"I shall get onto that at once, my friends here no doubt would be pleased to help as well"
Whilst he works he keeps an eye out for any large clothes left by previous guests,"...don't suppose you have some spare clothes of my size in the lost property?" he adds hopefully.
"I took the liberty of spruiking your fine establishment to the crowd earlier who were watching my show, I was hoping under more peaceful circumstances word may have got back to you and lent you some inclination to extending that one night to maybe a couple? This place looks like it could use an entertainer, you've already said you don't need a guard, and my two cousins here could do with some hot meals and a warm bed. I wouldn't like to press the advantage, you've been more than fair, but in Riddleport one quickly learns that if one doesn't ask, one doesn't get... if you take my meaning"
Harry patters on, laying the 'innocent charm' hoping to persuade the madam for a more generous term of accommodation.
While you already started cleaning up, Bethana and Ameiko went into the kitchen and began to prepare the meal that was to come. Some minutes later she had a short talk with the sheriff during which both of them looked into your direction a couple of times.
As she returns and listens to Harry's request a smile broadens on her face
Mr. Handsome, the sheriff just told me that yours and your friends' efforts were most decisive during the devastating fights. It would be an honour to me if all of you just stayed here at the Rusty Dragon for as long as you like without paying me anything.
Again eyeing your impressive biceps, she sighs
It's a shame, but I think I have some clothes in your size.
Harry maintains his charming grin.
"Thumper, I do believe our fortunes have changed..."
As Karlan came back to the temple he took the time to clean himself and his weapons off as best he was able. Noting that the bleeding had stopped he cleaned the wounds before grabbing a quick bite to eat he sat down to a single candle with pen and parchment and began to write.
Dearest Saya
I have spent but one day here in sandpoint and already excitement has occurred. A large group of goblins attacked the town at the high point of its annual festival and opening of its newest temple. I am sad to say this temple is in fact not dedicated to the Inheritor but perhaps my presence and inspiration will allow the people to see her glorious embrace.
I gave the goblins a chance to lay down their arms and surrender but they ignored me so I smote them mightily. I only hope that I did the Knights of Ozrem proud today through my efforts in battle. I was bitten by a dog but otherwise I am unharmed.
Speaking of the knights how fares Sir Karthak? He did tell me he would look after you until such time as I can return though I hope to be back in time for the birth of our child.
I've met and befriended a number of good folk including Father Abstalar who is a busyminded but good man. Sheriff Hemlock is a dour but orderly and good man whom I will be working under shortly and seems to be pleased with my efforts today. There is also a timid man by the name of Nieve who has some healing skill and mastery of pointing out danger to others. Kanyk whom I know little about besides his carrying of a large hammer. Gerlick who is shy but obviously a kind soul since I believe that he was offering the goblins multiple chances to surrender in their own tongue. The last half orc by the name of Harry concerns me however as he claims to have done some less than good work in another town that he calls riddleport which I am told is a pit of despair and evil. Perhaps when I have gained some experience I will go into this hole and bring light into darkness. He is claiming to turn over a new leaf but I will be ever vigilant for evil can be deceptive and a paladin must be ever watchful *ink splotch*
Also I'd like to ask if you ever apologized to Sir Sarma for the unkind words you said about her and her heritage. You set her to tears and the black eye you gave her for her comments about your belly were probably too much. In any case I am sure you will do what is right.
Your Dearest Husband,
Karlan
*ink splotch*P.s. I personally find the swelling of your belly lovely.
Nieve doesn't complain about the free food, though the events of the day has left him restless. After finishing the meal, he excuses himself back to his room, where he lays down on his bed. "How stupid am I? 'What's going on?'" he mockingly imitates. "And I'm supposed to be intelligent..."
Elyn nibbles his chin without much thought. Nieve sighs. "I hope there won't be a next time... Right, Elyn?"
The weasel seems to nod, skittering around his neck and chest. "Harry, Karlan, Gerlick, Kanyk..."
As the fishermen manned their boats on the following morning, a flock of seagulls accompanied them to the Varisian Gulf. While the birds' sounds were so common for the native Sandpointians that they didn't notice it during their sleep, it was enough to awaken you.
With aching bones and muscles, you leave Desna's realm of dreams and after a moment of orientation you realize that besides the fishermen other Sandpintians have also already begun their daily toil.
There were still eough remnants of the goblin attack: houses, sheds and wagons had to be repaired, goblin bodies to be thrown in the newly-dig large grave and besides the more profane tasks, everyone puzzled about the background of the attack.
Your date with the sheriff was set, you were told to meet him at the garrison in the morning, which left you about two hours for breakfast and minor errands.
