There are numerous spots along the shore where you can see much of the lake- the lake is 10 miles long but 2 miles across (east-west) and just north of town there is a hill whose peak is 1 mile back from the lake but which towers 1,000 feet above it, being at the midpoint north to south. Or on the west bank is a similar hill whose peak is closer to a mile and a half back from the lake but which towers 3000 feet above it. In either case the entire lake is visible from either of these locations. It is only at the north and south ends of the lake where the slope is truly gentle, and the town is located at the southern foot of the hill on the eastern bank, wrapping around the foot of the hill where there is a 3/4 mile protrusion of gently sloped land into the lake. The inn you stayed in is at the southern tip of the town, near the southern foot of the hill and the lake itself. where the distance between the two is just over 300 paces.
Once they reach the lookout point on the hill, Lutra will try to remember anything of note that could be valuable for the hunt. Maybe a spot where the lake is unusually deep or some spot where out-of-place looking fish gather. Knowing the spring at the inn they stayed at seemed to be mundane according to the twins, he's not likely to point out any spots too close to where they are.
Jaufres hides behind his father and listens attentively to the magi's discussions.
Lutra can eliminate the north end of the lake with near certainty, being the most heavily traveled area by merchants any unnatural effects which occurred there would be almost certainly well documented in travelers tales. The lake extends 3 miles south of the town, and any source of the reputed properties could lay anywhere in that distance, or even from outside the lake where water runoff from melted snow might in the spring might transmit magical effects into the south end of the lake. There is an old roman fortress which was restored for use just over a century ago 6 miles south of the lake. You can also see a monastery on the opposite side of the lake, though slightly north of your position, which could, in principle, be the source of some divine effect, though again the connection seems tenuous given the well traveled water route of the northern end of the lake.
Does restored for use mean the roman fortress is now occupied by some lord?
yes, it is.
in fact as a historical footnote, most English language sources indicate it will be taken by force by the Savoy family in the 1290's, while most German language sources indicate it was purchased. The familly it was taken/bought from suggests a Welsh family connection- my suspicion is that it was purchased under duress, possibly while under seige. Of course the covenant will be long gone by then, but...
"So, it looks like we need to search the southern end of the lake. Lutra, do you want to swim it? Are there any known dangers? Jaufres, can you see any magically active spots from here?"
[[If it had been a spot that stayed with a magic aura (occupied by someone other than a christian lord) it might have come up later when the characters end up thinking about a new covenant location. Probably a bit too close anyway.]]
"Sure I'll be going ahead, as far as I know there's not any major danger," Lutra replies. If Jaufres says anything he'll probably check up on there first. Otherwise, he will scout out in hearbeast form towards the south.
Alienor listens quietly to the discussion while watching the birds overhead. Éléazar flies to join them, feeling in a playful mood.
Guilhelm knows his sight is not the same as his brother's sense for anything magical but he chooses to survey the lake as well in case something of interest is noticed by his second sight.
[Second Sight Roll: 17]
second sight reveals that the south end of the town- south of the inn you stayed in, has a faerie aura.
Guihelm tugs at his father's pants. "Father, I see something odd in that area of town," he says pointing to the south area of town, "The air looks almost shimmery. Like I saw when Alienor took us on walks near Bentalone and pointed out places to avoid if we didn't want to be stolen by the fae."
At the mention of the fae, Alienor perks up, "What's that about the fae boy? Part of the town is friendly to them again?"
Gerard muses. "Interesting... the interdict presumably made the divine withdraw enough to allow the faerie aura to be un-suppressed. Do you want to investigate that, Alienor? I'm not very knowledgeable about the Fae, will there be an anchor that can prove useful the way there would be with a magic aura?"
Alienor perks up, "The fae have returned, you say? We could look into it but I am not so sure the auras of the fae are connected to tethers, at least not in the same way a magical aura is but it would be quite interesting to see a town that is inhabited by the fae folk in a more direct manner than those who seem to just not mind being in a divine aura."
Gerard says, "I don't know if there will be any real inhabitants, since it was suppressed before, but we can go check. I'm sure Lutra can find us later after he finishes searching, and we can head back here to meet up with him if not."
"I'm up for that. Should we bring your boys or leave them here to help Lutra?"
"We'll bring them along."
(Lutra is an otter)
Gerard will follow the boy's lead to where he sees the aura in town.
Guihelm excitedly badgers Alienor the whole way about the Fae, what they’re like, what they want, will there be tree men in that part of town. Generally not even waiting for an aswer before firing another question. Alienor answers, amused, mostly with some variant of “I don’t know these particular fae and all fae are different” or “I don’t know, they are all individuals.”
You get to the portion of town with the faerie aura, and where you enter things still seem pretty normal, except that several of the people seem a little too stereotypical. The old woman in the black cloak with a wart on her nose. The fair maiden who seems a bit too cheery, and somehow manages to avoid getting dirty. The boy who has way to much energy, covered in dirt who runs up and asks "Excuse me, can I help? I can be very helpful, just ask anyone. Oh, I'm Malachai."
By this time, Lutra has possibly already reached the spot he set out for towards the south end of the lake as he said he would go to. Once there he'll try to be pretty thorough inspecting the floor of the lake or any openings that might be hiding something, but if it takes too long, say a couple hours, and he hasn't got a lead yet, he might be inclined to try to regroup with the rest.
Visual inspection doesn't show anything unusual, though the shoreline shows signs that there is runoff in the spring from melting snow from the surrounding land.