You open the other door at the end of the hallway and find stairs going up to the attic.  That would have been a long way to hear sobbing, and through a closed door.  Do you want to check upstairs or another door on this level.

Glum sighed... "I suppose we'd better go up there first."

   Following Glum's advice to "follow on to the end of the hallway then work backwards till we're outside" you move up the creaky stairs.  At a landing Talis opens the curtains on another moldy window, letting in a little more light.  The attic appears as decayed as the rest of the place, with mold seemingly everywhere in strangely unsettling patterns, ceilings that sag, plaster heaves, and timber rot.  The air has a pervasive smell of decaying wood and mold, the periodic groaning of the house’s joists reacting to unaccustomed movement within, give an air of ancient neglect.  Passing a door, you turn a corner, passing more doors you turn another corner and see the end of the hallway at the other side of the house ending in a window and 2 doors, left and right.  After Talis opens the curtain, (the window has a great view of the ocean and coast, or would if it wasn't so dirty) you check the doors.  There is nothing that differentiates them, so you randomly pick one and open it.  This door is wedged shut by dampness and rot, requiring a DC 14 Strength check to open and it takes someone a couple of tries to open.
    Although this chamber is cluttered, it seems to have remained undamaged, avoiding the decay and vandalism present in other rooms.  Shelves of books line the walls, interspaced with curious objects such as skulls fitted with stubs of candles, tribal fetishes, and decorative scroll cases. An empty birdcage lies near the southern wall beside a small desk and a fine leather chair. Statues and sculptures grin outward from all corners of the room.  There is a painting of a vast crowd that leers and cheers a bullfighter on, the huge bull aurochs towering
over him.
   Talis moves over and opens the curtain of the rooms single window, taking a moment to look outside.
Search?
[Private to Talis Revain: More ravens have arrived, but they're only birds and no threat to people.]
[Private to Tanrov: As you approach the room to peek inside, you hear the sound of pages rustling, as if a book were being read rapidly inside the room.  Looking inside you don't see anybody with a book, but then you "remember" dozens of memories of expeditions, sea voyages, and travels to exotic locales.  They race through his mind, remnants of "your" journeys before "you" settled down here in Varisia. As the memories build momentum, they become increasingly infused with a sense of bitter disappointment and regret, and "you" become increasingly aware that these are memories that never were, memories of fantastic discoveries "you" could have made had "you" not chosen to settle down with a shrill harpy of a wife.

The overwhelming sense of depression and loss cause you to lose 1 wis.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:58, Fri 02 July 2010.

Talis will search the room, "I find it interesting this room is significantly less decayed."

Glum had a nasty feeling about this room. Why was it not rotted.  He took two steps into the room and looked around at all the objects in the room and the layout of the room itself.  Could he be in the presence of a shrine to somethign evil, he wondered.

23:04, Today: Glum rolled 13 using 1d20+7. Know Religion (could this be a shrine).

"Hey Guys, I,m getting really depressed and lost right now.  I'm getting the feeling that there was someone up here just a few minutes ago or in the past looking through some books and memories of sea voyages and such if he hadn't settled down with a harpy of a wife.  In other words, guys one of the Foxglove men was in here."  "I don't think it was Aldern"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:20, Sun 04 July 2010.

   The oddments include several dozen curious tribal fetishes and masks, but the most impressive piece is an old painting of a bullfight. The painting bears a plaque that reads “Throwdown in Swynetown,” and in the painting, vast crowds leer and cheer the bullfighter on, the huge bull aurochs towering over him, its cruel forward-jutting horns each the length of a spear. Dozens of bodies lie in the streets—the aurochs has clearly rampaged through them already, and although a score of brightly colored spears jut from the creature’s flanks and back, it still rages on.  This painting is, in fact, an original work by renowned Magnimarian artist Andosalu and seems to have escaped major damage, easily worth several hundred gp.
   The initial assessment that the room was undamaged wasn't entirely correct.  The damage is subtle, mold and dampness are the major problems.  Analysis (the painting and books) indicates this room was used about 15 years ago, so it was probably used by Traver Foxglove, Aldern's father.  It does not appear to have been disturbed since that time (ie; Aldern has apparently not cleaned since he returned.)
   The books and Pathfinder Chronicles are mostly on tribal cultures and history (most of it local and relating to the Shoanti tribes), along with numerous maps of mysterious realms and ship charts. Closer examination reveals subtle mold damage so none of the books are particularly valuable. The scroll cases contain more maps, along with two arcane scrolls.  The spells appear fairly complex, 2nd or 3rd level spells, or maybe a simple 4th level.
   Other than the painting and scrolls, nothing else of value remains in the room, most of the curios are junk, probably with sentimental value to someone who died 16 (or so) years ago.
   Moving on to the right door, like the door on the left, it too has not been opened for many years.  After some effort, the door opens onto a storage room with 20 year old furniture and such.  The decay and mold is just as prevalent in this room as elsewhere.  Over in 1 corner a space has been cleared and there are a few dolls scattered around.  It looks like a pair of girls might have been playing house.  As Zer-wedula looks in the room, a sudden gasp of breath indicates another haunting.
[Private to Zer-wedula: When you see this room you hear the sounds of a child sobbing and suddenly becomes convinced that your parents are trying to kill each other, and that whichever of them survives will be coming to kill him next; you have a vision of your mother(red haired - not Iesha), wielding a torch, and his father(not Aldern), festering with tumors and wielding a long knife, both struggling to kill each other. The vision passes as fast as it occurs, but the mind-numbing terror of the sight causes you to loose 1 wis.]

