'Tace' listens to the conversation, a little surprised by the continued tact shown by the Sergeant. He was once again proving to be more than meets the eye for a soldier. Intimidating one moment, and sensitive the next. He is wasted as a bodyguard.
He finds there is no particular reason to interject into the conversation, until there is mention of Emma's belongings.
"Was she staying here before she left for Pyorre? We know she worked with Zaba at The Three Frogs before, but not where she was living", he interjects, hoping to keep the older lady from focussing on the potential disappearance of her daughter rather than the questions they wanted answers to. Perhaps mention of Zaba will give the notion we are trying to help a little more credence. Or perhaps not.
Arren, please roll a Persuasion check to convince Veda that you speak the truth and mean no harm. If he wishes, Bryn may either Assist Arren or roll as well, in which case I'll take the average of your two rolls (or treat them separately if one is very low and the other is very high). The results might differ depending on which option you choose, too.
"Oh my! My daughter, missing!" Veda quickly stands up in alarm, as if forgetting how old her body is. She breathes fast but deep between each phrase. "But how could that be? Why wouldn't she come visit me here first? The townsfolk know she went to Pyorre, they wouldn't say something like that if she didn't come back first!"
She starts to hyperventilate, and eventually she drops back into her armchair. You fear for a moment she might lose consciousness, but eventually her breaths slow down again, and she calms down a little. "Of course, I'll help in whatever way I can. And thank you. Having the military searching for her is reassuring. Though I hope she didn't get involved in any kind of trouble?"
She still looks distressed, but she regains her composure enough to answer your questions. "My Emma lived here, in the room over there," she points to one of the closed doors. "Though she went to become an apprentice in Pyorre, she lives there now. She is nineteen springs old now. She's a healthy, strong child. She always liked to eat, cook, and watch others enjoy the food she made. She's tall, taller than me already. Almost as tall as her father was. And she had light brown hair. Gentle, like strands of silk. But she didn't like to wear it long, always cutting it was just shy of reaching her shoulders. She... probably wears bright clothes. She never liked dark clothes. She liked seeing her clothes get stained when she cooked. 'Now everyone can tell I'm a chef!' she'd say.
"Oh, but she's a sensitive kid. She'd often feel insulted by others, even if they meant no harm. She used to come home crying so often. And then, when she grew up a little, she'd disappear into the forest to cry alone in there, because she didn't want us to see her cry. Emil always got angry. Said he'd teach anyone who made her cry a lesson, so she didn't want him to know, thinking it would only make things worse." Her eyes get wet, but she wipes the tears away. "I always feared she'd encounter some bad animal in there and implored her to come home instead. Maybe that's what happened? My baby girl could be lying in the forest right now, too hurt to come back on her own! Won't you check it for me? Oh, I know she had a spot there, but I never found out where it was."
When asked to go over Emma's belongings, Veda answers: "If you think it will help you find my daughter, then please. Everything Emma left with me is still there, waiting for her to return."
If you try Emma's room, the door is unlocked. The room is small, essentially just a bed and a closet, and the space between them filled by a rug made out of the fur of some animal. It is about large enough for an adult to lie on, but that's it. It looks tidy and organised, almost like a room in an inn expecting new guests. It doesn't seem like anyone has slept in here for quite some time. There is one closed window above the bed, facing towards the east, where light would shine into the room in the morning.
'Tace' stands in Emma's room having listened to the mother describe her personality and appearance, and the Sergeant likely try and calm her. It doesn't prove much that the room is not lived in. We know she has been at The Stewpot and the mother thinks she has been in Pyorre.
He does take a look in the closet, just to be thorough. He will check the rest of the room as well, in case there is something hidden out of sight.
"It seems you were right about the forest. It seems logical that is where she ran off to", he says to the Sergeant. Out of earshot of the mothers he will add, "Especially as she has a history of keeping anything upsetting to herself, that could explain why she didn't go for help. We could take a look, but it will be a long shot finding her in this weather with so much ground to cover". Hopefully the trees will protect us from the worst of the rain.
Investigation: 7+5=12 (OOC: Nice roll @fair. Assumed Arryn will say some consoling words to the mother before they check out Emma's room. Bryn will stay silent, it likely wouldn't have the same effect coming from a helmet :-) )
Arrengets a little worried when the old woman starts hyperventilating. He steps back slightly, trying to give her some space, but remains attentive in case she collapses. Fortunately, she manages to calm down in the end, so he relaxes and sits again, listening to what she has to say.
When Mrs. Pesa mentions that Emma has a spot in the forest, Arren exchanges another glance with the Corporal. They're definitely going to have to check that. He's also surprised to hear that Emma is such a sensitive girl—that doesn't quite match what Wyler said about her loving Hecky no matter what he said or did. How could she put up with one as him, he wonders.
After the woman finishes speaking, Arren tries to sound conforting as he says, "Of course, Mrs. Pesa. We'll look into this, and we will definitely check the forest.""The rain isn't going to help, though." he thinks, but keeps it to himself.
