As the Goblin vainly attempts to claim his weapon, Irnk pulls it back, slashing across his foe's chest. "Ou pa envulnerabl, jis estipid."
As the Goblin falls, his life blood flowing out, Irnk drops down to staunch the flow. "I did not come here to murder moun ki!" He hisses, glaring at the others.
Avan stares at the scene before him with hidden surprise He was trying to kill you, why bother trying to save him? Avan scratched the back of his head before returning to his stance and surveying the area around them once more.
"We need to get what we came for or we'll end up fighting more of them" He shouts to Irnk. His expression still unchanged.
At Avan's words, Irnk turns, his features displaying a level of expressiveness beyond that you have previously come to expect of the goblinoid races. "Do you even know what you came here , janm wotè?" He calls back, adding. "Also, yelling in a village which has just seen most of their warriors & defenders slaughtered by undead when they don't like you anyway...
not the wisest thing, just saying."
Apex stays silent, clutching her staff in the same worried manner, but moves closer to Avan when Irnk makes the comment about yelling.
If... They attack again, I make the wind around hard like armor... If you want me to....
The yelling pulls Sybil out of her fighting mod, controlling her shaking, she fully lowers her crossbow before tapping on Apex's shoulder.
"Do not worry miss Stormshard, it seems that we are safe for now."
The dwarf heads for the ladder on top of which Irnk is taking care of the fallen goblin. As she does so, she turns toward Avan and Gao.
"Gao, mister Avan, keep your eyes open and make sure no goblins take us by surprise."
She then proceeds to climb up the ladder to reach Irnk. There, she makes a small pushing motion implying that the paladin should come down, followed by a few whispered words:
"Irnk, although I respect your will to protect him, I do not believe that he will survive that wound surrounded by his tribe members... maybe you should simply leave him... unless you believe you can bring him back to civilization to get him healed. Well, did you learn anything about the skeletons, the origin of the fireworks or anything relevant to our mission?"
Shaking his head at Sybil's words, Irnk replies, hastily. "This village's 'heroes' found the fireworks & something else in some derelict ship they found further out in the swamp. The skeletons came for the box, whatever was in it was important enough for them to wipe out about half the village to get it back. That relevant?"
Apex stays silent, clutching her staff in the same worried manner, but moves closer to Avan when Irnk makes the comment about yelling.
If... They attack again, I make the wind around hard like armor... If you want me to....
"That would be helpful" He replies, nodding to Apex as he kept watch. Avan didn't really understand much about the arcane but from what he had seen of the blue haired wizard's feats was enough to give him an idea of how useful it was to have an expert at manipulating these energies on your side.
Yes, yelling in a hostile environment was not wise, but if there were more enemies they would have shown themselves now and Irnk himself admitted that most of the warriors are dead, so all that leaves is the villagers Could they be suicidal? Avan didn't know the answer to that but he knew he wanted to be out of here if there was nothing more to be gained from staying here.
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Now that you have some time you notice the pen (the circle you can see in the Battle Map) is filled with charred remains. They seem Goblin, and they seem from several individuals. They seem somewhat recent. The "room" you enter after climbing the stair is some kind of roofed watch post. You can see the surrounding area from there. no items of notice here.
No sound comes from any building. The place seem deserted.
To the East the charred remains of a hut lie destroyed. It seems, older, than the charred bodies, as if it was burned before the attack.
A wet cold wind chill you spine. Whatever happened here was fast and hard.
Sybil is able to contain her reactions to Irnk's impolite answer. She takes a moment to evaluate Irnk's answer and its implications and continues with the conversaton.
"Then, do you know whether any of the surviving goblins peaked into the box before it was stolen? Whether they still have fireworks? and where is the boat where they found the fireworks?"
"From what they," pointing the the three fallen forms nearby, "said, the only survivor likely to know what was in it is the Chief. Who I was trying to get them to take me to." Irnk seems to deflate somewhat at the last words. "You want to know where the undead took it? Follow the trail." With that he points off vaguely away from the village.
Apex sighs at Irnk and Sybil's quarrel, and then speaks meekly.
Can we... Leave here soon please? The air.... it's full of death and sorrow. Whatever happened here was... terribly brutal....
Irnk rolls his eyes at Apex's obvious timorousness. "That depends on what your intentions were in coming here." He replies, his tone mildly less harsh than before. "It looks to me that the Licktoad aren't going to be much of a threat to anyone for a while, fedatifis or no."
Scanning about the village, he continues. "I can probably go & talk with Gutwad about what was in the chest & where it was found, but it would be better if you lot went away first."
Mister Irnk, I think I know how you feel... I am sorry about what happened here.... It was... Terrible. Please... Don't think I want to leave because.... because.... What I mean is.... The wind here is sad. It clings to me like a lost child, begging me to fix what is wrong in its world.... And I can't.
