Ventus walks in stiffly and sits down at the table, periodically glancing from Ameiko to the door and idly rubbing his bald pate from time to time. All in all, he looks highly uncomfortable inside the Rusty Dragon and would likely not be here if given half an option.
Doran enters along with Ventus, sitting with a nod to the Lieutenant. He has a calm look on his face, though still looks a bit weary from the morning's events.
Eli looks a little haggard as he walks in. Haunted by this morning's events, he is quiet, and even a little jumpy. He orders strong tea and sits with the others.
Pirknok enters behind Ventus and Doran, watching his surroundings intently and hesitating for a few seconds before taking a seat to Krojun's left.
"Thank you for coming. Please sit down. There's someone I would like all of you to meet", Krojun explains with obvious fatigue in his voice.
The woman smiles and leans back in her chair.
"This is Shalelu Andosana. She's famous around Sandpoint for a few things but first-most as a bounty hunter. Her apprentice is the elf Doran bested at the archery competition."
The woman smiles slyly and offers the group a slight bow at the introduction.
"Her favorite bounty is goblins and she knows everything there is to know about them."
At this point Ameiko excuses herself for the kitchen quite loudly.
The dwarf listens, frowning a few times and glancing between Ameiko and the elf a bit uncomfortably. He nods slightly toward Shalelu to acknowledge the introduction, then looks back at Krojun as if expecting the Thundercaller to continue.
"It seems that if the group of you are set on laying siege to Thistletop to stop whatever is going on there, you're going to have to get through a good number of goblins to do it. Shalelu can help in that regards."
The woman speaks up at this point.
"Yes, I have killed a good number of the vermin in my time but it seems to me this group of heroes doesn't necessarily need my help killing goblins - they seem plenty capable of that on their own. I would assume what they really need is information."
"We'll take whatever help we can get, our last few fights have seen all of us with various degrees of injury," Ventus says with a grimace.
“There are five major goblin tribes in the region, and, traditionally, they’re pretty good at keeping each other in line with intertribal squabbles and the like. Yet from what I’ve been able to piece together, members of all five tribes were involved in the raid on Sandpoint. A fair number of the Mosswood goblins I dealt with yesterday were already pretty
beat up, and there was a lot of chatter about the ‘longshanks’ who interrupted their attack during the festival - that would be you. Seems like you’ve made an impression.
“In any event, the fact that the five tribes are working together disturbs me. Goblin tribes don’t get along unless they’ve got something big planned or something strong or cunning enough to manipulate them into obedience. I’m afraid that someone’s moved in on the goblins and organized them. And judging by these recent raids, what they’re organizing seems like bad news for all of us.”
"Do you know anything about their leader and what they hope to gain by bringing this army against Sandpoint?"
Ensu ponders how to respond before finally speaking quietly. "Their leader, from both journals that we have recovered that contain relevant information appears to be Nualia, a priestess of Lamashtu looking to cleanse herself of her celestial 'taint'. Their purpose is simple; destroy the town of Sandpoint as an offering to Lamashtu and, as a secondary benefit, feed the recently awoken runewell beneath the town in some ancient Thassilon ruins. The runewell and the ruins around it have been dealt with, at least for now; Nualia sits in Thistletop, so that is where we go next. Taking out Nualia won't likely take care of bigger issues currently hiding in the shadows, but it will resolve the immediate known threats, and that is as good as start as we can hope for."
Gaze flitting from Ameiko to the Elf woman, Ysme walks over to Ameiko, whispering softly to her. "What's wrong?..
Besides the obvious." She adds, referencing the previous day's & night's events.
Ysme remains silent as Shalelu shares her knowledge of the local Goblin 'situation' & Ensu reveals his own information. When he mentions Nualia's name she pays particular attention to Krojun & Shalelu's reactions.
Doran listens to the Elven woman attentively as she speaks. When Ensu answers her question, his face goes from a neutral expression into one of concern and discontent. "E'erythin' goin' on seems t' be related... an' in th' worst way possible," he adds.
Eli's eyes widen as Ensu outlines what he's discovered. "You think she'll send the Goblins after the town again? What if she knew we destroyed the runewell?" he asks, agitated.
Ameiko says nothing but motions for Ysme to follow her.
***
Shalelu considers Ensu's words.
"Well if there's any truth to what you're saying, letting the goblins break themselves on the walls of Sandpoint will just further the goals of the ones holding their leashes. No, simply killing the vermin isn't going to work..."
