Another round of burning light blossoms from Qivys, as Boko lets loose a deafening blast that makes the timbers shiver.

The rats are almost completely wiped out; only a few rodents from each of the two swarms remain; they begin to panic and seek cover.

Peri, Thwack, and Gerrard may act next.

Gerrard:

Gerrard seeks the remaining rats as they scatter, stabbing with rapier and dagger…

Elegant Rapier:  Attack: 18 Damage: 9

Elegant Rapier:  Attack: 29 Damage: 14

Magic Dagger:  Attack: 24 Damage: 6

Peri:

Peri blasts the fleeing rats. He looks around at the hundreds of dead ones surrounding Qivys, some smoldering, giving off a stench of burnt hair. Several had burst, like a dragon's take on popcorn. He looks at his friend, covered in fur and gore and a few bites, standing like an avenging angel over the fallen. He starts to laugh. 

"The cheese stands alone! Ha! A heroic stand worthy of song! 'He slew more foes than Bruenor Battlehammer' -- twice as many if you count the feet! Tell me, Herr Gouda, why didn't you come in through the window like the rest of us villains?"

((Forgot the eldritch blast rolls: 21 for 1, and 8 for 4))

Gerrard makes quick work of the remaining rats before Peri can even get in a shot.

Combat is over. Dead rats are everywhere.

This room appears to have once been a main barracks, that has since been turned into individual meditation and sleeping cells. Wooden poles have been crudely lashed together and hung with curtains to create eight-foot-high partitions throughout the room. The ceiling peaks twenty feet overhead, where the roof is reinforced with more wooden poles. The entire room is in shambles, with many of the partitions damaged and the curtains torn apart. Debris and the broken remains of simple furnishings are strewn about, amidst pools of drying blood and gore. Bloodied blankets, piles of clothing, and broken furniture is visible behind partitions and curtains, and the smell of blood hangs in the air.

Qivys scraps the last of the muck and rats off himself, using Prestidigitation to clean himself. As he does so:
"I ain't not bird or monkey." he says. "If'n there is a front door ta be used I will use it." 

Looking around and taking in the carnage.
"Somethin' bad happened here." he mutters. 

Qivys, using his experience as a Soldier, takes a look around to see the signs of battle. 
((Are there marks from blades and the like in the wood and elsewhere? Is there any evidence of what had occurred? A path the battle took? From the door to the interior?
Does the blood go up the wall and if so how far?))
Investigation: 5

Thwack 

Gerrard skewers the last of the rats and immediately Thwack runs to the rats he shot with his imaginary finger pistol. He grabs the plumpest one and proceeds to tear its head off with his teeth. He spits the head to the ground like a cowboy chewing tobacco and begins gnawing at the decapitated carcass. "Haven't had fresh meat for long time" he manages between chomps. "You want some?" He offers up the second rodent to anyone listening. 

Gerrard:

Wiping clean his weapons on the rat's fur, Gerrard masks his disgust at Thwack's dietary habits.  He aids Qivys in looking around -- maybe he'll learn something himself (Help).

Gerrard's help action: Investigation: 5

Qivys and Gerrard look at the evidence of the previous battle here, for it seemed there was a big one, and recent – some of the blood is still wet or tacky and not fully dried. It looks like blades and blunt weapons were used, and a couple of small bolts are wedged into the beams. There are no bodies here, but it looks like some may have been dragged out the southern door.

Qivys looks over the evidence, knowing there is a lot he missed.

"So they fought in here and who ever won drug tha bodies out tha door." he says outloud, thinking to himself. "So, presumably, those are tha bodies in tha nets in the inlet."
Qivys pauses and scratches his beard.
"Did anyone see tha bodies in tha net?" he asks. "I was asleep fer tha most pat, or trying ta be. If so, were they all human folk or were here others in with 'em?"

Gerrard:

”I think you checked the bodies, Mistress Alcor, did you not?” asks Gerrard politely.

Boko looks about, curious if the rats are obviously diseased or corrupted - if so she will warn Thwack from eating them. 

“Yes, humans, half elves, think I saw a dwarf, and they fell in battle, within the last day. The question is whoever did it - are they inside here still, or did they leave? I would prefer to leave this island entirely if the storm was not raging. And we did not need rest. We should not not go off alone anymore, Qivys. There have been too many close calls this very very long day. It would be good to find a place to secure refuge to be able to rest and defend against whatever is capable of doing this. Does anyone have any arcane means of safety while we sleep, and are you all capable of hunting around for a defensible place in which to do that? I am dead on my feet — I woke up this morning and walked to a vampire castle and it has been downhill from there.”

Indeed, exhaustion is right around the corner for Boko and Qivys, at least. It was already nightfall when you departed the castle, and it's been a very, very long day since. (Who has had a recent long rest? Gerrard, Peri, and Thwack?)

Gerrard:

”If we could have a magically secure place to rest, that would be ideal,” says Gerrard, “Though if we are going to rely on more mundane protections, it seems we will need more than barricades to keep out whatever massacred these people.”

”I would rest better knowing that this building is cleared of foes,” says Gerrard, “But as tired as we are, we made need to just get to a defensible position and take our chances.”

Peri:

"If you look at it as just one day, sure it's been busy. But if you space it out over seven months..." His laugh is too brittle to be entirely healthy. 

"Whoever dumped the bodies musta come back in through that door and barricaded it behind 'em, then went through that one and barricaded it too. Not the actions of raiders who aren't plannin' on stickin' around. And then there's all these rats. If this all went down in the last day or two, where'd all the rats come from? None of this makes sense, but I'm startin' to feel like that's just the nature of the world, given our experiences."

"This room only has the two entrances, so it'd be easy to watch, but it's big and we'd have to take down these dividers if we're gonna rest here. I'd rather find a smaller place to hole up, preferably one without all the dead rats. Do we keep lookin' or is this where we're sleepin'?"

A reminder of the layout:

Gerrard:

”I concur, a smaller room with no dead rats, preferable one entrance to watch,” says Gerrard.  

Turning to face deeper into the keep, he holds out his right hand and says, “Let’s try the door on the right.  Chances are the door on the left connects to a room with that exterior door.”

Peri:

"One door's as good as another," he shrugs. He opens the door and scans the room before entering, wary of more rats. Perception: 11

((Assuming the single door to the east))

Peri opens the door.

Inside, he finds a library of sorts. Faded tapestries showing maritime scenes and dramatic storms at sea hang from the north and south walls of this cozy room. The floor is carpeted in a ragged green shag woven to depict a crashing wave. A low set of book-laden shelves sits against the east wall, and three wooden tables and several chairs fill the rest of the room. Books are strewn about the tables and the floor. There are no exits nor windows; there is neither blood nor rats. While there is some disarray here, there was no bloodshed in this room that you see evidence of. Nor are there any obvious occupants.