Shaeda claims the most comfortable couch, chair, or pillows for herself, if there's not a second bed that is.
Nodding the kitsune replied, "Understood. And again thank you for your hospitality. We appreciate it."
Derric found a corner and after taking some pillows he puts them down to rest on after taking his armor off. He begins to write down in his journal before he goes to sleep.
Leokian asks Shalelu quietly when the opportunity presents itself "You know the Halfling you said? Is he acting quite normal?"
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Shalelu looks at Leokian and smiles assuingly. "He's been through a lot...and wasn't really a people person to begin with, so taking all that into consideration yes. Then again it is a bit odd for him to let us stay but I'm sure he's just showing gratitude for saving him from that thing."
:D
Damien and Leo fight like a well oiled machine. The more heavily armored Leo moves steadily, covering their sides while Damien darts in and out, using his rapier to open up wounds in their opponent's open flanks. Any enemy that attempts to follow Damien's movement is met with a swift slash from Leodegrance's longsword. Their style of combat is steady and methodical, and the two seem to anticipate each others moves brilliantly. Derric clearly recognizes the brothers.
"I'm going to herd this one," says the heavily-armored man. He twitches his head slightly up. "Next opening." He raises his shield slightly and then starts advancing on one of the goblins as if he's going to overrun it, using his shield not just as a blocking device but as a wall - slowly and inexorably closing in, which, if done well, will push the goblin past his brother and into an enclosed position.
Damien grinned.
"Ready when you are!"
He slid fluidly behind Leo, thrusting with his rapier as he went, ensuring that his brother's back was free of attacks.
"Does anyone know the social rules regarding this situation? If we help them, are we entitled to split the bounty on those, or are they likely to be upset that we poached their kills?"
Damien paused for a moment, sharp ears overhearing the comment over the din of battle.
Well, that's pretty damn mercenary...
Having a moment, he spared a glance over, and spied his old friend, Derric. Damien couldn't help but grin and he called over.
"Long time no see, Fuzzball! You going to give us a hand with these, or do you suddenly have something against a little heavy lifting?"
Upon awakening, Derric smelt coffee.
"Hmm...coffee. Praise the heavens for coffee...," he said half awake. After eating breakfast, and thanking Walthus for letting them stay the night and for any supplies he may have given them, as well as for pointing out where the goblin camp was, Derric hummed a tune that Ameiko taught him as he followed the others as they reentered the swamp.
Upon seeing the two men fighting the goblins, Derric was about to answer Shaeda when one of the me yelled out to him, calling the kitsune 'Fuzzball.'
"I know only one person who would dare call me that...Damien Tarrant!"
Sighing a bit and rolling his eyes, Derric answered the halfling priestess, "I don't think it matters. Besides that's Damien Tarrant. And I'll bet my tail that's his brother Leo Tarrant. I don't think they'll care if we lend them a hand."
Quickly taking out his katana, the kitsune samurai prepared to help out his friends. Giving out a hell that sounded more like a bunch of barking, Derric charged one of the goblins slicing through it with his sword.
Damien laughed as Derric charged. 'Fuzzball' always earned his ire, and by know the kitsune was surely ready to slice some Goblins!
Derric wove in, joining the brothers, and the goblins were even more sorely pressed now.
"Hey," Damien said, panting, "You guys remember that thing that one time with the Sczarni who were trying to break into The Hopeful Hagfish?"
Damien was referring to a crime the three had foiled, somewhat miraculously, considering they had all been deep in their cups when they stumbled across it. Derric and Leo had switched positions, crossing forward in a sort of X. The one in the center had been left confused, unsure who to attack, and in that moment Damien had taken him out. After that, Leo and Derric had easily defeated their single opponents.
It took them a second to remember, as it always does when someone tries to remember their actions when blindingly drunk. When he saw that they had recalled, he set his feet.
"Ready?"
Leo brings his shield around and changes his facing to prepare his defense for crossing the field and replies, "Whenever you are, big brother."
She didn't need to ask where the kept Muun. She had felt the wolf's presence on the other end of the camp. The goblins treated him well, as was to be expected considering how goblins adored wolves. All she felt from her furred friend was concern for her safety.
Assuming Derric would remember, Damien cried out "Now!"
As the two moved, the one in the middle froze. Just for a second, it's brain was running through possibilities, trying to decide which one to swing at. That was all the time Damien needed to step up and puncture it's throat.
"Ha!", he cried out, exulting in his triumph. He looked over to his brother and Derric, ensuring that the remaining Goblins were giving them no trouble.
Shaeda will join the fight, practicing her disarming skills with the whip.
Derric remembered that time.
"Ah yes that time," the kitsune said, "I remember that adventure quite well."
After that, he quickly beheaded another goblin, slicing clean through its neck. However, the goblin stood there motionless, whimpering a bit it's eyes moving about. Its didn't know what was wrong and why he couldn't move and also wondering if the strange dog-man had missed.
Derric grinned, wagging his tail as he poked the goblin's head off of its body with his sword. As soon as the head fell off, the goblin's lifeless body tumbled down as well.
Leo, meanwhile, seems quite content to interpose his shield and serve as a distraction, keeping the goblins occupied with swinging their dogslicers ineffectually against his armor.
The adventurers now outnumbered the Goblins, and overwhelming them was easy. Damien cleaned his rapier off with a rag, then gave Derric and his companions a friendly salute.
"Fancy meeting you here! I'd guess we're all out here for the same reasons. Derric, why don't you introduce us to your friends?"
