Tegel Manor stands on a flat plateau overlooking the sea and the surrounding lands. With the exception of a few clutches of windswept and leafless trees, only the sturdy wooden walls and brick façades of the manor break the harsh winds blowing from the east. The age of the structure is apparent on first glance, but only a few cracks and fallen bricks are readily apparent. Strangely enough, most of the narrow windows are still intact. It has stood for eight hundred years and might stand for eight hundred more.

A walkway, inlaid with brick and cobblestones, leads up to a courtyard before manor. Two withered trees and two statues stand guard next to a horse-tie station. One statue is of a female Viking warrior; the other is a halfling-headed troll with its arms outstretched.

The ever-swirling mists shroud most of the courtyard from view but don't rise high enough to obscure the manor itself, the demesne having been reached by following a road out of the Village for a brief time, not more than an hour, most of which had been spent following the winding stone to the country side.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:21, Sat 28 May 2022.

Cassandra breaks the Party silence that has gripped the Party since they arrived at the Manor courtyard at the front of the estate. “I suppose we could knock or simply go in the front door since it does not appear that anyone currently resides here.”

“But it probably is wiser for us to examine the courtyard and front grounds first, before doing so.  I’ll look around for hidden or secret areas to see if there are any loose cobblestones or bricks along the walkway, courtyard walls and front of the house.”

“Trevion, can you see if you detect anything specific that radiates evil?  Such as the two statues and trees by the horse hitch?  Anything specific, other than just the overall bad vibe of the place?”

“Given the fog, we probably shouldn’t wander too far and might be best to, at least, stay in pairs,”

Otis moves closer to Cass and says, "I will  go with you."

Brant loosens his sword in its scabbard.
While Cassandra pokes around the cobblestones, he patrols around the manor looking for any signs of its inhabitants.

                                      ???
                                       |
 2 Trees + 2 Statues --- ?Courtyard? --- ?Manor Entrance?
                                       |
                                      ???
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 22:10, Sat 28 May 2022.

“Thanks, Otis!”

Brant realizes there is no way he could patrol around the manor without going off on his own into the fog; the estate and manor are truly immense.

Likewise, Cass and Otis venture a little ways into the courtyard before they turn back and return to the two statues and trees. It's too big to explore on their own.

Think of the Palace of Versailles.

Comfortable for the group to explore as a collective, Brutus remains alert and protective of Cass as the group select their next object of enquiry and examination.

In that case, given the sheer size of the courtyard, we will collectively search the two trees, the two statues, and then jointly search the courtyard for any hidden compartments that might hold hidden keys, potions, scrolls, or other helpful items, etc.  we will spend 30-60 minutes doing so and then reassess (depending on our findings) whether to continue searching the courtyard, exploring N or S, or heading to the front door.

After a period of careful and methodical searching, it is Cassandra who leaves the withered oaks behind and turns her attention to the statues, specifically to see if any of their limbs (or other parts) can be manipulated. After a succession of failures with the lady warrior, she squares up to the halfling-headed troll, grasps its outstretched left arm, and pulls it towards its chest.

Its mouth pops open to reveal a scroll!

Location: 2 Statues + 2 Trees
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:52, Sun 29 May 2022.

Will check for traps (unsuccessful check), will try to disarm traps if any found (N/A since non found), and will then remove scroll using thieves’ utensils without putting fingers in the statue mouth.  Recommend that everyone step back just in case there is an area of effect explosion or gas cloud.

“Oh look!  Everyone stand back.  Just in case.”

Once scroll is extracted, will let Ereth do the honors to determine if the scroll is magic or clerical or a map/other writing.

“Here you go Ereth.  What have we found?”
This message was last edited by the player at 21:04, Sun 29 May 2022.

"My pleasure," says Ereth, as he steps forward, takes the scroll in hand, and does the honors.

After Cass removes the scroll from the opened mouth with his special tongs, it closes once more. The statue's left arm then reverts to its original position with a satisfying clunk.

Ereth perceives two things upon examining the scroll: (1) it's arcane and (2) it's not a spell that he knows (yet).

Ereth turns to Cass and says, "It is certainly magical, but I can't quite discern its properties. With your permission, I'll just hang onto it for now." Absent objection, he will place the item in his iron box (with capacity for six normal sized scrolls) and store in his backpack.

He continues, "So far, so good. Shall we proceed to the entrance?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:26, Sun 29 May 2022.

“Sounds good.”

The Party heads toward the front entrance.  On the way, Cass will continue looking for any loose cobblestones or bricks as the Party makes it way over to the front entrance.

Once there, Cass asks “If anyone feels strongly about the group scouting the outside of the Manor to the north or south while it’s still light out and before we go inside, speak up.  I am open to whichever way the groups wants to go: in, north, or south. Ereth says in.  Anyone else feel strongly about our next step?”