Danica grabs some fruit and bread and heads for a table. She finds a spot somewhere in the room in that she can keep an eye out of the entire room, possibly a corner spot. She leans back on the chair rocking on the 2 rear legs. When she is relaxed she beings to cast Detect Evil and start scanning the floor, focusing on the 2 men with Anna.
Upon waking, Ananias makes himself ready and presentable, and returns to the common room of the inn. He grabs some breakfast from the bar, and sits at the table with Danica. He keeps his eyes on Anna as he begins to eat.
When Anna sits down at the table, the two men look at her with surprise. When she starts asking questions, one of the men grabs his food, stand, and walk to another table. The second one starts doing the same, but take a pause and look at Anna. "Please leave us alone, we don't want any trouble. We are here to sell our crops and head back to our farms." He stands and just before walking away he looks at Anna again. "You are an outsider, and will never be accepted here. Whatever you came here for, forget about it and leave." With that, he walks over to the table where the other man is sitting down.
Danica stops rocking on her chair and leans forward to whisper to Ananias and Kimberly. "I detected an air of malice coming from the innkeeper." She points to her nose symbolizing that she can sniff out evil.
Anna pinches her brow in mild frustration. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she hated being stymied.
Tolvan stays on the roof happy in his isolation. As he prepares his daily spells he keeps his keen ears open for any noises that could indicate trouble.
Ananias turns to Danica as he eats. "Hmmm; I wasn't even thinking about the innkeeper," he begins, keeping his voice low. "I don't think the two that Anna is talking to are the two that we're looking for, though. They seem pretty legitimate to me. Probably locals from outlying farms, staying the night at the inn for one reason or another. They don't seem to want any trouble for anyone."
Danica leans forward as she stuffs food into her mouth. She begins to talk to Ananias and Kimberly. "I say we keep an eye on the innkeeper, check what he does." Etiquette was not a quality taught in the monastery. Eating was a need to fuel the body for tasks and training which was done rapidly. Social graces was not important for monks.
Sighing, Anna grabs a bit more bread and a couple pieces of fruit, then heads upstairs. "Well, I suppose I'll make sure everything's packed," she says.
Once in the upstairs hallway and alone, she peeks into the two rooms that had been occupied by the other two men. If it looks like they've packed up to leave, she leaves everything untouched. If they're not packed, she'll do a quick perusal of their effects to see if anything stands out.
Anna walks back upstairs and sneak into the rooms where she heard noises the night before. In both rooms, she finds pretty much the same thing, worn clothes, old saddlebags and thick leather boots. In the bags, she finds some new hand held farming tools, some yards of cloth and other finished products that a typical farmer would buy in town to bring back home. From the look of it, they have not packed their things to leave yet.
Anna slips out and goes to her room where she gears up as quickly as possible. Then she heads back downstairs and circles the inn, looking for evidence of a cart or wagon that had been laden with crops.
If she finds one parked nearby, she'll loiter near the wagon looking casual. She'll watch the townsfolk as they pass by and wait for the farmers to leave the inn. If she spots anyone not looking like a local, she'll take note of what's unusual about that person and where they're headed.
Walking outside, Anna heads for the stable. With the fact that it is day time and not raining, she notices the big wagon parked next to the stable. Once inside, she sees multiple horses. There are of course the horses that the group used to get here. In another stall she sees two huge draft horses. The type that one would need to pull the wagon outside. Finally, completely in the back, there is a magnificent destrier. Definitely not the type of horse one would expect in a stable like this.
Seeing Anna head for the stables Tolvan will fly down somewhere out of sight and join her. Hope you had nice night. he comments. Learn anything?
Anna steps in close and pulls Tolvan's arms around her. "I've learned I don't sleep as well when you're not close by," she whispers with a smile. "As for the locals, Danica doesn't like the 'aura' around the innkeeper, but the two guys who also stayed at the inn are probably farmers, just like they said they were. But check this out:" She points out the huge warhorse in the back.
"I don't know a lot about horses, but that's one you shouldn't find in a swampy little podunk town as this."
The wizard's brow furrows as he studies the destrier. Yes. That is not quite right. he says and immediately casts Mage Armor on himself. Lets fetch the others...
