Heimurn Chronicles (No, SV, you're a young valkyrie in the middle of a bizarre and dangerous journey)

The first thing that struck you was that odd, newly-registered, and almost motherly instinct to grab the troublemakers by the ears, drag them to the scene of misconduct, and make them play straight. The words suggesting Elgar take place with Inga and Lia while you assume the role of an adult for Seph and Loїс nearly slipped your tongue, but you stopped yourself. After all, you are here for a missing person retrieval and not for teambuilding.

Having the urge suppressed, you took a long moment to view the situation through the rational prism. The place keeps an active voidling of the unidentified development level with an appetite for intruders; there is an active arcane source in the ground or below it, which can't be attributed to voidling activity and taken advantage of by the family that built this place. The original denizens themselves appear to be a small clan of what might be two to three family branches that came from the western Blugd-Tur, taking their ritualistic knowledge with them.

Considering all this, you finally generated a further plan of action in your head.

"Seph, mind if we swap places?" you said unamused, "It would be nice if you, Lia, and Inga search through the grand house. Here's hope it would shed more light on what led this place to become haunted and what the haunt exactly is."

"Not a problem," Seph replied, employing a somewhat artificial smile and, after a scenic pause, walking towards you, "But there's something we might have forgot at home which only occurred to me now."

Seeing the dusky damsel treading towards you, Elgar appeared about to ask something, which was tactically interrupted by Seph's input: "You wouldn't mind if I steal our dear seer for a moment? It's about ladies' matters, mind you." The lad did not inquire any further - just hastily hidden his eyes instead, probably embarrassed.

After the daeva made a teasing swing with her hip and pinched you by the shoulder, you found yourself being led about thirty steps away from the group's gathering. If only the change of emotion could make sounds, Seph's drop of a smiley facade would've made a noise of an overturned saucepan.

"Just in case you haven't noticed, our pet bhiroth did not tail us only because he expects me to watch that nothing happens to you. So, to be clear, are you sure it's a good idea to group up with two unfamiliar men without me or at least Amalia keeping an eye on you?"

The question got you briefly dumbstruck. "I... Have the... Uh. If things would go awry - which I extremely doubt - they don't know the extent of the feats I can do, and they certainly don't know about my flight capability."

"That is if you don't drop your guard. You won't set me up like that, no?" Seph injected, unwilling to give you ground.

You gave Seph a tired smile and a slight sigh before answering, "Alright, I hear you and will keep my eyes peeled, even if it's only to keep you calm."

Your words visibly softened her expression after a sizable pause. "It's not just me tasked with your safety and absence of 'leaks,' but also..." she tilted her head and trained her amber eyes on something in the empty space, "unawareness and naivety may be the most common causes of broken fates, which means you rarely can be too suspicious. Do you understand, Sparkling?" she refocused at you and touched your shoulder.

In response, you gave her a slight nod, after which she gave you the equal nod, reapplied the smiley facade, and ventured back to the gathering. You, however, did not follow her immediately as a flash of realization sparked in your mind: that time she broke into your room's window, the advice she gave you when Rosaline arranged your meeting, all the span it took her to trust Ren, and now this. If you had a suspicion that the non-elaborated event she went through was so life-impacting, now you were dead sure of it. But in any case, the life-shaping events of your packmates were not the primary concern right now. Making a mental note, you followed Seph back, to where the rest of the group might have wondered about your ill timing for gossiping.

After a short debate unrelated to Seph's sudden "recollection," it was decided that you, Elgar, Loїc, and Krom had to scour the central yard while Amalia, Inga, and Seph clear the main house... or what remained of it. Loїс wasn't enthused, Lia barely contained her enthusiasm for proving helpful, and Seph, miraculously, refrained from verbally or otherwise jabbed Inga. Instead, the orange-eyed fury gave you a gesture over her shoulder, the gesture that could be interpreted as "I'm watching you" or "keep your eyes peeled." Absent-mindedly, you watched her go with the others towards the chalked carcass of the once-grand estate.

As for your group, the investigation kicked out slow, bringing nothing in meaningful clues or insights. You weren't the only one feeling this way, as with each silent minute, Elgar's pacing added some nervousness. Unlike his brother, Loїс did not hesitate to make his frustration be the choice of area investigation known via his grunts, pouts, eye-rolls, and body language. But it wasn't something you weren't expecting; hence it concerned you only so far. Trying to use the time, you attempted to erect theories of the man's disappearance and check if the observations support any of them.