Once in the room, Arren replies to the Corporal quietly, so they won't be overheard. "The more we hear, the more I think this 'monster' is Emma's friend. Mrs. Pesa is afraid she found some dangerous creature, but I think she found a protector instead." He pauses. "Well, I may be getting ahead of myself. Anyway, yes, the rain won't help, but if we could find any clue about that spot in the forest, the search would be easier."
He frowns slightly, thinking aloud. "You'd think a girl like Emma would keep a diary, don't you agree? If she kept things to herself and didn't want her parents finding out whenever someone hurt her, maybe she wrote about it?"He starts to look around the room. "Now, where would a girl hide her diary...?", the Half-Elf muses as he begins searching the places most likely to conceal something like that: under the mattress, behind the closet... somewhere even her mother wouldn't find it, not even when cleaning her daughter's room.
While you search Emma's room, Veda cleans the teapot in the kitchen. Maybe she doesn't want to interrupt your investigation, or perhaps she just needs time for herself, but she doesn't wait outside while you search.
Under Emma's bed, not exactly hidden, Arren finds a small wooden box with dry stick-like objects of various colours. They look brittle and cracked, and some seem to have broken away or turned to colourful dust that lines the bottom of the box (essentially dry pastel). Next to it, a leather bag stuffed with ageing papers, and a quick look reveals them to contain drawings, which you can deduce were somehow created by the coloured sticks, but no writings. There are many papers drawn inside, each drawn from both sides. With just a skim, you can tell these were made over a long period of time, as those on one end are clearly a child's drawings, while those on the other side are drawings made by a more practised hand, though the painter still doesn't appear to be particularly skilled. Many of the paintings depict people and occasionally animals, and often involve food. (Studying the paintings any further will require some time invested in it.)
Meanwhile, Bryn searches the closet. At first, it seems like it is full of light-coloured clothes. But strangely, as he moves the clothes away to see if something is placed behind them, he notices the clothes are placed in a manner that makes it seem like there are more clothes than there are, hiding vacant spaces behind them. You realise the closet is actually almost empty, despite not looking like that at first. The only notable thing Bryn can find in there is a doll-like brown rabbit, which appears to be a real rabbit's fur stuffed and sewn to make it look like a real rabbit. A strange texodermy, but soft and formidable enough to be played with as a toy, and dirt and stains attest to its use in that manner.
Other than that, the room doesn't hold any notable belongings - nothing that looks personal.
The Sergeant shows the leather bag he's found to the Corporal. While not disturbed, he will look through the drawings more closely, setting them out so the Corporal can look as well if he wishes to.
Arren had expected to find a written diary, but a visual one might prove just as useful. He inspects the papers one by one, side by side. He specially looks for any depictions of forests, and if he finds any, he studies them carefully, searching for clues that might help identify Emma's favourite spot—perhaps a tree with an unusual shape, a winding river, or some other distinctive landmark. He also pays close attention to the animals, checking for any that appear repeatedly. If one stands out—or if Emma has drawn herself near a particular creature more than once—that might be significant.
When Corporal Peite shows him the rabbit doll, Arren frowns, visibly puzzled. "That's a strange toy for a kid to have," he mutters. "Unless Emma's parents—or maybe a family friend—were taxidermists, I don’t see how she'd come to own something like that." He looks back at the drawings. Is the doll represented there anywhere? "A girl with a fascination for stew and a taxidermy rabbit doll… That's curious," he muses aloud.
As for the almost empty closet, he doesn't find it immediately suspicious—after all, Emma was said to have left for Pyorre. But something still feels off. "Why pretend there are more clothes than there actually are?" he wonders.
'Tace' looks conducers what he found and also the drawings the Sergeant found.
"I'm not sure, kids make do with stranger toys I would say. Especially when the family are poor, they just have to make do", he says absently, thinking back to his family struggles growing up where money was concerned.
When asked about the clothes. "I don't know. She is obviously set on the notion Emma away, whether in Pyorre or at The Stewpot, that would mean she wouldn't need a full closet. It might just make her feel better I suppose. Maybe Emma did it?", he ponders.
He joins the Sergeant inspecting the drawings, also wondering if they might provide any sort of clue to where Emma might be, or who her friends were that she might confide in. That is worth asking the mother.
Once he is finished with the drawings, he will wander back into the main room to talk to Veda. "Who are Emma's closest friends here in Ersta? Anyone she might confide in".
((Please make an Investigation check. Use the same result for any of the DCs presented below.))
Behind the closed door, you dive into the daunting task of going through the drawings. They're old, but the papers are well preserved. Nonetheless, you don't want to tear them accidentally, so you work cautiously.
The drawings aren't always clear. Even in the best of them, the lines drawn by the pastel are thick and cannot hold great details. Worse yet, some of the paint occasionally smeared - either on the same paper or the one that was adjacent to it in the leather bag. You imagine the paint was oily back in the day, and the scent of it hints at that, too. There's also a clear limitation on colouring, due to all the pastels being shades of brown, red, green and yellow. No blues, though some greens look a little blue-ish, and nothing is like purple.
