Every step is well performed. Every corner the door of a new experience. The world is really amazing for those who live in the present moment, second after second.
Enge approaches close to the bridge, inspecting its ability to bear a load. She flinches when Gohei takes out his sword, and her hand goes to the hammer on her belt.
The bridge can, indeed, take a load, despite it's wear and tear.
Enge's inspection led to the discovery of some crude, almost makeshift weapons, definantly of goblinoid origins. The most notable thing, however, was half buried under the bridge.
Three goblin corpses, half consumed to the bone, the stench of carrion masked by the swamp's own pungent odor.
You can tell there's something resembling seniority among these corpses, with the largest of the goblins outfit cobbled out of a dozen different outfits hastily combined together with gunk. In his hand you can tell there's something alchemical remaining, though you doubt that it would be worth much. Notably, it's missing its head. The other two goblins are mostly bare, with nearly everything, including their arms (In both the literal and metaphorical sense) lost.
However, you could probably chop off a ear off of the one with the least-consumed head, netting an easy Goblin Ear. Doesn't compensate for the smell, though.
As there are no bears, Akodo is poking at the damage to the bridge. While you're certainly no survivalist, it seems like the claw marks are definitely claw marks, and not a weapon blow. Probably, you're not entirely certain.
Takafumi doesn't stumble upon something so lucky, but accidentally steps on a Dogslicer . So you've found a short sword at least, which sucks because you got slashed on the foot.
Until news that Palea left for Cinterlands were passed around, a handful of folks thought that she fell to the Soggy River Monster, Koya included!
You can tell that it's the remains of a flame-fountain firework, about half-used. While pretty much useless as a firework, you can probably reclaim some value out of it. It can be sold for about 12 gp or used in place of 20 gp for the purpose of crafting fireworks.
Enge puts away her hammer, takes out her dagger, and slices off the one remaining goblin ear.
"Oi, we best get a move on, or they'll be no goblins left for us ta kill!
She then attempts to assess the contents and value of the alchemical materials in the goblin's hand.
Palea takes the coins and gives the Tien woman a low bow. "Thank you very much, Ameiko, but this is way too much for just a bit of work around the inn. That's a month's wages, at least! I was just working for room and board. Won't you take some of it back?"
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Palea takes a closer look at what might have killed the goblins, specifically if they were killed by weapons or stashed here by an animal of some kind.
She looks up when she hears Enge speak and shakes her head. "In my experience, there will always be more goblins. They have quite a thirst for life and their population increases beyond all reasonable measure."
"Hey, take it from me, if you're going to do what I think you're gonna do after the goblins are delt with, I think you're gonna need it." Ameiko said, "I know last time I tried I wish I brought a bit more gold with me, rather than spending it."
She sighs, looking out the window. "Christ, I'm twenty one, and it's been years since I've adventured. Honestly, I'm kinda tempted to make like you did, and just leave here."
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The wounds caused to the goblins are almost entirely claws, like those of a bear, but you notice a odd wound to one of the goblin's leg, like someone purposely slashed it to leave them incapable of running. It's older than the rest of the claw-marks on the goblins, at least, but not old enough to have healed at all. You can tell that the cut's too clean to have been made by a Dog Slicer.
Palea passes on the information she's gathered about the goblins' wounds.
"Seems we have two different hunters on the job: a four-legged one and one with two legs."
Samell frowns as he looks around. "There are a few strange beasts, just rumors, but maybe . . ." He finally shakes his head and looks to the others looking a little worried for the first time since setting out. "We should keep a close eye out for anything out of the ordinary." He looks around then sets his pack, preparing to continue on the journey.
"Hunters there may be, but are they hunters of more than goblins? The number they did on this bridge, I'd prefer not to cross their path."
"Ya seem to know a fair bit about goblins, Palea. All I know is to kill 'em on sight."
Enge grimaces and tucks away the ear and the chemicals.
"I'll note these items in me journal, for when it comes time to divvy up. Let's hurry on to Walthus and see if he knows where the goblins are camped."
A muddy trail leads up to the swampy lagoon. The open ocean lies beyond these shallow waters.
An old two-story building, its walls soggy with moss and its roof sagging with age, sits on the lagoon’s eastern shore. Everything seems empty.
From this distance, you can see the walls that Walthus keeps his snakes in.
Palea cups her hands to amplify her voice a bit.
"Hello in the house? Mr. Walthus? Anyone home? We'd like to trade. Hello?"
Silence. It seems like he's not home, which is unusual. Admitably, nobody really bothers paying much mind to what he does with his time. Perhaps something happened, perhaps he's out on the river, perhaps he's in the marsh. Who knows?
You could probably just walk in the front door, maybe could sit back and wait for him outside, or whatever. But you can tell he's probably not here.
Palea shrugs and points toward the house.
"Should we go investigate the house? He might not like it if he returns, but then again, I don't know if these swamp people are much for ceremony."
Samell looks around, frowning in concern, "There is the hunter to consider too. That bridge is not far from here. If Walthus . . ." Samell trailed off, unable to finish. "We should at least take a look."
