If the farmer who stepped from the barn is still standing outside, I think we should try to speak with him. We may or may not get some useful information if he decides to speak with us.

Also, my guess is that a town this size is not going to have an inn, so our best bet for lodging will be the Temple of Merrika if there are still any acolytes or priest still in the temple.

Best course with such a small human settlement is let the humans do the talking. Knowing the Paladin is probably the most charismatic of us all, I suggest he approach the farmer and see what information he can glean. Send Haiden and/or Sentinal with him to just "look" at what they can while Gunther talks with the man.

From what data we were given before our trip, it seems that the people are coming up missing. Strange that no one from the village has come forward to another town for help or explain the circumstances. When we approached children were playing and life in general was as if nothing was wrong. Their reaction to seeing us seemed to bring on their fear. We might want to think about the possibility of a gang of marauding adventerers, maybe some local fuedal Lord and his henchmen terrorizing the area. As suggested there is one farmer that did not run inside, we can either approach him or make our way to the huge temple looking building.

When I get home from the office I will write a little something for the Orlane thread about asking the human Ranger and/or the human Druid to approach the farmer!

Greet a human without a circus of weird races [from the farmer's perspective!] accompanying me and I can train my 60' ability to discern evil on him [in case his human appearance is an illusion!] and in the direction of the barn [in case something is lurking inside!]

Am not able to take the time here at the office to write for the Orlane thread so will do it when I get home!

***** Just noticed Darque's post so I can incorporate the invitation for Sentinal [because of his stature!] to have a look around with probably Oriel [the human Ranger!] in case we spring an agressive attack right out of the gate!

I am more than willing to approach the farmer - although I will admit right now that my charisma is only 10. I can speak for the group and am happy to do so, but I suspect I am not the most charming member. On that note - can we sort of hide Deathstalker II? Nice guy and all, but not exactly a charmer... (Hide as in - don't put at the front of the group while in town)

Another point of note - I believe when the merchant was speaking he mentioned that some families had disappeared for awhile - and then returned. Those are people we need to identify and speak with. I like to see if Gunther notes evil around them or if a mage detects any magic - are they charmed or some such thing?

I would suggest we all wait while Gunther, a halfling and maybe myself go talk to the first man. Once we have a little information we can decide what to do next. I wouldn't split up into any more than 3 groups, even in town - as someone else already mentioned, people are disappearing.

so, we should....
1. Talk to the closest man
Based on that information likely next actions would include:
2. Check out the temple - they are probably leaders as well as our place of rest for the night.
3. Check out other interesting buildings
4. Contact those that have had problems - investigate the houses of those who are missing most recently and speak with those who disappeared and have returned.

FYI, I am carrying my bow, but do not have an arrow in hand while in town. They are easily grabbed, however.

I am more than willing to wander off with Gunther on his stated mission, but I think this might be a time for Darque to divide us up into three smaller teams for in town investigations - that way we can make sure that each such group has a warrior, a thief and a mix of spellcasters. I'd like those teams organized and planned - not just happening at random.

And yes, as Sherlock has said...the game is afoot.

Am I correct that we want to use this forum to coordinate a plan - than Darque can make the first post in the other forum noting general group actions. We can respond off of that one individually if needed. Is that right?

And in the world of interesting administration...the school I work for has a filter system on its system. Surprisingly it lets me get here and to the D2 site, but it blocks the maps Trip has posted. Does that make sense? Oh well, I can see those at home and besides, our DM has done such a wonderful job of describing everything...

I am still at the office but am preparing to get ready to go home!

Takes me about an hour to walk home from here and gives me plenty of time to ponder what I will write!

After I get settled later I will write the opening move for Gunther to get things rolling and the rest of you can respond in whatever manner!

Trip usually makes a post sometime around midnight or later after I have gone to sleep!

His last post on the Orlane and Q&A threads was after I had gone to sleep!

I was delighted to see the game was underway this morning!

I will make sure I have something written so our DM can facilitate the responses!

I think the majority of the party should agree on what we do next and let Darque post.

My thoughts are to have the Paladin and one other human approach the farmer. I think the Paladin would probably be best at diplomacy. His greeting should be brief and to the point.

Introduce himself.
Offer comfort and protection.
What information does he have in regards to the disappearances?
Is there anything we can do to assist him?

Once the Paladin gets a response he should return back to the party. We can all take in the information and go from there.

Good ideas from everyone so far, so here is the rough plan that I have for the post to get everyone moving. I've tried to make them diverse in skill, but as well putting a human in each group until we know for sure how the locals react to non-humans. I have also put a charismatic fellow (Gunther, Aelbric, and Valerus) in each group for favorable interaction if we can get it.

Group 1: Gunther, along with Sentinal, Oriel, and Fandil will attempt to speak with the worried looking farmer.

Group 2: Aelbric, Garrus, Doogan, Katai, and Elkin will head towards the Temple and see if there is any type of command structure in this town, and perhaps procure us lodgings for the evening.

Group 3: Kyuss, Haiden, Stings, and Valerus will wander through town taking note of the abandoned houses and looking for anything else out of the ordinary. Kyuss can in turn look for any tracks or signs that may seem out of the ordinary for such a small farming village.

Looks a good plan - I had not thought about the need for a charismatic person and a human in each group. Good idea.

I still think it might make sense to wait until we have talked to the farmer before splitting up - it doesn't seem like it would take long, but no big deal. It seems we have our marching orders!

The Darque plan makes sense.

While you are at it Darque, pound out a marching order for us!

We are all still gonna have to make individual posts I think. We just make them according to what we have planned. Maybe we should get a list of questions going so Hammer can write them into his part. I know I saw some early maybe from Nomad?

I'm on board with Darque's plan. I agree with Nomad about waiting for Hammer to talk to farmer before splitting up.

I also agree with Wretch in regards to know which questions we want asked. As I stated earlier we should be brief and to the point. I think it's safe to say that these people are on edge. A mixed group of adventures (strangers) coming into their town and interrogating probably won't go over well. A comforting Paladin offering protection IMO is probably the best route to take.

I think Darque's plan is sound , though i would have to agree w/ Elephant on waiting to see what comes of Gunther's conversation w/ the farmer before we decide to break up into seperate groups.

Everyone seems to agree on the general plan but we still havent heard from Degotti, The Ancient One and Otis yet. Maybe let Hammer ask his questions or whatever then hopefulyl more show up so we can have their input?

... and have skimmed through the posts and will collect my thoughts and write something to post for Trip to respond to!

Now that I know who is in the group approaching the farmer I can write something up to the point of greeting the farmer and I figure that from there Trip has to post the results of the initial greeting!

Whether amicable or hostile!

It will take me a while to write so I will check back here from time to time!

I am 7 hours ahead of EDST and Friday is a full day for me as I leave early in the morning to cover the hockey league and then go to the office and get back later tomorrow night before I can post anything!

The reason I am going ahead and writing this tonight is because I might not be able to do another writing on Friday night and may have to wait until Saturday night, so I want to get things rolling since I already know the Paladin is assigned to greet the farmer!