Harold’s Farm

Harold notices the party, but is focused on the task at hand. He doesn’t greet them, he is clearly upset. When asked what knocked down the fences, he answers, "Some kinna monster. It smashed thru ev'ry pen, starin' at tha back. I didn't getta good look. Just a great ball of gray anger,"

Beyond that, he doesn’t know what it was or where the odd gray mud came from. If pressed, he might say it was a bear.

Once the conversation get's going, Harold is eager to show the party Joy, his young goat that was turned to stone.

Harold leads you to a small pen behind his oak where you see the stone kid. There's a small pile of hay at its feet. “I ain’t never seen anything like it. Bright red fur an’ so full o’ energy. There weren’t a one who saw her who didn’t smile,” he mumbles as tears start to form in his eyes.

At this point, the characters won’t have the spell, Greater Restoration or any other means to remove the petrification. If they discuss finding a solution, Harold could suggest that near Galvanus is rumored to be a wizard of some sort. If the players respond to this, Harold will urge them to investigate the monster that destroyed his farm first. "If someone don't stop that beasty, me'in ev'ry one in Litewyck ill be ruint."

When asked he tells the characters that he found the statue out in the forest, “y’ know, where it gets wild”. He followed the trail of that weird mud until he found her. He would’ve kept going but he also found some bones of what he thinks was another of his goats. Something that could turn his Joy to stone or eat goats is too dangerous to follow. He tells them as much as he knows about the trail and where it goes.

Jeb did indeed come to Harold's ranch. He helped with the fence for a while before discovering a clue about the monster. He left without a word. Harold assumed he went off to hunt the beast.

DC14 Intelligence (Investigation) check :

Find and identify cloven hoof prints in the mud. The creature who did this was not a bear. It seems likely the mud was brought here by the creature or possibly came from it.

DC 16 Wisdom (Arcana) check :

Identify the mud as having organic and magical qualities. They realize it can petrify living creatures. Additionally, there are traces of the disease, Rot poisoning .

DC 12 Wisdom (Survival) check :

lead the party along a trail of gray mud and hoof prints. There are also a few Dobber boot prints along the trail, those may be Jeb's.

Maps

Harold’s Farm
A faint hammering can be heard as you approach a simple house built into the base of an old oak. Ramshackle fencing covered in vines extends to either side of the tree trunk with pens for livestock behind it. A portion of the fence is gray with mud. A dobber with salt and pepper hair wearing well worn overalls is repairing the fence.