Faolan's response is a very slight pressure against Dmitri's hand and, before he turns to lead the way, a sad smile.
The party continues out of the library and up the stairs to the third floor; Faolan takes the lead with Dmitri behind him.
At the top of the stairs, the party arrives at a dusty balcony. Against the far wall is another suit of armor like those below, though this one is draped in cobwebs.
Oil lamps are mounted on the oak-paneled walls; these, too, have carvings of woodland scenes of trees, falling leaves, and small animals.
Faolan, seeing the wolf-helmed armor, averts his eyes and pulls Dima hurriedly past it; these representations of wolves and hunters of wolves are beginning to honestly frighten him.
<.>
When was the last time anyone passed through these halls.
(A question echoing in-kind, half-grasped: When was the last time anyone truly lived here?)
Dima feels these questions, though his attention is currently caught upon Faolan's hurry; the way he once more seems averse to the armor. Dima doesn't stall his progress. He will, however, pause to examine the wood paneling currently nearest to him, setting a hand to Faolan's arm to signal that he's pausing, just for a moment.
[ You needn't look at the armor, Faolan. You needn't look at anything. We'll get through this; I promise you. ]
Dima leans in to study the panel's details.
<.>
Examining the wood panel, Dima will discover corpses hanging from the trees.
[PERC, d: 17]
While examining the grove with its 'strange fruit', Dima finds the outline of a hidden door in the wall.
Sen is preoccupied with thinking perhaps there are more secret doors in this house, or treasures to be found - it's a good distraction from the threat of unease (fear) running through him. He sees the boy and his tag-along heading to the right, so he suggests to Rin perhaps they ought to go the other way and see what there is. They're within earshot, mostly, and splitting up will allow them to cover more ground.
If Rin is amenable, Sen is going to head in the opposite direction, towards the double doors at the north end of the balcony.
<.>
Rin is amenable, and joins Sen at the double doors. They're going to motion for Sen to join them in another round of 'listen for sounds from the other side' and try to check for signs of movement through any keyhole or gap beneath the door. They'd also like to examine the handle, just in case anything seems rigged. They don't want Sen stuck in another skeleton trap!
Dima points out the outline to Faolan immediately, gesturing toward it and Messaging, [ Do you see it? ]
<.>
Rin's inspection turns up nothing of note; there's no noise and there are no traps. Peering through the keyhole, they see no movement.
Faolan cocks his head and nods slowly, then places his hand against the wall to see if it moves; it swings open inward easily to reveal a dusty, cobwebbed set of stairs leading up.
He peers in and up, then withdraws and says, [ Let's see if there's anything down here first. No one's climbed those steps in years. ]
<.>
Dima could admire the morbidity of details in this paneling if he didn't feel so uneasy; if he wasn't so aware of Faolan's dis-ease. (And, yes, if he wasn't still irked by those nonsense 'necromancy' tomes.) Better now, anyway, to focus on this door, and the itch he feels looking up the stairs, knowing both foreboding and a desire to see, to find, to know what's up there. (Something, something— There must be an answer to all of this.)
For now, he nods. [ That's wisest, yes. ]
And, looking at the nearest door, he'll move to push it open.
<.>
The doors open to reveal a bedroom suite with two sets of doors along the west wall. The bedroom contains a large bed, two end tables, and a wardrobe. Mounted on the wall is a full-length mirror with an ornate wooden frame carved to look like ivy and berries.
Sen and Rin, upon entering the opposite room, find an elegantly appointed master suite. It is furnished with a four-poster bed draped with tattered curtains, a vanity with a wood-framed mirror and jewelry box, a matching pair of wardrobes, and a padded chair. A rotting tiger-skin rug lies on the floor and above the fireplace is a dust-covered portrait of the Dursts. In the corner is a web-filled parlor with a table and two chairs. The doors lead to a dust-choked closet and a balcony.
<.>
Rin pulls a 'yikes' face and kicks the tiger-skin rug, catching an edge on their toe and gesturing to Sen: pointing their fingers toward Sen's head, opening and closing their fingers in imitation of a talking mouth, then pointing at their own head; they'd like him to start a Message so they can speak without sound.
