Hickorydale has been around for many generations. No one knows exactly how many but it is widely agreed that it's at least ten. Some argue it's many more. (After a few cups some argue they spang from a hickory nut that fell on the big hill, but no one listens to them) Most of it's history, however mundane, has been passed down through song and story with some classics being “Until the tillings comes”, “The low hill”, and a cautionary tale about leaving The Dale “There's monsters in the water”. Whenever it was first founded all can, at least, agree that is was truly an excellent Halfling to have found such an ideal place to live.
Written history in The Dale has only begun in the last few generations which coincides with other races coming to the region. Mostly humans with their ships and cravings to build towns and cities. They explored the region and found places to build and places to mine. Towns sprung up seemingly overnight and grew to cities. The folk of The Dale didn't pay it much mind and for the most part life went on the way it always did.
It's said that the first human that came to The Dale was an explorer named “Arthur Wright” with his exploration company “Wright Way Exploration”. It's said he was an agreeable sort and found the Halfling folk most interesting, (naturally) wanted to learn all about them, (of course) and wanted to teach them about the world. (preposterous!) But over time he earned their trust and started telling them of the wider world. Told them tales of distant lands and different peoples, of adventures on the high seas and fearsome sea monsters. Some say this is why the folk of The Dale don't like boats, but any reasonable Halfing knows it's not that they don't like boats, they just have no need of them.
Arthur proposed that the Halflings start trading with the wider world. Although the Halflings had been trading a bushel of beets for a blanket among themselves for time out of mind, they didn't think they had need of anything from the outside world. That changed when they saw ink and paper. Even though the Halflings had been making dyes for ever, and had the means to make paper, it just never occurred to them. Until seeing the drawings of foreign plants and animals that Arthur showed them (He considered himself quite the naturalist) Thus a trading relationship was born and soon other folks were visiting The Dale hoping to trade for their fine cloth and delicious food. Over time a handful of very fine folk became somewhat regular visitors and offered to train a group of youngens with specialized skills. This was met with a good amount of resistance. Many thought it would be the end of their way of life. “Soon they'll be wanting to build their holes above ground!” was a sentiment often heard.
After much debate (mostly a lot of drinking and yelling) it was decided that it would be for the best. The world was changing very quickly whether they wanted it to or not. And just like the seasons, no matter now much you wished the first frost would wait just a bit longer, it always came.
On this evening you had all finished a particularly hard day of training and were heading down to the river to get some fishing in before it got full dark. The sun was just dipping below the highest mountain. The perfect time to catch the big ones! The walk is the same you've all made hundreds of times and you're all joking about who's going to catch what, barely looking where your going as your feet know the way.
The evening insect song is beginning to fill the air with chirps and buzzes, every now and again being outdone by the call of an owl. The air smells fresh and moist as you get closer to the river. It seems like the perfect evening for sitting by the river with a line in the water.
Nobody would have guessed that there's something afoot.
No really, something is a foot. There on the edge of the river, in the mud and river grass. It looks like, well, a foot!
"I swears," bellowed the big bellied Barmo, "I ate that full pie in record time. Come the fair there won't be anyone to stand in my way from that contest!" He tromped along in the front of the group, his arms swinging animatedly as he told his story. He huffed and moved a little heavily, a tell tale sign that he had actually done something today other than his culinary finest to finish the foodstuffs of Hickorydale.
As they reached their favorite particular watering hole, Barmo went to his usual tree stump throne and slung his gear beside it. He patted his belly as he turned, "I hope you all remembered to bring sna..." The big man's words caught in his throat as he stared, horrified, directly at the foot at the river's edge. "Wha, wha, whats that mates?" He points a pudgy finger at the scene, frozen in place.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Eikis skips down the trail, imagining the potential rich catch of fish she would be hauling home for tonight's meal.
"These fish are going to taste so good when I cook them! I'm going to stuff them with onions, fresh tomatoes, and those strange little black things the bigfolk brought in last summer. What were they called? Ohl-wivs? It'll be fantastic, I promise!" She nearly trips over Barmo when he comes to an abrupt stop. "Whoa! What? What is it?"
Peering over Barmo's shoulder, Eikis lets out a little scream. "It's a foot!"