But despite all that, you make out some patterns between the drawings. First, there are no words, nor anything that looks like writing, on any of the drawings. Nearly all of the drawings depict a girl with brown hair reaching her shoulders and light-coloured clothing, matching Veda's description of her daughter. Faces aren't always drawn, and when they are, they're depicted by two dots to represent eyes and a curve for a mouth that conveys one of three emotions: Either :(, :| or :).
If you rolled above 8:
You notice Emma's face is the one most often having an emotion drawn over it. Most of the time, it is neither happy nor sad, but there are drawings with either of those as well.
The next two characters that appear the most - and almost always together - are one with long brown hair and an apron, and the other with a bow. Their clothings change, but these elements almost always remain. They're often depicted with Emma's character between them. For what you can believe is a certain timespan - if the drawings are sorted chronologically - a brown rabbit also appears next to the trio. The child, Emma, is always drawn shorter than the other two Humans.
If at least one of you rolled above 13:
You also find a drawing of the bowman handing Emma the brown rabbit. Her face is drawn as happy in this drawing, but the bowman doesn't have a face drawn.
There are other characters, you believe. It could just be the other two characters, but without their characterising items, but the scenes they're drawn in are different so you're pretty sure they're not. Some appear only once or not enough to catch your attention. One appears only in the latest drawings (as far as you can tell) and always has food drawn next to it, but not always the same type of food.
If you rolled above 16:
There's one more character, or at least you believe it's one character. The clothes change, but it always has very long, reddish-brown hair, often but not always drawn as having what your best guess is a braid. And for the colour of its skin, a different paint is used compared to the one used for nearly all other characters, with a slight greenish hue. When it appears, this character often appears next to Emma's character, drawn closely, and they're very often depicted in a natural scene - on a hill, in the forest and the like. It doesn't have any items that distinguish it.
Not all drawings depict nature, but some of them do. Deer, rabbits, a bear, and some others that aren't always easy to identify. All birds are drawn in a similar, simplistic manner that shows they have wings, even if they sit on a tree. As if it were the only way Emma knew to draw birds. Apart from the brown rabbit appearing with Emma next to the bowman and aproned woman, it is rare to see any of these animals along with anyone else.
Only a handful of drawings depict scenery with no people or animals in it. Sometimes trees, sometimes caves, they don't seem to share any distinctive marks, other than having plenty of orange, yellow and red used for the background.
Unless you rolled above 18. In which case:
Since these drawings stand out, depicting no people nor animals, your gut tells you there's something more in it. You spend more time focusing on them. Arranging them in front of you, checking the opposite side, trying to see if they align, looking for more clues. Each of these drawings shows one of the characters that appears the most: The bowman, Emma, the rabbit, and the aproned woman. Each appears by themselves, which is strange for all three other characters that aren't Emma, who usually appear either with her or together.
You look over the drawings that depict all four characters, and notice they're always drawn with the characters in the same order. Flipping the drawings and arranging them in that order, you don't get some secret map that shows all of a sudden, but you get a sequence:
1. Pond, with three broad leaves in it. The background is all red and orange, but you don't see the sun. 2. Forest, and the setting sun above the trees. 3. A large rock in a clearing. The setting sun now rests on top of the rock, but there are some black marks on the clearing's ground? 4. A cave opening, and a bonfire inside.
Regardless of your findings, by the time you finish and are either satisfied with what you found or believe there's no more to it, it's already mid-afternoon, and while you still have a few hours of light left, the sun has already begun its journey down in the sky towards the horizon in the west.
When you exit the room, perhaps intending to consult Veda once again, you instead startle her in her armchair. You notice that the cookies and the tea are gone. "Hey, what are you doing in my house? And in my daughter's room, no less? How did you get in? Get out! Soldiers or not, has nobody told you to knock on the front door if you wish to enter?" And, in case you tried leaving the room with any of what you found inside, she'll add: "And leave that inside! Are you here to steal my daughter's belongings while she's away? Is that what the military does now?"
‘Tace’ finds the study of the pictures far more within his wheelhouse than soldiering. He works with the sergeant to reveal all the clues within the pictures.
”It seems we have some answers, and perhaps a path to follow”, he says after they have arranged the pictures correctly.
When they finally step back into the main room, instead of asking his question he merely apologises and makes for a quick exit. Putting on his raincoat before stepping outside hoping to make the most of the remaining light.
As they analyze the pictures, Arrentries to determine who is who.
Pointing at the bowman and the woman with long hair and an apron, he says, "These must be Veda and Emil, right? Since Emma is always drawn smaller than them, I'm assuming these figures have to be her parents. Seems Emil was a hunter, and he's the one who gave Emma the rabbit doll."
Regarding the figure that only appears in the later drawings and is always near food, he adds, "I guess this one is Zaba."
Then he points to the other standout figure—the one with greenish skin. "This one's looks like a Wood Elf. Could this be the so-called 'monster'? He and Emma seem close." He pauses, then murmurs to himself, "The protector," the name settling more firmly in his mind as they keep investigating. Could this figure possess some unusual strength or ability, enough to strike someone like Hecky down in one blow?
