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"I know I am of Chelaxian descent, but I do not know if I was born there. I've heard stories about my Family though, saying our First Home was there. I've also heard it is in ruins, or gone all together."
She smiles slightly.
"I've been here and there, with my siblings, traveling. Most of us are in Magnimar now, living there peacefully and working their trade."
"My family and I traveled to Sandpoint looking to find a place to settle down. I hope that the goblins will not be a big problem for us here... we really just want to find someplace peaceful to live, where..." she pauses for a moment, and then continues, "where people are more friendly. But I am willing to do anything it takes to ensure the goblins never bother Sandpoint again. As soon as someone learns where they are coming from, or who is organizing their attacks.... they will have one angry warrior on their hands."
"Well, I originally hail from all over the place. I've been traveling for so long ... I've not had a real place to call home."
"Ah yes, traveling is the Varisians' way of life. You seem to have such a free spirit, I admire that. I've always had a certain curiosity and envy of the Varisians' lifestyle but sadly, I have too many responsibilities to live in such a way. Can you tell us any tales of your travels? I fear that listening to such tales would be the closest I could ever get to living like a Varisian."
"I know I am of Chelaxian descent, but I do not know if I was born there. I've heard stories about my Family though, saying our First Home was there. I've also heard it is in ruins, or gone all together."
She smiles slightly.
"I've been here and there, with my siblings, traveling. Most of us are in Magnimar now, living there peacefully and working their trade."
"You must be familiar with the City of Monuments* then. You should really visit me the next time you're in Magnimar. I own a humble townhouse not far from the Starsilver Plaza. Also, I must ask, what's the name and trade of your family? Perhaps I could bring them some business."
"Actually, Aldern I an here on vacation from my studies at the Twilight Academy, which is in Galduria. As for my friends, it is fate, or perhaps one of the gods which brought us all together. I feel as if I have known them a long time, even though it has only been a day!"
Aldern seems surprised. "So you just all met yesterday? That's amazing to be able to fight so well together with so little experience. You shame me, really, with your courage. Have you fought goblins before? Their maniacal singing and laughter simply terrified me."
After several minutes of searching, Venmirl finally finds two indentations in the ground like he saw on the other side of the wall. Losing no time, he follows the few rare signs of passage that lead him into a very narrow trail heading into the wilderness.
Venmirl has to double back a few times when he loses the track but he eventually follows it to clearing in the vegetation. A small wooden cabin stand in the middle of the clearing and there's an outhouse on one edge of it. This appears to be a hunting or logging camp. Some firewood is pilled up in front, almost hiding a small window. The cabin's only door is slightly ajar. Venmirl doesn't see or hear any activity in the clearing or the cabin.
"You must be familiar with the City of Monuments* then. You should really visit me the next time you're in Magnimar. I own a humble townhouse not far from the Starsilver Plaza. Also, I must ask, what's the name and trade of your family? Perhaps I could bring them some business."
"To tell the truth, we don't really have name, and trade may have been the wrong word. You see, we take in what some people would call guttersnipes and teach them a skill. They get to pick what they would like to learn, and we do our best to teach them."
She looks away to hide watering eyes.
Izbahn, still shaken by the experiences from yesterday, guides his mount closer to Naomi, and says quietly, "You know, if there was any way I could have helped save Dramen's life, I would have done so. I...just wanted to...let you know that."
"Thank you, Izbahn. It means little now, but it is still good to know that."
Venmirl creeps closer to the cabin to glimpse through the window. Sadly, he steps on some dry twigs that were on the ground, right next to the window. There's a loud 'crack' and Venmirl barely has time to spot a goblin that was munching on what appear to be salt cod. "Arrrgghh! Longshank!" He yells out as he bursts out of the door and starts to run for the nearest edge of the clearing.
Izbahn replies, with a wistful tone in his voice, "Yeah, I do not know what it is like to lose someone like that, but there are more ways to feel pain, than just that way. It's important to realize that others do feel it as well."
He turns to Aldern, and says, "So, how is this boar hunting going to work, for those of us who are not martially inclined?"
"The boars of these woods aren't particularly big or fierce. I'm sure we can scare them." says Aldern. "Once we can find boar trails or some other sign of their presence, I suggest we split in two groups. One of them will beat the undergrowth to scare the boar toward the other group. This one will wait in ambush and do the kill. Izbahn, you can be in the 'beating' group if you don't feel martial enough to kill the animal. On the other hand, I'll be with the killing group." He winks at the ladies as he holds up his spear.
