Brant shrugs.
"All this pussyfooting around might be for nothing. Front door approach seems as good as any."
He draws his sword and stands ready at one side of the door.

Wordlessly, Trevion takes a firm grip on his halberd and assumes a position on the opposite side of the entrance from Brandt.

With the size of the courtyard and the low-lying fog, Cassandra is soon frustrated in her effort to find an askew stone. She could spend the better part of the afternoon looking without discovering one concealing a cache, assuming there were a cache to conceal.

Beyond the twin statues guarding the path leading to the gravel-paved courtyard, a dire warning greets the former riders of the Night Coach: Three moldering corpses slump against the wall by the gated entrance, possibly former heroes as they still bear rusty arms and wear torn and rotten leather capes, with corroded armor underneath. Before you can even arrest your approach to them (or bolt forward were that your inclination), the statue to the west erupts in triumphant laughter. The corpses jerk upward, take a few stumbling steps forward and fall down, lifeless once more.

The arched gates open with a sigh, exhaling staleness and corruption to reveal the first of Tegel Manor’s rooms.

                                                                          ~~~

                                        ???
                                         |
 2 Trees + 2 Statues --- Courtyard ---  Manor Entrance ---  ???
                                         |
                                        ???
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:28, Mon 30 May 2022.

Ereth smiles in admiration of the warriors, Brant and Trevion, as he falls back to the rear of the party and stands ready for anything.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:10, Mon 30 May 2022.

Ornwin looks very disappointed. He says sadly "Even an axe of best dwarven steel cannot cut stone."

Ereth turns to his dwarven companion and offers up a word of encouragement. "Methinks there's more than stone inside the walls of this manor, and your axe gives me great comfort, Ornwin of the House of Unwin."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:13, Mon 30 May 2022.

Ornwin replies more cheerfully, "Aye, give me a foe whose flesh I can cut, and I shall do so right gladly."

"So.... uh, we still going in?"

“Yes. I guess. It’s why we’re here. Seems we have been invited in. For good or ill.”

“Brant, if you can see well enough, you and Trevion can lead the way in, followed by Ornwin, Ereth, then me. Otis, can you watch our (my) backside in case those corpses decide to rise again?”

“Let’s roll!”
This message was last edited by the player at 14:41, Mon 30 May 2022.

Otis responds to Cass's request with a smile and a nod.

Brant peers in. If it's too dark to see, he'll light a torch and carry it with his left hand and wield his sword with his right.

Orwin clomps through the opened gate and into what could only be the master foyer:

Six thick, sturdy stone columns support a high, vaulted ceiling. Small holes in the roof above let in beams of light, the rays falling on dust, hardened guano, and the bare stones of the tiled floor. Ten portraits hang on the walls, each covered by thin, wispy cobwebs. Underneath them lies a comfortable seating arrangement ready to accommodate anyone and then fall apart immediately in a shower of sawdust and moldy fabric.

Before the lead dwarf has scarcely take five steps into the foyer, he is greeted by a spectral man, manifesting before him. His dark dress clothing and white gloves, admittedly diaphanous, make him out to be a venerable servant of the manor.  He spends a moment in contemplation of the guests and then, after introducing himself as "Butler Bertalan," requests in a mellifluous baritone "your cloaks, dear sirs and madams," adding after another pause, "if you would."

He then coughs politely, awaiting your decision.


This message was last edited by the GM at 16:06, Mon 30 May 2022.

Brant hands over his cloak to the translucent butler, interested to see what happens.

Having no cloak to offer, Ereth remains in the back of the group, carefully observing the unfolding scene, and scanning the ceiling for bats.

Possessing no cloak,, Trevion watches the spirit’s interaction with Brandt warily. The young soldier is genuinely curious about the portraits that adorn the neglected hall, but caution leads him to focus on the specter first.

OOC: Detect Evil on the phantom butler.

Cass takes off her cloak and tucks it into her backpack.

