While the rest of the team gives Gizzie the time she needs, they would notice that the downstairs bathroom is situated beside the kitchen in such a way that the hall it's on leads to the outdoor gardens. Once Gizzis is done, the rest of the team is let inside.

The bathroom is pristine - and HUGE. One could probably throw a party of three people in here easily. There is also a suspicious-looking knob in the middle of the wall near the shower area. There is also a large-ish sink that looks much too big to be in here, and seems to have an ulterior purpose, if the amount of compartments within it are to be believed. The floor also is slightly odd, and appears to be sloping inward to a drain near the sink.

[K's Hint: You are growing nearer to the first real puzzle]

- Inspect the knob
- Inspect the sink
- Inspect the floor
- Leave the bathroom

Ooooo, a puzzle...

What shall we inspect first? XD

Knob for sure

Do et dragoness!
That being said, the Belfry Bats are really intrigued by that piano, and all go to mess with the keys and look at it's thingamajings.

Before I can really consider the options, both Illusion and Tsukiko make a beeline for the knob in the middle of the shower area, carefully inspecting the area around it.

Action taken:
- Inspect the knob

Belfry Bats, you move to inspect the piano. It is a large object, and has both black and white markings in the paint. It's almost a swirled pattern, like the marbled effect one sees on brownies or cheesecakes. There are four legs, and one support leg in the middle of the huge instrument, and a sheaf of music resting on the stand. The sheaf is neatly stacked on the rack beside a manila folder that reads: "The Sonata of Sorrow". The piece is a complicated one, with many staccato notes, and heavy use of the pedal.

The piano keys themselves are immaculate - save the last five notes. On the very last section of the keyboard, the immaculate black and white paint has rubbed off the C, D, A, B#, and G keys. There is a different degree of wear on each of those keys. As you inspect the rest of the keyboard, it appears that many of the keys are worn - someone must play this instrument an awful lot.

There is a plaque with "To My Beautiful Rose" engraved on the front of the piano in gold, and there seems to be something scratched into one of the back legs, but you can't quite make it out. There is something sticking out of the side of the piano, somewhere inside the hollow under the partially opened top. It appears to be a letter, but the envelope is sealed.

YOU MAY:
- Grab and read the note
- Play the keyboard [tell me what you're playing]
- Investigate the scratched leg
- Leave this area, and do something else


Pumpkin Patch - Illusion and Tsukiko touch the knob simultaneously, and it is surprisingly easy to twist. However, it does not open a door - instead, the shower comes on behind them, and they are both soaked. However - a panel opens up near the mirror, which has three distinctive shapes that look as though something should go in them.

[I am not able to draw, so use your imagination until I finagle this. XD]
The first shape there consists of a circle with a ring on the outer edge on the top. There is a cross-bar through the top ring. The next shape looks like a cartoony cat's head, with two little horns beside the ears. The third shape appears to be a triangle with a crossbar through the middle, and a small circle on the left side. The first shape already has an object placed within - but the last two are still free. The first object appears to be a golden symbol matching the depression in the panel.

Above the depressions, there are words.

To open up the vampire's lair, one is found to the right of the stair,
Another is located just to the west, the last is buried below a nest,
Look to the garden to find the third, the second is near a silver bird

You need all three objects to slot into this panel. You may choose to do the following:
- Continue to browse the bathroom
- Travel to the garden
- Travel to the foyer
- Travel back to the Kitchen
- Travel to the back set of stairs
- Travel to the living room

I think the garden might be an obvious choice here...let me know what you all think.

If there is a Silver Bird in the Garden can I shoot it for target practice? Yeah, I'm definitely going to shoot it.

After reading over the message, our group decides to head for the garden. Illusion also keeps his crossbow ready hoping to see a silver bird along the way to satisfy the other clue.

Action taken:
- Travel to the garden

The Pumpkin Patch heads into the garden, and finds a HUGE, well-manicured place. Hedges grow in neat rows all up and down about an acre's worth of land. There is nobody near by - but there are several statues arranged high up on marble pillars. A phoenix, a winged horse, a lion with a man's head, a pretty lady with wings, two swans facing each other, and a deer-like creature with four horns and a long tail. All of the statues are done in gold [or gold-leaf], and surround a central square with a large fountain.

