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We don’t know what fate has befallen the kids. They can be just held to be sold has slaves, they can be working as slaves or even worse. No! I can’t rest when we have a lead on the kids.
I say we leave at once! The fate of the kids is on our shoulders and is not the darkness of the night that will stop us from doing what is right!!!
Your first stop in looking for the missing children is Elara’s Halfway House, the scene of the infamous dare and the last place any of the children were known to be.
The halfway house stands on a small rise about 8 miles outside of town, right on the edge of the vale - you arrive there in the dead of night, your bones and muscles already asking for some rest - but you are adventurers after all, so you press on!
As you approach the site you realize the blackened husk of the orphanage lies atop a hill. Charred timbers are strewn among piles of caked ash and the only edifice left standing is a soot-stained stone arch. A small stuffed doll lies below the arch, her face seared off and her patchwork dress spilling dirty stuffing.
Beside her, a troop of half-melted tin soldiers stand in formation, their bodies twisted and deformed by the blaze that claimed their owner’s life.
[dice=Perception]1d20+4
Taking 10 and Taking 20
A skill check represents an attempt to accomplish some goal, usually while under some sort of time pressure or distraction. Sometimes, though, a character can use a skill under more favorable conditions, increasing the odds of success.
Taking 10
When your character is not in immediate danger or distracted, you may choose to take 10. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, calculate your result as if you had rolled a 10. For many routine tasks, taking 10 makes them automatically successful. Distractions or threats (such as combat) make it impossible for a character to take 10. In most cases, taking 10 is purely a safety measure—you know (or expect) that an average roll will succeed but fear that a poor roll might fail, so you elect to settle for the average roll (a 10). Taking 10 is especially useful in situations where a particularly high roll wouldn't help.
Taking 20
When you have plenty of time, you are faced with no threats or distractions, and the skill being attempted carries no penalties for failure, you can take 20. In other words, if you a d20 roll enough times, eventually you will get a 20. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, just calculate your result as if you had rolled a 20.
Taking 20 means you are trying until you get it right, and it assumes that you fail many times before succeeding. Taking 20 takes 20 times as long as making a single check would take (usually 2 minutes for a skill that takes 1 round or less to perform).
Since taking 20 assumes that your character will fail many times before succeeding, your character would automatically incur any penalties for failure before he or she could complete the task (hence why it is generally not allowed with skills that carry such penalties). Common “take 20” skills include Disable Device (when used to open locks), Escape Artist, and Perception (when attempting to find traps).
As you guys start searching around, Tsin Tao and Lokeemon spot a charred trapdoor beneath an inch of ash in the center of the ruins. The lock is melted shut, but the door itself looks in pretty bad shape.
Tsin Tao listens but hears no noise coming from inside, neither does he find any traps.
After taking a second look at the trapdoor, it would seem opening it without making some noise will not be possible, as it will be necessary to break through whatever remains of it.
Lokeemon keeps watch, but he hears nothing particular apart from the now familiar chirp of the Nightjar, and the rustling steps of his companions as they move around the remains of the burnt building.
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Hey guys, this lock is fused shut, probably by the fire, but we can smash the boards. I don't hear anything inside but I'm pretty sure whatever's inside will hear us.
I'm up for it though, as I don't see any other way to find out where those kids went. I seriously doubt they went through here, or anyone else for that matter.
Do you want to keep looking or shall I smash it up?
You decide to leave the trapdoor where it stands for the time being, and broaden your search - from a distance you spot what seems to be like a makeshift tent, maybe 50 yards away from the ruins.
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Yeah, sounds like my kind of thing I say with a grin while I pull my hood over my head
I approach the tent stealthily and behind cover if possible.
My goal is to get only as close as I need to see if there's anyone in. If not, I want to approach slowly while looking for tracks, especially recent ones.
Tsin Tao picks his path carefully toward what seems to be a tent - when he gets closer he realizes it is mostly shredded on the ground beside a crude fireplace of flat stones.
Signs of a struggle are everywhere, with broken twigs, crushed foliage, scraps of clothing, and patches of blood on the ground.
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Alright, there was a fight here. That much is obvious. Who was fighting though? And where did they go?
Are there any dead bodies? Weapons left behind?
I'm looking for stuff that allows me to identify who was here and where they went, so I'm moving slowly and looking for tracks.
Also looking for left over items, equipment, even body parts.
Tsin Tao approaches carefully to find that the signs of a struggle are everywhere, with broken twigs, crushed foliage, scraps of clothing, and patches of blood on the ground.
Poking around, he finds what seem to be a few reptilian scales around the fire pit.
Roll me a Knowledge (Local) to see if you can recognize these scales.
Nope, you don't recognize the scales.
Dropping off the scales for now, the ninja focuses on tracks, and indeed is able to find footprints in the area, which differ in size even though they are all small - they seem to lead away from the camp in general.