Tuuli steps inside, and is easily able to survey the entire interior from her new vantage point, as it is so small - a compact kitchen (which Lucky saw moments earlier) and a small bedroom lay off the main living room. The house is unoccupied. The accumulation of dust makes it clear no one’s disturbed the rooms for some time. Shards of window glass are spattered with dried blood.

Tuuli looks up from her investigation, “I don’t think there’s anything here. We should check another farmhouse, I guess?”

Walt pops his head into the room and nods his head in agreement. He will follow the group wherever they head to next. 

Along the way, he will observe the surroundings looking for people, threats or perhaps any animals in the area. Perception check: 10.

(Ooc: If he see’s an animal he would like to cast the ritual speak with animals and ask the beast if there are any people in the area? And so, where are they?)

"What about that?" Baldar points to the dried blood on the window glass. She tries to determine if the blood came from something coming in or going out of the window.

Investigation 12

“Well, I mean, yeah, there’s blood,” Tuuli says. “I meant there’s nothing else, and I don’t think there’s anything to explain the blood.”

;)

The farmhouse appears as if it were suddenly abandoned - personal effects lay about, even a few copper coins, but nothing of apparent value.

The blood on the glass is brown and old and is scattered both inside and outside the house. One window appears to have been shattered when something inside burst out through the window into the grass, but the other windows show unclear evidence.

As the party proceeds to the second house, Walt finds a complete absence of any animals save a handful of distant crows which depart into the air before you can get even remotely close to them.

The second house is much like the first – quite small and utilitarian. Like the first, its front door is wide open, and a large muddy red X is crudely painted on the exterior.

Tuuli will check this house out, too, as will Lucky, sniffing in the corners.

Tuuli Perception: 10 for noticing things she can see, noting stuff
Tuuli Investigation: 21 for looking at the details of what she can see (but not for finding hidden things she didn't see, IMHO, ymmv)

Lucky sniffing-based (so Adv) Perception: 17+3=20

(Um, I rolled 2d20 and the Game Log roller added them up, instead of displaying them both. Still getting the hang of this. They were 17 and 6 so I took the 17.)

The interior of the second house is very similar to the first. It, too, is abandoned, most of the windows broken, the last residents' possessions mostly untouched. (Some are scattered on the floor, as if from a brief scuffle.)

In the main room of this house, however, a strange image has been painted on the wall with red mud – an intentional pattern of repeating red hand prints. 

The house is otherwise unremarkable. Lucky finds nothing olfactory of note.

Further to the east you see another small house similar to this one, marked with another red X. To the north, there is a larger home with a wraparound porch. (There are seven widely-spaced buildings altogether. You began with the westernmost one.)

"Maybe the larger one?" Tuuli points.

Walt stands in the main room, transfixed by the pattern of repeating red hand prints on the wall. He drops to one knee and begins rummaging through his pack. While he searches he calls out to Tuuli and says "Yes, that sounds good...but first, have a looksy here. What do you make of these hand prints?" 

Walt digs out an ink pen and parchment and crudely draws a replica of the pattern.

(DM: What does this pattern look like?)

It looks random, yet intentional – an even distribution of red, muddy prints. Not bloody prints, but rather something like reddish paint mixed with mud, maybe.

Walt looks at his attempt at replicating the pattern and he's ashamed. He never fancied himself an artist. He puts his pen and ink away and allows his parchment to dry. Then he has a thought. He digs out the crumpled piece of parchment featuring Kianna's sketch of the child struggling to swim in water. His eyes dart back and forth from the parchment to the walls, trying to make any sort of connection.

Investigation check: 7

Walt swears to himself in orcish. He can't seem to make sense of anything. Frustrated with the entire situation, he packs up his things and heads out of the room.

"Never mind what I said. let's get going." 

"It was a good idea to make a copy of it, Walt. We might not understand the pattern now, but it surely does mean somethin'." Baldar says to Walt, meaning to sound reassuring, but a slight waver in her voice indicating how deeply unsettled she is by everything in this place. What if they were too late? Hefting her axe once more, she leads the way to the larger house pointed out by Tuuli.

This large farmhouse appears abandoned like the smaller houses around it, but no X marks it. Farming implements lie abandoned in the mud, and wild plants have grown up to the house’s faded wooden porch. The crops in the surrounding field appear sickly; wheat and corn struggle to grow. The house’s yard is muddy red clay. Several rusty shovels and rakes lie scattered about. (Image modified from an original by @Nesimna_ .)

As the group walks towards the large house, they stand in silence, seemingly plotting their next move. Walt breaks the silence.

"Well. No red 'X', as far as I can tell. That's good news...I hope" says Walt in a low voice, barely above a whisper. "I'm going to take peep around the left side. I'll keep my distance."

Walt will sidestep to his left, to the far bottom left corner of the map. Along the way, he will scoop up a handful of hefty stones to refill his possibles pouch. When he gets into position, he'll lean in and take a peek at the structure. He doesn't see much and looks towards his friends and gives them a shrug of the shoulders.

(DM: Is this a single level structure? And are the windows on the left side covered by wooden shutters or drapes?)

Walt carefully advances to the corner of the porch, collecting stones along the way. It is a single-story farmhouse – bigger than the others but still modest in size.

The large wooden porch wraps around the front and side. Closed curtains shroud the two windows that Walt can see, but he notes that the two doors to the interior are ajar.

The porch is empty; all is quiet.

Tuuli glances down at her kitten, who blinks at her, then scampers towards the porch and the open door. When he gets there Lucky sniffs cautiously at the opening. Tuuli puts a hand on Baldar's shoulder to steady herself as she closes her eyes and her hair wafts.

Lucky Perception via nose (so Adv) at the door: 10 or 19 +3 = 22

Tuuli is perceiving through her cat's senses. If Lucky notices something by sniffing that would suggest he should not go in, he won't go in. Otherwise, he will sneak through the opening...

Lucky Stealth for sneaking into the house: 6 +4 = 10

Lucky pokes his head in the gap in the door and takes a good sniff. The air smells stagnant and musty – and worse, there are hints of rot, of something dead. 

Inside he sees an empty hallway, with two closed doors on either side. The hallway opens left and right at the end, where a third closed door is partially visible. The walls are old and stained.

Lucky takes a step back, further out onto the porch, and shakes his head to clear the smell.

Tuuli comes back to herself, squeezing Baldar's shoulder. "He smelled dead things, rot. That's not a good sign."