Nearby, in another part of the garden, they can glimpse a large, gnarled, withered old tree with what looks like a hint of silver in its branches. On the other side of the garden, there is a quiet area for contemplation, with a rather risque statue of two very naked men in a passionate embrace beside a pillar upon which rests a silver eagle.

YOUR ACTIONS:
- Explore the statues around the fountain
- Explore the statue of the lovers
- Explore the old, gnarled tree
- Go back into the mansion

Two very naked men @_@

Oh my.

-cough-

Well, my instinct says to head for the gnarled tree, but.....statue XD

There's silver in both directions so let's vote.

The Belfry Bats stand in awe at first, in front of such a magnificent instrument. Mimi notices the worn out keys, but she can't play the piano. SparX remembers to have played a song or two back then and picks up the manila folder. Unfortunately, the difficulty is out of her reach, her piano playing days long gone, back when she didn't have a sidecut or worked with plants. Meanwhile, dragoness tries to get the note, but gets frustrated when she sees it's sealed. Secretly, she's trying to think of a way to open it. mdom likes shiny things, and is passing her fingers over the golden plaque. "To My Beautiful Rose" - would that be to Ari or from Ari? Or maybe completely unrelated? Did Ari live in this mansion all alone? This place seemed hella big. Maybe that wasn't a clue, but a diversion. Why did her mom never called her beautiful? She wouldn't be online so much hunting people in avatar forums!
-GUYS! Come see this!
Suddenly SparX called the attention of the team. She was inspecting the piano closely, and realized there was something scratched in one of its legs. The team gathered around and waited for her to read that out loud.

Ari has actually nothing to do with this mansion, so the plaque was probably referring to the people who actually lived here - would be be K and his contingent. Regardless, the scratches on the piano-leg were very definitely some sort of message. It appeared that the leg had been repainted several times to try and hide the damage, but the message had been re-scrawled each and every time. It was one word, and only one word: "Why".

Underneath the message, there was a crack in one of the legs, into which a small note was stuck, tightly rolled. Unrolling it showed a picture of a young man in a waistcoat, with long hair tied back into a ribbon, and a line around his throat. The paper was also home to the same question as the piano leg. "Why?".

Just as the Belfry Bats were gathered close together to examine the paper, the scratch, and the base of the piano... the air grew very quiet, very still. The sounds of the young man across the way drinking from his glass, the birds outside, the quiet swish of curtains blown by the wind - it all disappeared. The stage started to grow dark, like someone had turned out the lights.

If the Belfry Bats noticed these changes, and stood up to look around, they would notice a shape in the distance - toward where the young man at the bar had been. It was a vaguely human-ish shape, but it did not move, did not blink, did not shift weight around as it should. Ten, maybe twenty heartbeats passed - the darkness grew deeper.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the shape simultaneously started to scream a terrible, horrid, ear-piercing, nails-on-chalkboard type screech and fly at them with preternatural speed. Whichever Bat was at the front of the stage got a full eyeful, as the figure crossed the distance in the space of a breath, face stretched horrifically into a mask of anger, wide-open mouth like a portal to the abyss, eyes dark holes with no semblance of light. The hair stood out in wild spikes, as if blown by non-existent wind, the clothing ripped, torn, and the skin white as the pale moon. Around its neck was a black shape, a collar of rope. The figure screamed in a bitter, anguished voice - echoing throughout the silent room like a thunderclap or a gunshot.

WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY!

Then vanished into smoke and nothingness as if it had never been. As it went, it took the darkness with it... and the scratch. Whichever of the team had the terrifying encounter was now the proud owner of a migraine that started behind the eyes, and penetrated the entire skull - an intense throbbing of pain. The Bats were left holding a shredded scrap of parchment where there had once been a drawing - and a silver key with the likeness of an eagle as the top.

YOU MAY
- Return to examining the piano
- Talk to the man at the bar
- Try to find something for the headache
- Go somewhere else [The Garden, The Kitchen, Upstairs, or the Living Room]

Every town had that house.

It didn't really matter if you lived in a small suburb where people mowed their lawn every saturday and hung borders of flowers on their picket fence, or whether you rented an overpriced apartment among the hubbub and dazzling lights of a metropolis rumored to never sleep. You could even be dwelling in an abandoned gold rush place where the saloon had not been open in years, and there still would be that house. The one every kid knew to avoid on their trick or treat tour. Older teens would dare each other to knock on the front door and run. Nine-year-olds would whisper spooky tales by the dim light of their flash lamps during a sleepover. Legends of the one girl or boy who dared to ask the owner for a candy bar, only to never be seen again.

