Narrative

Day 2 began with the party returning to the town hall. At 9:00, they received the full census for John Thornhollows’ pig farm. A fifth name on the ledger had been scribbled out and dismissed as a mistake. The anti-tax criteria were also noted: a person qualified if unemployed and if their holdings were worth less than 50 gp. The anti-tax amount was noted as 3 gp.

The Thornhollows farm census was dated April 4th. It registered Sarah, John’s wife, age 47; John, age 50; Annabella, age 18; Isabella, age 16; and Clara bella, age 14. Clara bella was noted as seeing the sheep farmer’s son. Paternal grandmother Bella was also listed.

The farm had two sounders of pigs. The herd included one matriarch, three breeding boars, two breeding sows, one sow with seventeen female younglings, and another with twenty-one female younglings. There were no males among the younglings. The census said the farm had paid tax as billed. The property included the farmhouse, three orchards, a stable, a vegetable garden, and two outbuildings backing onto a hedged sty. The farm had planned employment for three hands and grazing rights for an area including the edge of the swamplands.

At 9:45, the party walked to Thornhollows Farm, passing orchards and a brewery. The farm was surrounded by a stone hedge. On the way in they passed two ravenhound-looking dogs being walked by a black-haired girl, Annabella. The animals were craven dogs: a breeding pair, about ten in number, with puppies and a habit of mimicking noises. A younger sister was on the porch, and three puppies rested on pillows next to grandma.

The books made the scale of the problem clearer. Everything tallied until about one month earlier, when unexplained scribbling-out and removals began. Twelve pigs were missing in total. The family thought there should be fifty-seven pigs, while the records said there should be fifty-one, but the actual count was forty-six. Six pigs had gone missing over the last two weeks: three the night before last and three a week earlier. The pigs disappeared overnight. Six other pigs were missing in a way the family did not remember. The inconsistencies began around the time Sarah left. Sarah had been with The Chorus, which made her harder to wipe from memory, and she had been seen by the hostel on one of the Rubin’s Days while distracted. A black cat had also been missing for about one month.

The party inspected the hedged sty. The large door into the hedged area looked densely grown, and there was confidence that nothing had dug through. A hill gave four feet of hedge as an entry point, but there was no advantage for getting back out. Dirk found large divots that looked like frog footprints, suggesting a frog roughly eight feet tall. The ravenhounds had ribbited at the dark, and this had started a few weeks earlier. The suspected frogs seemed to be taking pigs while hunting and leaving toward the swamp.

Massive moths were also present and had apparently been around for a while. The family offered 100 gp to clear the frogs and had already paid 50 gp so far. The party understood that six pigs were now remembered as missing to the frogs, while six others were missing but not remembered.

The party went into the swamp. They felt as if they were being watched. A massive moth appeared during the day, and after stealth failed the party were attacked by a frog. They killed two frogs. At 16:00, they found bones that appeared to belong to pigs and sheep.

Back at the farmhouse, Cleara gave them a tonic that allowed them to use hit dice. It was identified or described as a Potion of Recovery or Succour. The party stayed overnight at the farm.

People, Factions, and Places Mentioned

John Thornhollows, Sarah, Annabella, Isabella, Clara bella, paternal grandmother Bella, the sheep farmer’s son, Cleara, Dirk, The Chorus, the Thornhollows Farm, the town hall, the brewery, the orchards, the hedged sty, the hostel, the swamplands, craven dogs, ravenhound-like dogs, giant frogs, massive moths, and a missing black cat were all noted.

Items, Rewards, and Resources

The farm offered 100 gp to clear the frogs and had already paid 50 gp. Cleara gave the party a tonic that allowed use of hit dice, recorded as a Potion of Recovery or Succour. The census recorded farm assets including two sounders of pigs, breeding animals, younglings, three orchards, a stable, a vegetable garden, two outbuildings, planned employment for three hands, and grazing rights by the swamp.

Clues, Mysteries, and Open Threads

The farm records began changing about one month earlier, around the time Sarah left and the black cat disappeared. Sarah’s connection to The Chorus made her harder to erase, and her distracted appearance by the hostel ties her disappearance to the wider memory-tampering and hostel thread. Twelve pigs were missing, but only six were remembered. The physical evidence pointed to giant frogs entering or hunting from the swamp, while bones in the swamp suggested pigs and sheep had been taken. The craven dogs’ ribbiting at the dark and the presence of massive moths remain notable. The sheep bones also strengthened the earlier lead that the sheep farmer might have a related problem.