Turning his attention to the scenes in nature, he muses, "So Emma used to go to her special place after sundown. I can see Emil—the bowman—being in the forest, and that makes total sense. But the aproned woman as well?" He shakes his head. "Maybe that doesn't matter right now, the important thing here is this gives us a clue. We need to find those landmarks."
When the Corporal suggests they now have a path to follow, Arren nods and follows him out of the room, the bag still in his hands. Upon Veda's reaction, he opens his mouth to explain himself—but then stops short. Realizing her memory is to blame, he gently sets the leather bag down on the table, mutters a quiet apology, and leaves after the Corporal, silently chastising himself for not considering her state, and for scaring her because of it.
Outside, he turns to his companion. "The hour's late, but we can't wait until the morning. The Commandant will want to leave if the rain has stopped. Let's head to the forest. If we're lucky, we'll find the pond—and then the clearing with the rock."
The rain is still strong, but the fog that cleared a little before has cleared a little more while Arren and Bryn were in the small hut. You can now see farther; in the distance, you can see treetops above the buildings. You might recall from the map that Commandant Nattensbarn handed to you while you navigated before, that the forest borders this town on one side from one end to the other.
Do Bryn and Arren head straight into the forest from Veda's hut?
'Tace' smiles behind his mask as the sergeant suggests heading straight for the forest to look for Emma's hiding place.
"I agree, we should make use of all the time we have left", he replies. "Do you think the pond is outside of the forest? There were no trees in that picture if I remember correctly. But it must lead to the forest. Perhaps we should walk along the towns edge on the forest side first?".
He waits for the Sergeant to decide, deferring to him so as to retain his cover, but a lot less formal as the Commandant had mentioned they were off duty.
Arrenthinks for an instant. On the one hand, it would be safer to let the Commandant and Walnuts know where they are going, in case they take longer than expected in the forest. But on the other... he looks up at the sky, and the reminder that they don't have as many daylight hours as they'd wish reaffirms the idea that should get going.
He would also prefer returning to their superiors with more information on Emma's whereabouts than they currently have. The possibility that the Commandant might not allow them into the forest also gnaws at him. He wants to see this mystery solved.
Finally, Arren lets out a breath. "You're right. We need to make the most of our time." "And if the Commandant doesn't approve of the decision, well... better to worry about that later,"he thinks. "That sounds like a good idea,"he adds, regarding the idea to try and find the pond by following the edge of the forest first.
With a nod towards the Corporal, the Half-Elf gives one last look in the direction of The Three Frogs, and begins walking.
Walking along the treeline, Bryn and Arren see that, on average, the edge of the town isn't very far from the forest. Many tree stumps of trees that were cut down over many years - some of them have new saplings sprouting from the wide body of the old tree - mark the border between forest and town. Some houses even have stumps within their gardens, sometimes acting as a chair or a place on which pots, statuettes of small animals or garden gnomes are placed. Most of the houses have smoke rising out of a chimney, and the fireplace's faint light coming out of their windows.
Walking between those stumps, the whole ground is muddy and full of puddles, but even as time passes and the sun goes farther down in the sky, nothing quite strikes you as a 'pond' - neither natural, nor manmade in the garden of any nearby house.
Reaching the edge of the town takes you a little over half an hour. By now, you estimate there are two hours of light left, at most. The temperature begins to drop, too, and it's not exactly pleasant being as wet as you are.
Arren's worry that the Commandant might forbid walking into the forest alone isn't unjustified. It's not uncommon for him to have free time in some settlement or military camp where the Commandant believes that his services as a bodyguard aren't immediately necessary. In some places, the protocol still requires her to have at least one bodyguard around most of the time, so in those situations, Arren and Walnuts would take turns watching while the other enjoys some downtime. In either case, you're not supposed to go out of the settlement/camp without permission or a justifiable reason, such as imminent danger to yourself or citizens. Despite that, there probably aren't many soldiers who haven't broken this restriction a few times during their service, usually to wander into a town near their base.
As time passes and the search yields no results, Arrenbegins to have second thoughts, and he states it plainly.
"I'm not so sure anymore. If we had found the pond... but we haven't, and we might not do it without help. Should we return to the tavern and ask Zaba, or some of the families? Perhaps they can give us some insight?"
'Tace' is a little perplexed as to where the pond might be. He looks across to the Sergeant and nods.
"The pictures show the places at sunset, but the one with the pond doesn't have the sun in it. I wonder if it is somewhere without a view of the sunset. And in fact, a pond with three leaves on it. What is missing from that? Three frogs right? I like the idea of asking Zaba", he says as he gives up on the search and moves to head back to the inn.
You might recall from the map that Commandant Nattensbarn handed to you while you navigated before, that the forest borders this town on one side from one end to the other.
He tries to recall the map the Commandant gave Arren. Did it happen to depict anything remotely similar to a pond?
'Tace' listens to the conversation, a little surprised by the continued tact shown by the Sergeant. He was once again proving to be more than meets the eye for a soldier. Intimidating one moment, and sensitive the next. He is wasted as a bodyguard.
