"I'm Belle. We ran into the sheriff a while back and he mentioned something about a missing red-headed girl. We thought me might be able to help and was looking for her home when we noticed the smoke from this place."
"Arson can't be tolerated. We would be happy to assist in your investigation, if you find that acceptable."
The woman looked slightly more alarmed at the mention of the read-haired girl. "Mayelle," she sighs. "How long ago did you meet the sheriff? This is the home of Tibult and Jervenne. Mayelle, their daughter, matches the description of the girl you seek. They have been friends of mine for years. I would accept any assistance you can offer to find them and assure their well-being."
"You seem to be a decent tracker. I'm sure we could work together on this. Are we all in agreement?"
"I'm Seir."
"Well, the obvious solution is to start with these barefoot tracks. After you?"
Belle also keeps an eye out for signs and points out a broken branch here, a footprint there, and a thread somewhere else.
Tony helps looking around half-heartedly.
Tony just stays to the back and watch the lady while she engages with the others.
Garrosh stares curiously at the wolves and the woman for a moment - "Well met. I am Garrosh. these are your pets, friends or companions?" - he asks flatly.
As the rest of the group put their eyes to the ground to assist Gilda, Tony watches the woman. After some time he is quite certain that she is true in her concern for the farmers and their daughter.
You and Gilda follow the tracks for quite some time. They head from the cottage out into the fields, where there is evidence that the two individuals hid for some time. After a while, the tracks circled around through the fields, but closer to the road to the north. They follow the road, but several yards off into the fields, for several miles.
A couple hours after you start the tracking, you take a break. As you take sustenance, Gilda speaks. "There are other farmhouses which are close by, but these two seem to be avoiding them. They are also staying off the road, as if they don't want to be seen, or are unsure who they can trust."
After you finish your meal, you continue on, following the tracks. Occasionally, you pass travelers heading south. As afternoon turns to evening, you see another traveler on the road. From the distance you are, a couple hundred yards, you can make out that the traveler is a gnome, a halfling or a child. The figure is not moving with purpose, but rather darting from place to place, or standing in one place for a while.
"I wonder if the fellow has noticed us, or whether he is trying to avoid the notice of someone in particular he is spying on. Or perhaps just bleached?" she queries as she points at the gnome acting a bit erratically.
Belle is fairly certain that the activities of the little one would do the exact opposite of avoid notice; they are more likely to draw attention. Other than that, she cannot get a good read on the small humanoid.
"Or perhaps she's the child we're looking for waffling about in uncertainty? Only one way to find out I suppose."
Seir calls to the small figure.
"Hello there! Are you in need of assistance?
Reynaud straps his shield to his arm and moves close to Seir.
As you approach, you see the figure is that of a child, with red hair. You call out and she stops running around, and looks at you. You get closer and you see a child with a dirty, tear-streamed face, terrified as the group of armed adventurers approach. In a trembling voice, she calls, "Gilda? Is that you?"
The woman assures the little girl that you are there to help her. Mayelle runs to Gilda and the two embrace, the little girl sobbing uncontrollably, attempting to get out her story. After several minutes, the girl is calm enough to tell her tale.
"I don't know what happened. Mama tucked me in to bed one night, and when I woke, I was in the fields. I had a dream. There was a woman singing. I tried to find my way home, but there were only fields. And then I found the road, but didn't know which way to go."
"Gilda, can you make any sense of these tracks? Maybe her parents went looking for her before the, uh..."
Probably not a good idea to mention the fire around the girl.
"... 'combustion' incident, and just passed her in the night? Maybe there was just a kitchen accident!"
Just a point of order, as you should not know how successful you are at Sense Motive checks, just let me know you want to sense motive and I will roll.
Tony calms down as his instincts relax around the Gilda. Only a little though, but very alert. He runs a possible hostage scenario in his head.
Can't blame a woman, for choosing kin.
Once they find the little girl, he only grows more concerned. "Strange things in the night throwing children into wild? I doubt, any ordinary kitchen accident does that Belle. Unless, witchcraft?" he says as he turns to Gilda with a long side eye.
"No... Probably not, but not everything is always bleak. I still hold out hope that there is nothing to this. But I'm not stupid either. Chances are they are in trouble. At least we found the girl, right? Well, shall we put the kid in a safe place or do you think time is of the essence and we need to continue following these tracks. Or split up and do both?"
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Gilda thinks for a moment. ”You said you ran into the sheriff on Moonday, and that he said Mayelle was reported missing a couple days prior. I’m sure those tracks at the house this morning were no more than a day or two old, meaning Moonday or Toilday. The group of booted tracks and the two pairs of bare feet happened too close together to determine which happened first. I could understand Tibult and Jervenne running out of the house in their bare feet as soon as they discovered Mayelle missing, but why would they run out of the house a couple days following, without putting their shoes on?” She pauses for a moment, looking south down the road you have been shadowing. ”We could return to the cottage and do some more investigation there, but we would not make it there before nightfall. The tracks, which I am fairly certain are Tibult and Jervenne’s, are following the road North towards Endholme. With the age of the tacks, they should be at the city by now.”
Mayelle is a little shy of the dwarf to start with. She clings to Gilda’s legs as if the woman was her only tie to reality. After a couple moments as the elf speaks with the others, Mayelle becomes a little braver. ”I don’t remember words. I woke up and I heard it coming from outside. It was beautiful! I got up and went to the door to see where it was coming from. The last thing I remember was opening the door and walking out into the fields where the singing was coming from.” She looks up at Gilda and then back at Brodin, ”The song was really pretty. It went ,” the girl begins to sing, wordlessly, a tune.