Turning around, she beckons to her mechanical honey badger, who waddles forward. "Vicious! Vicious!! Go check it out! If it's attached to a body, pull it out of the water, quick!"
Seemingly unwillingly, the mechanical badger pads up to the foot and sniffs at it, trying to determine if it is, indeed, attached to a larger body:
Vicious Perception: 22
If it is, the badger will clamp on to whatever cloth it can get ahold of, and drag the body fully into view of the other halflings.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Esmee trails along somewhat off to the side of the others. She breathes deeply of the evening air, happy to be outside and enjoying the sunset splash of orange and red against deepening blue. Her attention is mostly on the land and their surroundings and less on the chatter of the group itself until Barmo and Eikis cry out.
An uneasy feeling twists her gut at the sight of the foot. That just doesn't happen in the Dale. She's seen plenty in the way of death of animals out in the surrounding forests with her mentor, but never another fellow humanoid.
Concern that the danger may still be lurking, Esmee tries to see if the danger is still nearby and searches for trouble. Perception17
Viscous makes it's way to the foot and with a sniff, a nudge and bit of tugging it determines it is not attached to a body. Now that it is more out of the mud everyone can see it more clearly. It is indeed humanoid, and it's a bit more than just a foot. There is a shinbone barely attached as well. Even from this distance (20ish feet) it's clear to see that there's not a lot of skin or muscle in tact. That's about all that can be determined from this distance.
Esmee, her senses immediately on alert searches the area and doesn't hear or see anything out of the usual. You can hear the beginnings of small night critters coming to life but nothing that concerns you. You do however get a brief smell of decay and rot on the wind coming down the river.
Esmee's stomach twists even harder at seeing the rotted end of the foot pulled from the muck. She suppresses a strong urge to gag up the contents of her last meal, acid burning her throat. At the same time as Viscous pulled the limb out, the smell of decay wafted over her senses, but was it coming from down the river? No, it had to be from the severed foot.
The halfling girl regretted that she was too mentally drained from the day's training to cast out her senses any further in search of ill creatures. A feeling of powerlessness threatened to take hold and Esmee really wanted to call out a warning to the others to go back. They should tell the older folk about what they found. All that came out was a squeaky "Guys..."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Ohhh... there goes my appetite," Eikis says queasily, giving up on the idea of her salmon creation. She gulps and squeezes her eyes shut for a moment to steady herself.
Think of it as just a part. Well, it is just part. Eww. Not that kind of a part, Eikis! Think of it like one of your toys. One of your models. A piece of an automaton you're building. C'mon, you can do it!
Opening her eyes slowly, she observes the foot with a more clinical air. "Just a part, just a part," she repeats to herself nervously as she approaches the severed limb and begins to inspect it more thoroughly. It certainly doesn't smell very appealing, but Eikis manages to quash down her nausea and give the foot a more careful inspection.
Investigation: 25
"It looks like it may have been in the water for a while, judging from the state of the decompositon," she begins, picking up a stick and beginning to methodically prod at the foot, which produces a few squelching, squishing sounds as she does so. "I'd also say it probably got that way from drifting over here from far away, until it got stuck in the mud." Her face screws up. "Hey... if this guy's foot has been feeding the fishes, does that mean when we eat fishes, we've been eating... oh, ulp!" Eikis shuts down that train of thought immediately as she gets a little green around the gills.
Just a part, just a part!she screams at herself mentally.
Eikis, your assessment is mostly correct. The foot has indeed been feeding the fishes but there's also some evidence of land animal teeth marks. It's difficult to say how long it's been in the water, or how long the owner has been missing it for because of the animals getting to it. Your best guess at this point is around 3 weeks of decomposition.
You're pretty sure it's human, but you also realize you don't have a whole lot of experience sizing decomposed severed feet of humans, elves, half orcs or anything else in that size range.
"Well it looks to be too big for a Halfling and I haven't heard of anyone missing from the hamlet. Maybe we should call off the fishing and report what we have found." Ed will say
"Oh, we definitely should," Eikis agrees with Ed. She prestidigitations the foot a few times for good measure, then squints at it again. "I think it's from one of the tallfolk... maybe a human? Or an orc? I'd even suggest an elf, but I always had the feeling that elves would never stand for allowing their corpses to be dismembered and eaten by fish in a river. Like, they'd disintegrate in a puff of elven smoke first before that ever happened."
