"Good point, Danae. I think we should consider the possibility that these abductions are more targetted that it would first appear, it would certainly help to explain why nothing but people and some livestock were taken. I wonder who the farmland of the abducted families would transfer to if they don't return for instance?"
Utar lets his question hang in the air for a moment.
"For now, let's assume that the abductions are tied to the river. When we check back at the inn later we can start to map this whole thing out, it might help us in trying to work out where these folk were taken or from where our abductors might strike next. Anyway, I'll check the barn this time if you all want to look over the farmhouse?"
Approaching the barn, Utar keeps a watch for clawed footprints, signs of forced entry and missing livestock.
Taroo only shrugs in response to Utar's pondering on regional inheritance law. These matters seem to be above the consideration of your average farmhand. Denae offers a guess, but explains she can't be completely sure: "Likely, some local minor lord, if there is one, would ultimately claim the land and pass it on to the next peasant family willing to farm it so close to the dangerous swamp." In case his opinion on the matter is of interest again, Taroo reinforces his ignorance with a second shrug.
Responding to Utar's second train of thought and Neya's own statement, Denae offers her own: "It was clever of you to link it all to the river itself. As I see it, so far, there is little else in terms of patterns unless you count all the footprints and signs of savagery against innocent folk." The Red Plume representative then follows Neya into the farmhouse.
(@Drache: You may reroll your check, accounting for help from Denae.)
Utar busies himself with the barn. First and foremost, the half-orc notices that the decayed wood barn is wide open. Additionally, hoofprints suggest that an ox was obviously led away down the path to the road and river. Nothing else in the barn catches Utar's attention.
With the others canvasing the farmhouse and barn, Doozey and Biscuit head for the fields to again repeat the process of calling out for hidden survivors. But when that all too likely leads nowhere, they quietly move on and circle the general vicinity of the farmhouse on a more passive search, before then eventually relinking up with the party and Taroo at the front.
"I wasn't entirely confident before, but this was certainly a more thorough and organized. So much so that there's not much point checking the other farm, as we'd only be wasting precious time."Doozey conveys, looks away thoughtfully for a second, and then nodding at some passing thought adds, "Taroo? You can handle reporting back to the old timer about our findings and confirmation, yea? If so, and if ya don't mind us borrowing some poles, we can either take the other boat we had attached to yours or follow the river by land. Either way, if we're gonna catch up to the lizards, every hour is gonna be important." The stoutling then sighed and scratched in annoyance at the back of his head. "Tch. Should've asked if he happened to have a map of the swamp -- a more local and filled out one that is! But then again, I s'pose there's not many cartographers that explore the marsh and come back alive, eh?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Neya takes a moment within the farmhouse but can only notice the general mess created by the abduction at first. Denea then calls her attention to something else, and Neya gets close to investigate. What she finds among the stuff on the floor is just a stick, but a smooth one... wait, this is a broken wooden drumstick! Before anyone can ask, Taroo volunteers his reaction: "The Alyins were no performers." Separately, and more generally, Neya also notices that the house no valuables in it.
Walking about the field, Doozey confirms what Taroo had mentioned a moment ago: it is only partially planted. Walking the farmhouse perimeter only results in uncovering more signs of a general struggle. No soul responds to Doozey's calls.
Satisfied with their findings in this farm, Utar suggests the CRAP should move on to the next one over, the Tralio Farm. Taroo begins to explain that the Tralios regularly dealt in livestock with the local farmers. As if on cue, you hear a "moo" coming from just over yonder.
Before the group can take any other steps, Doozey concludes that they might have seen enough already. Taroo pauses for a moment and answers the posed questions: "Hmm.. Yes, I can take my own boat back to Romsan and report back on our findings. You are welcome to take the keelboat further down the river if you'd like. And no, I haven't heard of any swamp maps." Taroo's answers is then punctuated by another "moo". The farmhand looks over his shoulder and pleas:"Well, I can go back to Romsan after checking on the cows. You are welcome to leave but I have to make sure they are okay. I watched the Trailo's farm when they traveled, or helped with the livestock. I miss them."