Alas, it did not bring the results you wanted: trying to locate relatively fresh footsteps crossing the central yard from the pathways to any of the buildings ended in nothing; no one seemed to be crossing the yard of late, meaning that if the missing man ended up holed in one of the buildings, it was the one closest to him, which he might have entered through structural breaches and which also implied he might have been forced to take shelter by something or someone. Albeit, it was only one of the three theories. As much as you would hate to admit it, the possibility of Altan disappearing somewhere at the outskirts of this territory was still there. And the third theory implied he might have avoided the buildings and ended up in a hypothetical shelter at the premise periphery. The last approach seemed the least feasible, but recalling Rosaline's estate yards, you would not be surprised if there are hidey-holes around here.

"Whoa! Look at this," Elgar stirred everyone, including the dog, with his cry-out. His voice disrupted you from musings and chained your gaze to what he was holding in his hands: a large, white feather. While Loїс approached his brother with a restless gait, you had a little episode of a quiet panic attack, with your hands hurriedly palming around the faux "backpack." Nothing felt to be sticking out, but the feather Elgar clutched to was unmistakenly yours. You must have shed it, and it fell through the gap at some point while you were pacing around. Or, at least, this is how you think it was; you'd need Amalia or Seph to help you out with this blunder, but until then, it would be fitting to not flash your back much.

"Look at the root of this one: it's either a primary or a secondary wingpit feather. And the color with the size of it... Looks like geese or swans, who are migrating back, but three times larger. Whoever it belonged to must have a wingspan of..."

"Shut up and drop that shit!" Loїс slapped out the feather from his brothers' hands, "don't we have actual things to do either than fantasizing about bloated white birds?"

Krom whined, sensing aggression in the air. As for you... You did not like Loїс before, but... "that shit"? "Bloated bird"? Does this hoodlum even know how much time it takes to keep the wings clean? Does he imagine how effort-intense it is to maintain those feathers parasite-clean, well-oiled, dry, and orderly? And the itch they give if there are loose ones, which make shedding weeks almost a torture!? Even though his irrationally aggressive response to his brother was beneficial for your conspiracy efforts, it did not help you not feel deeply offended. And that you did pretty much.

While the brothers had a short bickering spree, including accusations of "not growing past touching random crap" and "having a log up one's arse," punctuated by Krom's whines and quiet barks, you made your best effort to retraining your attention. A slow circle by the entrances of most buildings did not give you much: no unfamiliar souls or anomalies were detected. You brushed over the orchards and fields, pondering on what the original family was growing here. Still, nothing came to mind as the peculiarities of agriculture or organization of farming societies has never been a topic of your interest.

Once you closed up some distance with Loїс, he refused you even a chance to voice your empty-handedness in terms of findings - it was apparent from your face.

"This is a waste of time. By clinging to these ruins, we are achieving nothing but reducing the chances of finding Altan alive!" The anger in his voice was rising as he spoke, "Are you still confident in your oh-so-brilliant theory of him getting snatched by some imaginary ghost? Perhaps, you would consider doing us a favor by getting off from your high horses and let us conduct the search in a way we do in Blugd-Tur?"

It was plainly evident that he found you as a pipe to blow his frustrations in, but still, it took you a considerable effort to not return the fire. Instead, you chose to be as cold as possible, just to make him feel like a fool.

"I do not know precisely what you think of the missing person, but by assuming how and where they disappeared, we are giving them a characteristic. So tell me - is the missing man the kind who would disappear in the plain field for whatever reasons, or the type whose vanishing would likely be explained by malicious events in a local hotbed of paranormal activity with the proven record of prior losses?"

Your voice was cold like steel and reasoning precise like a spear strike. A strike that met its target. Loїс's face sustained yet another phase of expressions changing rapidly in correspondence to the storm unveiling in his heart, but the truth was in his eyes - he knew you were right. Or, if not correct, then undeniably reasonable. He backed off frustrated, not as much at you as at the lack of progress. A part of you might even felt some satisfaction in retaliating for his pretentiousness and earlier oblivious offense of your physiology.

Krom's barks prevented you from savoring the moment of ego-crushing: the spacious pooch found something on the ground. Immediately, all three of you rushed towards the spot to which the dog's snout persistently pointed. The finding was a few scarce prints on the ground, forming in what seemed to be two trails. They were odd, to say the least.

