The hobgoblin sits up as the healing energy washes over him. "Thanks," he says gruffly. "Yes, I am telling the truth. What brings you here. What happened to my companions? I don't hear their idiot babbling."
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"If your companions were those goblin outside, they blocked our way into this cave. They fared no better than the Water Wraith." Calon says, nodding to the dead reptile.
"What else can you tell us about this 'deserter' and the human he was working with?" he asks as he drops the weapons in a pile with the sword. He gives one of the potions to Gaurm and holds onto the other until they decide what they are going to do with their prisoner.
Gaurm takes the potion, but looks at it for a moment before saying another quiet prayer to Torag.
The hobgoblin nods his head slowly, "Yes they wouldn't have posed much of a problem, I see."
"I will tell you when I can. The swine I hunt deserted our company several weeks ago... after stealing something from our leader. He sent out a few scouting parties, most of which didn't return as the coward fled through Ashwood territory, but one party picked up his trail along the Skull River. Goblin tracks hiding in the brush outside Ilsurian, the Human town down the lakeshore from here. My group was sent to scout along the lake, where we... questioned several groups of locals. They talked about bandits accompanied by a goblin. Apparently the little bastard had made some friends. We tracked the fools here, apparently they've been using it as a hideout for the area, but when I got here the place was empty. Only... that," he points at the Water Wraith.
"You want my opinion? I think I know where they are, but it might be messy. If you give me a blade, I'll find them for you."
"That's not going to happen. How about you just lead us there and then we decide how you can best help?"
You believe that the hobgoblin is telling the truth, and you can tell that he's also telling you more than he's supposed to.
At Mal's comment, he shakes his head and laughs deeply. "No, you don't get it. We don't have to go anywhere at all. I bet you find your quarry... there," he points a finger at the Water Wraith, and laughs some more.
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Calon nods and picks up the hob's sword.
"Well, I did want to know more about this creature. Hopefully I can accomplish two tasks at once." he remarks as he calmly starts dissecting the water wraith. While trying to learn as much about the creature as possible, he will pay close attention to the contents of it's stomach.
"What I want to know is why the hell it's all the way out here at all." Mal says with a shake of his head. "Water Wraiths are wetlands creatures, like crocodiles."
Immediately Calon notices that this lizard's skin is thicker and the scales are more numerous and layered than he'd expected -- it must have been acclimated to this temperature some time ago.
He slices open the Water Wraith's gut and spills open the contents of its stomach. Through the murky, acidic waste, the shape of three distinct humanoid figures come sliding out onto the floor with a sickening splash. One of them is distinctly smaller than the others, and the hobgoblin snarling says, "There he is, the ungrateful little idiot." He rises and angrily moves to inspect the goblin if you'll allow it.
The other two figures are obviously human. Chunks of flesh are ripped out and missing from all the bodies, which were obviously ambushed, drained, and unceremoniously eaten.
The bodies' items are relatively intact, and he retrieves all of the goods and places them on the floor next to the gore. All three bodies have leather pouches filled with some money and other valuables, and each of the bigger bodies had a dagger strapped to it. This is what you find:
2 daggers
84 gold pieces
49 silver pieces
1 set of masterwork thieves' tools
1 set of broken masterwork manacles
1 iron key (same metal and style as the chest on the other side of the room)
5 dark red, shaped stones
The hobgoblin sits impatiently but silently and watches you collect each item into the pile. He stirs briefly when its clear that you've finished, but continues to keep his mouth shut and wait, knowing that he's got little choice in the matter.
Mal picks up the manacles and immediately starts checking the damage and testing the hinges.
Picking up one of the tools from the tool kit he stuck it into the locking mechanism and realigned something.
Something clicks into place. Mal smiles.
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Calon spreads his hands and mutters મેજીક શોધો as he looks at the items recovered, then picks up the money, the stones and the key. He looks at the stones in the torchlight for a moment and then walks over to the chest to open it.
"You can take a look now." he says to the Hob.
If the key does not work, he will call Malcom over to see if he can 'finesse' the lock.
Gaurm simply stands near the entrance to the cave, making sure they are not surprised by any more arrivals.
Mal knew enough about magic to have a rough idea when someone was seeing something that he just couldn't, and he knew that not everyone could see the same sorts of invisible auras.
He whispered a prayer to Abadar and watched Calon and the gemstone he held, his eyes faintly flickering with light colors around his pupils.
Calon doesn't know what the stone could possibly be, but Malcom detects an evil aura around it.
Seeing hesitation once the pile was completed, the hobgoblin asks, "Can I inspect the corpse and its belongings, now?"
Inside the chest Calon finds several more items and large bags of coins and another bag of valuable jewelery. He finds a total of:
320 gp
1 emerald bangle (100 gp)
2 golden wedding bands(65 gp each)
1 masterwork silver shortsword
20 silver-tipped arrows
3 scrolls wrapped up and tied with dirty twine
1 locked box w/ no key, inscription: Property of A. Riel
Kirra's eyes widen as she sees the contents of the chest.
"Those arrows and the sword are weapons of my order, the Knights of the Sword and Sickle. A brother or sister must have died here."
"That stone ain't no good at all." Mal says, suddenly very concerned. "Whatever it is, the world would be a lot better off if it were destroyed."
