Chokahr nodded at Vyktor, chuckling at the idea that he might want to feed on his new companion - a dry, snorting laugh that sounded like the snarl of a wolverine.
"I'm not biting you, hunter. You smell of black powder. Don't like it. Tickles my mouth."

Reaching back to his backpack, the barbarian released his round wooden shield from the hook to which it was attacked and donned it on his left arm. Having then made sure his warhammer was ready to be drawn, he looked around the room again, sniffing. His fingers patted the hammer's head.
"This one, only for monsters, Jun Jia of Kara-Tur. Your fist better be real strong if we're up against the restless dead. Some stuff you don't want to touch with your bare hands."

OOC: 15:36, Today: Chokahr rolled 21 using 1d20+3.  General Perception check.
Anything of interest in that room?

With the introductions near at an end, Caedwen coughs (but was it out of annoyance or something else?) and then speaks, "Then it seems settled for now.  Join us, and fight with us to escape this dead place.  We could use your strength in this place, and it will be good to have one such as yourself by my side.  I feared to be caught here with naught but city-folk."

He turns and begins moving towards door 2, but turns at the last moment and says, "Be sure there is nothing of importance in this room, often it is the smallest of clues that warns you of the wolves."

The centerpiece of this wood-paneled dining room is a carved mahogany table surrounded by eight high-backed chairs with sculpted armrests and cushioned seats. A lit crystal chandelier hangs above the table, which is covered with resplendent silverware and crystalware polished to a dazzling shine. Mounted above the marble fireplace is a mahogany-framed painting of an alpine vale.

The wall paneling is carved with elegant images of deer among the trees.

Red silk drapes cover the windows, and a tapestry depicting hunting dogs and horse-mounted aristocrats chasing after a wolf hangs from an iron rod bolted to the south wall.

When Chokahr inspects the drapes, he sees that they match the carpet. Blood red. Dripping. Your feet are wet, your shoes are stained.

With a click of the tongue, Chokahr attempted to push the dripping drapes aside using his warhammer in order to get a peek outside the window.

"Such a waste of perfectly good blood" he said with a sigh. "Father and I used to make blood sausages in the summers after a great hunt, with herbs and mushrooms and good chunks of fat. You can keep it fresh for weeks if you smoke and dry it."

Far enough from the window to avoid seeing the copious amounts of blood, Caedwen licks his lips at the mention of blood sausage.  He was growing quite hungry.

CHOKAR:
The curtains part and you see yourself outside the window. Not a reflection. You stand in a flower garden with various flowers, none of which you know the name, and they are so pretty. You're wearing a pretty little skirt and have a pretty bow in your pretty braided hair.

You wave at yourself inside the house, then stoop down to pick up a pink flower and put it in your hair, then look back up at yourself to see if you like the way you look.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:24, Wed 03 Feb 2021.

Ceila looked over the decor cautiously.

"I fear wolves, in this place.  Perhaps the kind that walk on two legs," she said, with distaste.  Such things, unfortunately, often needed silver to hurt-- and she was hardly rich enough to carry a silver blade.

"...what's outside those curtains?" she asked.

“If we find the restless dead or any wolves-that-walk, I possess another skill that may discourage them.” Jia admired the craftsmanship of the chandelier and the table, if not the bloody theme of the paneling  art. “The art seems to convey the house’s hunger.” So much Red in the room.

“What do you want of us, House?” Jia addressed the dwelling directly. Obviously, It wanted them there. To what end?

Blinking, the tall lad took a slow step back from the window, letting the curtain fall back into place. He stood there an instant, staring blankly, then shivered and shook his head.

"Spirits are playing tricks on me," he growled. "There is a garden outside, though what dwells in it I do not know."

Chokahr let the warhammer slide back into the belt loop. He glanced over at Celia.
"I grew up among wolves. Wolves are only dangerous when they are hungry, or when a mother has pups. Man-wolves, now, that depends. Some you can trust, some not. As for silver... what's with the... things on the table?" he asked, pointing at the cutlery.

JUN JIA:
You cannot hear it, neither a voice nor a thought, but you feel the answer. "Go up."

