Prologue - Death House

Seeing as things appear to have calmed down -- at least, the fighting has stopped -- Abraham sheaths his blade. "The house is haunted. We've met one ghost for sure... and some of us suspect we've unfortunately met three. Work with us to get out of this place, will you? After we're all free, you can head wherever the winds take you, Narissa."

Returning to his seat, he adds, "Oh. I am Abraham by the way. Follower of Lathander."

Hesitantly Narissa nodds, "Alright. I suppose... or um, She nods to Abraham, "it's good to meet you. What do the rest of you call yourselves?"

Amalthea doesn't notice any sign of the wolves' passage. She does see that the room is now littered with dust and cobwebs—far from the cozy, inviting place it was before. The way the dust is settled on the wolves makes it seem like they were always in their new locations.

Thanks to Narissa's fire bolt, the fireplace blooms into crackling orange flame.

Holding up her hands to show they were empty, human woman then skirted the perimeter to stand before the welcome warmth of the fire. Never actually turning her back on Narissa, the ranger was no longer overtly hostile but definitely still cautious. "Drina the Green-eyed Witch." The enigmatic smile that accompanied the declaration left Narissa not knowing if the woman was serious or not.

"I hope you don't mind but we were catching our breath before going," Drina pointed toward the basement. "And that thing you did with the fire...can you do that like three more times?" Words didn't define the target but anyone following Drina's eyes would see her look pointingly at the wolves.

"You want me to set the stuffed wolves on fire?" Narissa is a bit confused but amenable.

At Narissa’s question the lean pale skinned Tiefling grunts,"Taniwha." Before pick up his pack and Spear. "And yourself?" He continues and he moves towards the locked cupboard against the wall. Don’t have thieves tools, prechance?"

"Sorry, I don't have any thieves tools on me at the moment." Looking around the room do I see anything that I could use as improvised thieves tools? Sewing needles and a letter opener or the like?

"Aye, sorry, if you didn't hear me before the scuffle, you may call me Amalthea. Thanks for the fire."

The dwarf steps over to the locked cupboard and pulls out her warhammer.

"Ey lad, if you still want this open, I can break it for you. Clearly the inhabitants do not need it anymore..."

Taniwha gives Amalthea a casual thumps up of approval to smashing the lock, while stepping away from any of the stuffed wolves spear at the ready.

Amalthea nods with approval as Taniwha prepares for unpleasant surprises from the wolves and smashes the lock with her warhammer.

Drina gritted her teeth as the newcomer announced her plans to the room at large. Of course, the ranger didn't know the extent that the wolves were sentient so speaking the words out loud to fireball the fur balls might not make a difference but it never hurt to error on the side of caution. Granted the second tiefling had not been attacked by suits of empty armor or actually witness the change in placement of the wolves but apparently Drina's speech had failed to convey the seriousness of their situation. "If the situation arises, I think it could be an effect move."

Ah...back to that damnable cabinet and the lock. But now knowing more of the history of the house, Drina thought it smart of her companions to focus on it. Anything the owners wanted to keep private would probably prove to be invaluable. The human watched the dwarf take a mighty swing expecting metal to twist and release.

Narissa sees nothing that can be used as improvised lockpicks, but that ceases to matter as Amalthea smashes the lock of the cabinet into two pieces of bent metal. Meanwhile, Narissa sets the wolves aflame. They char and melt into blackened lumps, the smell of burning hair and cotton filling the air.

Inside the now-unlocked cabinet are three crossbows hanging from the inside: a light, heavy, and hand crossbow. Each is well-oiled and glints in the firelight, and each comes with twenty bolts. As the party observes this, a sound like a door slamming open rings through the room. Really it's one of the wolves' glass eyes popping as it melts.

The reverberation from the loud pop was only Drina's heart racing before returning to normal rhythms. "That was loud but I think "they" know we are here so it doesn't matter. Now let's see what treasures were unlocked."

Sliding what was left of the mangled latch, green eyes sparkled with pleasure as the cabinet revealed three different crossbow designs. "Oh look, at these beauties. Not what I was expecting to find but nothing in this house is." Reaching for the light bow, the ranger takes stock of the balance before looking at her companions. "Do you mind if I claim this one?"

Amalthea shrugs and smiles as the ranger Drina claims a crossbow that would suit her.

"Aye, I'm happy for treasure meself. I have a crossbow so I'll only take one if the rest of you don't need it. Maybe we can find that library now for what Vasha told us about."

Amalthea then turns and babbles to Narissa about the ghost Vasha they met above and her warnings of monsters and the potential for spells in the "master's" library. She has already decided to trust the new tiefling after her willingness to burn up taxidermied wolves with only a simple request.

Well, Narissa sighs, the room I came to in was definitely a dinning room. Other than here and the hall where I ran into you lot I’ve not got any idea of the layout of this place. Glancing around the room they’re in for anyplace that seems like a good place to hide one’s valuables.

The breaking or removal of locks never fails to excite Taniwha, one of the few things in life that does current not that his dower expression showed it, the anticipation of what is to be discovered behind it. The only sign of his excitement being a slight lean towards the cabinet.

In his uninterested tones he says while pointing to the hand crossbow, "I have seen one of these before, and have a small idea on how they work." again little body language signs point to a real interest in the weapon, even a childish joy.

Reading people told her at least as much as the tea leaves, the green eyed woman used to foretell the future. With that skill Drina knew there was.... something off about Taniwha's seemingly disinterest in the bows. And then it hit her! Vai would play a similar game pretending to be disinterested in the very thing he wanted. "So you have some knowledge of how these work? If you could show me then I perhaps could take both and I would be a double threat." Drina tried to keep the smile from creeping onto her face as she teased the tiefling.

Needless to say, Narissa is too busy coming down from an adrenaline high to notice any small details right now.

The dower look if possible becomes even more so at Drina’s taunt, and his hand pauses unsure she is being serious. "Ah, best I handle it for now." he says forcing his hand forward and grabbing both crossbow and bolts. "I can show you later." he adds quietly as he turns checking the weapon over and sulking towards the door. "Shall we find this library."

Amalthea nods, eager to find this library after getting her second wind from the rest and treasure hunting on the first floor. She takes out her warhammer and shield and prepares for whatever they will meet on the second floor. "Let's not get knocked out again, eh Abraham?"