"Just remember Aldern, first blood is as important as last blow." Who cares if the weapon that draws it is magic or might? Telling who got to draw first blood though.. will be fun."
Naomi shifts her pack around so she can dig through it easier, and pulls out her scroll case to remind herslef which spells she still has written down.
She says to herself.
Venmirl
Abandoning the pursuit, Venmirl returns to the cabin in search for clues. The wooden cabin has a simple single room serving as both kitchen and sleeping room. Lost of objects are scattered on the ground: pieces of moldy bread, half eaten salt cod, dirty clothes, broken pieces of ceramic cups and plates, a smashed oil lamp, etc ... The furniture is also in bad shape. The bed's sheets are all dirty and ripped. The pantry and a drawer are both empty ; their former contents are probably on the floor. Finally, there is a goblin dogslicer planted upright into a wooden table. There's also a few soil clumps on it. That soil reminds the shoanti of the dirt pile he saw yesterday, next to the grave. Venmirl's sharp observation sense allows him to notice what seem to be a few days old blood stain on the wooden floor, close to the entrance. There's also a less obvious blood trail leading away from the main stain, toward somewhere outside.
The hunting party
As Aldern keeps telling stories of his life in Magnimar, you continue to ride further upstream. About 20 minutes since you left Sandpoint, the banks of the Turandarok river become less steep while its bed is less muddy, slightly wider and shallower. Aldern leads you to a spot where fording the river seems easy enough and your horses carry you across the river. On this side, the vegetation is thicker but you still manage to find seldom used narrow trails. You silently ride through the forest, Aldern's men regularly stopping to examine the ground for boar tracks.
Sensing that he has picked up a trail again, Venmirl follows the blood trail outside.
Venmirl is able to follow the blood trail easily enough and it doesn't take much time for him to find the source of the blood. Barely hidden beneath some bushes at one edge of the clearing is a cadaver of a middle age man. Some animal chew off some of his arm while flies and maggots are starting to swarm the body but the cause of death is still easily recognizable: an arrow has pierced through his throat.
The body of the man stinks a lot, but Venmirl has dealt with corpses before so it doesn't affect him too badly. He takes a look at the man's only remaining hand. It is heavily calloused and not really clean. However, Venmirl doesn't see any signs of the cemetery's dirt on the hand or any other part of the man's body. He does notice that the body has a few more injuries then the arrow in his throat. There's several cuts on his arm and on the lower part of his body. By the rough look of his clothes and his shaggy hair and beard, Venmirl thinks he was a woodman, someone who probably rarely went into town.
Out of options, Venmirl decides to stick around to see if anyone shows up to use the cabin. He has time to waste, as his new friends (and any sort of assistance) are out hunting this morning. He searches for a tall tree full of leaves for cover that is in a prime spot to watch over the cabin.
Stealth:
Venmirl
Venmirl finds an hiding spot close to the edge of the clearing. He crouches down and keep a watch on the cabin. After waiting for about 20 minutes, Venmirl spots a trio of goblins creep back into the clearing, with dogslicers in hand. They are arguing about something in their language. The shoanti is pretty sure one of them is the one he chased out of the cabin earlier. They are about 40 ft. from his position when one of them looks at him and points. "Achtaga! Yra longshank!" Venmirl has been spotted!
Further into the forest, Aldern's menservants examine some tracks and find nearby droppings. "We've find what we were looking for. These are boar tracks, my lord. It's heading north." They tell Aldern. "Most excellent!" Aldern replies. "Those with me, we ride slightly ahead and to the right of the others. Try to make as little noise as possible, that's their job. My man will give us a horn signal if he sends anything our way. Be ready when he does."
Izbahn curses to himself mentally, he hadn't realized thte groups would be separated. Worse, he had left Syeira alone with Aldern and his flunky. Maybe jealousy was fueling his thoughts, he hoped all she had to worry about was his advances.
"Well, this should be interesting anyway, plus I do like the taste of boar." as he fingers his spear experimentally, still not familiar with how it worked. He ignored the smirks he was getting from the hireling who was accompanying them.
Well at least he was alone with Naomi. "So, what do you think of our new friend Aldern?" He says to her in a low tone.
Venmirl
Venmirl enchants his weapon with the magic and blessing of his ancestors before courageously jumping out of hiding to confront the goblins.
The meanest looking one runs forward to charge the shoanti but he stumbles on a small stump, barely maintaining his balance by using his dogslicer as support. The poorly made weapon snaps under the goblin's weight . His two companions maneuver to flank Venmirl. He tries to block and parry all the cuts they send his way but one blow slashes through the hide of his armor.