As the group starts down the stairs, Essie clambers to her feet. She looks to them with a smile, only to pause when she sees someone new. "Oh. Hello." She keeps her smile bright and gives her a little wave. "Are you joining us, then?"

When the group moves outside, Essie drifts naturally toward the back, falling into step beside Daerthe once more. She feels better nearer the back, able to keep an eye on everyone at once and lend aid should it be necessary.

Ryndar leads the way down the stairs and the others follow, except Helena and Kella. There is a slightly awkward moment between the two women as each one waits for the other to go. Kella eventually nods with a wry smile and heads to the stairs, allowing Helena to walk behind her. As she reaches Essie, she says, “Oh, yes. I was hiding from the goblins, but your friends said the village is mostly clear now. I’m Kella.”

Ryndar leads the way out the door of the inn, heading east toward the stables. The rest of the group emerges into the village square, lit by the early morning light. There is another uncomfortable moment as all the women subtly maneuver to stay to the back of the group. The tension breaks when Kella exclaims, “Oh! I see now!” She veers south past the well to the center of the square where there is a sizable hole. She calls back to the group, “They took the Nightstone.”

"They? You mean the goblins or the giants?" Ryndar replies, "And what exactly is the Nightstone? Other than the town's namesake obviously."

“When I arrived in the village, there was a massive chunk of obsidian here in the middle of the square. The cloud giants must have taken it away. That explains their attack better than anything else I can think of. Although I don’t know why they would want it.”

"It was a strange stone that use to fill that hole." Helena says, walking over to the hole in the ground. "It was a strange stone that had some magic in it. No one could figure out what the magic was for, and it was written off as an oddity, nothing more." She frowns down at the hole. "Must have had some significance to someone though, as digging it up, and taking it away, could not have been easy."

"So it was a strange stone with some kind of magic... If giants took it then I don't think it is worth trying to risk my life to find out." Daerthe mutters as she shrugs, moving to continue toward their destination.

Kella responds to Helena, "Perhaps it was not so difficult for the cloud giants. But I agree with this one (pointing at Daerthe) that any business of the cloud giants is beyond me. I would rather not have gotten mixed up in it." She starts to follow the drow toward the stables, then stops and adds, “I’ve just realized that I only caught two names, Ryndar and Bramble.” She looks at Helena and the others questioningly.

The drow gives the human a nod, seeming to like that she was being pragmatic about the situation. "You may call me D as they do."

Essie studies the spot where the stone had been with her head cocked to the side. Then she looks up at Kella's words and gives her another airy smile. "Most call me Essie," she tells her. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ah, yes." He bows his head slightly. "Ryndar Shadowsbane, City Guard 2nd Class, Faro Company." He winces almost imperceptibly as he says 2nd class.

He makes his way into the stable keeping an ear out for the remaining goblin while looking specifically for long boards or other material that might be used to reconstruct the bridge.

Pereception (as needed): 22
Investigation (as needed): 8

"I am Helena." Helena says with a nod. She will stand by the hole a bit longer, but then sigh and move on. She will go to the next nearest building and take a look inside. (What is near the stables?)

Kella nods at each as they introduce themselves.

Ryndar and Daerthe head over to the stables. As they approach, they hear the sounds of horses nickering within.  Opening the door, Ryndar scans the interior carefully. There is no sign or sound of goblins within. A boulder is embedded in the dirt floor right in the middle of the building and there is a matching hole in the ceiling above.

Fortunately, the boulder missed the several horses who move and whicker as they notice you entering: five riding horses and five draft horses in stalls that line the left and right sides of the barn. Their hay racks and water pails are empty. It occurs to you that no one has been here to give them food or water for a couple of days. There appears to be a good bit of hay bales up in the loft that wraps around the barn in a U shape above the stalls. Two ladders lead up to the loft. There are also bits, bridles, and saddles hanging on a wall.

Helena pauses by the hole in the middle of the square for a bit, then walks in the direction of a cottage that is about 25 feet south of the stables. As she approaches, she notices a boulder in the middle of a garden of some kind of leafy plants behind the cottage. She is horrified to see a body of a villager crushed beneath the boulder. An open gate leads into the garden in the northwest corner (closest to the square). She doesn’t see the door to the cottage, so she assumes it is on the east side of the building, opposite the village square.

Helena moves around to the door, checking to see if anyone is inside, if no one answers when she knocks, she will open the door and step inside, looking for any survivers.

The door to the cottage hangs open. While the building is undamaged, it has clearly already been ransacked by the goblins the day before. There is nothing of interest within. As Helena approached the door, she did notice two other cottages to the east and a bit further south. The first one has been partially crushed by a boulder, but the second seems intact. She is welcome to explore these, if she wants to travel further from her companions. (It would put her 70-100 feet to the southeast of the stables.) Another option would be to return to the square and head south to the trading post, the door of which is about 80 feet southwest of the stables. Or rejoin the others at the square or stables.

Helena sighs at the ransacked cottage. She returns towards the stables, then will move to the trading post to have a look there.

"Poor things, probably starving..." Ryndar will climb up to the loft and throw down a few hale bales to feed the horses. He'll then take the ladders out of the stables into the courtyard. "Found these, figured they might help with the bridge to the keep."

Essie drifts after Helena as the other woman moves toward the trading post. She's noticed that Helena isn't necessarily the best-protected, so she figures her and her own armor might suit for some sort of cover. She offers her a pleasant smile as she falls into step with her; she doesn't say anything, though. Her white eyes do keep scanning the area, but there's almost the sense of her being more amazed by the town rather than horrified by what's occurred.

Bramble will look to water the horses and sooth them as he does so. If he finds a pitchfork, he will also quickly muck out the stalls to try and clean up their living quarters. He will speak softly to the horses and apologize that there is not enough time to brush and walk them.

”I promise that someone will come and tend to you soon” he will tell each horse, in turn.

Sometime during all of this he will spin his idea of repairing the bridge to the keep.

Daerthe looks the horses over, wondering how well they would compare to the giant lizard like mounts her people used in the Underdark. With a shrug she moves to help with getting them fed. At the very least they would serve a purpose if she needed to travel. Once she learned the ins and outs of riding such a beast properly. "It seems the keep is the only place for us to still investigate."

Bramble does find a pitchfork to muck out the stalls as he talks soothingly to the neglected horses. Ryndar and Daerthe work to get the horses fed, with a few awkward moments due to their mutual disdain. Stigandr fills the horses’ water pails with water from the well. In about 15 or 20 minutes, they manage to improve the poor creatures’ situation significantly.

Meanwhile, Helena has finished checking the closest cottage and moves on to the trading post. Kella sees her go, announces “Too many cooks in the kitchen” to the group in the stables, and follows the wizard. Essie wanders after her as well. They all see the sign above the door, a circular blue shield with a stylized golden lion upon it, the symbol of the Lionshield Coster trading company. Upon entering the building, they find that once again, the goblins have made a mess of the place. The main room has a sales counter in the back and shelves along the walls that used to hold items for sale. Everything has been thrown on the floor as the goblins searched for valuables. There are broken jars, lanterns, crockery, and more strewn about with less fragile items. A door on the south wall leads to a small room with additional storage shelves and a cot. A quick glance around both rooms shows that the trading post offers many of the common items found in any general store. You may be able to dig through the shambles of the trading post and find items of use.