The furnace room of the Glassworks is a testimony to the destructive power of bored goblins. Severed arms and legs lie in piles, some covered with rapidly cooling glass sheets. These ghasly creations are in homage to the glass covered man sitting in the middle of the room. It looks as if the man were alive when covered with layer after layer of molten glass which has now cooled around him, turning him into a macabre mummified decoration.
Closer inspection reveals the glass-covered dead man to be none other than Lonjiku Kaijitsu, father to Ameiko, and proprietor of the Glassworks.
Muttering something, Viro takes a moment to reflect on his amazing heroism before he takes in the glassworks. He does a double-take as he notices the man encased in glass before turning white.
"That's horrible! Oh Gods, what have they done to Ameiko then?" Doing his best to keep down his lunch, Viro starts inspecting the room for any clues or remaining valuables.
Besides the poor quality arms and armor of the goblins there is nothing else of value in the workroom of the Glassworks.
"Lonjiku was an arrogant prick, but no one deserves this," Bruin managed to say after a long pause. "I think it's pretty clear that this Tsuto guy was behind the goblin attack somehow. But, why? Revenge? He didn't need to do all this for a chance to kill Lonjiku."
Bruin sighed.
"Let's keep going. I'm worried about Ameiko."
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"The goblins may be the 'other complications' he spoke of. Either way, enough dawdling - there's hero work to do!"
Viro gives the door in front of him a listen before opening it.
Bruin quickly gathered the group together.
"Receive the healing embrace of the Starsong."
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While Beromar obviously saw the tail end of the goblins running down that long hallway, Bruin wants to be sensible and check the doors, leaving nothing behind them.
Opening the south door, the party sees they have entered the front display room for the Glassworks. Floor length windows dot the circumference of this round room. Each is fully curtained allowing little to no light inside, but the room is still fully illuminated by a skylight in the ceiling which allows the morning sun to enter, creating hundreds of reflections from the cut glass edges of the myriad of ornaments, bottles, windowpanes and trinkets for sale here. The pattern of rainbows and clear light is a bit dazzling after the darkness of the hallway.
Little else of interest is here however.
Argh!" exclaims Beromar crossly. "Hot after them I say. You can take yer damned time window shoppin' later."
Pushing along, Viro yanks open the door to the southeast of the group.
Nothing in the room detects as magical, and the presence of so many breakable items still in good condition means the goblins likely have not been in here yet.
Opening the other door in the room reveals a hallway with many other doors set into it. All the side doors appear to be storerooms of one kind or another, none of which are of particular interest or concern to you. One holds more finished glass items for resale, another has cleaning supplies and the like, and the last holds miscellaneous supplies for the live-in work crew, like linens, firewood, etc. No goblins appear are in or appear to have been in any of these areas.
Eventually the hall ends in another door.
Bruin puts his ear against the door to try to hear something useful.
Afterwards he lightly puts his hand on the doorknob and says, "Alright, gents, on three. One. Two. Three!"
He opens the door.
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Hearing nothing from behind the door, Bruin pushes it open and gasps with astonishment. The room, which looks like a combination dining hall and dayroom for the live-in staff, is a wreck. Tables are broken, standing on three legs, chairs are overturned or smashed to splinters. Dishes lie broken all over the floor.
Worse, smears of bright red blood are everywhere, little goblin hand and footprints included. The main blood trail seems to start near the door where Bruin stands, and lead across the dining hall to the door where Beromar is.
This appears to be the same bloody trail you followed into the Glassworks furnace room, but this is closer to where it started, rather than where it ended.
No more goblins remain here, although the reminders of their presence are everywhere.
"I'm not sure, if I want to see where this leads, but let's continue."
Bruin opened the next door.
It is apparent that the Lonjiku's skilled glassworkers all slept and lived here. The beds are all in various states of disarray and blood is splattered all over the walls and sheets. It is obvious the goblin invasion caught the staff sleeping here and the dirty work began in this place.
Only one body is present, hacked to pieces in a corner, the rest were hauled into the furnace room and used in the various grisly experiments you witnessed there.
"I really hate goblins," Bruin said looking green.
"Great, now every time I smell oranges I'll think of this. Horrid little bastards!" mutters VIro as he stalks after Bruin, checking door after door.
Checking out all the rooms in the Glassworks, the heroes find a storeroom, a meeting room, a kitchen, pantry and washroom all part of the regular operation of the glass factory. Nothing seems unusual or amiss in these rooms, except for in the meeting room (A11) where the blood stains from the murdered staff pass through on their way to their grisly end in the glass furnaces.
"I keep hoping to find Ameiko tied up and alive. Checking these empty rooms is disheartening."
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"Well, I don't... -think- I've seen her amongst the corpses? Considering what they did to her father I imagine if we find her it may be similarly, uh, spectacular." Viro's face is green as he picks through the devastation of the glassworks. His fake Varisian accent has almost completely fallen away.
The two remaining room turn out to be an empty office, and a prep room for the key components of glassmaking (soda ash, lime, and sand). As much as fun as a passel of goblins could have with these alchemical ingredients, it doesn't appear the little gremlins have been in here at all.
That leaves just one door unopened. Pressing against it you expect to find the corpse (or worse) of the innkeeper, but instead you see stairs leading down into a dank, dark basement.