Nobody could actually remember how Kaddarius' mansion became that house. Grandma sometimes told stories of ball events in her youth, opulent enough to put the great Gatsby to shame. Whenever another retiree claimed even as a schoolboy he was already warned to approach the Kaddarius estate, the old lady would usually tug the sleeve of her wool cardigan over her wrist and mumble away to herself how gentle the young master of the mansion had treated her during that first dance on her debutante night, and what beautiful a gown she had worn for the Nox ball event.

Death by Mirrors didn't care much about dances or dresses, and frankly he planned to spend the vast majority of Nox playing online games with some friends while younger folks roamed the streets all night for fun-size chocolate bars. He had bought some sweets to distribute and was just about to brew a fresh cup of Earl Grey when a sudden "Ping!" notified him of a new message. As he read the text, his eyes widened and his fist clenched around the teabag. Within a second he knew he had to gather his comrades and save their mutual friend Rainbowfox Ari from a fate worse than death or slavery: sub-par wifi!

And so right before dawn Lee, Kaderin Triste, blackfoxette and Death find themselves sneaking up to the one house everyone advised them to avoid. Wind rushes over the hedges and through the gnarled trees. It carries the aroma of savoury chicken pies left to cool on a windowsill. Tempting to steal, but for all the friends know, they could be poisoned. People who seal others off from the internet have no scruples. Besides, no time to waste on feasts - Ari has to be rescued as soon as possible. With some silent gestures the team agrees to move on.

Benjamin the ghost donkey serves as their scout, since he's the only one who can move straight through the hedges. After all the Graveyard Ghosts don't want to end up in the same cage as Ari, so they need to watch their step. If only they knew in which part of the mansion the Rainbowfox is held captive...

Still lurking about the garden, Lee tries to reestablish connection to Ari, but so far to no avail. "We need to get in there", Kaderin whispers. The others nod in agreement. "Maybe we can find an open window", blackfoxette suggests. Alas there aren't any on this side of the house, and so they move on once more, careful not to alert Kaddarius or any of his servants. All of a sudden Kaderin holds them back and points to an upstairs window left ajar. "Maybe we can use this." Of course the Ghosts were secretly hoping for a ground floor entrance to spare themselves the climb, but what else can they do. Knock on the main door and politely ask old K to release his prisoner? Not a good idea. Or is it?

While blackfoxette still glances at the window sceptically, Death already gives Kaderin a leg-up. "Look where it leads to", he whispers. Even with help the window remains out of reach, but fortunately the rain gutter seems sturdy enough to be climbed upon. "Alright, we can do this, Derpy!" Kaderin takes a deep breath and continues her ascent to what - as far as she can see from here - appears to be a bathroom. Lee and Death follow shortly after. But they still haven't reached the window when all of a sudden with a creaking noise the front door swings open.

Startled the Ghosts turn their heads towards the entrance. Death is the first one to jump down again. He lands on all fours to cushion the impact, then brushes off soil crumbs. "Well, guys", he flippantly says, "I think we just got invited to the party."

[Graveyard Ghosts enter the mansion to start exploring the upstairs Master Bath]

*fires the crossbow at naked men statues... Uh. Lower area*

PG13!!! PG13!!!!!

The Ghosts find that the upstairs bathroom seems as though it has not been used in a very long time. Rust scrapes at the sides of the sink and tub, and the toilet's lid is rusted shut. Something in here smells like copper, and there's damp chilliness in the air that seems anything but comforting. On the inside, the door has been locked quite handily with the shaft of what looks like a pickaxe driven through both the door and wall, wedged firmly in both places. That door is painted white, with tidbits of rust and reddish mold creeping toward the handle.

Overall, the bathroom is dingy, dank, and dark - with only the light of the moon providing any sort of illumination. Even so, there is an ancient light-switch on the wall that, once flicked, provides twin cones of dim light around the toilet and sink. Once the place is lit up, it doesn't help matters any.

What first looked to be just rust-coating in the tub turns out to be a writhing, slimy mass of worms and maggots, crawling all over something that looks vaguely human-shaped that had been propped in the tub. Maybe it WAS a human once, but at the moment, it was dinner for some very hungry invertebrates. The walls team with insects too, disturbed from their various caverns by the light, and they swarm down toward the Bats, over their feet, hands, and clothes, and out the open window into the night. A few rats take umbrage to the disturbance, and scurry from the open tile floor to holes in the walls.