"Hold on a moment, and keep an eye out," Anna whispers, then sneaks over to the horse's stall, peering inside. If there's a saddlebag or other pack (and the horse seems docile enough), Anna will slip inside and check out their contents.
Sneaking closer to the horse, Anna sees a saddle and the bit and bridle, but no saddlebags. The horse itself seems pretty docile at the moment.
Anna digs out an apple she had stashed away from breakfast and offers it to the horse. "You don't get to pick your master, so I don't blame you if things go bad," she whispers.
Then she slips back out and rejoins Tolvan. "Nothing. Let's go find the others."
While Anna is out and about Danica will continue to stay and watch the innkeeper.
The innkeeper isn't doing any abnormal or suspicious. He is basically cleaning some dishes and table, and preparing some food for the later meals of the day. Once in a while, he does stare at the group, and you get the feeling that he would prefer that you leave sooner rather than later.
Ananias finishes up his breakfast, then gathers his, Kimberley, and Danica's plates into a pile before standing. "Well, that's that. Let's meet the others." He heads outside to look for Anna and Tolvan.
Perhaps talk to the stable master about who owns the warhorse? Tolvan recommends.
Anna shrugs. "Sounds good to me. It's about the only thing of interest."
Tolvan waits for the others to join before going to look for the stable master.
Danica gets up and follows Ananias to look for the others. She makes sure that Kimberly is with them.
Anna keeps glancing furtively about, staying wary. Rather than sticking with the group, she stays a few paces away so she can watch the scene from a distance. She couldn't explain why, but she felt on edge.
Since you have already inspected the inside of the stable and you didn't see anyone, you head for the separate storage section of the stable. Inside you find the tools and equipments required to take care of horses. You also see a young man sleeping in an improvised hammock hanging between two rows of shelves.
Ananias will gently shake the young man awake, trying to raise as little alarm as he can (though, when you glimmer like a metal man, that can often be hard to do).
When the man awakes, he immediately tries calming him. "Whoa, easy..." he starts, instinctively using language the young man might already be used to when dealing with spooked animals. "We're not here to hurt you; just a question or two. Sorry to wake you. Can we ask you some things?"
The young man startles up. "What in the name of Da..." He never finishes his sentence once he notices who woke him up. "Oh, what you want? Need y'a horses back?" He climbs out of his hammock and unhook it from one side. "Questions? 'Bout what? I've fed your horses and clean them if that your worry." Folding the hammock, he stores it on a shelf.
Anna smiles at the lad, sauntering up from where she had been standing. "Why, hello. We're going to need our horses ready to go. Sorry to get you up so early. Rough night, wasn't it? Say, I couldn't help but notice that magnificent horse in the stable there. I don't know if you're aware, but I'm kind of a celebrity in Caliphas, and I would simply love to have that horse in my entourage. What a specimen it is! Who's its owner, pray tell? I've simply got to find out if it's for sale!"
She smiles and bats her eyes at the young man.
"Yeah..." He looks at Anna, studying her from head to toe. "It'll take a moment to get the horses ready." He grabs a pair of brushes and wave at the group to walk out the door. "Yup, that one horse sure is a good one. As for the owner, well in three more days it'll be mine. Not sure if I want to sell it."
So, the owner is late retrieving the horse? A shame.
"What's the story there?" Anna asks eagerly. "Did the owner disappear? Or did he say something cryptic, like, 'if I'm not back in three days, it's yours'?"
"Interesting," Ananias adds. "Did the owner just disappear? That's a very valuable horse... it would be a strange person indeed to just leave such a fine animal behind."
"Late? No, not yet, but in three days he'll be." The young man is expertly brushing one of your horses and once done, starts saddling it up. "He paid when he got here and then left the next day. Didn't came back here since. Probably got himself involved in something he shouldn't." He finishes preparing the first horse and move to the second. "His lost, my gain."
Hmm. What types of things might a man get involved in around her that he shouldn't? Tolvan asks.
He stops moving for a second, then looks all around. "Nothing and everything." He seems more nervous now. "For the past few weeks, people have been going missing. My boss, the owner of the stable, left for his house one night and never came back. No one wants to talk about it, but it happens at night." He leans in closer. "Don't go to sleep at night. You might not all be there in the morning."