"At their core, the goblins are a cowardly lot. If you kill their leaders, likely all hiding in Thistletop, they will scatter back into the wild again. Hopefully, by the time they gather their wits, they'll have gone back to squabbling among themselves again."
Pirknok scratches his beard thoughtfully. "They hev wits?"
"They do and you shouldn't forget it. Despite their appearances goblins are clever. Do not underestimate them, especially in numbers. They can be cruel and deadly when they puts their minds to it."
The dwarf frowns at the rebuke, but says nothing.
After a few moments, Pirknok speaks up, though the frown remains on his face. "How menny leaders do they hev, uther than thuh wun Ensu sed?"
"That's the troubling part", Shalelu explains.
"I spent some time going through the dead - goblins slain during the attack and those rounded up and slain in the days since. And among them, I found the bodies of many of their chieftains. The only ones left are Korvus, a goblin known for very big among his kin, and Chief Ripnugget. Whoever is pulling the strings is powerful enough to get three influential goblins to march into Sandpoint to their deaths."
Shalelu considers the group and then leans over to fish something out of her pack. She produces three vials, a bundle of herbs, and ugly talisman made of bone yellowed with age. She lays the items on the table.
First she points at the vials.
"This is concentrated Bowae oil. Goblins are normally allergic to it but this stuff is enchanted making it deadly to them. Apply some to your weapons if you find yourself in a tough spot."
Next she gestures at the talisman.
"That's a goblin shaman's dog bone fetish. Show it to any goblin and they'll be impressed - they think it brings good luck. Wear it if you want them to be in awe or you could try offering it as bribe."
Lastly she picks up the bundle of dried leaves and slides it directly in Eli's direction.
"That's an herb I had imported from Katapesh. The healers there use it to help addicts come down from pesh binges. I've heard about your wife and though I know she's not dealing with the same problem, hopefully it'll do her some good."
"I have reason to believe that we have only just scratched the surface of the real trouble, but these things should help us tremendously against the immediate problem at least. Perhaps once we are done dealing with that, we'll have found enough more clues to proceed to the dealing with the next challenge before it gets out of hand as well."
Ameiko says nothing but motions for Ysme to follow her.
***
Ysme follows Ameiko.
Ameiko shuts the door behind you and sets down the serving platter she'd been working off of.
"I apologize for not being a proper hostess tonight, Ysme. Seeing Shalelu has just opened... old wounds", she explains.
"Did you know I used to be an adventurer?"
The dwarf's frown changes to something a bit more thoughtful. "There wuz uh big goblin en thuh tunnuls... never seen wun thet big before. Evin had three arms."
Shalelu, was it?" Ysme replies.
"How many Goblins are we likely to be dealing with at Thistletop? Shouldn't we vall in the army for this?" Eli asks.
Eli looks shocked that Shalelu knows of Marysin's condition. He grabs up the herbs, glancing at the others. Desna help me... What do they know? If Shalelu knows what happened, who else knows?
"No, it wasn't her fault, at least not entirely. One of our companions was killed during one of our adventures and we both blamed ourselves. In our grief, we said some things that neither of us could take back. After that we parted ways and I came here to run the Dragon."
"The thing that makes seeing her again so hard is that... during our time together we became more than adventuring companions..."
***
So...
You...
Miss her?" Gathering herself, Ysme considers.
"Perhaps you should talk with her. If you feel you said things you shouldn't...
And she feels she said things shouldn't, perhaps you should see if the damage fatal after all?"
"It's just a period of my past that I wasn't ready to think about. Maybe I'll never be ready."
She pauses to consider the suggestion.
"I don't know if now's a good time. We're on peaceful terms at least. With all that's going on it seems like it would be selfish of me to bring our history up."
Shalelu offers to stay up and share a drink and a story with anyone that is interested.
Krojun, however, declines and stands up to retire (and make up for lost sleep from the night before). Before he leaves he invites Pirknok, Ventus, and anyone else that's interested to join him in the training yard in the morning.
***
Pirknok declines the offered drink and story with a yawn and heads to the hospice for an early night.
In the morning, he arrives at the training yard for drills, looking forward to a workout that's not a fight for his (or someone else's) life.
Ensu will return to Brodert's cellar in the morning after a good night's sleep before trying to meet again with Father Zantus later in the day.