"Has he done that yet tonight?" Still very calm and looking like he's just having a normal conversation. 

"No," the old man shakes his head.  "He'll go out after everyone has left here and retired if it's anything like usual.   He's my next-door neighbour and I happened to notice it.  There's no way I am going out into the wilds after dark, so I have no idea where he went.   Oh, he headed out northeast out of the village, down an old game trail."

"Very interesting. Well, thank you for your fine detective work. It will certainly help us piece things together." Vaclav stands up and walks around the room visiting other folks to disguise the first conversation. Eventually he rejoins the others.

Claire, blissfully unaware of any of this subterfuge, continues chatting with Fallon over her meal.  "Really, is there nothing more you can tell us?  It seems strange that four barges would have already been stolen, and yet no demands have been made, nor lives lost.  We hope to keep things that way, truly, but I must know more about your shipment tomorrow so it can be protected from the same fate.  When is it scheduled to leave?  From where?  And where, usually, do these attacks occur during the shipment?" she asks.

"The barges are not stolen," Fallon clarifies.  "Apparently, bandits appear with a wagon and get the miners to unload the coal onto their wagon which they then drive off.  The shipment tomorrow will leave in the morning, once it is loaded from the warehouse and everyone is ready.  It will be loaded up outside the warehouse and ship downstream to Grunal.

"The attacks usually occur a few miles outside of town.  Far enough away that we don't see it happen and can't offer help.  Remember, miss, we are but poor miners and are not paid to put up resistance against armed bandits."

The evening has dragged to an end and the various miners head off to their homes.  Some, who you have spoken to, say goodnight.   Fallon says that there is no inn in Hillsend but that you are welcome to spread out your bedrolls here in the main hall.  You can keep the fire going through the night and it'll provide shelter from the weather and cold.   It is vastly different from the four-poster beds you have been sleeping in over the last few nights, but at least it is dry and keeps the wind off you.

Anything you want to do before night comes?

Louis will go to set his bedroll in the hall but set a watch outside the hall. This whole thing is suspicious.

Is Louis planning to stand outside the hall then?   Hiding or in plain sight?

“Let‘s take the watch in shifts,“ Claire says to Louis.  She‘s not quite sure why the man is so suspicious, but this whole continent is out of her element, and she both approves of and trusts in a relative local‘s paranoia.  “I can take second watch, though I don‘t feel the need to stand outside.  It would also be very impolite to set caltrops or a dangerous trap right outside the community hall door,“ she adds.

The hall has a window which looks out on to the river and the middle of the town.  So it would be very simple to manage a watch which kept you inside but allowed you to watch over anyone who might want to enter your hall, or who was wandering the village late at night.

Pointing out the window, Claire says to the others, "Let's take shifts watching from there.  It seems like the rest of you don't trust these miners.  You think they're in on the job?  I didn't get that impression at all from Fallon, though I was a bit surprised he didn't seem more eager to accept our help.  Perhaps the Baron's reputation here is not as shining as he would like us to believe," she says, fingering her orange bandana.

Once the hall clears out Vaclav tells Chernobog to follow Fallon wherever he goes. He then turns to Claire. "One of the miners said that Fallon disappears into the woods every night before a shipment. No one knows what he's doing out there but to me that seems like he's doing something bad. I have him followed and now we will see." 

As the night draws in Chernobog imparts to Vaclav that Fallon has left his home and is heading northeast out of the village along an old game trail.  Do you want the owl-spirit to follow, or are you planning on following on foot?

Nos Heliwr suggests that two of us, himself being one as he is a sneaky sort, follow Chernobog.  And when we find out who Fallon is meeting with, ‘follow’ them, after Fallon heads back. “I think it more important to find out about those behind all this beforehand than to stop them from hi jacking one shipment. Because, if I were them, I’d be changing how I operated as soon as I knew someone else was aware of what was going on.”

He grins. “Chernobog can let us know when Fallon starts back, and, after he passes us, we can pick up their trail, assuming, to be sure, that they are not already in their hideout.”

Vaclav nods. "I'll stay here and watch through Chernobog's eyes. That way if you run into trouble we can come to your aid." He then puts his back to a wall and tells Chernobog to follow and that he's watching.

"Oh," Claire says, feeling a bit ashamed that she didn't notice anything amiss.  "I'm afraid I'm no good at sneaking around in the night.  I should really stay here and stand guard."

Louis would like to hide outside the Hall to watch who comes and goes. He’ll split the watch with Claire then, it seems. 

So you have seen Fallon leaving.  He is heading out of the village.  Other than the owl, is anyone following him?

“Vaclav, I need you to relay what Chernobog sees, so we know when to stop following, then hide until Fallon has headed back. Chernobog could keep an eye on whoever Fallon meets and, if necessary, help us follow them.”
Yes, Nos Heliwr is following, relying on Chernobog telling Vaclav when Fallon gets to where ever he is going, if Vaclav agrees, otherwise he’ll just go alone hopefully able to work with Chernobog.

Vaclav nods. "I could go with you but while I am looking through Chernobog's eyes I am blind and deaf, it's not an ideal situation. Plus then the others have no way of knowing if we need help."