Tess just follows along. She’s thinking about the dreams at the inn from the previous night.  

Randal hesitated on the stone bridge, staring off at the Living Tree Inn.  That would be where any visitors to the town stayed, especially wealthy ones, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to face Sier and the inn again just yet.

“Should we go check the stables by the trading post first?  Perhaps Mika is with the other horses.”

Tess looks at Leacy.  “It’s your call Leacy, we will go with you either way.  But we had a bit of a strange night at the inn the other day, which you remember is why we were with you.” she says. 

Lyla says nothing, waiting for Leacy to make the call. If the group continues to head to the inn though, she knows that as far as she can control it, she won't be going inside. 

Leacy stops and turns to face the three. She seems to be weighing the options for a moment, and she begins to argue. "We're already here, shouldn't we go in already?" However, given Tess' reminder, she acquiesces. "Right... okay. But, if we find no other clues, I'll come here eventually. With, or without you." She then begins to walk back, towards the shrines and the trading post.

On their way back, the group begin to see some people, though still only a few. Although those people walk in the same direction, they seem to be in no rush, and the group quickly passes any of them. When they get to the shrines, Leacy immediately approaches the building with the exceptionally wide door - the trading post. As they approach, everyone can see the small stable - larger than the one built by Leacy's house, but not significantly. Most likely, it was built to accommodate two to three horses, at most. When they get close, anyone can easily look into the stable, and see that the stalls are empty. Leacy approaches the door to the trading post and opens the door, walking inside. 

Anyone who follows Leacy inn finds themselves in what can only be described as a typical general store. The walls are lined with shelves, on which are various things. Vegetables, bags of flour, bags of different kinds of legumes... whatever a village might need to supply its residents with food, even in the desert. There are also many items, unrelated to food, that one might need. Clothes, baskets, candles and much more. On the other side of the room, there's a counter, behind which... stand no one. Behind the counter, there's a closed wooden door. "Tokvald isn't here?" Leacy asks herself in a barely audible voice.

“Hello- Tokvald? Are you around?  Tess calls out to try to be helpful.

Randal gives a small sigh when he notices the horses are not in the stable. “Empty” he says to the others “they must have stabled elsewhere or have already left town.” 

As they enter the trading post, Randal looks around the room at the display of goods and items on the shelves.

DM:

 At the mention of Tokvald’s name, Randal gives a wide grin to Leacy and Tess and moves to knock loudly on the door “At my last visit, he was arranging the storage room, perhaps there is more work to be done there.”

Lyla looks around for anything out of place - either any signs that Tokvald left willingly or any signs of a struggle.
(Perception if needed: 10)
She also moves back to the front door and looks outside to see if any of the other people that were walking have arrived near here yet, and if so, where they appear to be going.

As Randal knocks on the door, it opens. However, as he quickly realises, it was not opened by someone from the other side, but rather, the force of the knocking itself pushed the door open, as nothing held it closed. He hears a noise from inside, which is immediately followed by a movement. Before he even gets to react, however, a cat runs between his legs, out of the storage room, then out of the store. Other than that, no life seems to be in the storage room. The place seems tidily organised, however. 

Lyla cannot see any signs of struggle. Looking outside, she sees some more people have arrived. Some greet each other or stand and talk. Some continue past the shrines' area, further southwards. Most, however, begin the work on the festival. It is clear something is going to happen, but the place is still far from ready.

One person, in particular, catches Lyla's attention. It is not because he is merely in his late teens - about eighteen, she'd estimate - nor because of his normal, short black hair. Even his buttoned shirt isn't remarkable in any way. Rather, it is the fact he is running towards you, shouting: "Hey! What are you doing? I have not yet opened the post! How did you get in?" After a few more seconds, he arrives at the door, panting slightly. "You better have a good explanation for this." He attempts to appear threatening, though it seems like he's more likely to be afraid of you.

 Randal:

"Er, sorry, we thought it was open." Lyla gestures to the open door to indicate that it was unlocked. "Are you Tokvald?"

"And yes actually, we do have a reason for coming..." She trails off, looking to the group to allow Leacy to answer, or one of the others if they want to chip in first.

“Leacy is missing her horse.  We were hoping someone here might have an idea where it went.” Tess offers helpfully.

“Good morning!” Randal joins the others by the front door after hearing the discussion. “Apologies, we didn’t realize you were not open yet.”

He nods at the explanations given by Lyla and Tess and adds “We heard she arrived in company of two visitors with white horses and thought they may be stabled here.  Have you seen them?”

