Rubicon [IC]

[Mangy Mathan]

Location: Pinegrove, Barestinia
Time: Evening, 8th day of Harvest, 1282
Weather: Warm, slightly breezy, and partly cloudy.

Your ride to the east was uneventful, but scenic, as the fading light of the day painted the rolling hills and forests a pleasant shade of orange. Aside from the occasional farm, there were little signs of civilization at all.

Which is exactly why you almost missed Pinegrove.

This tiny village, situated next to a stream, consists only of a handful of buildings, excluding the farms scattered about in the distance. It is concealed partly by a nearby forest and smaller clumps of trees and undergrowth that have yet to be cut down.

As you pass over a seemingly ancient stone bridge into town, you can hear the voices of families who live within the dirt and thatched-roof homes hush at the sound of your approach.

You notice a chubby farmer with a large gut walking aside an elderly woman in robes made of what appears to be woven leaves. His hand is on her back, as if he's leading a friend, and they are talking intently. They don't appear to notice you as they walk towards a house to the north.

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The map of Pinegrove can be found here. The orange color is due to it being evening. You approach from the south. Darker patches on the ground are collections of weeds and bushes that count as light undergrowth.

A space covered with light undergrowth costs 2 squares of movement to move into, and it provides concealment. Undergrowth increases the DC of Tumble and Move Silently checks by 2 because the leaves and branches get in the way.

Yes, Pinegrove is small enough to fit on a battlemap.

[gigz]

Pyro will keep an eye on the surroundings, hoping one of the other more... diplomatic... merc's will say something.

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In the back of his mind, he's looking at the falling orange light thinking "Huh... so this is what a town on fire would look like. Kinda pretty."

[Ezeze]

Sage dismounts and approaches the two. She says "My name is Sage. Is this Pinegrove?"

[Wizard of the Coat]

Conner

Dismounting next to Sage, Conner smiles and holds out his hand in greeting.

"Good evening my good man and woman. As you can see my friend here is anxious to get started, but I believe an introduction is in order."

He then takes the necklace out of his pocket and reveals the insignia to the townsfolk.

"I'm Conner and we're with the Oakwood mercenaries. If this is indeed pinegrove I assume you've been expecting us?"

[Arwend]

Once it is apparent they have reached their destination, Theodore is glad to dismount, having never felt particularly comfortable on a horse. As Sage and Connor seem to be handling the diplomacy, Theo tries to find somewhere to take the horses, casting his eyes about for a barn or stable where they might be put up for the night.

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Theo will have had Yale, his animal companion, follow with them. He would have tended to have lead the wolf around the outskirts of any farms and towns so to avoid stirring up any ruckus. However, as the stream and bridge make that rather inefficient, the wolf would be present now.

[Mangy Mathan]

The man turn towards you, startled, but then adjusts his straw hat and looks you over. "Hey! Good! Yeah, yer in the right place. Pleasure to me ya. The name's Preston, Preston Conway." He extends his hand in greeting. "This here's our village leader, Miss Fenton." He continues, nodding his head towards the woman.

"Maria." The elderly woman corrects him. She bows her head to you.

Preston starts to head towards his home again. "We were just about to tend to an animal, but you folks is welcome to come in and have some supper."

Theodore:

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You could buy a modified backpack (4 GP) that can fit on a wolf. Then Yale can both carry things for you and look like a pet. Giving animal companions articles of clothing is a common way for druids to avoid the "Oh no, a wild animal is loose in the streets!" fiasco.

Also, there does not appear to be any official places to put animals. The animals seem to mostly be restricted, at least at this point in time, close to or in the houses.

[gigz]

At the mention of food, Pyro pops his head around and says "Supper? Yes please." Dismounting, he waits for the rest of the party to go for some eats.

[Ezeze]

Sage inclines her head gratefully "We'd be honored. Perhaps we can talk a little business as well?"

[Mangy Mathan]

"Certainly." Preston grunts. He leads you to a house made of clay and wood, with a thatched roof. It has small slits that serve as windows and a slightly skewed doorway with a curtain. He holds the curtain back for you, letting Maria in first. He smiles politely.

Inside, a clay fireplace sheds warm, friendly light through the home. A cheaply made wooden table sits near the center, and thatched beds line the walls. There appears to be a second room, and from it you can hear the rustling of snoozing cattle. The air smells of stew and tallow candles.

