The druid looked at the others and nodded. "Preston, Sylvy....let's finish upstairs here, then we can keep looking. Kerrek, Thay....take our new friend downstairs and see if you can find his stuff."

She looked at the two with a nod as the groups separated. Then she moved to the next room. "Preston...you want to lead the way?"

"Sure." With little or no chance of moving quietly, Preston simply steps up and opens the door to see what's inside.

Ned nods, and Thaylan and Kerrek join him, heading back to the stairway that leads to the ground level.

A moment later, Preston pushes open the next door to reveal another bedroom. This one has no furniture, but rubbish is scattered everywhere, and webs cover the walls and ceiling. From the doorway, you can see a glint of light in the fireplace from a small, highly reflective object.

See below. Door on the north wall, window on the south, fireplace on the west.

As the slightest and most nimble, Sylvy crept forward. As an unrepentant criminal, she headed straight for the shiny bit. Still, her eyes scanned the room  as she moved forward wary of traps and ambush.

Sereyna, scimitar in hand as her small friend.mived, looked around the room for signs of danger

Chief Pieros stepped into the single open door of the large structure. There was a small axe and a dagger in his belt, but they were more tools than weapons. Also, he didn't have any armor, but the fine-meshed bronze scales on his flesh shimmered slightly with arcane protection; at least when they caught moonlight at the right angle. He was tall and lanky, much less muscular than typical for his kind. His clothes were simple and smelled of the sea. They included breeches, shirt, vest and hat. Over his chest was a satchel on his back was a small pack. Sometimes the wind tugged at his clothes, both indoors and outside; as if he brought his own little breeze wherever he went. His left arm was missing from the shoulder and he had an impressive scar over his eye on that side.

"Kerrek?" Chief's voice was a smoldering rumble; a half-whisper, half-shout. "You there?" He looked at the corridors, stairs and gallery, not really expecting an answer.

I'll have cast Mage Armor before entering.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:23, Sat 06 Mar 2021.

Sereyna, her eyes on the room, heard the call for Kerrik from downstairs, and looked over her shoulder. Whoever it was knew Kerrek, so they were not the reason for the capture of the man or the disappearance of people.

She looked at Sylvy. "We have company....someone who knows Kerrek it appears." she looked at Preston, hoping he was on guard, then smiled, letting out a whistle.

Sylvy has taken about two short steps into the room when everyone hears the previously unknown voice call Kerrek's name.

Just a split-second later, a blood-curdling cry of agony echoes through the house. There is something vaguely familiar about it to everyone--as you've all heard Kerrek speak before. It's hard to be certain, but it sounds like him! It sinks into a strangled, almost gurgling moan and then is silent.

Preston, Sereyana, and Sylvy, it sounded as if it came from downstairs, not far from where the other strange voice just called out.

Chief is standing just inside the main entrance of the house. It sounds like the scream came from behind the wall to your immediate right.

Chief, there's an opening on the east wall of where you are that would seem to be the quickest route to the source of the scream. Upstairs crew, the sound obviously comes from downstairs.

What do you do?

Sereyna hears the call, and after telling sylvy to hurry, she heard the scream. "What in the...."

She looks at Preston and makes for the sound, a grim look on her face, hoping the others follow.

Preston tries to keep both ladies in sight, hoping Sylvy follows Sereyna.

Chief glanced in the other directions, but turned his focus to the left. It sounded like Kerrek, but the sound was terrible. The dragonborn moved for the opening. His one hand held up in front of himself in anticipation to what he'd find. In addition to the rumors of being haunted, the death of the local youth and his missing girlfriend was clearly an undisputed fact. Something bad was going on here, but Kerrek had always been able to handle himself in tough situations.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:35, Sat 06 Mar 2021.

Quick correction due to my own mental lapse: The opening Chief is headed toward is to his left not his right. My mistake!

See below for entry hall. "C" is for Chief. Others would be coming down the stairs that can be seen. Chief, the scream seemed to come from somewhere nearby behind the wall to the left.


This message was last edited by the GM at 21:27, Sat 06 Mar 2021.

Sylvy freezes and her eyes move around while her body remains motionless. She'd become quite adept at surveilling with just those orbs in her life. A new strange voice looking for a member of their little party and then that voice screams like it was dying. After a long, breathless pause, Sylvy looks to Sereyna and raises a questioning eyebrow, "We going to see what in the nine hells that was or beat feet?" As an almost afterthought, she included Preston in her questioning look.

"C'mon," says Preston quietly. "We can't let her go alone. That shiny thing can wait." He tilted his head in Sereyna's direction. Sylvy could tell that Preston wanted to see what the glint of light was, too, but not if leaving Sereyna alone meant he'd have to hear her scream like that. He started after Sereyna.

As Chief heads toward the opening in the west wall, he hears footsteps above, and a half-elf woman appears at the top of the stairs, with others clearly moving quickly behind her.

As Sereyna gets to the top of the stairs, she sees a one-armed dragonborn male heading for the opening in the west wall, which is in the general direction of the scream all heard that sounded like Kerrek.

Just then, everyone hears a man's voice cry out from the same direction as the scream. "What in the Nine Hells have you done!" the voice shouts. 

A second later, you all hear the loud sound of glass shattering from the same direction as you rush toward the source of the sounds.

Sereyna pauses for a slight moment, looking at the Dragonborn with curiosity. Normally she would have considered him an enemy, but the sound of Kerrek as well as the call from Ned - the man they rescued, was deeper on the house. The half elf, scimitar in hand, sprung forward down the stairs and ran towards the sound on light feet, born in the ocean

...she hoped the others were following

Chief Perios looked at the figures appearing on the second floor, giving them a nod. They didn't look hostile, but he was going to have to be ready for anything. It sounded like Kerrek was in trouble, so the dragonborn continued to move through the opening in the west, seeking out the source of the scream and the shouting as fast as he could.