"Does not look like a human or any animal. Too thin to belong to a deer and does not have the hoof pattern. If nothing else, it seems more like someone poking the ground with a shovel's handle." Elgar mused aloud.

"Yes, some strange crap this is and does not correspond to the footprints we found inside that house. Looks relatively fresh, too."

"It may or may not be. The marks are not that deep, meaning that they might have faded a great deal or not footprints at all. But who would be pointlessly poking dirt?"

"Can you tell something more? Like, what does the sequence of these prints looks like, or I don't know."

Elgar inhaled and then sighed, taking a few steps back to eye-measure the trails on the ground for a few moments.

"If we assume that someone is walking on two wooden legs the likes of our town's blacksmith has, then it would seem like at least two persons with the step span twice wider than usual walked here. Would've considered two odd deers, but not a single quadruped has such spacing. Plus, the prints are not deep enough to be attributed to someone massive enough to have such a wide step."

Feeling that Elgar is out of ideas, you carefully knelt over the spots, slowly waving your hand over them and sharpening your supernatural senses. There was some void residue to them - barely noticeable behind the ambient saturation. Unwillingly, your memory traced back to the night when Ren, Seph, and you took shelter in the abandoned fort and all that transpired then. This wasn't a welcome development to the ongoing case.

"These were left by the shell of the voidling that haunts this place." You replied dryly while standing up, two pairs of eyes giving you a weird look.
"Our group has encountered voidlings who operated via animating bones, flesh, and even trees. Those who mold their shells from possessed matter are called demons, which appears to be our case. Unrestrained by conventional biology, they can shape their puppet shells in many forms, so it's not guaranteed that each trail corresponds to one two-legged entity. For all we know, this might be a four or six, or even five-limbed amalgam."

"Ama-what?" Elgar asked, visibly struggling with internalizing your verdict.

"A construct, if you may. A meat golem, or something of a kind, put to motion by the power of the haunt that emanates from a material conduit object with a usually dark history."

Your reply disheveled both men as their facial expressions turned sour.

"How do you know these were left by a creature like this?" Loїс's skepticism sounded somewhat hopeful. Hopeful that you'd give no answer to back your claim.

"Fel energies, through which haunts operate, leave distinctive arcane residue trails. There were such at the scene of your men's murder two days ago, albeit of the different degree of "freshness" and intensity."

Both siblings' faces morphed in disgust and anxiety. This search wasn't going in the way they expected. Krom quietly whined near from you, possibly sensing the ensued atmosphere.

"This one has already faded a great deal and isn't as intense compared to one left in Tevon," you attempted to cheer them up a bit and lightly scratched the dog's ears. The pooch perked up a little; the brothers did not.

"One big bloody abomination that is if it was left by a single entity," Loїс commented dryly.

His observation remained without anyone's reply as all of you turned your heads towards the grand house, drawn by the sounds of a loud female yelp and what appeared as fracturing of wood.

Worried, you threw yourself into a run towards the grand house. "Lia!?" You yelled out, nervous. "Seph!?" you pressed on, desperate to get a hold of what transpired, but in a matter of a couple more seconds, the sound of the breaking wood transformed into a chaotic rumble. It ended as quickly as it emerged, though, with vast clouds of dust outflowing through the windows and cracks in the building's shell. With the structure in the range of your senses, you gave it a quick scan, fearing that you would sense more presences than your friend and Inga. Your fear, however, was diminished when you felt only the expected soul sparks. A moment later, Inga's formidable silhouette appeared in a window gap on the second floor, staring back in your direction.

"Are you safe out there!?" you cried at her, to which Inga stole a glimpse of the goings behind her back, faced you again, and raised a hand with a thumb up while the dust elevated by whatever transpired was receding to the ground. This gesture of hers alleviated your worry. However, something felt different about the place. It felt like everything and everyone got stirred by what seemed like a partial structural collapse of the building's innards. A flash sensation struck you, leaving little time to understand what did you just feel.