Neya presents the broken drumstick, "If nothing else, this may have given a hint on how to track the lizardfolk. Since this was here, it likely means the drums go with them. If we follow the drumbeats, we may find them."
Doozey nods to Taroo and thanks him in a small smile, prior to then turning to the others. "Perhaps, but we shouldn't count on that aspect to much. From what little I know of lizardfolks, they skew towards utility of recreation. So unless their some magic being woven in for some reason -- perhaps even to keep any prisoners subdued -- I can't imagine them playing them outside of ritual... or war." On that final note, the stoutling cupped his chin and furrowed his brow. "Which makes the fact that they played them at all during a raid more... curious. As it would've been more effective to take the farmers unaware."
After a moment or two, he exhales through his nose and shakes his head. "But I suppose we'll figure that one out easily enough once we've caught up to them!"As he's saying all of that and technically some time before, a much more concerned biscuit tilts his head slightly and raises an ear in trying to better read whether the cow was in distress or possibly only complaining about being fed.
If the former, he more insistently bounds towards them abruptly at some point, forcing Doozey to hold on to dear life and calling out for Biscuit to stop to little avail. If its the later case, the mastiff lets out an exasperated sound "Boof", before making ready to move on to the river once everyone seemed good to go.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
As the group digests Neya's latest finding, Biscuit's attention turns completely to the source of moos nearby. As if confirming Taroo's desire to go check on the Trailos' animals, Biscuit determines that the animal sounds are indeed coming from the direction Taroo was pointing toward. In his most recent episode of oblivious defiance, the tundra mastiff rushes toward the sounds, taking Doozey away from Neya, Utar, and Denae.
Thanks to Biscuit, Doozey soon finds himself at the farm he had judged to be a redundant crime scene. He clearly sees a number of cattle inside and outside of a large pasture (Doozey is still outside, unless Biscuit keeps rushing forward.) Part of the pasture’s wood fence along the trail from the road to the house is down. A big bull remains inside the fence, and watches anyone who walks by. One, two, three somethings shine on the bull's side, contrasting with the animal's coat. Taroo is still catching up to Doozey and Biscuit, but you can hear him scream in delight: "Ah, so you are coming to check on the cows too after all!"
Past the pasture, you see a farm that has much of the same layout and dimensions as the Alyin Farm. It is smaller in size than the Renon Farm, and it hosts a small farmhouse and a wooden barn.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Utar looks to Neya, then Danae. "Thought Doozey was for searching elsewhere," the half-orc shrugs before adding, "Best see what Biscuit has found, I guess."
Heading over to the last farm, Utar follows Biscuit and Doozey, but isn't so tempted to enter the paddock of the bull. Learning on the fence, he tries to identify what is caught in the animal's flank, and whether it might able to be removed.
Biscuit doesn't stop until he's hopped over the remains of he fence, and frankly by the time they reach that point, Doozey has given up trying to calm the mastiff down and instead hung on for dear life with amused smile on his face. But thankfully after that point, Biscuit has enough sense to finally stop and even back off if the bull started to look agitated. "For the record, Taroo. T'was not my idea!" Doozey called back with some lingering mirth to his voice.
His expression falters and turns all the more serious as he takes int he situation. The stoutling clears his throat, and after tracing a symbol in the air over his throat, even beasts would understand his next few words. "Sorry for disturbing you and all. But might we trouble you with questions about what happened last night."He says, directing his words mostly to the bull, if but to confuse him enough to hesitate. But he'd look to the other cattle present in the general area.
Doozey suddenly finds himself within the bull's enclosure. The creature looks irritated and defensive, which soon turns into an aggressive stance, including a few taps of a front hoof on the ground in preparation for a charge. As the halfling addresses Taroo, Biscuit begins to instinctively back up.
