Once the party exits, Aiko says, "I'll go do some investigations surreptitiously."
She removes her over-the-top makeup and puts on a disguise (as rolled here) as a housewife trying to find Asvig Longthews because her husband owes some money to one of his huskarls due to some kind of gambling game ("he didn't tell me what it was, the lout, just moaned that if we didn't pay it he'd be in trouble"), and could anyone point her to that notable ring-giver so that she can make amends?
After a few hours, Aiko gathers that Asvig's farm is a 2 hour walk (or 1 hour ride) southeast of the city in an area of lightly forested and marshy hills. Like many steadings in the area, the ring-giver's farm is a fortified house of sod and stone where he and his retainers can gather for common defense against the dangers of the wilderness. By the time the ninja returns to the group at the inn, the sun has already gone down.
"Going at night works for me. Or would it be better to go in the morning?" Byron asks.
"Assuming Asvig and his company are mostly human, they probably can't see in the dark any better than we can. The sooner we go, the better our chances of having the element of surprise," opines Aiko.
"If we decide not to and we spend the night here instead, make sure to barricade the doors and windows. Don't need any more assassins creeping up on us."
"Better to go at night while they're unprepared. If we can catch most of them in their lair, probably drunk and sated, all the better." Lyraesel adds, agreeing with the idea of a night strike.
At least three of us have very good perception and Lyraesel has lowlight vision, so hopefully she can take the lead and we will spot them before they spot us.
Any buffs going up before we close on their outer guards?
"Anything that could last long enough for any fight we may get ourselves into would be nice," Adrian suggested.
"When everyone is ready, I'll lead us to their farm." Lyraesel says after checking her weapons.
The group moves out in the general direction Aiko had discovered, the night darkening as they leave Kalsgard behind. The countryside around the city is one of lightly forested hills with marshes in the lowlands between. Even with the benefit of good fieldcraft the group is cold and wet by the time they spy Asvig's farm in a wide, well maintained hollow, with dry fields kept that way with drainage ditches and several sheds and outbuildings surrounding the main, fortified sod house up on a small rise.
A single road leads into the farm, angled not directly toward Kalsgard the way the party had come but toward the caravan road, apparently a more convenient route to and from the city than the way the group had come.
The outbuildings are all dark but the main house is ablaze with light and the sound of boisterous celebration drift out into the night, loud enough the group can hear it from where they lurk in the dark.
"Well, it does appear we found them drinking." Byron says as he looks over the area. "This is just a guess though on who took the sword. We should try and get in and out without being seen if possible. They probably won't care for intruders in their house regardless of whether they took the blade and killed Oleg."
Aiko brings up her hand in a gesture for the team to halt. She pauses and sneaks up to a rune-covered wooden post with an odd ring attached to it.
"What's this?" she says. "Some kind of boundary alarm?"
[dice=Perception]1d20+10
Aiko brings up her hand in a gesture for the team to halt. She pauses and sneaks up to a rune-covered wooden post with an odd ring attached to it.
"What's this?" she says. "Some kind of boundary alarm?"
Aiko pauses as soon as she sees the skull-post. She isn't sure what it means, but she halts the rest of the team in their tracks.
She squints in the dark and says, "I think there's some writing or markings on it? Can't tell from this far, in the dim light."
She advances slowly, step by step, until she reaches about 10' away from one and gets a good look at it.
"Writing of some kind? Is this some kind of magic post?" she calls quietly back toward the team. She gestures for one person to advance behind her, no further.
Zaraleva casts Detect Magic from 30 feet away and studies the post.
Unable to see the device for himself, he decides to stay behind and let someone with more magical acuity to take a look at it.
Lyraesel creeps forward, hanging a bit behind Aiko, her vision allowing her to see better in the darkness.
Zaraleva can tell the post is magical. It has a faint conjuration aura. Without a more scholarly knowledge of working magic, though, she can't predict exactly what it might do.
"It's a low-level conjuration spell, but I don't know which....Probably not Mage Armor...maybe a Summon? It's not Alarm, that's not conjuration. Can you disarm it? Go around it? Jump over it?"
"Probably some kind of defense or warning. Spaced out all around." Lyraesel says pointing out identical posts 30ft to the left and right.
"Conjuring? So these probably summon some kind of guardian creature when you pass by them."
"I don't know how to dispel magic. Probably damaging the posts triggers them."
"It doesn't look like we can disable it without triggering it, Adrian sighed. "Maybe we can trigger it and hide out before someone comes out."
