The group makes do with fish and mushroom stew (true to the halfling stereotype, Walthus seems to be a good cook) and then settles in for some rest. Those who brought bedrolls and traveling gear take naps wherever they can find the space.
The next morning Walthus is up and out before dawn, fishing in the bay just behind his house. As the group starts to slowly wake up and shake off the sands of sleep, he slips inside to indicate that he has already made some hot tea and a huge stack of warm pancakes with early salmonberries from his stash of flour -- normally, he explains, he'd just use the flour to make biscuits, but this seemed like a special occasion.
As the day dawns the party is well-rested and can pursue whatever lead they prefer.
Hiro helps Walthus prepare dinner, and thanks him for the magical cloak on behalf of the group. After the meal the Tian man insists that the halfling rest while he cleans the dishes. As the party beds down for the night, Hiro offers to help treat those wounded by the shapechanger.
"So what is our plan for the day?" Hiro asks the next morning as the party partakes of the sumptuous breakfast. "Head back to the coast road and then take the old fish trail to the goblin village? Or is there a way to cut through the marsh and get there from here?"
"I wouldn't cut through the marsh directly," says Walthus through a mouthful of pancake. "You'll wind up slashing your way through weeds and sloshing through rivers and making all kinds of noise. Stick to the roads, unless your goal is to flail around and attract attention."
"The old fish trail sounds like it leads straight to them, and we'd have less trouble crossing, but the goblins will know that's the only way to their camp, so I think they'll know we're coming either way." Kenji offers.
"But, I prefer to fight on dryer soil." He says with a halfhearted chuckle. A night's rest seems to have taken the edge off his self inflicted shame. He eats the pancakes and is thankful to Walthus for providing the food.
Though not the most comfortable with it, Lyraesel allows Hiro to treat her wounds, appreciating his skilled work, and falling into a relatively peaceful sleep.
Awakening at dawn she slips outside, finding a quiet spot amidst some trees to meditate. Slipping out of her clothing, she sits skyclad, surrounded by the natural world as she communes with nature, calling upon it's power.
Once she is done she opens her eyes, placing her hands on the worst of her wounds as she channels the power of nature to speed up her body's ability to heal.
Dressing, she heads back inside.
Waking up early Magnauk steps out side and completes several forms with sword and shield at the same time chanting prayers. His movements are fluid and his eyes are closed throughout the practice. Once finished he cleans his armor, shield, and weapons to the best of his abilities.
Walking back inside he sits down and listens to the others.
Well it seems we should take the roads then
Looking to Lyraesel, Are you fine to travel today? We could delay another day to get you in a better condition if needed.
"I am still hurt but functional. Every day we wait, the people we seek are more likely dead. And the goblins have more chance to attack the town." Lyraesel says quietly.
Jinda digs into the pancakes with gusto. "Roads were made to be used, I figure it would be faster to head down along them, then attempting to hack our way through the marsh. Do you know anything about the tribe, Walthus? How much time do you think it will take for us to walk to the tribe's village? Oh and these pancakes are divine!
"But, I prefer to fight on dryer soil."
"I agree," Hiro states as he sits down next to Kenji after filling his plate with a second helping of pancakes. "And the less attention we can attract the better."
"Once we make our way back to the coast road, we'll only be about an hour from Sandpoint. We could go back to town, see if Father Zantus could heal the rest of our wounds, and then be back to the marsh by late afternoon. I feel it would be best if we were all at full strength when we confront the goblins," Hiro suggests, glancing concernedly toward Lyraesel and Jinda. "However, if we feel that time is of the essence, I am fine with heading toward the goblin village now."
"I feel it would be prudent to discover this goblin village's location, and since the little buggers are generally nocturnal we might be able to scout the location in relative safety," considers Jinda. Starting in on his third plate of pancakes, he gestures with his fork in a decisive manner, "Though we must be particularly more careful in determining threats before we engage."
Looking at everyone
Settled then we go back and use the roads. Lets be off
Turning towards the halfling and bowing slightly.
Thank you for your hospitality
Kenji thanks Walthus for his hospitality and will be the first one to step out of the house. He steps aside and takes the moment everyone else is coming out to compose himself. Another battle could be only two hours away. He had to be ready this time.
He gives Lyraesel a forced smile. "If you're still in pain, go ahead and stay by me when the fighting starts." He offers, not exactly wording what he's trying to say right. Probably something along the lines of wanting to protect her since she's already hurt.
"I'll keep that in mind." Lyraesel replies with a hint of smile.
The trek out of Walthus' house along the trail is serene. A light rain drizzles down and gray clouds scuttle along overhead, but it's not significant enough to hamper travel. The marsh seems to absorb the water eagerly. As you cross the bridge nearest Walthus' house, the rivers are running fast, but not jumping their banks nor coming up to the level of the road... yet.
