Travels amongst the Border Princes (WFRP 2e) IC

[Ionbound]

Alyssa nods, frowning at the suggestion to beat a confession out of the boy but replies, "Alright. Is there anything else you can think of? Maybe a place she would have gone to hide? Anything at all will be helpful."

[Haval]

'Fair enough, but they already think he's guilty whether or not all that comes up. Which means we probably should go out there sooner rather then later.'

[rax]

"Not so worried about the dark any more, eh? Perhaps we should wait and see if Alyssa finds out anything interesting before we head out. You want to take the sergeant up on his offer of an escort when we do? Perhaps see if the others want to come along?" Severin answers, jerking a thumb at Conrad and Torendil.

[Haval]

Gabriele shrugs, 'It's harder to track when you can't see properly, and some of us can't see very well in the dark.'

She'll look over to the soldiers, 'I have no reason to think it's that dangerous, but I do think I'm in no shape to actually fight anything. If the worst happens maybe we stand behind them and the priest.'

[dojango]

Elodie's father thinks for a bit. "When I was a young lad, we'd go up to the pond, for. Ah, those were the days. Course, then the orks came. There use ta be a homestead up nearby, the orks burned it down and it ain't been rebuilt. Sometimes the kids go up there to get away, but it's about a mile further on. Been wolves around of late, though, so... I mean, they'd probably leave someone alone, right?"

As Gabriele and Severin leave Peter behind, they hear his mother faintly behind the door. "I told you to stay away from her! She's trouble!" You hear Peter crying.

Down in the main room of the building, Linus and Bernice and their muleskinners are making themselves at home. Linus waves and says, "better to stay with some Imperials than these strange locals, eh? Nice to see some Sigmar-fearing men in these dark times. You seen the sheep on the way down? Got some fine wool here. Bernice is haggling to buy some. With the dyes you saved for us and her skill, we should be in business again in no time! So nice to get away from those ganger and moneylenders of Altdorf."

[rax]

"It's midsummer. We should have a couple of hours more of decent light," Severin answers Gabriele. "We head for the pond, have a look around for anything odd or incriminating, then head back. Tomorrow we can get a better look and see if there are any tracks we can follow from there, or elsewhere if we run into anything interesting on the way. But let's wait first and see if Alyssa turns up anything useful."

"Gangsters and moneylenders, Master Linus? Aren't they one and the same?" Severin quips in response. "Gabriele and I were thinking about maybe heading out to see if we can pick up some clues as to the whereabouts of this missing girl. If not this evening, then probably tomorrow. Since we're in your employ, it seems fair to ask if you have any problem with that?"

[Ionbound]

Alyssa nods, replying to the father, "Thank you. I'll be certain to investigate up that way as well. Hopefully I'll be able to find your daughter in one piece." With that, she bids the man farewell and heads back to rejoin the others.

Once she arrives, she says to the others, "Well, her father said there was a burnt out homestead up the road, about a mile. Hopefully she simply ran away from something and took shelter there."

[DrK]

Conrad

Spoiler: OOC

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Apologies for the slow response. Between work and away for tough mudder its been a bust week

Conrad listens to the boy, shaking his head. He recognised a simpleton when he saw one and realised that such a simpleton would be an easy target for the angry villagers. He nods in approval as Alyssa and Gabriele question the mother and boy. "I do not think he seems to have harmed the girl. While touched in the head I do not sense any guile in the boy?" Looking at the others he nods, "Yes, a couple of hours today should maybe give us some clues."

[Haval]

As Gabriele and Severin leave Peter behind, they hear his mother faintly behind the door. "I told you to stay away from her! She's trouble!" You hear Peter crying.

Gabriele mutters, 'If that's how they saw her maybe she wanted to get out of here.' She could relate to growing up in a place like this.

To Linus, 'Does that mean there are no gangsters down here then? Sounds nice.'

[dojango]

Linus chuckles a bit. "Not ones that I've borrowed money from, at least. We'll stay here as long as the young lord does, I reckon. Don't want to miss the chance for a free escort and to rub elbows with the local nobs. We'll start throwing around some cash, buy up as much wool as we can here before we leave. Got some ideas about what we can do when we get to the big city. You want to go looking for this lost villager, have at it."

