Party 9

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Throughout the hour spent recuperating in the hallway, Bronria keeps an eye on the ceiling. While she isn't yet accustomed to the noises of the creaky house, she isn't a fool either; something is moving about above their heads. She shares a glance with Abalister as she gets to her feet and straps her shield on tightly. "Not much farther to go," she says, half to herself alone.
 
Kellen sits, and focuses on his meditation like Enna taught him, fiddling with his quartz crystal that acts as his arcane focus. He feels himself regain some connection to the magic surrounding him.
 
As they rise from their rest, Kellen says "Let me take the lead this time, hopefully I can be a little quieter than you big 'uns, we'll try the hatch first."

They head back to the room with the attic access, but despite being able to reach it with his mage hand, it is barred from the other side. "Hmm, the stairs then" There Kellen goes first as well. He creeps up, stairs creaking unceremoniously, and not particularly stealthily as he mounts them. At the top he is faced with another door. He leans in to see through the door, opening it with his mage hand.
 
Beyond the door is an attic space, as dusty and derelict as the floor below. Unlike previous floors, there are no decorative carvings up here, and there are no windows on this level, shrouding the space in an eerie darkness. The space before you is simple, a short corridor ending at a blank wall, with two doors on either side, all sitting shut.
 
The scholar spends his time in silent contemplation, his eyes shut to the outside world. Inside his head, however, he walked the halls of his mind palace, fingertips brushing against the walls, over tables and shelves, across the spines of many books. He pauses at a desk in what looks like a study to jot a few notes down before sitting in an overstuffed sitting chair in the corner to relax. The pounding in his temples ebbed, the fuzziness at the edges of his vision dissolving. Though as he sits, sounds from the house echoed there way down his hallways to poke at him, reminding him of their current predicament.

He smiles, coming back to the present at Bronria's words. He listens to his gnomish counterpart and nods, seeing some wisdom in the little ones words. As long as he wasn't asked to lead, he was fine with whichever arrangement they decided on.

Whispering from the bottom of the stairs as Kellen peers through the door, he asks, "Anyth-th-thing?"
 
Bronria does her best to stay patient, waiting there at the bottom of the stairs while the gnome goes on ahead. It feels like a more reckless version of what they were doing before, moving as a group and all being present when spirits or animated objects appeared. She only hopes Kellen doesn't uncover anything dangerous while they sit on their laurels.

"If one of you might provide us with some light," she murmurs to Abalister and Ordienna, "we will be able to assist more easily if he should be attacked. So long as no insect juices must be wiped on my shield," she adds, with a pointed look at the scholar.
 
Frowning, the scholar shoots back, "I d-do not control th-the laws in which we ut-t-tilize the wuh-weave. I just bend it t-to my wuh-will," in a hushed tone.
 
"I know that." Bronria's face is impassive, though her ears turn a little pink. "I merely prefer to keep my shield --" She cuts herself off and thrusts her arm in Abalister's direction. "If you must dirty something with your insects, please let it be my armour. I do not feel comfortable leaving the gnome to his own devices, and we will need light before we accompany him."
 
Hearing the others shuffling behind him, Kellen advances slowly into the hallway, inspecting it quickly for traps, or secrets. He is not rewarded for his diligence however. He advances towards the door on the right, stopping in front of it. He turns to his left, casting a simple illusion spell with the crystal now held in his left hand, creating an image of a large box in the corner of the hallway. A place to hide may be useful if there is more danger.

He goes to open the door, and thinks better of it. He incants "Sanwe-menta" and sends a mental message to Bronria "Forgive the intrusion, I am waiting by the door on the right, you may answer with your thoughts to let me know if you are ready"
 
"Odd. I wuh-wouldn't have guessed a wauh-warrior like you t-t-to be squeamish ab-bout b-b-bugs," the scholar notes, looking at Bronria. Offering a shrug, he pulls a small knife from the folds of his overcoat.

"This'll do," he remarks before finding the remains of another firefly in a pouch on his bandolier. He squishes it against the knife, dragging his finger to make a faintly glowing bioluminescent light and then incants, "Lux..."

Once done, the knife itself glows with an Amber glow, shining like a beacon in the darkness, though dull enough not to blind them. He hands the blade over, "Use this, then."
 
She breathes deeply and takes the knife. "Very well. Thank you." Seconds later, Kellen's words appear in her mind and she goes stock still. Formulating a reply takes a moment longer. "We are coming upstairs. If you would like to scout ahead, do so now," she replies, over-emphasising each word like she's afraid it won't transmit. Then she stands.

"The gnome says he is about to enter the door on the right," she says before heading for the steps.
 
Pushing the door open, you see an old bedroom. This dust-choked room contains a slender bed, a nightstand, a small iron stove for keeping the room warm, a writing desk with a stool, an empty wardrobe, and a rocking chair. A smiling doll in a lacy yellow dress sits in the northern window box, its porcelain face cracked and cobwebs draping it like a wedding veil.
 