Rushing to catch up with the ranger, Utar (and others) arrive to a scene reminiscent of a dual that is about to start. Utar quickly takes in the scene and notices that the bull’s horns are caked with blood. There appears to be three small blowgun darts stuck in the bull's side, which have apparently failed to bring the beast down. Finally, a trail of blood leads back to the Farmer's Trail and all the way to the river.
Noticing the avoidable threat, Doozey quickly reacts by establishing communications with the beast ahead of him. The bull takes in the delivered message and responds in fractured language: "Invaders to my domain. Protect my family. You invade now. I protect always." Aggressiveness can be clearly felt in the bull's words.
(OOC: This assumes Doozey translates the bull's message to the rest of the group.)
@Neya: It seems to you that an attack is imminent, though Doozey appears to have bought himself a split second by showing the bull that he is able to communicate.
(@Ori: Please take a turn as if you were in initiative.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Whoa there, big one! Whoa! We'll leave, we'll leave."Doozey says, holding his hands up in placating gesture, before looking down to Biscuit. "Ain't that right, Brother?"The Tundra mastiff grumbles and at least began slowly backing away. "Was just try'na help... stubborn bull."He further grouses, eliciting a sigh from the stoutling. "I know boy, I know. But we've talked about this."Doozey affirm, earning some more grumbling out of the mastiff as he re-positioned himself to leap back over the fence.
"There we go! That enough? Ready to answer some questions?"He calls while giving the party thumbs up. Though even once back over the fence, Biscuit remains guarded and ready to move at the slightest provocation.
Movement(Biscuit): Back over the fence after a running jump.
Action(Doozey): Try to placate the bull with a 24. (Same bonus if animal handling would be more appropriate)
(OOC: Man... after playing drake warden in another game, I'm starting to appreciate more and more the freedom of beast/primal companion turn economy. Now if they can only do something about the level 7 feature for primal companion...)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
As Utar watches on, Doozey is sure to communicate his next steps not only to Biscuit, but also to the territorial bull. The bull advances tentatively, wanting to show dominance but also recognizing that Doozey and Biscuit are already backing away. "My territory. My cows. Stay away."
"Calm down, Frederick, calm down."Taroo pipes up. "They are friends." Taroo doesn't magically understand the creature, but it seems he has built some rapport with the lord of the local pasture here. The halfling and mastiff are sure to make no sudden movements, and the ranger adds some sweet talking to it too. Meanwhile, the boat punter produces an apple and offers it to the bull. He then nods at Doozey, indicating Frederick is calming down. Frederick confirms, finally responding to Doozey's proposition: "Questions? Ask questions."
"Might have to reconsider carrying different rations in the future,"Doozey had quietly commented while watching Taroo feed the bull. As amused as he was, the stoutling turned serious once more in seeing the bull, Federick, at last calming to the point of saying his piece. ["Do you remember last night seeing human sized lizard folk coming through the area? And if so, how did the humans here -- your humans, uh... how did they react? Did any of them act funny?"]
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Frederick elaborates as well as he can: "Yes. Scaly, evil, standing lizards. Loud thundering noises. Attacked my pasture. Took the humans who care for me and my domain. I protected. I harmed some. They pinched my side. I felt dizzy but stood fast. They bled and ran. If they come back I protect more."
Frederick still seems agitated to an extent. You all get a feeling that it might be best not to approach the beast. Even Taroo is avoiding the bull's enclosure.
"Good point, Danae. I think we should consider the possibility that these abductions are more targetted that it would first appear, it would certainly help to explain why nothing but people and some livestock were taken. I wonder who the farmland of the abducted families would transfer to if they don't return for instance?"
Utar lets his question hang in the air for a moment.
"For now, let's assume that the abductions are tied to the river. When we check back at the inn later we can start to map this whole thing out, it might help us in trying to work out where these folk were taken or from where our abductors might strike next. Anyway, I'll check the barn this time if you all want to look over the farmhouse?"
