Killilli’s Dragon Heist

Lyss nibbles one of the sugared biscuits cautiously, expecting peppers.

Lyss, the sugared biscuits you recognise as being a classic halfling recipe. Thankfully, no peppers involved. They are absolutely delicious.

Petyr scrawls out a sign that Aimee recognises to be the symbol of the school of necromancy. “It was like this kiddo’s. And yeah, the smell of rotting flesh, I’ll never forget that smell. So how do you plan on getting rid of these things? I’m used to pests, but this is far beyond anything I’ve had to deal with before.”

Aimee swallows and grabs some tea to gulp down.

"Ow! Dang it! Hot! But good!"

Then in response,

"Probably blasting? And maybe stabbing?"

She looks to Lyss and Kerri. The loud whispers,

"Okay! I have a plan! We go down wind of the fields and walk till we smell the stink and then we blast the nearest scarecrow!"

"These are great!", Lyss says, waving one around before attacking it with gusto.

"Blasting probably works. I can shoot em with arrows, but blasting is probably better."

“Blasting... stabbing...and walking around sniffing the air?” The halfling looks at the three of you, his brows furrowed in concern. He clenches his teeth, pausing for a second before letting out a long sigh. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to judge. I should be grateful for your help. Just please be careful! I wouldn’t want you getting hurt on my behalf.”

As you finish your tea and biscuits waiting for nightfall, Petyr lights his fireplace. His humble cottage warms you as Petyr constantly brings out more cakes and biscuits, refilling the tea pot between carrying trays out to his wife. As he sees you off, you notice that his sunken in, dark ringed eyes belie his broad smile. The halfling is exhausted, going through the motions without any hope left.

Stepping out into the farmland, the smell of cow dung and sycamores fills your nose. Petyrs crop extends out ahead of you, the orchard is across the street from you and a field of corn is a little down the road, a grand, spiraling maze of it in it’s center. Nearby, there is also a farm, with pens of cows, sheep, goats, and chickens.

(If you’ll be primarily sniffing, you can make a survival check, let me know where you’re planning to search And how exactly you go about it)

((Which way is the wind blowing? We'll be moving down wind of the crops first, sniffing as we go. Probably giving the edge of the crops some room in case they are right on the edge. After that we can hit the orchard and then the maze last.))

Aimee keeps eating and drinking, only pausing to take a sugar drop nap.

She will tell Petyr,

"You can count us! No worries, just keep the tea warm!"

And once outside she'll take a deep sniff and smile contentedly at the smell of cow poop and trees saying,

"Smells like home! Not the library home, little me's home!"

As she starts sniffing as they walk she will suggest,

"I think we can probably shoot ALL the scarecrows, just in case the stinky stuff hasn't started in them yet! Can you see okay Lyss? Oh, nope you just stepped in a BIG cow flop!"

Sniff check: 4'

"Woo that was a stinky flop Lyss!"

Heading downwind of the crops, the earthy smell of the countryside is too overwhelming and complex to really pick out anything particularly rotten. 

As you get to the edge of the pepper field, you can see the farmland more clearly now. A short figure seems to be shovelling mud into a rectangular hole in the ground which is very nearly filled.

The orchard across the way is gigantic, apple trees lined up in perfectly straight rows. A grand Villa at it’s entrance with an iron gate which reads, “Snobeedles Orchard” in big loopy letters.

At seeing the person digging Aimee will yell

"HEY! You digging there! Hi! I'm Aimee! What are you burying? Oh, and watch out for stinky scarecrows!"

The halfling drops his shovel as he flinches, staring up at you frozen in fear. “wh..wh... what are you doing out here? I’ve got a crossbow and I’m not afraid to use it!”

"I've got a shortbow, and I'm a better shot than you!"

"She does and she is!"

Then adds,

"So, what you doing?"

The halfling looks ready to flee. As you are getting closer you can see that if they do indeed have a crossbow, it is not anywhere to hand.

(Lyss, roll an intimidation check with advantage from Aimee’s help)

"You're really better off talking to us! You don't look like a scarecrow, I can't tell if you smell like a scarecrow. But I don't think scarecrows talk, do they Kerri?"

23

The halfling looks you up and down, then puts his arms up in the air in surrender, not fancying his chances running from your arrows. Finally, he seems to be listening to what you are actually saying rather than reacting in a blind panic. 

“Oh, um, you’re here to help with the scarecrows. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m no scarecrow, just a simple farmer I am. Just here burying my dead livestock, thought I could get it done before nightfall. I don’t got no government contract like Amendsfarm does, so I got no security, no farmhands, and I gotta do this all myself.”

"What happened to your livestock? You lose others recently too?"

Lyss waves for him to put his hands down now that he's not being silly.

Insight: 22

Aimee moseys on over,

"What died? How'd it die that you wouldn't try to eat it? What's your name? I'm still Aimee?"

She takes a sniff as she gets close to the hole and sees what she can see.

Perception: 16

((There shouldn't be a question mark for her name, and the insight is on what he said!))

“Aye, this is the third goat we’ve lost. Found them each morning half eaten by buzzards with their chests ripped open. They.... they were missing their hearts. I’m Carry by the way.

The halfling lowers his arms and starts to steady himself, though he is still shaken. Aimee, you get the sense that this man is being honest with you, is terrified, exhausted and overworked.

The hole smells of rotten goat meat, it’s mostly filled now so you can’t see much of what’s buried.

"Just the heart? Well that's a waste and hello Carry!"

Arcana(?) on what eats just hearts: 15

"You seen any scarecrows out and about Carry? Petyr's wife got jumped by one and we're going to blast'm! The scarecrows, not Petyr and his wife!"

She takes a breath then continues,

"Sounds like they've been messing with your goats! The scarecrows, not Petry and his wife! But maybe? Was it today? The goat thing? We can maybe look for tracks! What kind of tracks to scarecrow's leave Lyss? Old boots or something?"

((Also, I used the wrong modifier for the perception. It should have been a +2 and not a +4.))