Holiday One Shot Adventure

[samduke]

"They could have moved on their own, but I don't know... The axe said there was a creature around here. Let's keep our eyes open and take a look around." - Finn goes ahead of the others, trying to see if there is any indication on the terrain or the foliage of another creature or if the vegetables could have left on their own somehow. - "Quinton, mate, what does your nose say about this place?"

Telepathically, to the axe - "Do you detect the creature you talked about earlier? Is it here still? Can you locate it?"

[OoC]He has Darkvision 30 feet, Blindsight 30 feet.
Spot check (1d20+20)[25]
Listen Check (earlier I noted it wrong by 1) (1d20+18)[31]
Search (1d20+26)[32]

While looking a the area where the normal size melons and pumpkin are, you can clearly see where an oversized melon would have been and where an oversized pumpkin would have been, Both appear to have been harvested with a garden tool. there appears to be 1 set of foot prints leaving the area heading back towards the graveyard.

Quinton (SCENT) you smell dog, bird, plants, tree, your smelly allies, and the decay of the graveyard area.

Axe (Do you detect the creature: Yes, Is it here still: Yes, Can you locate it: yes. it indicates the graveyard.)

[Thunder999]

Upon seeing the signs of harvesting Alred will shake his head slightly and comment "Or the gardener might be putting the tools we gave him to use harvesting them."

[Cygnia]

"That's a very optimistic way of looking at things. Therefore, it's something horrible instead," said Schroeder drily. He drew out his sword just in case. Never was a fan of squash...

[ScrambledBrains]

"Unfortunately, I'm not picking up anything but what you'd expect from a garden," Quinton replied to Finn before unslinging his trident from his back and holding it before himself defensively, "That said...given what we know about this place, be on your guard anyway."

[amanamana]

"Well, I see the vegetables were harvested, they didn't walk out of here on their own. Apparently, it was the gardener, likely with the tools we provided him. The axe says the creature that was here is now at the graveyard. He was really quick about this." - Finn looks at the others - "Tell you the truth, that old man rubbed me up the wrong way. I'm not much of a people person, though, so take this with a pinch of salt."

"I don't think there's much else around here. As I said before, I believe the pumpkins and watermelons are relevant to all this, but I don't know if you guys would be keen on going back to the graveyard now and make sense of this... Maybe that guy is not telling us the truth or maybe he's just frightened and knows little. But he talked about killing Laris, while the treant said that the 'young man is not well' and that the 'liche' is the one that holds power around here. I don't know. Maybe that dude is just scared, but Laris was just a boy when this all started and the others seem to believe he was not the only responsible for this."

"Maybe we would benefit from talking to him again... Maybe we would be losing precious time, especially considering spells duration." - Finn shrugs - "There's a line between being thorough and wasting time. I may be guilty of crossing it sometimes... I say we go back to the house and get on with it. Let's just not lose sight of those considerations about who may be the real evil around here."

"What do you say?"

[Thunder999]

"If it is the Gardener I really doubt he'll have any more to say than when we gave him his gardening tools and showed him the axe, so into the house?"

[ScrambledBrains]

"Into the house," Quinton agreed...though he still kept his Trident out just in case.

[samduke]

The Consensus being that the House holds all the information. The Party walks back to the front door which was left open.
looking inside you still see a set of stairs to your right, a door to your right, a door to your left, and down the hallway a set of double doors. All of those doors are closed

Where do you go, what do you do?

[SCARY WIZARD]

Ilean grumbles contemplatively. "Looks like my scroll will be in order after all..." She removes a scroll from its place on her person. "Any objections at all...? For my own part, I'd much rather we not split up in a place like this, knowing what we've encountered before. The eye that this spell creates won't be as much of a loss to us as, well, one of us would be if something were to go wrong..."

She looks from companion to companion, as if searching for validation or a compelling counter-argument... and then, she wonderhow that Grimalkin could be called?...

[amanamana]

Finn searches the doors and the stairs, looking for traps and to see if any are locked.

Spoiler: OoC

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I'll just take 10 on each, for a 36 in all the Search checks.

How's the light in there?

[Cygnia]

"Agreed. Splitting up would be bad." Schroeder nodded.