Approaching the barn, Utar keeps a watch for clawed footprints, signs of forced entry and missing livestock.
Perception - 16
"Perhaps we could also find out if these abductions occurred in any sort of recognizable pattern, we'll need to ask who was taken first." Neya says.
She goes tot he farmhouse and does her best to look for clues at this older site.
Perception: 4
Extended Signature
Taroo only shrugs in response to Utar's pondering on regional inheritance law. These matters seem to be above the consideration of your average farmhand. Denae offers a guess, but explains she can't be completely sure: "Likely, some local minor lord, if there is one, would ultimately claim the land and pass it on to the next peasant family willing to farm it so close to the dangerous swamp." In case his opinion on the matter is of interest again, Taroo reinforces his ignorance with a second shrug.
Responding to Utar's second train of thought and Neya's own statement, Denae offers her own: "It was clever of you to link it all to the river itself. As I see it, so far, there is little else in terms of patterns unless you count all the footprints and signs of savagery against innocent folk." The Red Plume representative then follows Neya into the farmhouse.
(@Drache: You may reroll your check, accounting for help from Denae.)
Utar busies himself with the barn. First and foremost, the half-orc notices that the decayed wood barn is wide open. Additionally, hoofprints suggest that an ox was obviously led away down the path to the road and river. Nothing else in the barn catches Utar's attention.
Finding nothing of particular note within the barn, Utar shrugs and head back to the farmhouse.
"Say this for them, they're consistent. Animals from the barn have been led away. There's one more farm down this way, best to go check on them too."
Perception (reroll tanks to help): 9
Extended Signature
With the others canvasing the farmhouse and barn, Doozey and Biscuit head for the fields to again repeat the process of calling out for hidden survivors. But when that all too likely leads nowhere, they quietly move on and circle the general vicinity of the farmhouse on a more passive search, before then eventually relinking up with the party and Taroo at the front.
"I wasn't entirely confident before, but this was certainly a more thorough and organized. So much so that there's not much point checking the other farm, as we'd only be wasting precious time." Doozey conveys, looks away thoughtfully for a second, and then nodding at some passing thought adds, "Taroo? You can handle reporting back to the old timer about our findings and confirmation, yea? If so, and if ya don't mind us borrowing some poles, we can either take the other boat we had attached to yours or follow the river by land. Either way, if we're gonna catch up to the lizards, every hour is gonna be important." The stoutling then sighed and scratched in annoyance at the back of his head. "Tch. Should've asked if he happened to have a map of the swamp -- a more local and filled out one that is! But then again, I s'pose there's not many cartographers that explore the marsh and come back alive, eh?"
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Neya takes a moment within the farmhouse but can only notice the general mess created by the abduction at first. Denea then calls her attention to something else, and Neya gets close to investigate. What she finds among the stuff on the floor is just a stick, but a smooth one... wait, this is a broken wooden drumstick! Before anyone can ask, Taroo volunteers his reaction: "The Alyins were no performers." Separately, and more generally, Neya also notices that the house no valuables in it.
Walking about the field, Doozey confirms what Taroo had mentioned a moment ago: it is only partially planted. Walking the farmhouse perimeter only results in uncovering more signs of a general struggle. No soul responds to Doozey's calls.
Satisfied with their findings in this farm, Utar suggests the CRAP should move on to the next one over, the Tralio Farm. Taroo begins to explain that the Tralios regularly dealt in livestock with the local farmers. As if on cue, you hear a "moo" coming from just over yonder.
Before the group can take any other steps, Doozey concludes that they might have seen enough already. Taroo pauses for a moment and answers the posed questions: "Hmm.. Yes, I can take my own boat back to Romsan and report back on our findings. You are welcome to take the keelboat further down the river if you'd like. And no, I haven't heard of any swamp maps." Taroo's answers is then punctuated by another "moo". The farmhand looks over his shoulder and pleas: "Well, I can go back to Romsan after checking on the cows. You are welcome to leave but I have to make sure they are okay. I watched the Trailo's farm when they traveled, or helped with the livestock. I miss them."
