Burkhard chuckles and starts walking in front of the troupe, with Martin.
Martin indicates that the first village he heard about the story is a quarter of a day's walk away from the bog. So getting there and back will take most of the day. There are a few more villages where the stories are being told, but they are further away, some even as far as three days away in the Lüneburg Heath. Of course, there might be other villages where that kind of tale is being told, he just didn't get a chance to hear it there. The place where the men who claims to have seen the purple sheep is a day's walk away. Which one do you want to visit?
Andreas will be happy to go where the smarter people think is wise. At the mention of food, however, he will make sure that he's carrying a few days of food with him in case things take longer than expected.
Burkhard got the same idea, he's got plenty of food, a bit of alcohol because it's always nice to befriend villagers and his usual travelling pack he's ready to set up a camp, cook food, has a rope etc...
(german) Let's go to the nearest village first, I don't see any reason to go further and skip this one, unless ... We don't want to get attention from the nearest village from the chapter house.
(German) "What mean this words, atenshen?"
He scratches his head, trying to stay polite.
(german) "Sometimes magus don't want to be noticed"
Martin leads the small group as they leave the chapter house, taking a small dirt road that leads roughly north-northeast. After an hour of walking, he takes a smaller path leading into the heathland, snaking around rocky knolls and ovr little streams. At the end of the afternoon, they arrive at a small village -- perhaps a score of small daub and tatch buildings clustered together around a well. There are a few small fields on the somewhat richer soil near the stream, where wheat grows, while a number of gardening patches are being weeded by women. The overcast sky and a few buzzing flies do not lend themselves to a cheery atmosphere.
"You want me to look for sheep while you talk to people," Andreas asks. He know he's not the best with people and eagerly wants to help. It probably never occurs to him that there wouldn't be purple sheep in the village.
Burkhard shakes his head
(german) "He has already told you the sheep is only purple when it attacks..."
"Oh, right," Andreas replies. "You want me to go out and get the sheep riled up?"
"Ah, okay. Understand now. You right, us be quiet to people."
"What?! No no no!". Sternly, "Do not bother sheep. We go talk to people, see what to tell us. Also look out people have purple sheep clothes maybe."
((I don't have access to my books, and won't for the next 4 days, so I can't look this up: if Ludovicus casts an Intellego spell to detect a supernatural sheep using his sense of smell, it still has to penetrate the sheep's Magic Resistance, right? If memory serves, the range "smell" imparts a +2 to the spell level. And Ludovicus would be casting a spontaneous InAn spell to detect supernatural beings with a Might associated with Animal (RoP:M, p 111). So he can reliably cast a version smelling for creatures with Might >= 30 (Base 3, +2 Smell). If he rolls a 9, he can cast a version smelling for creatures with Might >= 15. His casting total is (In 5 + An 2*2 + Sta 2 + SD + Aura)/2 = (11 + SD + Aura)/2. But neither of these spells would have enough penetration. That's disappointing. Yet another thing for the todo list.))
(german)"So what do you want us to ask the villager Magus"
(German) "We ask if people know story of purple sheep. If ask why, say us learners of special stories to write down. Some Herzog give us task."
Burkhard walks towards the villagers (german) " Hello there, care to share a drink and chat with us ?"
The woman that Burkhard just approached, carding raw wool, looks warily at the armed man speaking to her as well as at the small group a short distance away. Two more armed men, with a third one that looks like some kind of noble of merchant. "What do you need, mister?" She sounds nervous.
"Don't worry , we're not here to bother you. My master other there is collecting local stories to write a good book for the Herzog. We've heard that in your village there was a shepherd who's seen a purple sheep can you tell us about it ? Maybe we can meet him."
The woman seems a bit taken back by the request and scratches the side of her face with the handle of her wooden hoe. She still looks a bit nervous et the sight of armes soldiers. "Well, there are stories about that, fer sure. But no one I know has even seen the thing and lived. Certain'ly none living here in our village."
(OOC: This is the closest village, not the one where Martain said someone had claimed to have seen the creature.)
He puts down his weapon and takes a slice of bread, some delicatessen and some soft alcohol, he hands some to the old woman. "Are you sure you don't wanna share ? Since you've heard the story, maybe you can tell us what you know about it ? What about the place where the sheep is supposed to appear in your version of the story."
She looks at you strangely when you offer her food, but takes it anyway. She chokes a bit on the alcoolic beverage when she takes a sip. "There ain't much to tell, really. Everyone knows that tale, that there lives in the heathland a purple sheep. Sometimes it will join a flock of sheep at night, and eat the shepherd when he comes to tend them in the morn'. Poeple disappear in the heathland once in a while, some no doubt eaten by this sheep."
"So your version isn't linked to a specific place, nevermind. We're bothered you too much already. Have a nice day."
He reports back to the other what he's learned, which is nothing I guess.