Anneke frowns as you continue to walk thru Sandpoint, "So much running to fights not ever have time to look at Gill Gan."
"Gill Beer," she asks, "did spell go away and gobo want revenge for killing friends? Someone charm Anneke still not sure I hurt real friends... not unless puppet. Hmm..."
The Ulfen seems lost in thought as she contemplates the morality and ethics of the situation. "I say this though," she concludes, "if someone do make Anneke hurt real friends with charm, better kill me before it wear off because I make revenge!"
Priyya turns to Anneke with ill-concealed irritation (at the situation not Anneke), "They executed him. Do you know if the goblin was actually evil?"
"They came to murder and pillage. Gilbere's magic made this one seem different, but he wasn't. Evil or no, they chose sides, and lost."
"I say this though," she concludes, "if someone do make Anneke hurt real friends with charm, better kill me before it wear off because I make revenge!"
"I suspect the goblin would have felt the same way."
Nadya joins the conversation, having overheard Priyya's distress, "I understand what you're feeling. I am not sure killing him was what I would have done, but I can understand why they did it. If the magic had not worked originally, we would have killed the small one with his friends with no thought. And while he helped us, it was against his will. When the magic eventually wore off, he would have tried to kill us. I don't know.... I just don't know. I guess at least it was quick and unexpected -- he didn't suffer."
Nadya begins humming a soothing lullaby.
The evening slides into night without any more excitement. The group finds itself approached by Father Zanthus, then the sheriff, both offering handshakes and sincerest thanks for their efforts. Hemlock directs them over to Ameiko at the Rusty Dragon, who, it turns out, has very generously offered to get you all rooms for free at her establishment.
She is gentle but firm that you all should stay there and should do it for free, at least for the night… its the least she can do for your bravery.
The night passes with the odd sound of lamentation or preparation for the rebuilding that will start on the morrow.
The evening slides into night without any more excitement. The group finds itself approached by Father Zanthus, then the sheriff, both offering handshakes and sincerest thanks for their efforts. Hemlock directs them over to Ameiko at the Rusty Dragon, who, it turns out, has very generously offered to get you all rooms for free at her establishment.
She is gentle but firm that you all should stay there and should do it for free, at least for the night… its the least she can do for your bravery.
The night passes with the odd sound of lamentation or preparation for the rebuilding that will start on the morrow.
As we help out with various cleanup efforts, Kord takes a few minutes and heads to the wagon. After making sure that the rest of his party has taken all of their belongings out, he takes the wagon the rest of the way over to Lonjiku Kaijitsu's glass shop.
Once the delivery has been officially made, Kord will stop to make a couple of purchases , and then rejoin his companions at the Rusty Dragon.
As she's calming the villagers & helping with the clean-up, Nadya discovers her great-uncle, Cyrdak Drokkus (of the Sandpoint Theater). She delivers the script she was tasked with bringing to him. They share a few drinks and laughs over memories of the family.
Once her duty is complete, she stops to make a purchase and rejoins the group at the Rusty Dragon.
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After Gilbere ends the little goblins life he sighs long, looking down at his former thralls corpse.
Suddenly and furiously begins scrubbing a dirty spot on his robes as if he had a bee in them. In part due to that he noticed some real or imaginary grime or dirt on them. Gilbere becomes so distracted and flustered he walks away drawing upon his prestidigitation spell to clean himself for the third time. Bemoaning that the smell of dead goblins is still in his clothes. Leaving all questions as to the 'morality' of his decision behind, Gilbere heads for the nearest strong drink he can find at the Rusty Dragon.
Looking to her priorities, Anneke makes certain Aldern made it safely — the hint of free drinks is NOT something easily forgotten!
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"Gill Beer," she asks, "did spell go away and gobo want revenge for killing friends? Someone charm Anneke still not sure I hurt real friends... not unless puppet. Hmm..."
Over a drink or two Gilbere answers Anneke feeling a servant of Torag deserved an answer, "Tha lil green curr's nature was chaotic and vicious at best lass, tha enchantment soon wearin off, he would have turned on ye quicker than a viper", looking into this mug. "Gave the lil bugger a warriors death, quick, better than a hanging." he finishes getting up for another ale.
"I suspect the goblin would have felt the same way."
"Indeed. You suspect but you don't know. It may have been entirely right and necessary to kill the Goblin. My objection is that the act was done in haste, without thought. For instance, perhaps the townsfolk here would have gained some satisfaction and some measure of peace, after the day's events, if they had been allowed to put him, it, on trial or summarily executed it themselves. They were denied this chance at satisfaction."