She looks over at the burnt bodies, the destroyed homes, and then back up at Irnk, her grip a little less nervous and her eyes a little less scared.
I wish to leave to spare you the feelings that you are surely feeling. You are a kind person, a good person, and I don't think you deserve to have to face this.
The breeze picks up slowly around her, playing with the ends of her blue hair, lifting it up and letting it fall.
What she doesn't see is that the grass at Avan's feet sways ever so gently, the breeze softly rolling off of her shoulders and making its way lazily to him, where it gently fades away.
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The Building at P15, that should be the Chief's hut.
Licktoad Village Battle Map
Put the link in the campaign "Header" too.
Listening to the words of Apex finally drew Avan's attention away from keeping watch for attackers to the devastation that was around them. The burnt remains of those who had lived here, lay motionless but they told the former gladiator much of what happened here...the sight of them poked at one of his memories; a village he had passed by on the way to Sandpoint, its houses were razed to the ground, blood, charred wood and still bodies were all around. When he inquired on what had happened here he was told that bandits came through, took what they wanted and destroyed everything else...Avan didn't understand, not the desire to own something or the desire to increase your wealth, that he understood and understood that some people would go to any lengths to achieve that, but what did wanton destruction and murder do to further this goal? Nothing He answered his own question mentally as his eyes fell on the charred skulls of one of the fallen Even as an intimidation tactic this fails...if you push people this far He looked at his right hand, the hand he used to murder his former master You get people like me Further contemplation of the matter was blown away from Avan as a breeze played with his messy blond hair, stuck his sleeveless shirt to his back and pushed at the hems of his wide trousers and the grass surrounded his feet.
Avan turned his face toward Apex, it wasn't hard to see the effect this place was having on her and all of them for that matter, his eyes shifted to Sybil, to Galford and finally to Irnk before he walked to the middle of the group with surprising confidence and purpose in his step "If you wish to meet the chief of this village on your own that is fine, but we'll remain here until your done, I've seen enough of Licktoad diplomacy to know that they lack any understanding of the word" He said, the expression on his face as cold as his voice "I can see that they've suffered but that doesn't mean I'll just stand aside if we are attacked, If someone tries to kill you or any of us I'll kill them" The words rolled of his tongue with surprising ease.
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Galford studies the devastation, the entire conversation by Irnks and the rest he ignores. At Sybil's requests, the tengu merely nods his head. Tharjuk's death still a pain to the young bird but he does what his aunt asks him to do.
Irnk was strange. He argued with that goblin then , slashed him and then treated him. Oh Mother, how I could do with your insights. He laments even as he keeps watch.
"You're a rather hard man aren't you Avan." a statement rather than a question as Galford notices his calmness.....no that detached expression as he speaks.
Sybil listens to the opinions of the different members of the group. Even though she hides it, she is taken somewhat aback by the coldness of Avan's answer. Muling it over, she turns toward Irnk.
"Seeing that most of the warriors seem to be here,"she gives a look at the bodies surrounding them."I think we should be safe from the chief. As such, I would like to come with you and hear what he has to say about the box and everything that happened here."
"Kill?" Irnk blurts at Avan's pronouncement. "The only time the Licktoad have actually killed any of you Longshanks was back about the time 'lanmò ki rayi'-" Abruptly, Irnk stops. Shaking his head, he turns & makes his way past Avan & the others, towards the largest single building in the village. As he approaches the Chieftain's hut, he calls out
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As Irnk moves about the village half a dozen goblins come out of several huts.
At first sight they are unarmed, hands up. A couple approaches the Goblin Irnk stabilized.
At second sight you notice they don't seem to be attacking, and some are hurt. Some of them chant.
"Dili magpatay... "
"They are asking you not to kill them...
Or they are promising they won't try to kill you. Take your pick." Irnk calls out to the others as he faces the hut.
"I've already said I wouldn't attempt what they won't" Replied Avan, as his neck shifted from his left shoulder to his right, then returned its natural position, finally his right hand reached his left shoulder and began massaging it "Or something of similar meaning" He adds as he looks to the sky for a few moments before turning his attention towards the goblins.
Sybil gently motions for Avan to calm down and walks up to Irnk. Still holding her crossbow, she unloads it and put the bolt back in the quiver in her backpack.
"Tell them we will not harm them if they let us talk to their chief. Also, once we get an audience with the chief, we can ask him to give us back the remaining fedatifs, if there are any." she whispers in Irnk's ear.
The dwarf takes a step back and prepares to follow Irnk inside.
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The Goblins reach the one Irnk saved:
"Iyang giayo siya sa!