Six children, a woman, and an elderly man live here. The elderly man appears to be sleeping, the woman who is presumably Preston's wife is cooking, and the children are seated around the room, on the beds and at the table, working in what appears to be hand-crafted booklets containing simple math problems.

There are two girls and four boys, who all appear to be in the 4 to 10 year old range.

"Kids," Preston says, "These are the folks we sent for. They're here ta kill that monster of yours." Immediately, the kids leap up, chattering and talking excitedly all at once. "Now now," Their father scolds, "Let these good people get some food in their bellies first." He turns to you, "You fine lady and gentlemen have a seat here at the table, and we'll be right with ya." He then follows Maria, who has already made her way into the second room.

[Wizard of the Coat]

Conner

As Conner walks in he glances over the childerns math booklets, the sight of which brought back memories. It was an interesting sight to be sure, his master had told Conner that the poor could rarely afford books or paper and on many an occasion they had spend a few weeks in a desolate village teaching some of the basics of reading and writing to the inhabitants. A practice that more then once had irritated fuedal overlords who believed the two clergymen were interfering with their property and bringing dangerous ideas to the populace.

"Must be freemen" conner thought to himself as he took his seat and took out his journal ready to make sketches of the simple hovel and a crude map of the village from what he had seen. Details could be added later to help with the investigation.

"Would you mind terribly if I make some sketches for my journal, I would like to record things here and ensure a swift solution." he asked politely to the inhabitants and then turned to the childern "If you'd be able to describe the monster to me I'd like to record that too or maybe make me a charcoal drawing of it? That could really help us."

[Kaiser Omnik]

Danak

Danak inclined his head in greeting and followed the others inside. A good meal was always appreciated, but the woodsman's thoughts were elsewhere. He was not a social animal like Sage. He would rather be outside searching for clues than inside having tea with the locals...

He had to find out if it was really a Wraith prowling the wilderness. He had to know.

[Ezeze]

Sage

Sage beams at Preston and says "your children are adorable" before he disappears into the back room. She deliberately sits herself across from Connor. Words like 'swift solution' aren't going to mean anything to little kids. "We've heard all sorts of things about this monster, and we're not sure which ones to believe. Can one of you tell us the story?"

[gigz]

Pyro

Pyro sits next to Connor, and begins trying to determine if any of the children are naughty and therefore suitable bait. "These children look too well behaved to have seen the monster. How many other families are in town? How many claimed to have seen the beastie? Any children with disciplinary problems?"

[loser0ll]

Having left his mount outside - showing it a fair bit more affection than he seems to have for any of the people around him so far, Jonnathan enters inside silently with the rest, seemingly content to avoid saying anything for the moment - at least that way, if that PyRo maniac says something crazy, he'll still have a clean slate to work with while trying to talk the villagers out of hanging him.

He bows formally when entering, apparently taking his acceptance of their offer of hospitality very seriously despite his quiet.

[Mangy Mathan]

"I saw it." Remarks the eldest boy, with shaggy brown hair. "Well, sorta. We were out playing in the, uh, woods. It was getting dark, and, umm... well, I heard some rustling in the bushes. I couldn't see it, but I could see the weeds moving. It moved fast. It was glowing like it was on fire. I shot my bow at it..." He points to a makeshift bow, obviously designed only for training purposes. "I heard a weird clink. Then it shrieked..." He shakes his head, grimacing.

"I heard that!" the youngest girl shouts. "I heard that!"

"It sounds like a ghost!" Yaps a middle-aged boy. "Like this... REEEEEEEE!" He screeches, as high pitched as he can muster.

"Then you ran like sissies! I saw that!" Chirps the youngest girl.

Preston's wife, who introduces herself as Lily, begins to fill bowls with potato stew, and places them in front of each of you. It smells delicious, but its sweet smell is somewhat corrupted by the stench of the animals in the next room.

Preston returns with Maria, leading her to the table and pulling out a chair for her. "Only one kid in the village has said he seen the creature directly." He grumbles. "Little Tommy."

Maria pets Yale, though the others seem to be avoiding Theodore's wolf.

[Ezeze]

Sage

"Is the child okay?"

