AADM Carl: Old McEdmund Had a Farm... Thursday November 21st, 2002 5:14:19 PM
The two farms are roughly equidistant, and so the adventurers set off to visit Edmund's first. It is a pleasant day, warm sunshine filling the fields with a boundless abundance of life and vibrancy.
You arrive at Edmund's farmhouse to find a modest building two storey building, with a thatched roof. It seems so picturesque in the morning sunlight that it is hard to imagine anyone (or anything!) attempting to break in.
Hobbes d20+8=13 Friday November 22nd, 2002 1:13:41 AM
Hobbes gazes at the house from atop his horse, still a bit sleepy from his errant night outside, which he insisted to Bill it was merely a mistake. He truly only meant to watch the night and pray for a couple of hours.
"Everything seems in order here," he says looking around, "I shall wait here and observe."
Hobbes watches to see what his companions will do and keeps an eye on everything and everyone about.
[13 Spot check]
Draax d20+1=7 d20+3=9 Friday November 22nd, 2002 8:53:31 AM
Draax circles the outside of the building looking for anything that seems out of place and to see if there is any sign of life. Not seeing anything (search check 7, spot check 9) Draax moves slowing towards the house.
"The place should be empty if Edmund is staying at the inn, but lets be cautious in case someone has moved in during his absence."
Feng Friday November 22nd, 2002 5:41:16 PM
Feng dismounts and leaves Degg free to graze. He walks slowly around the farm trying to detect the lingering presence of evil.
Arien d20+10=22 Friday November 22nd, 2002 11:17:34 PM
While Draax circles the bottom of the building, Arien checks the second floor. Using the power of his cloak he crawls about the wall of the building, checking inside when he gets to windows. If he finds nothing he gives the all clear. Spot check of 22.
Bill (Carl) d20+4=12 d20+3=8 Saturday November 23rd, 2002 4:57:55 AM
"Well now, what a pleasant spot" smiles the halfling, approaching the farmhouse. "Now, didn't Edmund say he though something tried to break down the door?"
The halfling checks the door and surrounding area (Spot 12, Search 8) for any sign of disturbance.
Renik d20+5=20 d20+8=11 Saturday November 23rd, 2002 5:02:01 AM
"Edmund said someone, Bill not something. But he may well have been wrong..."
The rogue waits for Arien to give the all clear, then examines the door for signs of forced entry (Search 20, Spot 11). If everything seems OK, he tries the door.
AADM Carl: Not a creature was stirring Saturday November 23rd, 2002 5:22:51 AM
The party cautiously examine the outside of the building and surrounding area, but see nothing suspicious.
Feng is unable to detect any evil presences in the vicinity, so Arien takes a closer look. Peering through the windows he sees no sign of movement or disturbance. In fact Edmund's farm is relatively pristine. Everything seems to be in order, and nothing seems out of place. Clearly, Edmund packed up and put everything away before he moved into town.
He signals the all clear to his companions, and begins to descend, noticing as he does so what look like footprints in the soft earth beneath the lower storey windows.
As you approach the front door you notice what look like more footprints, and something registers as odd about them... of course! These are the prints of bare feet! But who would be walking around in their bare feet outside a farm? Bill and Renik examine the door, and discover it does indeed show signs of attempted entry. Splintered wood along the edge of the door and doorframe suggest that someone attempted to pry the door open. But it seems to have held firm.
As he is about to push the door open Renik spots something in the top right right hand corner. It looks like some sort of symbol has been etched into the wood. It looks like it might be a vial of some sort.
Leaning forward to examine it more closely he touches the door, which swings open with a sinister "creeeeaak..."
Renik d20+8=15 d20+5=18 Sunday November 24th, 2002 3:40:15 PM
The rogue draws his twin shortswords and steps inside, peering around for any sight of danger (Spot 15). If if he sees nothing he moves into the house, checking for any sign of a break-in (Search 18).
Bill (Carl) d20+3=5 d20+5=18 d20+5=22 d20+18=25 d20+5=24 Sunday November 24th, 2002 3:46:29 PM
The halfling examines the footprints outside the door, and attempts to find a trail (Spot 5), but sees little of use.
"So, who'd be outside a farmhouse in their bare feet in the middle of the night? And what's this vial symbol mean?"
He peers at the symbol, trying to determine its significance (Knowledge (History) 18, Knowledge (Local) 22, Knowledge (Psionics and Arcana) 25, Knowledge (Religion) 24).
Draax Sunday November 24th, 2002 10:55:54 PM
When the footprints are pointed out to him, Draax thinks about how nice it would be if Darkfang was still with them.
