The Skinsaw Murders

Effectively barricaded inside the house now, the place feels more oppressive than ever.
“Well,” says Malvick, “I guess now we hunt down one of those strong undead auras Li Kao can see.” He looks over at the priest. “You can still see them?”
Li Kao nods, pointing one thumb up and one thumb down. “Malvick continues. “Okay then, unless anyone has any reason not to, I say we head upstairs first. We’ve already checked out most of the second floor anyway so we know what we up against, sort of. And besides, we haven’t found any stairs to the basement yet.” When no one objects, Malvick unslings his bow. “Right,” he sighs, “back upstairs.”

With Malvick in the lead and Li Kao right behind him to guide the way, the party creeps back up the stairs. On the second floor, Li Kao indicates that the aura is still coming from above them, somewhere north east of the main stairs. Malvick grumbles as Li Kao relays the news. “What, in the attic? On the roof?”

Li Kao shrugs. “I don’t know my friend. But the aura is definitely coming from above. Another staircase would have to be centrally located, architecturally speaking, so lets follow this hallway around and see what we can find.”

After a short search the party does indeed find a narrow staircase leading up to the attic. The faint sound of a woman weeping can be heard echoing from above.

They ascend the stairs. The attic is cold and damp, but seems to have escaped much of the decay and vandalism that is rampant through the rest of the house. Selves of old books line most of the walls, and a few crates sit in the middle of the room. The ceiling slopes down to only four feet high along the northeast wall, leaving room for only a small window, while to the southeast, a mould-encrusted pillar of brick marks the passage of a chimney. A full sized mirror in a dark wooden frame of coiling roses leans against these bricks, angled towards the tiny window.

Collapsed in front of the mirror, weeping into her hands, sits a woman in a tattered and filthy red dress. She is turned away from the party and the light from the little window is poor, but Malvick can make out long patterns of runic tattoos on an exposed calf and arm. She has long pale hair. Malvick suddenly recognizes her as the dancing woman from his vision downstairs. He starts to go to her but Li Kao puts a restraining hand on his shoulder and shakes his head in warning. He whispers that this woman is the source of the undead aura they have been tracking.

Just then Sasha pushes her way to the front and looks at the figure in front of the mirror. Her voice cracks. “Seoni? . . .”