He finds there is no particular reason to interject into the conversation, until there is mention of Emma's belongings.
"Was she staying here before she left for Pyorre? We know she worked with Zaba at The Three Frogs before, but not where she was living", he interjects, hoping to keep the older lady from focussing on the potential disappearance of her daughter rather than the questions they wanted answers to. Perhaps mention of Zaba will give the notion we are trying to help a little more credence. Or perhaps not.
Arren, please roll a Persuasion check to convince Veda that you speak the truth and mean no harm. If he wishes, Bryn may either Assist Arren or roll as well, in which case I'll take the average of your two rolls (or treat them separately if one is very low and the other is very high). The results might differ depending on which option you choose, too.
Varielky
(OOC: Happy to help)
(OOC: So very happy to take the help!! That was a 2+5 or a 19+5 = 24 ... phew!)
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren | Lyra | Jadzia
"Oh my! My daughter, missing!" Veda quickly stands up in alarm, as if forgetting how old her body is. She breathes fast but deep between each phrase. "But how could that be? Why wouldn't she come visit me here first? The townsfolk know she went to Pyorre, they wouldn't say something like that if she didn't come back first!"
She starts to hyperventilate, and eventually she drops back into her armchair. You fear for a moment she might lose consciousness, but eventually her breaths slow down again, and she calms down a little. "Of course, I'll help in whatever way I can. And thank you. Having the military searching for her is reassuring. Though I hope she didn't get involved in any kind of trouble?"
She still looks distressed, but she regains her composure enough to answer your questions. "My Emma lived here, in the room over there," she points to one of the closed doors. "Though she went to become an apprentice in Pyorre, she lives there now. She is nineteen springs old now. She's a healthy, strong child. She always liked to eat, cook, and watch others enjoy the food she made. She's tall, taller than me already. Almost as tall as her father was. And she had light brown hair. Gentle, like strands of silk. But she didn't like to wear it long, always cutting it was just shy of reaching her shoulders. She... probably wears bright clothes. She never liked dark clothes. She liked seeing her clothes get stained when she cooked. 'Now everyone can tell I'm a chef!' she'd say.
"Oh, but she's a sensitive kid. She'd often feel insulted by others, even if they meant no harm. She used to come home crying so often. And then, when she grew up a little, she'd disappear into the forest to cry alone in there, because she didn't want us to see her cry. Emil always got angry. Said he'd teach anyone who made her cry a lesson, so she didn't want him to know, thinking it would only make things worse." Her eyes get wet, but she wipes the tears away. "I always feared she'd encounter some bad animal in there and implored her to come home instead. Maybe that's what happened? My baby girl could be lying in the forest right now, too hurt to come back on her own! Won't you check it for me? Oh, I know she had a spot there, but I never found out where it was."
When asked to go over Emma's belongings, Veda answers: "If you think it will help you find my daughter, then please. Everything Emma left with me is still there, waiting for her to return."
If you try Emma's room, the door is unlocked. The room is small, essentially just a bed and a closet, and the space between them filled by a rug made out of the fur of some animal. It is about large enough for an adult to lie on, but that's it. It looks tidy and organised, almost like a room in an inn expecting new guests. It doesn't seem like anyone has slept in here for quite some time. There is one closed window above the bed, facing towards the east, where light would shine into the room in the morning.
Varielky
'Tace' stands in Emma's room having listened to the mother describe her personality and appearance, and the Sergeant likely try and calm her. It doesn't prove much that the room is not lived in. We know she has been at The Stewpot and the mother thinks she has been in Pyorre.
He does take a look in the closet, just to be thorough. He will check the rest of the room as well, in case there is something hidden out of sight.
"It seems you were right about the forest. It seems logical that is where she ran off to", he says to the Sergeant. Out of earshot of the mothers he will add, "Especially as she has a history of keeping anything upsetting to herself, that could explain why she didn't go for help. We could take a look, but it will be a long shot finding her in this weather with so much ground to cover". Hopefully the trees will protect us from the worst of the rain.
Investigation: 7+5=12
(OOC: Nice roll @fair. Assumed Arryn will say some consoling words to the mother before they check out Emma's room. Bryn will stay silent, it likely wouldn't have the same effect coming from a helmet :-) )
Arren gets a little worried when the old woman starts hyperventilating. He steps back slightly, trying to give her some space, but remains attentive in case she collapses. Fortunately, she manages to calm down in the end, so he relaxes and sits again, listening to what she has to say.
When Mrs. Pesa mentions that Emma has a spot in the forest, Arren exchanges another glance with the Corporal. They're definitely going to have to check that. He's also surprised to hear that Emma is such a sensitive girl—that doesn't quite match what Wyler said about her loving Hecky no matter what he said or did. How could she put up with one as him, he wonders.
After the woman finishes speaking, Arren tries to sound conforting as he says, "Of course, Mrs. Pesa. We'll look into this, and we will definitely check the forest." "The rain isn't going to help, though." he thinks, but keeps it to himself.
