Lefaris you search the room. It is littered with zombie parts, some of them still twitching. The farmer has clearly been studying the monsters in the most gruesome manner. There are shelves filled with chemical flasks a few that you recognise :

• 2 vials of acid
• 3 potions of healing
• 1 Flask of alchemists fire

and two other strange vials that draw your eye due to the liquids within that swirl in a way that makes them seem almost alive. You recognise these as some sort of magical potion but would need time with them (or a high Arcana roll) to discern their use.

Chonk as there appears to be no objection you sweep the book into your bag without touching it. Almost as if in response the Farmer lets out a heavy sigh as you do so and the room seems to be less oppressive than before, though the body parts and bubbling cauldrons remain.

Chonk fastens the flap on the central pouch, shoulders the pack and returns to Farmer to see if he can lend aid. He keeps some distance, believing that the best medicine for their recovery might just be the closeness of Child.

Lefaris puts the potion bottles into her pack, then returns to the farmer as well. "How about we get him upstairs, maybe the light of day, or some more-homey surroundings would help him out a bit."

Sindri helps the farmer to his feet and they start back up the stairs with along with the rest.  She really wants to know what is going on with the sheep now that the book is secured.

Guroz is midway trying to calm Child with the subtle changes a forest takes on as it goes through the seasons, but the sound of the others coming up the stairs he says, "And look, here they are. Careful now, let them put him somewhere to rest first," the half-orc tries to advise.

As you get upstairs with the farmer, the child squeals with delight and runs over to hug him. He winces painfully and stumbles over to a nearby chair where he flops down exhausted. 

"Th..thank you." he says in a pained voice.

Sindri you walk up to the window and see a flock if slightly confused looking sheep milling around outside. The magical mutations seemed to have been dispelled. 

Lefaris moves to the window as well, glancing out at the sheep in the field. She tries to gage if they will need to be staying here at the farm this night or if they have enough time to get back to town.

Sindri breathes a sigh of relief seeing that the murdering sheep are no longer out there, and that they seem to have recovered back to normal.  She heads back over to the farmer to see if there is anything else she can do to help.  If he seems that he is able to talk, she asks "Can you tell us what happened?  What is that book?"

Chonk smiles at the happy reunion of Farmer and Child. He stands off to the side and when he hears that the sheep have reverted back, he starts to ponder.

The book had the power to transform Farmer up close and sheep from very far away. How did Child resist the corruption?

Although his smile remains, he looks at Child with some suspicion in the back of his mind. He will wait for Farmer to describe what occurred and only whisper his observation to the others if Farmer’s story doesn’t explain this oddity.

Lefaris make a nature check as you judge the time of day through the window.

The farmer takes a deep breath and pats his childs arm. 

"When the undead took my partner I became obsessed with stopping them. I bought strange potions and books from the travelling merchants and captured zombies and other monsters to experiment on them. Nothing was working and then I got my hands on the book. The merchant who sold it told me it came from the southern swamps and was the spell book of an ancient hag. They were glad to be rid of it and I went to work straight away to unlock its secrets."

The farmer sits up a little, some of the colour returning to his face,

"The secret it seemed was blood. At first I used the sheep, trying to transform them into beasts that would defend my daughter and my farm, but you saw how that worked out. I was desperate, I thought I could handle the madness of the transformation and then my daughter would be safe. I used my own blood in the next experiment and I could tell right away that I had made a mistake. The urge to attack and kill was overwhelming..."

A single tear runs down his cheek,

"So I locked myself away hoping the effect would fade in time..." he turns to his child, "I am so sorry."

Lefaris Nature check: 6
Lefaris wanders back to the farmer as she listens to his story, but stays quiet for now.

As Sindri listens to his story, she waits patiently until he is finished, then turns to the others.  She can see that Lefaris was looking out at the sky, possibly trying to determine time and says "Looking at some of you, you are need of rest.  Maybe we stay here tonight in case we come across wolves or something on the way back to the village?  Also, what should we do with the book?  Should we show it to the cleric when we get back?"

