[LPF] Ryall's Estate

[Systole]

Daylily is happy to be back near a forest again, but Jiragan forests are dangerous places with deadly beasts lurking in every shadow -- safety can never be taken for granted. Before he does anything else, he makes a cautious loop around the grounds, hammer at the ready, looking for an ambush.

Assuming that nothing is laying in wait to kill the party, he'll look for tracks.

OOC: First roll was Perception. Still getting the hang of the dice-roller.

 

[jbear]

Relic hops down from the cart and takes in his surroundings. The second disappearance of the house seems to confirm his suspiscion that this was not simply a house theft ... whatever that is. It also seems to eliminate the possibilty that a third party stole the house and resold it to the Rogue. Unless, of course, the house was re-stolen to be resold to another unwitting buyer ... but that seems far fetched even for Relics rather over creative imagination.

With a sigh, walking past Dane, offering a consolitory pat on the shoulder, he asks:

When was the last time you saw the house before coming to us Dane?

Relic follows the Elf watching him study the area methodically, rather impressed with his thoroughness. He tries to take in what he sees as well, though his eyesight is none too good. His mind begins try and understand what he is seeing or not seeing.

If the house was moved physically, surely the signs of that movement must have left their mark deeply scarring the ground, and perhaps heading in one direction or another. Even if it was lifted onto the back of some huge creature like an Oliphant or a Mamuth, surely those tracks must stand out even to eyes dimmed with glaucoma. If the house was lifted, perhaps by a giant bird perhaps feathers were left or a dragon ... claw marks dug into the ground from take off? Let us hope there are no signs of something like that! If the house simply vanished, teleporting from here to somewhere else then these signs would not exist. But the residue from such a jump would perhaps still linger.

After looking around for glaringly obvious physical clues he turns his attention to Quioan awaiting to see if his magical probing bears any fruit.

He then turns back to Dane and asks:

This Rogue fellow, what exactly did he say when you spoke to him Dane. Did you see who was with him in the house? Did you perhaps notice if there were horses tethered outside? Why don't you tell us a bit more about your metting with the man ...

Relic tries to gauge Dane's body language while he responds and interpret whether there is anything Dane may be holding back and whether indeed he is nothing more than a peasant who built a rather remarkable house. Content that whatever Dane responds is absolutely genuine and unable to see any signs of anything at all, Relic is left completely puzzled as to what may have happened here.

 

[jkason]

As Quioan and Daylily scout the area, a distraught Ryall shakes himself back to the present to answer Relic.

"He said, 'I bought this house fair and square, you loon!" Ryall says. "And then I gotta say I started shouting so's I didn't hear much else he said. The folks in the caravan I'd hired on ta carry cargo held us back, though sure'n I couldn't hurt him but lucky they were there to keep him off me. Weren't no one else around that I remember, though I think he had a horse."

GM: I'll put information roll results in sblocks for the party making them. If anyone wants to just say they're sharing all their info by default, I'll leave his info unblocked, and of course if someone says go ahead and look, you're free to look at his sblock. Otherwise, I'll trust folks not to peek, or to keep what they might learn from peeking out of their in-characters actions.

[sblock=Quioan]The vegetable garden seems generally unremarkable. Though you'd have to take a close look at the sprouts (Know check) to identify them all, they seem common enough.

The clearing seems to have been well-kept; the grass isn't naturally so even, so between the garden and this, it's clear the grounds are being maintained even if the caretaker doesn't appear to be currently present.

Quioan's certain the bare spot isn't natural. It's clearly been leveled artificially, probably to serve as a foundation for a small structure, though he'd have a hard time telling how or how long ago (relevant Know check). He catches sight of various footprints near the foundation, but hasn't the skill to tell where they might go.

It's when Quioan invokes his arcane sight that things get interesting. There's a dim, lingering aura of transmutation magics that does, in fact, seem to be about the size and shape of a house. Whatever spell it was is no longer active, but it was clearly strong enough to have left residue behind. As it doesn't immediately fade, Quioan knows it was originally at least of moderate strength.[/sblock]
[sblock=Daylily]A loop of the clearing doesn't present any obvious dangers. There's a whole forest out there, of course, and Daylily knows the wild isn't always content to stop at the edge of the trees, but there doesn't appear to be anyone or anything stalking around at the moment.

