Yokini smiles at the sight of her old friend for breakfast, despite her confirmed disappointment. "Blood test shows only Romero's blood," she tells Lem. "His was the only blood on the knife and sheets. Most likely, due to the drug, his murderer wasn't even harmed." She would repeat this to the others as they arrive.

The alchemist rides her donkey toward the Plague House. Almost the whole ride, she's going through Gomol's saddlebags, debating with herself audibly on what she should leave and what she should take. In fact, she's fairly oblivious to the whole interaction with the stranger. "Better take this antitoxin," she comments, dropping the vial into a pocket. "Shouldn't need my kits. Or this tent. I thought I had a rope in here." She grumbles some more as she rides.

After passing through the gate, and when the guards guards give their big whoop, Yokini looks up and at the uniformed individuals. She recognizes Bireal. "Look who's there," she says quietly. She looks at Thistle. "Did you two have a nice slumber party last night? Some nice girl time is good when you're sad, isn't it? Were you able to cheer her up a bit?"

Once at the House, she dismounts and holds Gomol's reins as she takes in the sight of the building. "Not very inviting, is it?"

Thistle, you move forward quietly, peering into the building, but you see no activity. You see a few more details of the room as you move forward, which I will describe below as I describe what Moon sees. I assume you make your way back to the party to tell them there was no activity, and Lem will describe what he sees through Moon's eyes.

You see (Map on Discord as well)

You are approaching from the SW (see legend), and you see in front of you the burned out porch and stairs. The double door is three feet above the ground. Two broken windows, and the beautiful stained glass of Pelor (there is a drawn image of this in Romero's journal, which I will also post to the Discord, or white the front of this building might have looked like before it burned up).

To the West, where Thistle Approached, you see the burned out corner of the building, and ash and burned wood scattered. Through the burned out area, Thistle (and Moon) see that this building had a second floor above the main area. This corner exposes the main floor and the second floor. The main floor shows a sitting room in shambles. The western wall has collapsed in a heap of rubble. What looks to be the fallen beams, jumbled bricks and stones, and other debris that has fallen from the collapsed upper floor. The upstairs floor is a loft. Moon can this area of the loft, most of the rest of the second floor is likely destroyed from a collapsed roof area, but this area remained intact. The roofless loft area  is completely exposed to the elements and filled with soot-covered debris, fire-damaged furnishings, and charred wooden beams. There are a few details of smaller items Moon cannot get the details, of, but she also makes out the top of a set of stairs that descend, likely to the main area. 

The Northern corner of the building also shows a burned, collapsed stairwell that once led to the upper story. It has crumbled to ashes. The Northern wall has collapsed to rubble mound about 15 feet tall (preventing you from seeing in the building here), and the floor/ground underneath has sunk entirely, leaving a dark gaping hole in the ground, surrounded by rubble. A single door exits this room on the NE wall.

To the SE, a shallow fire pit surrounded by a ring of stones sits in a corner formed by two of the Plague House's walls. It does look as if tiny trail of smoke is rising into the sky, as if the fire pit was used relatively recently.

Yes, Thistle will return to the group, and describe what she saw, especially the fire pit. “Someone was here, maybe last night.” She keeps her voice quiet. “They might still be here. A place like this is perfect to set up, nobody is likely to come here. We should be careful.”

Thistle stares at the building a moment longer. “We’ve got surprise on our side right now. What if we split up? The building isn’t very big. Zashier could go up to the front door, backed by Lem and Yokini. Yashiera and I could go in through the hole, climb the stairs up and try to flank anyone in the main room below.” She taps her shortbow thoughtfully.

She is just making the suggestion to start the conversation, and looks around for other people’s suggestions.

Yashiera steps next to Thistle. "I like that plan. Zashier is a big target, best to let him go first (and she winks at him, trying to lighten the moment)"

OOC > Sorry I’m going on and on folks, I have a lot of downtime today!

At some point in the discussion, looking down the way they came, Thistle purses her lips. “If any of them are here, they might still have someone in town. Lem, once you’re done scouting with Moon, can you set her to watch the trail a mile back, and fly to let us know if anyone is coming along it towards the Plague House?”

At another point, she turns to Yashiera and makes a quick series of hand signals, ending with a questioning look on her face.

Yashiera gives you a look of general comprehension - she gets the gist of what you are trying to communicate.

