"No", Neide shook her head, "Not until we deal with the witch. We can't get ourselves attacked when reading books - or let her get away..."

Having said that, she put the book away and headed back to the corridor. Then, she tried checking the door on the right...

"All right," said Ondreya. "I'm holding onto this book, though..."

The room on the right side of the corridor was once a writing room or study. Against the wall under the windows is a large wooden writing desk, partially broken, and riddled with damp rot. The desk consists of a flat writing surface on top, with large pedestal-like cylinders on each end. There are three drawers in each pedestal and a large central drawer; the latter is closed, but the others are all open — two obviously broken open forcibly.

Neide looked around the room briefly.

"I... don't see anything of importance here", she said, turning to her friends, "Do you? Any traces of the witch..?"

The fact that they didn't encounter the witch... or anyone else... yet put her on edge. Something wasn't quite right...

"Not here... I can try to check that middle drawer of the desk, if you want, or we can move on..." said Aden. "It seems like she just... doesn't use the whole house... so as to encourage the idea that it's abandoned...? But then where does she live..."

"Yes, *where* does she live..?", Neide repeated after Aden thoughtfully.

Then, she looked at the middle drawer.

"You think it might be important?", she said. Maybe Aden did have a point here - why has this one drawer not been broken open?

Carefully, she opened the drawer and peeked inside.

It's locked.

Try to break in (busting the drawer)?

Let Aden try?
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:39, Wed 17 June 2020.

OOC: Let Neide break in! STR test?

01:40, Today: Neide rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,3.

As you break in, you hear a small noise like glass breaking...

The drawer contains nothing but valueless documents-- receipts for payments on the purchase
of various chemicals and laboratory equipment.

But there's a smell, a sort of spicy aroma...

A careful search of the cavity in which the central drawer fits reveals a small secret compartment. Inside, wrapped in cloth, is a now-broken glass phial which until recently contained a watery, rose-coloured liquid.

Oh well.

"Hm", Neide frowned, as she examined the broken vial. She wondered what the liquid inside had been...

"All right, let's move", she said to her friends. Then, she left the room and checked the final door in the corridor...

This is some sort of living room, with one or more windows on all three sides (one north, two west, two south). A door in the north wall leads onto a small paved patio, the paving now cracked and overrun with weeds. There is a fireplace on the west wall, between the windows, and a pile of refuse in the southeast corner-- otherwise, the room is bare of furnishings.
This message was last updated by the GM at 15:26, Thu 25 June 2020.

"No witch here, either...", Neide thought. But where *was* she?

She thought off the urge to just shout and challenge the witch to come out. Instead, she walked to the patio door and peeked outside, hoping to find any traces of the house's occupant.

About two-thirds of the way to the patio door, something happens.

A male voice-- seemingly just coming from the ceiling-- breaks the silence by loudly saying “Welcome, fools — welcome to your deaths!” followed by a prolonged burst of insane and fiendish laughter.

(Roll WIS, please...)

Upon hearing the voice, Neide immediately turned around to see what was happening...

01:57, Today: Neide rolled 10 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,4.  Wisdom.

Nothing is happening at all.

(GM rolls dice)

Except that Aden is running out of the room (by the door through which the party came).

Ondreya looks like she's about to panic, but can't quite decide between casting a lethal spell (at who? at what? the ceiling? It's not like anyone nor anything is attacking or anything!) and running (which exit, though?)

Kerran is like Neide: fine, just slightly startled...

Neide's eyes darted from her friends to the room, then back to her friends. What was going on here..?!?

"Hey!", she called out to them, "Did you hear that voice? What was it..?!?"

"Magic..." muttered Ondreya, shaking and shivering.

"We heard it," answered Kerran. "Perhaps witchcraft, perhaps not. Since nothing else bad seems to be happening, let's go after our witch-lore expert, shall we...?"

"... yes", Neide replied, taking a deep breath, "Let's find him. He shouldn't be alone in this place..."

She took another breath to compose herself, then headed back into the corridor. Where did Aden go, exactly?

Aden was crouching in the middle of that main entry hall, his sword drawn, shuddering, alternating between squeezing his eyes shut and glaring around him.

When he sees Neide, he furiously looks away in shame...

"Aden..?", Neide asked, concerned about her friend. He seemed... shaken to the core.

She kneeled down next to him.

"Aden... are you alright?", she asked again, putting her hand on his shoulder...

"...Stupid..." growled Aden. "...Stupid! It's magic... it's just magic! You think we in the Isles don't know about magic? That wasn't even witchcraft! Just some stupid wizard's spell or something... Subtle as a warhammer! But I wasn't... It caught me completely off-guard! Should... should have known better... Shouldn't have been so... Damn!"

"Don't beat yourself over it, Aden...", Neide said softly to her friend, "Whatever it was, it took all of by surprise. There's no shame in getting spooked by it..."

She squeezed his shoulder gently, trying to reassure him.

"Come... let's go and finish this once and for all"

"...I will continue... but... what's our next move...?"

"We keep searching the house", Neide replied, "There is a lot to this place we haven't checked yet..."

She stood up and offered a helping hand to Aden.

"Are you good?", she made sure, as she helped her friend up.

OOC: If everyone is fine, Neide will lead the group back to entrance hall and check the third corridor, the one leading east.

The corridor under the stairs (well, under the top landing of the stairs) has only two doors, both on the right.

Her sword in hand, Neide opened the first door on the right...