Rin's going to see whether the rug is just a rug or perhaps a convenient cover for something. They're also going to take a look at themself in the mirror, because it's never a bad time to check yourself out— And if there's nothing to see with the tiger, they'd like to rummage through that vanity. Might be something worth taking!
<.>
Inspection of the vanity turns up a silver jewelry box with gold filigree. Inside are three gold rings and a thin platinum necklace with a topaz pendant.
Sen comments at best guess, the total worth of the thing is about 850 gp.
Faolan, seeing nothing of note after a quick visual sweep of the room, begins opening the doors; he gives Dmitri's hand a tug and is just about to say that the room is the nursery he's been looking for.
Roll for initiative.
Okay; Rin is first up. They can hear the clanking of armor as it moves along the balcony towards the master suite.
<.>
Rin would like to begin by scooping the jewelry box into the bag of holding, because like fuck are they going to leave that behind. They'll then move up to the edge of the door; looks like somewhere between 10 and 15 ft? They'll try to keep against the wall and stick to any shadows they can find.
[STEALTH r: 22 s: 10 ]
<.>
Sen rolled a 10, beating the passive perception by a hair. Both he and Rin fall back into shadow.
Back to the other battle: As soon as Faolan opens the door, a Spectral woman begins to materialize; she is skeletally thin and young, and as she shrieks as she floats toward Fae.
Dima, you're up. You're also behind Fae at this point.
<.>
Dima's going to pull Fae's hand (gentle quick but firm little tug), with the intention of taking the space Fae initially occupied.
<.>
Faolan, dumbfounded, moves aside and immediately regrets that choice.
<.>
Dima, having taken Fae’s spot, casts Burning Hands for 9 damage. The spectre takes 4 points of that damage.
[q: It looks like there are no windows in the nursery; were there any in the bedroom?
a: There are, in fact. The door to the balcony has glass inset, and there are windows on either side of the bed. And the nursery itself has one window.
q: Is the nursery window curtained or uncurtained?
a: No curtains.
q: Did anything in the nursery catch fire?
a: Nope.
note: The only thing in the nursery that Dima can see is a cradle, and it’s just out of range. The windows are shuttered from the outside. ]
Dima is going to try to run past the specter, over to the cradle on the end by the window.
<.>
As Dima runs right through the specter. He takes no damage, but the specter takes 5 points, itself.
The specter's attention is now on Dima, who is much too close to the cradle for its taste. It turns and flies at him with a wail. The attack misses.
Faolan is going to close the distance between himself and the specter as he draws his scimitar and try to slash the entity across its back. Hits for 4 damage, reduced to 2.
Faolan is going to shout "A LITTLE HELP IN HERE!"
During this time, the suit of armor, unable to detect the owls, has begun to return to its original spot.
<.>
Stealthed Rin begins moving toward the nursery.
Dima would like to look into the cradle while drawing his dagger pls and thank you.
[note: Upon looking into the cradle, he will see a tightly-wrapped, baby-sized bundle lying there.]
Dima's going to pick up the bundle. (And everyone thank Fae for his presence bc if that boy were not there Dima would've gone instastabby.)
<.>
Picking up the bundle, Dima will find it's empty.
Just a blanket.
However, Faolan saw Dima. Pick up a bundle of maybe baby while holding a dagger.
<.>
Dima, holding the bundle, is about to shout something at the ghost when he catches Faolan's expression, and forgets entirely that he was about to speak, that there's a haunted goddamn house around, and that there's an actual goddamn specter beside him.
Dima ends his turn staring at Faolan, slowly, slowly realizing he may have erred.
<.>
The specter turns on Faolan and attempts to grasp him by the head.
Faolan's attention is on Dima and so he fails to move out of the way in time; the specter grasps him, doing 4 points of necrotic damage.
And Faolan just barely passes a constitution saving throw at 11, which brings us to his turn.
