Hex nods at Auriel. "Sounds like a plan then." She's ready to head off whenever everyone else is ready. Since she's the one who spoke to the villager with the dead livestock, she's probably the one who will lead the party to his farm, unless that villager is still around and can take them with him instead.

Sylyra is disappointed they can't question Rerk, but is ready to leave whenever everyone else is.

With the plan decided, Auriel walks up to the signpost to pick up the halberd he left leaning there. As he does a quick check of the weapon's status - more out of habit than real necessity - he lets out a tired sigh. The day had been exhausting enough before questioning the villagers and finding Rerk, and there was still work to be done. The eladrin can't wait to have a good night's trance and disconnect from everything for a while.

OOC: The villager is still around and willing to direct you to his farm. Just making sure I have the order of events correct before I resolve, the intent of the party is to follow the farmer to investigate his livestock first, and then go to Halvin's place afterward?

(yep)

Carl takes the bone pin and puts it away in a pocket for further study later.  He grunts in acknowledgement and heads after Auriel, Hex and Sylyra, following along and contemplating Rerk.

OOC: Added the bone pin to Carl's inventory.

The weather is still inclement as you leave Kabel's Hill, raining heavily with intermittent lightning and thunder. The drunken farmer is all too happy to lead you to his farm on the outskirts of town, but the weather sobers him up quickly and he spends the walk in silence, leaving only the sounds of livestock, rain and thunder to accompany you. The smell of freshly turned earth from the rain mixes with the farm's manure as you arrive, and he leads you around the back of a shabby barn.

"Here you go," he says. "Now you tell me the fey ain't what caused this."

Three cows lay piled near some scrub brushes that surround a large outcropping of rock too big to remove from the farmer's field. Each in various stages of rot, they have all been torn open and it's obvious that large portions of the carcasses are gone, having been carved off with a knife.

A few carrion birds fly away at your arrival, squawking in disapproval at your intrusion.

Carl looks at the ground leading up to the carcasses for any foot prints, examines the wounds to look for what may have done this.  “How do you know it was fey….”

Investigation : 18

Quote from BartyMcDougal >>

 "Here you go," he says. "Now you tell me the fey ain't what caused this."

At this, Auriel snorts. "Anyone could have caused this.", he itches to say, "Anyone coming here at night armed with knives and with enough time. They wouldn't even need to be extremely silent, taking into consideration how deeply you must sleep after drinking your fill at the tavern."  But instead of saying that he chooses to look away, trying to find better words and looking to remove his nose and eyes from the dead animals, even if only for a few seconds. When the eladrin looks again at the farmer, he asks:

- When did this happen exactly? And what reason would the fey - "or anyone that could have taken a disliking to you", he thinks - have to punish you? Halvin, or Rerk and the others, that's one thing. But why would you be targeted specifically? (ooc: Insight 13)

As the man aswers, the paladin joins Carl trying to look for any kind of trace or footprint, even if it's probable the rain has left the soil unreadable. He also wonders what must have been the entry point the attackers used to reach the cows (the outcropping of rock itself? or is there any fence they would have needed to climb?) checking that, too.

Are there any still-living animals around? More cows? A dog? Cats? Chickens?

Hex sighs as the farmer accuses the fey. From what they've seen, barely anything points to them being the ones to kill the livestock. The only thing that is certain is the fact that they've been carved open with a blade.

Seeing as Auriel and Carl are already investigating the carcasses and looking for clues, Hex stands by the farmer, simply keeping a look out in case whatever killed the livestock may still be nearby.

“How do you know it was fey….”

The farmer waves toward the carcasses, exasperated. "You must not be seein' what I'm seein'. It'd be a real demented fellow who cuts up cows like this. An' for what? No, it was the fey sendin' a message."

"When did this happen exactly? And what reason would the fey have to punish you? Halvin, or Rerk and the others, that's one thing. But why would you be targeted specifically?"