Clearing her throat, she turns to the others. "Well, anyway... I'd say this foot is a couple of weeks old, and nature's been at work making it ugly. I'd also say, something killed this person around three weeks ago, and maybe we should check that there aren't any other body parts floating in the river too. I mean we fish here, right? Eww! And three weeks... whatever danger killed them has probably already passed."
Though she's still thoroughly disgusted by the foot, and the idea that said foot has been sullying her fishing water, there's also a budding curiousity sparking in Eikis's thoughts. A mystery,she thinks gleefully. Just imagine what the others will say if the four of us manage to solve a mystery on our own!
Esmee listens closely to Eikis as she relays her observations then nods at Ed when he speaks of calling off the fishing and returning to the elders. Then Eikis keeps talking, suggesting they search around.
Esmee scrunches up her nose but then shrugs, figuring the other girl is right. If it's that old, the danger must be long gone. Except that smell.....
"That stench is certainly coming from up river or my nose is a liar. Why don't we head that way to start," Barmo said as he absent mindedly grabbed a small clump of bread from a pocket and bites into it, almost instinctively. He leaves the fishing gear and begins to walk slowly up river, he deftly unties his simple sling from his belt and keeps it unloaded in his hand as he uses his other to push aside foliage.
After Eikis chills the foot out to keep it from decaying any more and containing the odor, Barmo starts making his way upriver and to the surprise of everyone else starts nervous eating a chunk of bread.
You all start making your way upriver, skirting the edge of the last large hill that makes up, what most consider, the border of Hickorydale. Esmee is being ever vigilant in paying attention to the surroundings for any sign of danger. After clearing the last hill you come to a marshy area sandwiched between the river and a stretch of fairly dense forest. The area is familiar to you all for different reasons but most commonly you've come here to collect the "sweet flag", "flowering rush', and other edible plants that grows on the border of the marsh. Or to hunt in the little patch of woods. It's easy to pick a dry path between the woods and the marsh and continue upriver.
The evening is starting to quickly turn to night now that the sun has fully sank below the mountains. You leave the forested area and the land opens up before you. There are a few marshy patches scattered between low hills along the edge of the river. Once you're into a more open area you notice two things. When the wind blows just right down the river the smell is much worse and in the fading light you can see, what looks like, some kind of structure in the river.
Barmo turns to the rest, crumbs adorning the small stubble on his face, "Is that a Beaver dam? Looks strange though." He pulls out a handkerchief with his free hand and holds it to his nose and mouth. "This smell is really starting to bother me."
He takes a few more steps up river to try and deduce what is in the river.
With the increasing dark of night falling, Esmee retrieves the torch from her pack and lights it with a tinderbox. She holds it high above her head as the group makes their way forward to illuminate their path but also avoid ruining their night vision by having the light directly in front of them.
When the forest recedes and the land opens up around them, the smell that assaults her makes her grimace and put her nose in her elbow to breath.
She watches Barmo heedlessly move toward a strange structure in the river. Her mentor would show more caution in such a situation. He would scout and gather information and make a plan. Esmee feels helpless to stop her agemates from doing what they please, however. What if they tease her and call her a coward? She wasn't scared, she just wanted to do things the way she was taught.
"We shouldn't be stupid about this," is what comes out of her mouth, and her brain immediately protests. That's not what I meant! I didn't meant to call them stupid, oh Mielikki. Esmee flushes pink across her mottled skin and turns her face away, hiding her embarrassment.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Can we even tell what the structure is?
perception: 9
"Esmee is right. I dont think we should be stumbling around in the dark. What if this body or parts of are not here by some 'nefarious' means? The odds are one of the large folk got drunk and fell into the river. As far as it being in pieces...it's part of natures way - nature takes care of all of her charges. The fish get a meal and then the body returns the land" Ed says
The region commonly known as "The Bend"
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
Prologue:
Hickorydale has been around for many generations. No one knows exactly how many but it is widely agreed that it's at least ten. Some argue it's many more. (After a few cups some argue they spang from a hickory nut that fell on the big hill, but no one listens to them) Most of it's history, however mundane, has been passed down through song and story with some classics being “Until the tillings comes”, “The low hill”, and a cautionary tale about leaving The Dale “There's monsters in the water”. Whenever it was first founded all can, at least, agree that is was truly an excellent Halfling to have found such an ideal place to live.