Pushing her way into the room with shield raised and knife outstretched, Bronria is surprised to find nothing waiting in ambush. No ghost or even an animated object, which she confirms after moving all around the room and scouring every surface she can find. Even the ghoulish doll, which she stares at long and hard before prodding it with the edge of her shield, doesn't seem to react.

At length she nods and steps back. "I can find nothing of note. Continue searching if you wish, but I would rather find whatever is moving around on this floor first," she says to Kellen, moving back into the corridor and advancing towards the second door on the right.
 
Kellen follows Bronria "I...don't hear anything...How do you know something is moving?" Kellen takes a brief glance around the room as they are leaving, grimacing at the doll, but otherwise trusting Bronria's room searching skills. He makes sure to close the door as they leave.
 
As Bronria approaches the second door on the right, she tries the handle, and finds that, unlike all other doors so far in this house, this one is locked shut.
 
Bronria jostles the handle for a second, believing it might be jammed, before realising that it's simply locked. Curious. Not to be deterred, she glances over her shoulder. "Might any of you be able to prise the lock open? I would rather not be forced to break it," she says in an undertone.
 
Kellen moves over beside Bronria, renewing his illusion in the far corner. "I have no skill in this, but I can try to assist, i'm sure I've read about picking locks before..."
 
With some assistance from Kellen and his familiar, Ordienna manages to get the lock opened. Standing up straight, she pushes the door open, revealing the room beyond. This room contains a bricked-up window flanked by two dusty, wood-framed beds sized for children. Closer to the door is a toy chest with windmills painted on its sides and a dollhouse that's a perfect replica of the dreary edifice in which you stand. These furnishings are draped in cobwebs. Lying in the middle of the floor are two small skeletons wearing tattered but familiar clothing. The smaller of the two cradles a stuffed doll that you also recognize.
 
Kellen moves in, slowly, and sadly, the energy suddenly drained from him. "So now we see that there was nothing to do to save those children from the monsters in their house..." he steps around them, not wishing to disturb their rest. "Let's see what we can glean from this room" He crouches down in front of the dollhouse examining it carefully, before opening the toy chest.
 
The sight of the skeletons, dressed in those familiar clothes, drains the colour from Bronria's face. Without replying, she begins her routine procession around the room, though her eyes continue to stray towards the children even as she raps on the floor and walls, the beds and the window. She remains close by Kellen's side as he inspects the dollhouse and toy chest, examining them as closely as she could in order to avoid thinking about the other features of the room.
 
As Bronria pokes around the room and Kellen examines the dollhouse, a voice, that of a young girl, whispers out from the corners of the room, echoing off the walls and filling your heads.
"Who are you, and what are you doing in our house?"
 
The scholar, standing out in the hallway during vthe inspection, apparently lost in his thoughts on weave theory, jumped as the voice filled his mind, overtaking his other thoughts. Spinning a full circuit, eyes wide, he quickly makes for the once locked room.

Flattening himself against the wall just inside the door, he looks to his companions and hisses, "We are not alone!"

Curiousity, oddly enough, took over at that moment at the sight of the adolescent skeletons. He arches an eyebrow and points a finger, "Interesting. Th-that looks f.....amiliar."
 
Bronria's sword is immediately in her hand, and she quickly moves to put her back to Kellen. After the surprise attack by the spirit downstairs, she wants to keep watch on as many parts of the room as possible. The sight of Abalister having entered the room as well comes as a relief, but not enough to keep her from clutching her shield so hard her fingers hurt. Whose voice is that...?

Then all at once it comes to her, and she suppresses a shudder. After swallowing hard, she says as clearly as possible: "We are passers-by, looking to put an end to whatever did this to you and your brother." Her voice wavers slightly as her gaze is drawn back to the two skeletons in the middle of the room.
 
At this, the spectral form of Rose appears, hovering about a foot above the two skeletons. While now translucent and hovering, she looks very similar to how she looked when you met her outside. However, she is noticeably skinnier, with her skin pulled tight over her bones, and her clothes hanging shapelessly off her.
"You should not have come in here. This house holds nothing but death. You cannot save us, and now it is too late for you to save yourselves."
As she speaks, a spectral Thorn appears. Despite his ghostly condition, he still attempts to take shelter behind his bigger sister, spectral doll clutched tightly to his chest.
 
Kellen, is glad for Bronria's presence in front of him, a mirror of the ghostly children in front of them. The combination of her shield, and his own curiosity make him brave enough to peek out from behind her and get a better look at the ghosts. "Fascinating! So you are not the ones who were outside asking for help from a monster." He paused looking around the dusty room, glancing at the skeletons once more. "How did you die?"
 
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