Faolan feels life literally draining from him and manages to break free, gasping. He isn't going to think at all about what he just saw. (Or the look of horror Dima is giving him.) He's going to kill this fucking - thing.
He summons a vine-like whip into his hand and attempts to bring it down on the specter. That hits at 20, for 4 points of piercing damage.
And holding the whip, he backs up, attempting to draw the specter away from Dmitri.
Sen and Rin move toward the nursery. The suit of armor likewise begins to move in that direction, but is clearly much slower than the owls.
<.>
Dima is going to let the blanket unfurl and, waving it at the ghost, declare in his most Authoritative Voice, "There's nothing here. Your child isn't here.”
If that doesn't take his full action, he's going for the ghost with the dagger.
[note: She doesn't seem to hear him at all.]
Dima is all his glory rolls a crit fail for that attack.
<.>
Dima misses; the momentum of his miss takes him lurching forward; he passes through the specter again, falling almost directly into Faolan's arms.
And the specter takes another 5 points of damage.
As this is the second pass through the specter - Dima, make a constitution saving throw.
[CON: nat 1]
Dima feels a sensation like part of his life force has been sapped from him entirely. Until his next long rest, his hit point max is reduced by 1.
The specter turns on the pair and attempts to reach for Dima. And misses.
Faolan is up; he drops Dima, sort of depositing him to one side to free up his hands, and he's going to make another Thorn Whip attack. Just BARELY hitting at 13. And squarely hitting the specter with a crack of the vine for six points of damage.
The specter wails, the sound echoing as it vanishes.
Right as the owls join them, the group hears the approach of clanking armor.
Faolan turns, panting and pale, to Dima and - for a moment, hesitates.
Then offers his hand to help him up.
His expression says there's going to be a conversation later, but right now, he's going to keep protecting the man.
<.>
Dima holds Faolan's gaze, for a moment moving no more than to nod slowly: [ Yes. ]
Yes, he understands; doesn't yet see the full meaning of what he did or what Faolan saw, but knows he erred in that fight.
Yes, he sees Faolan's aid, and yes, he's appreciative of it (and of the man).
Dima takes Faolan's hand, and will rise, leaving the blanket on the floor.
The Message is more an offer than necessity; the 'yes' could be read in Dima's expression and assent, but if Faolan wishes to speak, he now has the passage.
<.>
Faolan hears the approaching clanking and hears another message aimed for him: [ Time to go, Gents. ]
For a moment, he ignores Sen; there might not BE a later, or time enough to have that conversation, and Dima did cast his spell.
His hand tightens on Dmitri's and Faolan pulls it close to his chest, he ducks his head a little to meet eye-to-eye, ensuring the other man understands what's happening here.
He doesn't know for sure what Dmitri meant to do with that dagger and what might have been an infant, but he knows how it looked, and he knows the moment of panic he saw in the man's eyes when he realized Faolan was watching.
[ Never again. Swear that to me, right now. ]
There's no 'or else'. No ultimatum. Just a soft, firm demand.
<.>
He doesn't know what he meant to do.
(That isn't true. Dima was going to run the dagger through whatever he found in that cradle. It was a hunch; it was an educated calculation.
It also wasn't built on evidence. It also could have gone very, very wrong.
What in fuck was he thinking.)
There's an impulse to look away; to stray from what must be disappointment in Faolan's eyes, but Dima keeps his eyes locked, curling his hand within Faolan's. There's a sideways twitch of his lip, stray signal of the concern he's trying to keep muffled, and he nods once, small and a little wavered, but certain.
[ Never again. I swear it: Never, never again. ]
<.>
Faolan regards him a moment, then nods slowly. He doesn't smile or speak, but there's a slight - very slight - squeeze of his hand.
He believes it. (He believes when this man swears a vow.) (He won't think about that.)
Sen, meanwhile, truly doesn't care to fight an animated suit of armor, and spends their precious little time searching the room for a quick exit. The drop from the house isn't viable, but a sweep of the room reveals a hidden door behind the mirror which opens onto the selfsame stairs revealed by the door on the landing.
With a pointed look, he waves the others toward the door; whatever's up the stairs has to be better than whatever's coming for them.
no subject
The party continues out of the library and up the stairs to the third floor; Faolan takes the lead with Dmitri behind him.
At the top of the stairs, the party arrives at a dusty balcony. Against the far wall is another suit of armor like those below, though this one is draped in cobwebs.
Oil lamps are mounted on the oak-paneled walls; these, too, have carvings of woodland scenes of trees, falling leaves, and small animals.
Faolan, seeing the wolf-helmed armor, averts his eyes and pulls Dima hurriedly past it; these representations of wolves and hunters of wolves are beginning to honestly frighten him.
<.>
When was the last time anyone passed through these halls.
(A question echoing in-kind, half-grasped: When was the last time anyone truly lived here?)
Dima feels these questions, though his attention is currently caught upon Faolan's hurry; the way he once more seems averse to the armor. Dima doesn't stall his progress. He will, however, pause to examine the wood paneling currently nearest to him, setting a hand to Faolan's arm to signal that he's pausing, just for a moment.
[ You needn't look at the armor, Faolan. You needn't look at anything. We'll get through this; I promise you. ]
Dima leans in to study the panel's details.
<.>
Examining the wood panel, Dima will discover corpses hanging from the trees.
[PERC, d: 17]
While examining the grove with its 'strange fruit', Dima finds the outline of a hidden door in the wall.
Sen is preoccupied with thinking perhaps there are more secret doors in this house, or treasures to be found - it's a good distraction from the threat of unease (fear) running through him. He sees the boy and his tag-along heading to the right, so he suggests to Rin perhaps they ought to go the other way and see what there is. They're within earshot, mostly, and splitting up will allow them to cover more ground.
If Rin is amenable, Sen is going to head in the opposite direction, towards the double doors at the north end of the balcony.
<.>
Rin is amenable, and joins Sen at the double doors. They're going to motion for Sen to join them in another round of 'listen for sounds from the other side' and try to check for signs of movement through any keyhole or gap beneath the door. They'd also like to examine the handle, just in case anything seems rigged. They don't want Sen stuck in another skeleton trap!
Dima points out the outline to Faolan immediately, gesturing toward it and Messaging, [ Do you see it? ]
<.>
Rin's inspection turns up nothing of note; there's no noise and there are no traps. Peering through the keyhole, they see no movement.
Faolan cocks his head and nods slowly, then places his hand against the wall to see if it moves; it swings open inward easily to reveal a dusty, cobwebbed set of stairs leading up.
He peers in and up, then withdraws and says, [ Let's see if there's anything down here first. No one's climbed those steps in years. ]
<.>
Dima could admire the morbidity of details in this paneling if he didn't feel so uneasy; if he wasn't so aware of Faolan's dis-ease. (And, yes, if he wasn't still irked by those nonsense 'necromancy' tomes.) Better now, anyway, to focus on this door, and the itch he feels looking up the stairs, knowing both foreboding and a desire to see, to find, to know what's up there. (Something, something— There must be an answer to all of this.)
For now, he nods. [ That's wisest, yes. ]
And, looking at the nearest door, he'll move to push it open.
<.>
The doors open to reveal a bedroom suite with two sets of doors along the west wall. The bedroom contains a large bed, two end tables, and a wardrobe. Mounted on the wall is a full-length mirror with an ornate wooden frame carved to look like ivy and berries.
Sen and Rin, upon entering the opposite room, find an elegantly appointed master suite. It is furnished with a four-poster bed draped with tattered curtains, a vanity with a wood-framed mirror and jewelry box, a matching pair of wardrobes, and a padded chair. A rotting tiger-skin rug lies on the floor and above the fireplace is a dust-covered portrait of the Dursts. In the corner is a web-filled parlor with a table and two chairs. The doors lead to a dust-choked closet and a balcony.
<.>
Rin pulls a 'yikes' face and kicks the tiger-skin rug, catching an edge on their toe and gesturing to Sen: pointing their fingers toward Sen's head, opening and closing their fingers in imitation of a talking mouth, then pointing at their own head; they'd like him to start a Message so they can speak without sound.