Once in the room, Arren replies to the Corporal quietly, so they won't be overheard. "The more we hear, the more I think this 'monster' is Emma's friend. Mrs. Pesa is afraid she found some dangerous creature, but I think she found a protector instead." He pauses. "Well, I may be getting ahead of myself. Anyway, yes, the rain won't help, but if we could find any clue about that spot in the forest, the search would be easier."
He frowns slightly, thinking aloud. "You'd think a girl like Emma would keep a diary, don't you agree? If she kept things to herself and didn't want her parents finding out whenever someone hurt her, maybe she wrote about it?" He starts to look around the room. "Now, where would a girl hide her diary...?", the Half-Elf muses as he begins searching the places most likely to conceal something like that: under the mattress, behind the closet... somewhere even her mother wouldn't find it, not even when cleaning her daughter's room.
Investigation: another 19! +1 = 20
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren | Lyra | Jadzia
While you search Emma's room, Veda cleans the teapot in the kitchen. Maybe she doesn't want to interrupt your investigation, or perhaps she just needs time for herself, but she doesn't wait outside while you search.
Under Emma's bed, not exactly hidden, Arren finds a small wooden box with dry stick-like objects of various colours. They look brittle and cracked, and some seem to have broken away or turned to colourful dust that lines the bottom of the box (essentially dry pastel). Next to it, a leather bag stuffed with ageing papers, and a quick look reveals them to contain drawings, which you can deduce were somehow created by the coloured sticks, but no writings. There are many papers drawn inside, each drawn from both sides. With just a skim, you can tell these were made over a long period of time, as those on one end are clearly a child's drawings, while those on the other side are drawings made by a more practised hand, though the painter still doesn't appear to be particularly skilled. Many of the paintings depict people and occasionally animals, and often involve food. (Studying the paintings any further will require some time invested in it.)
Meanwhile, Bryn searches the closet. At first, it seems like it is full of light-coloured clothes. But strangely, as he moves the clothes away to see if something is placed behind them, he notices the clothes are placed in a manner that makes it seem like there are more clothes than there are, hiding vacant spaces behind them. You realise the closet is actually almost empty, despite not looking like that at first. The only notable thing Bryn can find in there is a doll-like brown rabbit, which appears to be a real rabbit's fur stuffed and sewn to make it look like a real rabbit. A strange texodermy, but soft and formidable enough to be played with as a toy, and dirt and stains attest to its use in that manner.
Other than that, the room doesn't hold any notable belongings - nothing that looks personal.
Varielky
The Sergeant shows the leather bag he's found to the Corporal. While not disturbed, he will look through the drawings more closely, setting them out so the Corporal can look as well if he wishes to.
Arren had expected to find a written diary, but a visual one might prove just as useful. He inspects the papers one by one, side by side. He specially looks for any depictions of forests, and if he finds any, he studies them carefully, searching for clues that might help identify Emma's favourite spot—perhaps a tree with an unusual shape, a winding river, or some other distinctive landmark. He also pays close attention to the animals, checking for any that appear repeatedly. If one stands out—or if Emma has drawn herself near a particular creature more than once—that might be significant.
When Corporal Peite shows him the rabbit doll, Arren frowns, visibly puzzled. "That's a strange toy for a kid to have," he mutters. "Unless Emma's parents—or maybe a family friend—were taxidermists, I don’t see how she'd come to own something like that." He looks back at the drawings. Is the doll represented there anywhere? "A girl with a fascination for stew and a taxidermy rabbit doll… That's curious," he muses aloud.
As for the almost empty closet, he doesn't find it immediately suspicious—after all, Emma was said to have left for Pyorre. But something still feels off. "Why pretend there are more clothes than there actually are?" he wonders.
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren | Lyra | Jadzia
'Tace' looks conducers what he found and also the drawings the Sergeant found.
"I'm not sure, kids make do with stranger toys I would say. Especially when the family are poor, they just have to make do", he says absently, thinking back to his family struggles growing up where money was concerned.
When asked about the clothes. "I don't know. She is obviously set on the notion Emma away, whether in Pyorre or at The Stewpot, that would mean she wouldn't need a full closet. It might just make her feel better I suppose. Maybe Emma did it?", he ponders.
He joins the Sergeant inspecting the drawings, also wondering if they might provide any sort of clue to where Emma might be, or who her friends were that she might confide in. That is worth asking the mother.
Once he is finished with the drawings, he will wander back into the main room to talk to Veda. "Who are Emma's closest friends here in Ersta? Anyone she might confide in".
((Please make an Investigation check. Use the same result for any of the DCs presented below.))
Behind the closed door, you dive into the daunting task of going through the drawings. They're old, but the papers are well preserved. Nonetheless, you don't want to tear them accidentally, so you work cautiously.
The drawings aren't always clear. Even in the best of them, the lines drawn by the pastel are thick and cannot hold great details. Worse yet, some of the paint occasionally smeared - either on the same paper or the one that was adjacent to it in the leather bag. You imagine the paint was oily back in the day, and the scent of it hints at that, too. There's also a clear limitation on colouring, due to all the pastels being shades of brown, red, green and yellow. No blues, though some greens look a little blue-ish, and nothing is like purple.
