Time for introductions...
Evriani smiled at the the elf who came so dramatically to her rescue, skewering the flaming monster. From across the now smoldering corpse, she blinked slowly, and when her eyes opened the inky blackness was gone, replaced by pretty violet irises.
Now that survival was not a concern, she sort of half-brushed her long hair in front of her with her hands and then folded her arms across her chest for modesty's sake.
"My hero," she began, her voice smooth and deep, but still very feminine. "I uh...I don't suppose you've got an extra cloak or tunic I might be able to borrow? I'd steal one from the goblins but I prefer my clothing without lice." She smirked.
Time for introductions...
"My hero," she began, her voice smooth and deep, but still very feminine. "I uh...I don't suppose you've got an extra cloak or tunic I might be able to borrow? I'd steal one from the goblins but I prefer my clothing without lice." She smirked.
He blinked at the pretty woman his head behind the leather mask tilting to the side as he slowly withdrew the spear. He glanced back to the others, his allies almost like he was unsure what to do. Slowly as the rage left his blood he lifted up the mask his green eyes sparkling in the low light. He smiled hesistantly though panted breaths.
She was certainly as pretty as Shelalu then again so was Loxley and Yeda and Zeldana. He rose to his full height and tried a better smile, one less awkward. Oh... she needed a cloak or something. He had one of those.
"Is it clear?"
He called out to the others as he started to remove his leather face mask to undo his cloak and then maybe slip from his wooden breast plate to let her borrow his shirt... but he wasnt going to de armor if they were still in the fight so to speak. He couldnt help but to kinda sneak a glance at the half naked woman.
Coming out of her bloodrage, Yeda suddenly becomes aware of the clothing-challenged woman.
Here, I have something. Somebody cover this goblin. She looks to Loxley to do this before rushing into the room with Corrin.
She sets her pack down and draws the cloak from her winter outfit, handing it to the woman.
Hello, I'm Yeda from the Shoanti tribes far to the North. How did you... come to be entangled with these runts?
"Evriani D'krent. You can call me Evie," she replied to Yeda, gratefully accepting the cloak from her, as the elf was still working to unfasten his while distracted. She removed her arms from herself long enough to swing the cloak around her shoulders with a bit of a flourish, then gathered it closed in front of her and held it shut from within.
Adrenaline subsiding, she tested putting a little weight on her injured leg, wincing, but satisfied it would not hinder her too badly. She hoped, absently, that the goblin food remaining caked on her wrists so near to the wounds on her hands would not cause an infection of some sort.
Self-inventory complete, she smiled at her rescuers. "As for my entanglement...it's an involved story that can wait until we're sure we're safe long enough for me to tell it. Short version, with just the important bits? These goblins are working for some dangerous people who are somewhere below us in this compound as we speak, and I'm a gullible idiot for trusting them. I even don't want to think about how things would have gone if you hadn't arrived when you did. Thank you."
Yeda frowns and her mouth opens to ask another question, but she stops herself just short.
I... yes. Time. Fair enough. Questions later. Do you know where they stowed your equipment? I wonder if we should regroup in-town before proceeding into the depths below. Problem is... they're going to know we were here and reinforce the place in even a short time...
She seems a little paralyzed in her desire to continue on but not wanting to push on Evriani too hard.
He breathed an obvious sigh of relief when Yeda arrived to cover the pretty woman. He paused in his actions reaching for his spear to remove it and go help Sazzat explore. The movement of the spear brought motion of the body and he noticed the monsters stained red dagger and he realized the nude one was probably hurt. He could help with that.
He gripped the holly in his belt pouch and concentrated on the magic within it his hand glowing with a soft green light. He slowly reached over and touched the young woman the soft green glow transferred from his hand to her body, the magic knitting her some of her wounds.
"I don't think we can safely go and come back again. Do you know the way to get to them below?"
He asked quietly not looking on Evriani but clearly addressing her. His eyes continued to move about looking over the place half curious half expecting goblins to come rushing out of nowhere.
Evie looked around. "I'm not sure where they ran off to with my things. Sure would like to find my clothes, at least," she answered Yeda.
She looked at the elf with confusion for a moment as he reached toward her, but sighed in relief as he healed her, flexing her hands open and closed a bit within the cloak as the wounds knit themselves closed. "Just as skilled with healing as you are with the spear. Again, you have my thanks." She winked at him.
"As for where they are now..." she spun around slowly, looking at the exits from the room. "I didn't spend long up here with the goblins and it was a bit of a maze coming here. I remember crossing through a courtyard...?" She shrugged.
