Its all in the Cards.

Ashtar took a step back, unsure what to do.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Eye of the Storm yelled with a slightly childish shriek, as he swatted at Briar to make her go away.
"And that game's stupid! You always have stupid ideas!" he pointed out to Alyria.
He stomped off to go to the basement.

"Hold on there--er, son!" Ashtar blocked Eye of the Storm's path, and cast a furtive glance at Briar. "Please, go back to your room, we're trying to keep you safe, and my friend can't help us kill the monster if you're inside him."

"You can't make me! You're not my mother! You're just another boy with make-up on that wishes he was a girl!" Eye of the Storm shrieked, apparently dredging up some well-burried opinions on Ashtar's appearance whilst under the influence of the spirit.

Returning an expression of total disbelief to Ashtar, Briar waves her hands, palm to the ceiling, in what might be considered a comical gesture of "What do we do?!" Mouth agape, she fails to conceal her completely bewildered state. She takes a beat, pressing her palms to her face as she centers her thoughts on anything she may have learned in her past regarding the best way to handle spirits who refuse to let a living soul pilot its own body.

Ashtar raised an eyebrow, unperturbed. "Suit yourself, young master. How about you then, young miss?" He turned to Alyria to address the sister. "Are you more reasonable? The lady you’re possessing would be quite the boon in helping us face the monster below that may have your parents. It’d be helpful if you let her go."

Briar watches Eye of the Storm dash off with an inappropriately bemused expression. Then she sighs and returns her attention to Alyria; if anyone could help with this situation, it would be her. Briar knows that Alyria is far more likely to help put these spirits to restand is willing to try anything to give her friend her own presence in this trying moment.

Switching gears with her fey finesse, Briar zips over to Alyria and gives the spirit piloting the paladin a wide, childlike grin. "Hey! You know what’s better than being tall?" The fairy makes a mischievous shimmy with her shoulders as she turns profile to her friend, then twists her torso a little more to show off her shoulder blades. As she does so, she flutters her wings like a hummingbird to create an enticing purr sound. "If you let my friend help us, you can take these for a spin!"

Still smiling warmly, she lifts off the ground and hovers a moment, twirls gracefully midair, then settles down again to kneel before the child. "What do you say? How about you let me take you to your resting place instead, and you can go down the stairs without touching a single one! Isn’t that neat?"

Alyria sniffles and then starts to wail tears at Eye of the Storm's words. "Why are you always so mean to me? I just try my bestest and it's never good enough," she cries at his lashing at her, letting her own inner thoughts come out for a moment. At Briar's words, she shakes her head emphatically, being afraid to try flying. Finally noticing people are trying to leave, she squeals, "Don't leave me here alone!" before launching herself up and running to Ashtar. The second she reaches the taller adventurer, she plasters herself to his back, wrapping her arms around him, inadventently shielding his whole midsection as she clings onto him in an effort to not be left behind. "I'll go, I'll go, but don't leave me by myself, please!"

Briar gives Ashtar an apologetic grimace and shrugs her shoulders. "I guess let’s go downstairs…?" She launches herself over to Eye of the Storm and reaches out a hand to the tabaxi encouragingly. "Come on, now. Let’s go down together, okay?"

"Oof—just—okay, stop squirming, just—hey—no touchi—hey, oh ok there, that’s perfect. Easy. Towards the bottom you have to walk though, okay? I’ll protect you. Now, let’s go."

"No!" Eye of the Storm snapped back at Briar. He wasn't going to hold some tiny girl's hands. That was stupid.

This dusty chamber is packed with old furniture. Chairs, coat racks, standing mirrors, dress mannequins, and the like. They all draped in dusty white sheets. Near an iron stove, is an unlocked wooden trunk you see a hand sticking out of a tattered bedsheet stained with dry blood.

Completely grossed and terrified by the hand seen, Alyria feels tears well in her eyes as part of her actual self pushes through enough to try to look closer.

Alyrthorn moves the hand to get a better look. The whole crate the body was being stored in collapses. A bloody rolled up bundle of bedsheets flops out and begins to unravel itself. A dead female body flops out. Its head flops and stares at Alyrthorn with voidless eyes.

Alyrthorn can see many bloody marks on the ladies chest. Thorn and Rose both recognize the body as their maid and caretaker.
(The same Maid that you spoke to as a specter before)

Aly-Thorn screams at the sight of the brutal scene in front of her/him/them. In an utter fright, they run for the door and barrel down the stairs to get away from the horrible view.

Ashtar dashed after the possessed paladin.

Noting that Ashtar was keeping tabs on their paladin friend, Briar looks to their tabaxi teammate to make sure everyone was accounted for. With that aim in mind, she calls to Ashtar over shoulder, "Any ideas?!"

"There's no way out of the house, and no way to get them out that I know of. We just have to play the cards we're dealt." Ashtar continues running after Alyria.

The narrow spiral staircase is made of creaky wood that is contained within a 5-foot-wide shaft of mortared stone that starts in the attic and descends lower and lower. Thick cobwebs fill the staircase getting thicker and thicker as the party walk/runs in terror.

Hitting the bottom the party comes to tunnels carved out of earth, clay, and rock. Thick rotten timber braces support these pitch black tunnels. There are 3 possible paths forward...