Written history in The Dale has only begun in the last few generations which coincides with other races coming to the region. Mostly humans with their ships and cravings to build towns and cities. They explored the region and found places to build and places to mine. Towns sprung up seemingly overnight and grew to cities. The folk of The Dale didn't pay it much mind and for the most part life went on the way it always did.
It's said that the first human that came to The Dale was an explorer named “Arthur Wright” with his exploration company “Wright Way Exploration”. It's said he was an agreeable sort and found the Halfling folk most interesting, (naturally) wanted to learn all about them, (of course) and wanted to teach them about the world. (preposterous!) But over time he earned their trust and started telling them of the wider world. Told them tales of distant lands and different peoples, of adventures on the high seas and fearsome sea monsters. Some say this is why the folk of The Dale don't like boats, but any reasonable Halfing knows it's not that they don't like boats, they just have no need of them.
Arthur proposed that the Halflings start trading with the wider world. Although the Halflings had been trading a bushel of beets for a blanket among themselves for time out of mind, they didn't think they had need of anything from the outside world. That changed when they saw ink and paper. Even though the Halflings had been making dyes for ever, and had the means to make paper, it just never occurred to them. Until seeing the drawings of foreign plants and animals that Arthur showed them (He considered himself quite the naturalist) Thus a trading relationship was born and soon other folks were visiting The Dale hoping to trade for their fine cloth and delicious food. Over time a handful of very fine folk became somewhat regular visitors and offered to train a group of youngens with specialized skills. This was met with a good amount of resistance. Many thought it would be the end of their way of life. “Soon they'll be wanting to build their holes above ground!” was a sentiment often heard.
After much debate (mostly a lot of drinking and yelling) it was decided that it would be for the best. The world was changing very quickly whether they wanted it to or not. And just like the seasons, no matter now much you wished the first frost would wait just a bit longer, it always came.
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
Aaaaaand were off! :)
On this evening you had all finished a particularly hard day of training and were heading down to the river to get some fishing in before it got full dark. The sun was just dipping below the highest mountain. The perfect time to catch the big ones! The walk is the same you've all made hundreds of times and you're all joking about who's going to catch what, barely looking where your going as your feet know the way.
The evening insect song is beginning to fill the air with chirps and buzzes, every now and again being outdone by the call of an owl. The air smells fresh and moist as you get closer to the river. It seems like the perfect evening for sitting by the river with a line in the water.
Nobody would have guessed that there's something afoot.
No really, something is a foot. There on the edge of the river, in the mud and river grass. It looks like, well, a foot!
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
"I swears," bellowed the big bellied Barmo, "I ate that full pie in record time. Come the fair there won't be anyone to stand in my way from that contest!" He tromped along in the front of the group, his arms swinging animatedly as he told his story. He huffed and moved a little heavily, a tell tale sign that he had actually done something today other than his culinary finest to finish the foodstuffs of Hickorydale.
As they reached their favorite particular watering hole, Barmo went to his usual tree stump throne and slung his gear beside it. He patted his belly as he turned, "I hope you all remembered to bring sna..." The big man's words caught in his throat as he stared, horrified, directly at the foot at the river's edge. "Wha, wha, whats that mates?" He points a pudgy finger at the scene, frozen in place.
Eikis skips down the trail, imagining the potential rich catch of fish she would be hauling home for tonight's meal.
"These fish are going to taste so good when I cook them! I'm going to stuff them with onions, fresh tomatoes, and those strange little black things the bigfolk brought in last summer. What were they called? Ohl-wivs? It'll be fantastic, I promise!" She nearly trips over Barmo when he comes to an abrupt stop. "Whoa! What? What is it?"
Peering over Barmo's shoulder, Eikis lets out a little scream. "It's a foot!"
Turning around, she beckons to her mechanical honey badger, who waddles forward. "Vicious! Vicious!! Go check it out! If it's attached to a body, pull it out of the water, quick!"