The sounds from outside seem to have died down. The horse shuffles, emphasizing the discomfort the quiet brings with it. So what happened?
Should I risk it? Yes. Give it a try. What's the worst they'll do to me at this point?
He opens his mouth and calls out as loud as his parched throat will let him. "Hello? Anybody out there? Can someone let me down?"
Tamm looks over his shoulder at Bandit, and then back behind where the goblin fight seemed to be wrapping up.
Never one for caution, he shrugs at the raccoon and advances towards the structure to investigate the noise he heard.
[dice=stealth] 1d20 + 10
[dice=perception] 1d20 + 8
Yeda suddenly perks up and holds up he hand, palm-out, to signal quiet and she looks about like a skittish fox.
Did anybody else hear that? Evriani, was another being held here?
She draws her sword again and starts stalking toward the source of the voice.
Loxley kept her blade leveled at the surrendering goblin. She didn’t have any rope on her, so she couldn’t secure it herself.
Admittedly her eyes flickered to the naked women. She could hear the conversation and was also curious as to how she had found herself in such a precarious situation. Loxley rolled her eyes as the woman flirted with Corrin.
Suddenly she heard someone shouting in Common. The urge to investigate but she had to watch the goblin. She didn’t want to, but it had surrendered and she would honor it.
Tamm will move over to the shed to investigate.
Is it locked?
He says in common through the door "Hold on ... we'll get you out of there."
Meanwhile, Bandit chitters at him trying to point out that we don't know who is in the shed and if it is safe.
"Hello Evie, I'm Zeldana Emraeal Luminita Dardlara Anca Nordlara Amaria. But everyone calls me Zel." The half-elven witch said with a grin. "Don't worry, once we get back to town I'll take your by my parent's shop and get your some clothes of your own. If we don't find the ones they took of course." She offered.
When the others mentioned hearing something she focused.
"I don't hear anything..." She said.
From outside the small courtyard area, everyone suddenly hears the neigh of a horse.
Evie looks to Yeda. "I think so...I heard the goblins mention a 'vicious manthing' that they threw in with 'the beast'. Not sure what that means, though."
She turns her attention to Zeldana, and quirks an eyebrow. "My, what a mouthful! And aren't you the helpful one. I don't imagine they took my things far. I'm tempted to check behind the closed doors here, I would guess if anything dangerous lurked behind them, it would have come running at the sound of the drums. Care to help me peek?" She makes to move towards the north door, unless someone tells her not to.
He smiled a genuine smile of appreciation at Zel for rescuing him from the beautiful woman. Well she was pretty too, in fact they were all pretty. Well minus Sazzat. He was a good looking fellow. He would have asked his best friend what to do except he was guarding the bridge. He shook his head slightly taking the slight pause in the flirting to move back towards Loxley who was guarding the goblin.
He heard the voice... a man calling for help perhaps coming from ... then the sound of a horse. He knew that goblins were certainly afraid of horses so that had to be a good sign.
He had planned to tie up the small goblin, but the voice and horse seemed way more important than a measly goblin that surrendered. He gripped the door and tried to wrench it open.
People? People!
""
As Corrin wrenches the door open, he has to dodge the maltreated white horse which has been trapped behind it. In the shed the horse was fleeing was a man, tied to the beams in a crucifixion.
He's obviously been here for some time, probably still alive only because of the shelter the shed provided from the elements. The tatters of typical Varisian clothes hang loosely from the body which shows obvious signs of him having gone without food or water for some time. For some reason, his right hand is wrapped in the remnants of a sack. His face lights with hope as he sees Corrin and the others behind him. His legs bound to the beam provide little purchase, but even so he tries to hold himself more upright, taking some of the pressure off his shoulders, the movement causing him to wince and suck air. "By Estig's hounds I am so glad to see you!" He sounds as though he should be weeping, but no tears come. "Please, get me down. Please."
"Sounds like a horse..." Tamm says to Bandit.
"Let's see...."
He pulls the spike out of the loop.
A large, white horse, leaps out of the enclosed stall, its eyes rolling while it surges forward. it rears back on it's hind legs and flashes its two hooves out at Corrin.
Its hooves flash out, and in its weakened state, it misjudges its attack, and falls forward, heavy. An audible snap echoes inside the courtyard confines, and the horse falls onto its side, screaming in pain and agony. You can easily see bone sticking out from its left front leg where the bone broke and pierced the flesh. It thrashes and kicks wildly.
Evie searches through the room seeking any of her equipment. She makes sure to search through the desk in the process. She grimaces at the filth and is again thankful that her escape was successful.
