Wren is still advising the ones who were in melee to take the useful items from the corpse, and then the group head inside to get supplies and save some people.
While Ein attends to Marius, Razira follows Wren's advice and searches the hobgoblin corpses for supplies, gold, or items.
After Razira searches the corpses if nothing of importance is found, Ein will follow the others inside.
Wren pushes the door open. ”Anyone here? The town is under attack! Pack up what supplies you can carry and we need to get to the forest. It’s up to Mother Green to keep us safe from these mongrels once we get there,” the halfling demands of whatever locals might be gathered.
Besides their armor and weapons, you find cure light wounds potions on the dead hobgoblins.
Marius takes one of the potions and downs it. He wipes off his lips and tosses the vial aside. "All right, let's try and find survivors." he says.
Marius will attempt to enter the trading post and aid the survivors.
Razira welcomes back Marius to the land of the conscious and follows him inside the trading post. "Try to be more careful..."
As you move toward the trading post, you realize the door and wooden shutters are closed and appear barred from the inside. Some piled furniture is visible through the windows. You also smell smoke and realize that a small part of the roof (5' section) is currently on fire!
Wren bangs on the door. ”Let us in! We need to get out of town now. There’s a fire on the roof! Quickly, let us in!”
"We need to put that fire out! Wren, Ein, got any water magic handy?" Razira looks around for a water source and some buckets to form a brigade.
”I’ve got no way to put out a fire from here. That’s why we need to get in and then get those people out. The whole place will come down on their heads before the hobgoblins can get to them,” she frets as she again beats on the door.
Marius will gestre to Wren. "Move, lass!" he shouts, taking his waraxe and chopping into the door.
You found yourself this night, the first of the Market Festival, in the town of Phaendar, nestled along the southern bank of the Marideth River, a stone’s throw from the Southern Fangwood Forest. The town of 400 residents rarely sees any excitement, making the Market Festival a major source of news, entertainment, and revenue. The 2-day affair, held once every 3 months, gathers farmers and herders from across the Nesmian Plains, as well as woodcutters from the nearby Fangwood and prospectors from the Hollow Hills, to trade for supplies and raw materials. As darkness fell, Titus and Azmythe settled in the Phaendar Trading Company, to peruse some supplies. That is until an army of hobgoblins suddenly appeared in the center of town! The two of you fought off the first wave of hobgoblins with the other persons in the Trading Company, but a second wave of 10 more soldiers were headed your way! So you did the smart thing and barricaded both doors with furniture, supply crates, and any thing else that was handy. to save yourselves. There are six other frightened citizens in the main shop with you and as you await your fate, you hear a female voice from the outside yelling ”Let us in! We need to get out of town now. There’s a fire on the roof! Quickly, let us in!”
Titus lets go of the crate after it finally grinds to a stop against the rest of the furniture at the door and slumps to the ground, breathing heavily. The last few minutes had been a whirlwind of chaos and struggle, their details even now a blur in his memory. With a distracted glance, he notices the longknife still clutched, bloody in his hand and dazedly wipes it clean against his shirt. Absentmindedly, he returns it to to the sheath under his arm with well-practiced ease.
No time to think about the implication of recent events, Titus takes stock of the room and its occupants. Seven plus him. The old scout begins to drudge up instincts long-buried. If he were alone, it would be a lot easier. But he's not. He would have to get creative to get these people out of town. And that's certainly the only reasonable plan at this point.
Before he even gets a moment to think, the voice calls from outside.
Hope? Is that what this feeling is? It is hard to tell through the numbness.
The old scout stands up and calls back warily. Deception is not an uncommon tactic in war. "Who are you?" Titus' voice comes out a low baritone, clear and articulate.
”We don’t have time for this! I’m Wren! Not only is your roof on fire, but the whole town is being stormed by hobgoblins! You need to open this door. We need to take what supplies we can carry and get the townsfolk to the forest. This is not a drill...not a drill,” she yells as she raps on the door yet again. The halfling looked around, making sure she and the half off were not being focused on by any straggling invaders.
It is hope after all....
Through the numbed haze, Titus hadn't recognized the halfling. But Wren is no hobgoblin. Plan or not, it's time to go.
With a quick breath, the old scout starts pulling on the crate, his tired muscles straining. "Wren! We're coming! There are eight of us in here! It'll just take a second!"
"Oh no man. Not thunder and fire again." If you did not know Azmythe, you would think it odd at how calm he is at a time like this.
He looks over the people. Their faces tell him that its real this time and not just a dream from his past. "But do not worry for, in due time, the time of smiles and camaraderie will replace it." He goes about aiding the injured. He tries to give them hope by offering smiles as he does so.
Then, over the sounds of battle and whimpers of the young, he hears someone calling out. At first, he thinks it more folk in need of help, but no, this voice fights the thunder and fire with blood and fury. "See! Even now a friend comes to our aid."
Not finding any water, Razira bangs on the door with a heavy strong fist, when she hears sounds from the other side. "Eight of you...hurry up! Like Wren said, the building is on fire. And we have no way to put it out! Get out quick, we killed the 3 guards who were trying to break in."
[b]”Titus, is that you? Hurry up...the flames are spreading! The town has been sacked! The goblins are everywhere!”[b]
Azmythe helps to tear down the barricade that the group had erected. "Titus, man, do you have a place you could lead us to for safety? Cause I don't want to, like, zig when I should zag, you know?"
What's the make up of the folk inside the inn with us?