Sylvy stood calmly around the corner. She trusted the one-armed dragonborn about as far as she could throw it. IT was a weedy thing, but she doubted she could get it far nonetheless. She let the other two take the lead of talking to the newcomer and focused on the newest voice. Pursing her lips until they paled to the complexion of the rest of her face, she edged toward the way it had come from.

She worried that the group that was supposed to be heading out did not sound like it had done anything of the sort.

There's no more screaming as Chief leads the way to the west, with the others just a few steps behind. The corridor to the west has doors on the north and south walls, as well as at the end. The door to the south, everyone's best guess at where the sounds came from, is open.

Chief looks in first and sees a room that looks like it was once a library, with bookshelves around the walls. Most of the shelves are broken, and in many places they come awy from the wall. The few shelves still intact are empty, but a pile of books rests in the southwest corner.

All of that barely registers, though, given what else in the room.

Kerrek lies face down in the center of the floor, a pool of crimson spreading out around him. He is not moving.

Another man stands with his back to the door, looking out a south-facing window, the glass of which has been shattered. He spins around at the sound of new arrivals and looks wide-eyed at Chief before seeing Sereyna behind him. Sereyna recognizes him as Ned, the man they freed. He has the dagger she gave him in hand, but there's no sign of blood on it.

"He's getting away!" Ned shouts. "He killed him!"

See below for general layout of the room and situation. K=Kerrek, N=Ned

Chief Pieros turned to the others. There was no time for politeness. His deep rumbling voice was strong and authorative, yet clearly marked by emotion. "You have a healer? Please help Kerrek, if you can. He is a friend." The dragonborn rushed to the window, to see if he could see anyone escaping. "Did you know the attacker?! Who was it?!"

He also made sure to check if the window had been broken inwards or out, just in case this was all some ruse by the man with the knife.

Sereyna looked at Kerrek and as the dragonborn spoke, she dropped to her knees, checking the mannfor signs of life. She wished the group had rested before entering....regaining her magic would have helped if anything could.

She looked at the dragonborn and nodded. "I have some skills as a healer but this may be beyond me. We have known Kerrek a short time, but he was a good man....I will do what I can."

She looked at Preston, then Ned. "Keep an eye in Ned. Sylvy....can you find some tracks? You...." she said looking at the dragonborn.  "Help the halfling...we will get to the bottom if this."

She looked over the man she traveled with, a little flustered, but tried to focus

<OOC: Sereyna rolled 9 using 1d20+2

Not the best of rolls, but I expect tbe roll is moot anyway. Worth a shot>

This message was last edited by the player at 21:53, Wed 10 Mar 2021.

The man--Ned--responds to Chief. "It was the other one with them!" He points to the Sereyna, Sylvy and Preston. "That Thaylan! Stabbed him right up and into the heart, then slashed his throat!" Ned sounds more than a little rattled.

Chief sees that indeed the window has broken outwards, as if something went through it with great force from the room. There's a narrow strip of land between the house and the edge of the cliff here, with the sea beyond. At a glance, nothing and no one else is in sight.

Sereyna rushes to help Kerrek, but quickly discovers that sudden, massive damage and acute blood loss has put him well beyond help from all but the most powerful of restorative magic. He is already dead.

Sereyna closed her eyes tightly and slammed her fist against the ground. "DAMNIT!" she said loudly, bending over and sighing. She sat up and their was a test in her eye as she looked at the others, shaking her head.

...he was beyond her aide.

She stood up, a grim look on her face, and with the blood still on her hand, she dragged a finger across one cheek, a smear of blood placing a line across her cheek.

"We will find him and get answers, but we came for a reason." She looked at Ned. "You need to get back to saltmarsh and told them what has happened. We will finish here and return... then find Thaylan and he will answer for this."

She looked at the dragonborn with sorrow in her eyes. "I am sorry for your friend....our friend. He was a good man, but we came here to find a missing girl and answers. Once this is done, you have my word that whoever did this will answer for it. You are welcome to help us, in fact your help would greatly help."

She looks at the other two, then the dragonborn again. "My name is Sereyna."

"This Thaylan was in your group?" The dragonborn decided not to rush after the assailant. It would be safer to work together with someone, instead of running into danger. He looked at Kerrek and shook his head, then turned to the others. "I am Pieros. They call me Chief. All my crewmates do, anyway, including Kerrek."

The shaking of his head, in disbelief of the brutality, changed direction and turned into a series of nods. "I'll help, of course. This man needs to be stopped. Answers must be found. This must surely be related to murdered and missing youths? I heard the stories."

Sylvy moved to the window to examine it and glanced outside to casually scan the ground for tracks of any sort.

Sylvy rolled 10 using 1d20+4.  perception.

After that, she returned to the center of the room and looked down calmly at Kerrick's body. She'd seen enough death in her life not to be too rattled by it. Still, the slowly growing pool of crimson was jarring enough. It was enough to send shivers of one's own mortality through you. She glanced at Ned then and pursed her lips.

Perhaps a life among criminals had made her too suspicious, "Yes, get yourself to Saltmarsh..."

She let her eyes slowly moved to Pieros then and grimaced. There was a lot of information here that was complicating the situation. Her fingers tightened on her crossbow and she stepped back suddenly as the pool of blood approached her feet. She looked to Sereyna and motioned for her to take the lead.