Vafrandir

The DM: The morning of the 25th of June is a beautiful, clear, pleasant day, as nice as you might desire for this part of the world. The sun is shining, the ground is dry and the wind is a mere 2 knots out of the northwest. There are a few small puffy clouds, but no sign of rain at all. The air is clear and the various denizens along the cart path to the wilderness are beginning to recognize you, nodding as you pass. You climb up the familiar track off the road, the cart wheels banging over the rocks as you take the best route, with Treborg's bay falling out of sight.

Yet, as you reach a point about four miles from the village, you find the carcass of a cow laying slaughtered on an open rock. As Embla has skill as a butcher, you can see at once that it's a domestic cow, not wild. That while the principle meat has been cut out, by someone who doesn't know what they're doing, much of the meat has been left. Judging by the meat, this was done last afternoon or evening; and it looks as if someone cut away about a yard of the cow's hide, but left most of it behind.

Embla Strand Oh dear. We should get to the bottom of this - it's too close to home to ignore. Are there any tracks or traces left behind by whoever did this? Does the cow have a brand or something that would indicate an owner?

The DM: You see no brands, but the cow must come from near Treborg. There is no other settlement or group of farms in this part of Ryfolke. A look around will reveal that the skin or chunks of meat were apparently dragged over the ground away from the carcass. You can't track, obviously, but this trail is obvious; anyone can see it. It strikes you as odd that anyone would drag meat ... as though it were too big to carry properly.

Vafrandir: Embla, shall we two follow the trail?

Marcule: In

Marcule:"I agree this is to close to home we had better investigate before something nasty appears at our door."

The DM: Action?

Marcule: I do my best to follow the trail and proceed forward

Vafrandir: We go with him. I know we can't speak for Pandred but can we assume she stays with the cart?

The DM: In general, presume that players who are not here to be following along, but having a pee or some other such thing when the fight occurs.

The DM: the trail continues on for about three quarters of a mile before the dragged parts have become dried by the landscape; you haven't the skill to follow the trail that would still be there, but now can't be seen. You guess there must be more than one, as occasionally there are as many as three blood trails. Moreover, they're not trying to hide their passage, either. They are making a straight line for a group of ledges straight ahead from where the trail stops, where the earth-and-rock plateau rises about 75 feet over a series of easily climbable steps. You couldn't take the cart there, however.

Vafrandir: I don't wish to miss the action but I'm also loathe to leave the cart. You three go on ahead, carefully. Whistle if there's trouble.

The DM: I'll have to wait for them to say they do.

Vafrandir: Of course!

Marcule: I encourage Vafrandir to keep his whistle close and make my way up the steps.

Embla Strand I follow, readying my whistle.

The DM: as you climb up into the ledges, you find that they're filled with small troughs and dips where water has gathered. It hasn't rained in a couple of days, so most of these are empty, and only a few inches deep. Yet you can also see that there's silt along the bottoms of these, where there are hoof prints. Then, Marcule stops in surprise, when he sees the plain outline of a foot, not wearing a shoe or boot. A foot about as large as Marcule's, and definitely not a gnome's foot.

The DM: Plainly I lost everyone. Please, if you're not going to check every 20 minutes, simply mark yourself "out." It's no big deal if you do, I won't judge. But I will know there's less reason for me to check every ten minutes.

Vafrandir: I'm waiting by the cart. Can I still see the rest of the party?