"I found 'em like this this mornin'," the farmer says. "They're punishin' me for what everyone else did, but I didn't do nothin'! Wasn't me what went trollopin' through their woods, disturbin' their peace."

Examining the dead cows, Carl and Auriel find a small puncture wound on each one, as if from a stinger. The area around the wound is swollen and discolored, clearly by poison. Aside from that, the cows are completely mutilated, but much of their meat is missing; it's as if someone butchered them for the meat but had no idea exactly how to do so.

Without dozens of villagers trampling the ground nearby, they also discover very small, clawed tracks intermingled with blood. These tracks are accompanied by nearby marks that indicate something may have been dragged away. The tracks lead in the direction of the Quivering Forest.

For Auriel:

OOC: There are no other living animals in this vicinity, but you saw plenty of living livestock and farm animals on the way here.

Sylyra furrows his brow at the lack of any witnesses. "Are all of your cows accounted for in this pile?"

@DM: How far away from the quivering forest is the farm?

Auriel doesn't know what to think. On the one hand, he may have been to hasty judging this farmer, but at the same time, the scene strikes him as a bit strange. As he is crouched next to Carl examining the bodies, he mutters:

- ...so these cows were attacked by a creature with a stinger and clawed paws. Very small clawed paws. Too small for any creature that could then drag away all that meat? - he shares a look with the dwarf, wondering if he also finds this odd. He then stands up and calls for Sylyra, Hex and Uragum to ask what they think. - Can you think of any creature that matches all these features? And it should be able to use a knife, or we would have found another set of footprints?

As he mentions this to the party, the eladrin looks directly at the farmer, trying to sense any reaction to what they are saying.

Sylyra tries to think of any creature that matches Auriel's description.

Hex raises a brow at Auriel. "A small creature with a stinger and clawed paws that can use a knife? That's... not what I was expecting at all." She cocks her head to the side as she tries to think if she knows any creature that fits the description.

The eladrin shrugs as an indication that he feels the same as the tiefling. He will also try to match this scene to any creature native to the Quivering Forest he may have heard of, but will pay more attention to the farmers reactions. He doesn't fully trust anything the man said (nor shown) just yet.

OOC: Kabel's Hill is only an hour or two away from the forest and the farm here is just on the outskirts of Kabel's Hill, so you're still within a couple hours of the forest.

"Are all of your cows accounted for in this pile?"

"All of 'em? Goodness, no, a lot of the heifers we passed on the way here are mine. But they sure ain't coming around here for a while," the farmer answers.

OOC: None of the characters know exactly which creature might fit is being seen here. Auriel would know of a few fey creatures within the Quivering Forest that could match a smaller size like this, but as most of those can fly, it would strike him as odd to see footprints like this.

As the companions shake their heads, Auriel stares once again at the clawed footprints. That's when he realizes another odd detail about the scene.

- Im mael hain. - He mutters, still looking at the bodies, then fixes his stone grey eyes at the farmer, repeating in Common  - This doesn't make sense. - The eladrin starts walking towards him as he keeps talking - Fey creatures this small are mostly able to fly and wouldn't leave any footprint. - When he is standing just in front of the farmer, Auriel looks straight into the man's eyes - Listen. We have come a long way from Phlan. We have had a long day, are tired and still need to check Halvin's house. And we need to do that in order to gather useful information to find your missing neighbours. So stop wasting our time. Do you have any real clue pointing to the fey of the forest - other than those footprints that may as well have been faked to simulate a fey attack - or not? 

The paladin falls silent for a few moments, before he speaks again.

- I come from the Feywild. The elves of Quivering Forest sheltered me and my family when we needed it most. I'm all too close to taking it personally whenever your people try to pin any of your problems on the fey without proof. 

Sylyra can appreciate Auriel's approach, but he sidles up beside Hex and says quietly to the tiefling, "It's possible some of the other cows may have witnessed what happened here. I could travel back and question them." He looks over at Auriel, but continues to Hex, "Unless we really think the paladin is going to scare the farmer into revealing something valuable."