"I don't like this place did I forget to mention this fact."  States Tanrov/Garth matter of factly.

Talis says with a shaky voice as he moves to open the curtains, "You can say that again Tanrov," wondering when he will be next.  He will search the room.

DM: Nothing else of interest or value in the room.  The furniture and toys used to be nice, again highlighting the fact that the Foxgloves are/were(?) rich.  But after 15 years of mold and decay...not worth moving.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:59, Mon 05 July 2010.

Zer-wedula puts his weapon away so he can look at the arcane scrolls.  He also clumsily clutches his wand of shocking grasp.

"There is something evil here, friends, and that is rarely found up where the sun can reach.  I think we must head down and down to see who or what lurks in the cellars."

DM: using Read Magic, Zer determines the spells are lightning bolt and keen edge, both at 5th caster level.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:46, Mon 05 July 2010.

Until a majority says, "do something else", I will continue to go room to room...so far Zer=head downstairs.  I should note, monster locations HAVE been changed.  Who knows who is where...

Still following Glums advice, the group goes to the next door, which Talis manages to open in 1 try.  A desk and a chair sit in the middle of this drafty room. Chimneys rise to the west, while to the east, two intricate stained-glass windows are set into the wall. The northern window depicts a dark-haired woman with pale skin, large green eyes, and a black-and-red gown; with both hands she wields a jagged iron staff. The southern window has been broken on its lower half and patched with canvas; what remains of its upper half depicts a handsome man dressed in regal finery and a crown of ivory and jade. Small scorch marks mar the wood near the broken window. A battered and ruined telescope lies on its side near the desk and a large trapdoor in the roof has been tied shut by several lengths of rope.
   These windows have no curtains, but do block the view of the beautiful ocean vista with stained glass.  You enter to make sure nothing and no one is hiding in this room.

[Private to Glum: Again, you notice the sudden stink of burning flesh.  What do you do?]

Cat goes over to Tanov, "None of us like it here, This place is ,... wrong on many accounts. But we really need to find out what Foxglove's connections to the murders and the undead are." She yells out, "Zer, get back here!"

Quickly searching the room, Talis responds to Zer, "Bottom, top, does it really matter, he could be anywhere, this is his home.  No wonder he went insane, living here though."  Talis will follow where the majority want to go.

Glum growls.  "I smell burning flesh", he says, brandishing his holy symbol.  "There is evil in this place".

"Since Zer is downstairs shouldn't we follow just so we don't have to fight a Zer-ghoul later." says Tanrov resignedly and brandishing his scimitar and shield.

DM: Zer is NOT downstairs, he wants to go down stairs instead of investigating the rooms as you go. 
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:27, Tue 06 July 2010.

Glum went toward the trapdoor, saying, "Perhaps more sunlight would help  Why has so much effort been made to keep this closed?"  He takes a look at how the trapdoor is secured, how many ropes, what sort of knots and so on.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:37, Tue 06 July 2010.

   The trapdoor in the roof could once be raised and lowered, exposing a slice of the sky for observation, but the pulley system has long since fallen apart. The trap door can now be opened only with brute Strength, and it looks pretty heavy and rusty. The broken telescope on the floor was once a magnificent piece of equipment but is now beyond repair.
[Private to Glum: You suddenly feel uncomfortably hot and believe you have  suddenly caught on fire, you can see and feel it all over you, and that the only way to put the flames out before you burn to death is to throw yourself through the unbroken window and, hopefully, into the sea below. The compulsion is so strong, only your strong will power and training allow your to overcome it.]
   Glum stops and starts to writhe in pain, as if his whole body was covered in something painful (and since he just mentioned burning), like he was on fire...but the rest of you see nothing.  He starts to take a step toward the window, but then a look of concentration comes over him and you can hear him repeating a mantra.  The event passes and Glum is once again in control of himself.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:35, Tue 06 July 2010.

