IN LORD WEIRDING'S ROOM

(@Drache: Just because I think it makes more sense in this case, I'll reinterpret your roll as an investigation check, which brings it to a 20.)

Playing with her new magical ring in her pocket, Ang looks into the room while still outside and warns Bleep to be careful. Not seeing anything particularly dangerous, the purple grung takes a moment to drink her last dose of healing juice (common) (Ang heals for 10 HP.)

Bleep nods and follows the implied order from his ranking officer. Over the next dozen minutes or so, the green grung carefully looks into every corner of the room, slowly pulling drawers out and opening furniture doors. He casts a detailed eye over each item he finds, be it a writing quill, a folded blanket, a dresser's mirror, what have you. His patient search is rewarded with a particularly interesting find. Inside a box wrapped as a gift, Bleep finds a folded black and dark blue robe which is embroidered with small white or silver stars in the lower half. There are also six large stars located on the robe's upper front portion. The robe is not large enough to fit Lord Weirding. Even for someone not trained in magic, the robe's magical essence is obvious.

IN CELEST'S ROOM

Ghee collects the amulet/pendant from Celest and hands it over to Saros. She does not respond to either man, despite their kind and understanding messages. Saros explains what he is about to do, keeping an ever careful eye on the pendant and any indication of danger it might give. With that, the gnome leaves the room.

For the next dozen or so minutes, Ghee offers Celest some company, although he is the only one actually speaking.

Khan remains silent and hidden, ready to strike at a moment's notice. 

IN THE GALLERY HALL

Darrik continues to entertain a worried Gnator while sitting on a fancy bench. The gnome keeps looking over his shoulder, as if expecting his master to show up at any minute.

Saros spends about 10 minutes setting and completing his Detect Magic ritual right in the middle of the hall. Once he is done, he walks about the hall a bit and is overtaken by a multitude of magical sources around him (ignoring the party's magical items with which Saros is already familiar):

• Celest's amulet on his hands is a powerful magical source. It gives of the strongest necromantic essence Saros has ever felt. It oozes foul, alien magic.
• Every painting in the Gallery Hall is magical and gives off a conjuration essence.
• Down the hall, Ang seems to be playing with a new magical trinket in her pocket that emanates illusory magic.
• Inside one of the rooms, Bleep is examining some magical vestments that give off an evocation aura.
• From within the room Ang and Bleep left some moments ago, Saros feels a mixed source of transmutation and necromantic magic. 
• Behind the fourth and still unopened door in this floor, Saros feels several other magical sources. These feel like they are blending together at the moment, so it is hard to distinguish each one separately.
• There is one other source in Celest's room: her scalp (under her wig) emanates psionic power. 

To those outside of the room that Saros can engage with easily he conveys what he discovers as he goes, and giving Bleep and Ang a warning that the paintings are all magical and to not touch or even stare at them for now in case they activate something, and that there is a variety of magic items beyond the door and perhaps they should wait until we are rested before we start poking around further.

As he comes back toward Celeste's room and discovers the source emanating from her he will Message Ghee "The amulet contains strong magic so Celeste will not be getting it back - it is no keepsake.  Worse than that though.....whatever is under the wig she wears has strong mind magic as well, so we need to take a look.  I am going to ask her to take the wig off which may well set her off again, and that might trigger that magic.  You might need to act swiftly to stop her" 

Leaving the amulet outside and stepping into the door he looks again at Celeste "Lass, the pendant you have contains deep magic from Lord Wierding, so I need to study it some more before I will know whether it is safe." at which point he pauses before continuing "You should also know that whatever is under your wig contains magic as well.  I am going to need you to remove your wig and show me what your step-father has done to you....and we will see if we can help fix whatever it is before we go looking for Dicky"

Assume that you will want a Persuasion check 5  (if Adv from Ghee's help arrives again then additional roll if applcaible 5)  OOC: Oh my lord, LOL - strap in.....here we go!!!

Saros remains at the doorway, ready to move out of her line of sight if she loses it (Readied Action)

Bleep tries to hide the robe in his sack, hoping to smuggle it out of the manor and to the village. While he might be unable to use whatever magic is in the robe, perhaps one of the shamans could use it for something. He then meets Ang back outside the room and proceeds with her to the final door. He inspect this last door.

