Pirknok shakes his head as if to clear it. "Sahry, ah... jus' wuz wurried." He reaches out and touches Ventus' shoulder to reassure himself of the other's alive state. At the ranger's address of someone else, Pirknok turns and his eyes grow wide as he takes in the other's appearance.
Kaplan extends a hand toward the hippogriff. Creatures he was used to, people...not so much. He pulls a potion from his large, bulging backpack and offers the healing liquid to the magical beast.
He nods at Ventus. "The name's Kaplan..."
How long had it been since he spoke to someone? Twenty years? Maybe more? Yet, the situation required him to actually communicate. This was going to be hard.
Two dwarves? I wonder if they'll fight now, Jessamy thinks, looking around. The new one seems nice enough. I mean, he healed my wounds. Which reminds me, next time I need to be heroic without diving through fire.
She looks around and satisfied no one else is about to attack her, starting pawing through the assassins' gear, hoping to find some clue who they were.
Jessamy finds little on the assassins identifying them or who they represent save a small pin on each with an emblem similar to the mask the spellcasting assassin was wearing.
Their equipment appears to be of standard quality with the exception of the assassin's blades. They're made of a silvery material and are incredibly light.
Jessamy looks around. She looks back at the swords. She looks around again and then back at the swords. She sighs heavily.
"Does anyone else want one of these?"
Please say no, please say no, please say no. They're so shiny!
"They've also got these mask pins. Anyone recognize them?"
Pirknok glances up at Jessamy. "Huh... thet looks like thuh same kinda metul as mah armer! Looks like sum nice weppins, but ah got thuh Kaijitsu sword ah gotta keep onneruble."
He raises his eyebrows. "Hey, maybe you kin ruhdeem those'uns an' make 'um onneruble too!"
Jessamy grins at the dwarf's words. "Really? You mean it?"
Pirknok looks around at the others. "Ah don't see why not... weppins shud be treated with onner, an' used onnerubly."
Turning to face Jess, his face grows serious. "Ar you gunna do that?"
"Yeah, I think so. I mean, I only plan to use them if someone attacks me. Or someone else who doesn't deserve it, I guess."
Eli moves over to the others and looks over their wounds.
He pulls a vial from his belt and drinks it as he does so.
"Welcome to Sandpoint, and thanks for the help." he says to the newcomer. "If any of you still want some healing, we can go to the temple or back to my shop where I can whip up some Infusions."
He then walks over to look at the fallen wing-wearing assassin to look over his belongings. He was throwing bombs. Have I met another alchemist?
Pirknok nods in satisfaction at Jessamy's response, pausing only momentarily with a puzzled expression on his face. Huh? She's planning to use them on someone who doesn't deserve it? Must be one of those things where they say one thing and mean something completely different.
At Eli's address of the newcomer, Pirknok turns back to the other dwarf and studies him once again. After a few seconds, he tilts his head slightly. "Namek fikor, mar nukik nak rik."
"Well, thank you Kaplan. I'm Ventus, that's Pirknok, Jessamy, Eli, and this is Beaks," Ventus said distractedly as he looked over the dead assassins as well. He was still not in great shape but the killers had been thwarted and that was enough for now. No doubt, the rest of the guard would be on the way so it would be best to stick with the scene of the crime for now.
After a hand signal from Ventus, Beaks dipped her beak into the healing potion and used it to preen around the edges of her wounds. The healing energies suffused the wounds quickly, closing the worst of it.
"I prefer to not use the Shoanti tongue, son," Kaplan says, wringing his hands. "That was a long time ago and I have chased a different path since then."
Pirknok frowns, puzzled and slightly offended. "But... yer markings ar uv us. How kin you not want ta talk yer own langwij?"
"The spirits o' nature have laid their claim on me since I was a lad. When I was sent to the Shoanti, the spirits followed me. Now I follow them...the Shoanti knew. That's why they never gave me one o' their names," Kaplan explains. "But I needn't be explainin' my life. There's trouble brewin', so the spirits say."
Pirknok being offended was something Kaplan was used to, it's why he preferred not to speak. He possessed no tact, but, hopefully, these adventurers would see past it for the moment.
"No need to tell me that twice," Ventus says, grimacing as he brushed some ash from Beaks' mane. "Something tells me the Magnimar guard rounded up the wrong 'brotherhood' to put to the sword."
The younger dwarf listens thoughtfully. Is he disowning who he is? That's disgraceful... but maybe he's not. Maybe he's just... different. He wasn't kicked out of his tribe, or his skin would show it... so his tribal elders understood, and accepted...
His brow furrows slightly. Can I question their judgment?
After a few seconds, Pirknok nods... acceptance, acknowledgment and affirmation.