Then, trying to figure it out, the sensation repeated itself. It was an unfamiliar soul spark. Not in any of the buildings, not in the yard, and not above the ground, but deep below you. To avoid losing the sense of the new presence, you immediately fell down on your fours, adding that puny meter to the radius of the observable range. The target was moving, and you had to crawl after it while at the same time grasping for any feedback of its soul characteristics. Seeing you in an awkward position, Krom might have thought that you might be in a playful mood, resulting in him so ill-timely approaching, nuzzling and licking you, which you resisted by trying to pull off his snout away from you. What Elgar and Loїс might have thought about your wildly-looking behavior, you could only guess, which you preferred not to.

It appeared that the provoked tremor rattled the inhabitants of whatever subterranean cavity there was. In certain spots where it might have been closer to the surface, you captured not just one but a few souls invading the perimeter of your senses and then leaving it. Anyway, against all the distractions and difficulty of reading spirits from that far, you managed to harvest a couple of details without a direct view. First - these creatures souls' were too simplistic to those of sapient species but not as primitive as those of dumb animals. And the second - they were husked by the local voidling infestation, reminding you of the spirit readings of those sickly-looking people at Beilford in its last days.

"Can anyone of you bring up examples of semi-sapient creatures that might dwell in caverns?" You asked the men before they could question your mental stability. Saying that, you stood up without facing your interlocutors, continuing to walk the yard searching for more readings from below instead. For some odd reason, you had this "what if?" question stuck in your mind. What if you would sense the soul trace of a missing person below the ground?

"Well... maybe ghouls, if this place has a crypt to it. Or, perhaps, the lurks, who are known to live in shoreline grottos and caverns. A far-fetched guess as it may be, there are also grogs. Did you somehow sense them?"

"Yes," you replied while still walking above the caverns in hopes of more findings, "There might be tunnels beneath us, and I've sensed no less than six distinct creature signatures rattled by the collapse in the manor."

"Damn it, El! This stead stands less than three hundred steps from the lake, so I be damned if those aren't lurks!" Loїс suddenly burst with enthusiasm. Possibly, hungry for any progress at all.

"What are these lurks that you mentioned?" You replied while passing a spot where the arcane ambient saturation was the highest. Probably, you have just walked at the top of the nexus of this place, or the closest point to it.

"Short, amphibious carnivores with poor eyesight but sharpened hearing and smell. They move through watery bodies and live in hierarchal colonies, where the role of each beast is defined by their sub-species. When left unchecked, they may breed to threatening numbers, endangering fishermen, stealing cattle, and even going as far as raiding shoreline settlements. There was a village to the south-east, purged of its residents and overtaken by these bastards. These are some nasty critters, as they often clash with each other, should two or more colonies end up nearby. This and the larger predators are the only things that keep them from overtaking the shores."

Elgar's small lecture remained without even a fragment or your reply: nearly at the decrepit line of debris that once was a wooden fence, you sensed something. Kneeling down at the peculiar spot, for all you knew, it might have been what you came here for. You could not compare the readings of this soul signature to the imprint on Altan's ulchaar, but beneath you and at the very edges of your detection range, undeniably was the sign of a living sapient being. The only other thing that you managed to figure out was that their spirit wasn't in a tumultuous state, so they weren't dying or close to it. At least not yet.

To onlookers' amazement, you quietly stood up and slowly faced them, pointing down a finger. "There is some person alive right beneath this spot," you said calmly.

Loїс's face ignited with enthusiasm, and he did not even doubt your words. "Ha! I said it was a waste of time to dig in the buildings!" he nearly screamed out, which was ironic given that he considered investigating the yard as a waste of time too. Your and Elgar's faces slowly employed sardonic smirks.

"I don't know if it's the person we came here for or someone else, but we won't leave them there, don't we?"

"But of course, we won't leave Altan there!" The archer's enthusiasm did a poor job camouflaging the dodge of your underlying question. "If there are lurks, they got to get there somehow. Since this place is perked on a hill, has a well and hollows beneath, there's a high chance we might find into a grotto somewhere around the lakeshore."

Seems like the hope infusion made the lad more bearable, as if he did not work on your and others' nerves all this time. Observable too, as his mention of the well made you ponder of a distinct possibility.

Without replying anything to him, you walked a line towards to half-ruined well. Unlike at the time of your arrival, it began to emit fumes of void aethers the same way chimney exhausts bonfire smoke. There could be no mistake: whatever the girls made to cause a slump in the manor, its tremor awoke the haunt. It might not be active on the surface due to the sun effect, but it already knew you were there and likely developed scenarios of how to handle your intrusion.