Neya presents the broken drumstick, "If nothing else, this may have given a hint on how to track the lizardfolk. Since this was here, it likely means the drums go with them. If we follow the drumbeats, we may find them."
Extended Signature
Doozey nods to Taroo and thanks him in a small smile, prior to then turning to the others. "Perhaps, but we shouldn't count on that aspect to much. From what little I know of lizardfolks, they skew towards utility of recreation. So unless their some magic being woven in for some reason -- perhaps even to keep any prisoners subdued -- I can't imagine them playing them outside of ritual... or war." On that final note, the stoutling cupped his chin and furrowed his brow. "Which makes the fact that they played them at all during a raid more... curious. As it would've been more effective to take the farmers unaware."
After a moment or two, he exhales through his nose and shakes his head. "But I suppose we'll figure that one out easily enough once we've caught up to them!" As he's saying all of that and technically some time before, a much more concerned biscuit tilts his head slightly and raises an ear in trying to better read whether the cow was in distress or possibly only complaining about being fed.
-Biscuit Insight: 19.
If the former, he more insistently bounds towards them abruptly at some point, forcing Doozey to hold on to dear life and calling out for Biscuit to stop to little avail. If its the later case, the mastiff lets out an exasperated sound "Boof", before making ready to move on to the river once everyone seemed good to go.
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
As the group digests Neya's latest finding, Biscuit's attention turns completely to the source of moos nearby. As if confirming Taroo's desire to go check on the Trailos' animals, Biscuit determines that the animal sounds are indeed coming from the direction Taroo was pointing toward. In his most recent episode of oblivious defiance, the tundra mastiff rushes toward the sounds, taking Doozey away from Neya, Utar, and Denae.
Thanks to Biscuit, Doozey soon finds himself at the farm he had judged to be a redundant crime scene. He clearly sees a number of cattle inside and outside of a large pasture (Doozey is still outside, unless Biscuit keeps rushing forward.) Part of the pasture’s wood fence along the trail from the road to the house is down. A big bull remains inside the fence, and watches anyone who walks by. One, two, three somethings shine on the bull's side, contrasting with the animal's coat. Taroo is still catching up to Doozey and Biscuit, but you can hear him scream in delight: "Ah, so you are coming to check on the cows too after all!"
Past the pasture, you see a farm that has much of the same layout and dimensions as the Alyin Farm. It is smaller in size than the Renon Farm, and it hosts a small farmhouse and a wooden barn.
Utar looks to Neya, then Danae. "Thought Doozey was for searching elsewhere," the half-orc shrugs before adding, "Best see what Biscuit has found, I guess."
Heading over to the last farm, Utar follows Biscuit and Doozey, but isn't so tempted to enter the paddock of the bull. Learning on the fence, he tries to identify what is caught in the animal's flank, and whether it might able to be removed.
Perception - 22
Medicine - 16
Biscuit doesn't stop until he's hopped over the remains of he fence, and frankly by the time they reach that point, Doozey has given up trying to calm the mastiff down and instead hung on for dear life with amused smile on his face. But thankfully after that point, Biscuit has enough sense to finally stop and even back off if the bull started to look agitated. "For the record, Taroo. T'was not my idea!" Doozey called back with some lingering mirth to his voice.
His expression falters and turns all the more serious as he takes int he situation. The stoutling clears his throat, and after tracing a symbol in the air over his throat, even beasts would understand his next few words. "Sorry for disturbing you and all. But might we trouble you with questions about what happened last night." He says, directing his words mostly to the bull, if but to confuse him enough to hesitate. But he'd look to the other cattle present in the general area.
-Using daily freebie of Speak with Animals with primal awareness.
