Alexei's smile says it all. Of course he won. Surely there had never been any real doubt the outcome would lead to this. He allows the contest judge or (his lovely assistant if there is one) to pin the badge on his lapel and favors the assembled onlookers with a confident half-smile and a wave.
Turning to the young boy who had wanted to be his rival, Alexei approaches and looks down at him with a serious expression.
"You lost today, kid," Alexei says coldly. After a moment's pause, he leans closer. "But that doesn't mean you have to like it."
Standing straight again, Alexei flips one of the two coppers he won to the boy. "Come now. Show me some more games we can challenge today. I am Lord Domashev, but I will allow you to call me Lord Alex while we compete."
The sorcerer waits for the boy to lead the way to the festival games.
Cordwin lets out a low whistle when he sees the Sihedron Rune and he quickly takes out a quill, his log book and some ink and starts to sketch it. I can also understand being too busy with academia! Cordwin says with a hearty laugh. So can ye go into the Old Light? Cordwin asks more determined than ever to get inside of it.
Paldak after his meal and some very brief wandering notices a game testing strength is set up and running right beside the food stall of the Two Knight Brewery. The sign reads The Cornugon Smash - 5 coppers to play!
Paldak steps up to get a closer look at the game. In front of him is a pivot with one weighty rock laying on the lower side of it. The rock rests up against a narrow metal board with a bell fixed to the top of it. It looks like the idea of the game is to hit the raised side of the pivot to see how I you can make the rock fly. On the metal backboard are markings to measure how far up a player has managed to launch the rock. Near the backboard, a finally crafted Earth Breaker is hung, next to an array of smaller prizes, including drinks, the promise of a weekend-long stay at the Two Knight's Brewery, and other items.
The nobleman who contested Alexei in the game gives him a pat on the back on a congratulations on his win. "Well done, sir! I am duly impressed that you managed to even get your 'dragon' moving in the right direction!"
The young boy appeared to be frustrated during the race as he failed to get his lizard to move. He seems to be about to put in another copper piece to play again before Alexei engages him. He would look like he is no more than about seven or eight years old. He takes the copper Alexei gave him and changes his mind about playing again immediately. "Are you a real lord? What are you lord of then? I'm Aeren. I know all the games here. What do you want to play?" he asks. Rather bluntly he remarks, "You don't look like you would do very well in a game of strength." His eyes dart up and down Alexei's slim build.
Brodert replies, "As a matter of fact, I live very near the Old Light and go inside often to further my research. If you wanted to pay me a visit sometime, then I would be happy to show you inside."
Ooooh! I would love that! The Dwarf exclaims as he tries to remember when Alexei said they were leaving town. Is there anything else in this town to see for a visitor like meself who likes ancient history? Then Cordwin remembers something from yesterday. I do want to see something from yer town's more recent history. I heard somebody talkin' yesterday about Jervis Stoot and these birds he used to carve everywhere before he..uh... Cordwin struggles to find the right words Oh Goblin Ears! before he went bonkers an' killed folks. I would like to see one of these bird carvings for meself.
Paldak sheepishly looks around to ensure that he didn't recognize any nearby faces that may have seen him arm wrestle. After a moment, convinced that no one would recognize him, Paldak walks up to the proprietor.
"That's a fine weapon you have there. While I prefer to wield a falchion myself, it doesn't have that satisfying... crunch... when I crush my foes!" Paldak turns and eyes up the game apparatus, then glances back at the proprietor. "My name is Paldak. How do you play?"
Alexei nods in the nobleman's direction. "Patience is the key, my good man. Dragons live for ages, so patience is the key to dealing with them in the now. If you heed that advice, next time it will be you with the winner's badge." His tone is pure seriousness despite the fact they discuss lizards.
Aeren's rapid fire questions don't faze Alexei in the slightest. "Yes, I can claim some titles of lands in the north far from here. It is my pleasure, Aeren. Well met. The field of battle wins the most trustworthy friends and rivals." The sorcerer chuckles. "There are different kinds of strength, young sir, but I do not generally try my hand at games that rely on only the body and not the mind. Games of wit and presence are more of what I would like to try, but I also need to wile away the day. If there are no more of those, we can play at whatever you think you would like to challenge me."
