Quote from Mingofaust >>

Quillary looks more closely at the farmhouse. Is it built with a basement, or just right on the dirt?

 Right on the dirt. (OOC: There are no hidden rooms or underground chambers.)

She looks around, perplexed. "I could, perhaps try to sense a thing we cannot see with our normal senses... if we think that would help?"

Spoilered question for Quasimodal DM:

Hildigrim sheaths his rapier, then turns and heads back into the house to closely look at the rooms on which the doors had been closed and the hallway where they heard the floorboard creak. Right now, he's still looking for signs of how the door closed and how the floorboard creaked. He is not yet concerned with items such as the scrolls and parchments.

Investigation: 15

Quote from Mingofaust >>

Spoilered question for Quasimodal DM...

(That looks very reasonable, and I have no objections.)

Quote from DirtyDogP >>

Hildigrim sheaths his rapier, then turns and heads back into the house to closely look at the rooms on which the doors had been closed and the hallway where they heard the floorboard creak. Right now, he's still looking for signs of how the door closed and how the floorboard creaked. He is not yet concerned with items such as the scrolls and parchments.

Investigation: 10

Hildigrim does not find anything definitive, and has to consider many options.

• It has been raining hard. Perhaps the ground under the house shifted ever so slightly, and that caused the timbers to rub together.
• He went ghost-hunting a few days ago. Perhaps this place is haunted too.
• Something could have stepped on the floor, and shifted into the Ethereal Plane to avoid being seen.
• Or become magically invisible. Or levitated to the ceiling and hid in the shadows.

Not finding anything or anyone, Hildi will now investigate items of note, specifically the scrolls and parchments, through the desk, among the office supplies, and among the food.

Investigation: 23

(Below are two "spoilers". Everyone can read them. I put them in spoilers to make them easier to find later, and to make this post easier to read. That first "player's handout" is rather long.)

You notice that all the mirrors in this house have been shattered.

After entering the office, Hildigrim notices an unmarked key on a leather strap below the desk.

Most of the documents are routine and uninteresting. There is a list of the settlers and guards stationed at Dynnegall. This is the text of that posting:

On the desk, there is also a noticeable tome, bound in old leather.

(OOC: That's it for the office, and the farmhouse... You can thank Savannah Houston-McIntyre, the writer of this module, for the names of everyone in this outpost.)

Hildigrim collects the key, the list, and the tome and heads outside to show the others. He specifically asks Seren to look over the list of names. If no one requests to keep the key, he'll wear it around his neck.

While the items are being examined, he'll share his four theories (post 1324), and also comment on the broken mirrors.

Quillary looks a little haunted. "It will be full night soon, we should see to the horses, then decide how to search the town."

Quote from Mingofaust >>

Quillary looks a little haunted. "It will be full night soon, we should see to the horses, then decide how to search the town."

Hildigrim has the key, tome, and outpost roster. When Hildi shows it to Seren, she points out Andras' name after the apothecary assignment. Some of the names are familiar, from past letters sent by her son, but Seren cannot put faces to those names. (She has not visited Dynnegal in many months.)

While Hildi shares his observations from the farmhouse, the party leads the horses to the stable / paddock / pasture. Horses can be heard somewhere in the pasture, but can't be seen due to the fog. Seren hands the reins of her horse, and goes running into the pasture.

A few minutes later, Seren returns, leading 3 horses. The horses look malnourished. The autumn and winter weather has stunted the grasses, limiting what they could eat in the pasture.

Heading to the stables with the nine horses (5 for the party, 1 for Seren, 3 just found), you see racks of training weapons mounted to the fence of the paddock. The weapons are starting to rust. They must have been left out in rain for quite a few days.

The paddock gate is closed, and the barn door as well. After opening the doors, and making sure there are no nasty surprises inside, you get the horses into their stalls. (The party will need to take 10 minutes to remove the saddles & equipment from the horse, and do basic care like drying them off.) The stables are relatively commonplace. You do notice the feeding troughs are not only full, but overflowing. There is fresh hay (a day old) piled on top, but the deeper you go into the trough, the older the hay. (Someone has not been emptying the trough before adding more hay.)

The horses gratefully start eating, especially the three that were found in the pasture.