Upon hearing news of the fire, the trapped citizens inside help Titus and Azmythe tear down the barricade. The spark of fire on the roof has started to spread. However, since it appears that none of the party members have any way of dousing the fire, you lead the six citizens out of the fire, with only mild smoke inhalation.
”Titus, what a stroke of luck you are here! This is Razira. She’s strong, and she’s helping defend the town. We need to get these survivors out of here. Everyone, grab anything we can use from here. We are going to have to head for the forest, so we need supplies,” she bellows to the others, hoping to rally them into action.
Image of Razira "Nice to meet you all, Razira Moonglade, wish it was under better circumstances. But Wren is right, grab what you can and let's go. We need to flee into the Fangwood. Aubrin's going to lead us, we left her at the TapRoot inn. We've got to check two other places: the shrine and Oreld's. Care to join?"
As they clear the door, Titus shakes his head. "My friend, you usually zig when you should zag... but then, so do I sometimes." His somewhat light expression takes a dark turn. "But it won't matter whether we zig or zag right now. I don't think safety is an option."
We need to get very lucky...
When the door opens revealing Wren and Razira, the old man's relieved grin is very short-lived. Phaendar is not a happy sight. Not at all.
"She does look strong. Let's hope that fact isn't important very soon. Stay together, stay quiet and keep moving... Let's go." His glance toward Razira is brief but he gives her a quick nod before moving on. No time for pleasantries. Or plenty of time, depending on whether they expect to survive or not.
The normally light-hearted old scout has a sad, but determined expression on his face as he moves to lead the group, including the survivors, toward the nearest of the two destinations mentioned.
Wren waves the ‘civilians’ out of the building. ”I think they are safer with us than if we left them alone.”
She turns to he six townsfolk still in the building. ”You six, stay with us. Pick up what supplies you can carry and follow us out of here. Food, water, useful camping materials....-‘“anything you can carry needs to come with us!”
@ Razira: "Like thank you for asking. I think I would, you know, like that."
Azmythe allows the others to protect them, while he takes lead of the 'civilians'. "Be easy now. They're going to take good care of us."
Following Titus' lead, the party and the six stragglers make their way through the havoc of the invasion toward Oreld's Fine Shop, the next closest destination. Oreld’s Fine Shop supplies Phaendar with remedies, dye, glue, and paint. Vane Oreld, the owner, is the closest thing the town has to a doctor. The shop is labeled with a small shingle hanging out front—is one of the few buildings in town made entirely of stone. Mortared white blocks form the walls of this odd-shaped cottage. Scorch marks that shift in color from black to dark blue to glimmering violet mar one wall. The door to the shop stands open and bloody footprints lead inside.
Wren one’s she wasn’t the best choice to lead the crew into the scrum. She knew there was probably two or three invaders in there, waiting to take her head. She looked around at the others. ”Any volunteers? Someone wearing armor might be a better choice here.”. If no one else leads the way in, she will volunteer and duck into the building.
Titus grits his teeth and draws his longblade. Again? The earlier fight seems so long ago already. This knife was never intended for fighting, but that would be its role today, it seems.
"Stay close."
With that, the old scout slips quietly inside.
”Right behind you, Titus. Keep your head down,” Wren whispers as she falls right in line behind her friend.
Azmythe looks over the six civilians. He tries to come up with something that would fill them with calm and confidence. "So listen, man, like, stay low. You know, we'll follow them and be, like, safe, you know."
Azmythe, the master orator.
Razira follows, giving Titus wide berth with her noisy armor, to see if he can get surprise on the inhabitants of the store.
Titus heads into the store stealthily and sees the shop consists primarily of a desk, a few crowded shelves, and a cluttered window display, all of which have been ransacked by invaders. A single hobgoblin in a bandolier rifles through the shelves for anything valuable, and holds a chain connected to an iron collar around a human male's neck. The human is barely conscious as he has a javelin protruding from his stomach. Titus recognize the human as Oreld, the proprietor of the store!
The old scout grits his teeth and moves quietly up behind the hobgoblin and attempts to use his free hand and the longblade to rip the chain from the creature's hand.
Titus partially charges the surprised hobgoblin and disarms him very smoothly. The hobgoblin grits its teeth, "Bad mistake buddy!" Now that Titus can fully see the hobgoblin, he can see that he has an array of potions in potion-like containers strapped on its chest!
Wren points at the enemy. ”You’ll be the next victim of my Nature’s Trance Magic, you awful hobgoblin!”
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The alchemist reaches for one of the flasks on his bandolier, but Wren's nature magic confuses him and he stares, seemingly in a daze at the pretty flowers around him.
Azmythe readies to cast Daze (DC14) against the hobgoblin once Wren's casting wears off.
Titus moves around to the other side of the hobgoblin, putting himself between the creature and the collared human and also providing Razira a place to flank from. With an almost sad sigh, he stabs at the creature with his longblade.
Razira runs in and tries to skewer the goblin with her glaive and 10' reach.
Razira's glaive ends the battle as it slashes the alchemist's chest and he collapses to the ground in a pile of blood. The man with the iron collar around his neck struggles to stand, "I am Oreld, thank you for saving me from that heathen. What has occurred in our little peaceful town?"
”Oreld, war has come to town. I’m not sure how, but the hobgoblins have stormed the town sight unseen. We need to get to the forest right now. We are here for supplies and to gather everyone we can. Take everything that isn’t tied down. We need gear to survive in the forest!”
Razira smiles at dropping the alchemist. "Titus, search the hobgoblin for any valuables. Oreld, pleasure but everything Wren just said is true. Anyone else here? Anyone else here? Anything of value we can use in the store? Food, water, etc?"