I suspect that the footprints are likely the people that left the settlement to go to the Coldlands. I'll mark the structure where they are located in my mind and we will come back to that. I quietly point them out to Otthor as I do and I point away from the settlement, signalling my thoughts.
On our trek around the perimeter, we'll carefully navigate the small hill where the cemetery lies. Given the terrain, the snow-cover will be thin and, therefore, sure to be icy and treacherous. We examine the newer graves. I want to see if any burial rites were given; signs of normal funeral customs. That will give me information on the haste with which they were buried as the lack of inscriptions seems to be in line with a rush.
Per Manbearcat
You don't need to Discern Realities here. Your instincts are spot on. You can tell a shallow grave when you see one. This is a rush job, to be sure. The other gravestones are well-inscribed, and adorned with various mementos of faith, etc. Nothing here. They are extremely recent as well as the ground is not leveled or eroded to smoothness.
We'll carefully make the trek over to the house ruined by the fire where the locked cellar is located. I want to check out the doors for claw marks or any sign of destruction and investigate how sturdy the barring is. I knock on the door and listen for a response.
[sblock]Discern Realities (Wis)
2, 3 + 2 = 7. 1 question and + 1 forward when acting on it.
What recently happened here?[/sblock]
Per Manbearcat
The doors show no sign of damage outside of the normal wear and tear of age. They are solid wood, reinforced with iron. The slat holding them in place is pretty standard. You are able to easily remove it from this side.
Just as you are about to knock on the door, you hear a strange sound from within. It is an odd sort of quiet, muffled wailing through disjointed speech that sounds as if someone is attempting to speak the common tongue but cannot make the sound.
You take + 1 forward when acting on this.
I narrow my eyes and look at Otthor and listen intently with my keen hearing, honed by ages stalking prey and scouting hostile territory. Is this the sound of a aberrant creature, something injured, or something else entirely? Is there a smell of rot or decay coming from the cellar? If someone does explode out of there, Otthor and I want to be in the best position possible to strike it before it can accost us.
[sblock]Discern Realities (Wis) + 1 forward as I'm acting on the prior info.
6, 3, + 2 + 1 = 12.
- What is about to happen?
- What should I be on the lookout for?
- What here is useful or valuable to me?[/sblock]
Per Manbearcat
- Nothing is about to burst from these doors, but the scratch, scratch, scratch is growing more frequent, and it is now coupled with the familiar whining of an extremely old dog, just as you expected.
- If something does burst out of the common building, the inside burned out ruins of this building would make great cover with the windows providing line of sight directly to the front door where the scratch, scratch, scratch, and now whining, is coming from.
- The voice is that of an adolescent. Its hard to say if its male or female because it is muffled, probably under layers of insulating soft material (such as blankets or linens). It is a sob but a sob that is trying to speak. You make out the word "ma" and "pa" in the midst of the collage of incessant babbling.
Take + 1 forward when acting on those.
Ok, I think I'd like to hold here and give my brother-in-arms, [MENTION=6781356]Tecklenburg[/MENTION] a chance for some input on what we do next, because it seems like its about to get hairy. If the witches and their powerful spellbinding of cuteness, batted eyelashes, and "UDAH ME" keeps him delayed for two more days, I'll act on my own.