The Fall of House Pancrazio Chapter Three

[Lord Skybolt]

Tahl waits for Jullian to lead the way then will follower after him being on the alert for danger .

[ewancummins]

Tristan bends a knee to examine the foorprints.

Hmmmm...did that monster make these- or someone else?

[ewancummins]

Tristan straightens up and, using a quiet voice, informs the others:

''As near as I can make out, these prints were made by someone small, a child or a woman, maybe. Barefoot....missing a few toes...and maybe limping or shuffling. That's about all I can tell. ''

He adds-

''I think that we ought to quickly search this area, then follow these prints.''

[RocEter]

Julian notes the powers of perception of the others and walks over to the chair and grabs the book and examines it.

[ewancummins]

While Julian looks at the book, Tristan leaves the tracks for a moment and crosses the hall to investigate the cell.

[JMaytr]

As Julian picks up the book he sees first the illustration on its cover. It shows two children following bread crumbs out of a forest. Flipping through the ancient book Julian can see that is filled with children's rhymes. The book is handwritten in a flowery, feminine script. A perfume scented handkerchief rests on the chair, exposed by the removed book.

Tristan approaches and looks into the cell. The room is quite large, featuring an expensive looking four poster bed, an overstuffed chair, and a bookcase filled with small, glass figurines. The bed has a large body shaped stain on it as does the chair. An end table near the bed has an old oil lamp on it and there is a Ezran bible at its base. There is a rug on the floor that appears to be made of some exotic beasts fur. A coat of arms on the east wall is an amalgam of the Dilisnya and Pancrazio standards. Beneath the coat there is a large copper chest. The opening mechanism for the trunk is odd looking, resembling a mouse hole.

The room is heavy with dust and the overwhelming smell of decomposed flesh.

[ewancummins]

Tristan winds his scarf over the lower part of his face, to diminish the effect of the fetid odor.

This place stinks like a charnel house, yet it looks as if someone had been living down here.

He takes time to examine the contents of the room more closely, starting with the Ezran bible. He picks up the book and flips through its pages, looking for notes or markers.

[RocEter]

If there is nothing of interest in the book other then children rhymes, he closes it and picks up the scented Handkerchief.

Odd why is this hear, and this handkerchief, is there some child wandering these tunnels? he thinks.

[Lord Skybolt]

Tahl lets the others look around the room while he stays out of their way and on guard for baddies .

[JMaytr]

As Tahl scans the hall he sees just at the edge of his vision, a small boy. A quick glance at Julian reveals the paladin has not seen him. The child is no more than six and has bright yellow hair. He is dressed in a white tunic with black trim, and black trousers. He has no shoes and his feet seem badly burned.

The boy runs off soundlessly down the hall.

[Lord Skybolt]

Tahl steps into the room and says:"My lord I have just seen what looked like a boy of perhaps 6 years of age down hall !!" Speaking to Julian and then pointing down the hall in the direction that boy ran off into .

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"A child? Down here? Alone?" Harold asks, clearly disturbed by the notion. "I like this not."

[ewancummins]

Tristan almost drops the Ezran holy book.

''A child? We'd better find him!''


The young man grabs his gear and strides towards the hall where Tahl claims to have seen the child.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Wait!" Harold barks. "Do not go off on your own in this death hole! What if it were merely a well-preserved corpse, animated to lure us into a trap?"

[Lord Skybolt]

Tahl waits on Jullian or one of the others orders as to how they want to deal with what he spotted down the hall .