Palea and Samell enter into the building through the front door, leading into the main room. A handful of potted plants line the walls, though ill-kept they seem to be. There's a stair in an alcove behind the door, and you can see a closed door and and two open ones. One leads into a room filled with cages, another to a room with a table and a single chair, along with a wood-burning stove. The stove is still burning, but is at the end of its life.
Palea calls out again and takes a look around in the visible area, touching the potted plants as long as they look innocuous. "Sad that these have not been cared for better. Just need a bit of light and water, is all."
If she finds nothing, she will first look in the two open rooms, then listen to the door of the closed room before heading upstairs.
Enge trails after Samell and Palea.
"It doesn't seem right to intrude on a person's home without their leave. But if something has happened to him, it's best we know now. If it's goblins, that'll make it all the easier to find their camp."
Enge's search causes one of the rooms, filled with cages, to spark into noise. Mice, Sparrows, all begin to make noise, about a dozen creatures in total. While not certain, you feel like the creatures are on edge.
Palea sees what Enge sees, but the most notable thing is that there seem to be no knives in the dining room. Upstairs is cramped and closed.
"Oi, that's curious. There's no knives in this dining room!"
Noticing the missing knives, Enge does a fine-toothed investigation of the other household items for anything suspicious.
She also tries to recollect anything she may have learned about this region from her history studies.
There's not much in any of the rooms, but most of the cages are made by hand, not that well, either.
All in all, the house is obviously worth something, but the person who lives here obviously lives mostly off the land.
There's a lot you do know, but not as much that you can imagine being relevant- What you do recall is that, whenever stoves were mentioned, wood-burning stoves last for about 3 hours open, so he most likely didn't leave too long ago.
Palea tries to remember what she can about the swamp and its environs, and how it might relate to the house and its owner.
Not having found anything in the house, she then steps outside and lets those who didn't go in about what they found.
"Seems he left not too long ago. The stove is still warm. Perhaps he went out to hunt or gather other items. He keeps a lot of animals, that's for sure."
Palea then looks around for tracks heading away from the house that could have been made by a halfling.
What was it that my brother used to look for when looking for tracks? I can't quite remember ...
Gohei looks around and carefully wipes his shoes before entering.
Samell walks around quickly, sword drawn against danger and calling out for Walthus throughout the house. As he wanders, he wonders. He casts Detect Magic and makes one last circuit in case there's anything that might hint at the man's disappearance. Finally he steps outside and pioneers it all, trying to put together what he might know about this situation and what Koya had taught him.
Each of you spend a fair amount of time searching the building, revealing everything therein:
There's the guest room, with everything covered in sheets from underuse, a supply room with various tools and weapons (Including a fairly raggety set of armor), and the bedroom, well lived in. The bed seems fairly well-managed.
Samell recalls some various stuff about halflings. The fact that the halfling is from Cheliax, a place known for making slaves out of various halflings. Halflings have a strong societal expectation to make their house a showcase, something that you can be proud of.
You also recall various rumors about this one in particular, that he had done a short life of adventuring running north, quite a long way for quite a long adventure.
Palea sees that the mud has been stired by something rather visciuous, perhaps a fight or something similar.
This proved to be something of naught, as you watch the Halfling struggle to walk towards you guys from within the swamp from outside. He looks... Battered and bruised could perhaps be the word.
"'Ho! Can I ask why you're at my house?"
His hand darting to his blade Gohei turns toward the voice and takes the blade away bowing deeply.
"We did not want to intrude! You have my sincere apology. We just seek information!"
"Well, that's something interesting!" he said, "So how about you just leave? I'd hate to see what you did to my house, I work hard to get it to look nice!"
As I step over the sword I feel a bit of pain in the foot. I don't care about the goblin weapon, but I do care about my shoes. I'm very used to quick-fix them along my travels, and so I do know after checking that the wound is not serious at all.
As I see the halfling step in I realice his state.
"Good man, what has happened to you? Why are you in this state?" -I check visually if any of the visible wounds are serious.
"Can we do something to help you in any way?"
Palea holds up both hands in a non-threatening gesture when she sees the halfling.
"Pardon us, Master Walthus. We didn't mean to intrude. It's just that we found some goblins who had been dismembered back by the bridge, and wanted to make sure that the same thing hadn't happen to you. We are from Sandpoint, and just had some questions about goblins. We thought you might be a great source of useful information."
"Hiya, Mr. Walthus. Please pardon our intrusion, but we feared that whatever killed those goblins may have attacked you, as well. We had to be sure.
I do wonder if we have been your only uninvited visitors of late. For one, did ye know that all your knives have gone?"
Takafumi can easily determine the poor halfling's state, which is to say that he's fairly wounded, slash marks all around his form. You can also tell that the wounds were from a manufactured weapon, you can tell he quite obviously haven't slept, you can tell that he's been poisoned, he's not in a good shape. Not in a good shape at all.
