Ok, no stealth checks to enter the house given that (awesome) magic!

((it is interesting too because of the sphere shape of the silence ball, and the fact that you are going downstairs.))

Alright. You are all able to enter the house from that side entrance and you all get into the stairs room completely silent. (Ben please keep me honest about your detect magic if I forget as we proceed). As you get closer to the trap, it appears and mouths words, but all is silence. It likely still startles you when it appears, but none of you are afraid. 

You all descend the stairs, completely silently due to the spell. I have updated Battlemap 1 tab to show what you can see once you get to the bottom. Your silence spell will cover you in some of that room as it is a sphere. Kay, can you please specify where the silence is on the new map? It may or may not be important. 

Upon your descent, you see shoulder-height wooden bottle racks line the north and west walls. There appear to be no intact bottles left in the racks, and shattered bottles cover the floor.

Against the east wall, at the foot of the stairs, rest a few storage bins that appear to be empty.

In the center of the room lies a human corpse clad in plate mail; a longsword lies by the corpse’s right side, and a large shield covers its legs.

There is a fireplace on the south wall.

Ben, you do not get any magic pings down here.

Please make any checks that you see fit that might be needed along with letting me know what you want to do. 

Ess whispers (because he doesn't know exactly if Kay's spell still works down here) "DUDES. Wtf happened to THAT guy?" His eyes go a bit wide. But not ratty wide. He looks afraid and he tenses up as he watches you all to see what everyone does and says. 

I forgot to mention. There is a foul smell down here, likely from the body. 

((OOC: @Klein did you make the maps? Loving the art style! Not too much just enough. Atmospheric and minimalist. Very cool!

Are there no exits to this room we can see? What is to the south? Is it a wall? Can we not see that far? Thanks))

edit... sorry it wasn’t showing right for me! I see the fireplace etc now

The smell hits Ash’s sensitive nose first. It makes her eyes water and she screws her face up. But she eyes the body. Does the armour look serviceable/salvageable or ruined? Is there any chance she could rip the breastplate out and use it as just a breastplate?

edit: sorry I think I’m not with it today! She doesn’t have medium armour proficiency anyway.

((I assume we don’t hear Ess and we’re still in silence. Is that right?))

Ash will creep a little ways into the room, looking around and checking for traps...

Perception: 7 

Investigation: 9 

((doh! Had to happen some time! She’d been on a roll til now!!))

Ben appraises the scene before him before stopping on the corpse.

He points and whispers,

"That armor is going to be worth more than anything else we've found. A few hundred at least. Also no magic down here that I can see."

He walks quietly over and searches the body while also checking for cause of death, prestidigitating the air clean around his nose as he does.

Investigation:21

Medicine:14

There are no exits to this room which you can initially see, although everyone can make an investigation check if they'd like in general when getting down here. (I will wait to do Ess's last)

Ash, from a quick eyeing of the body, you notice that the platemail is banged up but likely serviceable. The longsword and the large shield are in good condition. You also notice an explorer's pack stuck under the corpse. 

Ash, you also see a ton of maggots feasting on the corpse. At a glance, the grubs’ appearance looks unnervingly similar to curdled milk being squeezed from a bladder.

(sorry I just had a huge post cross there.)

Reading now and will make a new post 

Ash whispers/mouths, “Let’s come back for anything bulky and noisy... But I could do with a pack if you could clean it up for me, Ben? ...Unless any of you all need it?”.

((ps: that is one amazing but gross description!))

It depends on where the silence spell is down here if you can hear Ess or not.

Ash, you don't notice anything other than what's been described. 

Ben, you would've also saw the maggots etc. Will you still do your checks (investigation and medicine) and clean the air and search the body? 

Given PbP and message crosses, I have to make this as real as possible!

((@ Grwobert yup, it's straight from the book!!))

Ugh! Seeing the maggots, do they look like normal maggots? Can Ash do a Nature or survival check from where she is, without getting too close? Ick!....

Nature check: 19 (+2 extra for survival)

((Posting it here too.))

 ((So we'd all have to be over by the fireplace to talk to one another. Also, don't think Ben's prestidigitation works since he can't perform the verbal component.))

Kay looks around the eerily silent basement.

Perception: 7

 He silently mouths to himself, "Man, I wish I had a spell that could silence odors! Ugh."

Not seeing anything more than an initial glance got him, he heads over to make sure those crates and bins are empty and don't have halflings or loot hiding in them.

Investigation: 10

((Even if he doesn't find anything, he'll find the edge of his sphere of silence!))

Halfling Powers Activate! 
Investigation: 19

Ben would have retreated from the body had he not had prestidigitation to wherever Kay is gesturing for him.

Once he can hear and speak he whispers,

"Good gods that man is rank. His gear looked salvageable, I think. With some cleaning we can probably sell all of it for good money."

If Ash expresses interest in the bag where he can hear it he will tell her, whispering,

"Yes, I can clean it. Just not until this quiet goes away.'

To everyone one,

"I'm going to go do a loop of the room and check out that fireplace then come back here."

Perception of room in general:22

Investigation of fireplace:16

"I mean, I can drop in whenever we want, just wanted to make sure that mouth stays quiet until we're sure of our next move."

"You're not kidding... how long you think he's been down here? I wonder if he's got one of those pamphlets in his pack? Oh, spoons... you know how I said maybe someone made the pamphlets to get people to come here and take care of a problem for them? What if the CULT put out the pamphlets to draw in sacrifices?! Though... he doesn't look like he was ritually sacrificed.", Korrik whispers excitedly.

"Go ahead and check him!"

Then silent gagging as he goes.

Korrik would have backed up warily as Ben checks the fireplace. He has a tendency to discover spiders and the like in those.

((Oh, would Ben have seen if the mouth spell disappeared after it did it's thing?))

Alright, let me know if I missed anything here:

Ash, the maggots look horrific. And there's a LOT of them. When you look a little closer, you notice that there are so many that they are moving under the decaying skin. You've seen this type of maggot rot before. These maggots are not friendly and do not like it when their host is touched.  

Korrik, the crates and bins are indeed empty. However, when you look closely you see a full bottle of wine has rolled under a bin. Its label bears the image of a jauntily dressed unicorn. 

Ben, you get a good sense of the room. The fireplace is empty, but it is warm unlike the other ones. Also, you notice some rocks clearly out of place on the south wall right beside the fireplace. I've marked it on the map. It's obvious that it's a door built into the wall.  

((Ben, the aura would be gone from the stairs after it said its piece in silence))

((due to PbP I will allow Ash's discovery of the maggots to flow to the others before someone decides to check the body. If your character would still check though, please be honest.))

((Ben would eventually check the body, he is absolutely not leaving without that armor, but not until he can prestidigitate as he does it! Yuck.))

Ben will move back to where they were talking and wave everyone back over to talk, whispering,

"Fireplace is warm and there is a door right beside it. What did you three find?"

If Kay shows him the wine he'll try to remember the vintage and if it's worth anything.

Wine history: 2