Both of the Giant Rats lay dead. The smaller rats have cleared the cave.

(infernal) 

 kaladin visibly shudders as he drops the spell

"i w-wasnt expecting the d-drop afterwards" he comlpains but quickly regains his composure

Beryl eyes the tiefling suspiciously and takes a step backwards. Just who were her rescuers? Rivals of whoever abducted her? Had she just been rescued from the fox by the wolf? She looks around, but isn't sure where she was dragged here from. Maybe back that way?

"I don't suppose any of you saw my gear? Leather armor, a staff, a shield, a backpack? I can collect my things and be on my way." She adds with an attempt at being casual, "Which direction are you headed?" 

Pru looks at Beryl, sizing up the dwarf, then smiles.

"There's another cave a little ways back along this path," Pru says. "Some very spunky but ultimately useless bandits had it as a hideout. I think there was a bunch of gear lying around in there. Might be your stuff."

She then nods down the other direction of the pathway.

"A couple of kids were abducted yesterday and our best guess so far is that they were taken this way."

She pauses and puts a serious look on her face, but breaks it when she blows loose strands of hair away.

"Might be a nasty necromancer type up in the manor house. We could use another set of hands."

She then turns back to Aranor.

"You elves are awfully beautiful to look at with all that flawless smooth skin," Pru whispers. "But we're going to have to toughen it up some. Can't have a knight getting riled up about being errant instead of errant."

Beryl takes a deep breath and then flashes a quick grin. This is exactly what I left home to do! , she thinks to herself.

"Missing kids and necromancy. That's a bad combination. I'm a woodcarver by trade, but I've gotten some training from a druid." Her brown skin gets a little rosy and she shuffles her feet.

"If there's a necromancer, that's got to be eliminated, and even if not, the missing kids have to be found and returned to their families. Let's get my gear and go find some kids!"

Pruecy skips along, leading the way back to the other cave. Hoping from foot to foot, plucking at the strings on her lyre as they go. A few lyrics float out as she tinkers with a tune.

"Buddy, you're an old man, poor man
Pleading with your eyes, gonna get you some peace someday
You got mud on your face, big disgrace
Somebody better put you back into your place, do it."

The high elf colors a bit at the halfling's remark, try as he might to disguise it. He cleans his blade of rat blood, doing his best to adopt an unconcerned, nonchalant demeanor, but nothing can hide the telltale blush that had crept into his pale cheeks. 

He focuses on the dwarven woman, Beryl, and for a moment feels like a giant. Maybe their next companion would turn out to be a gnome. Then this ridiculous mission would really be complete. At least the tiefling isn't short, a bit importune perhaps though.

"Time is wasting. The sooner we find the missing children the better," he says to his newfound companions. "Let's get your gear and be off."

You make your way back to the cave where the bandits were held up. The sun starts its morning rise. The air is damp due to the previous days rain, but it seems to be warming up. Beryl grabs her gear and adjusts. As you make your way back again, the road turns north and you start climbing the slight incline. As you approach close to the top of the hill a deer darts out from the words to your left.  Stopping briefly,  it stares at you then darts across the road and disappears.

As you breach the top of the hill, you can see the rundown dilapidated manor. As you make your way up the road, a large marble fountain comes into view. From this distance, you can tell the craftsmanship making it was solid work. As you get closer, you can see the weather stains around the marble. The fountain seems to be flowing well. As you get to the fountain, something seems out of place. The water flowing in the fountain  is clear. No signs of dirt, twigs or leaves can be seen. It's as if someone has been taking care of the fountain. It stands out from the other worn out buildings. To your left is a small storage silo. To the right is a fairly large stable with a partially collapsed roof. 

Pru stops near the fountain and takes in the grounds of the manor.

"Isn't this quaint?" she says to the group. Then points at the fountain. "Trap? Or someone really just likes the fountain?"

She checks the ground for any signs of tracks or footprints.

Perception: 8  

Pru shuffles around a bit. There are tracks going in all directions. Problem is, you're unsure how fresh they are. 

Beryl looks around, inspecting the various tracks. Which ones are most recent? Is there anything that seems to be from the last day? What kind of tracks are there - human, animal, vehicle? 

Survival: 6

Upon further inspection, Beryl is able to determine that there are tracks from within the last few days headed to all 3 buildings. The majority however, seem to lead into the manor, followed by traffic to and from the stables. Only a few sets of tracks lead from the manor to the storage building.

"Perhaps we should investigate the outbuildings before entering the manor proper?" Aranor suggests.

He moves toward the storage silo and examines the door, checking to see if it is locked.

Pru follows Aranor over to the storage silo, her lyre hanging in one hand and her rapier in the other. She keeps watch while Aranor checks the door, circling around the silo as she does, coming back to where Aranor is.

Perception to keep watch: 21  

The door to the silo is ajar. Upon slowly opening it, you can see that it littered with broken crates, sacks, some covered in mildew and animal droppings. It looks as if someone were recently going through the objects inside, as a lot of the dust and cobwebs have been stirred up.

Pru, rapier and lyre still in hand, slips under Aranor's arm and into the dusty silo. She does a quick look around for anyone, and up to make sure there isn't a giant spider lurking above and then takes a look at anything that might still be of interest in the broken crates and sacks.

Perception: 16  

Aranor didn't expect Pru to duck under his arm, and he startles a bit before recovering himself. He sheepishly follows her inside the silo.

"Spot anything?" he asks. 

Beryl remains outside, keeping watch against anything that might take offense at their prying.

In case it's needed, Perception: 18

Hmm. Beryl seems completely fascinated, even mesmerized, by that fountain.

Searching through the silo,  you find loose copper coins totaling 20CP. Everything else has been gone through, broken and thrown around. You can see scratch marks on the floor that looks like animals were digging for food. 

You noticed Beryl outside, she can't take her eyes off the fountain. It's as if the clear water has a mesmerizing power. She walks around it, tracing the intricate lines of the stone work.