[samduke]

Finn searches the doors and the stairs, looking for traps and to see if any are locked.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

I'll just take 10 on each, for a 36 in all the Search checks.

How's the light in there?

there are windows that are covered, so the lighting is dim at best

(Scroll of arcane eye, is in a position to be used)

Search , you discover it is an old house...no traps ect...

in order to check doors you must go inside - Do you/party go inside ? as your statement above was unclear if you went inside after checking for traps

edited

I will presume the party goes inside...

the door left is not locked the door right is not locked you must travel 60 feet to the double doors and the stairs are not trapped
for anything upstairs you must go up stairs

[amanamana]

Finn speaks up in a hushed tone - "I suppose it's better to clear each floor before trying another. So, I propose we go for the doors first. Let me see if I can sense something behind the doors before opening them. If no one has a preferred door, I'll start with the one on the left."

Finn goes close to the simple doors silently and tries to hear anything behind them. He then goes closer to the double door, to see if it's locked and if he can hear anything behind it. If it's all clear and no one suggests a different course of action, he will go back to the door on the left and try to open it slightly and as silently as possible, letting his blindsight detect anything lurking in the dark.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

He has Darkvision 30 feet, Blindsight 30 feet.
Taking 10 in all this tests:
Move Silently 34
Search 36
Listen 28
Spot 30

[samduke]

Finn

1st door to the left: you hear nothing, 2nd the double doors they are locked, there is no keyhole, you hear nothing, back to the 1st door on the left.
it opens you see a room with a few chairs, a short but long rectangular table, nothing unusual (this would be the lounge) to the far right side of the room there is a single door. your weapon detects nothing

[SCARY WIZARD]

Ilean nods at her companions as she considers the scroll, and considers a course for the eye to take...

Then, she pauses.

"You know... I just realized something -- it'll take a full ten minutes for me to invoke this scroll's magic." She taps it against her hip. She grumbles. "We'd be sitting ducks."

Her scroll is returned to its case, she shakes her head as she puts the cap on it, and then readies herself in position with her companions.

[amanamana]

"Hey ho, let's go." - Finn walks into the room warily, light-footed to avoid squeaky planks. His eyes looking for interesting things, while his blindsight is wary of trouble. He pays attention to the long table. If nothing else is of note in the room, he'll check the door for traps and locks. He will also try to hear anything behind it.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

He has Darkvision 30 feet, Blindsight 30 feet.
Taking 10 in all this tests:
Move Silently 34
Search 36
Listen 28
Spot 30

[samduke]

Door in the Lounge: not locked, not trapped, you hear nothing

[ScrambledBrains]

Ilean nods at her companions as she considers the scroll, and considers a course for the eye to take...

Then, she pauses.

"You know... I just realized something -- it'll take a full ten minutes for me to invoke this scroll's magic." She taps it against her hip. She grumbles. "We'd be sitting ducks."

Her scroll is returned to its case, she shakes her head as she puts the cap on it, and then readies herself in position with her companions.

"We could protect you while you invoke it," Quinton replies, "The ability to scout without risk seems like it will be useful to me...that said, if Finn hasn't found anything yet, perhaps it's more prudent that we save it."

[Thunder999]

"I think we should probably just stick together and explore, I don't like how long the tree delayed us, even if it worked out in the end."

[samduke]

okay consensus is to stick together so everyone is near the lounge door, inside the lounge

[SCARY WIZARD]

At Quinton's words, Ilean looks from companion-to-companion. "What do you say? The extra... not-quite-set... of eyes would help out a great deal, but we did kind of spend long enough with that Treant..."

[amanamana]

Finn gives his two copper pieces - "I don't know... These things don't last a lot, do they? It's possible that it would run out before the whole exploration ends if you cast it now. Maybe save it for specifc circumstances. I don't know... We could very well hit a point where we're stuck again for a while, as with the treant, and waste the spell."

"I can keep just a little ahead of you all. You keep close to the door while I check a new room and enter it when I'm ready to check the next door. I've been pretending to know what I'm doing my whole life and I'm still here, am I not?" - The goofy smile again.

