Seeing the other two warriors on their knees, Ulgra releases a wave of healing energy, almost as a sigh, then drops her sword and says, with obvious respect in her voice, "I surrender to the superior warrior."
Ulgra, looking proud despite - or because of - her injuries, explains simply, "Our commanding officer ordered us to kill the goblins, and let nothing and no one stand in our way, and we follow orders strictly. For his reasons, his entire family had been slaughtered in a winter wolf raid. He joined the Blackravens shortly after that, and we after him."
Hagan looks at Ulgra long and deeply and does not detect her as evil.
"Because of the tiefling, we did not even open the door. I assume they are safe - unless they have killed each other, but, alas, we do not seem so fortunate."
Opening the door cautiously, you see the entire group of goblins waiting to pounce, each with a broken arrow shaft in hand as a makeshift dagger! They quickly recognize you, however, and their posture relaxes. "Oh, it you."
|
"We care not for your revenge. These captives, whatever their previous crimes, are to be delivered to the Society, and your treacherous hospitality is to be reviled. In Kelish lands, hospitality is a holy thing, and while the guest is under your roof, she is sacrosanct, even if you and she are bitter enemies otherwise. We had not thought that the Ulfen people were less hospitable.
"So what of these betrayers? The Dawnflower would recommend redemption, but we must admit that we do not feel particularly forgiving at the moment." Jani runs a forked tongue over their lips, and cocks their head at an odd angle while staring at Ulgra's forehead.
|
Wuliem arrives--late--to the party.
He looks over the situation and nods at Jani's last comments.
I believe that you are correct. Guest's rights have been employed by numerous peoples throughout the ages.
We have been violated by our hosts!
They do need to be arrested for their crimes.
I don't suppose we know who the local authorities are?
Ulgra is visibly shamed by Jani's reproach and makes a number of feeble attempts to defend her untenable position, "We were just following orders... We didn't intend to harm you... If you had just enjoyed the dinner..."
When the question is asked about who the authorities are in this area, Ulgra explains, "We are. Above us here would be the Castellan of Trollheim, our commander and the regional authority."
You sense that she is telling the truth.
Searching and disarming all of the Blackravens, you find that each warrior had a masterwork battleaxe, two throwing axes, a chain shirt, a heavy wooden shield, about 25 gp, a flask of acid, and a minor curative potion (the two warriors having used theirs while Farg was distracted by Ulgra). The chaplain has a greatsword, a light crossbow and 10 bolts, a holy symbol of Gorum, 5 gp, and three of the minor curative potions.
You thoroughly search each of the captives, new and old, taking away the goblins' improvised daggers, and making sure everyone is secured.
Additionally, you make sure all entryways to the hall are locked (and finding that pesky secret door), you spend what is likely an anxious night in what should be your most comfortable quarters in some days, hoping that there are no more unpleasant surprises - the return of more Blackravens from patrols, a vengeance raid from Irrisen, or even a visit from Baba Yaga herself, looking for the souls of some 'naughty children' with which to replace her guardpost doll.
Fortunately, the night passes uneventfully and, after reprovisioning and feeding the goblins, you head out, following the map to the rendezvous point with the extraction team outside of the heavily walled and densely populated city of Trollheim. As you hand the goblin captives over to the new team, the goblins give a last worried look over their shoulders as they are hustled away.
Inside Trollheim, you meet with Freyr Darkwine himself, and indeed he is not pleased with what happened at the hall, although you sense it is more over his uncomfortable political situation - agreeing to help the Pathfinders safely escort goblins - than it is about any betrayal. Politicians are, after all, unusually familiar with betrayals.
The castellan listens to what you have to say, and believes your account of the events. Enrik, for his part, admits that he defied Freyr Darkwine’s orders to give the Pathfinders aid and to ensure the goblin prisoners made it to Trollheim safely, and spits at the suggestion that he should have done otherwise, given the horrible fate his family suffered at goblin hands. (The others were quite new to the organization, and were following their immediate commander's orders, and so will be treated more leniently.) The castellan makes no bones about how this favor to the Society is going to cost him, as he clearly expected too much of his embattled people.
"Nevertheless, I promise to see that the prisoners are brought to justice and duly punished, but I wonder if the lives of good men were really worth goblin secrets."
|
"They're murderers and spies," he said to Wuliem with a jovial tone and a smile on his face, as he waved goodbye to the Goblins.
"I think I'm going to miss them."
He then shouldered his sack of goods and stared out into the snowy wilderness.
"Sooooo, how do we get back to Absalom? That part wasn't covered in the mission briefing."