Harry cleans himself up and sits down to a hearty breakfast, his offer to help out around the Inn still standing. Satisfied his friends are safe and 'well looked after' he relaxes ahead of the meeting with the Sheriff.
Bethana is already industriously working in kitchen and storage cellar. Your helping hand is very welcomed since barrels and chests and the whole barbecue equipment still has to be carried from the backyard into the basement again. To your offer she replies
Wow Harry, that's so kind of you. I will prepare a breakfast that really deserves its name.
And she really keeps her word: After you have finished your work, one of the large tables in the taproom nearly breaks under the weight of the food she has prepared.
Pancakes, toast, sweet bread, sausages, beans, jam, eggs - just everything you can imagine.
Oh, this is also for Mr. Nieve, Gerlick and Kanyk, I already heard them, seems like all of you had a light sleep.
"So Ameiko, whats this Sheriff like then? Can't say I have always been comfortable conversing with representatives of the Law, professional reasons of course, but we have a meeting this morning. Apparently to work out this Goblin business I suppose"
"Oh, and any sign of another guest, Mr Aldern Foxglove?"
Oh, the sheriff is a...I nearly said nice man, but that wouldn't fit. He is righteous and very correct, yet he's not the one to have a beer with, if you know what I mean. I think his Shoanti origin and the flaw that this means, makes him feel like he has to do everything 110% exactly.
Mr. Foxglove? Isn't he a charming fellow? I think each and every young girl from Sandpoint keeps a special place for him in her heart, tee-hee.
Talk of the Devil!
Just as Bethana has said his name, the young handsome Magnimarian noble descends the stairs down to the taproom.
Good morning Mr. Handsome. So good to see you again. May I invite you to a... then he notices your breakfast table
or would you rather like to invite me to a breakfast? I'd really like to hear your stories of the goblin raid. What could those ugly little monsters want in Sandpoint?
Nieve comes trotting down the stairs less than a minute after Ser Karlan, as well-groomed as yesterday. He sniffs and can't help but smile at the luxurious breakfast prepared. "Oh, Mr. Aldern, Mr. Harry, good morning." He barely stifles a yawn when he spots Bethana as well. "Good morning to you too, Bethana. You haven't held back his breakfast, I see."
Elyn appears to have noticed the breakfast too, and he is itching to pounce the table. Nieve gives him a stern look. "No, Elyn, that food isn't ours..."
"This fine breakfast is for all of us, Lord Foxglove and Mr Nieve, so please don't leave it to Thumper and I to manage on our own. That weasel looks rather plucky and I dare say there's something here it'll like"
"Not sure Lord Foxglove, all I know is that the Goblins came racing in and started tearing up the place. Well it was obvious what to do at that point wans't it, simply to club the living daylights out of the runts and send them packing off back out the way they came."
Harry grabs himself a large portion of bread and ham, flicking half the ham to Thumper.
"In my opinion we should simply hang any captive Goblins from the nearest tree, or leave their heads on pikes at the city gates... or a keelhauling..." he looks lost in thought momentarily, then returns to eating "Doesn't matter, I am sure the good Sheriff will have some punishment in store for them that should well fit the crime."
"Some end to the festival though eh? he offers knowingly to Nieve and Aldern.
Aldern picks some bits off a pancake and nibbles at it without paying much attention to the process itself
By happenstance I heard the gravedigger say that the goblins opened the grave of some prominent local...yet I forgot the dead man's name. I wonder what goblins would do with a pile of old bones?! Oh and Harry, just say Aldern, please.
"As you prefer, Mr Aldern. Haven't heard anything about grave robbing, seems odd for Goblins, then again anything is possible with that lot, I don't pretend to have a knowledge of their habits and customs, perhaps it is some kind of Goblin insult? Who can tell what goes on in those tiny minds?"
Putting the rest of the pancake back on the plate, Aldern muses
You're right, Harry...if anything at all happens in their small brains...Now, tell me how you came to Sandpoint, you rather look like Riddleport folks?! That biceps alone would have earned you a fame as a gladiator there, I guess.
Nieve feels uplifted as he settles down by the table, next to Mr. Harry and Mr. Aldern. Elyn immediately pounces a platter with eggs and despoils it quickly enough, while Nieve helps himself to the pancakes. He frowns slightly at the mentioning of bones and graves.
There are no tales of gravedigging goblins, except of a few examples, where they hoped to find a certain treasure within the burial site.
As you seat yourself, Aldern greets you
Hey, how are you? My bad, but I forgot your name, Mr...ah yes, Harry said it, Nieve, correct? Now, you're also no native of Sandpoint, I guess?
