Of the choices the visible shop is probably the easiest to deal with and most likely to be useful; so the drow makes his way across the square to check it out.

The Dwarf examines what at first seemed to be an office, but as it turns out as actually a small bedroom. A quick glance inside shows a bed just barely big enough for two people, an end table next to it, and a chest at the foot of the bed. Next to the desk is a small bookshelf filled with old and musty books. Hanging from a hook on the wall near the desk is a lamp of some kind.

Leaving that room aside, the Dwarf goes to check the trapdoor. He grabs the ring and tries to life it up.

Might: ?, Roll: +1, Total: +1.

It takes a bit of effort. The wood is thick and solidly built and the hinges are heavily rusted. After a few moments of straining effort, however, the trapdoor is lifted to reveal a set of steep stairs leading down into some kind of cellar. It's pretty dark down there...

Alertness: ?, Roll: -2, Total: -2.

The Dwarf doesn't see or hear anything in the darkness beyond the last few steps leading into the cellar.

The Dwarf's situation remains unchanged.

The Human looks around the room for a means to light the fireplace. There's a rusty old iron rack next to the entrance with a few small bits of wood. The wood crumbles in the Human's hands as he picks it up and it's sort of damp from the extended stay in this odd fog, but it's still wood. Trying to find the other stuff for making a fire might be a touch difficult, though, as hard as it is to see in here.

Investigation: ?, Roll: +2, Total: +2.

The Human turns the room upside down in his search. A small end table next to an overturned and rather battered love seat has a drawer that turns out to contain a small match box. Sheltered inside the drawer, they're somewhat dry. The Human goes to try and start a fire.

Survival: ?, Roll: +1, Total: +1.

The Human pretty quickly realizes that this damp wood isn't going to light from just a match. He appropriates some wood and wicker from what used to be a comfortable rocking chair before it was smashed to pieces. A few scraps of cloth from the love seat as well. Finally, he goes to grab the thick candle on top of the fireplace mantle. Using the wax and flame from a candle is the surest bet for getting this going.

The Human strikes a match and lights the candle.

Alertness: ?, Roll: +0, Total: +0.

Focused on the task, he leans forward into the fireplace and dribbles hot wax onto the pile of cloth scraps and wicker underneath the wood before attempting to light the whole thing. It's slow and steady work but with the large candle it's only a matter of time. Pretty shortly the Human has a nice cozy fire going in the hearth. The Light and Warmth rolls off of the steady flame and the Human feels rather comfortable.

It's not long before he realizes that his environment has changed. The ever present fog that was engulfing the inside of the house has vanished completely. For the first time since he's gotten here, the Human can see his surroundings without a single trace of fog touching them. What's more, the fire isn't just making the room warm. The icy chill he was feeling before is gone, as if it was never there to begin with. The small fire going in the hearth couldn't possibly have warmed the place up that fast...

Now that he can see more clearly, it's pretty easy to get a view of his surroundings and make out details. This room is some kind of parlor for sitting and possibly entertaining guests. Some decorations. Wall ornaments. Paintings. The furniture was fancier than anticipated, from the size of the room.

The previously darkened doorway can be seen to go into a kitchen and dining area, and two more doors in there look to go into some kind of study and what looks to be a bedroom.

The inside of the house is Clear. Fog can be seen crawling around outside the doors and windows, but it shrinks away at the touch of the light of the fire and does not enter the building. The Human feels comfortable.

The Drow makes his way down the square and up to the store. It's pretty large, looking at it. Two story affair. The door was bashed in at some point in the past. Looking inside it seems to be a general goods store. The place is lined with barrels, shelves, and display cases. A number of them are broken and still more of them have been knocked over and pushed around. There's nowhere near as much damage as what the market stalls suffered back towards the gate, but there's also not as much of a selection in goods. Evidently the place was looted in a frenzied rush.

Still, there might be something of use here.

The counter where the store manager would have stood is towards the back. Behind it there seems to be a set of stairs leading both up and down.

A Light Haze creeps in through the doors and windows of the store. It's not as cold in here as out there, but the Drow still feels a little chilly.

The Dwarf carefully descends the steps to search the room below. He then will return to the bedroom, and try to open the chest at the foot of the bed.

So, whatever's up with this fog, it doesn't like the fire. Could this be - no, nanites are science fiction. Surely? ...still, at least it's drawn back for now. Let's see...

With care (and, if possible, the light of the last of the candle) the human begins to search the house. He's looking, specifically, for computers, cellphones... anything that might have an internet connection. In the hopes that he can figure out exactly where he is, and why he can't remember what he did last night...

Alertness: 2, Roll: +0, Total: +2.

Focused as he was on the task at hand, he didn't quite notice it at the time... but as the Human was trying to light the fire in the hearth, the fog shrank back from the light of the candle. It was only by a small fraction, but enough to be obvious if you're actively paying attention to it.