Rin's going to see whether the rug is just a rug or perhaps a convenient cover for something. They're also going to take a look at themself in the mirror, because it's never a bad time to check yourself out— And if there's nothing to see with the tiger, they'd like to rummage through that vanity. Might be something worth taking!
<.>
Inspection of the vanity turns up a silver jewelry box with gold filigree. Inside are three gold rings and a thin platinum necklace with a topaz pendant.
Sen comments at best guess, the total worth of the thing is about 850 gp.
Faolan, seeing nothing of note after a quick visual sweep of the room, begins opening the doors; he gives Dmitri's hand a tug and is just about to say that the room is the nursery he's been looking for.
Roll for initiative.
Okay; Rin is first up. They can hear the clanking of armor as it moves along the balcony towards the master suite.
<.>
Rin would like to begin by scooping the jewelry box into the bag of holding, because like fuck are they going to leave that behind. They'll then move up to the edge of the door; looks like somewhere between 10 and 15 ft? They'll try to keep against the wall and stick to any shadows they can find.
[STEALTH
r: 22
s: 10 ]
<.>
Sen rolled a 10, beating the passive perception by a hair. Both he and Rin fall back into shadow.
Back to the other battle: As soon as Faolan opens the door, a Spectral woman begins to materialize; she is skeletally thin and young, and as she shrieks as she floats toward Fae.
Dima, you're up. You're also behind Fae at this point.
<.>
Dima's going to pull Fae's hand (gentle quick but firm little tug), with the intention of taking the space Fae initially occupied.
<.>
Faolan, dumbfounded, moves aside and immediately regrets that choice.
<.>
Dima, having taken Fae’s spot, casts Burning Hands for 9 damage. The spectre takes 4 points of that damage.
[q: It looks like there are no windows in the nursery; were there any in the bedroom?
a: There are, in fact. The door to the balcony has glass inset, and there are windows on either side of the bed. And the nursery itself has one window.
q: Is the nursery window curtained or uncurtained?
a: No curtains.
q: Did anything in the nursery catch fire?
a: Nope.
note: The only thing in the nursery that Dima can see is a cradle, and it’s just out of range. The windows are shuttered from the outside. ]
Dima is going to try to run past the specter, over to the cradle on the end by the window.
<.>
As Dima runs right through the specter. He takes no damage, but the specter takes 5 points, itself.
The specter's attention is now on Dima, who is much too close to the cradle for its taste. It turns and flies at him with a wail. The attack misses.
Faolan is going to close the distance between himself and the specter as he draws his scimitar and try to slash the entity across its back. Hits for 4 damage, reduced to 2.
Faolan is going to shout "A LITTLE HELP IN HERE!"
During this time, the suit of armor, unable to detect the owls, has begun to return to its original spot.
<.>
Stealthed Rin begins moving toward the nursery.
Dima would like to look into the cradle while drawing his dagger pls and thank you.
[note: Upon looking into the cradle, he will see a tightly-wrapped, baby-sized bundle lying there.]
Dima's going to pick up the bundle. (And everyone thank Fae for his presence bc if that boy were not there Dima would've gone instastabby.)
<.>
Picking up the bundle, Dima will find it's empty.
Just a blanket.
However, Faolan saw Dima. Pick up a bundle of maybe baby while holding a dagger.
<.>
Dima, holding the bundle, is about to shout something at the ghost when he catches Faolan's expression, and forgets entirely that he was about to speak, that there's a haunted goddamn house around, and that there's an actual goddamn specter beside him.
Dima ends his turn staring at Faolan, slowly, slowly realizing he may have erred.
<.>
The specter turns on Faolan and attempts to grasp him by the head.
Faolan's attention is on Dima and so he fails to move out of the way in time; the specter grasps him, doing 4 points of necrotic damage.
And Faolan just barely passes a constitution saving throw at 11, which brings us to his turn.
Faolan feels life literally draining from him and manages to break free, gasping. He isn't going to think at all about what he just saw. (Or the look of horror Dima is giving him.) He's going to kill this fucking - thing.