"look at that little fellow go!" Harry chuckles happily at the antics of Elyn. Thumper also looks curiously at the weasel, as though playing hide and seek with it would be a great game.
"No I think I'm the only one here from Riddleport, and unfortunately the whole place is an arena. My job there was collecting on things that were owed, and making sure that people remembered their manners when required in establishments that required it. If you take my meaning. Nothing important, but an honest enough living where there are so few honest livings to make"
Looking out of one of the broken windows to the harbour, Aldern sighs and comments
I'd love to lead a life like you...to be a hero, a rogue...i really admire that Harry
"Hero? Me? no you have the wrong end of the tale Mr Aldern, I'm just an honest man trying to carve out a semi-honest living. Now that Sir Karlan, he was the one with the bones and the stones to confront the big Goblin mounted on that devil-dog that was attacking you, he's what heroes are made of. 'Cold steel and bold words' my teacher used to say; did you see him offer the opportunity to surrender? Well I've never seen the likes of that. In Riddleport one considers it lucky to see ones attacker, let alone to be offered terms up front, normally the only warning is the blade in your kidneys"
"And lets look at the life of a Rogue eh? Hows that working out for me right now? Yesterday it was destitute and peniless, not a pot to pis.s in and living off the largesse of others, no Mr Alder, with respect sir, this is nothing to admire; a man born and bred to station and privelidge such as yourself has no place living such a life."
Yet exactly that is what I always dreamt of...my life was alwayys easy, always comfortable...but, enough of such woeful thoughts, I'd like to reward you for my rescue with 100 gp for each of you.
Nieve doesn't interrupt their dialogue, enjoying his meal as he pushes the thoughts of graves and skeletal remains out of his mind. Eating a lot more than anybody would think capable, he leans back to digest the meal.
Karlan checked in with Father Abstalar after breakfast (and healing one whole hp!) to inquire about sending a message off to his family.
Than after that's done he arms up as he did the day before and heads back into town to deliver his letter.
Father Abstalar is busily preparing the second try to consecrate the cathedral which is going to happen during forenoon, but this time inside the building with much less pomp.
He allows you to send the message off and gives you 5 silver pieces for the shipping costs. He tells you that letters are given to Ameiko or Bethana who travel to Magnimar once per week, there the letters are handed over to the Varisian Riders, a well known messenger service company.
As you leave the temple, you nearly run into Naffer Vosk, the local gravedigger, he seems agitated and mumbles something like an excuse as he storms past you into the cathedral.
Harry looks slightly shocked at the reward, but has no hesitation taking it.
"I thank your for your magnanimous diplay of gratitude Mr Aldern."
After handing Nieve, Kanyk and Gerlick also 100 gp, he looks at the sack he still has in his hands.
Oh Harry, would you do me a favor and give the last 100 to your friend Ser Karlan? Oh and are you by chance into hunting?
Gerlick had been silent since the fights, keeping his face hidden. People high on adrenaline are liable to lash out at people they are unused to. He eats his breakfast in silence letting the others speak. However, when Aldern hands him 100 gold he stares at it and looks up at the man, his face visable slightly. "Why are you giving me this?"
For a moment Aldern's countenance becomes puzzled
Mhh, what? Ah, the money, It's not enough, mhh? Honestly I wasn't sure how much was appropriate for such a rescue. I don't care much about money, so maybe you just tell me what you think was fitting?!
Gerlick's face begins to match Aldern's in puzzlement. "I mean, what did I do to deserve this much money? I am honestly not sure."
Aldern slaps you on the shoulder, but surprised by your frailness he breathes in sharply
Oh...ummm, you deserve that money my friend because you saved my life and umm I don't know what curse has befallen you, but I won't treat you worse than anyone else. Now, I saw you bellow something in the goblin tongue, do you have any idea what the goblins wanted in Sandpoint, or why they dug the bones out?
"Thank you for the gold, Mr. Aldern. I'm glad you're all right." Nieve does a halfway sitting bow to the man as he pockets the gold. His pouch is getting rather thick now. He watches the Gerlick, curious and conflicted about the affliction that has made him so...
Shelyn says beauty comes from the inside. I shouldn't judge based on his looks...
"Um, scuse me." Said Karlan as the man pushed past him. Shrugging his shoulders he absentmindedly whistled the tune from yesterday as he stepped over pools of blood and various bits of carnage from last night he went straight to the rusty dragon where he heard this Ameiko might be.
"Not much of a hunter really, not much call for it in Riddleport; I believe Kanyk here would be a handy fellow in that sort of endeavour though"
@ Karlan:
As you enter the Rusty Dragon, you spot your yesterday's comrades in arms sitting together with Aldern Foxglove around a large table. Ameiko is behind the bar cleaning up the shelves full of tankards and glasses. Busy clattering from the litchen proves that bethana must be around too.