With that, the party heads away from the village. As the sun starts nearing the western mountains, it starts getting cooler. The walk north is even pleasant, with the river on your right and a cool breeze. The fields soon give way to some rolling hills. After about half an hour, you see a small creek tumble over a cliff in a splendid little waterfall. There is, as described, a pleasant-looking pond for swimming. Gabriele can easily see that booted feet, probably from the searching villagers, have trampled over the area, but keen eyes and a sharp mind could probably find something they missed, especially if they were more concerned about blaming their rivals than finding small details.

[Haval]

'A lot of people have been out here already. Everyone be careful where you step.' Assuming Elodie might have been here to swim, Gabriele will start by looking at the edge of the pool before spreading out.

Spoiler

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Really wish this game had a Perception stat

Follow Trail to look for any tracks that stand out
vs. Int 38
(1d100)[26]

Perception to look for anything interesting
vs. Int 38
(1d100)[38]
if needed Fortune point to reroll
(1d100)[49]

Search to look for signs of blood
vs. Int 38
(1d100)[5]

[rax]

Minding his step as best as he can, Severin moves about the edge of the pond. He's specifically looking to see if he can spot any more of Elodie's clothing.

Spoiler: Perception test

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Perception (1d100)[44] vs. Int 39
FP re-roll if needed (1d100)[83]

[Ionbound]

Alyssa carefully makes her way around the pond herself, watching her feet for both where she treads as well as any potential clues to Elodie's location or fate.

Spoiler: OOC

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Perception: (1d100)[90] vs 34

[dojango]

Gabriele starts examining the area around the pond. On the far side, she can see that someone has been stripping willow bark from the trees and clipping fiddleheads from the plants overhanging the water. Partially submerged in the mud, Gabriele can see a basket with a few pieces of bark still inside it. Examining the bank around that part of the pond, Gabriele sees a mass of heavy booted footprints, and one set of barefoot tracks. They head north. There are no signs of blood, nor a struggle, and there do not appear to be any clothes scattered around.

Carefully following the trail about half a mile, the party sees a few ruined buildings. A few charred timbers poke out of ruined stone walls. There are the remains of a small fire, and thrown in a small ditch, Gabriele finds the gutted carcass of a lamb. Judging from the tracks, it appears as if a group of people were camped here, before heading south towards the pond. They then returned, with the barefoot person with them, and then headed east towards a shallow ford across the river. The tracks end at the river, naturally, although if the party crosses the river, they could probably pick up the tracks on the other side. But the shadows from the western mountains are finally upon you; there is maybe a half an hour of dim light left.

[Haval]

This didn't look good, although at least the other tracks seemed human. 'Do they have bandits around here?'

Gabriele will cross the ford to look for horse or cart tracks.

[dojango]

Gabrielle splashes across the ford. The water is cool and shallow. It takes a few moments to find the tracks again. They lead east, up the riverbank and away from the river.

[Ionbound]

Alyssa shrugs as she follows Gabrielle across the ford, "I don't know, maybe? It seems pretty clear what happened though...Let's press forwards. No time to waste."

[rax]

"Clear? The only thing that's clear is that we found the missing lamb and that whoever took it probably took Elodie as well. As for the girl herself, she may have gone willingly with whoever came here, or she may just have been too scared to resist, but we won't know unless we run 'em down," Severin grunts in reply. "Gabriele, can you make out how many of them there might be?"

[DrK]

Conrad

Conrad looks in worry at the tracks as he follows the others. With his hand resting on the hilt of his hammer he looks out past the river. "Shall we head on? Or shall we sleep at the village and then ride out in the morning when we are rested and have the full day to track them?"

He looks concerned, "This is a concern, but at least we know that the simpleton is proabably innocent."

[Haval]

Gabriele is still looking at the ground. 'As this happened something like two days ago I'd be worried about how easy it would be to catch up with them. But they must be going somewhere. Isn't there nothing but desert and mountains out that way?'

'I think we'd be better off telling Sir Laurens about this, but for all I know they're fairly close. I can try following their trail tonight and see if it leads anywhere.'

[rax]

"We should follow the tracks as far as we can now, then report back. We need to know whether the trail's even fresh enough to bother following in the morning, or if we should just report what we found and let the locals worry about running down whoever this is that's got Elodie."