"Well met, Paldak! Just take this mallet here and hit the pivot as hard as you can." He hand Paldak the mallet. "Just be careful you don't hurt anybody. That will be five coppers if you don't mind." He extends his hand for the money.
Chask had continued on with whatever business he was conducting before behind his desk in the shop while Cordwin and the scholar continued to prattle away, listening only half-intently. Cordwin mentions Jervis Stoot and his attention returns. Seriously, he grovels, "If you ask me, the town should elect to have the last of those carvings removed, so we can move closer to erasing Sandpoint's memory of that murderer and rest of the Late Unpleasantness. Our cathedral is rebuilt, dammit! Those events should be buried in the past!"
Quink interjects. "Ahem! My old friend, please calm yourself. This fellow here just has a harmless academic interest, I would assume. I can hardly blame him." Returning to Cordwin, "There are only a couple left, so perhaps I should point one out for you. As a matter of fact, I think that I would do for a bite to eat. I do hope that lunch is not yet over! How about you follow me as I head in that direction, and we can swing by one so that you can take a look?"
Paldak reaches into his belt pouch to fish out the 5cp. It's noticeably lighter after losing the arm wrestling wager. Just thinking about it brought a grimace to Paldak's face.
Without a word he sticks the coins in the proprietor's hands and picks up the mallet while keeping his gaze locked on his target.
Paldak takes a step towards the apparatus then gets into a slightly crouched stance before the tilted board. Then, without further hesitation, Paldak effortly hefts the heavy mallet overhead and brings it thundering down onto the raised platform.
As Paldak forces his swing downward, the torque causes his foot to slip, preventing him from being able to hit the target with his full power. Knowing it wasn't his best, Paldak slowly raises his glance to see his result.
Aeren considers for a moment. "It's hard to think of something that we can do if you don't want to use your body." He continues to think, and his face scrunches up in a ridiculous, but incredibly cute fashion. "Do you like riddles? I know somebody who knows lots of riddles, if you like that kind of thing. They are always too hard for me, but maybe you would be good at them." Without waiting for a reply. He starts to walk off towards the food stalls, clearly expecting Alexei to follow him.
The rock moves up just a little past the first mark on the board. "A decent try!" the man running the Cornuggun Smash proclaims, but his face says that he is disappointed that the huge half-orc did not do any better. "You can make your choice of two of the items from the first prize bracket. What will it be?"
The shelf holding the first tier of prizes houses bottles of ale (courtesy of Two Knight's Brewery),
thunderstones, and several copper miniature hammers designed to look like a tiny Earth Breaker.
After Aeren sets off abruptly, the sorcerer moves quickly to keep up. "You misunderstand me, young Aeren. I did not say I would not be willing to use my physical body for the games, but rather I would not seek out games of pure strength when those of skill, both body and mind, are available." Alexei frowns at the rascal's back for twisting his words.
Then he waves his hand to show it is of little importance. "No matter. Riddles, you say? Lead on then."
Yes, purely academic Cordwin says in agreement to Brodert's supposition. I am curious as to how someone can create images of such beauty and commit deeds so foul. At the mention of lunch, Cordwin realizes it has been a while since breakfast. Yes, I'll follow ye for lunch and the bird art. Thank ye! He turns to Chask, Are ye coming too, Mr. Chask?
Aeren leads Alexei on through the crowd of the festival. After just a minute or so, he espies the person whom we was seeking; She is a resplendently beautiful young Chelaxian woman with long dark hair sitting at a table with some food and a tankard of drink. She beams as she sees Aeren approaching. "Fancy seeing you again this quickly! Who's your friend?" She looks up at Alexei curiously, heavily eyeing his rich clothing and assertive posture. "Did you take him away as a prize for winning the dragon races?"
Aeren laughs at her joke, although oblivious to the suggestive undertones in her voice. "This is Alex. He's lord of something. I brought him so he could hear some of your riddles. I was helping him find a game or something else to do. He seems pretty smart, so I thought maybe he would be good at them."
