Haazheell is used to walk long distances. He uses his quaterstaff as a walking stick. Refreshed by a good night sleep. Mystique and Haazheel joined the group outside the guildhall, Haazheel greeted the different members of the company. To Averdante and Nathaniel, he said: "May I have the pleasure to travel with you my elvish companions?"

OOC: Haazheel will enjoy the company of Avery and Nathaniel for the road, staying also close to the fire wizard. Mystique will fly above the group to look for any trouble ahead.

Farian takes to the lead, with his armor shining with a fresh coat of oil when the sun crests the horizon to ward off rust from all of the rain and damp. His breakfast down, his waterskin freshly topped, his morning prayers and constitutional finished. He preferred praying at sunrise, but with the days travel ahead, he felt The Sun Father would not mind him being a little early today.

The road gets lighter and the day warmer as the sun climbs, more birds joining their songs as the new day begins to warm up.  The road dries out a little as you travel on, occasionally seeing a farm in the distance, once or twice someone passing by with a cart of apples or a donkey loaded up with bundles.  If asked, they say the road has been quietly recently, more so than usual.

"Not much coming out of Boltharrow these days.  Maybe they've got a commission up north by the Sea," one old man says with a shrug.  None of these folk have heard of goblin attacks, at least not nearby.

You can pause a time or two for a break or a meal, but between the halflings on their mounts and steady walking from the others, you're making excellent time.  The sun is starting to go down when you come across something that catches your attention.  Mystique brings it to Haazheel's attention that there's something over to the east of the road, and Thunder gives Narthian the impression of "old fire" off in the same direction.

Squinting through the trees, Averdante and Narthian see it first, but once the others' attention is drawn to it, the rest can see what appears to be a burned-out farm through the trees.  There's no scent of smoke in the air, and there's no smoke rising from the house and barn, but the doors have been burned away, the windows smashed, and a horse lies on the ground outside the barn, its blue roan coat streaked with blood from many cuts.

The place is silent, and not even birds are singing nearby.  Slanting sunbeams illuminate the place, giving stark clarity to the destruction.

You estimate you're roughly an hour away from Boltharrow, and night will be here soon.

Averdante listens, but holds his thoughts until the passersby are well out of earshot...

"It may be that the farmers are fearful to travel, or that the traffic and news is simply not making it this far..."



Once the scene becomes clear, Averdante knocks a grey-feathered arrow.

"Then again, it is not impossible that things have changed of late, and there are fewer to travel in the first place..."

He turns an appraising glance toward the sun turning orange as it sinks toward the horizon.

"We have a moment to spare - I'll take a quick look - keep a sharp eye out in all directions, but especially deeper into the woods, where a sneak might hide..."

He shoulders his bow and draws his longsword, and steps carefully, one cautious step at a time, into the burnt-out husk of a building.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:05, Wed 18 June 2014.

Farian unhitches his shield from his back and puts it properly on his arm and pulls his mace out, ready for action.

Dellas swings down from Honeybee and quickly ties her reins to a convenient tree.  Going in slowly (once Sir Aberlayne clears her throat at him in a reminder), he stays behind Farian and Averdante, squinting carefully at the scorched wood..

"I don't believe this was done with a spell," he says finally.  "It's too random to be from burning hands, and not big enough to be from a fireball.  There's no scorch marks on the ground from a flaming sphere, and look over there, at that blackened piece of wood near the burned wall?  It's a torch stub.  If the burns had come from a spell like produce flame, they wouldn't need that."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:35, Wed 18 June 2014.

Farian moves toward the farmstead with Averdante, looking and listening for signs of others, and keeping his eyes out for the bodies of the fallen.

"As it is already getting dark, we might think of making camp here and going on in the morning. Make some shelter, bury any dead we find, and rest for tomorrow."