Yokini casually ties Gomol's reins to a part of the burned-out stairs and porch. She then turns a few dials on her gadget glove and taps on something as if trying to get it working as she walks back to stand near the group. "I could set an alarm if we think we know where any newcomers might enter. They won't see it, but I'll know if anyone is coming in behind us." She indicates a little, dark globe attached to her glove. "This will blink."

Lem's still in Moon's head and doesn't hear any of this, sadly. He has Moon fly closer to the stairs inside to get a view of what's on the other end. Then he has her come back and after she settles in on his shoulder, he finishes his report of what she saw, this time able to hear and see his friends. 

(If the above is repeated to him, he will agree to have Moon take a scouting position closer to the trail, though not as far as a mile. He also again offers to make Thistle invisible. 

Zashier isn't biting as far as jests are concerned. The usual carefree air about him that had largely even lasted during the excursion in kobold central was no where to be seen. And so dedicated was his focus on purely the immediate goals on hand, he hardly paid any mind to thistle's earlier moment of affection and embarrassment. He hadn't even paid much mind when Lem hooked a hand on his belt, seeing as the elephantine man declined wearing a shirt again in anticipation of a fight.

"You should all do as you will. Just let me know when you're ready to move." He states frankly, and without turning his gaze away from the plague house (or at least its general direction). With that said, Zashier unhooked the battle axe from its strap, and let its haft rest on his shoulder.

Lem, you have Moon fly a little closer to see where the stairs inside lead, and they lead downstairs to the area I described in the earlier post - the run down sitting room, with fallen timbers from the wall and the upstairs.

How do you want to do this? Are you splitting up? Are you following Thistle's suggestion? Need to know how you want to move forward.

Thistle smoothly intercepts Yokini's attempt to walk right up to the front door, taking Gomol's reins. "Why don't we not walk up to the scary building that might be full of murderers and orcs, and instead tie the donkey off to this tree over here?"

To Lem's suggestion, again, that he cast Invisibility on her, she pauses. "That's not a bad idea. But that would mean Yashiera should stay with the group. Or you could cast it on her, and I could just be sneaky," she smiles.

"Either way, your choice," Lem says to Thistle.

He then asks Moon to fly into the hole in the corner of the house, and toggles into her head to see what she sees...

Thistle will wait for Lem’s report on Moon’s further scouting before making a decision. 

New map uploaded to discord.

Moon flies through the opening on the Western corner of the building. She sees the sitting room on the main floor, the open area still traversable, but the area under the upstairs room is full of fallen timbers and rubble (as stated previously). She already saw the upstairs room, so I wont repeat that here. She flies down the hallway, and through a door that is fallen off its hinges into the main hallway (what you would be walking down if you came through the double doors) and to the left into the cross section back room, where you can see the face of a giant rock which the building was built around.

In this large room, what you would guess to be a Hall for larger gatherings, the support walls and pillars that once connected the Plague House to the huge boulder behind it have burnt and crumbled in this ruined chamber, revealing nearly the entire face of the monolithic stone, and some of the sky above. Jagged red runes have been painted onto the rock in long, broad strokes that reach from top to bottom. A cabinet on the SouthEast wall, and a tall bookcase against the NorthEast wall are all that remain of the room's furnishings.

In the North corner of this large room, you see a giant hole (the dark spot on the map) that leads down into darkness. Next to the hole is a wooden staircase that used to lead to an upper story, but has all but crumbled to ash. The Northern wall and floor have collapsed, which has created the giant pile of rubble on the outside (the tan colored area on the map above the dark area pit) and the pit on the inside. 

There are two places she cannot get because the doors are closed. 

One is the additional room (the Annex) that dog-legs off the SE side of the building (you can see a single door there that is shut).

The other is a room that is part of the building, running along the SE wall. It has two sets of double doors. Each set has a single board nailed across the doors.

Thistle whistles low, appreciative of the scouting prowess of a familiar.

”Well, that changes things. We need to clear that big room, and then the small one off the side. The front door seems okay, as long as it’s not trapped.” She looks to Lem and Yokini. “You two were the best at finding traps in the kobold dungeon. We can cover you.”

She unlimbers her shortbow.

When Thistle redirects Yokini, she looks surprised and then disbelieving. "I think if the house were that dangerous, we'd know," she says, but does as is suggested.

After Thistle suggests she check the front doors for traps, Yokini looks at the doors and then back at the rogue. "I guess I can inspect the threshold." She motions as if to say, "I'm short, remember?"

Lem volunteers to help Yokini look around.

Yokini, go ahead and roll Investigation (with Advantage) if you want to inspect the foundation.