Sensing something of the feelings of Nadya and Gilbere, Priyya's glows fades and she holds the young woman's hand for a moment, looking very much more tired and older than her years, addressing them both. "Nadya I appreciate your efforts but my feeling are somewhat different than you think. I am Surya-ka-Vahaak. I dispense justice as necessary and have done what Gilbere has just done. It is my life's work. It is a grave act and one not to be undertaken lightly." She pats the other woman's hand once and lets it go, getting up to do something else. She looks at Gilbere with sympathy, "Gilbere, if you need to talk, to unburden your heart of this act... I will try to help. Just ask. Don't walk the dark road alone."
"Tha lil green curr's nature was chaotic and vicious at best lass, tha enchantment soon wearin off, he would have turned on ye quicker than a viper", looking into this mug. "Gave the lil bugger a warriors death, quick, better than a hanging."
Sitting with her long legs stretched out, one resting on the rungs of a chair, the Valkyrie listens to Gilbere's words and nods knowingly. "If Gill Beer not cast charm, it haved died in fight. Sure looked at us like no friends while under charm..." Anneke nods her head and raises her drinking horn to Gilbere in appreciation for his frankness.
Turning to Priyya, who hasn't been quite her talkative self since the fight, Anneke asks, "Surya-ka-Vahaak, you looking at sword a lot after fight. What you think?"
Turning to Priyya, who hasn't been quite her talkative self since the fight, Anneke asks, "Surya-ka-Vahaak, you looking at sword a lot after fight. What you think?"
Priyya, looking speculatively at her scabbard as if debating some matter of import, only shrugs. "Leaving aside the matter of the Goblin, I think the larger concern is what longshanks ordered this merry band of cutthroats into town and why?"
Kord sits on his stool at the bar, twirling, flipping, and juggling one of his stilettos in a way that appears to be meditative to him. Until this point, the conversation seems to have been simply flowing by him, but at Priyya's comment, something changes.
He doesn't stop his knife play, but it's clear that his attention and interest have been piqued.
"An excellent question - one that should be pursued."
"Leaving aside the matter of the Goblin, I think the larger concern is what longshanks ordered this merry band of cutthroats into town and why?"
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After a draining a couple of tankards of ale Gibere seems to cheer up, "I like dis town, tis excitin" looking more solemn after regarding the large holy warrior or Torag, "Annarke, lets see that bit of history you got" referring to the ancient symbol of the Thassolian.
Gilbere examines the object if Anneke ...
"Annarke, lets see that bit of history you got"
Anneke looks up at Gilbere's request and says, "Ah good, okay!"
She then gives and strong tug on the neckline of her chain shirt with her left hand while her right disappears up to her wrist as she fishes around inside her capacious cleavage for the item she deposited there for safekeeping.
"Money? No..." she places a pouch full of silver on the table.
She fishes out a large wooden hammer of Torag. "Not holy symbol..."
Next comes a pewter flask, "Gah not empty again!"
"Hmm, this biscuit look stale..." she tosses a fist-sized lump of bread over her shoulder and it shatters on the floor leaving a small crater.
"How whetstone get in here?" she places it on the table.
"Uh oh!" Anneke fishes out a brown egg. When she puts it down on the table, it starts to rock back and forth and cracks form over its surface as a chick breaks free of its confinement. "So much for scrambles..."
"AHA!" At last the Ulfen warrior woman pulls out a suede bundle bound with cord and passes it to Gilbere. She gazes long and hard at the newborn chick, then at her cleavage and mumbles, "Hmm, wonder bout brothers..."
As the dwarf gazes at her in wonderment, she produces another 5 eggs from her bust each of which begins to hatch the moment they are freed from their incubator. Frowning deeply as the yellow fluff-balls start chirping and wobbling about, she comments, "Um, don't think they go back now..." With a sigh, she replaces her coin pouch where it is safe and calls for more mead and some fresh grain.
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Gilbere's eyes bulging out from the capacity of items the warrior woman holds in her bosom, he shakes his head wondering 'how the eggs didn't crack in the fight', but quickly shakes the idea from his still shocked mind.
With two fingers in a handkerchief, he pulls out, he looks at the artifact, trying not to touch the sweaty amulet with his bare hands, but deeply interested in the item.
With a growing sense of disbelief and amusement, Priyya watches Anneke empty the contents of her cleavage on the table. "Well, it's a good thing you are a maiden, Anneke. Otherwise I suspect you'd have secreted a few stout herdsmen in there as well to give you pleasure later on!" She eyes the Ulfen woman's monumental cleavage. "Gods! I think if I yell loud enough, I might hear an echo from the other side!"
Priyya deftly picks up one of the chicks and starts to stroke its head and coo softly to it.
"Gods! I think if I yell loud enough, I might hear an echo from the other side!"
"Hmm, dunno..." she says thoughtfully, "be more like 'mmmbbbrrrmmmaaaagggh' I think!"
"Hmm, dunno..." she says thoughtfully, "be more like 'mmmbbbrrrmmmaaaagggh' I think!"
Priyya gives Anneke a feral, mischievous smile. "Well, I'll leave that test to Paehz or one of the other gentlemen."