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Doozey suddenly finds himself within the bull's enclosure. The creature looks irritated and defensive, which soon turns into an aggressive stance, including a few taps of a front hoof on the ground in preparation for a charge. As the halfling addresses Taroo, Biscuit begins to instinctively back up.
Rushing to catch up with the ranger, Utar (and others) arrive to a scene reminiscent of a dual that is about to start. Utar quickly takes in the scene and notices that the bull’s horns are caked with blood. There appears to be three small blowgun darts stuck in the bull's side, which have apparently failed to bring the beast down. Finally, a trail of blood leads back to the Farmer's Trail and all the way to the river.
Noticing the avoidable threat, Doozey quickly reacts by establishing communications with the beast ahead of him. The bull takes in the delivered message and responds in fractured language: "Invaders to my domain. Protect my family. You invade now. I protect always." Aggressiveness can be clearly felt in the bull's words.
Neya tries to get a read on the bull's intentions, is he waiting for Doozey to make a wrong move or is a charge inevitable?
Insight: 8
She will communicate it to Doozey either way, if able.
Extended Signature
(OOC: This assumes Doozey translates the bull's message to the rest of the group.)
@Neya: It seems to you that an attack is imminent, though Doozey appears to have bought himself a split second by showing the bull that he is able to communicate.
(@Ori: Please take a turn as if you were in initiative.)
Staying still at the fence line, Utar watches on, hoping the ranger can bring about a peaceful resolution.
"Whoa there, big one! Whoa! We'll leave, we'll leave." Doozey says, holding his hands up in placating gesture, before looking down to Biscuit. "Ain't that right, Brother?" The Tundra mastiff grumbles and at least began slowly backing away. "Was just try'na help... stubborn bull." He further grouses, eliciting a sigh from the stoutling. "I know boy, I know. But we've talked about this." Doozey affirm, earning some more grumbling out of the mastiff as he re-positioned himself to leap back over the fence.
"There we go! That enough? Ready to answer some questions?" He calls while giving the party thumbs up. Though even once back over the fence, Biscuit remains guarded and ready to move at the slightest provocation.
Movement(Biscuit): Back over the fence after a running jump.
Action(Biscuit): Defensive Posture.
Action(Doozey): Try to placate the bull with a 24. (Same bonus if animal handling would be more appropriate)
(OOC: Man... after playing drake warden in another game, I'm starting to appreciate more and more the freedom of beast/primal companion turn economy. Now if they can only do something about the level 7 feature for primal companion...)
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
As Utar watches on, Doozey is sure to communicate his next steps not only to Biscuit, but also to the territorial bull. The bull advances tentatively, wanting to show dominance but also recognizing that Doozey and Biscuit are already backing away. "My territory. My cows. Stay away."
"Calm down, Frederick, calm down." Taroo pipes up. "They are friends." Taroo doesn't magically understand the creature, but it seems he has built some rapport with the lord of the local pasture here. The halfling and mastiff are sure to make no sudden movements, and the ranger adds some sweet talking to it too. Meanwhile, the boat punter produces an apple and offers it to the bull. He then nods at Doozey, indicating Frederick is calming down. Frederick confirms, finally responding to Doozey's proposition: "Questions? Ask questions."
"Might have to reconsider carrying different rations in the future," Doozey had quietly commented while watching Taroo feed the bull. As amused as he was, the stoutling turned serious once more in seeing the bull, Federick, at last calming to the point of saying his piece. ["Do you remember last night seeing human sized lizard folk coming through the area? And if so, how did the humans here -- your humans, uh... how did they react? Did any of them act funny?"]
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Frederick elaborates as well as he can: "Yes. Scaly, evil, standing lizards. Loud thundering noises. Attacked my pasture. Took the humans who care for me and my domain. I protected. I harmed some. They pinched my side. I felt dizzy but stood fast. They bled and ran. If they come back I protect more."
Frederick still seems agitated to an extent. You all get a feeling that it might be best not to approach the beast. Even Taroo is avoiding the bull's enclosure.