Tess looks around, trident in hand. "Careful, guys. Considering what we've seen so far, there's been enough time since the disappearance for creatures to take over these houses. I propose we pick a building at random and check out each building in a clockwise fashion."
Kar nods his head and gestures towards the nearest building on the left.
You proceed through the gate and into the small community, then turn to the left to see a long, rectangular building that appears to be a home, though larger than many beyond the palisade to the south. It has three windows, all covered with wooden shutters, and a single door facing northwest, which is unbarred and slightly ajar.
Ahead of you to the north in the center of the colony, there appears to be another well, as well as a wooden scaffold with a set of steps - no doubt a platform from which one would address a large crowd.
”Perhaps we should investigate this larger house first since the door is open. We wouldn’t want to be caught by surprise”
Jader readies his shield and newfound green longsword and proceeds towards the large building with a partially open door
"The big house could contain more people, or creatures, or anything really..." says Vashina. The constant searching without finding any useful details is clearly starting to get to her.
I do hope we find out what happened here soon. All this searching is only making me feel more uneasy.
Nodding to the pair, Post takes up a defensive stance; hand outstretched. His mind begins to wander to a book he'd read. 'Oh, yes. The Jedi did things like this all the time....the little green one...yodeler I think it was? He stood like this that time...Maybe I can shoot lightning someday! That would be awesome!'
Jader leads into the home, the others following or waiting at the front door for more room while the group moves inside. Simple wooden furniture is in disarray throughout this residence. Tables and chairs are knocked over and pushed aside, though none appear willfully broken. Articles of clothing and household items are scattered across the floor as if they were examined briefly and discarded. A large pallet bed is visible in a separate room through an open interior door. A third room with no windows is next to the bedroom but it completely empty.
A casual search of the house reveals a number of common domestic items such as boots, spare cloaks hung on pegs, cookware, plates, mugs - sundries that one might find in any dwelling. Jader sees nothing further of note with his cursory glance.
Tess follows along with Jader.
”I don’t see anything here other that usual household item and the entire house is in some degree of disarray. I will try to detect magics within the area though “
Jader calls upon his arcane arts to cast detect magic. He then surveys the house again with his magical detection capabilities
Kar stays near the back, once again on the watch for anything trying to sneak up on them.
Tess conducts an incredibly thorough investigation of the house. In the main room, she finds a gold wedding band left sitting on a windowsill. "My dearest Livvy" is engraved on the ring's interior. In the empty room, Tess finds a few large circles with dust about them - no doubt where a barrel had been, though no barrel is there now. There's a clear path - no dust - that leads out of the room and out the front door.
In the bedroom, Tess spots a small metal chest shoved far under the bed.
Kalathiel puts his sword back on his hip as soon as it becomes apparent that he won't be needing it quite yet. He gives the house a casual once-over as Tess examines it more thoroughly. "It appears to have been ransacked, that much is quite clear," he comments at one point. "But was it simple looting, or was somebody looking for something specific?"
He steps forward when the chest is brought out from under the bed. "Ah, please, allow me. It should be just a moment."
He begins fiddling with the locking mechanism on the chest. When it doesn't click and open right away, Kalathiel stops for a moment, tilting his head as he thinks. "Well, maybe a few moments."
I would presume that the creature was rolling his booze barrels to his new home before we evicted him.
"This ring. 'My dearest Livvy'. If we had a list of the first wave of colonists, we could use it to piece together who lived where and such. Might be worth asking about when we return to the ship.
It also seems like some barrels have been moved from the empty room to the outside. But I think we at least already solved the mystery as to what happened to those, don't you think?" she says with a smile.
To confirm her suspicions, she walks out and looks to see if there are tracks from this house to the choker's squatting place.
”Well let’s move on if nothing else can be found here. Where to now?”
"The lockbox intrigues me, good sir. If we could perhaps give the lad a few moments to fiddle with it? At current we don't seem to be in any major danger, so..." looking to his companions, he shrugs.