"I am against showing the book to the cleric." Lefaris says with a frown. "Letting them know the issue has been resolved, and letting the merchant know his beast was killed, is what I think we do. Bringing suspicion, and hard feelings, on this farmer would not be something I would wish to do, so keeping the book a secret, for now, seems best to me."

"Honestly? I think the cleric can help us destroy the book and whatever magic it holds, but it doesn't mean we have to be honest on where it came from... leaving it here, be it on us or somewhere 'secret', means something it's going to get some bright ideas," the half-orc turns to the farmer with an apologetic face, "with far less well-meaning intentions and let havoc all over the place. We don't need that."

Guroz then sighs heavily, "a rest would be very much appreciated."

Lefaris you estimate it is late afternoon but can not really tell if you would have long enough for the trek back to the village before nightfall. 

As you all speak of rest, the Farmer offers,

"You are all of course welcome to stay here for the night. The house is secure and there is food enough for all of us."

If you are indeed settling down here for the night, is there anything that you would like to do before the day ends?

Sindri likes the idea of just staying here for the night and get started early in the morning.  She makes herself at home and starts looking for some food.  As she does, she asks, "We've heard that your area's hero Steve has disappeared.  Anything you can tell us about him or his disappearance?"

Other than that, Sindri is good, not needing to do anything before a long rest.

Guroz would have help in away he can; dispose of the zombie parts, help move furniture or clear windows to make it more homely and not shelter to survive, retrieves logs for a fire and even simple cleaning to help the farmer and his daughter. A pang of guilt even raising the axe to the villager. Speaking of...

"Oh, uh, the child got us the greataxe, said it was yours. Did ya want it back?" the half-orc looks slightly awkward.

Apart from that, he's willing to settle and rest for the night. 

Lefaris would want to step outside, to see how the sheep react.
"Can one of you stand ready to open the door, and bar it again if needed?" Lefaris asks the others as she moves to the door. "I want to make sure the sheep are no longer a threat, but don't want to have to worry about opening and locking the door if I have to escape back in here quickly." If someone agrees, then she would step outside and see how the sheep react. as they attacked on sight before, she figures she can fairly quickly see if they are still infected or not. She leaves the door open, wanting a quick escape route if they are still hostile.

The plan is to have the door open for Lefaris to run back inside, with someone ready to slam it closed and lock it, just in case the sheep attack.

Sindri the child helps you in the kitchen as you prepare a meal for the others. The farmer hobbles through to answer your question about Steve.

"Never met the guy, but I hear he is a great hero. Something of a legend. Fighting monsters, clearing dungeons and just generally saving people." he chuckles, "I little like you all I guess."

He sits down at the table and grabs an apple, "From what I heard he was on some grand quest up north and just disappeared. Everyone expected him to just turn up again in South Haven with some fantastic story of his latest adventures, but the months passed by and there was no sign. Last I heard South Haven was planning a huge event to mourn his passing. Dont know much else really. We are pretty secluded out here."

Guroz your help is much appreciated and when the subject of the axe is raised the farmer shrugs it off, "You can keep it. I have another and its the least I can do after what you all did for us."

Lefaris you open the door and the farmer hobbles over ready to swing it shut. Thankfully the sheep are just sheep now and you are greeted with a curious BAAAAA as a couple of them look up to study you. You return inside and close the door behind you.

Anything from you Chonk before we end the day?

Chonk would like to assist in clean-up and airing out the house from the bad air. He’d also like to sit on the porch and appreciate the pastoral tranquility, whittling on his walking stick a bit, as the square sun gets lower in the sky and the shadows get longer. He’ll be studying his work on the stick and try to determine how long it will take him to create a proper quarterstaff out of it.

(Is there time to clean our bloody bedrolls and blankets and have them air-dry before nightfall? If so, he’d like to get that done.)

Over dinner, Chonk would be interested in hearing about the farm, its extents, its structures, who built them, the orchard and crops, and just how Farmer and Child can manage so much, etc. being very impressed by the whole operation. He’d also ask for information about up North and what Farmer knows about South Haven. He’d also like to know how the sheep survive overnight outside.