That's good Harry, I was planning a boar hunt at the end of the week, are you, or better all of you, by chance interested to accompany me?
"Count me in, I'm always up for some adventure...might even learn a thing or two"
After having breakfast you decide it's time to attend your meeting with the sheriff now.
As you walk down Main Street to the Garisson, pretty much everyone you meet greets you with a friendly „halloo“ or a „Desna bless you“. You can't help yourself but wonder how fast word has spread that you captured the goblin leader; yet after you have received the first warm loaf of bread by local baker Alma Avertin, you're beginning to enjoy your new reputation.
The Sandpoint Garisson, just opposite the town hall, is a stone fortress of surprising size regarding that Sandpoint is rather a small town. About fifty men and women are housed within the walls of the building of which about one and a half dozen are full time soldiers, the rest beings servants, cooks, armourers etc.
You pass the gate unchallenged and the guards eye you with open admiration. Inside the yard you spot the sheriff who is inspecting a horse that was wounded by a goblin with one of those strange polearms they call horsechoppers. A soldier next to him whispers something to him and he turns around to you
Ah well, just in time, I was about to begin the interrogation. Please follow me. He leads you inside the main tower of the fortress and down a spiral staircase.
The prison is located in the basement...oh, by the way, have you already heard that the goblins opened a grave?
"It was mentioned at breakfast on the quiet, we couldn't work out why they would, but then who knows what goes on inside their mad little heads?"
"Mr Gerlick here has some sill with their tongue, perhaps he can ask them, along with what they were raiding for eh? It's not the season for it, and not like this happens every day obviously."
I'm used to a lot of idiotic deeds done by those litle freaks, yet they were never very much into necrophilia by now.
As you reach the prison level, you encounter a heavily tattooed Shoanti with arms like other men's tighs. The sheriff gives him a curt nod and once you are past him, he says
That was Vachedi, the jailor...does not speak much, which is even less, when I notice that.
The sheriff leads you on in a small chamber, where the goblin commando is already bound to the wall by two massive chains. The goblin eyes you with large frightened eyes, he surely recognizes you.
Now Mr. Gerlick, let your magic work.
Gerlick removes his hood, his face coming into view for all to see. At first, he just stares at the goblin unblinkingly. And then, quiet as death, he speaks in Goblin.
"So tell me, why did you and your...friends attack this town hm? You better tell me, or I will make you start to look like me little one." For emphasis, he reaches up and grabs a bit of skin, and peels it off his face without saying a word.
"Oh if it is to be that sort of meeting Mr Gerlick, allow me..."
Harry approaches the Goblin, a look of menace and malice in his eye, his knuckles gripped tight against the hard wood of the club...a sadistic sneer crosses his face. Thumper bursts into a barking frenzy, snapping near the Goblins heels...
Intimidate
"You might find him more amenable now Mr Gerlick, ask again..."
Karlan smiles and waves at those in the Rusty dragon before dropping off the letter with Bathana.
Then later on in the jail.
Karlan says little but watches the two half orcs go to work feeling more as a force to keep thins under control rather than an interrogator. When gerlick lowers his hood he curses and averts his eyes turning a sickly shade of green. He looks at Gerlick again for a moment then turns away a shade of red shame and embarassment coloring his features.
Gerlick simply repeats his question in Goblin again, as Harry is obviously the much better intimidator.
During your first try to interrogate the goblin, the pesky small creature just looked away and made faces.
But as Harry and Thumper show what they have learnt in Riddleport, the golin's face pales to snow-white. The sheriff chunters approvingly in the background.
Stammering and timidly the goblin replies
We were sent to cause havoc, so that the other team would be able to dig the bones out.
Kanyk had remained quiet since the battle with the Goblins, answering any questions with a nod or shake of the head and not proffering anything himself. He had accepted Aldern's gold politely and shown a slight spike in personality when the topic of hunting had come up, nodding in agreement when Harry mentioned his fondness for the hunt.
He had kept to the back of the group on the way into the garrison, looking around at the thick walls and avoiding the admiring eyes of the guards. He paused for a moment to take a closer look at the injuries of the horse slashed with the horsechopper before following the rest of the group into the interrogation room.
When the interrogation begins he stands leant against the wall, cleaning his thick nails with a wickedly sharp looking knife and looking on with vague interest, glaring at the goblin whenever it's eyes happen to pass across his face.
Gerlick leans forward and looks the goblin square in the eye. "Why did you steal the bones? And who leads your little band?"