Stepping slowly, both with caution and curiosity Ohmen's footsteps ring out, disturbing the dust ridden silence with creaking and crunching alike. stroking his hand against the cold, cracked surface of the statue the changeling takes a deep breath before pressing onward - Wisdoms attention had clearly been grasped by the aged, yet still distinctly vibrant colours of the stained glass windows within the dining room. Working his way around the great table which stretched out as if to fit more than twice this houses number Ohmen now too similarly marveled at the glasswork. Both at its skill and artistry, but also of the fantastical, if not more than a little mysterious imagery depicted. Calling out Ohmen alerts the others before stepping closer, reaching out his hand to wipe the years of dust and grime off from the central image - However, he is quickly stopped as Wisdom to his side dives into his arm with a screech, the noise twisting wildly throughout the house as the bird makes Ohmen aware of the many runes which encircle each picture... The words "Carelessness will find no clemency in these places." still ringing in his head, Ohmen gives a nod - stepping back to lean upon the table and take int he windows entirety, jotting down the scenes within as he does so. However, as he goes to leave the room he can't help but feel a fraction of his mind linger upon the runes - turning once more, he mumbles in a language all would hope these walls had never heard before - "Luqmz wmyvw hafr wytryzw. Miqut smuweyrw ao idd zmiz haf muvy. Lyz uz ky clasl." [Infernal: Light sheds your secrets. Magic whispers of all that you hide. Let it be known.] *Casts Detect Magic*
Omen approaches the windows drawn as always to the secrets in the world. the script is in necromantic runes and say from left to right "necessity drives me and so i am bound." "aggression unending and so i am bound" "a bulwark unbreakable for which i am bound" "for those who might yet live, for them am i bound" "those who fight the endless dark, by them am i bound."
His eyes tracing along the runes Ohmen speaks out their twisting words, attempting to get a taste of understanding from them - His attempts are however in vain, his mind too preoccupied with the rest of the manor and all that it holds to concentrate on mere words. Taking a deep breath Ohmen scribes down the phrases before venturing into another room.
hmm... a pity the Threespears is upstairs. He might have some thoughts on this... Once at the top of the stairs, Threespears glances around, looking for any kind of magic at work. Finding none at this moment, he creeps down the hallway, looking for a door that he remembers during his brief visits to the Countess before she died...
He pauses at the double doors leading into what he's always termed the Countess' receiving room (B12). It had couches, a large bank of windows, and some paintings on the walls that might give them more of a hint as to what they needed to do. But he wasn't about to go barging in there. Pulling a flask from one of his many pockets, he annointed his eyes with a runny salve, blinked a few times, then looked around him. (Detect Magic elixir - remember, elixirs are actual potions, not non-magic alchemy)
Drew follows close behind the kobold, checking left, right, up and down for traps. A little bit surprisingly, he finds none.
Staring intently at the doorframe, Threespears is finally convinced that there is no magic laying in wait to trap the unwary. Casting the rogue a look, he nods towards the door. Drew taps a finger next to his eye, gestured towards the doorframe, then shakes his head. The message is clear, he has found nothing dangerous. Nodding, the kobold alchemist carefully reaches out and turns the door-handle to crack one of the paired doors open, then peeks inside...
this large room features two padded chairs and a long couch facing a wide alcove lined with stained-glass windows. there are five in all each depicting a different seen and ringed with runes. from left to right the windows depict "a forest peaceful but being torn in half by a strange rift." "a woman is floating in the sky throwing death and destruction at a oncoming horde. behind her stands three men one older a large crown on his head the two next to him have smaller circlets all are armed and armored fighting any monster that gets past the magi." "a wall is being built as the 4 people from before stand watch all are injured and all stand watch" "the woman and one of the younger men both now older stand over a field of graves several of the tome stones are marked one with a crown the others with gold circlets." "the woman stands in the dark holding a lantern before her stands a pedestal with a grimwar" threespears has seen the woman depicted both in eye witness sketches and in the grand portret in the archives. this is Gysel first lady of house Evermarch and the banshee he is now hunting.
"Interesting," he muttered quietly. "It seems the Countess' ancestor was one of those who helped to build the wall, and willingly gave herself to be a sort of guardian of this section. But that rift... is there a portal to another plane out in the forest?" Shaking his head, he looks around and lets out a sad sigh. "I think I know what happened. We need to find the others."
Drew looks at the windows and starts to put the pieces together in his mind, ....that witch is strong...unless that picture is an exaggeration, we might be out of our league with this one... "Threespears, I'll go get the others. Want to meet in this room?"
"That might be a good idea, but be careful." As Drew leaves the room, the kobold begins to decipher the runes around the window frames, curious what they mean. He is careful not to touch any of them, but a suspicion is beginning to sink into his mind that the Banshee might be tied to the HOUSE, not her GRAVE, and that these runes hold a key to that.
the script is in necromantic runes and say from left to right "it came without warning, a calamity that tore the world asunder." "we stood in defence of the land as was the duty of our family" " we built a great work to defend those who came after at the cost of our blood" "the price was to high, my family nears extinction. i must protect what is left" "to aid those who follow far beyond my time i search the deep mysteries. i must be bound"
Threespears starts muttering to himself as he waits. "This is not good. They bound her to the land - maybe to the wall itself - when whatever caused this calamity happened. We cannot kill her without dooming this land. Perhaps we could rebind her to protect those wearing the circlets? Her family line is gone, I think, so finding another heir to her power and blood may be impossible." Idly, he scratched his chin with the talons of one koboldish claw. "So the next best thing would be to bind her to another noble house. Preferably one with ties to the area, one with a surplus of heirs..."
Shiro had searched several rooms from the top floor of the house. Casting his magical senses about him as he searched with his eyes, he moved nothing with his hands in case of traps or worse. Azaphor sounded in his mind "It feels like a prison or at the very least magical bonds and boundaries encircle this place..." Returning to the room where Ohmen studied the windows, he arrived just as Drew came to relay the message from Threespears. Gathering their thoughts, they headed down to the Kobold to converse.