"More trees. This does not bode well..." William looks at these trees, walking over to them slowly and placing a hand on each one, feeling the bark which was once living flesh. "This entire town has been cursed..."
"Yes .... something very strange has happened here."
Eltariel mutters a cantrip and looks around with her wizard's sight.
Always practical minded, Layjiani searches through the scattered possessions. looking for clues as to the previous owners as well as anything useful and/or interesting.
After that she will check out the stairway and be ready to proceed up it once the others are ready as well
Eltariel doesnt detect any magical effect..no aura comes from the trees.
You check out the upstairs and there is a tree lying on a bed
"Be very careful, all of you. The root cause of this," Eltariel is unaware of the inadvertent pun, "could be anything: we should not remain too long, but find out what we can and then leave. Look for diaries, letters, log-books, whatever might tell us something."
Search check:
As you turn your attention to the Inn you realise that the whole place has been vandalised..broken mugs and glasses litter the floor. Upstairs is much the same beds and furnishings hacked and cut..
"Who could have done this?" Eltariel asks as she examines the damage.
"Would fey be so low as to tear things apart and vandalise?" William points this out, still having no knowledge of Fey and surprised that they could possibly cause such mayhem if that were them. All he knew were stories told when living at the church.
"If I were to change a whole village somehow, I would do it through their water, or food source". "Let us check that for magical or poisonous effects". "I am sure some of you have this ability...No?"
"I most certainly do," Eltariel confirms, and looks for the villages water-source.
While Eltariel searches for the town water supply Layjiani attempts to find any track or sign of the looters and vandals.
Kegmar lends his assistance to the search of the vandalized trash about the inn, and to Layjiani in any capacity the scout will allow.
Aude dryly speaks
'If we spilt, I'll stay at the inn. While I trust Layjiani's capacities to scout while staying hidden, Kegmar son of Bolgar , grandson of Gedmar has not given signs of such capacities to my satisfaction. If any of you need healing , you'll know where to find me. Kegmar , please do not be offended if I did not speak ao your great grandfather Kraus , being comrades in arms I perceived some informality would be acceptable "
"I suggest we stay together. There is strength in numbers and these fey may be still hanging around." he looks about causiously "This is disturbing fey magic. Something is very wrong here."
"Agreed - I like being close to nature, but I don't want to be that close for a few centuries yet."
The outpost’s well lies in the very center of town. It is a medium-sized stone well with a wooden rain cover. A hand crank lowers or raises a bucket up or down out of the water on a thick rope. A large cornerstone is engraved with the inscription “Tauragart Garland,” and a date forty years earlier.
There is absolutely nothing of value left in the inn..
Eltariel will first detect magic on the well and it's vicinity, then detect poison.
No magic but the detect poison shows that the well has indeed been tampered with.
Meanwhile Layjiani finds two sets of tracks into and out off the village area
One undoubtedly belongs to a gang of bugbears,who are being strangely nonchalant about their comings and leavings.
The other set of tracks is extremely strange – it seems to be from a treant, but if so this treant walked with no regard for preserving the natural forest; it has knocked down saplings, trampled bushes and flowers, and generally left upheaval in its wake.
"You were correct - the well has been poisoned," Eltariel confirms. "Kegmar, you doubtless know more of such things than I, can you identify the poison and perhaps concoct an antidote? Not out here, obviously, but if there is a chance of saving these people in some form we should take it."
After sharing her findings with the others Layjiani gives her opinion
"While ity do be the Treant we do be here to stop, this one feels that first it do be best to eliminate the bugbear threat. For they do be creatures most foul and viscious and the ones here do no seem to have any fear of entering this town at their will."
As she speaks the ranger's extreeme dislike for any kind of monstrous humanoids is clearly visible.
Fredrich smiles and hefts his polearm, happy to talk about a tangent foe. "No that's what I'm talking about". "You point...I'll chop".
After sharing her findings with the others Layjiani gives her opinion
"While ity do be the Treant we do be here to stop, this one feels that first it do be best to eliminate the bugbear threat. For they do be creatures most foul and viscious and the ones here do no seem to have any fear of entering this town at their will."
As she speaks the ranger's extreeme dislike for any kind of monstrous humanoids is clearly visible.
"Bugbears are chaotic creatures. These things should be brought to justice, but I have never known such creatures to work with fey, but the books at my temple may have been outdated." he shrugs as he looks down at the the tracks that Layjiani point out to the group, not really recognising any but taking her word for it. "Justice must be done for those who were cursed here."
At the point of his ability to muster about town stealthfully, the dwarf grins at Aude. "No offense taken, in fact I'm not much used t'folk actually even going one ancestor deep as ye jus' did!"
