ruined trading post
01:
This building must once have been quite large. You can see the ruins of an archway where the cobblestone road meets the building, but it has long since collapsed. Where the highest point of the arch would have been lies a large bell.
Investigation
The group locates what appears to be a wagon wheel near a pile of rubble (07). The wood is largely rotted but it seems a cart or wagon was here when the walls and ceiling fell. Saf points out a faint blue glow coming from under the rubble near 03.02:
The dwarf-crafted bell is located here.03:
Detect Magic reads this as a strong Conjuration. Sunny Identifies the circle as a Teleportation Circle, but gets the sensation of pressure or that there's something waiting - the spell's in an unusual state. The general consensus is that there's likely to be something arriving or leaving once the circle clears. In order to record the sigils for later use, it would need to be cleared.10:
This ruined building seems to have contained various pieces of furniture in the distant past; some remnants of wood and cloth are strewn about among the rubble. There's a sizable area of old, dried blood toward the southwest side on both the ground and the nearby crumbling wall (11).
Investigation
A closer inspection of one of the collapsed wooden structures indicates it was shelves, cabinets, or bins of some kind, but their contents are long gone. Saf notes clear indicators that this building has been picked over to one degree or another. In a few places, it seems something large and bipedeal shoved its way through the wreckage.11:
Investigation/Nature
It's been a while since this blood was spilled, but based on how much it splattered around, Kolvonnin doesn't think it was a cut. The general thrust of the group's observations is that something was squashed, torn apart, or exploded here. Maya notices a few claw marks in the stone, from something larger than a human hand. Sunny realized he doesn't see any bones of whatever was slain here. It also looks like something was dragged through the blood, headed southwest.12:
These large stone braziers still show fragments of their copper bands. A thick layer of ash and scorch clings to the inside surfaces, but the bowl would have been massive when it was whole.
Investigation
It seems at least a few visitors have made camp here since the bowls shattered - there are signs that fires have been built and burned out in these spaces.14:
The northwest wall of this ruin is the most intact one you've spotted in this place. There's a smattering of rotted furniture among the detritus.
Investigation
Locating a few nails and long bits of wood, Maya feels pretty sure some of this used to be beds of various sizes (some clearly aimed at child-sized people and others more suited to very tall and broad sleepers, even so large as to accommodate a giant in one case).15:
A few chunks of wall and strewn rubble are most of what remains of this building. You note that there are a couple of large rusty hinges with a few fragments of wooden door clinging to the corner at 15a; it must have been fairly large when it was whole (estimated at 10'-15' wide).
Investigation
There are a few heaps of wood that might once have been carts or wagons (15b-15e). Based on the slats of rotten wood in the detritus it looks like there used to be several stalls for livestock here as well - likely the draft animals. Maya realizes with some confusion that there are no remnants of feed or water troughs. Kolvonnin notes that upon closer inspection, several of the ruined carts/wagons seem to be missing the bars that would attach them to the animals. Nothing in the building has a magical aura when exposed to Detect Magic.20:
This narrow ruin doesn't show much that draws your eye - rubble, a few rotted heaps of wood, and one short section of shattered wall.
Investigation
The wooden heaps have a pair of hoops that would seem to indicate they used to be barrels, but the wood is almost completely rotted away. There's remains of a countertop or something similar, so this could have been a small shop, potentially selling liquids of some kind.21:
Even the standing chunk of wall is lower than most of the other buildings here. The building's footprint is smaller as well. There's the impression that the building was aimed at a smaller audience - children or people of smaller stature.
Investigation
A few wear paths in the floor seem to indicate there were a few high traffic areas, as though this was an inn or a residence.22:
What little remains of the walls here reach higher than the other nearby buildings.
There's more rubble in the building's space, and most of a fireplace and chimney stands on the southwest side (23).
There's a sizable area of old, dried blood toward the southeast side on both the ground and the nearby crumbling wall (24).
There's what appears to be a small pile of wood near the middle of the ruin, but it's low enough you didn't notice it until you got close (25).
23:
This tumbledown fireplace looks like it was quite the comfortable hearth when it was new. It's carved greenish stone (dunite/olivine) and has a few seats worked into its front. Most of the details are broken off and the chimney itself is split down the side but hasn't yet fallen away.
Investigation
At least a few times, this fireplace has been used in its broken state. There seem to be a few spots where pieces of the fireplace were purposefully chipped off; it's possible there were decorations or gemstones mounted there. It has no magical aura when exposed to Detect Magic.24:
Investigation and Nature
This area of dried blood is very similar to the first - splattered, with signs of something dragged through. There's a blank spot near the middle of the blood where something sat and tore the prey creature to pieces, and later dragged something through the blood toward the southwest. It has no magical aura when exposed to Detect Magic.25:
This looks like a fairly standard campfire would, right before you light it. But it's not burning.
Investigation
It seems someone built this campfire but left without using it. The ground it's sitting on doesn't have any ashes. Saf notes that this is a good spot for a single person to hole up from a stealth perspective; if they stayed low, the campfire wouldn't be easily visible due to the surrounding rubble. It has no magical aura when exposed to Detect Magic.26:
There's nothing of note about this building/ruin.
Maps
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Ruined Trading Post
As you look out over the ruins, you can tell this place has not had residents for some time. Scrubby grass and weeds grow between the cobblestones on the path. The rocks littering the landscape seem to be of the same kind as what little remains standing of the building walls.
Type
Ruins
Included Locations
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