[SECTION]

Tamaran surveys the ruined hut with keen elvish eyes. While these lands are new to him, he has roamed neighboring Dol Blathanna and the Blue Mountains for many years. The same pastel blue-white chicory flowers,
cinquerel in the Elvish tongue, grow in the shade here as in the Blue Mountains. There was clearly a fight here, the one the others have alluded to most likely, and the toppled western wall was recent, for moss hasn't yet blanketed it like the rest of the ruins.
What does one look for when seeking a hag? The peasants might say a broom or cloven hooves for feet. While Tamaran is no Witcher, he at least is wise enough not to put much stock in such fables. The ground has recently been stirred by winds, likely during the night, and scattered leaves in autumnal hues of copper and orange conceal black caltrops. What few tracks are visible within the ruins indicate the story told by the others – they approached from the town and the drowners approached from the river. Distinguishing much more than that is impossible.
The whine of Tamaran's wolf sniffing at the rotted southern doorway, however, draws Tamaran's attention. In his mind, the wolf spirit speaks:
An old smell...something from the spirit world... Studying the wooden arch, Tamaran spots four uneven marks as if a razor-sharp claw or set of iron knives were imbedded in the doorway. Not raked across it, but clutching it. His tracking instincts kick in, and he can feel the posture of whoever came to the threshold of the ruined hut; the person paused, leaning against the doorway either for support or perhaps reeling from some discovery within.
A closer study of the ground around the archway, however, only reveals a few distinguishable tracks. The spacing of the feet indicates a woman's hips, and a hefty woman at that. The tracks don't enter the hut nor do they leave it, simply seem to mill around the doorway. Vanished, like the drowners. A mystery.[/SECTION]