Prologue - Death House

"I would suppose that all depends on how things play out. I assume Lathander was providing me a refresher on humility," Abraham says with a soft chuckle. "Hopefully I will not need any remedial instruction moving forward."

Narissa quietly follows the group. Rolling the information about the house over in her mind. How none of them knows how they got here or where here even is. She poses a soft question to the air, "If everyone that has been met so far is a ghost... it may not be beyond the realm of believability that we're all... like that too."

The second floor is black without a fire to light it, forcing Drina to make use of her lantern. The main hall on this floor is 20' long and ends in a black marble fireplace. To the east and west are sets of double doors flanked by rusty suits of wolf-headed armor, each with a spear. Also in the east wall is a side door by the stairs.

There are unlit oil lamps around the room, and mounted above the fireplace is a family portrait. In it are Gustav and Elisabeth Durst, dressed in resplendent suit and dress, and two smiling children, Rose and Thorn. In Gustav's arms is a bundle that looks like a swaddled infant; while Gustav is beaming with pride, Elisabeth looks at the swaddle with clear disgust.

Narissa will toss a fire bolt into the fireplace she can see, to give those that need it light.

Amalthea stops in her tracks when she sees the wolf-headed armors, staying as far back as possible to prevent potentially activating them.

"OK, any suggestions on taking down those things? Maybe knock out a leg so they can only hop, heh?"

Amalthea smiles a little, but her eyebrows are knitted together in worry.

"We know what they are this time, we won't be caught off guard by them again," Abraham replies as he eyes the two suits. "And we have light. This fight will go very differently."

Narissa's words troubled the young ranger more than she wanted to admit. Could her companions be ghost...or worse, had the gypsy succumb to the same fate as her parents leaving her younger brother on his own? No! It couldn't be possible. With her own emerald eyes, Drina had seen these people bleed. Plus if there was one enemy the ranger knew and could feel in her bones: it was undead. Trust yourself.

Reapproaching the second landing, Drina drew the bow string taunt to her ear creating the tension needed to launch arrows down the entire length of the hall. "Still, I would rather deal with these suits on our timing than them close in behind us. Shall I take some target practice?"

Agreeing with Drina’s logic of the situation Taniwha quickly follows the Rangers bow shot, hurling his dagger at the same target . . .

Drina's arrow punches through the chest plate of the armor at the same time as a dagger knocks against the helm. The thing topples over, seemingly lifeless, but at the moment it crashes to the floor the empty helmet turns to face you and shatters to pieces.

Any inspection of the other suits of armor will reveal that they are just as lifeless . . . or appear to be. In any case, nothing jumps out at you and hall is yours to explore.

Narissa will open the first door to her right. Cautious but curious. "I'm unsure of where you have already been? Are there any places you know you haven't been yet?"

Amalthea's tense shoulders sag in relief as Drina and Taniwha's attacks incapacitate the armor. It appears it was lifeless the whole time, but better to be safe than sorry in her mind. She readies her shield again and follows the new tiefling.

"Eh, we can follow your lead for now, lass. We explored the top floor and most of that first floor. We have yet to check on this floor and are told of monsters in the basement. I believe the plan is to finish checking this house, find the treasure in the library, then take the passage from the top to reach the basement."

Following Narissa down the hallway Taniwha’s eyes scan the surroundings, darting to and fro looking for any telltale signs of traps. Once outside the door the Tiefling pauses to retrieve his dagger.

As the door swings open under Narissa’s touch the hairs on the back of his neck tingled with anticipation.

Abraham follows, shield in one hand and a lit torch in the other. Unfortunately, that means his sword is sheathed. As the door to the room opens, he peers in with hopes it's safe.

The party enters the first room on the right. The little side door is afforded scant attention compared to the grand double doors further down, and one look beyond tells you why. This room is a small servants' quarters with two beds, each with a footlocker. In the wall to the west (behind you) is a dumbwaiter, and to the north is a tiny closet. At the back of the room, the wall bulges as if allowing a stovepipe to pass through.These double doors are dusty and rough; it's clear they haven't been oiled in centuries. They swing open to reveal a large, opulent library. The place would be pitch black without the party's lamps and torches, since red velvet drapes cover the many windows that line the north wall. Against that wall and opposite the party is an exquisite mahogany desk and a matching high-back chair. There is another black marble fireplace here, and above it is 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, forming a small aisle, with a rolling ladder to allow one to more easily reach the high shelves.

With nerves running high it would be easy to pass by the less obvious servant's quarters for the opulent library. However, the one to give the most help to the party had been a servant so wisdom did not support ignoring those so often overlooked. Secrets were held by those watching but not allowed to speak.

"I'll cover the dumbwaiter if someone wants to slide it open. Just being overly cautious but I want to know it's empty before checking the footlockers. The ghost we spoke to didn't mention other staff so I wonder the identities of these two and the roll they played in the shenanigans of the house."

Narissa will nod to Drina and carful cross to the dumbwaiter. "Would you cover me as I check the closet too?"

Opening the door of the dumbwaiter reveals an empty shaft. The dumbwaiter is far below you, a wooden bucket attached to a rope-and-pulley system. There is a small button next to the door here, which probably rings a bell on the first floor. Narissa and Drina notice that someone small enough (a Small creature) might be able to squeeze into the shaft and fit snugly in the dumbwaiter itself.

Other than the dumbwaiter, there is nothing much of interest in this room. The beds are stuffed with straw; the footlockers are empty. The closet contains nothing but dusty, moth-eaten uniforms: a suit and a dress.

"Shall we make sure nothing uses this?" Drina points her thumb toward the dumbwaiter. "Will someone with a knife cut the rope?" Looking back over the room, Drina knocks on the wall to see if the ring of metal echos from behind the wall. "I don't feel like we could have been any more thorough but it seems this room is a bust. Unless someone disagrees, we should continue to the library."

"Aye, I can cut the rope with an arrow if you want. Yes, let's find that library!"

A greedy gleam appears in the dwarf's eyes as she takes out the arrow to cut the dumbwaiter rope.

Having had enough of waiting, Taniwha silently steps forward producing a blade from somewhere within the folds of his clothes. In the dull light there is a quick flash of steel as he cuts the rope while holding onto the bucket, making sure it does not fall into the darkness below.

Without even so much as a grunt he places the bucket onto the floor and starts moving towards the library.