Leaning over and looking at one of the fluffy chicks, Anneke whispers to it (if anything she says could ever truly be considered a whisper), "Surya-ka-Vahaak must no like Paehz, no she don't..."
After a long moment, Kord finally manages to wrest his eyes from the whole poultry scene, and manages to concentrate fully on his drinking...
Priyya chuckles. "Anneke, you clearly know enough to kill men but not enough to understand them." she says with affection, "Perhaps Aldern Foxglove will clear things up for you when you let him buy you a drink later."
You hear a not-so-muttered comment from a burly man in the corner about how he's never envied a little chic-a-dee so much...
The following morning breaks crisp, and the town of Sandpoint begins the work of recovering from the terrifying assault. Priyya begins the day with a request for her adventuring companions, one that she shares before you all set off on your various errands. As you step out into Sandpoint, you are greeted by the industrious sounds of repair. No one seems to know why the goblins attacked, and beyond the surprising discipline shown in getting so many goblins together for the attack, there didn't seem to be any coordination among the invaders. In fact, as the day progresses, you hear more stories about how the goblins were just as effective (and colorful) in killing each other or themselves as they were against the town. Luckily, however, the death toll for the Sandpointers was surprisingly light. Only a few townsfolk mourn the loss of a family member, and only a couple of guards were killed as well. Most profound, you realize as you walk through the town, is the impact your actions have had on the population.
What starts in the morning as warm greetings and eagerly grateful handshakes becomes more and more prominent and enthusiastic as the day goes by. While you're about Sandpoint, everyone you run into seems to already know your name. Nadya's songs, Gilbere's flames, Priyya's devastating prayers, Paehz's shower of arrows, Kord's quick blade, and the mighty sword of the Ulfen Valkyrie, all are ooh'd and aah'd over with an inspiring story. Each of you gets multiple invitations to all the taverns for this evening for a time to share tales and maybe a drink, and get to know those you fought for so valiantly…. after dinner, of course.
Your heroics are not all that you hear on the streets, however...
"Priyya!" Anneke calls her names when she spies the priestess in the marketplace, "I hear glass-smith Kai-joo-soo bad sick, don't we have friend who look for him? Sarenrae give Surya-ka-Vahaak healing power. Think we go help?"
Assuming that Anneke recalls who it was that had business with Lonjiku, she'll head over there with them to see if her own new-found healing abilities can be of any assistance... Well, that and to check out these glass flasks she has heard so much about.
Soon as he's done with breakfast, Kord heads out into the town to make sure that his business is complete with the glass-maker. Making his way to Master Kaijitsu's shop, Kord searches for any sign of the proprietor.
Failing that, Kord looks around for an assistant manager or clerk or someone with whom his business can be finalized.
Nadya shares her gossip with any of the group she runs into.
We'll wait and give Priyya some time to post...
Over breakfast, Priyya dings her cup for attention. She looks down shyly. "If it would be no imposition, I would be very pleased if you all would gather here with me this evening to share a meal. With Ameiko's kindly help and the use of her kitchen, I am going to try to prepare an authentic Keleshite/Katapesh meal that does honor to my mother's cooking. I am an indifferent cook but I will try to make it palatable. I hope you will do me the honor of attending - around sunset." She lapses into silence, clearly she is piloting waters that are strange to her.
During the day, while gathering ingredients with Ameiko and the frustration of numerous failed cooking attempts which promptly get fed to the local dogs, Priyya picks up some interesting information. She shares it with the team members she encounters - it may be worth investigating before the next day.
Ok, all spoilers are fair-game for everyone to check out... or you can mention it at dinner, which Priyya has gone to great lengths to prepare for you.
"Priyya!" Anneke calls her names when she spies the priestess in the marketplace, "I hear glass-smith Kai-joo-soo bad sick, don't we have friend who look for him? Sarenrae give Surya-ka-Vahaak healing power. Think we go help?"
Coming up to Priyya, Anneke's eyes sting from the overpowering scent of exotic spices. Priyya is clearly not having much luck in the kitchen based on the sour, almost heartbroken, expression on her face. She looks at Anneke and tries to smile, "I didn't know he was sick. Let's definitely see if we can help him... at least that I can do with some skill." She tromps off next to the Ulfen warrior looking for someone to heal. "After that, it looks like maybe we should round up our most observant folks and pay a visit to the cemetery - apparently there was a fair amount of activity up there during the attack."
Kord's ears prick up at their conversation.
"If ye don't mind, I'd like t' come along when ye visit the glass maker. I'm the one who has a bit o' business with him. When we've checked on him, I'm with ya on spyin' out the cemetery - and while we're up there, we can check out that northern gate, just in case."
Priyya nods, "The more eyes we have on all these strange goings-on, the better. Your sharp eyes would be appreciated, Kord."