Its all in the Cards.

Alyria opens the door to find an undecorated bedroom that contains a pair of beds with straw-stuffed mattresses. At the foot of each bed is a footlocker. Tidy servants' uniforms hang from hooks in the adjoining closet.
A dumbwaiter in the corner of the west wall has a button on the wall next to it.

With eyes watching around her for something to happen, Alyria walks over and presses the button.

Despite the tension in the air, Ashtar smirked when Alyria pressed the button.

Soft ringing can be faintly heard from the floor below.

With a blink, she gives a look to the party behind her as if she's amused with herself. "That must be a summoning bell for the staff who worked here." With a quiet chuckle at her own concern over the "dreaded button," she heads out and into the room next door.

Ashtar followed behind.

Red velvet drapes cover the windows of this room. An exquisite mahogany desk and a matching high-back chair face the entrance and the fireplace, above which hangs a framed picture of a windmill perched atop a rocky crag. Situated in corners of the room are two overstuffed chairs. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves line the south wall. A rolling wooden ladder allows one to more easily reach the high shelves.

"Fancy place. Shame it is haunted. The fact that there is neither servant or owner to be found speaks volumes."
Eye of the Storm had his bow out and an arrow laid across it, ready to be fired. He prayed there would be no ghosts...

With aim of staying near the center of the group as they traverse room to room, Briar holds her lantern aloft. "What happened to the kids?" she whispers fretfully.

Ashtar heads in, checking the area. He shrugged. "It's a library."

Briar looks to Couth sadly. "Right. But what happened to them? Where are they? Were they even real?" She rubs her palm against her thigh, anxiously attempting to soothe the persistent itch that seems to increase in intensity as her nerves become further rattled in this place.

The Tabaxi sauntered over to the odd bookcase. He sniffed the air and looked it over, then looked at the ground around it and the ceiling. Then he pulled out a few books...

With a comforting smile, Alyria gives Briar's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "We'll figure it out, don't worry just yet." She itches to hug her friend, but doesn't want to let her guard down while they're in this house turned prison. She has wondered the same things herself, but without answers, she knows it'll lead herself down a path she shouldn't take. She already has one thought on that path of obsessive anxiety that she keeps pushed down.

Seeing motion out of the corner of her eye, she turns to see Eye disrupting the beautiful image that is a full bookshelf of novels, facts, and adventures. "What is happening?"