[centre][i]A collaborative post by [@Blitzy] and [@Eneui][/i][/centre][hr]
Upon entering the servants’ quarters, Amathel and Ralorin were treated to a most putrid odor. The smell of centuries of decay with little maintenance was repugnant, and the pair could all but hear the squirming of insects and mice from within the walls. Once inside, the elves noticed five skeletons laying idly on five separate beds. There were four beds that line the left wall, but the farthest inward had no skeleton of its own. There was little light in the room, and with neither Ralorin or Amathel being dark elves, it made seeing all the more difficult. Even still, their sharp elven senses were enough them both to make out the silhouette of tomes, scattered on the bed along with a stuffed bear. On the floor beside the bed were a host of blankets, no doubt imbued with the musk of old blood and dirt. Likewise, one of the three beds along the right-hand wall was also without a skeleton. This one was closer to the entranceway. This bed was barren, as if someone had been moved out of their quarters. All that remained on the bed were a few spots of long-dried blood and the ripped arm of a stuffed bear.

Ralorin surveyed the room through small, squinted eyes. He had followed the high elven giantess up the stairs to the servants’ quarters simply because he didn’t care for the smell of whatever it was that Elias was maiming, but this certainly was not an improvement. The stench was hardly better, and the sight of all these decayed corpses was certainly worse than watching their ward rip the arms off a hollow man. Ralorin couldn’t recall even one occasion in his life where he’d felt so disgusted. The small elf stepped further into the room, pointed ears twitching slightly as he tried to ignore the squeaks of rats behind the rotten panels of the walls. He walked slowly between the rows of beds, looking to his left, then to his right, taking in the sheer horror of the sight, wondering what could have caused all of these people to die in their beds. [color=00a651]“Well, this is just lovely,”[/color] he remarked sarcastically. He stopped at the edge of the empty bed, littered with dusty old tomes. Dragging a slender finger along the rotting wooden bed frame, Ralorin brought the grime up to his face, before blowing away the years of dust and dirt in disgust. He turned to face Amathel. [color=00a651]“5 people, dead on their own beds. It doesn’t look like they tried to run, or defend themselves from anything, it’s like they just… died.”[/color] He paused for a moment and looked over the skeletons once more. [color=00a651]“What could have done this?”[/color]

Amathel did not know what to make of the tiny man following her up the stairs, he was a Wood Elf, and her Father had his own choice words for them, but Amathel herself had yet to properly decide. The place they found themselves in however, [color=6ecff6]“Well it certainly is a delight, as far as the deaths go, context is everything, when it happened, those involved, let us hope they are not fresh kills and that something is skulking around melting flesh.“[/color] Amathel was perfectly aware of the dried blood, and the fact that anything she just said was extremely unlikely, but making the already seemingly twitchy elf even worse was becoming a passtime.  [color=6ecff6]“As for a real answer, they died in their beds, if it were a beast of any kind I would hope they would notice it. More than likely one of their own may have caused this or somebody new who was not supposed to be here."[/color] Amathel twisted the tiny gold ring around her finger, of all the things here for some reason, the little arm of the stuffed bear worried her more than anything else, she hoped she would not find a child here in any form of death, though looking around it was as if she had to be more specific to herself, She hoped there were no children here at all. As far as a proper search was concerned, Amathel’s closer inspection of the bunks, as if it were not in plain sight already, lead to the sight of the words written above each bed in dried blood. [color=6ecff6]“I am beginning to like my theory of, they were killed by one of their own. Liar, Traitor, Maligner, False Witness, Either we have a murderous priest of some kind purging people for their sins, or mayhaps somebody here has a few gripes with the servants.“[/color] 

She had a point. Ralorin turned his attention to the words above the beds. Every bed with a corpse had a word to match, and the beds that were lacking bodies were also missing words. Ralorin processed them one by one, trying to make sense of the gruesome puzzle before them. [color=00a651][i]Liar. Traitor.[/i][/color] Those two seemed simple enough, self explanatory. [color=00a651][i]Maligner.[/i][/color] Ralorin wasn’t even sure he knew what it meant, but assumed it was in keeping with the theme of dishonesty. [color=00a651][i]False Witness. Deceiver.[/i][/color] Perplexed was an understatement. Whoever had taken it upon themselves to commit this atrocity clearly had very strong, personal feelings driving them on. It was likely that the empty beds were not a mere coincidence. The small elf visibly shuddered, imagining what it would be like to live and sleep feet away from someone who would later murder you and write on the wall with your blood. It didn’t bear thinking about. [color=00a651]“I don’t understand this.”[/color] He walked to the end of the room, to the empty bed littered with books. He lifted the first tome; the cover was obscured by years of dust but a short sharp breath soon revealed it to be a children’s book. So was the next one. Children’s books and a stuffed bear. If children had been involved here, that just made things even creepier. Ralorin picked up the third tome, and flicked through the rotting pages. [color=00a651]“Look at this,”[/color] he said, beckoning Amathel to come closer. He held the book out so that they could both see the pages. [color=00a651]“Minerva. A human goddess?”[/color] He flicked through the pages. Sure enough, the name was repeated on every single one. He handed the book to Amathel and picked up a fourth. Sure enough, there was that name again, except this one spoke about magic, a ponderous tome. [color=00a651]“All of a sudden murderous priest doesn’t sound so far-fetched. What do you think?”[/color]

Amathel rolled her eyes, her quip about the priest thing had been a joke but now that a human goddess had found it’s way into their little mystery Amathel was afraid to make any more jokes. [color=6ecff6]“I seriously doubt a priest is involved, If I remember correctly from my encounters with humans Minerva is a goddess of magic in one way or another, guardian of mages or something along those lines. If she has anything to do with it, it would be more likely that one of the servants was a mage and this is the result of a rather fearful employer finding out, but then the messages make no sense in this context.“[/color] Amathel found little more than what Ralorin did, she knew quite a few humans, or at least was spoken at by those who felt that her scowl meant she wished to hear them speak. While some humans revered magic, as evidenced by the existence of Minerva, like any race of peoples just as many tended to fear what they do not understand. [color=6ecff6]“Really though, I suspect that learning about this will do little more than satisfy morbid curiosity. I doubt any monsters other than human had anything to do with this. I suspect we should move on, back with the others and see what they found.“[/color] It was almost as if she planned it, the horrible shrieking that pierced the air echoing from outside. Amathel grimaced and cursed herself under her breath, it was almost a quiet mission, she loved the quiet missions. [color=6ecff6]“Right on que, let’s go.“[/color]