It is dark and scary, but you arrive at the old hideout

An unsettling twilight hangs in the forest. Despite the early summer sun, it's already dark and chilly just a few meters beyond the tree line. Chimeras, of course, can't cast magic, but there's something unnatural about this twilight. You wonder if the Chimera's creator has something to do with it. And looking at Tocar's tense face, it quickly becomes clear that he feels the same way.

The villagers gave you only rough description about the location of the old Bandit hideout. So it is necessary for you and your Mentor to search for a while. There have to be some traces of the monster or old paths used by the soldiers who built the hideout a long time ago. It takes a while until your patience gets rewarded. Tocar finds a few hairs from wolf fur. You are one the right track. And not long after this, you notice an old, overgrown trail.

The trail leads deeper into the forrest and after a while Tocar finds some blood one a nearby tree. There also is a broken bone which you now belonged to a rabbit. It was most likely the prey of the monster. While standing here, you can see the top of a watchtower behind some trees. The bandit hideout is only a hundred meters away. You give a sign to Tocar and he nods. Together you get closer and soon you stand in front of the old outpost. In the past it was probably a small but perfectly functional military outpost. But right now, it is barely more than a rundown shack with stone walls.

“You hear this?” Tocar whispers tense, “listen to your surroundings!”

You nod and listen. At first you hear nothing suspecious. But then you notice that you hear nothing at all. But there is something else. You smell blood and rotten flesh.

“No birds, no other animals, only wind that makes the leaves rustle,” you mumble, “every living being has fled from here or was killed. We are at the right place.”

“Keep your spells ready and follow me quiet!” Tocar orders and begins to form a spell in his right hand, “and watch my back!”

He takes a last deep breath before quickly entering the hideout. You watch the outside, ready to throw a spell at everything that might show up.

“It is save,” Tocar mumbles and delates the spell in his hand, “the monster is not here. But this is ... disturbing. Come in an look at this!”

You do as told and enter the hideout. It is dity, overgrown and full of bones from different animals. Deers, rabbits and there is even a wolf scull. But you also see other corpses. There is one from a goblin and one from a human.

“A goblin corpse,” you mumble and try not to breath too much, “what is it doing here? Were there reports about these little pests in this area?”

“No, but this doesn't mean anything,” Tocar answers thoughtfully and searches the human corpse until he finds a small metal plate, “it could have been a scout or an outcast. Or their clan has just not been discovered yet. The human is more interesting. This is not a farmer. The clothes are from the north. This is a northern barbarian. I know them, my family guards the border. According to this plate, this is our missing adventurer. Sad. Have you seen his weapon? It would be interesting to know if he was able to hurt the beast.”

“I can't see it,” you mumble and look around, “his other equipment is not here too. He was probably killed somethere else.”

“I think so too,” Tocar mumbles and gets up, “we can search this place later, when the monster is dead. Let's get out of here, before we poison ourselves.”

You nod and together you get out of the hideout and back into the fresh air.