He summons a vine-like whip into his hand and attempts to bring it down on the specter. That hits at 20, for 4 points of piercing damage.
And holding the whip, he backs up, attempting to draw the specter away from Dmitri.
Sen and Rin move toward the nursery. The suit of armor likewise begins to move in that direction, but is clearly much slower than the owls.
<.>
Dima is going to let the blanket unfurl and, waving it at the ghost, declare in his most Authoritative Voice, "There's nothing here. Your child isn't here.”
If that doesn't take his full action, he's going for the ghost with the dagger.
[note: She doesn't seem to hear him at all.]
Dima is all his glory rolls a crit fail for that attack.
<.>
Dima misses; the momentum of his miss takes him lurching forward; he passes through the specter again, falling almost directly into Faolan's arms.
And the specter takes another 5 points of damage.
As this is the second pass through the specter - Dima, make a constitution saving throw.
[CON: nat 1]
Dima feels a sensation like part of his life force has been sapped from him entirely. Until his next long rest, his hit point max is reduced by 1.
The specter turns on the pair and attempts to reach for Dima. And misses.
Faolan is up; he drops Dima, sort of depositing him to one side to free up his hands, and he's going to make another Thorn Whip attack. Just BARELY hitting at 13. And squarely hitting the specter with a crack of the vine for six points of damage.
The specter wails, the sound echoing as it vanishes.
Right as the owls join them, the group hears the approach of clanking armor.
Faolan turns, panting and pale, to Dima and - for a moment, hesitates.
Then offers his hand to help him up.
His expression says there's going to be a conversation later, but right now, he's going to keep protecting the man.
<.>
Dima holds Faolan's gaze, for a moment moving no more than to nod slowly: [ Yes. ]
Yes, he understands; doesn't yet see the full meaning of what he did or what Faolan saw, but knows he erred in that fight.
Yes, he sees Faolan's aid, and yes, he's appreciative of it (and of the man).
Dima takes Faolan's hand, and will rise, leaving the blanket on the floor.
The Message is more an offer than necessity; the 'yes' could be read in Dima's expression and assent, but if Faolan wishes to speak, he now has the passage.
<.>
Faolan hears the approaching clanking and hears another message aimed for him: [ Time to go, Gents. ]
For a moment, he ignores Sen; there might not BE a later, or time enough to have that conversation, and Dima did cast his spell.
His hand tightens on Dmitri's and Faolan pulls it close to his chest, he ducks his head a little to meet eye-to-eye, ensuring the other man understands what's happening here.
He doesn't know for sure what Dmitri meant to do with that dagger and what might have been an infant, but he knows how it looked, and he knows the moment of panic he saw in the man's eyes when he realized Faolan was watching.
[ Never again. Swear that to me, right now. ]
There's no 'or else'. No ultimatum. Just a soft, firm demand.
<.>
He doesn't know what he meant to do.
(That isn't true. Dima was going to run the dagger through whatever he found in that cradle. It was a hunch; it was an educated calculation.
It also wasn't built on evidence. It also could have gone very, very wrong.
What in fuck was he thinking.)
There's an impulse to look away; to stray from what must be disappointment in Faolan's eyes, but Dima keeps his eyes locked, curling his hand within Faolan's. There's a sideways twitch of his lip, stray signal of the concern he's trying to keep muffled, and he nods once, small and a little wavered, but certain.
[ Never again. I swear it: Never, never again. ]
<.>
Faolan regards him a moment, then nods slowly. He doesn't smile or speak, but there's a slight - very slight - squeeze of his hand.
He believes it. (He believes when this man swears a vow.) (He won't think about that.)
Sen, meanwhile, truly doesn't care to fight an animated suit of armor, and spends their precious little time searching the room for a quick exit. The drop from the house isn't viable, but a sweep of the room reveals a hidden door behind the mirror which opens onto the selfsame stairs revealed by the door on the landing.
With a pointed look, he waves the others toward the door; whatever's up the stairs has to be better than whatever's coming for them.
<.>