Still, ignoring the goosebumps and emerging nausea from coming into contact with the hostile arcane element, you approached the decrepit well and its darkness-ridden hole. As a silver lining to the haunt's activation, the fact that demonic aethers came from this hole meant that the well pit is connected to the cavern where the root of the haunting resides. Silently, both lads approached after you, keeping quiet and letting you do your thing. They broke this apprehensive silence when you conjured a light prism and illuminated the dark pits below.

"See anything strange?" Loїс inquired you uncommonly careful.

"The demon is awake, and fumes of void ethers are coming from here, which means this might be an alternative - if a risky - way down." As you said that, the circle of light from the prism illuminated a cave-in in the pit's wall. Even despite the ill-fitted observation angle, the hole in the well's wall appeared sizeable enough for an adult person to fit in, not someone as big as Ren or Inga, but Seph would probably squeeze in, as well as everyone present here except the dog, for obvious reasons.

"Folks, look," Loїс pointed down near the well. There, you saw a couple of prints like the ones discovered by Krom. You exchanged glances with both Elgar and his brother, quietly confirming that the demon's shell traversed here before, unlike Altan, whose footprints were nowhere to be found. This also meant that it might not be as massive as you feared. Still, given its ability to scale walls and the strangeness of the anatomy, this wasn't a sufficient assuagement.

"Do you guys have a rope?"

"No, not really," Elgar said, "we weren't expecting to run into a situation like this. Guess, neither did you?"

You shook your head in denial. "Then, we have three clues regarding the way below. The well shaft is the clear one, but we either need to find a rope or a chain around here or send someone to Talab to fetch it. The second possibility is that the shoreline might host a grotto, which needs to be discovered, still. And the last one is a chance that there may be a way below from one of the buildings. If it exists and did not collapse yet, that is."

"Not a bad pacing of the investigation, wouldn't you agree?" You addressed Loїc, who abashedly looked away from you, knowing that his earlier rants about wasting time in the inner yard proved to be both redundant and ultimately incorrect. You knew he'd react this way but couldn't help yourself but to jab.

_________________

Not long after discovering the downward pass through the well, the second party came back with findings. Their hands were full with spoils, among which was an urn, the like of which was uncovered in the lesser cottage, a compact strongbox, and a cloth wrap full of personal belongings. Since the girl team was hesitant to be the first who relayed their observations, you volunteered to relay your findings and theories. They were received in a mixed manner as the sign of a living being - which most likely would be the missing person - contributed to the collective sense of direction. Yet, the mention of the demonic shell curbed the newly-generated enthusiasm. Amalia was, perhaps, the most fearful of the discovery, which wasn't something unexpected given her lack of combative capacity.

"Sorry. It was me who gaped around while the floor began to crumble," Amalia trained her eyes at her own shoe tips, "If not for Seph snatching me in the last moment, I might have got my back or limbs broken or buried under the rubble altogether."

Seph rubbed her shoulder sympathetically, "Come on, don't be such a killjoy. If not for you, we would've returned empty-handed." To amplify the pep talk, the daeva lightly nudged Lia with her hips, "Now, if I'd ever get my space, I know for whose visit I'd have to hide all the intriguing fallalery."

"After years at Dalgaard's place, I doubt it would be that embarrassing to me." Amalia joked back, mildly easing up.

Inga, seeing Amalia and Seph focusing on morale correction than on relaying the findings, took it up onto herself.

"Must have been an exuberant place. Lots of ruined finery one would not expect to find in these lands. The original family had a weakness towards opulence. But what's more important, we determined that, surprisingly, the grand house was home only for one family of the clan and had only one nursery. Probably, the main dynasty. Amalia found some objects in it, including the ornate hair comb. She believes you might be able to read some memory traces from it like you did before. She also found this lockbox in a secret compartment in what must have been a library or an office. We failed to crack it open at the spot, but at least it's not jammed, so we can try again. Secured and concealed so tightly, damnably important must be inside. And, finally, we uncovered another urn. Not sure how much it would be of help to you, but hey - you are the mage, so you know better."

"Anything else? Maybe some footprints or other clues of recent visitors?"

"None. And it's unlikely we'd find more with all the dust raised by the collapsed flooring. Because of it, we also had to skip one or two rooms - they are under debris now. Would be a huge bummer if the collapse barricaded an entrance to the cellars, which we might've used right now."