You make your way back to the coast road, then further south until Lyraesel spots the weedy trail that heads southwest, as Walthus described. You cross over another bridge, this one a bit worn and beaten up, and deep into the marsh again.
A heavily overgrown brush-covered spur of the trail turns off to the south-southeast, headed toward a cliffside in the distance that borders part of the marshland. The main Old Fish Trail continues southwest. Based on Walthus' description, you think the goblin village is in the direction that the main Old Fish Trail goes, but it's possible that following the spur to the cliffside and then climbing up might give you a better view of the low-lying marsh valley.
"Hold on." Lyraesel says raising her hand. "If we continue along the Old Fish trail is should take is straight to the goblins, but you see this spur?" she says pointing to an overgrown offshoot of the trail.
"If we follow this and then climb the cliffs, we may be able to see the goblin village from above."
"I like this idea." Kenji blurts. "We can get a better grasp of what we're dealing with."
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"Sound tactical thinking," Hiro concurs with Lyraesel and Kenji, clapping the young man on the shoulder. "Let's go climb those cliffs."
The trail spur is heavily overgrown and looks like it hasn't been used in quite some time. It leads to the crumbling cliffside that borders the southern edge of the marsh, which is itself covered with weeds and tangled thornbushes. In fact, the cliff itself probably demarcates the boundary line for the marsh because runoff comes down the side and collects in the marsh before running into the bay.
The cliffside isn't especially sheer -- it's essentially a steep hill made of crumbly soil and rocks all held together by plant roots. Climbing it is easy for anyone who's not extremely heavily armored or encumbered (DC 5 Climb check; you may take 10). Once you reach the top you can see that there is flat ground that is much drier than the marsh, and over to your west another pathway is visible as it snakes down into a different part of the lowland and heads off to the northwest.
Atop the cliff you have an excellent view of the marsh. Of course, much of it is covered by huge mangroves, cypress, and willows. Nevertheless, now that you've trudged through at least part of it, you can see the Old Coast Road that runs all along the east side, and which follows the rise outside of the marsh until it crosses the Soggy River somewhere southeast of you. You can just barely make out part of Walthus' house among the greenery, because it abuts Sog's Bay and you can see the clearing out back behind his house that is adjacent to the water.
You can also see the path that you took and where it branches. At the end of the Old Fish Road, sure enough, is a ramshackle village. It is made of twigs and reeds bound and twisted together, and pieces of discarded driftwood. Everything about the village is small and shoddy. You peer for a while but see nothing moving aside from the occasional bird. From this distance it's impossible to really tell what's going on, but at a glance it looks abandoned. Maybe the goblins are sleeping during the day?
The boy clambers up the cliff side easily, and will be glad for the solid ground under his feet. When the group gets to where they can see the village, he squats at the edge of the cliff and squints down the way, trying to see anything of import.
"I don't know." He says, shielding his eyes with his hands."Do any of you see any of them?"
He also scans the marsh for signs of the other team that had been sent out. He's looking for glints of metal, stuff that's out of place, a large cluster of carrion birds. Stuff like that.
The only signs of people are in the far distance to the north -- a small campfire along the northeast side of Sog's Bay, probably from a fisherman. There's no sign of the missing adventuring company at all.
"This is a nice viewpoint! Ahh. That looks like a goblin village. Lyraesel, are you feeling up to exploring it up close?"
Hiro scrambles up the cliff with his companions and gazes out over the marsh.
"I don't see any goblins moving about," Hiro replies in response to Kenji's query. "Perhaps they rest out of the sunlight during the day? This may give us the opportunity to sneak into the village and tackle small groups of them stealthily before they can raise an alarm. Can anyone determine from here which structure might likely house their chieftain?"
... over to your west another pathway is visible as it snakes down into a different part of the lowland and heads off to the northwest.
"Yes I am well enough to go on. Goblins hunt and operate at night. They could all be asleep." Lyraesel says quietly. "The chieftian will live in the biggest house. Goblins are greedy, selfish little animals." she says in a growl.
... over to your west another pathway is visible as it snakes down into a different part of the lowland and heads off to the northwest.
The westernmost path is too far west to go to the goblin village, and there's an unbridged river between it and the village anyway. It heads west across a different fork in the river and quickly vanishes under the weeds and trees, but you think there might be another small shack out by the edge of Sog's Bay roughly in the direction that it leads? Maybe? Certainly nothing as large and lavish as Walthus' place.
"Well then, let's head for the goblin village before we lose the advantage of daylight."
Kenji pops back to his feet.
"Well, we better-" he hops back away from the cliff edge before he loses his balance. "-get a move on if we want to catch them unaware."
He seems ready to go.
Climbing down the rise, Jinda calls back to Kenji,"Well time's a wastin', lets get on down there lad."
Once the group clambers down the hillside, it's only a short hike to double back to the Old Fish Trail and then down to the ramshackle village. You get there before 2 o'clock -- plenty of daylight left.
