor, is to stab forward with his spear. Then he is taken aback by her beauty. When she stands he braces for her to charge them, or unleash a banshee shriek or some other ghostly attack, but then she speaks in a normal - though lovely, he notes - voice. He is suddenly aware of how bedraggled he must look, grubby from sleeping under a bench. His sarong that had (in his opinion) looked fairly dashing yesterday was now torn and blood-stained, the lower hem nearly black from the grime of this abandoned dwarf hall.

Of course the woman couldn't be a normal woman; what would she eat if she was trapped in this room? Still, she was undeniably beautiful and Peri felt that awkward feeling, like being at a party and not quite sure what to do with your hands, that he always felt under the regard of a really pretty girl. He struggled for a gracious reply and heard himself say, "Ahoy there!" immediately wishing he'd let someone else speak.

((Because Peri's smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy!))

Gerrard:

Seeing such a beautiful woman so unexpectedly pierces Gerrard’s prematurely aged heart, slamming home his unsuitability for Esmerelda as a romantic partner.  With sad eyes, he responds, “Not yet, but I might as well be.”  

At Dwal’s comment, Gerrard halts and looks carefully at the woman...

Insight to detect anything false in her demeanor:  5

She appear quite human. "The wizard? Is he dead? I've been here for three weeks!" She glances nervously behind you. "Please, get me out of here!" She trembles with fear and anxiety.

Peri:

Three weeks? Well, that was a plausible amount of time for someone to survive if they'd brought some rations with them. And they had seen a relatively fresh corpse in the first skeleton room... Still, it's pretty improbable some other group of adventurers had come in past the wight, past the ghost that attacked Gerrard, and then been trapped in a room only to be discovered in the nick of time by their party. Improbable, but not impossible. Peri squints at her, attempting to see past her attractive exterior Insight 23. ((Insight or Perception have the same modifier)) "Uhh, what wizard?" he asks, his keen intellect on full display.

"The scar-faced wizard! He is using me for some kind of foul experiment. He is down, below this area, somewhere. If he is not dead, you must go deal with him. We are not safe. There is a dead dwarf that haunts these halls outside, also; reduced to a mad, gibbering spirit. You must have seen that apparition!"  She trembles in fear, practically begging for your help.

Gerrard:

"Oh, we've met the ghost," intones Gerrard miserably.  "He stole my youth, but what vigor I have left I place at your disposal, fair lady.  Let's get you out of here."  The aged noble moves over to the lady and holds out his elbow, ready to escort her to safety.

Persuasion:  13

Kei

"Well, not what I was expecting." He exclaims upon seeing the pretty woman. He listens to her exchange with the others intently. As Gerrard holds out his arm to escort the lady, he places his own hand on the nobles shoulder and moves his head closer so as to speak softly to him alone. To make sure the lady does not understand, he speaks in elvish.

 He leans back and addresses the group "So, are you to remain here while we take care of this wizard? Or are you joining us?" His probing question asked to try and gain some insight into the woman's true intent.

Insight 23

While there's something rather old-fashioned or alien about her affect to Kei, she seems genuine about her need for the group to take care of this guy.

"I can't go down there," she adds, her voice shaking. "But you have to protect me! Please, one of you stay here as my guard. The scar-faced wizard sometimes teleports in here."

Tears begin to flow. "The entrance to his lab is through the forge, to the south, and down the great hole," she gestures vaguely in the direction of the great hall. "But beware – an ancient dragon lairs below the Foundry."

Dwal

Dwal looks over the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Investigation": 19

He says little to nothing as he does.