Quote from Nontyper >>

Fro also finds the mess discomforting.  It is not likely that a person into antiques, relics and lost lore would be disorganized.  She looks around the room, the trash on The floor, and at the belongings thrown everywhere.

Perception 11

Investigation 8

(  I think Fro is not here with us ;) But Ashton might be :) )

You all quickly realize, that the mess looks like someone recently trashed the place while searching it. But whatever the intruder was looking for, it was not just valuables as you see the complete explorer equipment of Urgon still on the ground. You see a silvered maul, a suit of splint armor sized for a dwarf, bulky, fur-lined clothing sized for a dwarf, a grappling hook and a hooded lantern among the books and other utensils on the ground.

Cabbart is the first to answer the questions directed at her:

"Me? No. I've never been in here before. And for Urgon ... " - she shakes her head and the helmet slightly shifts - " ... I did not know him. I might have seen him a few times, but if so, I would not remember as I never spoke a word to him. You see, me and my brother arrived here only five months ago and we were to busy getting into everything here and finally settle down. I fear, I cannot give you any information about Urgon or how he lived."

Still cold to the bones but finally getting the fire started with the cold but dry wood that was stacked near the fireplace and some tinder from her pockets, Mila turns around to you, to answer her part of the questions.

Pandora follows Carina in the hut. The chaos inside makes her pause for a moment. It also has the smell of death. She bends down next to Carina and trys to sort the mess: Perception 16.  

Pandora has a keen eye and among the mess she spots some barely visible wet footprints, leading to one of the windows.

Carina listens closely to Cabbert and Mila, not doubting their sincerity.  When they are done, she murmurs:

"Thank you both, truly.  Sadly, I'd say you do have a problem with thieves in this instance at least.  Someone has clearly ransacked this hut.  Searching for what, exactly, I cannot say.  Perhaps my companions may find something I've missed.  You don't remember seeing anyone lurking nearby, do you?"

She wants to investigate the mess on the floor further, the books, the weapons.  Why would the intruder leave behind a fine weapon such as this silvered maul?  But she is still shivering just from the short walk from Elro's home and her mind is not in it.  She quickly joins Mila by the fire. (Investigation:  4)

Pandora follows the wet footprints and checks the Window. (Investigation: 20)

She asks Mila "Did you saw anything unusual while your shift? Or did something strange happens? Anything?"

As Pandora follows the steps, that lead to the window above Urgon's bed, she finds one wet footstep under the blanket. This one is well enough visible to identify it as a footstep from a dwarf. As she looks up to the window, she finds that one side of the window is slightly splintered. By the color and shape of the splinters, these are very fresh and recent marks. As she tries it, the window is unlocked. Possibly broken up with a crowbar or something similar. Looking outside the window, she finds little holes and a path in the snow on the ground outside. More footsteps, probably, but they are already getting covered from the upcoming blizzard. However, given the weather conditions, the intruder must have been here a short time ago. Maybe while Mila was having her supper, two or one hour ago.

At this point, Mila answers the questions put to her by Carina and Pandora.

"No, there was nothing! Do you really think this mess has been done with me standing outside?"

She looks around.

"Look, there are all kinds of cooking utensils on the ground. I swear, I would have heard that falling down, if someone would have rampaged in here like that."

Carina shuffles through the things on the ground with her outstretched foot while standing there with arms crossed and her cloth pulled tight to overcome the shivering cold in the cabin. Sadly, this is not enough to bring up anything new.

"Sorry Mila. I did not mean to discredit you, of course! Please apologize my roughness." says Pandora a little bit chagrined. 

After looking the traces on the window, she goes to the small fireplace and sits down. The flames are reflected in her eyes. So a dwarf came recently in trough the window. What he was looking for? Not the valuables - obviously. 

"If someone breaks in hoping to find something... Urgon might have secrets that he keeps from others. If i look around. I don't think Tulgi has something to do with it. Maybe she caught it unnoticed. If you ask me, i think Urgon is patient number 0. The source of disease." she says while staring in the flames.

Quote from Rubikow >>

Quote from Nontyper >>

 

(  I think Fro is not here with us ;) But Ashton might be :) )

 Of course.  Sorry

Ashton sees Pandora check the window and say something about someone breaking in.  He goes to the window and looks out (guessing he saw the same thing she did). 

perception 20 (game Log)

  "Hey, do we need to follow these foot prints before they disappear in the snow? Elmira, your a ranger, do you think you could follow them?"