"Siya dili gusto sa pagpatay kanato"
"Siya mao ang lig-on!"
"Atong paghimo kaniya nga pangulo sa mga!"
More Goblins start coming out, and they start chanting...
"Pangulo! Pangulo! Pangulo!"
Irnk bellows upon once more raising his head after it's inevitable slump in response to the villagers calls.
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From the chief hut a extravagantly dressed goblin emerge, with 4 armed goblins behind him. All the Goblins stop chanting when he gets out.
"Who is that who challenge me, the Chief of the Licktoad tribe? Who dares face chief Gutwad? A pet of the Longshanks? I will kill you all and feed my tribe with your flesh! Run, hide, get away before I destroy you!"
"Felisitasyon, ou ka pale lang yo." Irnk replies, flatly. "Pèsonèlman, mwen te ale nan kenbe sa a ant ou menm ak mwen," he continues, "men depi ou evidamman yo vle sèvis ofrann bèt pwòp ou a assouvir pwòp Evaris, kupidite & san swaf dlo ou a, Mwen ta kwè mwen pa etone ke ou ap eseye touye bèt n'ap ofri plis toujou tou senpleman pou konsève pou kache regrèt ou soti nan pinisyon an inevitab ki te ap vini yo."
"Personally, I was going to keep this between you and I, but since you obviously are willing to sacrifice your own to sate your own greed, avarice & blood thirst, I suppose I'm not surprised that you will try to sacrifice still more simply to save your sorry hide from the inevitable retribution that was to come."
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Chief Gutwad scream!
"Sa pagpatay kanila!"
Only the goblins behind him move to attack.
The 4 guards charge forward against the heroes!
The goblin that attacked Sybil suddenly finds himself unarmed, as his dogslicer breaks when gets trapped in the Dwarf alchemist leather armor.
Chief Gutwad goes to the back of the Throne Room and lights a firework. The foot-long wooden tube begins to shake and emit a handful of white sparks, shedding light as a torch.
With his warning ignored, Avan drops into his stance, his cold eyes glaring at the goblin that broke its dogslicer on Sybil's armor. As quiet as a shadow he shifts towards the goblin, his guarding hand snapping forward and striking at the goblin withs its edge, his right knee followed, and by utilizing its movement as a step forward he unleashed fierce palm strike with his right hand that was in rhythm with his stepping motion, that caused a small cloud of dust to erupt around his right foot.
Glaring at Gutwad, Irnk unsheathes his own blade, converting the draw into a draw-cut across his opponent's torso.
Apex hears the goings-on with Irnk and Sybil, and rushes out the door. Her eyes seem fierce this time, and her nervousness is gone, replaced with a steel resolve. Her usual slumped shoulders are straight, and her eyes aren't looking at the ground, but instead the goblin chief with the firework. Her voice is calm and cold as she speaks.
You will not harm my friends. The wind will protect them.
She holds her hand out, and the air begins to harden. Once it's nearly completely opaque, she throws it at the goblin. It becomes a snaking blast, almost like a tornado that's forming and making its way o the ground, except this one is snaking its way in and out of the people fighting, unerring in its path to the chieftain. When it hits him, it hits him square in the chest, exploding with the resounding boom of a blast of thunder.
Before acting, Sybil cools her head and tries to find a way to stop the fighting.
The firework will likely injure the chief and his goblins, if I could stop it, maybe even these stupid goblins could come to their senses and stop the fighting.
She looks at the firework and analyzing its pattern, tries to figure out whether acid would cause the firework to explode or to cease burning.
Seeing as there does not seem to be a way to avoid the explosion of the firework, Sybil takes a few steps toward Gao. As she does so, she grabs Avan and pulls him further away from the emminent explosion.
"Stay far from the fedatifis." she yells to Irnk.
"Wh-?" Irnk gets out, just as the sputtering, out-of-control firework goes off.
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Irnk sees the rocket fly out towards Chief Gutwad, and exploding in a bright flash.
Thanks to Sybil warning he is able to avert his gaze, and besides some white specks, he is able to see, and hear, even if he will talk a little more louder than normal for a few minutes.
The scene in the chief's hut is sad. The burning corpses of his guards lie on the ground, while Chief Gutwad seems a little charred, but not really affected.
"Ako adunay daghang mga sa mga kalayo bangkaw! Kon atake sa kanako kita sa tanan nga mga sa pagsunog!"
He grabs another firework from his clothes, and readies to fire it up if you attack him.
"Stay out." Irnk's tone is flat, dead, level. It's very lack of inflection imbues it with all the emotion needed. This is not a request, it's not even an order. It is simply a statement of what will happen.
Irnk all but spits at Gutwad as he steps inside the remains of the hut, his Dogslicer at the ready.