Seemingly unwillingly, the mechanical badger pads up to the foot and sniffs at it, trying to determine if it is, indeed, attached to a larger body:
Vicious Perception: 22
If it is, the badger will clamp on to whatever cloth it can get ahold of, and drag the body fully into view of the other halflings.
Esmee trails along somewhat off to the side of the others. She breathes deeply of the evening air, happy to be outside and enjoying the sunset splash of orange and red against deepening blue. Her attention is mostly on the land and their surroundings and less on the chatter of the group itself until Barmo and Eikis cry out.
An uneasy feeling twists her gut at the sight of the foot. That just doesn't happen in the Dale. She's seen plenty in the way of death of animals out in the surrounding forests with her mentor, but never another fellow humanoid.
Concern that the danger may still be lurking, Esmee tries to see if the danger is still nearby and searches for trouble. Perception 17
Ed glances nervously at his companions and says: "Is that what I think it is? It looks like someones foot! Do you think the river monster did that?"
Viscous makes it's way to the foot and with a sniff, a nudge and bit of tugging it determines it is not attached to a body. Now that it is more out of the mud everyone can see it more clearly. It is indeed humanoid, and it's a bit more than just a foot. There is a shinbone barely attached as well. Even from this distance (20ish feet) it's clear to see that there's not a lot of skin or muscle in tact. That's about all that can be determined from this distance.
Esmee, her senses immediately on alert searches the area and doesn't hear or see anything out of the usual. You can hear the beginnings of small night critters coming to life but nothing that concerns you. You do however get a brief smell of decay and rot on the wind coming down the river.
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
Esmee's stomach twists even harder at seeing the rotted end of the foot pulled from the muck. She suppresses a strong urge to gag up the contents of her last meal, acid burning her throat. At the same time as Viscous pulled the limb out, the smell of decay wafted over her senses, but was it coming from down the river? No, it had to be from the severed foot.
The halfling girl regretted that she was too mentally drained from the day's training to cast out her senses any further in search of ill creatures. A feeling of powerlessness threatened to take hold and Esmee really wanted to call out a warning to the others to go back. They should tell the older folk about what they found. All that came out was a squeaky "Guys..."
"Ohhh... there goes my appetite," Eikis says queasily, giving up on the idea of her salmon creation. She gulps and squeezes her eyes shut for a moment to steady herself.
Think of it as just a part. Well, it is just part. Eww. Not that kind of a part, Eikis! Think of it like one of your toys. One of your models. A piece of an automaton you're building. C'mon, you can do it!
Opening her eyes slowly, she observes the foot with a more clinical air. "Just a part, just a part," she repeats to herself nervously as she approaches the severed limb and begins to inspect it more thoroughly. It certainly doesn't smell very appealing, but Eikis manages to quash down her nausea and give the foot a more careful inspection.
Investigation: 25
"It looks like it may have been in the water for a while, judging from the state of the decompositon," she begins, picking up a stick and beginning to methodically prod at the foot, which produces a few squelching, squishing sounds as she does so. "I'd also say it probably got that way from drifting over here from far away, until it got stuck in the mud." Her face screws up. "Hey... if this guy's foot has been feeding the fishes, does that mean when we eat fishes, we've been eating... oh, ulp!" Eikis shuts down that train of thought immediately as she gets a little green around the gills.
Just a part, just a part! she screams at herself mentally.
Ed creeps up next to Eikis and says: "Can you tell what the foot is from? Is it human, halfling, or something else?
As if reading Esmee's mind he will say: "Maybe we should report this to the elders"
Eikis, your assessment is mostly correct. The foot has indeed been feeding the fishes but there's also some evidence of land animal teeth marks. It's difficult to say how long it's been in the water, or how long the owner has been missing it for because of the animals getting to it. Your best guess at this point is around 3 weeks of decomposition.
You're pretty sure it's human, but you also realize you don't have a whole lot of experience sizing decomposed severed feet of humans, elves, half orcs or anything else in that size range.