The entire bathroom is done up in a weird sort of pastel green that was common during the Victorian age for decorating. It screamed opulence, while the rest of the room screamed neglect. Whatever, or whoever, was in that tub had a clearly recognizable hand clutching the rim of the footed tub, once the worms and maggots had all moved to a more centralized area, away from the light. The skeletal remains of fingers wore various rings, but one stood out as a jet-black - albeit rusted - ring, edged by sapphires and diamonds.

Somewhere in that mass of writhing, roiling worms something silver glinted in the moonlight, and the overhead light caught it as well. In the sink was the golden gleam of a ring of keys - being guarded there by a rather large snake that had coiled itself around the faucet head, and was resting in the basin. There was also, inexplicably, an axe lodged in one side of the cabinets facing the door.

YOU MAY:
- Take the ring
- Fish out the key from the tub
- Brave the snake to grab the keyring
- Take the axe and break the shaft holding the door closed

Illusion starts firing arrows at the lusty statues'....lower areas while Tsukiko and I go to inspect the gnarled tree, trying to find that glint of silver. While searching, I just keep hoping Illusion doesn't break anything because those statues, aside from being appealing, are likely expensive to fix.

Action taken:
- Explore the old, gnarled tree

The Pumpkin Patch explores the old gnarled tree. Turns out that the tree, while gnarled, is not dead. It is simply old. A heart with two initials has been carved into the base of it, and in the branches sits a silver sparrow with a golden ring in its beak. From the ring hangs a key of sorts - it looks slightly strange, with pegs that are pulled into wavy shapes, and a pointed end. Honestly, it looks more like a weapon than a key. The silver sparrow is perched on the tallest branch, and leans out over the rest of the tree as though taunting that it might drop the key-ring in its beak. There is no chance of that happening, however, for the bird is made of metal, and not flesh and blood.

At the very base of the tree, there is a door that might fit a child or a very small adult. It is carved into the tree on the other side, and is locked. In front of the tree, on the ground, is a small plaque that has been lovingly cared for. Although the words are worn, there is no rust, and the bronze is as shiny as it would have been when the marker was new.

It reads:

My Secret, My Safety, My Sanctuary
[1414 - 1436]

This is a grave-site.

YOU MAY:
- Try and climb the tree to get the key
- Explore the grave a little more
- Go back and do something else in the garden

Yep

As I consider what to do, Gizzie and Tsukiko go and inspect the grave site. Illusion is still firing off arrows, thankfully missing hitting anything.

Action taken:
- Explore the grave a little more

The Pumpkin Patch decides to explore the grave-site a bit more. The large old tree is not a real one - which is why it looks so healthy. Instead, the plant appears to be made of a mixture between copper and marble - roughed up and painted to look like old wood. It looks as though the 'door' on the back of the tree sculpture opens up with a key inserted into the top - a very small key. Likely, the key at the top of the tree would not fit into this small hole. What would open the thing would be a small, golden key with a simple square hole. With enough digging around, one of the Patch finds this key buried under a very pretty rock with the name 'Virgil' engraved into it. Also found are several other rocks with other names, but these have mostly been scratched out.

Of note, there also appear to be canid-type tracks through the dirt across the front of the grave, and a place where something lay down or sat. There are also drag-marks, and a single place where claws dug deep enough into the dirt to uproot some of the grass...

YOU MAY:
- Try the key in the hole
- Explore the pawprints
- Go back and try something else
- Leave the garden

Oh, shit Virgil!? Like the Virgil who wore these clothes, Virgil?

Virgil's Hair
Virgil's Jacket
Virgil's Pants

I also have a pair of his underwear that I erh. Acquired through completely legitimate and valid scientific reasons.

The smell has already been enough a reason for the Ghosts to cover half their faces with hands or sleeves, yet still they shudder at the swarm of bugs buzzing towards them and - thankfully - out of the window. For a few moments they fight an urge to vomit. Then they reluctantly look around again. It seems no living creature has been in here for quite a while, except for insects. And rats. And a huge snake in the sink. "Is that... a venomous one?" blackfoxette inspects the serpent from a careful distance. Not one of the Ghosts however is an expert on snakes, so they decide to leave it alone. For now at least.

