The Arwich Grinder

Moooooaaaaa, the Very Large Man moans once again as a reply to Adric's question. Hunched, he then starts shambling toward the group.

As he gets closer, the ones in front of the group notice that there is something around the Man's neck - a leather collar with a torn strap, probably working as a leash.

The young'ns in the group, headstrong and looking for answers, came right along with the others to check the Pens.

With only a little bit of a struggle, Slim finally draws his longsword from the scabbard, the clean but old blade bounced the light of the torches along its sharpened edge. His lips move but no words come out, while his breathing quickened psyching himself up, the boy's sword tip levels towards the red-smeared creature.

Hekem Bekem was a little drunk, but both incredibly bored and in need of a chance to find himself a way out of this life he was trapped in. He'd followed the group on a whim and didn't get an answer from the others gathered, but as a Halfling and a Beggar, he was used to being ignored as if he was not even there. So stepping through the crowd, while looking eye-level for coin pouches, Hekem came upon one person who was actually watching him. The bookish woman named Lorna, who he'd seen earlier that week on his way into town. She looked nervous, and it seemed to answer his question as she wrings her hands around her sling. The rest he picked up in context clues. He did at first think to simply leave as quietly as he came, but with the noises already begun the dirty little man thought better of it. He walked with the rest of them towards the Pens, stepping forward to stand just behind the young feller with the longsword, name Slim, and looked ahead. The heaviness in his empty stomach turned into a pit, and he was thankful he did not have any food to vomit out. From out of the folds of his shirt comes a dingy, cloth-wrapped club. his fast-paced speech and heavy accent are only heavier under the stress. "Shite man, d'hell ye got'n inte? Feck me, let us all te hell outa 'ere! Yeh?"

Victoria gasps, staring straight ahead, her eyes following the gore as it drips from the humanoid's lips. She managed to keep herself from screaming, feeling Loran grasping her right arm, she pulls her dagger with her left hand but is not sure what she is going to do. "You there! Don't come any closer!" She warns the 'large man', while taking a step back letting Slim and Hekam take the front.

Upon seeing the gore, Lorna had screamed aloud in fear and grabs ahold of her friend, Victoria while taking a step back. Under the muffled groan the poor wretch makes, she whimpers, "Why?! What!? ... What is happening?", but she knew. She saw it plainly and from the scene, and had already let the understanding permeate. She had an immediately perverse thought, 'The Curwens are trappers and cattle farmers...'

Seeing all the shouting and menacing weaponry, the Very Large Man makes a fearful moan and instead jumps backwards. Tripping over the pig through, he then crashes down into the slops with a loud moaaaaah!
The pigs squeal even louder as the poor soul unsuccessfully tries to stand up, resembling some sort of a twisted insect turned on his back.

That was unexpected, Jim thought, the blade's tip hovering toward the supine creature. Keeping his feet planted, he hazards a glance back to Victoria.

As the collective relief settles among the worried villagers, Hekem blurts out a burst of nervous laughter. "Welp... that ain't no pig, folks!" The group was not really prepared for interrogating a mute and a dullard, and if there were fewer people perhaps they would have just run from the sight of it. The halfling looks to Lorna, then Victoria, shrugging slightly. "... maybe someone is in the House?"

Glancing about, and seeing nothing else about the scene, Victoria looks over the crowd, trying to judge their temperaments "Lorna, you got any ideas?"

"Nothing good..." Lorna shakes her head, finally letting go of her friend's arm. "Whatever this is... it is bad. We should check the house... but these things look more like cattle than monster. The other one escaped, perhaps. But what happened to Bessie and Family... are they in a similar state, or...?" Lorna shakes her head. "Let's check the houses."

With Slim Jim watching the 'fat-man', the hodgepodge group of scoundrels was ready to move, just waiting to decide what to do as a group.

A long wooden porch wraps around the front of the house. It has a slanted roof, with a gutter designed to channel rainwater into the easternmost of the five barrels lined up along the eastern portion of the porch. The barrels have closed wooden lids. Upon inspection, all seem to be filled with rainwater. Aside from a rocking chair, not much can be seen from the porch.

As the group approaches the front door, they realize that it's locked from the inside, probably with a simple latch.
Any knocking or shouting will not yield a response.

There was not just the House, but the smokehouse to check as well. Lorna pushes Slim and Hekem to check things. They certainly did not have much more to go on, and she might have been tempted to slip in through a window if things were different, but Victoria was not going to be witnessed agreeing to unlawful entry. Slim and Hekem would check the smokehouse and the outhouse if need be, but are likewise unsure they should be breaking down a door.

Slim and Hekem
As Slim and Hekem enter the smokehouse, they notice nothing particular about the place. It is a simple smokehouse used for ham and bacon, several of which are curing here.

After entering the abattoir, the pair notices that the house has a floor of blood-soaked earth. There are many iron hooks on the walls and the ceiling - some of them with pig carcasses attached.
An iron axe rests notched in a wooden block and iron butcher's knives hang from places on the wall.
Ceramic vats rest below each carcass to catch the blood, and there are several sealed ceramic urns containing pig's blood in the north east corner of the house. This is nothing unusual as pig blood is often used for many purposes, for example as a dye of for pig blood soup, quite popular in these parts.

The rest
It would seem that kicking the door out should not be so hard. If the group were to have thieves tools or something thin and narrow, perhaps they could try to lift the latch from the outside without breaking the door?

The door is of simple making and To'Mas manages to remove the latch easily, earning himself many a concerned look from other townsmen.

The group then finds itself inside a modestly-furnished sitting room, with coals still burning in the fireplace. A small lamp (unlit, but still slightly warm to the touch) is placed on a table near a shelf containing a few books, which seem to be covered in weirdly colored mold.

A hallway leads to the south, with three doors on the right side, two on the left side and one on the end of the hallway. There are also stairs leading upstairs.

Aside from the noise made by the townsfolk, the house is silent.

Once again, nobody answers the calls of the townsfolk. This time, the more perceptive ones notice a sound coming from upstairs - almost as if something heavy fell a few times. It is faint, almost muffled and none can be sure, whether they truly heard the sound.
Then, another sound. A weak voice, too weak to understand the words, comes from the south, saying a few words, then dissapearing.

As Kari examines the mold, she notices that it is deeply ingrained into the books and any attempt to remove it would probably destroy the book themselves. Upon further checking, it seems almost as if it grew from within the book itself?
All of the books are well covered by the mould, however one can still be read. The title says: Travels among the Savages by Sir John Greyingville. All of this should seem strange to the dwarven farmer, as the conditions in the house should not allow the books to be destroyed so much.

Slim and Hekem glance over the implements and the blood stains, remarking quietly to one another about the large man-beasts on the pens. What was it? Should we have killed it? They should probably be informing the local lord at this point, but they still don't know where the Curwens were. If there is nothing else of interest, they would rejoin the group. Victoria and Lorna remained in the yard, watching the smokehouse and waiting for Slim and Hekem, and keeping an eye on the crowd of people on the porch. They wonder between each other aloud, where those beasts came from and Lorna whispers her gutfelt conspiracy.