About that same time, shouts go up throughout the village. Shouts of voices Wilhelm has become familiar with the past month of travelling. They all start crying out...that their families are gone, homes are empty, no one is around...
Hiltprant opens the door to his home and cries out, "Gott im Himmel! They're gone. Everyone, the entire village is gone. What do we do?"
Wilhelm strings his bow as he looks around. [color=green]"Everyone!" he yells. [color=green]"Stay calm, and come here." He indicates the village green. [color=green]"Stay here for a few minutes while I have a look around."
[color=green]"How long ago did you leave?" he quietly (almost a whisper) asks Karl-Martin.
He then carefully examines the entire perimeter of the village, looking for tracks or any indication as to where anyone (or anything) last came and went. Per 2 + Awareness or Hunt 3 + Keen Vision 3 + die roll of 2 = 10 (or 13 if Way of the Forest comes into play).
"A bit more than two months ago. We left shortly after planting." It's now late August.
It appears that everyone gathered in the green recently. Certainly less than a week ago. From there, all of the tracks go straight into the forest...
Great, Wilhelm thinks as he follows the tracks a few paces into the woods. If this isn't a trap...
[color=green]"It looks like everyone gathered here, then walked into the forest. The tracks are maybe a few days old. I'm going to follow them, try to find out where they go. Is there anyone very skilled at hunting and tracking who wants to go with me? Patience, you stay here." The last is in French.
[color=green]"Do you remember which way Father came when he came back from the dark fae?"
He's hoping that no more than one or two go with him as he starts to follow the tracks. Once he's into the forest, his Ways of the Forest should kick in and give him his bonus.
Following the tracks: Per 2 + Hunt (Tracking) or Awareness (In the forest) 4 + Keen Vision/Sharp Ears 3 + Ways of the Forest 3 + die roll of 4 = 16.
((Who is Willhelm asking, because Hiltprant wasn't born, yet. We'll assume it's a general, Does anyone remember...))
No one seems certain of how he arrived, Karl-Martin adds, "It was a very cold winter night, with a lot of blowing snow. The first memory of his return is that shouts of surprise and horror rang out from their House, I rushed over, and there he was, not looking a day older, but gaunt and tired looking. I immediately called for the priest..." He swallows hard, "Lord, what have we done? How can we unravel these layers of deceit?" Karl-Martin seems tired after two months on the road, coming back and finding his wife, children and grandchildren gone is a bit much. "Which one was fae?"
[color=green]"I intend to find out," Wilhelm says, with a hint of steel in his voice.
[color=green]"Karl-Martin, if I'm not back in...seven days, I need someone trustworthy to go to the nearest group of wizards. Tell them that Wilhelm, a custodia of the covenant of Mons Electi, in Normandy Tribunal, and brother of Kirstyn of Merinita needs their help. Explain the situation to them, and have at least one of them come back to help if they can."
He then heads into the woods to track everyone down. Don't know if anyone else is going with...doesn't much matter to him, he might be able to move faster with just himself or maybe one other.
It's pretty easy to follow the trail, well, trail is the wrong term, because Wilhelm can't discern too many tracks. The track is in single file, and all of the footprints are jumbled on top of each other. Wilhelm follows it for a couple of miles, and it doesn't appear to stop... The forest is getting extremely dark, and the sun is setting.
And presumably too dark to see clearly.
He returns to the village. [color=green]"They went that way," he says, indicating the direction. ((Does he remember what, if anything, is that way? Int 0 +die roll of 9 = 9.))
[color=green]"It's getting too dark to see in there, so let's go to bed and we'll pick up the tracks at first light."
Wilhelm has been gone too long and doesn't have any relevant Area Lore. "That's the part of the forest you were last seen in when you left all those years ago."
So, I'm guessing Wilhelm needs a new tracking roll to follow the trail?
Per 2 + Hunt (tracking) 4 + Keen Vision 3 + Ways of the Forest 3 + die roll of 5 = 17.
((Is Wilhelm going in alone? That's the impression I had the first trip in, but then Wilhelm was talking aloud, not sure if it was to himself, or someone you want to be tagging along with Wilhelm.))
((He's going in alone, unless someone insists on going in with him. He's going to insist that Patience stay in the village, since he thinks it might be too dangerous for her. The talking aloud was, I think, when he came back out when it got too dark to follow the trail, he asked what was down there, then set out back down the trail at first light the next morning. That's my impression, anyway.))
Alright, the next day, Wilhelm follows the trail in. The footsteps seem to end in a clearing. They only come in, and don't seem to go out of it. The trail isn't much more than a mash of footsteps one over the top of the other, because everyone was in single file. It's tough to make sense of the trail.
When Wilhelm gets to to the clearing where the footsteps seem to end, he will look around cautiously inn all directions (including up) as he strings his bow. [color=green]"Hello?" he calls out in German.
((Per 2 + Awareness (in the forest) 4 + Keen Vision/Sharp Ears 3 + Ways of the Forest 3 + die roll of 5 = 17.))
If he doesn't get a reply within a few moments, he calls out again, [color=green]"I've come for my people. Where are they?"
Wilhelm hears only the sounds of the forest...
Wilhelm examines the ground around where the footprints end. If (as I expect) he still finds nothing, he will make his way back to the village. When he gets there, he tells them that the trail ended and he couldn't find any further tracks, and asks someone to take him to the nearest group of wizards. With luck, Kirstyn of Merinita is there. But even if not, they might be willing and able to help him.
When coming into the clearing, the general pattern of footprints seems to go off to the right, and it follows the border of the clearing. In fact, Wilhelm realizes there aren't any footprints in the middle of the clearing.
[color=green]That's odd Wilhelm thinks as he notices the lack of footprints in the center. He gets on his hands and knees to get a closer look, then (assuming an Awareness roll of 12 + die roll of 6 = 18 doesn't reveal anything else), he examines where the footprints go before they disappear, looking for anything. A trap, a mushroom ring, a little hillock, lawn gnomes, whatever.
No, but it's familiar to Wilhelm with the regio entrance from the manor house to the castle.
[color=green]"Hmmm..." Wilhelm thinks for a moment, then draws an arrow and has it ready to nock, just in case.
He then goes to the end of the footprints and turns three times in place, the same way to pass through the regio as at Mons Electi. If nothing happens, he'll turn three times the other way. Then take a step beyond and repeat the process.