Wide-eyed, "Dangerous? Trolls?" he asks in all seriousness before a smile slowly forms. "Sounds grand, Padre! Let's move." The dwarf straps on his shield and grabs his hammer as he leads the way.
Alicia scowls as she realizes that she had assumed the wrong boulder, thinking that it had to have been the church. She grumbles and grouses to herself and follows after Team Dad.
The dwarf cautiously follows the footprints over the barren ground, the others, including the riding dog and the fledgling roc, trailing behind him. They lead, as expected, to the far side of the boulder to the east; from there, Dorn traces the pair around the base of the small hill.
About a hundred feet ahead, a long, low structure is visible. The walls are built of sod and the roof of thatch, but both are obviously dry and crumbling away.
Ali mutters something about abandoned farms and squints her eyes, trying to see whether anyone is expecting them.
Marikel narrows his eyes at Alicia and murmurs quietly, "Well, it doesn't seem abandoned now..."
"Abandoned?" he asks rhetorically as he turns and looks upon the place himself, wondering if it really is abandoned.
Alicia grunts and looks around for any routes that might take her closer to the formerly-abandoned dwelling without being spotted by its occupants.
Dorn points out to the others, "Those are our bootprints there and they're headed straight for your building. And if ya look hard enough there's two entrances to it. There could be more ways in - and out as far as that goes - but there's no way ta know without movin' in closer," he explains.
Alicia grunts and looks around for any routes that might take her closer to the formerly-abandoned dwelling without being spotted by its occupants.
As Dorn points out, there are two entrances visible on this side of the building, each in a short annex sticking out from the long main structure. The one on the right is a wide open entrance, while the one on the left is narrower and fitted with a door; the sneakiest way to approach is probably to keep to the left.
"Hmm, speed may be better over stealth. I could run up."
He smirks at the expressions he elicits.
"I could even give you a minute to get into position first."
Ali rolls her eyes. "Fine. I'll sneak closer," she says, and tries to sneak close to the left entrance.
Vhailor follows along at the back of the group, listening but lost in his own Gnomish thoughts... and with a need to scratch the feline monarch sat upon his shoulder. He keeps abreast of the discussion... but unfortunately the topic being discussed doesn't cross his still somewhat limited areas of expertise.
"I'm right behind ya, lass." Dorn waits until the rogue gets a bit of a head start before following in her footsteps, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that moves.
The two quietly approach the abandoned turf house, the dwarf surprisingly deftly for one of his race.
"I'll cover the other door."
Kaleb quietly moves into position beside the other entrance, positioning himself against the wall beside it, rapier drawn.
Kaleb accompanies the sneaky pair toward the building, then breaks away and follows the wall to the right, positioning himself near the open entrance.
Alicia sneaks closer to the door and, after a quick inspection for signs of traps, presses her ear to it and listens. You've got to be in here somewhere, she thinks.
The dwarf moves in a step closer and holds his position there, keeping a lookout as he awaits to see what the rogue may uncover.
Vhailor looks to Marikel to give guidance towards what the next step might be.
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Vhailor looks to Marikel to give guidance towards what the next step might be.
Marikel places a finger over his lips and watches the others carefully for signs of danger, ready to run forward if needed.
"Only a fool half charges in, waving his sword and expecting the enemy to be flat footed," he thinks to himself.
Noticing nothing upon the ground, the dwarf moves up behind the girl. "Just so ya know, they didn't come through this door, lass. Their prints aren't here. Doesn't mean they aren't in there, it just means they've managed another way in." He then searches again for the tracks in hopes it'll lead him to where it is they entered.
Ali nods at the dwarf and cautiously opens the door.
As Dorn starts to backtrack to rediscover the trail, Alicia opens the door, spilling sunlight into a dark room. Even with her slight frame, she would have to duck to fit under the lintel, but it can now be seen that the floor slopes notably downward past the door; the Ulfens must have dug down into the earth to shape their house, probably using the turf removed to stack atop the stone base of the walls, and explaining the low roofline. A door in the opposite wall twenty feet away is at least a foot lower. There are some broken crates and kegs along either side of the room.
Seeing Alicia open the door, Marikel advances to back up his companions whilst waving Vhailor along behind him.
Vhailor carefully follows, one hand a-staff and the other keeping Carbonel stable upon his shoulder. Casting eyes into the room he surveys it, eyes lingering upon the crates and kegs a moment... cocking head to the side and wondering how they came to be broken.
The breakage seems due more to age and exposure than sudden violence; the wood is soft and rotting and teeming with insects.
Kaleb motions frantically to the others, nodding towards the ground beside him and gesturing with his hand a motion towards the entrance.
Alicia ducks under the lintel and slowly creeps into the room. Drawing her hopeknife, she squints and looks around the room as she goes.
Moving from the bright winter sunlight, Alicia finds the enclosed space dim and musty. There is a strong smell of rotting hay coming from the thatch roof overhead. The inner door toward which the floor slopes down looks more solid and better-fitting than the one by which she just entered.
As Dorn, Marikel, and Vhailor move to follow Alicia in the left entrance, they notice Kaleb motioning them in his direction.
Ali pauses by the inner door, inspecting it for tell-tale signs of traps and listening for the sounds of movement in the room beyond.
As Dorn starts to move in, he catches sight of the halfling. "I'm gonna see what the halfling's all about," he tells the others as he motions for the bird to follow him.
Making his way over, "What is it, lad? Did ya catch sight of the lot you're lookin' for?"
As Marikel heads towards Alicia, he notices Kaleb and, with a quick glance at Alicia, changes direction towards the halfling.
Vhailor cedes le passage to those ahead of him and follows on cautiously and with interest.
Kaleb puts a cautionary finger to his lips, then uses the same digit to point to the ground just outside the open entrance. When Marikel and Vhailor don't seem to comprehend what they're supposed to be seeing, he raises one foot and sets it down heavily, if silently, in the dirt.
Marikel readies his sword and shield but otherwise stays still.
Noticing the prints, Dorn nods at the halfling and moves up to the edge of the entrance, slowly peering around the corner.
At the far end of the entryway it opens into the long, low main part of the structure. It's dark within; you see some low wooden boxes that might be mangers or troughs but no other furniture and no occupants. From what you can tell, the footprints you are following go down the slope and into the main building.
Vhailor awaits an explosion of activity with bated breath.
Dorn turns back to the others, shrugging. "No sign of anybody. But I can tell ya that's the way they went in. I'm goin' in." He starts to head that way before stopping and looking back to the others, "This is gonna be grand!" he says with excitement as he makes his way in at a careful pace, keeping a lookout as he does.
Kaleb nodded with grim resolve and rushed in beside Dorn, rapier drawn.
Dorn and Kaleb quietly advance down the sloping entryway toward the dark interior of the abandoned farmhouse.
Marikel waits outside for a dozen beats before following the others.
As the priest and the wizard wait outside, Dorn and Kaleb carefully approach the second open doorway. There are rusty hooks screwed into the wooden lintel, probably so that a curtain could be hung across the open entryway to keep out cold or wet weather.