Boko relays this information. "No sign of anything other than rat tunnels. It is unlikely that rats did this, however. Do you own these cabins? Two are fine, one needs to be cleansed, and one has been destroyed."

She herself does a loop around the cabins, looking for tracks or signs of something other than vermin moving about. 

Survival: 18

"I guess we leased the two in front of us." Dwal responds to Boko. "They're ours fer a time."

Dwal moves to examine the body.

Medicine roll:

(OCC: I will be unable to roll for anything right now. Computer issues that won't be corrected for a few so working from a Fire tab. I can post but not roll so DM if you would be so kind and do the roll I'd appreciate it)

Kei 

"Fangs!" He is surprised by the outcome of his investigation.  He informs the others that it may not be rats they seek. 

Gerrard:

With Dwal moving inside to check the body, Gerrard senses the conversation is at an end, his final question handing in the air, unanswered.

”I will go fetch Lankus and tell him of his uncle Armand’s fate,” says Gerrard to those inside.  “With luck I will return with some hot food as well.”

Gerrard heads out to inform the next of kin, somewhat distressed the watch has not yet arrived to the death scene.

Boko fumbles around in the cold winter blackness outside, but finds little in the way of tracks other than a few small ambiguous marks in the frozen dirt.

Dwal examines Armand's body. Medicine roll: 7

...but learns nothing more. The body was drained of blood, his grimaced face a disturbing snapshot of the moment of his death.

---

Gerrard makes his way to the inn on the other side of town. Lankus has returned to his stool behind the bar, and a small clientele has begun to gather in his tavern - mostly off-duty guards and dwarves from the mines. Lankus immediately recognizes and seems pleased to see Gerrard's arrival. "Welcome back! Good to see you! What are you thirsty for tonight?"

---

After a while, Commander Clay arrives at the cabin, barging in without knocking, accompanied by four miserable-looking guards. Clay doesn't seem very happy either. She huffs and puffs for air, her massive body clearly taxed from the walk down the hill. "Where's the body?" she asks, wiping sweat from her brow.

Gerrard:

With a sad smile, Gerrard greets Lankus and says, "I am relieved to be back on solid ground, myself, but I have some disturbing news.  May we speak privately?"

Pulling him aside to speak privately, Gerrard says somberly, "We just returned to Saltmarsh late this afternoon, ready to rest and recover in our house.  As you know, your uncle Armand was employed to be our cook, so we were looking forward to a fine welcome home meal.  Instead, the door was ajar, the house was cold, and your uncle lay dead on the floor.  I just left there to come here and let you know what has happened, but the watch has already been informed, and the others stayed back to wait for them to arrive.  Armand's service to us was short but exemplary, and I would contribute to his final expenses if you would welcome it."

Gerrard looks to contribute 5 platinum or so to the funeral expenses and buy enough food and drink for everyone, planning to take it back to the house since their kitchen has been ransacked.

Peri:

Upstairs, Peri awakens with a start sometime after nightfall. His mind is buzzing -- he must write this down! He leaps up and lights the lamp, pulls a somewhat crinkled sheet of paper and a pen from his pack, and begins scribbling notes...

Lankus looks understandably troubled and upset. He puts on his overcoat and grabs his spear, calling for his boy to watch the tavern. Lankus means to accompany you back to the cabin. He brushes aside talk of money, but he does hurriedly stuff a satchel with food at Gerrard's request while he processes this bad news.

Gerrard:

Leaving as soon as Lankus is ready, Gerrard guides him swiftly to their home.  He says little, but answers any direct questions as they hurry along.

Dwal.responds.to Commander Clay

"He's in here." he says.

Dwal moves away from the body, letting the guard do their job.

"Our noble went to notify next of kin." He adds. 

Dwal watches what these guards do, anticipating they are doing this only out of being forced to.

The guards look nervous, Clay irritated. After examining the body, they load it onto a stretcher and carry it toward the graveyard, where it will be kept in storage until the ground is soft enough to dig. Clay and one guard inspect the premises. "Bats," she finally says, flatly. "Bloodsucking fiends. You've seen 'em. This whole neighborhood needs cleansing. They found a body out here five years ago, same thing. Armand should o' known better. You guys should maybe think twice about sleeping out here. I'm not superstitious, but this place is full of bad luck. Farbern says you can sleep in the barracks tonight." 

Boko suggests staying here for the night to lie in wait to find out what happened to the fellow. But she wouldn't say no to a safer place to rest for he night, given the day they've had.

Clay and her remaining guards bid you a polite but halfhearted goodnight, and depart.

The night outside is dark, the cabin reasonably clean of flies and debris, the fresh rat holes blocked, and the stove has finally taken the edge off the bitter cold inside.

Dwal will do his best to settle in for the evening, though he is uneasy about the whole affair.

"Their explanation don't fit." he says as he busies himself with arranging things in the one cabin. 

Gerrard:

Heading back quickly with Lankus and a bag o’ food, Gerrard may or may not see the watch leaving with the. body…

Percentage, high is good:  2

Gerrard:

Arriving at the cabins and showing Lankus where the body…uh, used to be, Gerrard shares food and some small comfort with them all, trying to console Armand’s nephew.

Persuasion:  23

With the events of the night taking longer and being even more somber than anticipated, Gerrard is inclined to leave the treasure sharing & splitting until morning, but he could be convinced otherwise if others are keen to get their share.

Lankus is currently more alarmed than grieved. He does his own sober inspection of the premises and asks a lot of questions. (Perception: 7)

 "Something is wrong here," he finally concludes, coming back indoors after searching the grounds again. "There are bats all over Saltmarsh. I just saw some flying over the house. They are peaceful creatures. They don't mass and attack like this unless something really foul is afoot. I suppose we should wait until daylight. It would sadden me to slay innocent creatures in mass, but maybe we need to poison the lot of them, if an affliction runs among the broods. Maybe the rats, also. It may be time to clean up this neighborhood. Push the ruins into the sea, root out the rat nests..." He continues to pace frenetically. 

Dwal remains silent, allowing the man to sort out his feelings and take the first steps in grieving. 

Peri:

Peri leans back from the table and reads over his writing. A lot to think about. He gets back into his warm, reasonably comfortable bed, but lays awake for a long time, thinking. Eventually, however, he drifts back to a sound sleep.

Kei 

Watching silently as Lankus goes about his grieving process Kei mulls around kicking at any debris he finds on the floor.  "Yes,  sending the hoards back to where they came sound's like a good idea. " the events of the past days catch up with him rather quick at that point.  Yawning he says "Perhaps after a night's sleep.  I can make the place safe for the night if any feel better about not sleeping in a bats nest." He waits for someone's response.