"I'm sorry..." Lia injected her apology yet again, to which Inga petted her head affectionately.

"That's fine," you contributed to the efforts to cheer Lia up, "If not for the ensued chaos, what we think are lurks in the tunnels below might've remained dormant, and we did not discover them and the possible hollow underneath."

"That's nice and all, but time is of the essence. Any ideas what we should do now?" For the first time, Loїс appeared interested in your and others' opinions, even though you were sure he'd push aggressively for scouting the lakeshore. Even Inga raised a brow. However, ignoring the findings of Lia might result in not piecing together the story of this place and failing to find a way to properly eradicate the haunt. Once again, people - who apparently employed the "you're the mage, so you know better" excuse - eagerly expected your opinions on further actions.

__________________________

Who should try to open the strongbox? (Three burglary roll attempts to beat the normal (20) burglary skill check. More than one character can be assigned. Total skill check of 6 and below would jam the lockbox. Occupied character(s) can't take participate in search parties)
-[] No one (skip the clue)
-[] Lucy (if not occupied with trace-reading)
-[] Sephorah
-[] Amalia
-[] Inga
-[] Elgar
-[] Loїс

Should Lucy read the soul imprints on the recovered objects? (including the contents of the strongbox if unlocked)
-[] No (skip the clue(s))
-[] Yes (Lucy won't be available for search parties)

Should someone be sent back to Tevon-Talab to fetch a rope? (character won't be available for two rounds)
-[] No
-[] Lucy
-[] Sephorah
-[] Amalia
-[] Inga
-[] Elgar
-[] Loїс

[] Search group A composition:
-[] Lucy
-[] Sephorah
-[] Amalia
-[] Elgar & Krom
-[] Inga
-[] Loїс

(Multiple choices available. Characters occupied in other tasks can't participate. Those not occupied with other tasks or not in group A will be put into group B. You will be able to change groups' compositions after each round of inspection)

[] Group A's third investigation zone:
-[] The grand house's ruins (perception attribute, micromotorics attribute, strength attribute, burglary skill, daily craft skill, luck rolls)
-[] The smaller house's ruins (perception attribute, micromotorics attribute, sneaking skill, burglary skill, daily craft skill, luck rolls)
-[] The smallest house's ruins (perception attribute, micromotorics attribute, burglary skill, daily craft skill, social and cultural lore skill, luck rolls) You have serious doubts there's anything left to discover there.
-[] The sheds (perception attribute, intelligence attribute, burglary skill, craft lore skill, daily craft skill, luck rolls)
-[] The inner yard (perception attribute, intelligence attribute, social and cultural lore skill, huntsmanship skill, reconnaissance skill, luck rolls) Even if there's something left to find, you doubt the findings would be of value when you have the survivor's approximate location figured out.
-[] The western orchard (perception attribute, mobility attribute, nature lore skill, reconnaissance skill, huntsmanship skill, luck rolls)
-[] The eastern orchard (perception attribute, mobility attribute, nature lore skill, reconnaissance skill, huntsmanship skill, luck rolls)
-[] The field in proximity (perception attribute, mobility attribute, nature lore skill, reconnaissance skill, huntsmanship skill, luck rolls)
-[] The backyard (perception attribute, mobility attribute, geography lore skill, reconnaissance skill, huntsmanship skill, luck rolls)
-[] The lake's closest shoreline (perception attribute, mobility attribute, geography lore skill, reconnaissance skill, huntsmanship skill, luck rolls)

[] Group B's third investigation zone (if applicable):
-[] The grand house's ruins (perception attribute, micromotorics attribute, strength attribute, burglary skill, daily craft skill, luck rolls)
-[] The smaller house's ruins (perception attribute, micromotorics attribute, sneaking skill, burglary skill, daily craft skill, luck rolls)
-[] The smallest house's ruins (perception attribute, micromotorics attribute, burglary skill, daily craft skill, social and cultural lore skill, luck rolls) You have serious doubts there's anything left to discover there.
-[] The sheds (perception attribute, intelligence attribute, burglary skill, craft lore skill, daily craft skill, luck rolls)
-[] The inner yard (perception attribute, intelligence attribute, social and cultural lore skill, huntsmanship skill, reconnaissance skill, luck rolls) Even if there's something left to find, you doubt the findings would be of value when you have the survivor's approximate location figured out.
-[] The western orchard (perception attribute, mobility attribute, nature lore skill, reconnaissance skill, huntsmanship skill, luck rolls)
-[] The eastern orchard (perception attribute, mobility attribute, nature lore skill, reconnaissance skill, huntsmanship skill, luck rolls)
-[] The field in proximity (perception attribute, mobility attribute, nature lore skill, reconnaissance skill, huntsmanship skill, luck rolls)
-[] The backyard (perception attribute, mobility attribute, geography lore skill, reconnaissance skill, huntsmanship skill, luck rolls)
-[] The lake's closest shoreline (perception attribute, mobility attribute, geography lore skill, reconnaissance skill, huntsmanship skill, luck rolls)