"That might well be true, but some magic ain't exactly conducive to peace and love, you know? Also, regardless of if magic isn't good or bad, that rock is full blown dag-nasty Evil. Like the kind that comes bleeding off demons and priests of Asmodeus. I don't know what it's for, but it ain't nothin' good."
With a growl at overhearing your conversation, the hobgoblin speaks up, "That rock is more than just a rock, it's true. But it's stolen property, and it's my job to bring it back to its rightful owner."
"If you think I give a single damn about what your job is, you've got another thing coming. Right now your job is to sit there and try to be as helpful as you can so I don't decide to shoot you on principle. That rock is evil, and so are you, and as far as I'm concerned that's a good reason to make sure you never get your hands on it."
"Now what the hell is it?"
The hobgoblin sighs deeply, closes his eyes, and visibly relaxes himself.
"I don't know what it is. It's as I told you, I only know that it was stolen by a deserter and I was sent to retrieve the scum and my master's property."
"But you can do with me as you please: there is still plenty of time to pay for standing in our way," the hobgoblin gives a bestial grin, showing several sharp, yellowed teeth.
Gaurm steps into the Hobgoblin's line of sight, setting the head of his massive hammer on the floor in front of him, "Save your threats, or be silenced."
Gaurm looks to Malcom, "Are you sure the stone is, in itself, an evil thing?"
"Abadar doesn't tend to tell me wrong about these sorts of things." Mal says with a shrug.
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Calon puts the stone and scrolls away with a sigh. "Why don't I just take it back to town where I can do a bit more research on it. If it is dangerous, I can find a way to destroy it."
He puts the coins and jewelry back in the sack and picks both it and the box up.
"What are we going to do with him? I do not think he is going to give up on getting this gem back." he asks indicating the Hob with a nod of his head.
"I have an easy solution. Give me the evil stone."
Mal shrugs. "Bein' an evil bastard ain't actually against the law. I don't think he's done anything he could be put on trial for. Don't like it, but we might as well send him back home."
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"That's the problem. I do not think he is going to go home, he has already threatened that he is going to get the stone back. Even if he does go back, he will probably return with reinforcements.
The only options I can see are either we kill him now and hope that others from his tribe do not come after us, or we see if we can destroy the stone right now in front of him so he has nothing to retrieve. Which still would not rule out him seeking revenge.
Unless anyone can come up with another option?"
"As I said, hand the stone to me. Then there will be no further conflict over the stone."
Gaurm has a look of confidence on his face as he extends his left hand palm up. His right hand firms its grip on the huge hammer.
Mal shrugs. 'Alright. Give it to him."
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Calon takes out the stone and looks at it sadly for a moment. He hated the thought of any magic being destroyed; there was always new things to learn, new paths of enchantment that one might never have thought of taking before.
Reluctantly, he hands the stone to Gaurm while giving a spiteful look at the Hob. He was to blame for this...
Gaurm takes the stone in his hand and looks to the hobgoblin, "I am sorry that your mission must be a failure, but we do not allow evil to exist where we can eradicate it." With a silent prayer to the Forgefather, Gaurm releases the destructive energy into the stone.
A fine red powder drifts down from Gaurm's closed fist.
The air around you suddenly grows hot and the smell and sting of smoke pries at your senses. You open your eyes confusedly and see your companions staring at you; then the world blows up and you are blasted back away from where the red stone lay.
Gaurm holds the stone in his palm and goes into a meditative pose. He is silent for a few seconds, then you hear him gasp deeply as his shoulders suddenly sag. The stone falls with a clatter to the ground and the room is burst open unexpectedly with furious fire.
Responding on pure animal instinct, Kyrra starts moving even as the stone falls from Gaurm's fingers, spinning as she moves, the flames washing past her.
Reflex
Initiative
Stunned by the results of his attempt to destroy the stone, Gaurm simply stares at the explosion as it washes over him, flinging him back towards the cave entrance.
Sonofa!" Mal curses as he hits the ground protecting his head and letting the worst of the blast wash over him.
Rolling to his back he drew down on the hobgoblin, sure that the creature was going to take the opportunity to go for the stone and run.
"Don't even think it, Hob."
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Calon feels a strange shift in the eldrich energies of the stone and leaps back a split second before it explodes. He avoids the worst of the flames, but is still singed badly.
He stands up, his hand ready to fling a bolt of force at the Hob, who surely was expecting this. He hadn't tried to stop them because he knew what would happen.
I knew this was a bad idea. My teachers back at the Academy had continually told me to always be sure of what I was dealing with, before trying anything with unknown magic.
Initiative order:
Mal
Hobgobling
Kyrra
Calon
Gaurm
As the smoke and shockwave settles, the Hobgoblin springs to his feet and launches into a wild dash for the stone! Malcom is prepared, however, and a plume of smoke floods the air as he fires his pistol.
Mal's bullet takes the hob in the shoulder, spinning him and dropping him like a sack of rocks to the stone floor. A new pool of blood begins spilling, adding to the scorched, gorey mess that's already there.
The smoke clears and everyone else seems to be more or less okay: at least you're all alive and transportable.
The silence having finally settled... what next?
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Calon stands and brushes the ash from his clothing. He walks to the stone, puts his hand close to see if it is still hot, then touches it lightly. If it feels safe, he pulls out a handkerchief, picks it up and puts it away in his pouch.
"We are not going to try anything else with this until I have had time to research it." he says firmly.