"Maybe wearing those lion bracers might disarm it. It might be looking for a sign or symbol of a cat to let people through since there are cat heads on all of these posts." Byron says with a shrug before continuing, "I can try and disable the runes if this is a trap."[/b]
"Sure, you can see if the lion bracers do the trick. If not, we fight."
As Byron investigates the post to determine a way to disable it, he moves in between the post and the next one in line. With a loud roar, a huge white male lion appears in thin air and jumps down onto the ground. It immediately moves toward Byron but after seeing the lionhead armband simply butts its enormous head against the man's shoulder like a pet cat.
"Arrrr.....umm....hello cat." Byron says as he pets the creature, then continues by saying, "Well...it does summon something. I am not sure if it will summon more when you come through. If it does I will try and get between you and the cats."
Adrian is still cautious after that surprise attack by that big cat... but he complies and moves past the barrier, making sure to be behind Byron's back as he did.
Slipping one of the armbands over her arm, Lyraesel warily crosses the barrier as well, watching out for the sudden appearance of potential danger.
Though it clearly wants to stop anyone who isn't wearing a lionhead armband, Byron is able to keep the big cat from attacking the rest of the group.
The main house is ablaze with light and the sounds of boisterous celebration coming from within. There is clearly a feast going on inside with a number of people attending. The outbuildings are dark and quiet, the farm’s sheds and barns hold a dozen or more mounts, and it is evident that a large crowd has gathered for this party. Other than the lion posts there are no visible watchmen outside.
Using the compounds outbuildings as cover, the group is able to get relatively close to the farmhouse unseen.
The walls of the main house are constructed of courses of sod laid atop stone and average 3 feet thick. The floors are dug down below ground level to a depth of 3 feet. The roof is thatch above heavy wooden beams and rises to 12 feet at the center (8 feet near the walls), with narrow smoke holes above the fire pits. The doors and windows are made of strong wood designed to hold up to besieging Ulfen.
Byron will point to the east and skirt around to what appears to be a larger opening to the north east of the compound.
Skirting around to the east, Byron finds an opening in the wall wide enough for a cart to be pushed through. Inside, bundles of raw wool
are piled along the walls next to buckets of water and urine for scouring. A bench holding combs for carding the wool sits next to the door to the main hall.
Listening at that door, Byron hears at least half a dozen distinct voices in the room beyond.
As Byron scouts, Lyraesel prepares by casting a few spells to enhance her abilities, thickening her outer skin with dense rough bark and heightening her sense of smell.
Byron moves back to the door at the north west and points at it. When the others come close he whispers, "I heard a half dozen voices over on the other side of the house. Maybe we can sneak in here and see if we can spot the sword without being noticed."
"Maybe if we give them a little time to get drunker?"
"Could be hours." Lyraesel mutters.
Aiko hunkers down and sneaks forward toward the house.
Adrian follows suit, hoping not to draw any attention.
If someone sees you, remember you are wearing the lion armband. I'm not sure if that would help your Bluff or a surprise attack.
Byron searches the door to see if there are any traps or locks.
Please don't, unless you're doing it before I cast my four-minute spell on Aiko. (Taking 20 uses two minutes, I believe.)
Byron doesn't find any traps on the northwesternmost door and as far as he can tell it's unlocked.
As he's checking the door Byron hears the sound of 2 or maybe 3 people grunting and flesh on flesh inside. Either someone is having a relatively quiet unarmed fight or somebody's having sex in there.
Byron puts his finger to his lips and then motions to the door and holds up two fingers with a shrug.
Aiko waits for Zaraleva to do... whatever she's doing? (I don't see where you specified the four-minute spell that you're casting.)
Tilting her head at the sounds coming from beyond the door, Lyraesel makes a brief but intricate gesture, as her form, and equipment seem to almost flicker out, blending into the background with eerie fluidity.
If whoever was on the other side of the door was busy, what better time to move?
Drawing her sickle, she gently opens the door, waiting for a moment before slipping through it.
Lyraesel has the bad luck to find a pair of Ulfen warriors having their way with a thrall bent over a wooden crate, all three of them facing the door. One of the burly men- the one less immediately involved- frowns as a patch of darkness opens the door from the outside. "Hey!" he yells as he reaches for his axe.
Given the noise level coming from the closed door on the far side of the pantry the druid is fairly certain no one is going to come unless one of these three runs off and alerts the rest.