Tanrov/Garth wonders out loud, "What would happen to this place if we just left and burnt this place down to the ground.  Would that work on the EVILNESS OF THIS PLACE."

Concerned, Talis says, "Well there's something keeping this place up and it doesn't look like the integrity of the walls.  I take it, there is more going here then meets the eye.  What did you see Glum?  We saw nothing."

He wants to continue searching room to room, we don't want to miss something.

"Room by room, and breath by breath we die," Zer-wedula mutters to himself.  He puts his equipment away and takes Willi out, slowly stroking the weasel as he follows the group.

"I was... am on fire." hissed Glum through gritted teeth.  "It wants me to jump out of the window".  He snarls and adds, "I suggest we go and come back with an army of priests to consecrate the whole damned area to good."

[Private to GM: Glum thinks, that if he got some warning, he could try to dispel the hauntings with a undead turnings/application of positive energy.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:16, Wed 07 July 2010.

So far it is still 2 votes for room-by-room, 1 vote for skipping

   Glum realizes, most clerics wouldn't stand a chance in this place (as most are lower level than you), and by the time you found and recruited a sufficent army, Aldern would have started another ghoul farm and more innocents would be dead.  Pressing on, the next room has a ceiling that angles down steeply, leaving only four feet of headroom to the southeast. A low cot and a dresser are the room’s only furnishings.  Probably a servants room.  You see a couple of rats (normal sized) scurry off into hiding.  At first glance you ignore them, but then...those rats didn't look right.  Their fur was patchy and there was too much skin.
   As you continue on, you see more rats and confirm your suspicions, the rats are very unhealthy.  The next 4 rooms are storage rooms containing old boxes of stuff, clothes (15-80 years out of date) and such.  At first glance with the general decay and mold around this place, you doubt if anything has survived to be of any value.  The last room (at the top of the stairs) contains a large number of planks of wood, rope, and other repair supplies. The ceiling above sags noticeably; in several areas patches of the sky above are visible. Dozens of ceramic urns and metal pots sit on the floor below to catch leaks, and are all full.  It looks like this room started to be repaired, but they stopped halfway into it.  Glancing out the front window, you see the ravens are still there.  There sure are alot of them.
Do you want to thoroughly search the attic storage rooms?

[Private to Catessa Fallowfield: You hear what sounds like a brief set of sobs coming from somewhere downstairs.  It's very faint, maybe it was the house settling.]
[Private to Talis Revain: You hear what sounds like a brief set of sobs coming from somewhere downstairs.  It's very faint, maybe it was the house settling.]
   Heading back to the 2nd floor, the stairs creak alarmingly...but hold.  You get to the next door, which takes a couple of tries to open, and see a washroom.  An iron tub sits in the middle of this room, the floorboards around it sagging with the tub’s weight.

What do you do here?

Cat pauses, looking about, "Good gods, now the sobbing is coming from down stairs." She starts to head on down, then stops. She walks to Glum, "I have a thought. I think the house is playing tricks on us. Making me hear sobbing and feel anger. Making you feel fire. Making Tanrov afraid. Is this possible?"

[Private to Glum: Easily possible with powerful enough magic.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:44, Wed 07 July 2010.

Talis looks at the storage rooms, "Nah, probably worth the time it would take.  Someone want to see if their is any magic?"

Looking out the window, "Hey Cat, is it normal for ravens to gather like that?  Wait, I too heard what sounds like sobs from downstairs."

Looking at the tub, "I don't like the way that floor is sagging, let me check it out?"  Search +8

DM: with help from Tanrov you determine the floor is on the edge of collapse, too much weight and...>boom<.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:46, Wed 07 July 2010.

Glum nodded to Cat... "Yeah, you could do that but it'd take some pretty powerful Juju.  This place is evil.  Let's get out, burn it down and then consecrate the place where it used to be."

DM: The place is obviously magical and evil, such places don't destroy as easy as "burn it down".  Besides, if you do that, do you have any confirmation that Aldern is here and would also be destroyed?
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:03, Thu 08 July 2010.