But despite all that, you make out some patterns between the drawings. First, there are no words, nor anything that looks like writing, on any of the drawings. Nearly all of the drawings depict a girl with brown hair reaching her shoulders and light-coloured clothing, matching Veda's description of her daughter. Faces aren't always drawn, and when they are, they're depicted by two dots to represent eyes and a curve for a mouth that conveys one of three emotions: Either :(, :| or :).
If you rolled above 8:
You notice Emma's face is the one most often having an emotion drawn over it. Most of the time, it is neither happy nor sad, but there are drawings with either of those as well.
The next two characters that appear the most - and almost always together - are one with long brown hair and an apron, and the other with a bow. Their clothings change, but these elements almost always remain. They're often depicted with Emma's character between them. For what you can believe is a certain timespan - if the drawings are sorted chronologically - a brown rabbit also appears next to the trio. The child, Emma, is always drawn shorter than the other two Humans.
If at least one of you rolled above 13:
You also find a drawing of the bowman handing Emma the brown rabbit. Her face is drawn as happy in this drawing, but the bowman doesn't have a face drawn.
There are other characters, you believe. It could just be the other two characters, but without their characterising items, but the scenes they're drawn in are different so you're pretty sure they're not. Some appear only once or not enough to catch your attention. One appears only in the latest drawings (as far as you can tell) and always has food drawn next to it, but not always the same type of food.
If you rolled above 16:
There's one more character, or at least you believe it's one character. The clothes change, but it always has very long, reddish-brown hair, often but not always drawn as having what your best guess is a braid. And for the colour of its skin, a different paint is used compared to the one used for nearly all other characters, with a slight greenish hue. When it appears, this character often appears next to Emma's character, drawn closely, and they're very often depicted in a natural scene - on a hill, in the forest and the like. It doesn't have any items that distinguish it.
Not all drawings depict nature, but some of them do. Deer, rabbits, a bear, and some others that aren't always easy to identify. All birds are drawn in a similar, simplistic manner that shows they have wings, even if they sit on a tree. As if it were the only way Emma knew to draw birds. Apart from the brown rabbit appearing with Emma next to the bowman and aproned woman, it is rare to see any of these animals along with anyone else.
Only a handful of drawings depict scenery with no people or animals in it. Sometimes trees, sometimes caves, they don't seem to share any distinctive marks, other than having plenty of orange, yellow and red used for the background.
Unless you rolled above 18. In which case:
Since these drawings stand out, depicting no people nor animals, your gut tells you there's something more in it. You spend more time focusing on them. Arranging them in front of you, checking the opposite side, trying to see if they align, looking for more clues. Each of these drawings shows one of the characters that appears the most: The bowman, Emma, the rabbit, and the aproned woman. Each appears by themselves, which is strange for all three other characters that aren't Emma, who usually appear either with her or together.
You look over the drawings that depict all four characters, and notice they're always drawn with the characters in the same order. Flipping the drawings and arranging them in that order, you don't get some secret map that shows all of a sudden, but you get a sequence:
1. Pond, with three broad leaves in it. The background is all red and orange, but you don't see the sun.
2. Forest, and the setting sun above the trees.
3. A large rock in a clearing. The setting sun now rests on top of the rock, but there are some black marks on the clearing's ground?
4. A cave opening, and a bonfire inside.
Regardless of your findings, by the time you finish and are either satisfied with what you found or believe there's no more to it, it's already mid-afternoon, and while you still have a few hours of light left, the sun has already begun its journey down in the sky towards the horizon in the west.
When you exit the room, perhaps intending to consult Veda once again, you instead startle her in her armchair. You notice that the cookies and the tea are gone. "Hey, what are you doing in my house? And in my daughter's room, no less? How did you get in? Get out! Soldiers or not, has nobody told you to knock on the front door if you wish to enter?" And, in case you tried leaving the room with any of what you found inside, she'll add: "And leave that inside! Are you here to steal my daughter's belongings while she's away? Is that what the military does now?"
Varielky
‘Tace’ finds the study of the pictures far more within his wheelhouse than soldiering. He works with the sergeant to reveal all the clues within the pictures.
”It seems we have some answers, and perhaps a path to follow”, he says after they have arranged the pictures correctly.
When they finally step back into the main room, instead of asking his question he merely apologises and makes for a quick exit. Putting on his raincoat before stepping outside hoping to make the most of the remaining light.
Investigation: 16+5=21
As they analyze the pictures, Arren tries to determine who is who.
Pointing at the bowman and the woman with long hair and an apron, he says, "These must be Veda and Emil, right? Since Emma is always drawn smaller than them, I'm assuming these figures have to be her parents. Seems Emil was a hunter, and he's the one who gave Emma the rabbit doll."
Regarding the figure that only appears in the later drawings and is always near food, he adds, "I guess this one is Zaba."
Then he points to the other standout figure—the one with greenish skin. "This one's looks like a Wood Elf. Could this be the so-called 'monster'? He and Emma seem close." He pauses, then murmurs to himself, "The protector," the name settling more firmly in his mind as they keep investigating. Could this figure possess some unusual strength or ability, enough to strike someone like Hecky down in one blow?