Kar says nothing and continues to keep watch.
Tess follows the tracks for a few steps before realizing that they do, indeed, lead back to their notorious drunk choker and his barrel of brew.
Kal takes his time, diagnosing the inner workings of the lock like a surgeon. Eventually, he gives a grunt of approval, and the small box pops open.
Within, you find five bags, each of which holds a powdered substance - silver, by the handy chalk writing on the outside of each bag. Also within are four blocks of incense and a pouch of dust, labeled "diamond dust." Altogether, these would be worth a considerable sum, though they seem to be pretty specific.
"Oh, i think i know what these are. They're spell components for divine spells. Spells for blessing holy water, a divination for guidance in times of uncertainty and a powerful restorative spell. What do you think, Posh?"
Vashina sounds keen to get confirmation from the old gnome, like a student trying to impress a learned tutor.
Tess walks back in when Vashina starts explaining her findings about the spell components. "Could that possibly mean that this might be home to a cleric or priest of some kind? Is one of the buildings a temple where he might have worked? Guess we'll find out as we go through the buildings."
Eyeing the items, Posh smiles. "Uh, yeah. Very good young one. Couldn't have said it better myself. You're going to go far if you keep these skills honed."
”Very good, those components may deem useful let’s keep investigating. Perhaps that red roofed building in the corner there”
You exit the home and head to the next building in line to the southwest. This large building is durably built in a log cabin style construction with a thatched pitched roof and three gables. Its several open windows are uncovered, and the sole entrance on the east side of the building is bereft of a door. A small porch covered by a gable shelters this door, though the porch has not been swept and dirt and dust have started to accumulate, while one end of the gable is starting to sag from neglect.
The interior of this building suggests a modest place of worship - not quite a temple but more than a mere shrine. A table near the center of the west wall appears to serve as an altar, draped in a white but dusty cloth. Behind the table, a large wood craving of a humanoid figure with a stag's head leans against the wall. Two rows of benches face the altar, although some have been knocked over and two piles of ashes are visible in the aisle between them. Scattered throughout the room are assorted objects related to public worship, such as a chalice and ceremonial rod. An ornately carved longbow hangs on the wall near the altar, as if on display.
Against the north wall is a smaller shrine. Nearby is a wooden statue roughly three feet tall that depicts a male half-human and half-avian creature. One carved wing hangs partially broken from the statue.
"Oh, that's neat." remarks Posh, walking towards the carvings. Scratching his head, he starts pointing a different parts of the wooden icons, nodding.
Turning back to his group, he smiles. "It's quite a good replica, don't you think? The craftsmanship involved in it...it's just so..."
Seeing their puzzled expressions, he trails off. "Uh, you don recognize it right? The one symbolizes Erastil. The other is Talmandor, the patron of Andoran."
Once Posh nears the center of the room to stand on top of a well used brown fur rug, the chalice on the altar table suddenly flings itself through the air at him. The pewter cup just barely grazes the gnome's head before flying off to slam loudly against the eastern wall.
Posh
Vashina
Kalathiel
Kar
Chalice?
Jader
Tessamine
Jader scans the room for the culprit that attacked Posh
Not sure of the source of an attack the half-orc takes a defensive position with magic green sword and shield at the ready
Kar moves forward to stand in front of Posh and tries to protect him from attacks.
[/b]We should flee! I am still injured from our last fight.[/b]
"OW!" cires out the gnome. Patting Kar on the back, he turns and hobbles back towards the door. "You are wise beyond your years! Lets be off!"
Vashina takes as defensive as stance as she can while she scans the room to find out where the attack came from. She also steps back towards the entrance to be a little closer to the exit.
There is no visible sign of an assailant, though everyone leaps into action to survey the room and protect the retreating Posh.
Vashina and Kar take position in front as Posh swiftly rushes away on his short legs. Jader and Vashina both attempt to find...anything, but they don't see or hear any sign of their assailant.