Excerpt from "The Great Tribes" by Rimanach Hrost.

When we talk about different cultures, we tend to speculate on how one factor or another afflicted and ultimately shaped the said civilization. Earlier in this book, we reviewed how natural conditions reflect on the lifestyle of distinct cultures, which, in its turn, dictates the ways and intensity in which one or another tribe exercises their creativity, expression, and vision of the world. It seemed that the intellectual products of societies are always the cause of the habitat stimuli of the said societies. However, there is reverse feedback when various cultures try to capture, organize, and explain the vast "outside" world via the framework of their ideas and values.

Calendars and time-measuring, in general, are prime examples of it. Through the lens of experiences, collective values, and world scape in general, various groups systematized the concept of time itself, naming specific units of it and unavoidably filling them with meaning. As a result, we can glimpse into the traits of the civilizations by doing as little as analyzing their calendars.

(New) Pherinian calendar:
Type: solar
Days in a year: 360
Months in a year: 12
Days in a week: 7
Months order: Snapfrost, Iceskirr, Hearthwind, Bloom, Meader, Verdure, Semin, Inning, Flaves, Hearthstone, Rimefall, Dawnstar
Days of the week order: Fortud, Indar, Pateitir, Iustar, Temper, Carita, Sophor

The New Pherinian calendar was created in the early centuries of the Pherinian empire. Historically, it underwent numerous albeit minor changes, the last of which happened in the dark ages following the empire's collapse that begot it. Nevertheless, this is the calendar used by most of the Pheotorian human tribes and even some rhoths. A couple of factors mainly achieved such spread: uniformity and astronomical precision of the calendar and the clout of Pherinian culture even centuries after the collapse of the Pherinian state. If there is a pretender for the universally accepted calendar, it is this one. It is worth notice that Alvizian tribes have their own "rival" iteration of this calendar, which has identical metrics and divisions but different unit names.

Let us look closer at the naming of units in the Pherinian calendar. First, an observation can be made that all the months are titled after certain weather conditions or activities related to the said season. It is so due to the economical and demographical core of the empire comprising of farming communities who lived in a continental climate zone and were united by the shared faith. Hence, the titling of the time seasons reflects the observations and activities of a standard farmer of the west Pheotorian area. Meanwhile, the days of the week all consist of morphed names of Olfadirian virtues. From the first to the last: fortitude, diligence, patience, justice, temperance, charity, wisdom. The placement of the virtues implies which one should be particularly exercised at which day, with the week starting with facing the toil of a farmer's life and ending it by sharing the fruits of the labor and extracting lessons from what has been done.

The written evidence suggests that the earlier iterations of the Pherinian calendar contained names of Olfadirian saints and names of events of the Highfather's testament. However, after the collapse, the calendar was gradually modified by the fractured states currently known as Eastern Kingdoms, hence becoming less theurgic and more universally appealing.

Rhathonian calendar:
Type: modified solar
Days in a year: 360
Months in a year: 9
Days in a week: 8
Months order: Nem-Supraas, Har-Supraas, Set-Supraas, Nem-Fidaas, Har-Fidaas, Set-Fidaas, Nem-Morkas, Har-Morkas, Set-Morkas
Days of the week order: Sudanur, Jurdaag, Midraag, Midjhvald, Fidanur, Fimdaag, Lagdraag, Morhvald

Just like the Pherinian calendar, the Rhathonian one is based on the complete solar cycle. However, the Rhathonian calendar's seasons do not have as much astronomical value as the socio-economic undertext. Hence, a year is separated into three parts: the flourishing season, the fruiting season, and the decay season. Rhathonian year starts on the Hearthwind 1 according to the Pheotorian system, so the "flourish" season takes all of the spring and early autumn, the "bearing" season lasts most of the summer and autumn, and the "decay" or "stillness" season hurdles up the rest of the autumn and the entire winter span. The prefixes before the month names indicate the parts of seasons: early, mid, and late, respectively.