As Alexei gets closer she stands up. He sees that she is wearing a very dark red lipstick. A gold Andoran medal hangs around her neck depicting a resplendent eagle perched atop a shattered shield. The way she is dressed is suggestive enough to be particularly evocative, but not be scandalous out in the open. She makes a curtsy, but from her smiling but rigid demeanor could easily be playfully in jest. "My name Kasja. How do you do? I hear that you are interested in hearing some riddles." She is still beaming.
Paldak sighs, disappointed in himself. "I'll take a beer I guess."
Upon being handed the beer, he cracks it open with his teeth, and drinks it completely in one go. Frustrated, he walks away and slams the empty bottle into a trash bin with enough force to shatter it. He doesn't bother to look around to see if anyone noticed.
Having gotten his fill of carnival games, Paldak decides to go find one his new found companions and hopefully turn his day around.
The man running the game reminds Paldak to take a second prize before he leaves. "And what will your other choice be?"
As Paldak walks away he hears the game proprietor offering another prize. Tempting as it was to just keep walking, Paldak eventually decides to turn around and walk back.
"Give me another... wait a moment" Just as Paldak was about to grab another beer, the thunderstones catch his eye. "I can choose one of these?" Paldak asks while gesturing towards the thunderstone. "This may actually be useful to me, I'll take one."
Pleased with his new find, Paldak resumes his quest to find one of his companions. For the moment, his attitude has improved greatly, no longer was he thinking about ways to prove his strength, instead he was pondering interesting uses for his new prize.
"It is a pleasure, Mistress Kasja," Alexei says. He places a hand to his heart and leans forward slightly to match her curtsy. "Alexei Domashev of Irrisen. And clearly the first riddle will be to determine how a lady of such great bearing and wit came to be acquainted with the future dragon tamer Aeren."
He gestures to Kasja's table. "Please do not let me keep you from your repast. Since this young rapscallion has seen fit to bring our paths together for the moment, would you mind if I join you? And then we can see about proper conversation and the riddles previously offered. I could do with a spot of lunch myself."
Chask looks up again. Containing himself, he replies, "No thank you. I will stay with the shop for the time being. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." And to Quink. Until the next time, Brodert. Hopefully, I'll have finished your book, and then we will have more to discuss."
Brodert leads Cordwin out of the shop in the direction of Cathedral. Almost to their destination, he turns onto a side street and stops next to a house with a thatched roof. "Look here." On the side of the house just beside the front door, an intricately carved bird, a dove, is carved into the wood. The craftsmanship is excellent. "The man really did have a talent, I do say. Serene, isn't it?" Quink muses. "It's hard for me to believe the man who carved piece of art was a bloody murderer. It makes you wonder about the way the human mind works. Perhaps it doesn't take much to drive a man to madness."
Paldak stumbles through the crowd holding his new found thunderstone infront of his face. Paldak felt that there was more to this stone than meets the eye, but he wasn't adept enough to truly understand what it does. Thinking to himself, he realizes it probably would have been a good idea to ask the person running the game... Ah well.
After a moment or two Paldak finds himself infront of a stall put up by the proprietors of the Hagfish, and he sees Sabina sitting by herself eating some delicious smelling lobster chowder. Paldak grabs some lobster chowder for himself and sits across from her.
"Hello again! Good choice!" He says raising his full bowl in a greeting. Paldak sits down and takes a bite of the chowder, it's much too hot and he quickly spits it out. Realizing he must look rediculous, and that he'll have to wait for his soup to cool off before eating it, he decides to quickly change the subject and make small talk with Sabina. He fishes out the thunderstone that that he had previously placed in his pocket, and disays it to Sabina.
"Any idea what this can do? It's called a thunderstone, and I'm afraid im not familiar with it." Paldak smiles and continues, "I won it in a game of strength!" Paldak decided she didn't need to know the full details. He then waits to see what she has to say.
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Sabina looks up from her chowder looking miserable, then quickly manages a smile as she recognizes the face of her roommate, Paldak. A small collection of empty glass bottles crowds her table, and her pale Chelaxian complexion is flushed. With a clumsy sweep of her arm, she clears the table of bottles and gestures to Paldak.
"Ah, Paldak. Pull up a chair!" she calls out, glad for the company.