Kalathiel's mind glazes over as he inspects the design and layout of the room, so much so that exactly what the statues inside it are supposed to represent never occurs to him. Fortunately for him, Posh is kind enough to explain it for the group.
He hasn't had long to dwell on it when the chalice goes flying and the gnome beats a hasty retreat. Kalathiel holds his blade close, bracing himself for the next item to be thrown.
"Can anyone see anything?" he asks the others as he scans the room.
”Cover me while I cast a spell!”
Jader cast detect magic and surveys the room. After casting he assumes his defensive stance
Kal unfortunately doesn't pick up on anything within the room, though everyone warily watches the table from which the chalice had flown.
As he watches, another object rattles, and then flies at Kar - this one, a sacrificial knife, isn't professionally flown by any means, but streaks forth as a flying blunt handled missile.
Luckily for Kar, the knife flies harmlessly by as he reacts and swats it away.
Jader concentrates on the area about the table, but finds no direct aura showing a magical presence.
Vashina
Kalathiel
Kar
Chalice?
Jader
Tessamine
"Whatever's here, it's clearly not very happy to see us!" Tess takes a focused look around while staying on guard.
"Is there something hiding here that's moving these objects? Oh gods, is it a ghost?"
Vashina is feeling weak and more than a little concerned that something the group cannot see is hurling objects with the intent to harm them.
She follows Posh out the door and puts her back tot he wall. She's near enough to help if needed but hopefully out of sight of whatever wants to hurt them.
Kar backs out of the room, his guard still up, ready to swat aside anything else that comes at him. What are you all doing? Get out of the room.
Nothing seems to attack as everyone backs out of the room and into the open air. Nothing can be seen moving, either - it's as if nothing is there but the objects themselves.
From outside the room, he looks back to see Kar following, but no others.
"It doesn't seem to want us in there and I don't feel like pushing my luck this day." he calls out. "We could come back later?"
As an after thought, he screams "Invisible guy! The one throwing stuff at us! Perhaps we could talk this out? We aren't here to hurt you unless you insist on hurting us!"
Kalathiel takes a step backwards but remains in the building, waiting for something else to come flying. His thoughts race. Invisibility? Could be, though a chalice isn't much of a weapon. A haunting, perhaps?
"Whoever you are, we're not your enemies!" he calls out, echoing the gnome standing just beyond the threshold of the building. "We came to help!"
As the majority of the party retreats from the room, nothing seems to attack or respond. However, when Kalathiel remains within the building, the disturbance comes again, and this time a small, broken steel mirror flies in his direction. It smashes into the wall just to the side of the elf, chipping wood away before it falls to the ground with a thud.
Vashina
Kalathiel
Kar
Chalice?
Jader
Tessamine
Jader whispers”I’m going to cast a spell to try and stop whatever it is that is attacking. Play along and act astonished. Let those around you know”
Jader quietly mutters the words for Ghost Sound.
Jader reacts to his own spell with shock and awe. Trying to sell the ruse even further
”Truly the Gods are speaking to us all let’s get away from here. Jader shouts with awe and fear as he attempts to cower away from the building
"Uh- Yes, clearly! Let us make a hasty retreat from these hallowed grounds!"
Tess was never a great actor, but she tries, and immediately retreats out of the church.
Kar waits for Kal to get himself out of the building.
Jader's ruse rings out through the house, but there's no apparent effect. Being that you've seen nothing at all so far, that's not entirely unheard of. Jader and Tessamine retreat from the home and make their way out of the open door so as not to be targets for whatever force lies within.
Vashina stays outside and out of sight of anyone or anything inside the building. She doesn't show any interest in going back in the building.
Hobbling down the path after his companions, Posh frowns. "I don't suppose any of you know what is going on in there? We'll have to make sure to come back and inspect this when we're more prepared. Would you document this place, please?"
Kal continues on with the party, his diplomacy attempt having fallen on deaf, or perhaps nonexistent ears. Once the party is out of the area of the building, no attacks seem to be forthcoming from it. The area is quiet once again.