E9 — Stables – The Price of Prophecy (Production)

Reiver's Right — Location 9

Stables

The Horses Broke Free

The stable doors hang wide open. Several stall latches have been bent, kicked loose, or torn from their brackets. Feed remains in the bins, tack hangs from wall pegs, and an overturned water bucket has soaked a dark trail through the straw-covered aisle.

There are no horses.

Outside, churned hoofprints scatter away from the stable in several directions, cutting across the yard and disappearing toward the forest road.

The camp's horses escaped during the final disturbance at Reiver's Right. They were not saddled, packed, or deliberately led away. Their stalls, feed, harness, and other equipment remain behind, while the tracks show a sudden and disorderly flight.

No check is required to determine that the horses were not used in an orderly evacuation. Saddles, draft harness, feed, grooming equipment, and several travel blankets remain in place.

Multiple stall doors were forced outward from inside. Whatever frightened the animals happened while they were still confined.

Challenge 1: Read the Hoofprints

The churned ground inside and outside the stable preserves a clear record of the animals' final moments in the camp.

Primary Check Nature DC 15 or Survival DC 15

Critical Success The character reconstructs the sequence clearly. The horses became agitated inside their stalls, crowded away from the rear of the stable, and then several began kicking through their latches. Once one animal broke free, the others followed in a panicked rush. Clue: The horses were reacting to something inside or immediately beneath the stable before they fled.

Success The tracks show a sudden panic rather than an orderly departure. Clue: The horses broke loose and fled on their own.

Failure The ground is too badly churned to establish exactly how the animals escaped.

Critical Failure The character initially assumes the horses may have been released deliberately during the camp's evacuation.

The most heavily damaged stalls are clustered along the rear wall. Their floorboards are scuffed deeply from hooves, and the straw has been pushed away from one patch of ground where thick roots rise unusually close to the surface.

Several of the roots have split through their bark. Tiny beads of oily black sap cling to the cracks, and faint angular reddish-gold markings can be seen beneath the damaged surface.

Challenge 2: Examine the Roots

The damaged roots provide a direct connection between the animals' panic and the spreading corruption beneath Reiver's Right.

Primary Check Nature DC 16, Survival DC 16, or Religion DC 17

Critical Success The character identifies the black sap and angular markings as the same pattern seen elsewhere in the blighted roots. The animals appear to have reacted most strongly where the corruption lies closest to the surface. Clue: The disturbance beneath Reiver's Right is spreading through the local root system, and animals can sense or react to it before obvious surface symptoms appear.

Success The roots show the same oily sap and unnatural markings found in other affected vegetation. Clue: The horses' panic was connected to the corruption beneath the stable rather than to an ordinary predator.

Failure The roots are clearly unhealthy, but the character cannot confidently connect them to the animals' behavior.

Critical Failure The character dismisses the damaged roots as ordinary stress from being exposed beneath the stable floor.

Several sets of unusually heavy draft harness remain hanging along one wall. They are built for hauling loads far heavier than ordinary riding tack and show extensive wear around the breast straps, traces, and chain fittings.

By itself, this is normal equipment for a logging camp. Characters who have already identified the Lower Works, however, may realize that the same horses could also have been used to move carts of stone, timber supports, and heavy equipment between the surface camp and the concealed excavation.

Challenge 3: Interpret the Harness Wear

A character familiar with animals, hauling, or heavy labor can tell that some of the camp's draft teams were working under unusually demanding conditions.

Primary Check Nature DC 16, Labor Lore DC 15, or Farming Lore DC 15

Critical Success The character recognizes wear consistent with repeated low-speed hauling under heavy resistance rather than ordinary wagon travel. Clue: Some draft teams were regularly pulling dense loads over short routes, consistent with moving excavation spoil, support timber, or equipment.

Success Several harness sets show unusually heavy strain. Clue: The horses were doing more than ordinary transport between the camp and the river road.

Failure The wear could simply reflect hard use in a busy logging operation.

Critical Failure The character finds nothing unusual about the tack.

The Stables provide two useful conclusions without adding another combat encounter. First, the camp's horses panicked and escaped on their own; they were not part of an organized withdrawal. Second, their fear was strongest around roots already showing signs of the same corruption found elsewhere at Reiver's Right.

For parties already assembling the Lower Works evidence, the heavy draft harness adds another supporting detail: the camp's animals were capable of moving the same dense loads suggested by the Storehouse, Smithy, and Carpentry Shed.