"My visions have made no sense lately..." Kaplan says, pausing for a moment. "I...I'm not usually the askin' sort, but I need to know what you know."
"We're with the guard here in Sandpoint. Between the goblin raids and the undead killers, it seems like there are greater forces at play in this town. We thought we stymied the conspiracy earlier but it is looking like we merely put our foot in it. Eli, can you fill Kaplan in on the weirder stuff? He might be able to help."
"Do you think we should go to Magnimar ourselves, Ventus? I don't see anything on these to tell us who they are or who sent them..."
Jessamy suddenly starts and goes pale.
"Oh my stars and garters! What about Ysme? Did they try to attack her too?!"
Eli hands Pirknok another vial.
Eli sighs and nods. "Let's go somewhere after we've cleaned up this mess." he says. He then looks at Jessamy. "Ysme... Where'd she be now? We need to find her." she says.
"Thank ya, Eli." Pirknok says, nodding gratefully at the alchemist before downing the potion.
"Probably at the chapel? I can go look."
Picking up the two new swords, Jessamy heads for the chapel where she last saw Ysme, keeping an eye out for any lingering attackers.
"Who is this Ysme?"
"A friend of ours. She'd still be in the chapel and likely as much of a target as us. I'll go ahead." With that Ventus mounted up and guided Beaks into the sky with a gentle touch of her flank. He wheels once overhead to get his bearings before darting off to the chapel.
Ventus reaches the area first but it takes the rest of the party several minutes more of pushing through the crowded city streets as a panicked mob flees from the cathedral square.
The scene is one of chaos, bodies litter the square, all scorched to near ash. The unnaturally beautiful Ysmerelda is alive and well as are Zantus and a pair of elven women in ornate dresses - newlyweds no doubt. Ysme flags down Ventus as soon as she spots him.
"Thank the goddess you're alright", she says. "We were attacked!"
The young woman's expression quickly changes when she notes the wounds the party bears. "I guess you were too."
Ventus nods in greeting and dismounts, wincing as his injuries reminded him of their presence.
"Needed to make sure you were alright, kid," He said, "There are a few more dead back in the square."
Eli makes his way through the streets, but something distracts him and he looks back the way he came for a moment, a worried look passing over his face, but he presses on, carried by the urgency of the task at hand.
Eli sighs in relief when he sees Ysme safe. "I'm glad you're okay. You as well Father!" he says. "Is anyone hurt?" he asks.
”We’re okay”, Zantus quickly answers.
”But I couldn’t save them”, Ysmerelda laments. ”Who would do something like this? Who would attack us in broad daylight?”
Pirknok addresses Zantus. "You ever seen masks an' symbuls like that?"
Zantus studies the mask.
”No, never in my life”, the middle-aged man says with a worried shake of his head.
”I’m sorry, I have to go try to get things under control. Excuse me”, Zantus says as he runs off to calm the crowd.
Pirknok scratches his beard thoughtfully. "Huh. Ah gess we better try an' fin' out wut kind uv mark this is..."
"I'll have a look at their symbols later. Right now I need to go see if Marysin is okay." Eli says, his face slightly pale. He rushes off on his way back to his shop.
Eli rushes home to find his wife wringing her hands and nervous. She embraces the moment he steps through the door with incredible relief in her voice.
"I was so worried", she says on the verge of tears. "I heard you were attacked on the streets. That mad men set the square on fire..."
Pirknok follows Eli long enough to make sure the alchemist's wife is safe, then frowns. "Ah'm gunna go see thuh Sheriff."
When he finds Hemlock, he shows him one of the assassins' pins and asks if he's ever seen its like before.
Pirknok (and others?) find the sheriff in front of the Sandpoint barracks, giving orders to a troop of guards. Giving the lieutenant a nod of greeting, the group take off to see to their orders. An anxious Hemlock quickly waves the party over when they come into view.
"Where in Hell's name have you been? Killers attack Sandpoint in the middle of the day setting Sandpoint aflame and my lieutenants are all missing. Gods above I wish Krojun were still here."
"We had to make sure Ysme was OK!" Jessamy exclaims defensively.
"You know, after we stopped the killers! Now we're trying to figure out who they were."
Hemlock takes a breath and nods at Jessamy.
"Is Ysmerelda okay? What did you learn?"
"She's fine. And nothing. That's why we came here, to see if you recognized this pin."
Hemlock takes the pin and studies it. After a long moment his eyes widen slightly at some silent revelation and he nods to the party.
"Come inside. We need to talk."
Kaplan follows the group reluctantly. He was a stranger among these people and he was not yet sure they had accepted him.
-Posted with Wayfinder