Part 1 - The Witchwood

[BowenSilverclaw]

Kalal:

As you approach the old farmhouse, you do not hear or see anything out of the ordinary, aside from the obvious tracks left by the hobgoblins and hellhounds you and your companions have just defeated.

Part of the walls at a corner near the entrance of the old building have partially come down, leaving a hole in the side of the building, near the roof, but there doesn't seem to be any danger of collapse.

You don't see any creatures through this hole or through the old dirty and cracked windows. The old farmhouse seems to be abandoned.

[PhaedrusXY]

The dwarf says gruffly "Well, that's a bit of a relief. I half expected to find a slaughtered family or something... It looks like no one has lived here for years."

[Nanshork]

Goldflower follows on foot, leading her mount.  She is curious as to what they've found.

Spot: 5
Listen: 15

[BowenSilverclaw]

Goldflower:

As you approach the old farmhouse, you do not hear or see anything out of the ordinary, aside from the obvious tracks left by the hobgoblins and hellhounds you and your companions have just defeated.

Part of the walls at a corner near the entrance of the old building have partially come down, leaving a hole in the side of the building, near the roof, but there doesn't seem to be any danger of collapse.

You don't see any creatures through this hole or through the old dirty and cracked windows. The old farmhouse seems to be abandoned.

[VennDygrem]

Since he does not notice any immediate threat, Yamanu enters the building, hoping that his initial assessment holds true.

[BowenSilverclaw]

Yamanu (and anyone else who enters):

As Yamanu enters, he sees 5 dead bodies. 4 male -one dressed in simple clothes and 3 in what appear to be some kind of uniform and studded leather armor- dumped against the backwall, all of them with gashes and arrow wounds across their torsos and 1 female on a bed against the wall on the left, her clothes torn from her body and her throat slit. All of their wounds appear to be fairly fresh, no older than a day.

Next to the bodies against the backwall there are several longswords and crossbows lying on the ground.


In the middle of the room there's a cooking fire (now extinguished) surrounded by bedrolls and other basic necessities.

[VennDygrem]

Yamanu gathers the weapons and any other items he finds of value, and begins taking them outside.

Looking over at his companions, he says, holding back a low growl, "I don't think you want to go in there."

[PhaedrusXY]

"What is it, lad? It looks empty from here..." the dwarf says, as he stubbornly steps into the building.

I'll just read his spoiler, Bowen. No need to copy/pasta.

"Hmm... some kind of illusion to cover their mess... " the dwarf says as he steps back out of the building and waves his hand around into the doorway to try and discern where the figment begins.

"These must be the other people they've ambushed here, who didn't fare so well as us... Poor souls."

Do we recognize the heraldry on the uniforms of the 3 men? Taking 10 on Knowledge: Nobility and Royalty gives me a 12. That good for anything?

[Agita]

"No, actually, I think I do want to go in now. Let's see what's so bad." Upon overhearing Yamanu's warning, the colonel grows curious and enters the house after Kalal.

She doesn't seem very taken aback by the scene, merely raising an eyebrow. "Looks like the hobbos were staying here. The other five probably took issue." She barely spares a second look for the man in ordinary clothing or the woman, being more interested in the uniforms.

I dunno if I really need to put the second part of the post in spoilers, but it's just a click, so I did it anyway.

I already read the spoiler, so what PXY said.
What Knowledge would be needed to identify the uniforms? In that vein, is there any useful stuff that Knowledge (History) could tell me about Tiamat/the Red Hand that we don't already know?

[Nanshork]

Goldflower doesn't really seem to care what is so bad.  She stands outside, waiting for the others to be done.

[BowenSilverclaw]

Yamanu gathers the weapons and any other items he finds of value, and begins taking them outside.

Looking over at his companions, he says, holding back a low growl, "I don't think you want to go in there."

Items of note:
Studded Leather x3
Longsword x3
Light Crossbow x3
Crossbow Bolts
Dagger x5

Papers identifying the woman as a merchant, probably on her way to Drellin's Ferry just like you guys.

[BowenSilverclaw]

"What is it, lad? It looks empty from here..." the dwarf says, as he stubbornly steps into the building.

I'll just read his spoiler, Bowen. No need to copy/pasta.

