Axel softly replies, in order not to be overheard by the children, "Ahhh, so that could explain it, nice perfume by the way." He shifts fractionally closer enjoying the attention, of course he didn't stop to consider was this a good idea. He asks, "Well looks like things are starting to wrap up here, anything you want to see? At some point I was thinking of getting some dinner, but I don't have anything planned."
The wooden cathedrals catch Ellen's eye; they're beautifully crafted, the details remarkably fine when looked at closely. She picks one up that looks like the cathedral Josie is staying in and eventually meets the shopkeeper's eye.
"Umm... How much?"
Kejak also buys something to remember this day: a commemorative medal (made of lesser metal alloy). It represents the new cathedral and some butterflies flying over it. Around the edges, it can be read: 'Swallowtail Festival' and the date.
-This will look good if I hang it somewhere...
Shayliss smiles. "Actually, I really should be getting back to the store..." she answers, "But dinner sounds nice. I'll meet you back here at the dedication this evening?"
The man running the stand looks the timid girl up and down before checking which little cathedral she's picked up. "Them nice ones're a gold a pop. If that's too rich fer yer blood, them simpler ones there is only two silvers."
Meanwhile at the next stand over, Kejak hands over a silver piece for a stamped iron medallion commemorating the day.
Ellen sighs in relief as she hands over a gold piece; seems she saved up more than enough. With the transaction complete she places the figurine in her bag. "I'll find a good time to give it to her later," Ellen thinks to herself.
She meets back up with Kejak and spots the medal he purchased. "Ooh, that looks nice." Lacking much else to say she adds, "It looks like the line is thinning out a bit, want to go get some lunch?"
-Sure!
Kejak rejoices at the thouight of adding carnage to his belly.
-I'm quite hungry! And maybe we'll find Axel there.
Axel grins, "Sure lets do that then. I should probably find out what trouble Kejak has gotten himself into..." Of course the fact that Kejak was the one who was usually getting Axel out of trouble simply didn't occur until much later.
As Shayliss turned to go, Axel called after her, "See you later!" He watched Shayliss walk for a moment, mesmerized and thought, 'Wow' He turned away humming a jolly tune, the day had got better.
As Axel enjoys the view of Shayliss walking away he accidentally spots his friends from the academy coming back into the church square.
Although the lines have thinned out considerably since the initial rush, it still looks like about a fifteen minute wait for Ameiko's curried fish (which smells pretty fantastic), or five minutes for a roast venison and fresh greens sandwich from the White Deer or fish and chips from the Hagfish.
-Axel! Here!
Kejaks waves his hand so Axel can see them.
-How's it gone,mate? You seemed quite... well.
While Axel blushes, Kejak develops his strategy for grabbing the food.
-Listen, guys, why don't we divide? Each of us queues at a different stand and brings enough food for the four of us to taste, then when we're done we'll have food from 4 stands in 1/4 the time. Shall we? And then Axel can tell us how he was holding her tight...- Kejak can't help letting a laughter go out with that last comment.
Axel started slightly when his name was called, but he turn round with a grin, "Oh Hey Kejek!" Realizing he hadn't eaten lunch yet, Axel adds, "Mmm food yeah that's a good idea, lets do that!" When Josie talks about Shayliss, Axel finds himself blushing and replies, "Errr. Yeh, I dunno. I'd have to ask her. I mean that would be nice right?"
Ellen suppresses a groan at the Shayliss talk. Though Ellen could not explain it if she tried something about the woman bothered her and coupling with Axel definitely did not help matters.
"If we're splitting up we should decide who goes where. I could wait in the Rusty Dragon line," Ellen volunteers, trying to center the conversation on food.
-Sure. I'll go to that vendor over there. It's not free, but I really want to try his peanut sauce.
There is no line whatsoever right now at the vendor charging money for food and Kejak is quickly rejoining Ellen with his hands full of skewers of chicken in peanut sauce. It doesn't take too much longer for Axel to return as well with several pieces of battered and fried fish with greasy fried potato wedges from the Hagfish. It takes a bit longer for Josie to retrieve the roast venison sandwiches from the White Deer but everyone else is still in line at the Rusty Dragon stand when she arrives. A few minutes later they are finally on their way with several bowls of onion, potatoes, and fish in a yellow curry sauce to round out their feast.
|
As the group finally come away the from the stalls with their bounty of food, Inc shoots a glance at Josie as they move to find a place to sit. "You might want to add a few more laps to your running routine later," she suggests. "Eating hearty is one thing, but it wouldn't do for a knight-aspirant to get fat and lazy from overdoing it, you know."