“They are eating utensils,” Jun Jia said, leaning closer to Ceila. “We must go upstairs soon.” She stepped away, looking toward the window that beguiled the barbarian. “After I investigate the window. Let us learn what so fascinates the barbarian.” Jia walked toward the window, looking out to see the garden that Chokahr described.

Ceila considered.  This was fine dining-ware, wasn't it?  She wasn't inclined to theft... of late... but if those knives looked to be silver, it might save all of their lives.  She sheathed her sword and took a moment to grab any sharp, silver knives that she could see.

JUN JIA:
Looking through the window you only see inky Smokey darkness.

CELIA:
You can take 8 sets of salad forks, dinner forks, knives, spoons and tea spoons. Altogether the value should be around 40gp.

Jia shrugged. “Hmm. I see nothing but the darkness that claimed Druaccic. Whatever you saw was apparently meant for your eyes alone,” Jia said to Chokahr.

She returned to the table. Eyeing the handfuls of dining-ware going into Ceila’s bag, she arched a slender eyebrow. “Do you have a sufficient bounty, Ceila?”

"I hope so," she said, and she began handing out the sharp silver she'd been able to gather.

"There may be wolf-changers here," she explained.  "Silver can harm them, when warhammers and swords and blows cannot.  Best we be prepared."

And if they weren't needed now, why, they might well be in the future.  Denying oneself a weapon one might need was pointless.

Jia accepted a silver knife with a grateful nod. “Your thoughtfulness is appreciated.” Jia also decided that she respected the woman even more for thinking ahead that way, and thinking of her companions. She tested the grip of the knife. “Will Silver also harm the shadows?”
This message was last edited by the player at 22:22, Wed 03 Feb 2021.

Ceila looked dubious.

"Not that I've heard," she said.  "Such things are unpleasant threats, able to kill many before they know it happened.  I hope they don't lair here."

"I have seen no evidence of the walking dead yet.  And to that end, I have found that fire often cleans the dead as well as it does the living."  The ball of flame in his hands dances from hand to hand, his eyes contemplating the truth of the fire.  "I worry that you might be putting too much faith in such implements.  The forks may be silver, but I defy you to penetrate the flesh of any true beast with them."

Caedwen’s Fire cantrip would come in handy under such circumstances. His incessant contrarianism wouldn’t. Jia answered the Druid with a mild weariness in her voice. “If the creature in question possesses a weakness to silver, then the weapon should penetrate with sufficient force behind it.”

She walked toward the dining room entrance. “What was Strahd, if not the walking dead? We have already met ghosts, too. Skepticism is healthy, even helpful. Willful disagreement is not.”

"I should have been more clear.  I have seen no evidence of the dead within these walls.  Only hungry woodsmen."  Caedwen points with his chin at the newcomer.  "If we are to arm ourselves for every possibility, we will run out of pockets and time.  We would be best served discovering what it is we face here."

“Then we must go upstairs soon. I cannot say how I know, but I know with certainty that what we seek lies there.” She pocketed the silver knife, and added, “I only travel with what I can carry. Should we encounter a fiend vulnerable to silver, I expect that I will lighten my burden.”

Ceila rolled her eyes at Caedwen.

"We fight with knives, not forks," she said.  "Obviously.  And you may not see a wolf yet, but in a land as accursed as this, far better to be ready.  I can strike with holy power, but nevertheless, a silver blade might save my life."

Having cautiously retreated from the window, Chokahr spent a moment inspecting the deer motifs on the wall panels. Now that was something he would have loved to put his teeth on. The  chatter of his companions annoyed him. It reminded him of whelps fighting for status, baring their teeth and yelping. Now probably wasn't the best time for such games.

"All beasts die when you splatter their brain on the ground or burn them to a crisp," he growled, tapping his hammer. "I want out of here. Who knows the way?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:11, Thu 04 Feb 2021.

Having felt the room growing restless you return to the hallway. There are two more doors on the north wall and a single door on the south wall. There are stairs spiraling up.

Vyktor palmed one of the silver knives and it disappeared somewhere beneath the blood-red cloak he wore draped over one shoulder as if concealing that half of his body. As the others continued the discussion, he approached the next door on the north wall and opened it with little ceremony.

"I'm sure we'll go up eventually, but I'd rather not leave an enemy behind us..." he called quietly over his shoulder to the group, "nor an ally for that matter."

"Caedwen, a little light here if you would?"