As he watches Renik enter the house the half-elf draws his sword and moves up to the door to keep the rogue in his sights. He gives Renik a few seconds head start to notice any traps before he follow him inside.
Rond d20+8=14 Monday November 25th, 2002 12:16:07 AM
Looking at the door where there was forced entry, Rond tries to fathom whether it was any kind of animal that might have tried to get in. (Knowledge nature 14)
Feng Monday November 25th, 2002 2:47:25 PM
Feng walks back up to the others unsure about what took place. "Consider me crazy but now I am more convinced than ever that something happened. Edmund doesn't seem like the type of man that would lie about something like this. Everybody is convinced that nothing is going on and so far this place looks clean. We could be dealing with powerful magic or a town conspiracy."
The vial (DMJK) Monday November 25th, 2002 6:15:25 PM
Looking at the splinters on the door, Rond tends to think crowbar more than wild animal. The splinters are around the cracks in the door frame like someone attempted to pry it open.
Nothing seems to be out of place inside Edmund's farmhouse. A stout bar, which now stands unlatched, on the inside of the door gives ample evidence as to why whoever scratched Edmund's door was unable to get in. The house is easy to get into now, so it seems Edmund was probably the target or one of his possessions that was out in the open. Of course, who's to say if anything is missing.
Bill thinks on the vial and comes up with a few obvious answers. Vials store potions and perfumes. The vial is also the holy symbol of Marteaus.
OOC JK Monday November 25th, 2002 6:20:34 PM
[Carl, thanks for the help with the DM posts.]
Pleasure, JK! Glad to have you back.
Bill Troublefinder (by Kim, again) Tuesday November 26th, 2002 5:07:55 AM
"Hmmm - y'know, one of the symbols of ol' what's-his-name, the Dark Lord, is the vial. Although in his case, it should be spelled v-i-l-e." Bill titters at his own funny.
The halfling enters Edmund's house, and begins exploring the rooms. On second thought, after entering the first room, he activates clairvoyance in order to look to rooms beyond, as well as up the stairs or in the attic, and beneath the floorboards, checking in this manner to see what things are in the various rooms of the farmhouse. His eyes glow silver as he stands still, mentally observing.
Draax Tuesday November 26th, 2002 6:10:53 AM
Draax groans when he hears Bill say something about the Dark One. "I hope that creature is not involved with this." He stands guard while the others search the place.
Hobbes d20+8=13 Tuesday November 26th, 2002 3:03:48 PM
Hobbes remains on his horse surveying the situation, which currently is a bit tense, but seems well in hand. He turns the bridle and kicks.
"Easy boy. Left. Yaaaa." he says as his horse lightly gallops around the perimeter of the farm. He slows it to a trot as he looks about, cautious to whoever or whatever might still be about and looking for tracks or any other clues. If there are other buildings, barns or coops especially he inspects those.
the rest of the farm (dmjk) Tuesday November 26th, 2002 3:29:19 PM
Edmund has a small barn and a small grainary. Hobbes checks them out and discovers nothing unusual.
Nothing else out of the ordinary is found inside the house. It appears that Edmund packed up and nothing has disturbed the house since he's been away. Clearly though, something did pry at the door like the farmer suggested. The bare feet seem a bit odd, as the season is autumn, and it would be rather foolish to be traipsing about in bare feet at night.
Renik Tuesday November 26th, 2002 4:28:34 PM
The rogue sheaths his swords, and looks to his companions.
"Well, we have raised more questions it seems, but found no answers. Edmund said whoever it was failed to get in here (and the evidence seems to bear him out). What say we take a look at the other farm, and see what happened there?"
Draax Tuesday November 26th, 2002 8:43:34 PM
Following Renik's example, Draax also sheaths his sword. "Sounds go to me, unless someone can track the footprints."
Feng Tuesday November 26th, 2002 11:34:55 PM
"The footprints may be the clue. What was the phase of the moon last night? Perhaps we are dealing with a shapechanger. Still perhaps the graveyard will provide some answers."
Rond d20=17 Wednesday November 27th, 2002 12:48:42 AM
"Let me take a closer look at these footprints." Rond tries to peer at the footprints and determine or follow them back to their source. (track 17 w/o any bonuses. I have no books right now, so I'm not sure if there are any bonuses.)
Hobbes Wednesday November 27th, 2002 2:18:08 PM
Hobbes notes all that he sees and trots back to the front gate to wait for his companions. When all business here is finished, he will take point in heading over to the other farm.
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