And the easier you are for me to haul around, the better!
___________
The four reunited friends spend a pleasant afternoon together, catching up on how each other have been since parting ways, enjoying an over-abundance of good food, and watching a few more games and competitions. They make their way back to the church square as the time for the dedication draws near. A moment later Axel catches sight of Shayliss entering the square from the south.
Before he can signal her, a sharp retort, like the crack of distant thunder, slices through the excited crowd as the sun's setting rays paint the western sky. A stray dog that has crawled under a nearby wagon to sleep starts awake, and the buzz of two dozen conversations quickly hushes as all heads turn toward the central podium, where a beaming Father Zantus has taken the stage. He clears his throat, takes a breath to speak, and suddenly a woman's scream slices through the air. A few moments later, another scream rises, then another. Beyond them, a sudden surge of strange new voices rises: high-pitched, tittering shrieks that sound not quite human. The crowd parts and something low to the ground races by, giggling with disturbing glee as the stray dog gives a pained yelp and then collapses with a gurgle, its throat cut open from ear to ear. As blood pools around its head, the raucous sound of a strange song begins, chanted from shrill, scratchy voices...
"Goblins chew, and goblins bite;
goblins cut, and goblins fight.
Stab the dog and cut the horse,
goblins eat and take by force."
It seems from the mispronunciations and strange cadence that the creatures chanting have memorized the song in Taldane but don't actually speak the language. This distinction, however, does not appear to mitigate the fear of the crowds. The people gathered in the square begin surging north away from the intruders.
Shayliss, among those trying to force their way north, frantically looks around the square and cries out, "Axel! Axel, help me..."
The thought crosses Kejak's mind like a thunderbolt.
-Goblins!
And everyone is partying. And Ellen is here, and Josie. And Axel. And the rest of the town!
-Ok, let's keep calm...
-Guys... you might want to draw your weapons...
Kejak looks around, trying to find something he can use and how many goblins might be around.
|
|
"Kejak is right, that's a goblin!" Inc snarls. Blatantly ignoring Josie's instructions to follow the crowd north, the eidolon instead turns south and begins moving through the rush of people as if swimming against a current.
"Over here! They're over here!" she cries as she closes on the goblin hiding underneath the southern wagon though she stops just short of actually engaging the creature directly.
_________
Buffeted by the crowd, Axel doesn't immediately understand what just happened. Then he heard the hue and cry of Goblins! Shayliss was unarmed, he had to protect her!
Instinctively his hand went to his weapon, and he tried to forge his way over to Shayliss. He calls out to her, "Shayliss I'm coming, try and get to the wagon!"
"G-g-g-g-goblin!" Ellen stammers out the exclamation as she turns to flee north. To her surprise, her legs direct her south, back towards danger, following Josie and Inc through the crowd.
Another voice whispers through her lips, barely audible in the commotion: "Aohi se'hann gor'kaset gnsate. L'wsii enb tens nadii stewott cadoe irdiib."
Another round of shouts and screams ring out, this time centered around the southern wagon as the goblin beneath it hisses and darts out towards Josie and Inc. As it draws near it slashes at Inc with its rusty goblin sword...
,
In the ensuing chaos both of the other two approaching goblins scurry up and duck under the wagon. Off on the far west side of the square Kejak spots three members of the watch who have cornered another goblin but seem unaware of these one under and around the wagons.
Kejak runs for cover to one of the wagons. He draws an arrow and aims at one of the goblins. Knowing the creature is doomed, he is already searching for another target.
Trying to make himself sound big and scary, Axel screams at the goblin, "Raaa!" before suddenly and unexpectedly lunging out with his dagger!
Despite abject terror being written all over her face, Ellen walks briskly in the direction of the goblins.
"Rea fuzko, mok!"
Ellen raises her right hand and a faint chill whips through the air.
Kejak tries to sneak an arrow through the rushing crowds but in his effort not to hit any people he ends up hitting only the cobbled street. Josie and Inc both prove less comfortable with being in a real fight together than they would like too, and neither manages to hit the goblin before them.
