What the Butler saw

Returning to the trader's warehouse, the Party then questioned the servants. The butler seemed the most collected and he relayed that the Lady Luvia had been more reclusive of late. She had left on a trip some months back and returned due to illness. He recalled she had been cloaked and spoke little on her return, retiring to her rooms for a few days, none of the servants saw her. Shortly after she left, seeming recovered and advised them all to retire at dusk to their rooms and stay within for their own safety. Their room doors were locked after they retired and many had heard occasional shuffling steps outside, during the night.

Lady Luvia spoke little to them and the butler usually had communications by note; none of them ever saw her properly. The only other fact he recalled was that shortly after they retired, he heard the same strains of odd music from the harpsichord in the music room. A short piece, oddly discordant which lasted only a couple of minutes - he hummed it for them as best he could, but it had no meaning for any of the Party.

They elected to return to the mansion that night and set off on foot this time, bearing a scroll to use as cover should the Watch accost them. Making their way close to the mansion district, they heard a Watch patrol and hid well to escape notice - all except the Cleric. Once noticed though, he bluffed his way through superbly and sent the Watch away on a wild chase, allowing the Party to make the Bloodmire estate without further incident.

Entering the mansion once more, they worked through the rooms, battling numerous golem guards and hounds. A search of the music room enabled them to discover an oddness to the floor under a large rug, maybe a secret stairwell and a sheet of music notation, which appeared to be one of three. Covering the rest of the building, they found the other two sheets and the Sorceror played the tune on the harpsichord. As the notes rang out, the circular pattern in the floor fell away, dropping to form a short circular stair leading to a small lower room. Here the found another regular stairwell descending downwards yet further.

Neebin sped on ahead rashly, but in the dim light he tripped and tumbled to the bottom, fortunately close, he suffered little from his fall. Faweh was close behind and they observed that the lower chamber was of an odd design; white tiled walls to about five feet and then plastered and white-washed above, with regular pale stone slabs for flooring. The ceiling too had been sculpted to form a low arch, again plastered and white-washed. The chamber had four doors in it, all were of an odd design, being clad in metal sheet with a small high window set in them and no handles or locks they could see, though the doors did not open. two to the sides and one infront led to straight hallways, whilst the fourth off to their right only showed a dark rough stone tunnel leading away.