Come Little Children, I'll Take Thee Away,
Into a Land of Enchantment
Come Little Children, The Time's Come To Play
Here In My Garden Of Magic
Follow Sweet Children, I'll Show Thee the Way
Through All the Pain and The Sorrows
Weep Not Poor Children For Life is This Way,
Murdering Beauty And Passion
Hush Now Dear Children ,It Must Be This Way
To Weary of Life and Deceptions
Rest Now My Children For Soon We'll Away
into the Calm And The Quiet
Come Little Children I'll Take Thee Away,
Into a Land of Enchantment
Come Little Children The Time's Come To Play
Here in My Garden Of Shadows
"That is pretty. I think we should keep following the tracks. Gilda, is there any where in Endholme for the girl to stays while we sort this out, provided they lead there?"
Child, would you like a blessing? There may be magic at play, and I have something that will help.
Mayelle looks at the gilt wooden holy symbol that Seir bears. "Papa has one just like it. She comes forward and reaches up to touch the symbol.
Gilda looks at Belle. "I don't go to Endholme often. I do not care for the city. But I am sure there are places there. And as the tracks are going that way, we may find her parents there."
Still sounds pretty to her.
We have no better leads at the moment.
Tony thinks of the tune for a bit.
"Sounds like moaning to me"
"It is a beautiful, if eerie tone indeed child" - Garrosh offers his opinion also - "You rest assured now, we will do our best to find your parents, and soon you will be with them" - the half-orc takes to one knee next to the girl but he is still higher than her - "Do you want to see something... Magical?" - he smiles - "Look" - drawing out a simple wooden cup and intoning a few soft, melodic words that vaguely remind of distant rain.
Suddenly the cup is filled with fresh water - "Drink child, you must be parched" - he offers - "I am Garrosh by the way"
Belle smiles at Garrosh's antics.
Like a character in a book. The monster with a heart of gold. Gotta love how he connects with the kids. Stay alive, Garrosh, stay alive. The world needs more like you, not less.
Seir lets the child touch his holy symbol, then cast protection from evil on her.
"Sarenrae please protect this child from harm."
Mayelle accepts the water from Garrosh and the blessing from Seir. Gila looks to all of you, "I wish to find my friends and unite them with their daughter. As it seems we are both bound for Endholme, if you wouldn't mind me travelling with you, I would welcome the company."
It is late in the day already. You push on North toward Eldholme for a couple more hours. Farms are becoming more and more frequent, and as the sun hangs above the horizon, you come upon a welcome sight; a travellers' inn. The sign out front depicts an inn aside of a road. Your stomachs growl at the scent of real food, and your minds leap to the thoughts of sleeping in a bed, and perhaps a bath.
Gilda speaks a couple words in a language you are not familiar with, and the two wolves take off into the fields, and then you all head to the front door.
The inside is quite nice, having the appearance more of a merchant's inn than an adventurer's tavern. A fire burns in the large hearth while several trestle tables stand in the large common room. Several customers sit at the tables, talking, breaking bread and drinking, but there is plenty of space to find benches for your group. A gnome in garish colored clothing with a jaunty hat, complete with a bright feather plume strums a lute and sings pleasant songs by the fire.
Once seated, a buxom serving maid comes over, "Welcome to the Roadside Inn. Will you be supping with us this fair eve? Tonight we are serving blackened squirrel with curried leeks for four silvers. We are a little low on wine and ale, as our shipment has not arrived yet, but we have fresh warm honeyed milk.
Garrosh tears into the squirrel and warm milk with abandon - "I hadn't realized how sick I was of trail rations" - he chuckles, pouring some of the milk for Mayelle.
Belle sets up a zone of privacy in the room using bedrolls hanging from the ceiling (after asking politely to borrow them of course) and requests a writing desk. Not for the first time she laments the loss of all her equipment when Pill vanished, which included a makeshift writing desk. Delighted to find herself indoors with a proper desk and no wind, she stays up far too late 'working'. The others occasionally hear sighs of contentment from the other side of the muffling barrier until the tiredness catches up with her and she slumps into bed. Hopefully you all pardon her for her social slight that evening.
The food is delicious and the rooms are comfortable, quiet and warm. This obviously is not a normal adventurer inn.
In the morning you wake and break your fast on cold squirrel, brown bread and honey. You are reluctant to leave the warmth of the inn and the promise of food.
Morning passes uneventfully. Mayelle skips along humming her song, sometimes holding Gilda's hand, and sometime approaching one of the others. Around mid-day, you come in sight of the walls of what can only be Endholme. The walls rise up from the surrounding fields to at least three times your height. You see men patrolling on top of the walls as well as several watchtowers rising above the wall.
Stout, iron-bound doors flank the gate to the city, and two guard in a similar livery to the men riding with the sheriff stand at the entrance. The men wave you through as they speak to a dark-skinned man in outlandish dress standing before three wagons drawn by beasts of burden.
Once inside, you are overwhelmed with the sounds and sights. The wide, and well-kept Soldier's Way runs from the gate to the north, while a myriad of smaller streets and alleys branch off into the interior of the city. The buildings are wooden, with peaked, thatched roofs and shuttered windows.
The area you have entered appears to be a warehouse district, although there are some hovels, an occasional tavern or shop. Rising above the hovels and warehouses to your right rises a golden dome which Seir immediately recognizes as a temple of Sarenrae.