With the exception of the soft-tilled earth of the garden, the ground in the clearing doesn't seem to have held any footprints that Daylily can follow.[/sblock]
[sblock=Relic]After nearly tripping on a root the size of a small child that he managed not to notice, Relic decides he's better off asking questions than searching about. Like Quioan before him, can't help but think he's never met a man as sincere as wiry Ryall. [/sblock]

 

[Qik]

OOC: I'll share my information in-character, but if anyone wants to look at my statblock, it might be helpful (in case I don't communicate things well enough )

While making his mundane overview of what would have been an impressively kept yard had it the necessary accompaniment of a house, Quioan spots a series of footprints near what likely had once served as the house's base. Frustrated at his inability to discern their path, he calls out to Daylily as he began to survey the perimeter - "Daylily - there are some tracks at the base. Can you tell whereabouts they lead to?" With that, he had begun his incantations.

What he was able to ascertain was interesting indeed. Turning to the others, he relayed his findings: "There's definitely been some strong magic at work in this area. Over where the house should have been, there's a residual aura that very well resembles a house. It's transmutation magic that's been at work, meaning that whatever changes may have taken place are real - I had originally thought that an illusion of some sort might be a possibility, but that's not the case. That also rules out common forms of teleportation, since they're generally based on conjuration magics. Which I find to be quite curious." Turning to Dane, he tries to translate the relatively specialist language of what he had just said. "All this means that someone or something is actually changing your house, and that's how the movement is being achieved - they could be making it float, they could be shrinking it for easy transport, hell, they could even be making it grow legs and walk, given enough expertise...but the house has definitely been moved by magical means." The elf smiled a bit. "Not that there was much doubt of that."

"Also, Dane, can you remind me when you were last here? It would help give me a better idea of when the magic occurred, since, judging by the strength of the aura, could have been anywhere from a few minutes ago to a few days."

Turning to Relic, the elf adds, "You might want to see what you can divine yourself, but I think I got a good read on things." He chuckles at that statement. "Typical elven hubris. I'm going to go inspect the base up close."

[sblock=Actions]I'm going to use a Know. (Nature) check to see if I can discern what caused the tracks. 1d20+6=10


While apart from the group somewhat, I'm also going to cast Detect Magic on Dane; I want to see if he has any traces of magic on him. Checks for that:

Know. (Arcana): 1d20+6=15
Spellcraft: 1d20+6=22[/sblock]

 

[maquise]

Hlaalen considers this for a moment, before deciding to take a look around. The current situation did not seem to fall within his expertise.

 

[Systole]

Satisfied that the perimeter has been secured, Daylily puts the hammer away and relaxes a little. He meanders over the tracks that Quioan pointed out by way of the garden. On the way, he'll help himself to anything that looks reasonably edible.

 

[jbear]

Hmmm, transmutation you say ... well, at least that rules out Dragons, which is a relief. So, someone has turned the house into something else or into someshape else ... or floating ... huh, good thinking Scorchsong! Daylilly, put those carrots down and come and inspect the tracks!

He walks over to the garden where Daylilly is eating the fresh vegetables and has a good look himself. And while he also helps himself to anything that looks tasty he tries to unravel the nature of the gardner who created this garden.

Does seem curious that a so called ruffian, and stealer of houses, a big brute of a man would also make a garden ... and use a spell powerful enough to transmute an entire house ... curioser and curioser ... if I didn't believe you are the spirit of honesty and uprightness itself, farmer Dane, I might think you weren't telling us all the facts, he mumbles out loud to himself.

I'm sorry, Dane ... remind me again when was the last time you were here? My memory must be playing tricks on me ... this addled old brain often forgets these details ... yesterday did you say?

He calls out to Daylilly as he munches on a carrot looking at the garden:

Any signs of a horse amongst those tracks Daylily?

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Kazanto gets her bearings as she heaves her bulk out of the cart. As everyone else looked around for the house, she stares at the cart's wheels, fascinated. "Imagine..." she mutters, "everything is as if it is made of giant coconuts... Is this from those 'trees', perhaps?"