She visibly winces as he shoves the piping hot chowder into his mouth before cooling it. She tries to offer him a bottle of drink, then realizes that it, too, is empty. When the topic changes to the thunderstone, she listens intently to his story, swaying back and forth a little. She seems to be having some trouble staying still.
"Oh, that's a Thunderstone. Alchen...Alka....Chemists make them. You throw them down, and they make a big, booming sound. Careful with it...too close and it'll blow your ears out." she explains, leaning back in her chair with precarious balance.
Cordwin shakes Chask hand, And a pleasure to make your acquaintance too!
He follows Brodert out and when he points out the dove, Cordwin is very impressed. Sure is pretty! If he was a dwarf and carved that into stone, he could've written his own ticket! Cordwin muses. That is until he started killin' people. They say great artists are daft, but I guess in this case, it was true. I hope they don't cover 'em up. It would be a shame to lose somethin' so beautiful! Now let's find some lunch!
Cordwin can't contain a smile when he reflects on all that he learned today! He tries to make it his personal mission to learn something new every day and the way today is going, he will learn enough for the week!
From the empty bottles and slurred speach, Paldak recognizes Sabina as being a little drunk...
"Rough day?" Paldak asks while blowing on another spoonful of soup. "Yeah mine didn't turn out as great as I was hoping either. That was of course until I won this prize." Paldak downs the spoonful and picks the thunderstone back up from the table.
After staring at it a moment, he turns back to Sabina, "Tell you what, you seem to know a lot more about these types of things than I do... You should have it." Paldak places the stone back on the table and pushes it towards Sabina.
"Afterall, if it weren't for your kindness, I would have slept on a floor last night. It felt good finally sleeping in a bed. I don't know what's got you down, but hopefully this turns your day around"
Paldak gives Sabina a smile, then turns back to his soup.
"And don't think about not accepting it! Knowing my luck, I'll set it off in my pocket by accident n' blow my pants off. I'll be the talk of the town with my epic orc farts."
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Sabina looks down at the Thunderstone in her hand, momentarily speechless. Then, her face breaks into a broad, genuine grin and she throws her arms around the orc's wide shoulders.
"You have a good heart, Paldak. A better companion than I deserve, perhaps, but I will repay your kindness to me. I promise."
She lets go of him and settles back into her chair, tucking the Thunderstone into a belt pouch.
"As for what soured my mood, well...it's nothing worth revisiting right now. It's too lovely a day for me to darken it my troubles." she says, reaching for a bottle that isn't empty, then raising it in a toast.
"To new friends, and bright days!"
After all enjoying yourselves in your own fashion at the festival, the day has worn on and the sun has begun to set. The energy level everywhere has died down quite a bit since the day started. It comes time for Father Zantus to take the podium and consecrate the new church. He throws a thunder stone on the ground to attract everyone's attention. A sharp retort, like the crack of a distant thunder, slices though the excited crowd as the sun's setting rays pierce the western sky. A stray dog that has crawled under a nearby wagon starts to awake, and the buzz of two dozen conversations quickly hushes as all heads turn towards the central podium, where a beaming Father Zantus. He clears his throat, takes a breath to speak, and suddenly a woman's scream slices through the air. A few moments later, another scream rises, then another. Beyond them, a sudden surge of strange new voices rises - high-pitched, tittering shrieks that sound not quite human. The crowd parts and something low to the ground races by, giggling with disturbing glee as the stray dog gives a pained yelp and then collapses with a gurgle, its throat cut open from ear to ear. As blood pools around its head, the raucous sound of a strange song begins, chanted from shrill, scratchy voices.
"Goblins chew and goblins bite.
Gobins cut and goblins fight.
Stab the dog and cut the horse,
Goblins eat and take by force!
"Goblins race and goblins jump
Goblins slash and goblins bump.
Burn the skin and mash the head,
Goblins here and you be dead!
"Chase the baby, catch the pup.
Bonk the head to shut it up.
Bones be crackled, flesh be stewed,
We be Goblins! You be food!"
The crowd scatters. Chaos is everywhere, and the air is thick with peoples' screams. You all notice the goblin who killed the dog and raced by is now licking the blood off his blade next to a wagon.
"This 'rapscallion' is a friend of mine," she replies. Aeren who is still there beams. "Please, join me! Aeren, would you please do the both of us a favor and bring the lord whatever it is that he would like to eat and drink, since you have already eaten?"