Seeing that there is little chance the goblins can put up a serious fight against their numbers, Leokian decides that he will not expend his limited spells to hasten the inevitable. He hangs back and waits for it to be over.
With the goblins handled, Shaeda figured she would let the "de-earing" ceremony be left to the more barbaric of the group.
"Introduce us to your friends," she requested.
Nodding his head while cleaving through two goblins, Derric introduced the other members of the party to the Tarrant brothers.
"You know of course, Shalelu. This here is Shaeda Stormborn, a priestess of Calistria. She works at the brothel back in town. She did save my life yesterday when we were ambushed by a strange and deadly swamp monster."
"And this here is Shalelu's cousin, Leokian Trasandoral. He's a wizard...I think. He has a spellbook so he's got to be a wizard right?"
"And these here are the Tarrant brothers, Damien and Leodegrance. Leo is a paladin of Iomedae. Damien fancies himself as an detective."
"And as for reasons we are here to put a stop to the goblins before they hurt more people like Shalelu and Ameiko. Plus it also prevents the goblins from ever attacking Sandpoint," the kitsune said.
Leo smiles charmingly as he's introduced. He sheathes his sword after giving the blade a quick wipe, and offers his hand to each member of the other group, even squatting down to say hello to Shaeda.
"Goblins have been a constant menace for as long as I've lived in Sandpoint, and my brother and I decided that this would be ideal - earn a little extra money and keep the goblins from being a problem for our home town for a few seasons," he says. "Damien was able to find the signs of this group's passage and we thought it would be best to take care of them while they were away from their base of operations. We figure that they have to have a tribe somewhere in the swamps here, and we were just wondering if it would be something we could handle together, or if we'd need a little help, so this is a fortuitous meeting!"
Like Leo, Damien shook each person's hand in turn. Something about the way Leokian was introduced piqued Damien's interest. He'd be sure to keep an eye out when the man cast spells. When Derric called Damien a "detective", Damien rolled his eyes.
"Ugh, Derric, we've been over this. Detectives are lawmen. Lawmen are rank amateurs. I am practiced in the sublime science of deduction!"
As no one else went to do it, Damien grimaced and set about the work of taking the Goblin's ears as trophies. He certainly didn't relish the task, but he set himself to it as Leo explained why they were there.
"Yeah, I'm thinking there's probably going to be quite a few more of them. With Goblins, I think there's safety in numbers. So what do you say? We join up, do something good and split the profits evenly?"
"I think we should join up. I'm not too concerned about profits, as long as we make sure the goblins pay for what they did to Ameiko!"
As soon as he realized what he just said, the kitsune quickly added, "...and Shalelu! And countless other innocent victims of their attacks! Not to mention, we have to take care of that sinister swamp monster from yesterday. I don't want to think about facing that monster again, but we have to make sure it doesn't attack anyone else."
"Sure," says Leo easily, "The goblins have been a constant scourge to Sandpoint, and they always come in large groups. Best to work in a team -- better odds for us. Have you seen any signs of their passage? Any indication of where we might find them?"
"And what's this about a swamp monster?"
"Who did that to you?" She motioned for the pile of dead bodies using her head, "Must be some real nasty folks."
Derric explained to Damien about the swamp monster.
"Pretty much the monster has the legs of a dog, and downright demonic looking face. What you need to be careful of is its claws. Somehow the monster is able to inflict feelings of rage into its victims causing them to become angry at others. Not sure how it's able to do this but it would be wise to be careful if we encounter it again."
A great peal of thunder rends the sky, greenish lightning arcs between the clouds and a driving rain appears as if from nowhere. The swamp seems to grow darker and colder within a moment, though some hours remain before sundown.
Daichi sways on his feat, spots dancing in front of his eyes. His head feels heavy and he tries to focus on what he was doing. He was... he'd been helping Ameiko at home and then... why was he here again? Something about hunting? His head throbbed and for an instant it reminded him of the nights he awoke from one of his panic filled nightmares. He slowly drew his hand away from his bloody nose, staring at the red stain on his skin like he wasn't sure how it had gotten there. "I... do not feel quite right..."
Jayna shakes her head to try and clear it. She wipes the blood off on her sleeve. "What? What happened? I swear I was just at the Dragon. This place is awful. What are we doing here again? I'd really rather be at the Dragon. It's warm and dry there."
Derric rubbed his nose and then stared at the blood he had just wiped away from his nose. His world spun around. He had known that the gods would sometimes play tricks on mortals but the kitsune had never thought he would be one touched by the whims of those higher than him. He tried to remember what was going on...
Memories started to flood into his mind....
Holding Ameiko's hand as he saw her injured body....agreeing to go after the goblins to prevent them from harming others after learning that they have been using fireworks to attack caravans, travelers, and Ameiko...his neck being ripped open by a strange and ugly monster...someone saving him...exposing a strange shapeshifter and rescuing a halfling swamp warden...and then meeting the paladin in the swamp...
As his mind tried to make sense of his memories and organize itself, Derric shook his head.
"Ugh...I feel like someone hit me upside the head with an adamantine kitchen sink...ugh..."
He blew his nose on a cloth trying to clean his nose of any more blood. His fur was drenched by the rainwater.
"I hope no one minds but I'll probably be smelling like a wet dog for a while. But I guess that's a good thing since goblins fear dogs. Plus a two legged walking talking dog might unnerve them and send them running."
The samurai laughed a bit trying to lift the mood.
Jayna looks around for the voice she heard calling out. She tries to look through the gloom for others.