A filthy village-fort surrounded by a crude wooden palisade sits atop a low hummock of solid ground here. A wooden gate in the north wall of the palisade lies in shambles on the ground. Nearby, a large, algae-filled pool on the northeastern side breaks the palisade and allows a clearer view into the village’s interior, which consists of a collection of ramshackle huts connected by wooden walkways, all built on thick wooden stilts.
The village is eerily quiet, though you hear the occasional rustling noise. It's impossible to tell immediately whether it's from something humanoid in the buildings, or just wild animals.
The Old Fish Trait leads straight to the aforementioned palisade wall's broken gate. Just beyond the gate is visible a large heap of burned ashes and remnants.
A foul, cloying smell permeates the area, more akin to a butcher's shop than to a swamp.
"What is that smell?" Hiro whispers, his nose wrinkling with disgust as the group studies the smashed gate and the quiet village beyond.
"Shall we enter through the gate? From its condition it appears someone has already beaten us here... perhaps the other adventurers? Unless the gate has always been in that condition - these are goblins, after all."
"What is that smell?" Hiro whispers, his nose wrinkling with disgust as the group studies the smashed gate and the quiet village beyond.
"Shall we enter through the gate? From its condition it appears someone has already beaten us here... perhaps the other adventurers? Unless the gate has always been in that condition - these are goblins, after all."
Kenji is crouched low, but is very alert. He is familiar with the smell of burnt hair and skin from firsthand experience, and the pile in the village doesn't bode well.
"We should be quiet, either way." he whispers. "I think someone else has been here... keep an ear out"
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Jinda stretches, cracks all the knuckles on his hands and then in a clear voice says,शक्ती थर मला घेरतात. A quick shimmer, and waves of force surround Jinda and then fade away.
"We had better get exploring before it gets dark." With that, Jinda marches up to the front gate, being careful to not step on anything noisy.
You sneak up to the broken gate, and you can see that it was battered down from the inside, oddly.
Validating Kenji's fears, the large charnel pit appears to be filled with small burned bodies.
You sneak up to the broken gate, and you can see that it was battered down from the inside, oddly.
Validating Kenji's fears, the large charnel pit appears to be filled with small burned bodies.
"Yep... This is bad." Kenji murmurs. "I thought I smelled burnt flesh. But it doesn't look like they died on accident."
"The question is, are those the goblins or something killed by the goblins?" Lyraesel whispers.
"Why would the gate be battered down from the inside?" Hiro muses softly, stepping forward to examine the gate and the ground surface around it for any clues as to what may have happened here.
Kenji will move cautiously into the camp, stepping lightly around the gate. He is keeping an eye out for any movement from the huts. Is there any signs of violence around the buildings?
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Moving into camp with sword and shield at the ready.
It may be that something got into the village that the goblins were trying to escape. Maybe the other adventurers or that creature that we discovered.
looking around Magnauk mutters to himself and begins to slowly look around.
What ever it was it may still be about so be alert.
Upon closer inspection, it looks like the bodies in the muddy bier are goblins, cremated.
If serious violence took place here, it's left its mark in the broken gate and pike of burned bodies, but wasn't recent enough for tracks of fighting to still be on the ground.
The area remains devoid of scavenging animals. Normally, raccoons, rats, and other scavengers would be all over a ruined village like this. There are some crows hanging out on the rooftops, but that's about it.
Moving into camp with sword and shield at the ready.
It may be that something got into the village that the goblins were trying to escape. Maybe the other adventurers or that creature that we discovered.
looking around Magnauk mutters to himself and begins to slowly look around.
What ever it was it may still be about so be alert.
Magnauk concentrates briefly as he advances into the village, but doesn't sense any evil nearby.
"This isn't natural." Lyraesel whispers "Scavengers should have picked this place clean. And nothing natural burns its prey but doesn't eat it."
"Yeah. And nothing looks..." he swallows his gag reflex. "Appetizing."
He moves cautiously towards the closest hut, his curiosity starting to get the best of his caution.
Kenji moves cautiously toward the hut on the west side of the village just inside the palisade. There's a ladder that goes up to the rickety wooden boards above the marsh, and the stout hut on top of the platform. Hiro advances to keep the youngster close and out of immediate direct danger.
The ladder seems sturdy enough, though made for small people, and even as you come close, nothing seems to stir from the hut.
Lyraesel advances, staying a bit behind the otheres but keeping a sharp eye out for trouble.
Hiro silently waves to get his companions' attention and points to the ladder nearest to him. The samurai then climbs the ladder and moves to stand to one side of the door of the hut, listening for any sounds of life inside.
Hiro silently waves to get his companions' attention and points to the ladder nearest to him. The samurai then climbs the ladder and moves to stand to one side of the door of the hut, listening for any sounds of life inside.