The Mansion:
The Roy Mansion, once the pinnacle of prestige and wealth, now slumps under the weight of a hundred years. The stone walls are overgrown with ivy, the windows are boarded up, and the shingled roof now lacks most of its shingles. The interior of the mansion has fared no better. Straw and blankets have been stuffed into the multiple leaks in the roof, broken glass litters the floor, and the smell of mildew, dust, and rot fills the air. The entire house emenates decay and the corruption of time. 

The Fields:
Fields that once produced bountiful crops now choke under thorns and vines, yielding only the scarcest of crops. No creature save the crow and raven can be seen for acres, nor does any sound but their mournful cries disturb the silence. 

A weary band of traveling investigators trudge their way through the muck and mud, drawing their cloaks tighter about their bodies in a fruitless attempt to ward of the pouring rain. They know not where they are going, nor even where they are, but they follow the flooded dirt road through what the locals grimly call "The Rotting Woods".

You can scarcely see past your own noses, so heavy is the downpour. You have only recently completed your most recent case (involving a night hag, a magical potato, and several suicidal goblins), and your hearts are as weary as your legs when you finally espy a faint light, coming from a sinister-looking mansion in an opening in the trees before you. 

Dare you enter?

Carnelian moves on. The mud proves no hindrance for him as the very earth and stone itself moves to aid him. He is a child of stone and the forces of elemental earth. The rain fell hard upon his heavy cloak and splashed against his face. It was like water falling upon a rough boulder. He paid it no mind as he and the rest of the group pushed forward. The previous case still lingered in his mind. The case was completed, but questions still lingered. Of all things, Carnelian disliked lingering questions when answers were possible, and he definitely felt like there was more to be found out. Yet they had to leave. For now....

He made sure to stay at the front. The tip of his staff was alight with the equivalent of torch light, guiding their way. Carnelian holds the staff aloft, casting its glow upon the sagging manor before them. ((Using his Light spell))

Nillis walks, pulling his cloak around himself. He never did like the rain. It always got in the way of his stories. However, stormy nights were the cliche setting for a bunch of travelers to stumble on to a haunted mansion; for good reason too. Such weather always seem to lend the ghost stories a sinister atmosphere. He thinks about the previous mission. What a crazy story it would make! People will be talking about it for years!  He looked up and notices the faint light. A mansion so large nestled within the forest. Surely it has good stories to tell. He waits for the group to enter before him. After all, it is their story.

Walking behind the others Esano frequently checks the back trail. There is no reason why anyone should be following them but old habits die hard and the rain would make it hard to hear anything approach. 

Looking ahead to the mansion that looms in front of them and at the weather which is sapping their energy by the minute it seems a straightforward decision but something makes him uneasy, something seems off slightly so he approaches the sprawling estate with caution. 

His face is fixed with a scowl borne of concentration and inclement weather ages him considerably but he moves with the gentle ease of all air genasi, despite the atrocious weather. 

The dirt road gives way to a cobblestone path, grass sprouting through the cracks in the pavement. Stone steps lead up to the front door of the mansion. The great double doors of the mansion are chained shut from the inside, and through the narrow chink between them streams a thin beam of candlelight. The iron knocker depicts an owl, and two unlit torches hang on the stone wall to either side. No sound is heard over the pounding of the rain and the occasional clap of thunder. 

Nillis places his eye on the crack to see what he can make of the interior.

EDIT: Perception of needed: 27

As Nillis looks through the crack Esano takes some time to study the outside of the building, looking for signs of recent activity, he pulls back his hood as he does so letting the rain wash down his light blue skin and plaster his long white hair against his head.

"This rain! Nillis can you see anything, we can't stay out in this all night.  Try the knocker maybe?"

Carnelian holds his light aloft, trying to provide as much vision in this onslaught of rain as possible. "Let me know if one of you would like to try something. Should we be left no choice, I will prepare the usual Guidance for you."

With that, Carnelian readies his spell. He will cast it on the first person of the group to try another skill check of some sort.

Quote from ZulkRS >>

Nillis places his eye on the crack to see what he can make of the interior.

EDIT: Perception of needed: 27

 Nillis makes out a long, carpeted hallway. A single candle burns in a bracket off to one side, the only source of light that you can discern in the entire building.

Quote from Phadeout101 >>

As Nillis looks through the crack Esano takes some time to study the outside of the building, looking for signs of recent activity, he pulls back his hood as he does so letting the rain wash down his light blue skin and plaster his long white hair against his head.

"This rain! Nillis can you see anything, we can't stay out in this all night.  Try the knocker maybe?"

Perception for any signs of life 22

 

Esano, casting a hasty glance around the perimiter, sights a raven, standing a silent vigil on a tattered scarecrow. It is unruffled by the downpour, and neither utters a sound nor makes a move as it stares grimly eastward, deep into the Rotting Woods.

Nillis tells the others what he sees and knocks on the door.

Suddenly you hear a clattering from the inside of the mansion, accompanied by a curse. Footsteps pad down the corridor, and the stream of candlelight is abruptly cut off. A bloodshot eye regards you through the crack in the door.

"What's in it, waking a man from his sleep at this hour? If you be thieves, I've got nothing in here worth your time."

"I am a Priest of Oghma. I and my associates simply seek shelter from the rain" He will hold up his staff in one hand and present the Holy Symbol of Oghma with the other. "Might we trouble you for an evening's respite?"

"Ogga-who? Sounds like mischief to me." He glares at you ever the harder. "I'll bid you a good night." The man's eye vanishes and you hear him plodding methodically away.

"Hmm, that went well." Looking at the door Esano sighs. "Do you think he'd mind us sleeping on his porch? I'll be damned if I want to keep going through the night in this weather."

Penumbra stands quietly in the rain, her crimson wings held above her head acting as an umbrella. She watches and listens as the others approach the foreboding mansion, after hearing the man deny them aid so quickly she feels a twinge of suspicion. Do I hear a bit of fear in that voice? she thinks to herself,  insight 22  Perhaps this man has something to hide? While she thinks she moves quietly stealth 13 around the right side of the building, not straying to far but merely getting a different perspective. She looks for any sign of movement or light in the windows on this side, or anything else that might be out of the ordinary. perception 6

Penumbra hears the slightest touch of fear in the man's uncouth accent. What has he to fear here?

As she circles the building, looking for information, her ears catch a slight, almost imperceptible creak. Spinning around, she sees a small door to the kitchen shiver as if recently closed. 

Then all is silence, save Penumbra's own soft breathing.

Dwarf in his middle ages runs on his short legs. He wears thick dark coat and heavy boots. "Pesky cart, pesky mud, pesky weather". Walter does not mind being late but his principals do.

As he moves through the obstacles he finally reaches the group " Aye folks, sorry for the delay. Had to buy new pipe in the town. What do we have here?"