"Yes, I am Tokvald," he answers, "and the door should have been locked!" He glances to the door's lock, as if to make sure it's really there. The lock doesn't seem to have any faults, on a brief inspection.

"Ah!" Tokvald calls in surprise and alarm, after hearing everyone. "The horses! They're gone!" It seems he did not notice that before his attention was directed to that.

Tokvald looks at Leacy for confirmation of your words. She nods sadly in response. "They were sleeping at our house during the night," Leacy says quietly, "I would know if it were one of them."

Looking back into the store, Tokvald seems to notice something more, as he makes his way in. "The wares! Someone stole them. And the storage room too!" He adds once he sees the open door behind the counter. However, to any of the group, not much seems to be missing. At most, one would think some items were bought, and thus are no longer here. Shelves can't always be stacked. "What misfortune is this that befell me? Have I done something wrong? Oh Diev*, the just maiden, may you bring punishment upon the thieves!" He paces around the for a moment, trying to count something nervously on his fingers, but he seems to lose count after he reaches four, and must restart. "You!" He turns to the group. "I'll take Leacy's word that you did not do it. However, I need you to inform the owners of the stolen horses immediately. They were going to sleep at the inn, I remember. I have to assess the losses. If too much food was taken, we might have a problem."

*As a reminder, Diev is a variation of Tevek, one of the three major deities in the Human pantheon. In this variation, the god is a goddess, and that's more or less the only difference. Randal and Tess know that well, as this variation isn't uncommon. Lyla might remember hearing of it, if she can pass a DC 11 Religion check.

Religion check: 15

(Perfect roll!)

GM: 

 "Can you identify the items stolen?" Lyla asks Tokvald, in case a pattern might emerge revealing what the thieves were after. 

She worries that if horses and supplies were stolen, the thieves may have already fled from Rivulestice.

"Meanwhilst, Leacy, would you like to travel on ahead to the inn? We were planning to go there soon anyway, and perhaps we can save some time if you begin to sort that out so we can just meet you outside." Lyla decides she doesn't need to restate the other reasons for her reluctance to enter. 

“Good idea” Randal supports Lyla “Leacy, you can find the visitors and we will join you at the inn after we look around here for any additional clues.  I am going to start by checking out the stable.” 

Randal moves out to the stable and searches for any sign that can provide information on who stole the horses and how, including looking for halfling footprints, how the stable was secured, or any equipment left behind.

Perception: 17

Investigation: 5.

Leacy nods. "I'll wait for you on the bridge if I'm done before you come, but I won't wait for too long." She quickly turns and walks out of the building, and a few steps out of the store she's already running. Surprisingly, despite her short legs, she's rather quick, gone out of sight faster than anyone would expect. 

Tokvald looks in Lyla's direction for a moment. "Ah, sure I can!" He exclaims. "Potatoes, beans, one - no, two - flasks of oil..." He points out everything he claims was stolen. It seems none of what is missing was stolen entirely. Meaning, there is some of the same left. Perhaps in hopes that the theft would go unnoticed? It's hard to say anyone could tell there was a theft at all. Some items are missing, the bags can't always be full. "... and... ah yes, one red shirt. Most clothes that end up here are ones that ended up not fitting the size of the one they were meant for. Rather than let them get thrown away, we buy them. Sometimes, they can fit someone else. It was a rather small shirt - a child's shirt. But, most people don't wear red often - we see the colour all the time, some people want to see it no more. It lay there for quite some time." So, all in all, Tokvald mentioned some types of ingredients one could make food with, and the shirt. (In case it wasn't clear, he mentions a few other things other than what was explicitly mentioned, all of them fall into the category of food. If you wish, you can make a Nature check to try finding some connection between the stolen types of food.)

Randal:

"Strange. Probably not someone from around here then?" Lyla muses.

Nature check: 21

Randal returns to the shop and shares what he has learned with the others. “The lock was on the ground and no sign of the horses or any equipment.  I did find some of the same footprints we saw at Dromi’s.”

He looks over at Tokvald “What do you know of the owners of the horses, why did they come to Rivulestice?”  Randal pauses “Have you seen any smallfolk, any halflings about town?”

"Rich man, a Human, is all I can say." Tokvald answers. "He asked to leave his horses here for a few days and was willing to pay more than I would have asked for that. He was dressed well, but not extravagantly. I won't be surprised if he were just a servant or something like that. As for Halflings? Not in quite a while."

Lyla: