Nicat's eyes brighten with excitement (and the warm light of several fine amber ales). "Ulrich, you're so right! We're a natural team, and such a life it would be! Should we start with the treasures or the maidens?"
As Darpan raises the many unanswered questions, Nicat responds, "Hmm, well, goblins and dead bodies aren't exactly maidens, but you gotta start somewhere, I guess. You're right, Darpan, we should investigate further, and see what adventures it can lead us to."
To Aldern:
"I may take you up on that offer, if only to repay you both a lunch and, now, a dinner that I owe you. If I end up going through Magnimar again, I'll seek you out."
She smiles politely, having seen him try very hard to impress her, despite not actually being attracted to him, he would be a nice person to know.
Once Aldern leaves and the others begin the talk of maidens, treasure, and righting wrongs, Chavana chimes in.
"I believe most of us 'maidens' do well by saving ourselves." Chavana smiles. I certainly would vote to investigate the missing priest. It seems that righting wrongs is quite profitable for those of you so inclined, and we get some good will and the people get the hope they need. Everybody wins... well, except the bad guys and I'm okay with that."[/b]
Talking through the rest of the evening eventually the tavern clears out as you get ready to head off to bed or whatever else you might do in the night. The night is uneventful but you rest well after the small boar feast. You all feel you could definitely get use to this sort of life. In the early morning Sheriff Hemlock comes to seek you out "If you have time I would ask you to accompany me to the mayor's office there is an important meeting taking place."
Nicat leans his weight on the Bear, both of them bleary-headed after last night's carousing. He then stands a bit more erect, grabs a piece of toast off a passing plate and says with a grin, "Hey! Maybe this is the first step on our next adventure! Come on, Ulrich, we can always sleep later! Let's see what the mayor and the sheriff have cooked up today."
More quietly, he says to Chavana, "I've been asked by the sheriff to come meet with the mayor before, but only because they were going to demand an apology from me for something. Hope this time's a bit different, eh?"
Darpan is up early again, and as he consumed no heavy drink, feels energised by exercise and a good nights sleep. He meets the others and shakes his head in mock condemnation at Nicat and Bear.
"Too much of a good thing can be as bad as a little of something harmful. Or so say Ironi. Come let us speak to the Mayor, and maybe I can impart to you some more words of wisdom from the Master of Masters!"
He smiles to Chavana as he claps the two men on the shoulders and steadies them for the walk to the town hall.
Chavana chuckles at Nicat's joke, laughing out loud at Darpan's mock condemnation. She collects herself quickly, still smiling, but in a much more serious tone, she asks the sheriff
"What would cause you to seek US out at such an early hour, Sheriff? Did we cause more of a fuss than we should have?"
Looking to Darpan, she smiles as she watches him keep the others steady on the way to the lord mayor's offices. Listening to whatever the Sheriff will say.
The sheriff starts out the door "We are already late I don't have time to explain let's head over to town hall and you'll have your answer there." He continues on in the direction of town hall.
Nicat hustles out the door after the sheriff, hesitating briefly as he steps into the morning sunlight. "Ah! That's bright! Ouch!" He lifts a hand to shade his eyes and continues on.
"Fine, Sheriff, we'll go. I don't like knowing what I'm walking into, but we'll do it your way."
Chavana hurries along with the others, curious as to why the mayor needs their help so early in the morning.
Coming to the mayors office you are shown into her chambers. Inside along with the mayor is a rough looking, but beautiful elven woman dressed in leathers. Hemlock then introduces you to the woman "This is Shalelu, unofficial member of Sandpoint's town guard. Shalelu has been a thorn in the side of the local goblin tribes for years, and few in the region know more about them than she does." He looks to Shalelu and then motions toward your party "These are Sandpoint's newest crop of goblinslayers." Shalelu bows her head to great you.
The mayor chimes in "Shalelu has already told us, there has been an increase in goblin related raids along the Lost Coast, particularly in the dale between Nettlewood and Mosswood. Only a day ago, a farm south of Mosswood was burnt to the ground by a group of goblins. She was thankfully nearby, and while the farm couldn’t be saved, she did rescue the family and drive off the goblins; the family is staying at a nearby farm for now, but the goblin problem is obviously not going away."
She nods to Shalelu who steps forward and begins "Belor’s told me of your work against the goblins, well done. I’ve dedicated the last several years of my life to keeping them from causing too much trouble around these parts, but they’re tenacious and fecund little runts. Like weeds that bite.
There are five major goblin tribes in the region, and, traditionally, they’re pretty good at keeping each other in line with intertribal squabbles and the like. Yet from what I’ve been able to piece together, members of all five tribes were involved in the raid on Sandpoint. A fair number of the Mosswood goblins I dealt with yesterday were already pretty beat up, and there was a lot of chatter about the ‘longshanks’ who killed so many of them. Now that I’ve met you, it seems obvious from their descriptions who they were talking about. Seems like you’ve made an impression.
In any event, the fact that the five tribes are working together disturbs me. Goblin tribes don’t get along unless they’ve got something big planned, and big plans require big bosses. I’m afraid that someone’s moved in on the goblins and organized them. And judging by these recent raids, what they’re organizing seems like bad news for all of us."
"It's nice to meet you Shalelu, although I'm not so certain what we can do to help in this regard."
Chavana considers for a moment, thinking out loud and asking the questions at the same time.
"So, who would organize the goblins? And, even worse, who would actually work with them? Other, larger goblins or orcs, for sure, but they tend to be much more... direct in their methods, don't they? I mean, if torching a few farms and houses is in their plans, it can look a lot more random. But, as you said, someone is making the tribes work together. Why?"
Sheriff Hemlock chimes in "I am taking a few of my guards south to Magnimar to see about securing additional soldiers to station at Sandpoint for a few weeks, at least until the extent of the goblin threat can be determined. While I'm out of town Shalelu will sniff around Shank's Wood, Brinestump, Mosswood, Devil's Platter, and other placs where goblince live to she if she can discover anything else about what's going on. I would ask that all of you maintain a public presence in Sandpoint over the next few days, if you don't mind. The locals seem to have taken to you and seeing you around town will do a lot for keeping worries down over the next few days."
Shalelu looks to Chavana "I'm not sure who or what would be organizing the goblins. Someone that has some amount of power to be able to bring them together and someone smart and calm enough to make tactical decissions. In any case, it is not a good scenario for the area."
"Mr. Bear, even goblins deserve a chance to not be violent. Violence, while a solution, is not the best solution even with goblins."
Turning to Shalelu and Sheriff Hemlock
"By public presence, what do you want us to do? Patrol the streets? Go drinking in the bars? If the latter, are you providing Nicat and Mr. Bear a stipend for drinks?"
She flashes a smile at Nicat and Ulrich.
"I like helping people. Sadly, as Mr. Kaijitsu proved, not everyone wants our help. Could we get someone to publicly say and possibly a badge or something showing that we're helping?"
Nicat can scarcely contain his excitement, "Yeah, we'll definitely need some badges! Maybe a staff of office? Some kind of uniform? The 'Goblin Guard' - how about that for a name? Nah, too limited, what if something else comes to town? 'The Sandpoint Slayers'! But what if we leave Sandpoint on patrol? 'Defenders of Varisia'! Hmmm, this is tough."
Looking around a moment, he sees that Shalelu and the sheriff are ready for Nicat to stop dreaming up names for their stalwart band. "Um, right. We'll be happy to help. But it would be helpful to know what you expect of us, like Chavana said, and maybe spread the word of what we'll be doing, or give us all matching hats, or something. Like Chavana also said. Sort of." Nicat winds down and waits for an answer.
The sheriff shakes his head at Nicat's ramblings and looks at the mayor who nods to give him approval. "We'll spread the word, mainly make youself available. If something comes up look into it in my absence. Report anything unusual back to the mayor that sort of thing. Generally just make sure the town doesn't burn down while I am away."
"Got it, no group therapy for Goblins." Chavana replies to Ulrich, flashing a smile to ease the tension.
Looking to the sheriff, Chavana says "I'd be happy to help be available, although unless it is a LOT of goblins, I'm sure the whole town won't burn down."
Turning to the rest, and looking to Nicat, "I think the Sandpoint Defenders has a nice sound to it. It'll go far with our friends here in town. Even if we leave Sandpoint, people will know we are there to help."
All
Hemlock nods "Very good!" he bows slightly to the mayor and Shalelu before turning to exit the office.
The mayor smiles "Agani thank you for your aid. You have done so much for this town and I doubt I can say thank you enough..."
Shalelu looks you all over "Perhaps we can have dinner tonight, you can tell me more of your recent exploits and I can perhaps give you information on the goblins or the local area."
Smiling at the Mayor, Chavana chimes in.
"Lady Mayor, it's our great pleasure to be helpful. Without helping others, no one would hope for the best in people."
She smiles at her... very mismatched companions.
"Besides, these three are quite fun to be around."
Turning to Shalelu
"While, I'm sure, our food offerings would be a tad... tasteless to such as yourself, I'm sure we would all love to have dinner this evening with you. Where would you like to have dinner this evening?"
The mayor nods and smiles to Chavana's comment. As you head out of the office, Shalelu follows. "I have some shopping to do, but perhaps we can meet back at the Rusty Dragon, I was told this is where you are staying and it is on the way out of town so it benefits us all."
Heading back for dinner
Chavana will join the others at the tavern, she thinks about the shopping, but, after the last shopping trip, she's good for now.
Heading back to the tavern you wait for some time before Shalelu comes in. Before she comes to you she takes a moment talking with Ameiko and exchanging a few items. She then heads over to you all and takes a seat. "Well met! So I would love to hear more about your recent trials with the goblins. You know how it is I'm sure the story from the source is usually more accurate than the story from others who have had time to expand on it."
Chavana smiles.
"Nicat, Mr. Bear, and Darpan, oh and an old friend of Nicat's named Voren, took care of the larger threat, I made sure both we and those affected by the attack were able to walk away from it."
She pauses, thinking about what she says next, leaning over and speaking a little quieter.
"Although we did find out something awful about it. Something... or someone... I don't know quite how you categorize it. Was stolen from the cemetary. A deceased priest. I don't know if the Lady Mayor told you or not, thus..."
She sits back and looks around the inn, making sure no one can really hear the conversation or reacted to the be news she gave Shalelu.
"Do goblins... do something with things like that? It didn't look like their feet, but I don't know if this verifies any of your suspicions elsewhere."
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The bear rumbles in his thick Varasian accent, "There were a couple of bands of goblins to deal with and we managed to slay them quickly before they could do much damage. The first were little threat, the second had a leader riding some rat-dog creature and they were threatening a nobleman who rewarded us for saving him from the threat. Some of us got a bit cut up, but Chavana took good care of the wounded. To be honest, the attack seemed a bit hopeless... there seemed little chance it would be successful at anything but spreading fear."
Shalelu nods her head listening to their recounting "Well it surly sounds like you were an aid to the town in an hour of need. Though it sounds like you don't know a lot about goblins. The mayor wanted me to give you what information I could." She looks to Chavana "To start with goblins aren't generally known to be grave robbers, they do like their fare bit of mutilation but generally on a fresh kill. It sounds like something more sinister is at work with those regards."
She continues on relating more information about the goblins, taking questions as people ask.
"There are some key things to know about goblins. They hate horses and they hate dogs. The rat-dog creature you mentioned we call a goblin dog, it is the only thing somewhat resembling a dog that they seem to be ok with. For the most part goblins stick to raiding junk yards or small targets, so it is obviously very strange that they organized to try and raid the whole town. They are very sneaky, especially with their small size and just a tad bit crazy by most peoples standards. They seem to always be eating, and they eat almost anything. They have an odd obcession with fire and they think that writing steals your soul. All in all an odd and vial little race of creatures. In their totality I have never seen anything good come from them."
"As to the goblins in this area. As I mentioned earlier, there are five major goblin tribes in the region. The closest to Sandpoint are the Birdcruncher goblins, who live in caves along the western edge of the Devil’s Platter, although traditionally these goblins are the least aggressive of the five. To the south are the Licktoad goblins of the Brinestump Marsh, pests who are excellent swimmers. East are the Seven Tooth goblins of Shank’s Wood, goblins who’ve secured a place for themselves by raiding Sandpoint’s junkyard and rebuilding the stolen refuse into armor and weapons. Farther east are the Mosswood goblins, likely the largest tribe but one traditionally held back by feuding families within their own ranks. And finally, there are the Thistletop goblins, who live on the Nettlewood coast atop a small island that some say holds a passing resemblance to a decapitated head."
"Goblins generally live short, violent lives. It’s unusual for a single goblin to achieve any real measure of notoriety, but when one does, it’s well earned. Currently, six goblins in the region enjoy the status of “hero.” Big Gugmut is an unusually muscular and tall goblin from Mosswood who, it is said, had a hobgoblin for a mother and a wild boar for a father. Koruvus was a champion of the Seven Tooth tribe, as well known for his short temper as he was for his prized possession—a magic longsword sized for a human that the goblin stubbornly kept as his own (despite the fact that it was too large for him to properly wield). Koruvus vanished several months ago after he supposedly discovered a “secret hideout” in a cave along the cliffs, but the Seven Tooth goblins remain convinced he’s out there still, a ghost or worse, waiting to murder any goblin who tries to discover his hideout. Vorka is a notorious goblin cannibal who lives in the Brinestump marsh, a “hero” mostly to goblins other than the Licktoad tribe. Rendwattle Gutwad is the obese chieftain of the Brinestump goblins, a corpulent monster who, it is said, never leaves his throne. Ripnugget is the leader of the Thistletop goblins and controls what the five tribes agree is the best lair. And then there’s Bruthazmus, an infamous bugbear ranger who lives in northern Nettlewood and often visits the five tribes to trade things he’s stolen from caravans for alcohol, news, or magic arrows. Bruthazmus has a particular hatred of elves, and we have fought on several occasions. To date, neither of us has managed to get the upper hand on the other, but I vow that I won’t be the first to fall in our private war."
"Wow. That's quite the story. Sadly, more sinister than goblins was what I had feared. Now, what tribe of goblins would have been the ones to attack Sandpoint? Why would they come into contact with a city if they didn't have a reason to do so?
She takes in the rest of Shalelu's story, and about the tribes.
"Are there any ways to identify the goblins by their tribes? Any method of dressing or symbols we should look out for? Ouside of 'bugbear' is there anything specific that would identify Brathazmus?"
Darpan leans back and takes in all that the huntress has told them. "Why do you allow such dangerous creatures near your homes? Where I come from, we would send troops and eradicate an such nest of creatures which threaten our homes. You make it sound as if the town is overrun by these vermin."
To Chavana she replies "From what I can gather it was the Thistletop goblins that attacked the town. The only reason I can think that they would do such a thing is that someone organized them to do so. They aren't completely stupid and without having been instructed likely wouldn't have tried to assualt the town head on. As for identifing the goblins themselves, it's difficult to say the least mainly because they don't directly have symbols or anything to relate to a specific tribe, it's more of a science of how they dress, the kinds of weapons they use, and such."
Looking to Darpan "If I had the means to wipe them out I would, but for the most part they are more of an annoyance rather than a threat, so the towns and cities prefer to avoid spending the time and resources to deal with them. As the Sheriff mentioned he has to go request extra assistance from Magnimar and Magnimar is so big the goblins pose no real threat to them so why should they care?"
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Listening intently, the Bear rumbles in his heavily accented common, "So it sounds as if this Ripnugget and his followers are to blame. Do you know where we could find them? It seems to me that the problem should be dealt with directly." His hand fingers the hilt of his falcion in case there was any question as to what he meant by directly.
"While I agree, Mr. Bear, I'm not sure that a horde of goblins versus us four would be... as feasable as we'd like. Shalelu, if the Sheriff is going to Magnimar, and Magnimar doesn't care, wouldn't it fall upon those like us?"
Chavana frowns at the prospect of what she's talking about.
Shalelu nods to Ulrich "As I said they live in Thistletop, and their numbers are likely dimished after this attack so an assualy may make sense. However, until the Sheriff returns it sounds like you have other commitements here." Turning to Chavana "Yes, and I do my best to keep the little monsters at bay and in check, but I am only one person."
"So, outside of the obvious, has any not-a-goblin worked with the goblins before? If so, what did they force them to do, as I wouldn't expect goblins to listen to non-goblins."
Chavana is interested in hearing what Shalelu says, although she's watching Ulrich's reactions as well, as she is guaging her own willingness to 'fix' the problem compared to his.
Shalelu shrugs "They aren't complete idiots, though pretty close. If someone powerful enough or convincing enough comes along and uses their fears or desires to their advantage they can be manipulated. As I noted the tribes generally have one leader. If that leader can be drawn to follow someone the rest of the goblins under him will do so."
"What happens when the 'leader' is deposed... so to speak." Chavana frowns at the question but realized the necessity of asking it. Everyone can see her obvious disgust at even mentioning this.
Ick. This is going down a very bad road. I don't like this one bit.
Darpan still does not understand why the town would not band together to remove such possible dangers. He continues to listen, but the chaotic nature of this land baffles him.
"Generally a lot of in-fighting once the rest of the tribe realizes what has happened. It throws them into chaos until another leader rises up. Sometimes if other tribes hear the news they'll take over the leaderless tribe. Really it varries, but it definitely puts them into disarray."
Frowning, Chavana says
"So, Mr. Bear, after we get the chance to go goblin... hunting... you'll get the honor of going after the tribe's leader. You're so very efficient at this sort of thing."
Looking back to Shalelu, and over to Darpan for reassurance,
"So, what.. why would the mayor consider this information from you so very important when we've been told to 'keep watch over the town,' so to speak?"
"Well the watch will only last so long, eventually Sheriff Hemlock will return, hopefully with more troops and likely it will fall on you to deal with the problem. In the meantime I'll go out and see if there is anything more I can find out." Shalelu finishes up her meal and starts packing up her gear.
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The Bear grins warmly at the ranger as she departs, "Thank you Shalelu, you have given us much to think upon. I look forward to putting this information on the goblin threat to good use..."
Turning back to his companions he says, "Well, it appears that goblin hunting won't be hapening right away... so while we play sheriff, we should probably look into the grave robbing that has been going on."
"True. Thank you for sharing a meal with us, Shalelu. Perhaps we will do this again sometime, perhaps with less... gloom in the air."
Looking at Ulrich, slightly stunned at his suggestion of investigation rather than chopping things up, Chavana smiles.
"I think that's a good idea, Mr. Bear. But where do we start? I could certainly go to the temple, but I'm not sure that would really provide us with any good answers. Where would we start with something like this?"
"I think we need to find out who's coffin that was, and then go from there. Maybe this person had enemies that we can track down."
"It was the old priest, I believe his name was Father Tobyn, Darpan. Lord Foxglove said that he didn't know anyone with a particular grudge. Outside of that, the Sheriff and the Mayor didn't seem to know either. This leaves us with an 'unknown' person or motive, certainly one that would have dealings with a necromancer of some sort."
Thinking about this more, and thinking to her time in the Abbey, she thinks of any religious group that may have a cult or something in the area.
Nicat, where would you start?