Danica listens in closely and then responds, "Does it matter where one goes to sleep? People are just randomly disappearing? Where did your boss go to before he disappeared?"
Danica stops and realizes all the questions that she has launched towards the young man. "Apologies for the questions. Looks like we stumbled to a mystery." The inquisitor reaches into her coin pouch and takes out a couple of silver pieces and hands it over to the stable boy. "A little coin for occupying your time here."
When the stable boy continues his work Danica will cast Detect Evil while he is not looking. Detecting evil on a simple innkeeper has put her on the edge and she is now not accepting the obvious.
"I... I don't know. It just seems random. I mean, who kidnap a stable master, but doesn't steal anything of value in his house? One evening he went home like usual and the next morning, nothing. The sheriff investigated it, but found nothing. Just like all the others. " He takes the coins with a smile. "Three days... Then I'm taking that horse out of here." He heads back to preparing your horses.
Anna nods, listening. "Smart. That's very sensible. I certainly can't blame you for hightailing it out of this place."
She folds her arms, thinking. "Say, is that why most folk here are so standoffish? We've been getting nothing but the cold shoulder since we've got here, like we're the problem. But let me tell you: it ain't us. In fact, we've got a bit of experience making the bad stuff go away. Can you help us? Like, where in town is the absolute worst place to go? The haunted, the creepy, the just plain wrong. Believe me, I'd love to stay away. But, this lot," she jerks her thumb toward Danica and the rest, "are really good at killing the bad. Can you help us out?"
We might could make it worth your while...
Danica approaches her friends and say softly, "There is no malice in the boys heart. What do you guys think of visiting the stable master's house or the sheriff?"
Lets not visit the sheriff just yet. Based on other reactions from the town I would not expect a warm reception. A good idea to check on the stable master though.
"I agree. Let's investigate this stablemaster's disappearance. This is all too strange; something is wrong in this town."
"You are an outsider, and in everyone's mind, outsiders are the cause of the problems." He takes a few moments to think. "The worst place to go? Hard to say. With all the sighting of the Watcher, I'm not going anywhere near the bay. Venturing too far out in the wild around the town also seems to be a bad idea. I mean, the neighbors seems to have disappeared. And walking alone pass nightfall seems to increase your chance of not being there is the morning."
When you mention visiting the stable master's house, the young man points you in the right direction. He mentions that the horses will all be ready for you when you get back. You walk over to the house. It is a simple one story building. You've seen enough of those to know that it is a single room house with just one door and a few windows. A quick inspection of the outside reveals no sign of a break in. There is no lock on the door and if there was a sign of struggle outside, rain and other people walking by destroyed those long ago.
"No lock on the door means there's nothing worth stealing," Anna mutters under her breath. She takes a quick glance to make sure no one's watching except her companions, then slips inside. She looks around.
The man seemed to have simple taste when it came to personal property. There are a few wooden dishes, some basic furnitures, and single chest. Inside Anna finds some clothes, a few tools and a small chest. This one is locked, but the quality of it is almost laughable. Inside, she finds about twenty five silvers in a combination of silver and copper pieces. As she closes the small chest, Anna notices something under the bed. Crouching down, she finds a small wooden crate. Inside the crate she finds a well carved fish made of a greenish-blue stone. The eyes are a bit weird, they don't seem to fit. They are also golden, and there seems to be carving around them.
I must be getting soft, Anna thinks as she leaves the silver and copper pieces alone. Or just developing expensive tastes.
She completely forgets about the mundane treasures when she spots the crate containing the strange fish. She takes it out of the crate and quickly wraps it up in a bedsheet, not wanting to touch it for long. Something about it reminds her of the description of the Seasage Effigy, and it gives her the creeps. She slips out of the house and rejoins the group.
Once they're a good distance away from the stable master's house, she whispers to the group, "Not a lot there. This is the only thing that seemed odd." She unravels the bedcloth, exposing the green-blue stone fish with the the odd golden eyes. "Any chance that there's some magic on this? I don't feel like holding onto it for long."
"What bothers you about it?" Ananias studies the sculpture but has little ability to suss out any magic that might be on it. Still, he gives it a good look in case he might recognize it from somewhere.