Sir Aberlayne rides in carefully, looking around from her superior height in the saddle.  She uncovers the axe at her side and twirls it from one hand, her pony steady beneath her.  When she sees the horse, she looks quite sad, and shakes her head.  "Goblins hate horses," she says quietly.  "We should look for survivors."

Narthian looked around at the burnt out farm.  "Thunder, stay with me.  I agree Sir Aberlayne and Farian.  Let's have a look around."  The Druid moved carefully towards the house, drawing his club and shield.

As Narthian draws closer to the house with the others, Thunder sniffs the air and turns towards the horse.  And the horse moves, lifting its head a little and making a small whinny of alarm at a predator being near.  Sir Aberlayne gasps and dismounts.

"Gods, it's still alive!" she says, and runs over to the beast. She bends over it, making soothing noises, petting its head, and a few of the worse cuts start to close.

As this is happening, Farian and Averdante look into the burned-out windows of the farmhouse to a sad sight of a home utterly destroyed by fire.  There's what appears to be the body of a man near the back door (visible through the windows), burned very badly, what clothing that can be seen cut with ragged slices.  The place is a shambles, things tossed all over the room as if a malicious whirlwind had gone through the room.

There are a lot of round rocks near the outside of the house, and a few inside as well.  They look like rounded river stones.  After a moment, Averdante recognizes them as slingstones, because they certainly didn't come out of the land around here.  The house had been slung at with stones before torches were hurled at it.

The front door is broken, primarily the bottom half, and there are gouge marks on the door that look like teeth, perhaps from some canine of some sort.

There's also what seems to be a shattered scythe just inside the door.

"If you need help with the horse Lady Aberlayne, let me know. I'll be over to help in a few minutes in any case, as it looks like the horse may be the only survivor. I'm going to check the house and perimeter first though."

Farian checks for tracks to and from the house and the way they look. He also checks the body of the man.

10:32, Today: Farian Raymellie rolled 14 using 1d20+7. Heal Check.
10:31, Today: Farian Raymellie rolled 13 using 1d20+3. Survival.
10:31, Today: Farian Raymellie rolled 9 using 1d20+3. Spot.

Haazheel asked Mystique to scout the surroundings for any danger. If Mystique informs him of no danger, he walks around the house to investigate what happened. He looks at the marks on the door and footprints around the house to identify who or what attacked the house.
11:32, Today: Haazheel Thorn rolled 10 using 1d20+1. spot check.
11:35, Today: Haazheel Thorn rolled 15 using 1d20+4. Nature.

When Bruenor arrives at the farm, he unslings his longbow from his shoulder, holding it at the ready before taking in the area.

When Farian suggests they stay for the night, Bruenor responds, "I must disagree; this place is too open to defend against superior numbers. It's obvious that there are many goblins, and we have no idea when they could return."

While the rest of the group tends to the horse, Bruenor re-shoulders his bow, draws his rapier, and carefully enters the house.

15:53, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 14 using 1d20-1. Spot Check.
15:52, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 12 using 1d20-1. Listen Check.

"Think you can find a suitable place nearby? I wonder how far it is to the inn. Can you ask your bird friend how far it is master wizard? It may be better and safer to hurry there before full darkness sets in."

""I will ask Mystique as soon as she comes back from her scouting of the surroundings Master Farian" answered Haazheel still looking for clues while waiting for Mystique.

The Druid continued to poke around the outside remains of the house.  "If we are going to move on, we need to do it soon.  The night is coming quickly.  If you asked me a minute ago, I would have said stay.  I did not take into account that they would return in mass, so soon. Narthain said sheepishly.

Sir Aberlayne checks the beast over carefully, making quiet noises at it.  "I healed him a bit, enough to stop the bleeding and the worst of the pain.  I think he'll be all right.  I'll get him up and be along soon," she says.

Farian walks tentatively into the burned-out house.  In the debris, he can see the occasional little footprint, usually bare, no bigger than a halfling or a child, with long nails.  More than likely they're goblin prints.  And they're everywhere.