However, she lets her musings get away from her--there's a house to find. She slides into the space left by the missing house, feeling the ground, reaching down to sniff it. She digs her fingers into the bare earth, and it softens, becoming damp and muddy.

[sblock=OOC]Cast Create Water and pour it onto the bare earth where the house was. Dig into the ground with her hands, looking for anything of interest.[/sblock]

 

[jkason]

I'm sorry, Dane ... remind me again when was the last time you were here? My memory must be playing tricks on me ... this addled old brain often forgets these details ... yesterday did you say?

"Would have been two days ago," Ryall responds. "Took most of the day getting here, and then I had to load off my cargo to the caravan, who weren't none too happy, then head back. Had to camp for a bit or poor Maisy like to have expired. Then spent the morning trying to get the constable to listen, then gathering you lot."

[sblock=Relic]Nothing exotic of note in the garden: vegetables, some berries, herbs. It's clear the planting is a sustenence garden, though: enough of each vegetable and herb to feed about one person with a bit left over for canning and preserves.[/sblock]

Meanwhile, Kazanto begins rooting in the mud of the dirt foundation as Daylily makes his way to where Quioan has found a track. Once he's pointed it out to his wilder kin, the elf wizard turns his sight on their client.

[sblock=Kazanto]At first it seems Kazanto has found nothing but a mess, but as she nears the far edge of the foundation, near where Quioan found stray footprints, she uncovers a small blue gem. There don't appear to be any distinctive markings on it, but it does shine quite nicely. [/sblock]

[sblock=Quioan]From the size, you can tell the footprint belongs to an adult humanoid, but it's in a boot, so you can't tell much more about him or her.

Dane, too, yields little new information. The spell reveals him to be as mundane as he has thus far presented himself. If he used, carried, or was affected by magic, there's no evidence of it at present.[/sblock]

[sblock=Daylily]The garden is all common vegetables and herbs, all in sprouting stages; nothing's been planted long enough to be fresh or edible for most folks, though Daylily's standards for same aren't like most folks; there's nothing poisonous, at least. He does notice that the richness of the soil and nature of the sprouts suggest this is a new garden. It probably hasn't been here for much more than a week.

Now that Quioan has found and pointed out the tracks, Daylily can tell they head off toward the west.[/sblock]

In the midst of all this activity comes a rather loud shout from the road.

"What the hells is going on here?"

A large, broad-shouldered man in simple peasant clothes, covered in road dust, sits atop a sturdy work horse, its saddlebags looking rather full. He hops down from the horse, then catches sight of Dane Ryall. His already-clear anger doubles, and he tromps forward, face going red as he points and shouts, "You! Where the hells is my house?"

"Your house?" Despite being at least a foot shorter and half the weight of the other man, Dane starts tromping to meet him. "It were my house, didn't I already tell you, and don't you go pretending, I know you up and hid it away! So you tell me where it is!"

It's clear that if someone doesn't step in, things are about to get ugly.

 

[Qik]

Having taken the opportunity to clandestinely inspect Dane Ryall for any traces of magic (and finding none), Quioan turned his attention to the tracks he had spotted. Although clearly humanoid, the individual's footwear prevented the gleaning of any further information. He was just about to turn to ask Daylily for his thoughts on the tracks when the man on the horse showed up, and quickly entered into a shouting match with Ryall.

Thinking quickly, Quioan sped through the gesture and incantation for a message spell, and then sent a whispered message to Relic. Speaking in Draconic, in order to make sure the conversation remained between the two of them, Quioan said "Old Dog, it's Quioan - now might be the time to work a bit of your natural charm and diffuse the situation. If things get ugly, I'll have your back. You can whisper back if need be." Confident the old man had gotten his message, Quioan began to move towards the pair, but not in haste.

[sblock=OOC]Just had a few questions about the tracks, jk - 1) was I able to ascertain if they were made by one or multiple individuals? 2) am I able to tell whether they're made by a medium-sized humanoid? (i.e. not a gnome or halfling) Here's another Know. (nature) roll if needed, but I assume the information will be based on the last one. 1d20+6=26


Although, if you want to use that one, be my guest. [/sblock]