Aeren makes a mock bow. "What can I get you, My Lord?" He giggles a little bit and scurries off with Alexei's order.
"How about we open with one of those riddles? Kasja begins again. "This is a good opening one, I think: One falls, but never breaks, the other breaks, but never falls? What are we? While you think about that one, might I ask where you are from, Lord Domashev?"
Me thinks your song needs work! Perhaps ye should sleep on it an' come up with a better one! Cordwin yells to the goblins.
Two of the goblins fall fast asleep. One goblin falls over where he is standing and starts snoring. The other sleeping goblin just droops his huge head and stands in place with his eyes closed. The third goblin lets out a huge yawn, blinks his eyes a few times, and then seems to realize that he is probably not supposed to be sleepy at this moment. He hits himself in the head with the flat of his weapon to keep himself awake.
Alexei jumps up when the chaos begins looking for the source. No! This should not be happening! These southerners had no concept of Law. Where were the crowd pacifiers to hex those running amok into submission? Where were the fey mood enforcers to ensure the celebration remained happy? This...this is disgraceful!
Alexei snorts in disgust when his eyes land on the goblins.
"I think remember these creatures," he mutters aloud somewhat absentmindedly. Cordwin yells something and two of the goblins keel over while the last inflicts minor injury on himself to remain conscious.
The sorcerer sees the fallen dog, and his eyes narrow. A twist comes to his mouth. "Well then, if you don't want to accept his offer for a nap, perhaps we should cool that giant hot head of yours." There is ice in Alexei's voice and his breath suddenly puffs out as if on a cold day. Anyone near him feels a chill in the air. He strides forward while almost lazily raising his arm with his fist closed. As he arrives a short distance from the conscious goblin, he opens his fist and a packed ball of ice and snow begins to form before shooting out at the small humanoid.
Snowball:
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S
Range: close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: one ball of ice and snow
Duration: instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude partial (see below)
Spell Resistance: no
Description:
You conjure a ball of packed ice and snow that you can throw at a single target as a ranged touch attack. The snowball deals 1d6 points of cold damage per caster level (maximum 5d6) on a successful hit, and the target must make a successful Fortitude saving throw or be staggered for 1 round.
Alexei smiles graciously at the invitation and seats himself. Ordering wine and a plate of meats, cheese, and bread, Alexei ponders Kasja's riddle.
"...falls without breaking...breaks without falling..." He taps a finger in his cheek. "Based on that, I am certain you speak of the difference between Night and Day." He smiles confident he is correct.
"Tell me, will 'winning' provide me a shiny new badge like this?" Alexei places a finger under his 1st Place Swallowtail Dragon Races badge. He winks at Kasja.
Alexei definitely remembers goblins from his childhood, being very common in Varisia. It comes to his mind again that goblins absolutely hate horses and dogs. They are also a little (a lot) crazy.
Round 1
The snowball sails over the head of the conscious goblin, but yet seems to still chill him as it goes past.
Moving remarkably slowly, he notices now that his two companions have fallen asleep! He turns to the goblin next to him who is still standing up and snoring and then vigorously shakes her awake, weapon still in hand. She opens her eyes, blinks, and looks around, confused.
"Very good!" she exclaims. "I could tell that you would be quick at this. I'm sure this is going to be a lot of fun."
Aeren returns with Alexei's food and sets it down before him. He takes a seat and listens to the proceedings.
"Perhaps you will find out," she replies, returning the wink. "Being a traveler, perhaps you would be able to recognize this one. I have seas with no water, Coasts with no sand, Cities without people, and mountains with no land. What am I?"
"I do believe, I was so excited in answering your last riddle, I neglected to answer your question. While I did state I am from Irrisen to the north, the question of where I am from is altogether different. I was born there, but spent a good amount of time traveling with my father through Varisia. For a time, I would have claimed Varisia as my homeland since I was less worldly then despite my travels."
He looks thoughtful as he nibbles some of the cheese and swirls the wine inhaling the bouquet.
"Regarding the newest riddle, while several more abstract ideas such as dreams or clouds could be an answer, I'm led to believe that your riddle would be looking for an item or place which exemplifies all the clues without question or subjective."
