As he empties and cleans the glass that the barmaid returned from the table, Calwit says 'Hmm, not sure I have, he only came up once earlier to order quickly then sat straight back down again, and his voice was...nondescript, to say the least. Sounded tired and fed-up, though really it was closer to being entirely emotionless, so there's little I can say on that.' He scratches the back of his head awkwardly and mutters 'Sure hope I didn't lose a customer with all my blathering, though I'll keep an eye out to see if he returns, though there aren't many features to pinpoint about him!' He laughs once more, trying to bring some humour back into the room in his classic fashion.

While waiting for the group to return and the carriage to arrive, Abishai strikes up a conversation with Wendell. "The inscription above the door says Mahogany House 1254. Not as interesting as I initially suspected, but still nice to know, I suppose. Any clue what the number signifies? Perhaps the address number, or year the home was built."

Abishai then asks Wendell if he'd like to take a walk around Brimbul's property. Specifically, Abishai is looking for all entrances/exits and unattached buildings on the property.

Perception: Nat 20+5=25

“Sssenile adventurerssss popping offf… I could let imagine a more sssssatisfying glimpsssse Into a future I would wissssssh to avoid….

if only to know the thing worssssse than death….. thisssssss mission is worthy of our time” 

Ssha toys as he observes the room, injecting the facts as he listens… fluffy and colorful was his interpretation… like a bit cuddly thing… his serpentine mind assumed it was warm blooded by the fuzz, and wondered what bring into its neck while it still lived and wrapping his tail around it to breaks the bones might be like..

They run into Ssha as they exit, his form slithering through the streets toward them…

”find anything interest so far?” 
He doesn’t notice the cloaked figure bump by him, but perhaps in the future might recall the moment and whatever he senses with his blindsight as they brushed by each other.

”aralia,.. have you two made progress or just gone on a shopping spree?” Kind bless somehow hidden behind his cold self time eyes… 

"Thank you good sir, some interesting things you told us. Unfortunate that that man god away. Seems like he might have been able to tell us more." Abathax says while he finishes his ale. "Now, we need to get back as a carriage awaits" 

"Yes, let's get going," Aralia agrees, drinking the last of her ale and heading out. As they meet Ssha outside the door she gives a small smile. "A bit of both. We found out a little more about Brimbul's house at least. Seems the servants have been there longer than he has." She gives a shrug, realizing it doesn't sound particularly pertinent to the Balowang hunt. "I'm sure the elders will have more information on the creature once we convince them to chat." She heads back to the house, not wanting to keep the others waiting.

Wendell and Abishai take a stroll together around the manor's grounds whilst the rest of the party return from the town, Silvosh assumedly making her own way back whilst Ssha, Aralia and Abathax leave the inn together to make it back to the house in time for the carriages arrival. Whilst on his walk, Abishai notices that the house has a backdoor on the northside of the house (or the left hand side of the building if you were to look at it from the front door), which is locked, as are the several windows, however through them he can just see what appears to be a dining room and the kitchens. Finally in the far distance, on the very border of the grounds, there seems to be a shed or small lodging of sorts, built of the same slate as the house and likely the home of the gardener and his tools. However before he can go to investigate it further, the carriage has arrived. 

The whole party steps forth onto the driveway to see a grand carriage arrive, pulled by 4 white horses. The carriage itself is enormous; it seems to be purposed for transporting large groups of people around, and so has four very wide rows of lavish velvet seats for you to unwind in. It even seems that it could fit Silvosh, if she can manage to get up the steps into it. The young male driver gets down and comes over to you, brushing his long, dark hair away from his face. He's dressed in unusual gear; it seems to be an awkward cross between formal attire, a typical coach-driver's outfit, and padded mail. He looks you up and down and mutters 'Seems to be in order...' then opens the wide doors and calls 'I've been told to take you directly to Cangtumble's, it's about an hour's ride so make sure you're comfortable!'

"Good afternoon." Abishai says to the coach driver as he enters the carriage and sits in the furthest rear corner. "This sure beats walking!" He says as he sits on the comfortable bench seat and puts his feet up on the row in front of him.

Aralia climbs into the carriage with a nod of greeting to the driver, impressed by all the space as she finds a seat. "Brimbul spared no expense it seems," she observes, crossing her arms as she tries to focus for the task ahead. "Hm, what would elderly adventurers like to talk about...?"

Silvosh says, "A hours walk sounds good. While this carriage is surprisingly spacious, I'll be more comfortable walking along side than riding."

Of course she'll keep an eye out for trouble while trotting alongside the carriage. 

[OOC: The ranger class provides a climb speed equal to movement speed. I haven't figured out how that works for a centaur, but I think she could get up the steps if she wanted to :-) ]

Abathax takes a seat on a window side. When they are moving he'll tell what Alaria and he found out about the home. He also explains how the servants aren't from this plane which he found weird and that they have been there longer than Brimbul apparently. 

The majority of the party enters the carriage and finds a comfortable seat, whilst Silvosh settles on galloping alongside the driver. The quartet of horses then pull hastily out of the drive and out onto the streets, coming down south through the market road and begin to wind their way through the streets until they finally reach a country lane that stretches on southward for as far as the eye can see. Very quickly, after only about half an hour of fast paced riding, you notice how the landscape changes. The hills become far more pronounced and rocky, with shrubs and trees cropping up much more commonly. Overall, the terrain, whilst still gentle hills, grows more rugged. Abishai also finds a wicker basket of sandwiches below his seat, along with a bottle of elderberry cordial, which makes for a pleasant lunch on the go for you all. You then swing west on a more sheltered and untravelled, yet still defined track. This seems to be purpose-built for reaching Cangtumble's, as the grooves of the track fit the wheels of the carriage and stead of the horses, and no more, seeing as it is not fully dirt or gravel, rather just a low, flat stretch of unworked soil with slight banks on either side.

