Manor of Origin (REDUX)

"We should go, the faster we find these orbs, the faster we get out of this place." Faux is clearly uncomfortable.

Archie sends a slightly sympathetic glance to Faux. "Haste might not be to our benefit at the moment."
He narrows his gaze at the desecrated corpse.
"Pretty sure we’re being hunted now."

"Bloody hell..." said Gharn through his teeth "How can we proceed when we don't know what we're dealing with? We can't stay barricaded here for ever!"

He knew better that impatience lead to mistakes - and this place was definitely unforgiving...

"Caution and vigilance should be our guides. We need to push on. Want to go check on those doors at the hallway leading to that room where we found the kid and the big guy and make sure our rear is clear before we march past that room?"

Gharn's sense of duty hasn't left him, even if he left the police force back home; he somehow felt responsible to keep the others safe. But it felt harder the longer they were in this place.

Banshee hefts her hammer. It's an archaic weapon, but it's familiar and she doesn't really have the hand-eye coordination to fire a gun.

"Agreed. We either need to fight them one on one and clear the place, or get somewhere we won't be trapped like squirrels under a coffee can."

Archie shrugs." I’m down with whatever plan you guys want to go forward with. Though if I were to voice an opinion I’m for hunting this thing down before it pulls something. It’s at least somewhat intelligent, and extremely sneaky if it did all this with only minor noises."

"Let's get her down and put her somewhere were she won't be whatever it is that did this to her snack bar. Maybe get her to the balcony where we met Archie? Better off in the void if you ask me."

Gharn moves toward the wall - pinned body.

"Someone get a curtain or something so we can put around her. I'll take the body as you take it down."

He looks at the grim spectacle for a few seconds and waits with his head down, a million things passing through his mind.

"I'll do it."

Banshee had no qualms dealing with dead bodies, being a priestess of death. She sets about the grisly task efficiently and with respect for the woman. When she is fine, there will be a pile of knives to one side, and her laid in repose to the other.

Luc watches silently as they remove the woman from the wall. This is really happening, he thinks. Days ago he was performing for kids at a birthday party, now, he has been kidnapped by a mysterious entity and is trapped in a mansion outside of space time. For someone who lives playing with reality, this whole situation makes him question his own reality.

He focuses on the mission and repels this wave of thoughts: "Check the doors and try to capture one of the ennemis, got it! If we have the time and luck, and we find the right material components, I could Identify that orb and maybe find out some useful information."

Returning from the bedrooms with bedsheets, Archie begins to wrap the body of the woman up.

He glances at Faux."The man we got the green one from had a sort of horde of valuables and junk. Your best bet is to look for the next orb and it’s holder if your looking for shit for materials."

From down the hallway, as the party tends to the body, a knife comes flying and pierces the floor at Inquisitor’s feet.
A hollow sort of laugh emanates from an indiscernible direction.
Then it stops and all is silent.

Luc was ready to launch a Firebolt in the direction the knife came. He held himself completely still waiting for someone to come from the hallway, but after hearing the laughter fade and the silence that followed, Luc slowly extinguished the Firebolt flame in his hand and says: "I think we should go, Oui?"

Banshee jumps at the knife blade coming so close to Inquisitor. "Sweet ancestors!"

She grips her hammer. "Fight or flight?"

"I say we move with caution lass; flight to where? We're trapped in this hellhole and as far as I'm aware, there ain't an easy way out. If there's fight that you crave, you're in for a treat. Let's move out. We can't just stay idle."

Gharn reaches down and plucks out the knife from the floorboards in front of him.

"This might as well be handy at some point", he thought and hid the knife under his vambrace.

"Let's get to this poor woman to the balcony first. We'll talk about how we're going to proceed on the way there."

In the silence following the short funeral, a familiar mocking laugh can be heard, and then from the foyer, the party hears a familiar voice giving an all to familiar speech.

"Welcome to my manor you poor unfortunate souls…"

"Oh bloody hell! Is this thing demented or something?" said Gharn to no one in particular.

"We've had this conversation before you maniac! Come up with something more original this time will ya you knob?!"
Gharn raised his fist, still clenching his sword.

"Although I wonder," he said, turning to the rest of his newfound comrades "was it actually talking to us now? Or perhaps..." he trailed off.

"Perhaps more people arrived at the mansion!." Luc realizes what Gharn is talking about.

"Should we check to see if it's true?"

"That's disturbing, and if so, how is it dragging everyone in?"

She wonders if this is death itself, a hellish afterlife. Wouldn't she know, her specifically? She shakes that grim thought aside.

"Agreed. More people mean more to defend each other."

"If they have good intentions. Hell, I bet each and every one of us has their own agenda; let's hope that this thing won't pit us against each other or something."

Said Gharn and tightened his lips, his eyes a shade darker - a grim look on them.

As the party rushes back out to the foyer from the void balcony, the Voice stops mid sentence.

"Ahh. It appears I’m no longer required. My previous guests would be more than happy to fill you in on the finer details of your stay here."
The voice laughs and slowly fades away.
Lance and the girl wander out from the other hallway.
All eyes turn to focus on the two figures standing on the mosaic, looking quite confused.