[DrK]

Conrad

Conrad nods to Elodie and Gabriele. Okay then. I'm sure the Hammer will keep us safe if we venture out after Morselib sets." He pulls out his hammer and grabs the shaft. "Lets see what we can find then." Looking about he readies for a further trek into the wilderness.

[rs2excelsior]

Torendil quietly follows the others, keeping an eye out around them--the mention of bandits has him worried, but at least it's not more mutants. He leaves the tracking to those better versed in it. As the sun begins to drop lower he takes a branch from the ground and speaks a quiet incantation to light it.

Spoiler: OOC

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No reason not to channel out of combat (vs WP+10: 61) (1d100)[19]
Casting Glowing Light (CN 3): (1d10)[4]

General perception to keep an eye out for signs of people or creatures (vs Int+10: 62) (1d100)[79]

[rax]

"Well then, that solves the issue of light," Severin grins when Torendil casts his spell. "At least partially..."

[Ionbound]

Alyssa shakes her head and replies, "Elodie has a very limited amount of time left, if she's still alive, and every second counts. I don't think she can afford to wait for us to report back."

[DrK]

Conrad

THe priest shivers as the mage's witch craft summons a spectral light. "Heresy...." he mutters under his breath. Eyeing up the Elven mage carefully. "'We are not in the Empire now eh" he thinks to himself before he strides along them, making sure to keep a good few paces away from Severin's witch light.

[dojango]

Under the pale light of Torendil's magic, the party heads east. Soon, Mannslieb rises above the horizon as well, providing a soothing, if dim, light to the night. The moon is waxing full. Peeking above the far horizon is Morrslieb, the chaos moon. While it is a sickly grin now, it will soon be full, for Geheimnistag will be nigh in just a few short days. An unlucky time, when good honest folk stay indoors with charms to ward away evil, while foolish or sinister folk partake in strange and unwholesome rituals.

After a few hours of travelling, though, the party is too worn out to continue to move. Assuming that your quarry is not so reckless as to travel at night, you have no doubt caught up much closer to them. The next morning, everyone wakes up on the cold ground as the sun rises. After a hurried break-fast of hardtack and jerky, you examine your surroundings. The land is flat and covered in dense, high grasses, about up to a man's waist. You refill your canteens from a small trickle of water. Pheasants burst from a clump of brush as you approach. During the night you could hear the bark of coyotes or wild dogs, but none had dared approach your camp. The trail drifts east by southeast, away from the Igerang River, heading for the mountains.

[Haval]

Gabriele watches the birds but doesn't want to waste an arrow on them just yet. Maybe on the way back. 'Not a lot of cover out here. If anyone is keeping a look out then they might see us coming. Not that they have any reason to think we're looking for them.'

'The tracks suggest there's more of them then us. So if we catch up to them I'd say everyone try to be quiet until we know what they're actually up to.'

Spoiler

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If we don't have enough food I'll start rolling Outdoor Survival

Perception for the hell of it
vs. Int 37 (+20 if Acute Hearing)
(1d100)[8]

[DrK]

Conrad

After a night wrapped in his cloak his bones and joints ache from the hard ground. Looking at the desolate landscape he shakes his head. "Its very different to the forests of the Empire. That's to be sure." As Gabriele speaks he shrugs somewhat. "We have committed ourselves to the hunt now. We must continue or accept failure and return empty handed. ". He eats some hard tack and takes a long drink of water. Checking the fastenings of the boots he stands up and looks outwards. "God's bless our endavours today".

[rax]

"Plenty of cover for me," Severin jokes. "Can't see anything worth a damn in this grass, though. Should've brought Bertrand along after all."

Severin is silent for a bit, then continues: "Listen, I've been thinking. Sir Laurens was going to hold his inquest today, and the villagers are all pretty sure that Elodie is dead and Peter's responsible. Laurens seems like a good enough lad, but he's going to be under considerable pressure to deliver justice now, rather than later. If we can't catch this lot by noon, then I think someone needs to go back to the village and report our findings. If we don't let Sir Laurens know that Elodie's probably alive, then there's a good chance we get back to find Peter swinging in the village square, if you catch my drift."