Arvastan sways almost unconsciously towards the view of the sea, the old longing in his blood stirring. He takes a breath of the brine scent of the sea and comforts himself with that, quieting the longing in his heart. You've a job to do, he tells himself silently, so do it. Still, it was a beautiful view on the way to the manor, though he wasn't impressed by the place itself, eyeing it with a furrowed brow and a scrunched up, disgusted face. 

"This place has seen better years," he notes, looking around. "So we've got possible werewolf, vampire lord, maybe pirate-hideout? I doubt it's the last one, frankly," he adds, casting a critical eye on the overgrowth, crumbled stone, and rotten wood. "Right then," he claps his hands together, though stops short of making any noise with them, "shall we venture on into the unknown?" 

As the group approaches the manor, Dimma takes a few minutes to herself. She closes her eyes and begins to send up a litany of dwarven prayer and supplication. As she concentrates, the hammer and anvil stamped onto her shield glows white-hot and at the end of her prayer seems to pulse gently. When she opens her eyes again they seem to be glossed over with a thin layer of the same golden-white light. (Ritual cast Detect Magic)

At the end of the casting she nods to Arvastan, "Yes, let's."

Tul takes notice of how close the manor is to the edge of the cliff. She steps as close to the edge of the cliff as seems safe, realizing that it might not be stable. Words of her father spring to mind.

"There is nothing more real than what cannot be seen and there is nothing more certain than what cannot be heard," she says, before she realizes she has said them out loud.

She looks back to the others. She has thoughts on how she would make use of something like this manor if she were leading a crew of pirates.

"We should rule nothing out, undead or alive," she says. "Shall we try the front door?"

“Let’s get this over with,” Hugh says with a growl before stalking towards the old manor. 

Gibson holds his hands up to temporarily halt the forward motion.

"While I admire your pluck and gumption, my young friends, I believe that situations like this typically call for a bit more of what we in the business refer to as 'finesse.'" His bushy, overgrown white eyebrows bob up and down a few times. "While I'm certain these ghost stories are unfounded and the product of such derelict accommodations as we see here before us and the wild and overactive imaginations of juveniles, drunkards, and parents seeking means to keep their children from acting out, these places can still be quite dangerous. We already have reason to believe this manor may be connected with the goings-on of pirates, but there is also the distinct possibility that dangerous wildlife may have taken up residence in a place being reclaimed by nature, such as it is. Furthermore, there is always a chance a place like this could just fall in on our heads! Now listen, I think we should begin by taking a walk around the grounds and seeing what we can see. Our dear friend Satox from last night said something about a back door from the garden into the kitchen. Perhaps that might be a safer way in with fewer pirate traps to ward off intruders or what have you. At the very least, every abode has multiple points of egress and I, for one, would like to know where to go in the case of an emergency. I'm confident in Cumian's blessing on my life but you all are worldly, uninitiated heathens and I would hate for harm to befall any one of you as ancient beings of limitless power can only do so much..." he trails off trying to gauge reactions to see if his plan would be accepted or if they were going to just blow through the front door.

Dimma nods her head, "I agree with Gib, no matter who or what's in that house I'd like to make sure we have the upper hand when we confront them. Let's take a lap around the edge of the house and if we get close to any sources of magic inside I should be able to sense it."

Tul nods agreement. As they discuss circling the manor, she moves over to investigate the broken roof that might be an old well or shed.

Dimma will acompany Tul, trying to keep everyone as close as possible.

Hugh shrugs before following the rest of the party.

Dimma, you detect some traces of magic from long ago, likely from the time of Dilpas himself, and mainly centered upon the vegetable garden, but nothing recently active.

As the group investigates the grounds, the thing you notice most closely is a massive overgrown rosebush that seems to have overwhelmed the other plants on the grounds, growing up and through the stone wall, along the house, and pretty much everywhere you can see.

Tul Investigation check for the well (with advantage from Dimma) - 14

You notice in the tall grass surrounding the well, a cluster of small mammal remains -- squirrels, mice, moles and others. The well itself descends about twenty feet and though it is dark at the bottom, you are able to determine that it still has a significant amount of water down there. At least at the top, there are a few rocky handholds that someone could climb down the well, though both Tul and Dimma are a little too broad to fit.

Can we get a sense of the size of the manor? Two story with a guest bedroom or sprawling mansion with countless rooms? Does it seem stable/intact other than being overgrown or does it seem dilapidated like the roof could come down at any time? Do we find more entryways or just the front and back doors? Any outbuildings or just the garden and well on the grounds? Can we see anything through the window as we walk around or are there curtains?

Some of that will require you to get closer/investigate, but just on initial impression, the manor is about 35 feet high and comprises two floors with a basement and small attic. The ground and second floor look fairly expansive. The roof has several holes where slate and shingles are missing and other areas where it looks somewhat weak. The garden is somewhat large and wraps around the side of the manor (where you suspect the drunken old gnome found the other entrance). The well appears to be the only other structure on the manor grounds.

Looking at her own shoulders then at Dimma's and back to the opening of the well, Tul lets out a small laugh. "That's not going happen. But what do you make of these dead animals? Could the well water be poisoned? The bodies are still here so it's unlikely that anything is hunting them."

She moves a little closer to the rose bush.

"My mother keeps a garden. She would love to know the secret of this rose."

Tul looks more closely at the garden to see if there any any more dead animals there or anything moving at all.

(Perception: 23 ) 

With a perception that high, you can tell that something very large has made a burrow in the underbrush --some sort of digging animal, like a badger or a weasel. Listening, you can hear scratching sounds, like whatever is in there is moving up towards the surface.

Tul takes a step back and points to the signs of the burrow in the underbrush.

"It might just be a small badger," she says to Dimma."But it could be anything really and it sounds like it's about to surface."

She rests one hand on the nunchuka in her belt, just in case it's more than a wandering badger.

As Tul warns you all and you take a few steps back, suddenly, four long hairy creatures burst forth from the burrow. You are confronted by a family of Giant Weasels.

Two of them with a thick blackish fur appear to be juvenile in size, but the other two are immense, reaching nearly eight or nine feet in length, and outweighing even the largest of your party by 2 - 3 times.

Go on and roll that initiative!

Giant Weasels: 6

Tul Initiative: 6  

Hugh Initiative: 13

"Poison, you say?" Gibson scowls down at the well and dead animals. "Filthy, insidious, unpredictable, dangerous business. I find the use of poisons reprehensible as well!" He shudders and quietly mumbles, "I hate animals..."

As the giant weasels emerge, anyone paying attention would see Gibson visibly jump and make a quiet squeak of surprise as he cringes and holds his walking stick out in front of him as if to keep the beasts at a distance.

Initiative: 21

Arvastan initiative: 18