Main
Stables
Panicked Animals and Heavy Harness
The stable doors hang open. Several stalls are empty, their latches bent or kicked loose. Feed remains in the bins, and a water bucket has been overturned into the aisle.
Most of the camp's draft animals are gone. Tracks show that some broke loose rather than being deliberately led away.
Nature or Survival DC 15: The animals panicked inside the stable before fleeing. Their tracks repeatedly avoid a patch of ground near the rear wall where thick roots rise close to the surface.
Critical Success: Tiny beads of black sap appear where those roots have cracked. Beneath the damaged bark are faint angular reddish-gold markings like the pattern found in other blighted roots. This reinforces what the party may have learned at the Salty Bark Tannery: animals are reacting to something in the soil or root system, not merely to predators. A character who succeeds at Religion DC 17 recognizes the markings as infernal if the party has not already identified them.
One exhausted draft mule can be found hiding in a nearby lean-to if the party searches the area. A character who succeeds at Nature DC 14 can calm it. The animal is not a combat reward, but it can help move heavy gear or Pheyess's heartwood beam to the dock.