Prologue - Death House

Amalthea is a little surprised at the quickness of Taniwha's actions, but she shrugs and puts the arrow away. She takes a quick look into the bucket to see if there is anything inside or a clue about what lies in the basement.

The bucket is just that, and currently empty. Looking into the dark dumbwaiter shaft, one gets the impression that it leads down to a kitchen, but not to the basement. Drina's investigation reveals that there is a metal stovepipe behind the wall. This further supports the idea that the room below is a kitchen.

Narissa follows her fellow Tiefling into the next room. She wanders around the room to the left running her fingers her on the wall. Looking for hidden things. She gives her new companions a bit of space to do their own things but keeps an eye out.

Entering the library Taniwha’s eyes scanning the shadows for any dangers, being patient and moving until he was sure he had not missed anything. She had mentioned the presence of scrolls here, so there could be a trap or ever a guard upon his treasure.

He appeared to be very sloth like in action and His only sign of acknowledgment to his fellow travellers being a cough and a single sentence, "Narissa can you light the fire?"

Without hesitation Narissa sends a firebolt onto the fireplace with a small smile at Taniwha.

The bones of the library were solid covered in luxurious appointments that age could only dim but not extinguish. Back when the family had lived within these walls, this room would beckon as a place to catch up on personal correspondance written with elegant flourishes or to curl up in one of the overstuffed chairs sipping a steaming cup of tea sweetened with a touch of honey while pouring over a detective novel only to gasp as the killer was finally revealed. But, no. Scenes like that were for normal families and this family had been far from traditional. So, it did seem off that this room did not immediately show the family's darker side. What were they hiding in this slice of normalicity? "Tani, you know how you found the secret staircase? Maybe you should see if something similar is in here. Everything seems a bit too mudane. Even the picture doesn't have disturbing images." Walking by the bookcase, Drina's eyes scanned titles to anything that might seem of interest.

"I know everyone is wondering what could possibly be in the desk. Perhaps, Narissa should do the honors. If the inheritance is indeed a spell then she would be the one most likely to recognize it. Please, if you will," extending an arm toward the carved piece of furniture.

A little nervous, but trying to hide it, Narissa will aproch the desk as asked by Drina. 'I can be helpful. ' She will examine anything on top of the desk first, before moving on to the drawers. She keeps an eye out for traps but she's not completely sure what to look for.

Amalthea follows the lead of the others, getting drawn in to the books, thinking there might be a valuable tome or two to check out.

Narissa finds nothing suspicious about the left wall. She casts her spell and the fireplace crackles to life, filling the room with bright light. Meanwhile, Taniwha scans the floor and walls and finds no traps.

Drina and Amalthea investigate the bookshelves on the other side of the room. They hold treatises on all subjects: history, warfare, alchemy. There are even some thick volumes of poetry that look particularly expensive. The ranger notices an oddly stiff book that doesn't budge under her hand. She realizes it might be a secret lever.

As Narissa walks to the desk, the party notices some jerky movements that betray her nervousness. The desk has several items resting atop it: an oil lamp, a jar of ink, a quill pen, a tinderbox, and a letter kit. The kit includes a red wax candle, four blank sheets of parchment, and a wooden seal bearing a windmill crest.

If Narissa decides to open the desk (there are no traps), the only thing inside is a heavy, rusted iron key.

Narissa softly mutters the things she finds untill the key which she picks up, "Hey, a key." she holds it out. 'I wonder what is goes to.'

"A key? Interesting. It looks weighty so logic would dictate that what it unlocks should be of substance too but not necessarily obvious." Drina mentally ran through the rooms previously explored trying to remember any item that could have been a cleverly camouflaged container but nothing came to mind. "Bring it with us and we will find what it unlocks."

Knocking along the wall of the book case, Drina listened carefully for any sound that might indicate something less than a solid wall behind the wall of books. Lifting her light, the ranger carefully examines the floorboards to see if there had been any wear caused by a swinging door that was not obviously visible. "I found something too! I'm not sure what role this book plays but I think it's a lever of some kind. Does someone with more nimble fingers than me want to give it a try?"

Drina's careful search pays off once again! There are scratch marks on the floor that are probably from a certain stretch of bookshelf swinging outward. Knocking on that part of the bookcase reveals that there is empty space behind it, as if it conceals a doorway.

Taniwha’s approach had not revealed anything, libraries had always had a calming effect on the young man. A place of quiet self reflection and where the voices of others were silenced. Perhaps it had been the comfort of the tall selves or the smell of paper, but his normally perceptive self had struggled.

Disappointed with himself, Taniwha reluctantly moped over to Drina pulling his hooded coat back on to hide in the shadows once again. "What have you found?" he simply says, or grunts, as he rounds the corner at which she had call from. "Perhaps I can help?" quickly follows as those green eyes fall upon him in a voice that cracks.

Narissa pockets the key from the desk. She steps back in case anything untoward happens when her new friends open whatever secrets they've uncovered. Ready to defend herself and them if the need arises.

"Yes, yes please. I seem to have all the pieces to the puzzle but needing a bit of help putting it all together. The door is going to swing out here," Drina walks out the area she believes to be the area of the door. "But, I think, it is this book that triggers the panel. See if you can get it to work, Tani."

"And Amal, do you want to be the first to enter into the "secret" room?" No tea leaves were needed to read the dwarf's body language every time the possibility of a bit of loot was brought into the equation so the ranger thought it would be exactly where she would want to be.

The pale Tiefling steps up to the area indicated by Drina, pausing to go over his mind all the traps and doors he had encountered previously. He used the shadows of his hood to cover his nerves and used his old Master’s teachings to calm them, as best as he could.

"Levers and counter weights. Levers and counter weights." he starts whispering to himself as he looks over the bookshelf, slowly raising a hand to the indicated book.

Amalthea blushes a little at how obviously excited she has been looking around the library, but readies her shield for whatever might pop out and steps forward.

"Aye, of course I can take the lead lass."

Abraham stands ready for the door to open, uncertain of what may lie beyond.

After he doesn't find any traps, Taniwha pushes on the fake book. When it doesn't budge, he thinks about all the levers and switches he's seen in his life and realizes this one is probably just stuck from rust and age. Using that knowledge, all it takes for him to pop the lever free is to readjust his stance and try again.

Now that the book is free, a push slides it easily into the shelf. At the same time, the section of bookshelf at the east end of the room swings open to reveal a secret room. When Taniwha lets go of the book, the door swings back shut and becomes flush with the bookshelf again.

Drina claps the rogue on the back, "A clever one getting into places. Good job! But it looks like someone will be needed to watch over the lever. Seems a strange set up...I bet there is a way to open from the other side. Do you see this lord as being willing to be trapped for any length of time? I don't but having said that, I don't want to risk it either. Someone should stay out here guarding the library while keeping the door open. Probably two someones. Is anyone willing to stay with me?"