"Goblins? What do you mean, goblin attack?" he says, startled, "Look, I'm fine, just please leave, I probably don't know enough anyway." he says, brushing over the comment on the knives.
A quizzical look passes over Enge's face.
"Well, if ya say ya know nothing about no goblins, who are we to say different?"
"Oh, it looks like you're a bit hurt there. With a bit o' prayer, I can patch ya right up. If you don't mind the blessings of Torag, anyway."
The Halfling stares at Enge, surprised.
"I... Yes... That would be nice. Thank you, just... Let me find a place to sit down, okay?"
The Halfling sits down on the steps to his house, a slight tinge of nervousness to his steps.
Enge retrieves her holy symbol, then bow here head and whispers a prayer in Dwarven. She speaks of the armor and shields Torag repairs after every battle.
Samell's face broadened in a smile. "Well, I'm glad we can help, and we can offer more help besides. Is there anything you can do to help us with our problem?"
"Thank you miss, may I ask your name?"
He looks over to Samell, "Depends on the problems. You mentioned about something to do with a bridge?"
The halfling obviously seems nervous, like he's walking outside his own skin. He's definitely hiding something, that is absolutely certain.
Palea introduces the assembled company, curious about what might be making him nervous.
"Can you tell us anything about the goblins in the area? We heard they have been getting into more than their usual amount of chaos and mischief as of late."
Suddenly Gohei has a strange feeling and he looks at Gohei quizzingly.
"Well, oh. Yeah, the goblins, right- They've grown bolder, lately. Very much so. I'm not the usual target, you know. Live to far out. I think they live kinda..."
He looks behind himself, trying to gather info. He quite clearly doesn't think about this stuff much.
"That way. Yeah, that way. Go straight that way, and you'll find yourself the goblins."
Akodo's subconscious is telling you "This guy is telling the truth, and is just stuttering."
Your sense of reasoning is telling you that this spells of fish. Maybe tilapia? Salmon? Probably salmon. They tend to travel alone, like this guy here.
Takafumi is really surprised by the way the prayers of Enge begins to close the wounds of the halfling.
Amazing...
After that, he turns his stare to the halfling and ask:
But, if the goblins weren't your problem, why are you in this state? Who did this to you?
And before finishing the question, he is staring over the windows to look for the attacker.
"Oh, uh... I was jumped. Some creature, looked like a man crossed with a fish, barged into the house. I took the knife from the house and chased after it when it ran. We fought a bit with my snakes, and they bit me. So I ran into the woods, and it chased after me. Lost it a while ago."
Samell stops, startled. "The snakes . . . bit you?" Something definitely seems wrong here. Between his nerves and the snakes . . . Sammel thinks for a moment longer then decides, "Walthus, something is obviously wrong here. What is it? The truth, if you please. We can handle it."
Visibly frustrated, Enge throws up her hands.
"I need to talk a walk. Mind if I step out for a moment?
Before anyone can reply, she walks out the door and begins inspecting the exterior of the home.
"Uh..."
He watches as Enge begins to leave, as the thing that is quite clearly not Walthus seems to be increasingly unnerved, "Look, how about you leave? Okay?" he says, quickly walking inside, stumbling into the potted plants, each crashing into the floor.
Enge's exploration of the exterior reveals something that you might not have noticed, and might not have payed attention to if it wasn't for your experience with mining, where this would be worried about.
The house is built completely vertically. Each of the floors are built off of themselves. On the second floor, there's a solid 10 x 5 area unutilized.
Mr. Walthus, we cannot leave you in this state. What if that creature comes again?
Takafumi tries to help the halfling making him to take sit and rest his wounds.
Enge briskly steps back inside the house.
"Oi! It's a bit too open out there. I need a spot that feels just a bit more cozy, like a good dwarven tunnel."
Enge makes a loud "oof!" as she nearly stumbles scrambling up the stairs to the second floor. Once there, she checks for any possible openings into the additional area.
There's no opening that a quick search can reveal.
The Halfling, looking at Takafumi, gives a moment of pause.
"... Maybe. How about I sit down, you guys can stand watch. He'll be back in any minute, so I'll tell you what I know."
Please, do. We are eager to know more about the green dangers full of teeths on this swamp
Samell stares after Enge, but eventually shrugs and looks over at the halfling. He waits, brows pulled together for Walthus to speak.
Gohei smiles and nods encouragingly.
"You have my attention!"
The Halfling looks at each of you. "Alright, apologies the house is a mess. Firstly, you should know that it... Shifts. It can look like someone you know. An old friend of mine showed up, then attacked me- I was barely awake, so I took the knife, and fought as well as I could. He threw me into the snake garden, and you know snakes, they tend to be very reactionary."
He stands up, and fumbles through the cabinets, searching for something.
"When it transformed, it looked like... It's skin was like an unscaled fish. Its skin looked like a sponge. It's hands were pointed, but... Not really clawed. It looked almost like a human, but shorter."
He finally manged to find the thing he was looking for, a cast iron pan.