Sleight of hand (hiding the robe): 17

Stealth: 28

Perception: 7

FROM THE GALLERY HALL TO CELEST'S ROOM

After taking stock of all nearby magical sources, Saros shares some info with Ang and Bleep, issues a warning about the paintings and the last room to be investigated, and sends a magical message to Ghee. Without waiting for a response, Saros reenters the teenager's chamber and delivers the bad news. Saros also tries to convince Celest to remove her wig, but the emotionally unstable girl does not react well to the request. In one motion, she stands up from the bed, stretches her arms straight down, and yelps defiantly: "NO!" She then begins to make her way towards the door.

Whether her intention was to leave the room or attack Saros is a question that remains unanswered. Khan pops out of her hiding spot behind the same bed and launches a sling bullet at the girl's temple. (OOC: No need to roll dice here.) The girl drops as if a switch in her head had turned her off. Nonetheless, the fact that she is still breathing is plain to see. The unsecured wig falls from her head and reveals a bald scalp etched with a multitude of arcane scars. 

FROM LORD WEIRDING'S ROOM TO THE GALLERY HALL

Bleep reacts quickly to finding the intriguing robe and to hearing Saros mention its magical powers. He shoves the item into his bag so swiftly that not even Ang, who is standing just outside the room, notices the maneuver. 

Eager to move on to the last door, Bleep meets up with Ang once again and quietly makes her way to the remaining room. A careful look over the door knob and locking mechanism reveals that this door, interestingly enough, is simply shut but not locked.

Darrik continues to keep Gnator busy, but the gnome is visibly horrified now: "I'm in so much trouble!"

Upset that he could not get Celeste to cooperate, he turns and calls out to Darrik "Get Gnator up here now.....he needs to start answering questions"

Saros then bends down to examine the scars, trying to figure out what they are, absently telling the others "We need to find a way to keep her restrained for now" then to Khan "What happened when you first came in the window?"

Arcana check 19

Darrik grumbles, and politely drags Gnator up to Celeste’s room.  He’ll keep a firm grip the whole time so he can’t try to run.

Having not yet packed his grappling hook away, Ghee unties his rope and puts it to use binding Celest's wrists. Having tied the girl up, he lifts her body onto her bed.

"After this, Ah wouldnae trust anybody again if Ah was Celest. Whit dae ye make o' these weird squiggles oan her heed?"

Ang looks at Bleep and nods. Taking cover, she opens slowly the door.

After taking the shot, Khan too approached Celest's body, seeming calm and yet... something was off. She at least slipped her slingshot back in its belt, but either refused or was too caught up in her own thoughts to answer Saros. However, as Ghee started binding up the girl, Khan finally relaxes fists that had been -- up until then -- subconsciously balled up into tight fist.

"... Tried subduing her. Not quite fully expect her power to be on same level as tentacle face. Not make same mistake twice." She said, still glaring at the girl before looking over to Saros with a more neutral expression. "You heard her speak... What more you want from her?"

"She is obviously one of Weirdings creations....but is rebelling against him.  If she poses no danger to herself or others then perhaps she deserves a chance to live a normal life.  We just need answers as to what that monster has done to her before we make any decisions....starting with what Gnator might know"

As Gnator enters Saros turns to him and just stares "Weirding is dead, and he was a undead monster that has been experimenting on the townsfolk here.  Start talking, you must know something about what is going on.  Who is Celeste and why was your former employer so keen to keep us away from her.  You tell us everything and you can take whatever you like from the manor now that its former owner has no use for it"

Saros also Messages Darrik "Does Gnator have any scars on his head like many of the townsfolk we have met?"    

Mindful of what Khan said about being attacked, Saros does keep his distance from the girl.

OOC: We really need at least a short rest as a matter of priority.....I would feel a lot better with a few more HP back and one or two spell slots available.

Darrik will start casually rifling through Gnator’s hair/cap as he responds to Saros.  Well.  "Casually."

As Ang slowly opens the door, Bleep takes a look inside. Keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary and any sort of traps the tentacle-wizard has in place.

Perception: 20

"Keep her still while I cast a spell to see what these do"  While Celeste is out to it, Saros casts Identify as a ritual on her head to identify the magic that is at play. Assuming that doesn't result in an explosion he will relay what he discovers and then excuse himself from the room to perform that same Identify ritual on the pendant, asking the others to continue to press Gnator for information as he works.  