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
"Well it looks to be too big for a Halfling and I haven't heard of anyone missing from the hamlet. Maybe we should call off the fishing and report what we have found." Ed will say
"Oh, we definitely should," Eikis agrees with Ed. She prestidigitations the foot a few times for good measure, then squints at it again. "I think it's from one of the tallfolk... maybe a human? Or an orc? I'd even suggest an elf, but I always had the feeling that elves would never stand for allowing their corpses to be dismembered and eaten by fish in a river. Like, they'd disintegrate in a puff of elven smoke first before that ever happened."
Clearing her throat, she turns to the others. "Well, anyway... I'd say this foot is a couple of weeks old, and nature's been at work making it ugly. I'd also say, something killed this person around three weeks ago, and maybe we should check that there aren't any other body parts floating in the river too. I mean we fish here, right? Eww! And three weeks... whatever danger killed them has probably already passed."
Though she's still thoroughly disgusted by the foot, and the idea that said foot has been sullying her fishing water, there's also a budding curiousity sparking in Eikis's thoughts. A mystery, she thinks gleefully. Just imagine what the others will say if the four of us manage to solve a mystery on our own!
Esmee listens closely to Eikis as she relays her observations then nods at Ed when he speaks of calling off the fishing and returning to the elders. Then Eikis keeps talking, suggesting they search around.
Esmee scrunches up her nose but then shrugs, figuring the other girl is right. If it's that old, the danger must be long gone. Except that smell.....
"Yeah ok, let's check," she finally agrees.
Search Perception 21
"That stench is certainly coming from up river or my nose is a liar. Why don't we head that way to start," Barmo said as he absent mindedly grabbed a small clump of bread from a pocket and bites into it, almost instinctively. He leaves the fishing gear and begins to walk slowly up river, he deftly unties his simple sling from his belt and keeps it unloaded in his hand as he uses his other to push aside foliage.
(are you taking the foot with you?)
After Eikis chills the foot out to keep it from decaying any more and containing the odor, Barmo starts making his way upriver and to the surprise of everyone else starts nervous eating a chunk of bread.
You all start making your way upriver, skirting the edge of the last large hill that makes up, what most consider, the border of Hickorydale. Esmee is being ever vigilant in paying attention to the surroundings for any sign of danger. After clearing the last hill you come to a marshy area sandwiched between the river and a stretch of fairly dense forest. The area is familiar to you all for different reasons but most commonly you've come here to collect the "sweet flag", "flowering rush', and other edible plants that grows on the border of the marsh. Or to hunt in the little patch of woods. It's easy to pick a dry path between the woods and the marsh and continue upriver.
The evening is starting to quickly turn to night now that the sun has fully sank below the mountains. You leave the forested area and the land opens up before you. There are a few marshy patches scattered between low hills along the edge of the river. Once you're into a more open area you notice two things. When the wind blows just right down the river the smell is much worse and in the fading light you can see, what looks like, some kind of structure in the river.
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
Barmo turns to the rest, crumbs adorning the small stubble on his face, "Is that a Beaver dam? Looks strange though." He pulls out a handkerchief with his free hand and holds it to his nose and mouth. "This smell is really starting to bother me."
He takes a few more steps up river to try and deduce what is in the river.
(Esmee isn't going near the foot)
With the increasing dark of night falling, Esmee retrieves the torch from her pack and lights it with a tinderbox. She holds it high above her head as the group makes their way forward to illuminate their path but also avoid ruining their night vision by having the light directly in front of them.
When the forest recedes and the land opens up around them, the smell that assaults her makes her grimace and put her nose in her elbow to breath.
She watches Barmo heedlessly move toward a strange structure in the river. Her mentor would show more caution in such a situation. He would scout and gather information and make a plan. Esmee feels helpless to stop her agemates from doing what they please, however. What if they tease her and call her a coward? She wasn't scared, she just wanted to do things the way she was taught.
"We shouldn't be stupid about this," is what comes out of her mouth, and her brain immediately protests. That's not what I meant! I didn't meant to call them stupid, oh Mielikki. Esmee flushes pink across her mottled skin and turns her face away, hiding her embarrassment.
Can we even tell what the structure is?
perception: 9
"Esmee is right. I dont think we should be stumbling around in the dark. What if this body or parts of are not here by some 'nefarious' means? The odds are one of the large folk got drunk and fell into the river. As far as it being in pieces...it's part of natures way - nature takes care of all of her charges. The fish get a meal and then the body returns the land" Ed says