Kaderin tilts her head at the axe. "Maybe we can use the handle to get that key?" One more glance at the snake. But then shining silver in the tub catches her eye. "What's this?" Death steps closer. "Seems like yet another key."

Well, whoever it belonged to clearly isn't needing it anymore. "Maggots only go for rotten flesh." Lee takes a deep breath and then quickly reaches right into the writhing mass, fingers clenching around the silver glint.

[Graveyard Ghosts fish out the key from the tub]

No, I'm afraid this is another Virgil.

Lee from the Ghosts finds that these are not normal maggots and worms. Small pinpricks of pain emerge as well as the silver key, clutched tightly in the hand. Blood trickles from more than three dozen little bites and nibbles - but there are no more maggots on the skin. As Lee picks up the key, the Person-That-Once-Was stirs from eternal sleep, and the skeletal hand clasps Lee's.

The skeleton opens their long-dead jaw, and the bones rattle as it sits up in the tub. Maggots and worms fall from in-between the bones, and lights come to life in the skull, twin blue flames. The jaws snap together, and a soft voice drifts through the air - a smooth male tenor whispered in the stillness as though on the edge of tears.

"Resssssst... I mussssssssst... Ressssssssst... Please... please let me ressssst..."

Old bones creak and crack as the hand lets go of Lee, but the skeleton hasn't sunk back down, and is still watching the entire team with those eerie blue eyes.

"There is more danger here than you know. Than anyone knows. Your precious one is hunted - as I once was. The fanged one knows naught of this. You must... you must let us rest... let us rest... put us to rest... Or my fate will befall all within... Ressssssssst.... Ressssssssst..."

With that, the skeleton goes still, and slumps in the tub again - the maggots and worms slither down the freed drain, into a long-since rotted away septic system, and into the ground where they belong. Once the tub is empty, it reveals two objects in the tub. A long silver dagger, and a tarnished silver chain, with what was once a rose-gold rose in the center of it. The dagger has a snake wrapped around the handle - also done in silver. The chain is very old, but remains unbroken - as does the pendant.

YOU MAY retrieve the items AND:
- Attempt to get the keyring from the snake, who is now eying that dagger
- Attempt to speak to the skeleton about what happened or what he means
- Take the axe handle and try to free the door

Tsukiko and I both look at the paw prints, then at each other, and I nod slightly. We both go to follow the paw prints as the other Pumpkin Patch members follow.

Action taken:
- Explore the pawprints

NOW the Pumpkin Patch seems to be on to something. These are fox-prints, and they lead further into the garden. There are drag-marks, as if the animal was digging their feet in to avoid being moved, and all of this leads toward an unassuming tower at the very end of the garden. Unfortunately, this also means that there is a hedge-maze in the way, and three different entrances. One with a golden bird above it, one where the entrance-hedges have been replaced with marble pillars, and one where the foliage seems dead, and there are leaves underfoot - but no trees overhead. The pawprints seem to lead down this entrance.

YOU MAY:
- Follow the pawprints through the dead-leaf entrance
- Go through the marble entranceway
- Go through the golden-bird entranceway
- Go back and do something else [tell me what]

*Uses tracking skills and follows the prints*

Sounds good to me

As Tsukiko and I eye the paw prints eagerly, Illusion takes the lead. "Let me handle the tracking part, we'll find out where these go." The rest of us follow with interest.

Action taken:
- Follow the pawprints through the dead-leaf entrance

*Sniffs tracks like a dog*
*barks at everyone*
*continues to sniff and follow tracks*

The Patch follows the pawprints down the old, abandoned part of the otherwise well-kept maze. Stark branches and dead plants mark the passage, and at one point the prints veer off sharply to the right, leading directly to the other two keys that the Patch had been looking for. Pocketing those is easy, but then the pawprints vanish as though they never existed at all, they stop - right there at a very large tree, and a very nasty-looking set of chains and spikes that wind up the branch. It's either very odd decorative art or something tore apart a meat grinder or something of its ilk, and wrapped it around the trunk of this tree. As if that wasn't enough, the pawprints seem to have lead the Patch in a full circle, winding back up at the entrance to the garden from the indoor patio - nearby the bathroom where they first encountered the puzzle.

YOU MAY:
- Use the puzzle pieces in the puzzle
- Explore the area some more