Still panting from the battle with the ghouls, the party conducts a thorough sweep of the barn and farmhouse on the Craesby property. Although the barn only contained a delightful mix of straw and hay, the farmhouse proves to be a more fruitful venture; a festering corpse lies on the living room floor, branded with the Sihedron Rune. As Theo investigates the body, he finds another note marked with Barnaby’s name, which does little to clarify the muddy waters of this string of murders.
Apart from the corpse and a hidden lockbox containing the owner’s meager life savings, nothing else is worthy of note in the farmhouse. Sensing that their next move is to pay a visit to the Foxglove Manor, the party instructs the Sandpoint Guards to secure the area and bring the body back to town. There is a general sense of urgency, and the party simply doesn’t have the time to run all the way to Sandpoint to fill Hemlock in on the situation. There is a murderer at large!
They leave the relative comfort of the Craesby estate behind them and head along the coast to Foxglove Manor. Outside, a small murder of crows has gathered outside the burned remnants of the old servant’s quarters. Barnaby knocks on the front door, but there is no answer. Fearing that the Foxglove’s are in trouble, or are the source of this evil, they use the key found on Craesby’s body to enter the manor.
The door swings open into the parlor, marked by a cobweb-infested piano. There are no signs of life, save the occasional sound of soft weeping coming from upstairs. Barnaby holds the most information about the manor, but it has been many years since he was a guest of the Foxgloves. A diseased rat is cut to ribbons in the pantry before the party continues towards a moldy lounge. Even though the windows are closed, the dust seems to swirl in a familiar pattern on the ground in front of the fireplace. Theo investigates.
Suddenly, he is struck with an immense desire to protect Fobias, whom he thinks is his child, and he begins to pull him down the hallway and out of the house. Fobias is caught completely unawares but manages to wriggle free of Theo’s grasp before the witch rushes back out to the courtyard. Outside, the crows have multiplied to an astronomical number, and they take to the skies in unison, forming a carrionstorm. Krask, Fobias, and Barnaby rush to assist Theo, but their way is impeded by a swirling tornado of beaks and feathers. They watch in horror as Theo becomes engulfed in a similar manner. But he is not alone.
A spindly black centipede skitters from under Theo’s robes and contorts into a familiar form – a quasit. Together, Theo and the demon fend off the barrage of crows long enough for the rest of the group to dispatch the rest.
As they walk back into the house, Fobias smells the sickly scent of burning hair in the entrance hall, emanating from the stuffed manticore that serves as the gaudy centerpiece of the room. Without warning, the manticore bursts into flame and lunges at Fobias, setting him ablaze. The half-orc drops to the ground, and eventually manages to put out the flames, but not before suffering significant burns. As his screams fade into the darkness, a gently sobbing is heard upstairs.
Can Theo be trusted now that the party realizes he continues to dabble in dark arts? What happened to the Foxglove family? Is someone crying because their beloved house is haunted?