Silvosh trots alongside the driver, and he provides her with pleasant, but overall unimportant conversation. It's all small talk, but it's enough to entertain her, though midway through a discussion he stops talking, and the carriage slows. Through the windows and across the landscape, you can see a trio of hulking figures striding across the landscape. The driver mutters 'The hill giants have really spread out recently...usually they stick to their tribe in the south-east, but now they've been roaming all over the place. They don't seem particularly interested in small folk's towns though, as reports from Melwarth say, but it's still a concern. I wonder if they're exploring out of a potential upcoming fight for territory, and are scouting out camp locations, or for something else...' He grows quiet but then realises that he's brought the horses to a complete stop, so gets back to work and continues down the track, leaving the giant silhouettes on the hillside to carry on with their distant journey as the hills slowly grow higher and more pronounced around you all. 

Quote from Secretfool >>

Abathax takes a seat on a window side. When they are moving he'll tell what Alaria and he found out about the home. He also explains how the servants aren't from this plane which he found weird and that they have been there longer than Brimbul apparently. 

 "Well, that explains their sunny disposition." Abishai then tells the group about the inscription above the door.

Quote from Shiverquill >>

...Abishai also finds a wicker basket of sandwiches below his seat, along with a bottle of elderberry cordial, which makes for a pleasant lunch on the go for you all...

...He grows quiet but then realises that he's brought the horses to a complete stop...

"Hey, it looks like we've got a basket full of food here," Abishai exclaims upon discovering the wicker basket. He then hands out the food to everyone except Silvosh, who is outside the carriage. However, when the carriage comes to a stop, Abishai asks no one in particular, "Have we arrived?" He then hands the remaining food to whoever is closest to the carriage door. "Can you please give the rest to our driver and Silvosh? I bet they're hungry too."

Aralia happily accepts the food and drink, watching how the scenery changes as the journey goes on. Spotting the hill giants in the distance reminds her of their previous encounter.

"I wonder if they're in the same tribe as Hugnar. Looking for 'berries' too?"

"Interesting, I guess we should be sure to keep on the lookout whenever we are travelling." Abathax adds.

Wendell suddenly looks around shocked. "Oh, this is a fancy carriage. I don't remember coming on here. This is not good at all, I must have been having another vision while walking around. At least my body made the smart decision to stick with you all, I have found myself in some perilous situations before, including the one time I walked into a river. That certainly ended my vision with a splash...." 

As you all continue to chat (Wendell now awoken from his hazy episode of visions), you feel the carriage rock once more as it slows. You realise now that you have arrived, and are pulling into the great driveway of Cangtumble's Home for Elderly Adventurer's, the site of your first quest. It is a castle-like building, clearly very old, but preserved by it's remoteness, and it is surrounded on nearly all sides by enormous hills sloping up, creating a valley in which the house is situated. It is a long, sideways L-shape, with one cobble-stone walled, four storey arm reaching out eastward towards you as you arrive, which is likely the dormitories, and a second, smaller arm coming down southward, the grandiose double-doors inwards set into the wall directly in front of you. Although you can't currently see it, there is also an extensive courtyard extending out west behind this southern wing, and the stables are situated a short distance further down the drive. 

You all get out, Silvosh trotting round to group back up with you, and the driver says from his seat that 'Feel free to head straight indoors. All the residents should be having lunch now, so there shouldn't be anyone roaming about and getting into mischief, which provides you with an excellent, undisturbed opportunity to-' There's a booming noise as one of the windows along the third floor of the Eastern Wing explodes, and an elderly gnome tumbles out, who is giggling manically and is covered in soot. You then soon see a flustered nurse run down the corridor after them, and stops when she reaches the hole in the wall. She then assesses the damage, sighs, and rushes off again towards the stairwell in a hurry to make chase against the escaped gnome artificer, who is now making his way up down the drive with a cackle, trying to get as far as his little old legs can carry him. The driver sighs and says 'Don't worry, he won't get far, we're used to this by now...' He then thinks for a second as he tries to resume his train of thoughts, before proceeding with 'Ah, yes, now is an excellent opportunity to go in and meet Mr. Qualksander Lumens, the director of the home, who will brief you on everything you should need to know about your mission. The staff will no dount direct you further when you enter. I must now be off now to take the carriage back to the stables, I wish you all the greatest amount of luck, farewell!' The great carriage then turns and trundles off, the same nurse from earlier now running up the drive with a rather large lasso after the old gnome.

As Abishai steps down from the carriage, he watches the chaotic scene unfold and wonders if these retired adventurers are more like prisoners than actual guests of this establishment. He smiles with amusement as the gnome makes a break for it. "You don't see that every day," Abishai says while secretly hoping the gnome evades his pursuer. "Let's head inside."

Abathax looks in amasement at the hole in the wall

"This is gonna be interesting" he says "How many elderly are in this place?"

Aralia's eyes widen momentarily at the explosion, though it seems such incidents are commonplace around here. "Mr. Lumens. Right," she murmurs, following the others inside, "I wonder how all these adventurers ended up here. No families? Or were they too much for them to handle?"