In the midst of the madness, Roakkad sees Sal's aim strike true.
"A true huntress!" he calls as he eyes a nearby goblin.
He raises his hand. Drawing upon the moisture in the air, he infuses it with elemental energy and emits a ray of frost directed at the vile creature.
Kaede is utterly surprised by the sudden size change, and first scrabbles out of her chair. Then realizing what Tera has done, she draws her glaive and crosses to the other edge of the stage.
"Surrender or flee, and no harm will come to you!" She barks at the goblins, leaving the threat of what'll happen if they don't comply with her command unsaid.
Tera doesn't have time to admire Kaede's new stature, she's busy studying a page in her spellbook, burning the patterns and runes into her memory.
In the midst of the chaos, Zache remains calm, poised, like a player on the stage. In one movement, he springs onto his chair, one hand clenched into a fist and raised high, a wild look in his eyes.
"Amidst the roar of battle, hear my words,
Good friends, and let them bring you strength,"
he begins, his voice booming effortlessly over the scene. He's suddenly aware of how silly he looks, but this is no time to be self-conscious.
Seeing that the marked have taken it upon themselves to deal with the goblins, Father Zantus turns to the priests on the stage with him and calls out, "Fall back to the Cathedral door, we must protect it if any goblins get through!" As the 7 clergy people move off the stage and toward the church entrance they are followed by the jostling crowd seeking refuge inside.
In the southeastern corner of the square, the goblin working to light the stall on fire turns to face Kaelaah. It's mouth twists into a cruel grin as it starts flapping its fiery cape like wings, fanning the small flames beginning to spread across it. The wagon that erupted into flames when the goblins revealed themselves continues to burn and its fire licks at the adjacent building threatening to set it ablaze too. Across the street the fiery goblin working to light another wagon climbs up inside of it.
In the crowd, one of the goblins collapses, run through by Salomae rapier. The one closest to the stage draws a glass vial and winds up to lob it into the crowd; thanks to her enormous reach, Kaede interupts it with a well placed swing of her glaive. As it falls to the cobblestone street it's vial bursts open, charring it and splashing fire on Sal and two people in the crowd . The final goblin bears its teeth and lunges at the red headed swordswoman with its knife...
,
Roakkad once again takes aim at the nearest goblin.
Seeing that she'd have to waste more time studying her book to be effective, she turns to the head of the Abadarians in Sandpoint as he heads to the cathedral.
"Brother Faustwick! I need bolts," she calls out to him as she rushes to follow, hoping for once that he'd see that this was no time for blind adherence to Abadar's tenets.
Kaede looks frustrated and a little pained at the continued assault.
What are these goblins thinking? Attacking Sandpoint is suicide for them.
"Very well." Kaede finally says as the remaining goblins continue their chaos. With a tinge of sorrow in her voice, she begins to sing:
"菊の女性
踊りは危険でなければなりません
流血を許します"
Then, as the divine power gained from the spell settles over her, Kaede begins to wade into the crowd, heading across the way for the goblin that hasn't been bothered yet.
"... For I shall bring you valor yet unheard,
With which we'll keep the goblin horde at length..." Zache continues, drawing his starknife as he makes his way into the fray.
It’s happening again!!! Sandpoint becoming consumed by flame…
The tingling feeling along his arms grows and, somewhere deep inside, embers starts to glow… but, not wanting to add to the blaze, the flame-touched Shoanti holds back and tries a more mundane approach – he rushes at the goblin… hoping to force him away from the stall…
…after that? Well, he doesn’t really have a plan…
The goblin in the stall stabs at Kaelaah as the man charges in at him...
The blade slices through his thigh, nearly opening it up, but luckily only inflicting a minor wound. Distracted by the pain, the Shoanti's attempt to force the goblin out of the stall fails badly. Emboldened by these events, and the fact that flames are now creeping up the sides of the stall, the little green menace lashes out at Kaelaah again...
...but has less luck with this offensive.
Salomae's rapier sticks into the filthy leathers the goblin in front of her wears but fails to penetrate it. The nasty little humanoid responds in kind, swinging right back at her...
...but steps off balance and nearly falls over swinging.
The fire in the wagon has grown enough that the goblin inside begins to blister. It scrambles off the front of the cart and charges toward the crowd laughing and swinging its knife .
Roakkad's eyes go wide as he turns his attention to the spreading fire.
Brother Faustwick tosses a fancy quiver with ten bolts in it to Tera and continues toward the Cathedral. Over his shoulder he calls back, "I expect that quiver back with an accounting for every bolt missing!"
Zache, meanwhile, moves up behind Kaelaah almost to the goblin in the stall.
Salomae takes advantage of the goblin's misstep and dispatches it with one quick thrust before it's even completed its swing.
"This day, we came for friends and food and cheer,
But now we fight the goblins and their flame," Zache calls, not letting up his words for a moment, even as he closes with the goblin swinging at Kaelaah. His starknife slices out in a quick flourish, but it's a clumsy swing, and he stumbles slightly.
Tera gives Faustwick a curt nod, but she has other things to worry about than counting bolts. She readies her crossbow as she moves back towards the fray.