Pascal is looking over the books as well, once Serene takes a look at the names. He lifts the first and looks it over. He then holds it open sideways, then upside down, then closes it, “I swear, I ain’t never gonna understand you soft-skin’s names. I mean, c’mon, that’s just silly.”

He’ll also ask Hildigrim to read the Touch of Bone, as he’s a fancy library man.

Quote from JcAndD >>

He’ll also ask Hildigrim to read the Touch of Bone, as he’s a fancy library man.

Seren points out: "It will be dark in less than 3 hours. I want to find my son in the outpost while there is still daylight" (looks through the gold backlit fog, at the sun approaching the horizon) "or what passes for daylight in these parts. Even if master Hildigrim reads quickly, that book will take many hours to finish."

At Pascal's suggestion, Hildigrim takes a moment to shake the book and flip the pages, to make sure there are no hidden notes or writings. The text has not been altered, beyond what was written in the flyleaf by A.N. "The initials are the same as the author, but that is Andras's handwriting, when he takes the time to make it legible," Seren observes.

Jorin trudges through the soaked earth and help attend the horses.  His face, already downcast from the driving rain and the tease of battle unfulfilled, seems to sink a little more at the sight of the rusting weapons on the wall.  However, Pascal's quip about "soft-skins" makes him smile and he says,  "I apologize my friends, this place has my mood under its boot." He shoots Drusk a glance and adds, "I will seek a brighter path."

He straightens and finishes drying his horse. "We should hurry to find Seren's child.  Another night not knowing would be too much for her to bear."

"Yes, yes," Hildigrim agrees, stowing the tome and roster in his pack and quickly seeing to his horse. "Let's hurry on our way. This place is full of mystery, and I aim to solve it."

When the party approaches Dynnegall, there’s no sign of activity. The farmstead lies on the outskirt of the outpost. Beyond the unmaintained fields, there’s an old water mill on the river flowing into Lac Dynnegall. A crumbling stone wall surrounds the village proper. Passing it is a lenient feat. A lack of gate and gaping holes from disrepair offer easy access for friend and foe. The rain continues to batter relentlessly, turning the dirt roads ahead into perilous ponds of muck. Ahead the village is shrouded in darkness and fog, causing the lanterns flickering outside the trade house to stand as a beacon against the gloom. There are a few houses in apparent use, but the remainder of the village has been left in disrepair as fewer settlers have volunteered to the station.

Seren identifies the larger structures in the village: a trade house, an old inn, a small library with a bell tower, and the docks along the waters. The party will check the smaller shacks as they walk past them, but the story is the same: either empty & abandoned, or filled with personal property but no signs of the owner.

Jorin's peers out through his fur lined hood, "This village seems a bit more, uh, deserted than what was described.  Does this really seem like a place where a boat would be traveling out of regularly?" He frowns adding, "Stay on your guard, I feel the eyes of fanged prey upon us."

"Let's start there," Hildigrim says, pointing at the trade house. Without waiting for a response, he hurries toward the lantern-lit building, ready to get out of the weather.

Jorin pulls his axes and keeps them low, but ready, as he follows Hildi to the nearby building.

Quote from DirtyDogP >>

"Let's start there," Hildigrim says, pointing at the trade house. Without waiting for a response, he hurries toward the lantern-lit building, ready to get out of the weather.

The trade house is a handsome structure, composed of master stonework walls and a wooden frontage. Two lanterns are resting on stone pillars outside the entryway, lit, and welcoming. The trade house has one floor and an attic. The ground floor is made up of an office, a few workshops, and storage rooms. Workshops are paired off with double fireplaces, allowing the adventurers to gaze from one workshop to another quickly.

(OOC: The storage rooms have nothing of interest. You quickly determine they have no secret passages or hidden objects.)

The building is devoid of life?

Quote from DirtyDogP >>

The building is devoid of life?

Your group has only checked the front entrance, and the storage rooms by it. You haven't looked into the office, workshops, or attic.

You don't hear any activity. There is still the drumming of raindrops on the roof. And as you listen for a longer time, from one of the workshops you hear intermittent tapping (randomly 5-15 seconds apart) , like a hammer on a nail.