Evident from the names of the season titles, each one indicates the natural state and instruction of what to expect from it. Being a decidedly meritocratic culture, Rhothean occupational and caste holidays are also systematized according to these seasons. This way, prospectors and laborers have their celebrations in the flourishing season, focusing on the labor required to make the most natural cycle. The "bearing" season hosts most of the mentoring and partisanship professional holidays, emphasizing the necessity of optimal usage of resources, catalogization, and preservation of knowledge. Finally, the "fading" season is the part of the year for which preparations were made in the previous seasons. In a sense, this is the "survival trials" season, hosting most of the celebrations and holidays attributed to the peace and order-keeping professions as well as memorial occasions for those who perished. As we can see, the utilitarianism of the Rhathonian calendar is deeply rooted in social structure and functions.

Peculiarly, only Bhiroths employ this calendar in its purest form - the one preserved from before the exodus of their species from their civilizational cradle, with Gvuroths and Choroths variations of such containing more novel traits modifications with the perseverance of the overall system. The Rhoth's "live to work" approach is also emphasized in the week structure, making it an equally-sized unit of two halves, punctuated by two holidays. Another observation suggests that the Rhathonian calendar emphasizes a scarcity season similarly to the rest of the continental ones, which means that the long-lost homeland of the Rhoth species more likely than not shared the geographic and climate traits of the Central and Northern Pheotor.

Daevish calendar:
Type: lunar
Days in a year: 349
Months in a year: 12
Days in a week: 7
Months order: Phisces, Lion, Drake, Scepter, Hydra, Chariot, Gryphon, Swan, Crown, Serpent, Eagle, Tower
Days of the week order: Tihmuad, Zahlimayn, Khuratha, Maata, Asharis, Tamaalah, Fadaahsut

Just like Daevish culture, this calendar is unique in many ways. The most noticeable difference being it is built around the moons' cycles, not the solar ones. The second most noticeable feature: it does not operate with the term "season." The physiology of Daevas can explain the first trait. More precisely - two natural daily phases of activity, with one being nocturnal. The second peculiarity is justified by the geographical situation of the Kathor kingdom and the climate of Kathor valley, which has only two seasons instead of four: the rain and the dry seasons. These factors and the different bases of counting make the start of a Daevish year floating, compared to the rest of solar calendars. To synchronize the Daevish time count system, one has to employ a mathematical model instead of a simple comparison and adjustment, which decreases this timescale's competitiveness against the rest of the systems.

Instead of seasons, Daevas mark time with the help of constellations prominent during the said months. And as for the name of the weekdays, they are the combinations of a simple sequence and the names of Daevish deities. With translation and minor interpretation, they sound like "Tihmuut's first day," "Zahlim's second day," "Khur's fourth day," and so on. The sequence of the weekdays supposedly represents the significance gradation of the mentioned deities, with the exception of their mother deity closing the cycle and giving a metaphorical "birth" to a new one. Nevertheless, the complexity does not end here: aside from orienting the whole system versus the phases of Baudur, the cycle of Sophrona - the lesser of the moons - is taken as an additional variable. Moreover, if that was not enough, the Deavish calendar also utilizes celestial events to a degree, resulting in a pretty deep system of at least four variables and an arrangement of dependencies.

Such complexity provides fertile soil for astrology - the science Kathorians hold dear and which plays a significant role in the daily lives of Daevas. Astrology is omnipresent in their culture as many endeavors, ceremonies, rituals, and holidays are to take place on certain days and under certain conditions. For example, the holiday called "the greater fuge" - a day that reoccurs once in fifty-two years, and during which many taboos are lifted for a day, and it is believed that one can safely discard their former lives, debts, and selves, starting over from a new slate. As for other examples, Daevas profoundly use astronomy and astrology in navigation, common arts, and arcana. Such obsession with celestial objects is not something extraordinary, as a society cradled in the safety of their valley and enjoying a hospitable climate have much more time for the pursuit of arts and knowledge, filling the world around them with archetypes much more intensely compared to other civilizations.