Kaede shakes her head at the goblin as it tries to cause further mayhem and pain.
As that goblin falls, Kaede turns her attention toward the remaining goblin that Zache and Kaelaah are facing.
Kaelaah scowls as the goblin slices at him… and, as blood starts to trickle down his leg, the embers inside take flame… an inferno threatening to explode…
…hold it in… hold it in…
Kaelaah, struggling to contain the fires that burn within him, lunges at the goblin once more – this time, having sensed Zache’s approach, he hoped to hold the goblin still… that Zache may have more luck subduing the wretched beast…
...but the goblin is way too agile for the Shoanti...
Once again the goblin slices at Kaelaah as he grabs at it...
,
Zache's starknife slices through the air but the goblin proves too agile for him as well, and let's out a cruel laugh at the bigfolks' continued failures. Now fairly full of himself, the last remaining goblin in the square slices at the Shoanti again...
,
...fumbling his attack so badly that he leaves himself open for a counterattack.
Roakkad's water has reduced, but not completely extinguished, the flames on the first wagon. The fires in the stall and the second wagon are both growing and may spread if not addresses soon, and a small flame is smoldering in the thatched roof of the building next to the first wagon.
Roakkad watches in horror as it becomes clear his conjuration was insufficient and the flames continue to spread.
"Water! We need water! Salomae, the fire!"
That… Is… Enough!!!
As Kaelaah is wounded for a second time, he gives in to the fire that is burning within… the leather wrapped around his wrists is instantly vapourised as barely controlled flame seems to takes the form of a scimitar in the Shoanti’s hands – sweeping the white hot fire in a gloriously radiant arc at the goblin, Kaelaah is lost to the inferno…
.
Roakkad dashes toward the well to retrieve a bucket full of water.
Kaede stops her advance as Kaelaah erupts into flames and ends the last goblin in the area.
With the immeditate threat dealt with, Kaede begins to try to issue commands in order to start a bucket brigade, and stop the panicking around this area.
Tera lets out a sigh before replacing the bolt in the quiver and loosing the string. She pulls out her spell book, studying a page for a moment before approaching the closest fire and pointing at it.
"淡淡的冬天," she chants, bringing forth a narrow cone of frost and snow.
Seeing the last goblin fall to his starknife, Zache briefly touches his fore- and middle fingers to his forehead, then his lips, before briefly raising them to the sky. He takes a deep breath, ending his speech before quickly joining the bucket brigade.
Zache capitalizes on the goblin's failure and slices open its throat even as Kaelaah is visibly drawing in wisps of fire from the stall and wagon. As the goblin falls forward the Shoanti brings down a blade of pure flame on it, ensuring that it won't get back up.
With the goblin threat dealt with, Father Zantus moves back out into the square to magically summon water as Roakkad had. His first target is the smoldering building, which he completely puts out. Meanwhile Brother Faustwick runs inside the church calling out, "Buckets! We need some buckets! Quickly!" while several of the marked are reminded (the hard way) that the well only has one bucket. A few of the braver villagers run over to the wagon and begin trying to fight the fire with cloaks and other random odds and ends.
His breathing ragged and hurried, Kaelaah looks down at the scorched goblin - his face inscrutable. As the adrenalin subsides, the small flames that still lick along his forearms fade away to nothing... and, with a rush, everything seems to return to a wide focus in Kaelaah's mind... once more, he can hear the clergy and the townsfolk running, he can hear his friends shouting for water and he can hear...
...what's that? More chaos? More fighting? More goblins?
His eyes, shining with a burning intensity, dart towards Zache, "Do you hear it? It seems that there is yet more trouble... Over there", Kaelaah points in the direction of the commotion...
"I do, but we need to take care of this first," Tera says as she continues blasting the fires with her cantrip, and tries to ignore the headache beginning to pound in her head.
Roakkad glances toward Kaelaah and sees him gesturing with Zache and pointing.
Not more goblins I hope.
Staring with amazement at the flames still dancing across Kaelaah's arms, Zache takes a moment to register the taller man's words. "More?" he repeats, glancing in the indicated direction. After hesitating a moment, he calls to the others - "We need to go! There's more trouble!"
Smoke and steam rise from the square as the marked, Father Zantus, as a few brave people fight to put out the fires the goblins started. The thatched roof that had started to burn has been soaked by Father Zantus and shows no signs of starting up again. The wagon which started that roof burning is still very much on fire; the flames which were noticeably smaller after Roakkad doused them are beginning to grow in intensity once more. The stall has been blasted twice by frost and now received a bucket of water from Roakkad: it still smolders and once the wetness steams off it could be reignited by an unfavorable wind, but for now it poses little risk. The second wagon continues to burn and the brave actions of the people fighting it with cloaks are having very mixed results (often fanning the flames in another area as they stifle them in the targeted one).
At first, Kaede's thoughts are like the others:grab a tablecloth from one of the tables nearby and try to smother the fire with that. She slides her glaive into its holder, so she can focus on fire-fighting.
Then she hears Salomae's cry. For a brief moment, Kaede shows a flash of irritation. Then she pauses, takes a deep breath, then calls out, "Lead the way, Salomae," and goes to follow her.