He sips the wine and ponders.
"I can only think of one grouping of things which would match: those which represent geography but are not actually such. Maps, atlases, and globes are all examples. That is surely the answer.[/b]"
The sorcerer looks to Kasja to see if he is right.
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Sabina spares a glance at the poor dog, hoping for a sign of life before she turns her attention back to the goblins.
Drawing her bastard sword, she carefully circles around the cart that the goblins are hiding behind. Her heart is pounding, blood running hot in her veins. The shouts of the goblins, and even those of her companions, fade into the background and all she can hear is her own breathing, the sound of her boots in the dirt, and the harsh, alien language escaping her lips. Sabina had always liked dogs; these goblins were going to suffer.
"Cowardly runts! I will enjoy cleaving each of you into two!"
Paldak is eager to run into battle, especially after seeing Sabina quickly jump into the fray.
As Paldak stands ready, he can't help but notice cold air radiating off of Alexei. He notes to himself that there is much more to this man than just a fancy tongue and title.
Aeren appears to be delighted to receive some more money from the nobleman.
Kasja swirls her drink (also wine) and takes a sip. "Perhaps that could mean you are not all icy cold inside!" she teases. "Yet again your answer is correct. I will have to think of a harder riddle this time. Hmm... " She ponders for a second and then changes the subject, probably still thinking. "Do tell me what Irrisen is like. Being less worldly then yourself, I've only heard about it in stories, most of which are witch tales!" Her face pinches up, but then she exclaims, "I have one! The man who invented it doesn't want it. The man who bought it doesn't need it. The man who needs it doesn't know it. What is it?"
Well done, Cordwin!
Eh? Pesky goblins! Ye would be easier to kill if ye stayed asleep!
Cordwin will draw his crossbow and load a bolt.
Alexei says a curse under his breath as the ball of ice misses the goblin. He draws the only weapon he was carrying, his dagger, as his staff is currently locked in his room at the inn. Once in hand, he notices that the towering half-orc Paldak stands beside him.
"Here. You may find this of some benefit if you strike one of these blasted creatures quickly."
Alexei's eyes become the grey of a winter storm, and the veins in his hands display a noticeably ice blue color. His fingers slide down the blade of the barbarian's falchion in a caress, and soon the whole blade emits a cold vapor.
Cold Steel (Sp): At 1st level, you can touch a weapon or up to 50 pieces of ammunition as a standard action, giving it the frost property for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your sorcerer level (minimum 1).
Frost: Upon command, a frost weapon is sheathed in icy cold that deals an extra 1d6 points of cold damage on a successful hit. The cold does not harm the wielder. The effect remains until another command is given.
Round 2
The first goblin wakes out of his icy stupor. He turns in the directio that the snowball came from, sees Alexei and moves to engage him avoiding stepping on his sleeping comrade as he goes by, careful not to get too close to the half-orc. He
swings him dogslicer at the human.
The goblin slashes him directly through the chat, splattering Paldak with some of Alexei's blood.
The second awake goblin picks up her sword from the ground, which she must have dropped while falling asleep. She climbs up on to the wagon in front of her takes a long look at all of the food at her feet, despite the fact that Sabina is standing in front of her.
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Sabina's eyes remained locked onto the goblin as it moved to intercept her, crouched atop the wagon. The terror that had seized her the first time she drew her blade to save her life had long been absent, replaced by an increasingly cold, practiced ease. She drew the sword back and swung at the goblin with everything she had.
Seeing Alexei bloodied, Paldak moves fast.
In a flash, Paldak shifts infront of Alexei, his falchion raised above his head. After Alexei's touch, the steel blade glitters in the evening sun as ice forms along its edge.
One instant later, Paldak is towering over the tiny goblin, heaving the sword down in a violent two-handed chop. The blade leaves an icy smoke trail as it cuts through the air toward the creature.
As he swings his falchion, Paldak bellows, "Die vermin!"
Sabina's swing misses the goblin on the cart. Paldak cleaves the goblin standing before him in two with his Falchion!
Paldak exhales and watches the two frozen goblin halves fall separately to the ground and explode into countless pieces upon impact. He turns and nods at Alexei before shifting his focus to the two remaining goblins. The fire in his eyes smolder as he yells, "Death awaits you all!