[gigz]

A look of anger comes over Pyro's face, quickly replaced by a haunted look of fear. He leans over to Sage and whispers to her "The boy's lying" before letting his gaze drop and falling into a contemplative silence, seemingly lost in some thought.

[Arwend]

Theodore

Entering the simple home, which seems to be getting fairly crowded, Theodore opts to stand near a wall, as to not take up too much space. When offered the stew, he accepts graciously, and sits on the floor to eat. Letting Yale heel beside him, he gives the wolf a piece of jerked meat from his pack, so his companion doesn't feel left out.

"When was the first sighting?" he inquires to Preston. "Were there any other odd happenings around the same time?"

[Ezeze]

Edit: Well never mind then

[gigz]

**Clarified original post.**

[Wizard of the Coat]

Conner

Conner looks up at Sage somewhat confused.

"Perhaps he's just a bit anxious Sage, maybe we should let him finish his tale before judging him. Could you tell us more about Tommy?"

[Mangy Mathan]

"Little Tommy's fine. He's the one who started all this." Preston says. "He came running out of the woods, without any of the fruits or vegetables he was s'posed to have, mind ya, screamin' about some kind of feline thing. He said it chased him all the way home, but he had no scratches and no one saw or heard anything. The kids picked up the story, though." He glares at his children.

Lily leans forward, earnestly. "Tommy is known for his laziness. This isn't the first time he's made up a story about some monster."

"Conveniently," Maria interjects, "These monsters happen to be wherever he's supposed to work. Fishing? Sea monster. Collecting acorns? Woods monster. Working in the field? Plant monster."

"Can't forget that one that was underground!" Lily laughs.

The kids scowl. They do not appear to like the light-hearted tone this investigation has taken on.

[gigz]

Pyro


"Maybe I should talk to him? I'm sure I can get the truth if I asked right. OH! Or maybe he can even show us. It sounds like he'd fit great in Plan B." Smiling happily, Pyro continues to eat the soup.

[loser0ll]

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((Once again, Jonnathan is thinking to himself))
The fact that this PyRo madman is sounding more and more convinving is a very, very frightening fact. With his own brand of madness he would have been executed quickly in my homeland... or have ended up a fairly powerful Warlord.

[Ezeze]

Sage

Sage smiles pleasantly "I don't suppose Tommy is here? Can we speak with him?"

[Wizard of the Coat]

Conner

Conner turned his attention to the childern.

"Have you ever seen anything that could have been this monster before Tommy told you about it? And when and where does it show up?"

His tone is calm and friendly, if anything he is taking these childern seriously. Their description had been too good a match.

[Mangy Mathan]

"I don't suppose Tommy is here? Can we speak with him?"

"Tommy lives on the west side of the village. It's a short walk from here."

"Have you ever seen anything that could have been this monster before Tommy told you about it? And when and where does it show up?"

"No." Replies the eldest. "I've never seen anything like it. It shows up... in the woods. I'm not really sure where I saw it." He lowers his head, as if ashamed of his poor memory.

The youngest sister jumps on her bed. "I know! I know! You were at the mill!" She smiles cheerfully, glad to be of such great help to her brother. He apparently doesn't feel the same way, as his face goes pale and his eyes wide.

Preston slams his fist on the table. "What did I tell you about going there?!"

"Our guests..." Lily reminds him. Preston shakes his head.

"Sorry." He sighs. "The mill up stream broke down a long time ago, and now it's supposedly haunted. I jus' don't want 'em playing there 'cause it's beginning to crumble. It's not safe."

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The houses in this village look like this.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Danak

Danak looked a bit impatient.

"It's worth taking a look. A wild animal may have taken up residence in the mill."

[gigz]

Pyro

Pyro's face lights up after hearing what Preston says. "Hey! That's great! That means Plan A is still on the table then. See guys, this could be quicker and easier than you all thought." With that, he gives the party a satisfying nod before finishing his soup and complimenting the cook.

[Ezeze]

Sage

Sage nods. To the adults she says "we will do a sweep of the area in the morning, with the light, on the chance there is something worth being frieghtened about." Then she turns to the children "No one is better at tracking than Danak." She nods at the scout "if there is a monster out there, we will find it. Promise." She looks at the rest of the party, a little weery from the day's ride. "In the mean time, I don't suppose you have a place we could sleep? We're prepared to camp, but if it's not necessary..."