At the confirmation of a poisoned well, Kegmar eagerly unties a set of his alchemical tools, and begins to extract suitable samples for later research.
As he performs this work, he can't help but to sniff the poison to try to recall anything he knows about it's origin or effects.
"The treant or the bugbears? I think we'll need to take the latter first. They may have information on our treant, after all, and so far as I know he is as yet unaware of our presence."
It should be said that the two sets off tracks do lead in the same general direction
"Well let's do a quick scan through the remaining buildings to make sure there are no survivors, then I believe our direction is clear". "Does someone want to scout ahead"?
The Treant tracks are perhaps 4 or 5 days old..the Bugbears maybe 2 or 3
Beginning with the nearest house to the Inn
This tiny farmhouse has only two rooms: a kitchen with a small eating area, and a bedroom. Two black trees seem to have sprung from the very floorboards of the bedroom to overgrow the bed and nightstand. It looks like looters have taken everything of value. The interior has been ravaged by the elements for many days, and from the smell it seems that vermin have taken up residence in the cupboards.
You hear the excited barking of a dog from the back yard.
Eltariel will move behind the property, likely to find a dog in the yard tied up and hungry ...
Wild empathy:
Looking to calm the animal and feed/water it.
If the dog is tied up or needs help in anyway Layjiani will approach it using her handle animal or wild empathy skill and give whatever aid is needed. Otherwise she will movw onto the next house
There is indeed a dog.. and it's obviously starving..Eltariel and Layjiani work to feed and water the animal.However with no way off communicating with it you are no wiser about what happened.
"... and here's a scroll of speak with animals I prepared earlier."
Eltariel uses the scroll and asks the dog what happened. :)
The dwarf alchemist leans on his dorn-dergar as he eagerly watches Eltariel lean down to speak with the emaciated dog.
Finally some answers, he hopes to himself.
The dog..her name is Meg...tells you this.
THE MAN and THE WOMAN got sick..and there was no food..and then the big smelly hairy things came..and there was no food..and they took everything and left Meg tied up... with no food..but now nice people who can understand Meg are here...with food... and once she has had food she will take them to where her Masters scent went.
Eltariel feeds the grateful Meg and explains to the others:
"The poor dog's owners became sick, then the bugbears came and stole everything. I am guessing this was after the transformation to trees took place. There is one thing we need to do here, friends - mark the well as poisoned, and knock some holes in the buildings to let light in. Without it the trees will sicken and die, and then all hope of a cure is gone."
Once Meg is fed, Eltariel will release her and follow where she leads - although it will not tell us much if it is straight to the two trees indoors.
William, feeling sorry for the animal heads over to the animal and pets Meg.
"Poor girl. Justice will be done for your owners." even though he obviously can't speak to animals like the spell, he still hopes it understands his general emotions. "What do we do with this dog? I never had one growing up in the temple and we can't leave her here, yet I don't wish to bring her with us into danger."
Do you want to check out the two remaining buildings while Meg is eating..?
Eltariel, this is a little moot . Those trees have no roots in the soil.
"They do not need them, merely moisture," Eltariel corrects. "A little rain will keep them all alive a while. Let's investigate the remaining buildings in any event."
The next building is the Smithy...most off it lies open to the air the forge area merely roofed over. On the floor lie two bodies..A large heavily muscled man in a leather apron and a bugbear..both have been dead 3 to 4 days.
Eltariel will do just that as we go around. At the corpses in the smithy she pauses, and examines the human - does he show any signs of the 'curse'?
Fredrich escorts Eltariel on her rounds, keeping out a sharp eye for any dangerous surprises.
perception
There is no sign of any curse having affected the man. As you bend to the body however a shadow falls across you as a large figure comes around the corner of the building.
It's a Troll!!!
"To Arms"! "To Arms"! Fredrich shouts readying his weapon.
Initiative
Inititiative:
Her bow at the ready, when Layjiani sees the troll she drops the regular arrow she had been carrying and quickly snatches an alchemist's arrow from her quiver, firing it and taking deadly aim all in the same smooth practiced movement
Attack:
Damage:
Initiative
Aude speaks drily
"Fredrich , it is only a troll ... Unless you want to alert his comrades "
Initiative:
Eltariel will take a step behind the shelter of the fighters, although still with a field of attack before her, spell ready.
"Do you come to parley or fight?" she asks if the troll does not attack before her turn. If it does she cuts loose with a burning hands instead.
Troll initiative
The troll bellows an unintelligible war cry as it closes with Frederich and Eltariel.
Surprise round so only one action each..waiting for William and Kegmar. Fred can make an attack if he wishes