The goblins do react, though, to Ellen's uttered nonsense... their eyes widen and they begin to cower a bit, but not enough to dissuade them from pressing their attack. One of the goblins under the wagon rushes towards Ellen and swings its jagged sword at her.
,
The other hiding goblin rushes forward and swings at Josie while the goblin already in combat continues to attack Inc.
,
,
In the surging crowd, the beautiful Shayliss Vinder passes dangerously close to the goblins as she rushes to meet Axel at the northern wagon. Climbing up behind him she presses her self against his back and wraps her arms around his waist. He can feel her warm breath on his neck as she says, "Protect me, Axel."
Kejak knows his angles of fire are really bad if the people keep putting themselves in the middle. He can't help that, so... maybe he needs another solution.
He gracefully tries to climb the wagon and stand on top, and therefore have a clearer line of sight while avoiding injures to any innocent.
Axel nods and replies huskily, "Any goblin will have to come through me first. I'll keep you and everyone safe!" Of course the question was how, Axel's arms and armor where safely stowed at the in. After all Sandpoint wasn't the kind of place most folk went openly armed, especially on a holy day. 'Come on Axel, think of something!', but he couldn't he was so distracted by the closeness of Shayliss he wasn't sure what to do. He still couldn't quite believe that she was here by his side and that half a dozen Swallow Tails had landed on her. He was sure that was good luck, even if in truth her perfume was slightly on the strong side.
"Maybe I could try and scare them off? I need something big, what if I summon the likeness of a dragon? That'd scare them off... Nah, I don't know what a Dragon looks like, they'd never believe it. Hmmm, oh butterfly, the Night Monarch is kinda big! And it is Desna's holy day..."
Well then he had a plan! Of course Axel didn't really know what the Night Monarch looked like either, but he thought perhaps a very very large Swallow Tail might do. Concentrating furiously his lips mumbled strange words as he visualized a ridiculously oversized Swallow Tail fluttering high above He was careful to imagine it's long shadow stretching over the square, before making it aggressively dive towards the goblins menacing Josie and Inc!
Ellen takes a step back and draws her dagger, a strangely firm and expert grip. Her shadow creeps up from the ground beneath her, enveloping her in a concealing darkness.
The crowd begins to thin as people continue to scatter. Kejak successfully joins Axel and Shayliss in the wagon and finds that he does, in fact, have clearer sight lines from there.
The goblin that had attacked Ellen stops for a moment and stares quizzically at the giant butterfly that suddenly flies above the square. Josie, it seems, may have been momentarily distracted by the illusion as well as she misses once again, but Inc's focus remains sharp and the firecat's teeth make short work of the goblin that had struck the halfling. The goblin that remains next to Josie and Inc snarls as its companion falls, and it slashes at Inc once again.
,
Knowing that there might be a lot of people in danger, Kejak shouts from his higher position.
-Everybody go to your houses and bolt doors and windows!
To grant his words more punch, he picks a goblin that threatens any random citizen and shoots at him.
Axel's illusory butterfly seemed to be distracting the Goblins, at least a little. He'd really hoped for it to be distracting them a lot, 'perhaps' he thought, 'I should try something more dramatic?'
Concentrating he imagined the giant 40' butterfly fluttering up into the sky before closing it's wings to dive down directly onto the remaining goblin fighting Inc and Josie. At the very last moment he had it spread out it's huge wings and fly up again. Visually dramatic, but would it faze the creature?
Ellen slices at the distracted goblin with her dagger. "Uusbi stn ig'fdel gustu," she mutters in the direction of the butterfly.
Kejak's arrow skitters across the cobblestones near the watchmen as they finish off the goblin they were fighting. The goblin next to Ellen is snapped out of its surprised staring as her dagger slips past it's crude leather armor and deeply into its chest. As the illusory butterfly begins to dive the badly injured goblin flees to the southwest. The goblin fighting Josie and Inc seems unfazed by Axel's ruse and presses its attack.
,
Kejak thinks with haste, lots of possibilities overwhelming his mind.
-We should check how did they get in!
Needing a bit of a morale boost, Kejak tries another shot, this time at the one with Josie, to see if he still knows how to use a bow.