Turning his attention to the scenes in nature, he muses, "So Emma used to go to her special place after sundown. I can see Emil—the bowman—being in the forest, and that makes total sense. But the aproned woman as well?" He shakes his head. "Maybe that doesn't matter right now, the important thing here is this gives us a clue. We need to find those landmarks."
When the Corporal suggests they now have a path to follow, Arren nods and follows him out of the room, the bag still in his hands. Upon Veda's reaction, he opens his mouth to explain himself—but then stops short. Realizing her memory is to blame, he gently sets the leather bag down on the table, mutters a quiet apology, and leaves after the Corporal, silently chastising himself for not considering her state, and for scaring her because of it.
Outside, he turns to his companion. "The hour's late, but we can't wait until the morning. The Commandant will want to leave if the rain has stopped. Let's head to the forest. If we're lucky, we'll find the pond—and then the clearing with the rock."
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren | Lyra | Jadzia
The rain is still strong, but the fog that cleared a little before has cleared a little more while Arren and Bryn were in the small hut. You can now see farther; in the distance, you can see treetops above the buildings. You might recall from the map that Commandant Nattensbarn handed to you while you navigated before, that the forest borders this town on one side from one end to the other.
Do Bryn and Arren head straight into the forest from Veda's hut?
Varielky
'Tace' smiles behind his mask as the sergeant suggests heading straight for the forest to look for Emma's hiding place.
"I agree, we should make use of all the time we have left", he replies. "Do you think the pond is outside of the forest? There were no trees in that picture if I remember correctly. But it must lead to the forest. Perhaps we should walk along the towns edge on the forest side first?".
He waits for the Sergeant to decide, deferring to him so as to retain his cover, but a lot less formal as the Commandant had mentioned they were off duty.
Arren thinks for an instant. On the one hand, it would be safer to let the Commandant and Walnuts know where they are going, in case they take longer than expected in the forest. But on the other... he looks up at the sky, and the reminder that they don't have as many daylight hours as they'd wish reaffirms the idea that should get going.
He would also prefer returning to their superiors with more information on Emma's whereabouts than they currently have. The possibility that the Commandant might not allow them into the forest also gnaws at him. He wants to see this mystery solved.
Finally, Arren lets out a breath. "You're right. We need to make the most of our time." "And if the Commandant doesn't approve of the decision, well... better to worry about that later," he thinks. "That sounds like a good idea," he adds, regarding the idea to try and find the pond by following the edge of the forest first.
With a nod towards the Corporal, the Half-Elf gives one last look in the direction of The Three Frogs, and begins walking.
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren | Lyra | Jadzia
Walking along the treeline, Bryn and Arren see that, on average, the edge of the town isn't very far from the forest. Many tree stumps of trees that were cut down over many years - some of them have new saplings sprouting from the wide body of the old tree - mark the border between forest and town. Some houses even have stumps within their gardens, sometimes acting as a chair or a place on which pots, statuettes of small animals or garden gnomes are placed. Most of the houses have smoke rising out of a chimney, and the fireplace's faint light coming out of their windows.
Walking between those stumps, the whole ground is muddy and full of puddles, but even as time passes and the sun goes farther down in the sky, nothing quite strikes you as a 'pond' - neither natural, nor manmade in the garden of any nearby house.
Reaching the edge of the town takes you a little over half an hour. By now, you estimate there are two hours of light left, at most. The temperature begins to drop, too, and it's not exactly pleasant being as wet as you are.
Arren's worry that the Commandant might forbid walking into the forest alone isn't unjustified. It's not uncommon for him to have free time in some settlement or military camp where the Commandant believes that his services as a bodyguard aren't immediately necessary. In some places, the protocol still requires her to have at least one bodyguard around most of the time, so in those situations, Arren and Walnuts would take turns watching while the other enjoys some downtime. In either case, you're not supposed to go out of the settlement/camp without permission or a justifiable reason, such as imminent danger to yourself or citizens. Despite that, there probably aren't many soldiers who haven't broken this restriction a few times during their service, usually to wander into a town near their base.
Varielky
As time passes and the search yields no results, Arren begins to have second thoughts, and he states it plainly.
"I'm not so sure anymore. If we had found the pond... but we haven't, and we might not do it without help. Should we return to the tavern and ask Zaba, or some of the families? Perhaps they can give us some insight?"
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren | Lyra | Jadzia
'Tace' is a little perplexed as to where the pond might be. He looks across to the Sergeant and nods.
"The pictures show the places at sunset, but the one with the pond doesn't have the sun in it. I wonder if it is somewhere without a view of the sunset. And in fact, a pond with three leaves on it. What is missing from that? Three frogs right? I like the idea of asking Zaba", he says as he gives up on the search and moves to head back to the inn.
As they head towards the Three Frogs, Arren shares Tace's doubts. Why the three leaves? Where can the pond be?
He tries to recall the map the Commandant gave Arren. Did it happen to depict anything remotely similar to a pond?
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren | Lyra | Jadzia