Begin the descent of the stairs you see wheelbarrows, sandbags, firewood, and other sundries stored here along the walls to the south. A brick wall to the east has been broken inward messily, bricks, debris and detritus still stand there as testimony.
Hallways go in both directions here.
Bruin casts a spell of light on the end of his crossbow. "On your toes everyone," he whispered.
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Following the right-hand wall, the group of heroes finds more stored supplies, sand, salt, and metal flakes, stored in the basement. A hallway, about 25' long leads east. Two wooden doors line the hallway before it turns back to the north.
Bruin silently gestures to his comrades to approach the first door to their right. As before he assures everyone is ready and then opens it quickly.
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Viro remains near Bruin, both of his weapons drawn and obviously on guard.
Bruin sees or hears nothing about or behind the door. When he opens it, he finds another store room full of windowpanes and other large glass objects. The shelves are lined with scores of other smaller glassware.
Nothing unusual or worthy of your interest is present here.
The tension was starting to make Bruin feel nauseous. He carried on to the next door.
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Much to the small priest's chagrin, the next door is locked up tight. Looking down the corridor behind, he can see that another make-shift brick wall has recently been knocked in, revealing a passage leading north. Two more doors stand along this, once-blocked, corridor.
"Viro, do you think you can take care of this lock?" Bruin whispered.
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Viro nods and sheathes his weapons, pulling out his small kit of tools. He peers at it a moment and sets to work.
Working diligently, Viroleth deftly uses his picks and tools and after a few moments of anxious watching, the whole group hears the satisfying click as the lock mechanism disengages, and the door is able to be opened.
Pushing the door open softly, Viroleth is taken aback by what he sees. Lying on the floor in the middle of another, mostly empty, storage area is the missing Ameiko. Bound hand and foot, and apparently unconscious, she lies on her side, still as death.
A quick look around confirms there are no other threats in the room.
Viro lets out a gasp and drops his tools before he rushes in, quickly removing her gag and cutting her binds.
"Thank the Gods, she's at least survived. Her brother obviously wanted her assistance and so... I am so confused. Bruin! Is she okay? Will she live?!"
"One moment, let me take a look at her. Everyone else, watch the door."
Bruin wished he had a little more healing energy left, but he already felt so drained, and he was hesitant to use any more. But luckily his education in the abbey had been well-rounded and he had his medical kit with him. He said a quick prayer, asking for a bit of his lady's luck and got to work.
, = 20
As Bruin blesses the healer's kit and goes it work, it seems his time in all those first-aid classes at seminary paid off. He is able to revive the unconscious Tien bard, who at first is groggy and unintelligble, but she suddenly snaps upright, and cries out: "It's Tsuto! My brother! He is behind the goblins...he's planning another attack...I hit him, and...and...he turned the goblins on me. You...you have to stop him. You have to! I need to go and warn my father. I need..."
And as she is speaking the door behind you, in the hallway opens, and a man in a black hood and cloak steps into the hallway. He sees you in the room next door and hurries down to the next door, calling out "You can have her! It's obvious she won't see reason when it comes to her little town. You can all burn!" He opens the other door, freeing a pair of hungry goblins, as the combat begins.
Tsuto and the Goblins - Round 1
18 Loges
18 White Goblin
17 Tsuto
17 Bruin
16 Red Goblin
14 Beromar
13 Viroleth
Bruin flinched at the mention of Ameiko’s father, but he hoped she didn't notice.
"Your brother is a bit unwell, I take it," he said instead after Tsuto's ravings.
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Loges steps up bravely as the new threat appears against his friends!
He waves his hands, producing some colored sand as he pronounces arcane words.
School illusion (pattern) [mind-affecting]; Level bloodrager 1, magus 1, sorcerer/wizard 1
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (red, yellow, and blue powder or colored sand)
EFFECT
Range 15 ft.
Area cone-shaped burst
Duration instantaneous; see text
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes
DESCRIPTION
A vivid cone of clashing colors springs forth from your hand, causing creatures to become stunned, perhaps also blinded, and possibly knocking them unconscious. Each creature within the cone is affected according to its HD.
2 HD or less: The creature is unconscious, blinded, and stunned for 2d4 rounds, then blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, and then stunned for 1 round. (Only living creatures are knocked unconscious.)
3 or 4 HD: The creature is blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, then stunned for 1 round.
5 or more HD: The creature is stunned for 1 round.
Viro beams delightedly as Ameiko speaks, before letting out a yelp as Tsuto steps boldly behind them.
"Not this day, Tsuto! ... " says Viro in his best hero voice before trailing off lamely.
Tsuto and the Goblins - Round 1 - continued
Acting quickly after seeing the enemy up close, Loges reaches into his spell component pouch, and brings forth a handful of colored sand, which he blows down the hall creating a magical illusory array of swirling lights and patterns. The spell drops both the goblins, who fall into an unconscious stupor immediately, but has no effect on the man in the hooded cloak.
Angered about the loss of his minions, the half-elf charges Loges, smashing the wizard with an open-handed chop to the neck area for 6hp dmg. "You will not interfere with our plans! Sandpoint will burn, and you all along with it!" cries the evidently not-all-there Tsuto.
Viro runs straight at Tusto, and tries to dive past him to set up a flank.
Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me.