"Hmm... some kind of illusion to cover their mess... " the dwarf says as he steps back out of the building and waves his hand around into the doorway to try and discern where the figment begins.

"These must be the other people they've ambushed here, who didn't fare so well as us... Poor souls."

Do we recognize the heraldry on the uniforms of the 3 men? Taking 10 on Knowledge: Nobility and Royalty gives me a 12. That good for anything?

"No, actually, I think I do want to go in now. Let's see what's so bad." Upon overhearing Yamanu's warning, the colonel grows curious and enters the house after Kalal.

She doesn't seem very taken aback by the scene, merely raising an eyebrow. "Looks like the hobbos were staying here. The other five probably took issue." She barely spares a second look for the man in ordinary clothing or the woman, being more interested in the uniforms.

I dunno if I really need to put the second part of the post in spoilers, but it's just a click, so I did it anyway.

I already read the spoiler, so what PXY said.
What Knowledge would be needed to identify the uniforms? In that vein, is there any useful stuff that Knowledge (History) could tell me about Tiamat/the Red Hand that we don't already know?

The uniforms aren't of any official military that you know of. It's more likely that these were hired guards accompanying the woman.

[PhaedrusXY]

"Any idea who these people are? Let's bury them here, and maybe we can give word of what happened to them to the local authorities at the town we're heading to. I'm sure they'd be interested in hearing about a bunch of hobgoblins ambushing people on the road, also. Let's take that holy symbol with us, and any other identifiers of this group of bandits as well, to give to the authorities."

Kalal starts dragging bodies outside. He uses his burrowing ability to quickly place them underground, and places burial markers above their graves with dates of when they were found dead, descriptions of each of them, and what happened to them. He puts all of this in plain view of the road.

[Agita]

"Do what you want. It might be a good idea to make sketches or something if you're going to report to the authorities, though." Colonel Harika inspects the woman's face carefully before allowing Kalal to take her out, but doesn't interfere with him burying the corpses.

I assume I don't know the chick or the guy if they're not Karrnathi big shots. How about Kalal's K(Nobility and Royalty)?

[BowenSilverclaw]

"Do what you want. It might be a good idea to make sketches or something if you're going to report to the authorities, though." Colonel Harika inspects the woman's face carefully before allowing Kalal to take her out, but doesn't interfere with him burying the corpses.

I assume I don't know the chick or the guy if they're not Karrnathi big shots. How about Kalal's K(Nobility and Royalty)?

Nope, just a random merchant woman and her guards, and some unlucky peasant.

[bearsarebrown]

Having stayed out of the building, Saru is surprised to see Kalal drag the bodies out. He shifts into the monkey and closes his eyes. "Tell me when you're done burying the bodies..."

[VennDygrem]

Yamanu gathers the weapons and any other items he finds of value, and begins taking them outside.

Looking over at his companions, he says, holding back a low growl, "I don't think you want to go in there."

Items of note:
Studded Leather x3
Longsword x3
Light Crossbow x3
Crossbow Bolts
Dagger x5

Papers identifying the woman as a merchant, probably on her way to Drellin's Ferry just like you guys.

I assume all the gear is of medium size, right?

[BowenSilverclaw]

Yamanu gathers the weapons and any other items he finds of value, and begins taking them outside.

Looking over at his companions, he says, holding back a low growl, "I don't think you want to go in there."

Items of note:
Studded Leather x3
Longsword x3
Light Crossbow x3
Crossbow Bolts
Dagger x5

Papers identifying the woman as a merchant, probably on her way to Drellin's Ferry just like you guys.

I assume all the gear is of medium size, right?

Yes, it is.

[VennDygrem]

Yamanu looks harshly at the others, briefly, but returns to his steadfast state.

"Looks like we can finish the woman's intended plans and sell most of this at the town up ahead. If ambushes like this are common, or becoming more-so, then I assume the townsfolk would be more than glad to have more to defend themselves with."

[BowenSilverclaw]

Yamanu looks harshly at the others, briefly, but returns to his steadfast state.

"Looks like we can finish the woman's intended plans and sell most of this at the town up ahead. If ambushes like this are common, or becoming more-so, then I assume the townsfolk would be more than glad to have more to defend themselves with."

You do realise that what you found were probably the guards' weapons, right, not merchandise