She addresses the phantom butler: “Thank you for the offer, but I keep this with me. It doubles as a blanket and pillow. And I get cold easily.  But, thank you!” She smiles warmly at the well-meaning butler.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:11, Tue 31 May 2022.

In reply to The Host (msg # 27):

Ornwin looks doubtfully at the butler, but finally removes his hooded cloak cautiously and hands it over. He remarks: "Dwarven cloaks are precious; pray guard it with your life or expect to lose the latter."

The butler shakes his head with the world-weariness of one who has countenanced the whims of his masters and mistresses for generations.

"My, my, how times have changed. The thought that a lady would sleep on a cloak that has been outside and not on goose-down feathers. Well, that thought's just beyond me," with one of them being that a nobleperson would travel without a cloak.

"As are so many others," he adds with what might be humility or might be irony.

Graciously, Bertalan then accepts the proffered cloaks from Brant, Otis, and Ornwin and grasps them ephemerally before they fall through his incorporeal hands and flutter to the floor, finally nesting in a pile, thankfully none too fresh, of bat guano.

As for Orwin's threat, he betrays no notice, having been trained to ignore all such manner of effrontery from the Rumps and their guests. Nay, not even trained -- it's in the blood that used to run through his veins.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:57, Tue 31 May 2022.

Otis's cloak also goes in his backpack but without comment. He cranes his neck at several of the portraits, "Who and when were these folks?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:28, Wed 01 June 2022.

Brant scows at the fallen cloaks, picking them up and returning them to their rightful owners.

Ornwin scowls deeply to see his cloak land on or near bat guano, but he restrains himself and manages a polite smile to Brant, saying "Thank you for retrieving my valued cloak."  He examines it for any stains of filth, and after doing what he can to clean it, puts it carefully on his head and shoulders again.

Seeing no bats above, Ereth shifts his attention to the portraits as well. He moves behind and to the side of Otis, examining each one carefully, but keeping his distance from the wall.

OOC: Can't speak for Otis, but I suppose it makes sense to work our way from 40 to 49 sequentially, unless there's a more logical order based on where they are situated.

Otis and Ereth start examining the 1st portrait to our left (#40), with the intention of making their way around the room in order.  Cass will hang back and re-asks Otis’ previous question to the butler, and pointing first at the portrait #40 being examined by Ereth and Otis: “Could you tell us about each person in these portraits?”

With an unspoken nod to the rest of the group, she encourages 1 or 2 of the fighters to join Ereth and Otis and at least one other to hang back with her to talk to the butler and keep an eye out for any other activity (from the entrance, further ahead in the foyer, from the columns themselves, or from the lofted ceiling above).

While the others survey the paintings, Brant attempts to walk through the butler. Not aggressively, but just to see what happens.

No matter how many times Brant attempts to fuse with the butler, he nimbly wafts to the side, having had lifetimes of pirouetting between one souse or another.

"Dear sir," he admonishes Brant, "might I offer you a cup of our darkest coffee for your next libation?"

When Ereth and Otis embark upon their tour of the family portraits in the master foyer, Bertalan drifts over to join them, not having waited to hear Brant's answer. They scrutinize the elephantine visage before them, with its prominent proboscis and droopy ears.

"Master Rushrat," the specter says as if announcing his arrival.

The sounds of drums reverberates through out the foyer, steady and insistent.

Rushrat's ears prick up and his schnoz starts to bob to the rhythm. He fixes his eyes upon the two living viewers and sings:

First day in August
Last rain was in May
When the Rushrat came to Tegel
In the middle of a dusty day

The Rushrat said to the village
"Tell me what you are prepared to pay"
The Rushrat said to the village
"Well, I'll conjure up a rain today"

Called down the lightnin'
By a mystical name
Then the Rushrat called on the thunder
And suddenly it began to rain

...on the cloakless Ereth and just decloaked Otis, miniature rainclouds floating above them and drenching them with great spattering drops!

Standing outside of the rain, Bertalan produces, "Rushrat didn't care to make things grow; he just like to make them sopping wet."