Play@YSDC

SAN 75%,[dice]0[/dice] REMAINING SAN: 71%

Gandalf screamed, he had never seen such a terrible sight before him than this. As a merchant who grew up in a sheltered household, he had never really even been much actively involved in bloodshed. After suddenly being confronted with a visceral sight as this...he exhaled the contents of his stomach, perhaps adding to the putrid stench of the surroundings. It took him more than a few moments to calm down. "Gods above. What is...this?"

He sweeps his hand over the sight before him, weakly gesturing at it.

Valbrand goes pale, he stares wide-eyed at the scene of horror and his gorge rises. He does not provide any answer to Gandalf, and it is unclear if he even heard the man.

HelplessBystander wrote:

OOC:   And 75-4=71, correct? So I don't think I made a mistake calculating the san loss.

OOC:   Nope, it is fine I was simply pointing out as a fumble you didn't need to roll it you just take max.

Valbrand is too busy gawping at the carnage to notice anything else.

Track Roll,Track 50 [dice]0[/dice]

Garpur looks at the others and realizes that he isn't the only one to be taken aback by this horrific scene. Steadying himself, he moves into the camp to try to see if he can make sense of what happened here.

Aethelwulf is too busy trying not to throw up to notice anything else.

OOC,Sanity roll (current level 50) for seeing the bodies: [dice]0[/dice] Sanity loss for seeing the bodies: [dice]2[/dice] Spot Hidden roll (25% base skill) in the ruined village: [dice]1[/dice]

A thorough search of the area reveals tracks of a man moving South West (back along the trail you've just walked along) but also the track of a much heavier human coming towards the camp from the East.

There is lots of disturbance around the centre of the camp which might be animals of some kind but its unclear

There are mule tracks which head NE (in the direction you have been travelling) these mules would have carried the trapper's tools and traps and more importantly the furs. It looks like this was also the general direction the men came from.

Garpur spends several minutes moving around the camp and examining the ground before he announces his findings to the others.

"It looks like a large person came into the camp from that way," he points to the east. And one man's tracks head back the way we came which were probably the villager's tracks. He gestures up the path they had been following, "It looks like the trapper's mules were taken that way. There's signs of a struggle in the camp but I cannot tell who or what did this." He shudders again as he looks at the headless bodies.

OOC,Are the heads anywhere we can see?

"Shall we follow the mules?" asks Aethelwulf.

"I guess." Garpur says hesitantly. I really don't want to get involved in this but then again we do need to find out if one of these men is Guyer."

Valbrand snaps out of his trance. He says, "I... Yes, I think we should follow after the mule as well. The quicker the better."

Gandalf agrees.

Leaving the ruined village behind you continue to follow the trail after an hour you come across one of the mules standing off by the side of the trail, at some point, it has slipped its harness and whatever it was carrying has been scattered through the forest. There is no sign of the other (2?) mules. However, there are clear signs of passage further along the trail.

It is nearing twilight when you become aware you are nearing a settlement of some kind there is the smell of woodsmoke and the distant barking of dogs. Leaving the shadows of the forest you enter a rather extraordinary ring of totem poles (the local's equivalent to a large cross to ward off evil spirits ) and a singular cross (which you know to be the sign of the white god) before crossing a wide clearing of pastures and fields. To left and right you can see small homesteads while to your front is a small village, surrounded by a sturdy timber stockade. A sizeable tower dominates the landscape.

A crowd has gathered outside the gate and two spear armed guards can be seen pulling a body from the ditch which surrounds the village. As you get closer you realise the corpse matches the description you've been given of Guyer

A scarred looking warrior approaches from the shadows by the gate, he asks you a question first in the local tongue and then in halting Norse "Who are you and why do you come here"

"We are Olaf the Golden's men," says Aethelwulf. "We come seeking him." He points to the body of Guyer.

"I have heard of Olaf the Golden, but I do not know him and I do not know who you are either. if you know this man you should come and talk to my lord, he will have questions." He turns to go clearly expecting you to follow him the two other guards look at you expectantly clearly expecting the same.

OOC:   You are free to make your own decisions about following the man, but the guards are geared for war (as you'd expect), armoured with spears and a shield

You are led (escorted) to a large tower/house at the centre of the village. Inside it is warm but dark lit only by a central firepit The local lord sits on an ornately carved chair covered in large grey wolf skins, two massive dogs lie sleeping on either side of him. What comes as the biggest surprise is there is a Priest of the White God standing behind him. Also present in the room are an old (noble) woman.

Welcome to Mikulcice, although I wish it was under better circumstances we found a body here, a traveller, a sign perhaps, can you tell me what it means?