Khan's eyes narrow at even the slightest suggestion of allowing the girl live. Yet, at the insistence of having more answers, and by extension perhaps, learning more of wierdling's lingering magics, the Orange stepped back and crossed her arms. She would yet patient still, but at the later request to further restrain the girl... Khan would back away further, choosing to have no part in it.

IN CELEST'S ROOM

(OOC: With so many ritual castings, the timing of all these actions is getting a little iffy, I hope you all don't mind me letting in-game time be a bit malleable here in the interest of moving things along.)

Saros knows what he needs to do next. First, he asks Darrik to bring Gnator into Celest's room. Then, he requests that Ghee restrain the girl in some manner. Next, he asks Khan for details on what happened when she first encountered Celest. All three companions deliver on the requests directed at them. Saros is then well poised to engage in some multitasking. He interrogates Gnator, studies the arcane symbols on Celest's bald head, and then casts a ritual. (What a busy bee!)

Gnator knows nothing of any "creations". The news that Lord Weirding is dead is visibly shocking to the grounds' keeper, and the claim that we was an undead monstrosity seems absurd to him. He explains that Lord Weirding was a traveling wizard of sorts until he came across this struggling settlement and fell in love with the Lady in charge of it. He not only revitalized the local economy but also adopted the Lady's daughter as his own. He cared for the girl after the Lady passed away, although he did indeed seem a bit overprotective of her. The idea that Gnator would take anything from the manor as some sort of bribe for information does seem appealing to an up-until-recently-debt-riddled commoner, but he seems to have little valuable information to offer in exchange for that promise at this point. As requested, Darrik takes a look, and a feel, at Gnator's head. There are indeed some scars on his scalp, but they don't seem to follow any arcane pattern or be as severe as some of the others you have seen (like on the bartender Tonk Hammertoes, for instance.) Gnator is very afraid of Darrik, and Charm Person has dropped. 

Saros then examines the girl's scalp. Given all the information he has collected regarding Lord Weirding's true nature, his experiments, and Celest's powers, Saros arrives at the conclusion that Lord Weirding used all of the knowledge he had acquired by tinkering with the villagers' brains to perform "arcane surgery" on his step-daughter. His goal was likely to give her some semblance of psionic powers, akin to his own. It looks like he had partially succeeded, albeit at the cost of giving the girl chronic migraines and earning her ire. Neither Gnator or Celest seemed to be aware of these facts. (OOC: With this information at hand, there is no need to cast identify on her head.)

Finally, Saros sets some of his arcane supplies on the ground an magically identifies Celest's pendant. As he goes through the motions, Saros hears a loving female voice speak to him telepathically. "Please take a care of my daughter." This request is followed by the familiar voice of Lord Weirding himself, also through telepathy. "You filthy rock dweller. Return my daughter's belongings to her at this instant!". If there was any doubt left in Saros' mind that this is the periapt he was looking for, the completed ritual does away with it.

At this point, Darrik, Ghee, and Khan are all simply observing Saros and waiting on a verdict. 

IN THE GALLERY HALL

Ang pushes the last door open and invites Bleep to take a look. Without entering the chamber, the green grung takes a quick look around. This is a small room with a lectern in the center. Three locked glass cases line the walls, each filled with books and various items. It is straightforward to conclude that this was the wizard's Study Library, the very same he had prohibited his guest from entering over dinner. On the back wall is a painting of this very same Study Library, which is almost identical to what Bleep and Ang see in the room itself. The only exception is that there seems to be two humanoids in the painting who are not in the room. The grung duo is too far from the painting to make any details on who those two humanoids may be.

In addition to several tightly packed together books, each of the three glass cases house items that seem to be displayed as some sort of trophy. They are:

• A thick, upright, and ancient looking tome.
• A small metal case that resembles an intricately decorated tinderbox.
• A large potion vial and a scroll tied around its neck.

Getting more details on any of these glass cases or their contents would require a closer examination. Bleep fails to see anything that jumps out as an obvious source of danger, but he knows that Saros had warned him of several magical sources inside this Study Library. 

"Come Bleep. Better check on the other." Ang will go back to see Saros and the others and will have a debrief of the situation. Ang explains all she saw (the weird paintings, the eye in a jar, the study room). She will also ask Saros if he can identify her newly acquired ring