He looks at Cabbard and Mila.  "We may need some of this equipment to follow the tracks, can you let Elro know what we took and will return or pay for it later."

He grabs the Maul, and the grappling hook.  "Does anyone need fur or Armor, I can't wear it, Im too tall. Can I get someone to carry the lantern in case we need it."

He then flips through the utensils and other  debris on the floor one while he is picking these things up.  Investigation : 3 (game log) (particularly the Maul and the lantern) 

(OOC: added maul and grappling hook to equipment)

(I rolled investigation to see if I could see exactly what Pandora saw. I rolled survival for the tracks... well. I rolled a 3 (2+1), then an 8 (1+7) LOL.)

"In this weather, it seems like it will be impossible..." Elmira squints trying to see where the tracks lead.

Pandora walks next to Elmira and take a look at the tracks (Survival: 15). 

"Maybe there is a chance!" she says with a little bit of hope in her voice. She turns around to Ashton and says "I can carry the lantern." as she holds out her hand for it. 

As they prepare to leave, Ashton turns to Mila.  "I have no problem with you being in the house staying warm, actually I think it is a good idea. No one would dare come in with you here.  But please try not to interfere too much with the scene.  We may need to come back and search again.

With that he hands Pandora the lantern and says.  "Lead the way, we really need to get started if were not to lose the trail."

Mila nods at Ashton on his request to take some of the equipment with him.

"Yes I have a good memory. Just take what you need with you. Poor Urgon won't need it anymore and from what I know of him, I bet he would like to support your investigation. I will tell Elro what you took and you can talk to him about it later."

Ashton quickly bows down on this and grabs what he can get, trying to investigate the items on the run, but he cannot find anything special in the hurry and the dim light of the small fire inside fireplace.

Elmira seems a bit excited about the whole experience but draws her conclusions a bit too fast as she predicts, that following the trail might be impossible in this weather. She also misses most of the details, that Pandora stated before, but as Pandora steps next to her, the elf has a better sense for the situation at that point. There might be a chance to follow the foot steps outside yet. But using her survival knowledge, Pandora realizes something else: If those are foot steps of a dwarf, they are just a bit to close to each other. As if the person would walk ... extra slow? With smaller steps than usual?

Cabbart meanwhile nods at the request of Ashton, not to mingle with the crime scene.

"I just learned that from my mentor! He told me the same. At a crime scene, one has to be aware of everything, but without touching too much."

(OOC: I hope that means we are headed up the trail).

(OOC: yes, I was just waiting to see if everyone is coming with you. Will Elmira and Carina join the others as they follow the trail?)

Carina brightens as she learns that Pandora has found the trail.  Or at least a trail.

She stands and stretches once more, before following.  Leaving the warmth of an inviting fire for the second time today, she thinks ruefully...

"It's not clear what the burglar was looking for, is it?  Certainly not weapons, books or food," she muses to the others.

I nod and follow the others in their trail. I cast Light on my pendant to help the others keep track of the trail. "When we come back to the cabin, I'll bring the light. Maybe we may have miss something back there. We also need to find out who Urgon's closest ally or even a rival. Oh, and let me know if you need some heavy lifting out here. I can help with that." 

With that the members of party wrap themselves back in their coats and other clothes as good as they can. The walk out into the inclement weather again and surround the hut a bit to reach the window and the trail. It really is a bit hard to see with all the snow swirling around, but it is a good trail nonetheless. You all follow it into the woods behind the house where the wind is not that strong anymore since the trees are trying to keep it at bay here. As a result, the trail is much more visible here and you all have no problems following it other than stepping through the knee deep snow.

The foot steps turn a bit and lead back to the village after some minutes. As you step out of the small forest again, you can see another cabin, much like Urgon's. This snow-covered cabin looks peaceful and quiet from the outside. Its windows are shuttered, and a steady stream of smoke piping out of the chimney indicates a roaring fire within. The footsteps lead around it and stop at the front door.

(Would it be possible to move the window shutters in the front or a side of the building to peek in? Most shutters are external, I think. Do these tracks make it seem like the person or people walking took a roundabout way home?)