The freezing cold also cut back. Not by a lot. Enough to take the edge off the freeze and maybe help endure it a bit longer. But it was still far too much to be justifiable by the tiny amount of heat the candle was capable of putting out. Same as what's happening with the fire in the hearth right now.

It seems that Light and Warmth have pretty dramatic effects around here.

The Drow searches through the first floor and the counter, with an eye out for any kind of oil. He's also going to see if he can spot any particular reason for this place to be less fog bound.

Alright, so go nowhere without a flame, then, until I know what's up with this "fog".

The Human ensures that he has at least a candle before investigating the rest of the house.

The Dwarf descends the stairs. The kitchen was already pretty dark. What little light was coming in through the windows didn't do much to make things visible in there is doing even less to make things visible down here. The Dwarf can see a few steps into the gloom before it becomes too dark to see. What he can see, from the meager light filtering down from above, are a number of shelves, barrels, and casks. This looks like it's probably a storage cellar for food and drink. Stock for the kitchen and bar above.

The Dwarf: Alertness: +3, Roll: -2, Total: +1
The Creature: Stealth: +2, Roll: +2, Total: +4.

The Dwarf turns back around to head up the stairs. He doesn't see the Creature coming until it is almost upon him.

The Dwarf: Athletics: ?, Roll: +0, Total: +0.
The Creature: Weapons: +1, Roll: +1, Total: +2.
The Dwarf:
[][x][][]

Charging out of the darkness to his right, a small, squat creature wreathed in shadow hurls itself onto him and tries to sink it's teeth into his flesh. The Dwarf is able to interpose his forearm into it's stomach and keep it from biting into him too badly, but it still scratches him up pretty bad with it's claws.

The Dwarf flings it off of himself by reflex and the Creature lands with a crash into a shelf further inside the cellar. It picks itself up and skulks towards him, just barely outside the dim light coming from upstairs. He can't make out what it is, exactly, but it's about the size of a cat or small dog. The Creature lets out a warbling hiss. It looks like it's preparing to come at him again. The Dwarf is still holding his nice rock. The path up and out of the cellar looks clear.

The Dwarf is in combat. Light Haze fills his surroundings. He's a little chilly.

The Human takes his lit candle and proceeds to venture forth into the house. He doesn't have to worry about the life of the candle for now. He didn't need to use overly much of it to start the fire, and it is a pretty tall and thick candle as they go. It'll probably keep burning for a long time if it isn't snuffed out.

The house, as it turns out, is pretty... rustic? Though rather small, it looks like it might have been pretty fancy back in the 1300's. What stuff the Human finds wouldn't be out of place in an expensive antique store. What stuff that hasn't been destroyed, at any rate. The place looks like it was ransacked at some point in the distant past. Furniture is overturned. Decorations and knickknacks are strewn about the floor. The dining table in the kitchen looked like it had a full meal served on it when it was violently thrown to the side and smashed against the wall. The long rotted contents of expensive looking plates and bowls are strewn about the floor and walls.

The same can be said of everything in the house. Nice at one point, but violently ransacked and then left to sit for years.

Another thing can also be said of everything in the house. There's not a single scrap of electronics to be had. No cell phones. No computers. No televisions. No light bulbs. Nothing. The people in this house had no technology more advanced than a butter churner. Nothing in the parlor, kitchen, study, or bedroom.

Alertness: +2, Roll: +1, Total: +3.

As he's searching the house, the Human spots something out of the corner of his eye. Looking out of a window into the thickest parts of the fog, he can just barely make out a gleaming light. It's behind the house opposite the main road and goes even further into the cold, dark fog.

The Human is comfortable. The house is Clear. The main road in the front is covered in a Light Fog. The area behind the house where the light is gleaming is completely Obscured by fog.

The Drow moves to investigate the store.

Alertness: +4, Roll: +1, Total: +5.

As he's about to begin, something jumps to his attention. From the tavern across the street. The almost imperceptible sound of impact. Something falling over? Anyone else might not have noticed it, but to the Drow's finely tuned senses the sound stands out loud and clear against the almost deafening silence that's been the backdrop of his entire stay here.

A Light Haze flows into the store. The Drow is a little chilly.

The Dwarf will climb back to the top of the stairs and try to close the trap door. He'll take a swing with the rock if the creature comes at him again.

Being the first noise he's heard since he got here that wasn't made by him or the air, the Drow decides to change his search order. He heads across the street to the tavern, sneaky like. Well, trying not to make too much superfluous noise, anyway.

The Human stares at the butter churner for a good five minutes, trying to figure out what the thing is and what the point of having one is. Perhaps it's some sort of complex work of art?

But the rest of the house has some remarkable features as well. First and most obvious is the complete lack of electronics. Which one might run across somewhere deep in the country, but is absolutely ridiculous in any sort of town. Especially when one considers that a lot of the stuff in here wouldn't be cheap - some of these antiques look expensive.