The man is quite dead, and did not have an easy death.  He defended himself against some slicing blades, perhaps with a fireplace poker, but was caught in the flames of his home before he could escape.  There is a little dark blood off in one corner, and your nose leads you to the body of a goblin, like a grotesque doll, lying broken against a wall.  Even in death, it still wears the insane goblin grin.



Haazheel, you see much the same.  Goblin footprints inside the house, and some outside, though it seems there were other disturbances outside that disrupted most of the tracks out there.

Mystique doesn't see anyone lurking in the trees nearby, though you get the impression there is more carnage in the barn.  He also sees a well out back of the house.



Bruenor, you join Farian in the sad ruins of the farmhouse.  Aside from the dead man and the dead goblin, you don't find any more bodies, though there is evidence, in the form of broken toys, that there was at least one child, and quite possibly a woman in the household, to judge by the remains of the embroidered curtains.

--

Dellas sets Visk loose to examine the barn as he lurks close to his sister.  A moment later, Visk comes running back out, and Dellas pokes his head in tentatively, after a quick word of, "Visk says nothing's moving inside."  Dellas is gone just a moment, then staggers back out again, barely makes it to a convenient bush, and loses his lunch, breakfast, and possibly the previous night's dinner.

"Dellas?" Sir Aberlayne asks quietly.

"Horses dead in their stalls.  Dog dead on the barn floor.  Dead goblin or two by the scorch marks on the walls," Dellas gasps out.

--

As you are investigating, Thunder, Narthian, and Averdante hear a faint cry from out back of the house.

---

OOC:  You estimate you are about an hour away from Boltharrow at your current striding pace.  If you wanted to force-march, you could cut that down some, almost in half.

"Well, it doesn't look very good here. Perhaps we should think about getting on to Boltharrow as quickly as we can. It would not be good to get caught out in the open with no shelter."

"We should leave immediately. On the road, at least, we'll be moving, and we can break for town if the curs find us," Bruenor adds, leaving the house to return to the group.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:55, Thu 19 June 2014.

Narthian holds up a hand, signalling for silence. He points towards the back of the house where he heard the sound. Thunder takes several steps in front of the Druid and they both move towards the sound to investigate.

Haazheel, noticing Nathian asking for silence, comes closer to his position. He looks around to find out what Nathian is looking for.
13:33, Today: Haazheel Thorn rolled 16 using 1d20+3. Search
This message was last edited by the player at 18:34, Thu 19 June 2014.

At Narthian's signal, Bruenor immediately halts. When he sees where the druid and wizard are going to investigate, Bruenor joins the effort from around the opposite side of the house

As he exits the building to get back on the road, Farian sees the others reacting and attempts to assess what is going on, then follows after them.

14:07, Today: Farian Raymellie rolled 17 using 1d20+3. Spot.
14:07, Today: Farian Raymellie rolled 14 using 1d20+3. Listen.

Drogo in the background snooping around a bit here and there with his crossbow ready. He noticed Narthian's signal and that Bruenor followed. He then decided to follow along not wanting his good friend to be in any danger without enough help. "Hold on Bruennor, wait for me."

Narthian and the others start to circle around towards the back of the house, Farian and any who wish following them.  Sir Aberlayne stays near the front of the house for now, but Dellas seems to master his stomach and trots after the others.

"I'll keep for watch out here, just in case," she says.

In the back of the house, there's a chicken coop, burned and broken open, scorched feathers everywhere and no sign of any living chickens.  There's a small vegetable garden, trampled flat and produced squashed into the ground.  And there's a well.

The sound, shouting, is coming from the well!

"Hello?  Rath?  Hello?  Can anyone hear me?  We're down here!  Rath?"

If you look down in the well, cautiously or otherwise, you can dimly see a woman standing up to her shoulders in water, a little girl in her arms, their faces smudged with soot, both of them shivering.