That being said, Finn opens the next door in the lounge just slightly and sneeks a peek before opening it.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

He has Darkvision 30 feet, Blindsight 30 feet.
Taking 10 in all this tests:
Move Silently 34
Search 36
Listen 28
Spot 30

[samduke]

Finn, cracks the door open only enough to get a look inside, from your vantage point you can not see much but a wall with a covered window there are 2 wall scones not lit on that wall, the ceiling is roughly 30ft up, the floor is hardwood
the axe detects nothing, you detect nothing, scent detects nothing.

[Cygnia]

"Anyone capable of checking for secret doors and the like?" whispered Schroeder. Penny Dreadfuls and murder ballads were filled with old manors (like this one) with secret passages behind bookcases if you just pulled the right/wrong book or wall sconce.

[amanamana]

"Oh, that looks interesting." - Finn walks into the room, eyes darting around. - "Let's leave the sconces for last." - He pays attention to the covered window... Is the cover hard or could it be removed easily enough? He looks for marks or maybe a loose plank on the hardwood floor. He pays attention to the high ceiling, letting his blindsight get a good read of it. - "That's really high. Makes me think of flying enemies or dangerous traps. Could any of you please move some sturdy object to the doorway, so it doesn't get shut by some devious contraption?" - Once he reaches the wall with the sconces, he starts searching more attentively.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

He has Darkvision 30 feet, Blindsight 30 feet.
Taking 10 in all this tests:
Move Silently 34
Search 36
Listen 28
Spot 30

If he does not find anything, he will Take 20 on Search on the wall with the sconces, for a total of 46

[ScrambledBrains]

"That's really high. Makes me think of flying enemies or dangerous traps. Could any of you please move some sturdy object to the doorway, so it doesn't get shut by some devious contraption?"

I'm on it," Quinton replies before looking for an appropriate object with which to jam the door.

Spoiler: Search Check

Show

Taking 10 on a Search Check for a total of 13

[samduke]

(SEE OOC: for initial replies)
Once Finn Enters the room Proper, and Quinn enters following to find something to block the door, The rest of the party follows.

Finn: the covered window, if is a standard cloth draped over the window it would take 2 of you to remove it..
the Floor, it is hardwood all 60ft by 120ft of it. (blood stains everywhere)
the high ceiling, the entirety is 30ft tall in the rough center is a fairly large chandelier.

Quinton: looking for something to bar the door while Finn and the rest of the party are busy looking at things. at the complete opposite end of this space in the far corner area, you can see the outline of a table with 6 chairs, in the opposing corner area is a large musical instrument (harpsicord/piano), you walk towards and will be about midway when the last of the party enter the space.

PARTY:
Once the last of you enters while Finn & Quinton seem busy in their own tasks, you enter the space and have a decent look around
this is definitely the Ballroom.

Edit
The Wall sconces are on every wall roughly about 15ft apart from each other

[Cygnia]

Schroeder took a moment to cast Detect Magic upon himself. As interested as he was in the instrument, he wanted to make sure there wasn't any sorcerous surprises before he dared to examine it closer.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Casting Detect Magic then looking at the harpsichord first before sweeping his gaze in the rest of the room.

If nothing magical pings...

(1d20+5)[18] Search the musical instrument.

[samduke]

Schroeder... YOU ARE BLIND!
Temporary effect until you turn detect magic off.
The entire ballroom Walls, Floor, Sconces, Chandelier, Ceiling, Piano, Table, Chairs - Everything is Brilliant Aura.

Search the musical instrument. - failed


*Finn, The very moment Schroeder turns on detect magic the Axe screams out in almost like a pain into your mind and then goes absolutely silent

*(see ooc)
Edited

[amanamana]

"OK, people. Things are weird in here. The axe screamed telepathically and then went silent." - Finn then notices that Schroeder is apparently blind - "You alright, pal?"

"Maybe someone could help him out of the ballroom, to see if the effects are restricted to this room." - He looks at Alred - "If he stays blind even outside, can you help him?"

Finn then gets closer to the musical instrument and the table and starts searching it too.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

He has Darkvision 30 feet, Blindsight 30 feet.
Taking 10 in all this tests:
Search 36
Listen 28
Spot 30