And they're all trashed and broken? What on earth is the point of spending that much money just to trash it? The only reason that makes even a glimmering of sense is something for TV, but there's no evidence of hidden cameras... so either they're truly masterfully hidden, or they'e coming round as drones later.

...if this even is vaguely comprehensible. Frankly, it keeps seeming sillier and sillier.

Then the human spots a distant light. This means one of two things.

Option the first; he was kidnapped, dragged here for who-knows-what reason, and then inexplicably let alive to explore the area.

Option the second; he drank too much and partied too hard last night, his memory will come back tomorrow, and he's wandering about on the set of some historical TV show.

In the first case, the light is probably his kidnappers, and should be avoided. In the second case, it's the director's office and his best way out of here.

After some thought, the human decides to take himself and his candle off towards the light, and hope to meet a director there.

But just in case there isn't a director there, he'll approach cautiously - or, at least, silently.

The Dwarf charges up the stairs.

The Dwarf: Athletics: +3, Roll: +1, Total: +4.
The Creature: Athletics: +1, Roll: +3, Total: +4.

He makes it to the top and grabs the trap door to slam it shut. As he slams the door shut, the Creature manages to make it to the top of the stairs.

The Dwarf: Might: ?, Roll: -1, Heavy Door: +2, Total: +1.
The Creature: Might: +0, Roll: -1, Total: -1.

The trap door slams down on top of the Creature just as it's about to try and pounce on the Dwarf a second time. It thumps against the door a few times but is ultimately unable to wedge it open.

The Drow makes his way to the tavern as quietly as possible. On his approach he hears another sound. This time more audible. Like something heavy slamming down. He enters the tavern and hears a number of thumps coming from inside a room behind the bar directly in front of him. The sounds are just out of view.

The Drow: Stealth: ?, Roll: -1, Total: -1.
The Dwarf: Alertness: +3, Roll: -2, Total: +1.

The Drow tries to be quiet, but as he enters the tavern he accidentally kicks a mug that was laying on the floor and sends it clattering across the tavern floor.

The Dwarf hears the sound of something clattering about out in the main area of the tavern. He can't see the source of the sound, but he might not be alone.

Light Haze flows gently into the tavern from the door and windows. The Dwarf and Drow both are a little chilly.

The Human heads towards the light he saw through the window behind the house. This involves a little bit of backtracking through the house to go out the front door, as there doesn't seem to be a back door. When he gets outside onto the road, the Human sees more of what he saw from inside. The light of the fire peeking out through the door and windows is visibly pushing back on the fog and the surroundings are easier to make out. The house itself stands out almost like a beacon, with no fog touching its walls at all. The increased visibility allows the Human to easily find an alleyway next to the house that leads him to the back of the house where the light was.

The fog in the back is pushed back several feet from the house, but it is still as thick and Obscuring as ever. All except for the light, which seems to pierce through it like it wasn't even there. It exits the fog in a weak sort of beam pattern, pushing back against the fog wherever it touches. The Human can't make out what the source of the light is, though.

The Human goes to enter the fog to try and reach the light. As he passes through the fog, he is once again severely reminded of how Freezing this thick fog is. The chill bites into him, but the Light and Warmth of the candle manages to push back against the fog. Not by much, but it manages to take the edge off of the cold.

It isn't long before the Human reaches the source of the light. The source of the light was small enough and the fog thick enough that it seemed like it was maybe farther away than it actually was, but the Human has only gone half a dozen yards into the fog before he gets to where he's going.

The source of the light itself is now readily apparent. It's a flashlight laying on the ground. It looks pretty big. Heavy. Long and narrow, almost like a club. Something you'd expected a police officer or security guard to use. Looks like it uses one of those old fashioned bulbs instead of the newer LEDs. The light it's giving off is rather weak, as if the batteries are starting to get really low.

The flashlight is still just a bit out of reach. The Human can't make out anything surrounding it. The light from the flashlight cuts through all the fog it touches, but that doesn't extend to the area immediately around or behind it. If he wants to see what's around the flashlight, the Human is going to have to get closer.

The surroundings are heavily Obscured. The Human is Freezing, but he has a candle that's providing a small amount of Warmth.

The Dwarf tries to catch his breath, but the moment he hears the clatter, he tenses up. He raises the stone, ready to club what comes at him this time, but he stands still.

The Drow thinks that it's just as well that...someone?...couldn't see that? Well, he can worry about that later. "Hello the back. You've got a problem behind a door?"

The Dwarf nearly drops his stone. He takes a moment to gather himself.

"Nothing Oi can't handle zurr..." The Dwarf trails off. The look on his face, if the mysterious being could see it, seems to be surprised at his own thick accent.

"Sum nasty vurmint be livin' in the cellar wit all the victuals."