Cordwin sees Paldak cleave a goblin in two. I don't think I need to worry about that one! He instead takes a bead on the one in front of Sabina careful not to hit the woman.
Cordwin's bolt skewers the goblin through her heart! She falls dead. With all of the nearby goblins eliminated or unconscious, looking around, you see that the town is in havoc. Townsfolk run every which way, most likely trying to get to the safety of their homes as fast as possible. The occasional goblins scurries by close to the ground. Sounds of fighting emanate from both the South and the North, accompanied by the shrieks of fleeing villagers and the persistent tuneless chanting of goblin voices. The occasional body dots the earth, corpses of both innocents and goblins alike. A little girl lies dead near the stage, her face slashed open in an evil grin. A foolhardy goblin jumps from the top of a nearby building attempting to land on an elderly woman, but misses his mark and lands accompanied by the sound of bones crunching.
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Sabina's head snaps back to see where the crossbow bolt came from. Recognizing the face of the dwarf she'd met yesterday, she gives him a curt nod. Her eyes are soon drawn to the Alexei's bloody injuries, and she quickly jogs over to attend to him. Laying a hand on the wound (if he will allow her to), she says a short prayer and allows the divine power of Iomedae (she hopes) to flow into him.
Alexei stumbles as the goblin's dirty weapon lays open a grievous wound.
"Unh..." he gasps and clutches his side.
Without any delay, Paldak bisects the creature almost before it can pull back the blade which injured Alexei. There's some more fighting, but his eyes blur slightly, and the next thing he knows the woman from the bar, Sabina, is muttering a prayer. His wound knits shut with the warmth and itching that always accompanies such accelerated healing.
"Ah, well then," Alexei says blinking at the cleric. "That definitely is appreciated. Handy trick."
He staggers back from her and looks around. The dead girl catches his eye as well as any other casualties he may be able to see.
"No!" he bursts out. She...she may have seen him! Any of them could be...the one who knows where I need to go! This cannot be!
"This cannot stand!" He spins around and gestures to Cordwin and Paldak. "We must put an end to this madness. You are not to allow any more harm to these people!"
Alexei doesn't even notice how commanding he's being. All he can focus on is the strange buzzing in his head. I can't...I can't fail!
He turns back to Sabina. "You must see what can be done to help these people. No more..." he says through clenched teeth. He points to the girl and then the dog, "...of that."
The look on Alexei's face is one of rage, his lips pulled back in a snarl. He then turns wildly in a circle to discover where the next goblinoid attack is occurring.
Once the new riddle is presented, Alexei's eyes unfocus as his mind begins to work.
"Ah, hmm..." He leans back in his chair swirling wine. "That feels like it could represent a number of things. but so many are subjective. Hmm hmm."
Tapping one finger on the table, Alexei looks thoughtful. His thoughtful face appears as if he is cross, but he does not even notice.
"Medicine could be the thing. The maker wouldn't want it presumably, the cleric or doctor buying it wouldn't need it as it would be for a patient, and until they knew they were sick the patient wouldn't know they needed it."
He frowns. "But that supposes a lot. There are times when someone makes medicine because they are sick, so they would want it. And the sick often purchase it for themselves. So no, not medicine."
"Baby's diapers, perhaps? That fits the criteria." Alexei shakes his head. "If one assumes the creator isn't the one with the child."
The sorcerer looks into the wine goblet and watches the deep purplish red liquid swirl as he twirls the vessel. He seems to regard it as he thinks further. He cocks his head to one side and his eyes narrow.
"Hmph. Poison. It's poison, isn't it?" He raises his gaze to Kasja's. "Very clever. And if I'm wrong then I concede the win as I have no other guesses I feel adequately meet the criteria."
"We must put an end to this madness. You are not to allow any more harm to these people!"
Eh? Cordwin says puzzled. Does he think we been lollygaggin'? He then trots over to the sleeping goblin and raise his hammer over his head.
Cordwin crushes the sleeping goblin's skull. Alexei looks around for more goblins, only to hear an incredible explosion coming from behind him across the courtyard. A wagon has exploded!