If she doesn't find anything, she'd leave the room with an intent to search the room on the east wall of the throne room.
"Great Gu!!! That horse is in bad shape!" Tamm exclaims.
"Can you help it, Corrin?"
Bandit screeches in his ear to get his attention and points at the man that's tied up in the room yelling about Estig's hounds.
"Hey!!! Don't worry, we're the good guys...."
He looked at the wild horse collapsed with the broken leg and started to shake his head but then paused. He could try to set the creatures leg then give it a healing berry... which would simultaniously feed it and give it a gentle healing nudge enough to perhaps set the leg in place. He kept his eyes locked on the horse despite Sazzat speaking to someone in the horse's jail.
"Shhh friend... shhhh."
He began slowly kneeling by the horse and trying to lay a calming hand on it. Perhaps it would smell Dewdrop and relax a little.
Her father would have had her drilling for weeks as punishment at such a flagrant display of inattention. The sudden sound of the horse rearing loudly pulled her attention again. Her blade wavered as she let herself get distracted and the small creature took advantage of it.
The goblin lunges at her bodily and Loxley catches the motion out of the corner of her eye. Instinctively, she brings her blade to bare and thrusts in reaction. A whisper of magic coating the flashing steel as she strikes.
The goblin takes the hit to the chest, and snarls in anger and pain, yet manages to carry through the act! It grasps onto loxleys wrist, pivots on its feet, and spins its whole body around. the action wrenches the blade from her hand and into its own. It steps away and bares it at loxley, threatening.
Sazzat sees the man tied up, hands bound in strange bags of fly covered...something. But whatever it is, it is disgusting. The man himself is covered in strange yellow stains and brown streaks of obvious manure. The man has an unfocused, far off gaze that just cannot focus upon anyone or anything. His yells for aide caress at the back of the skull.
Bandit, already screaming, quickly rushes down Sazzats body and runs up to the restrained man. He pushes upon the man's outstretched leg, barking back at Sazzat in annoyance and anger!
Yeda growls and rolls her eyes as she rushes back to Loxley's side.
Last chance gobbo. I think you saw what short work I made of your kinsmen.
She levels her blade at its head and then remembers.
Does anybody know goblin?
"Oh thank the gods," Evie sighed, reaching for her clothing. She was fairly certain the others could handle a single goblin, so she took off the cloak and began to don her own attire.
Her dress was dark purple with a plunging neckline, and made of finely woven fabric that hugged her through the torso but flowed from her hips all the way to the floor. It was slit open in the front from the waist down, and she wore leggings and boots underneath it. The sleeves were snug to the elbows, then split and flowing so the fabric of them hung down to the bottom hem of her skirt when her arms were lowered.
Happy to be in her own clothing once again, she retrieved the wand as well, immediately using it upon herself before anything else could go wrong. The air around her shimmered briefly as the mage armor spell was cast, and she tucked the wand into it's place on her belt before emerging from the room, borrowed cloak draped over one arm.
The tied man struggles to kick his leg after something chittering and screaming starts pushing at it. He doesn't say anything, but he doesn't seem to know what he's reacting to, either.
He had to hurry. He took the goodberry and set it just out of reach of the horses mouth and moved to the broken leg. It was going to hurt a lot. But the moment he wrenched it into its proper place...(at least he hoped so) He risked his fingers by shoving the goodberry into the horses mouth.
One task down he turned to the man pausing only a moment to try and figure out what Bandit thought he was doing.
"We are friends, give us a moment and we will have you down."
He added to Sazzat's words
Corrin grasps the horses broken leg, and while he knows that a broken leg needs to be set, at the end of the day, a horses leg is different than a humanoid leg. He grasps, pulls, twists, and relaxes the tension upon the leg as he slips a goodberry into the horses mouth. the horse, from the start of Corrins attempt, starts wailing again loudly, horse screams of pain echoing loud and far.
the berry slips past the lips, and immediately the wound upon the leg heals shut. Blood stops flowing, and the horse suddenly stops neighing.
Corrin looks upon his ministrations...and sees that the lower part of the horse leg, the spot where it was broken, has healed somewhat straight. But, it is immediately apparent, this horse cannot walk upon the leg without inflicting new damage to itself.
Loxley grunted and tried to stop the goblin, but the little creature actually proved competent. The blade twisted from her grip and Loxley stumbled back a step as the goblin retrieved her own blade and leveled it at her.
Anger welled up inside her, fury twisting her glare. If looks could kill the foul creature would have dropped dead on the spot. Her world view narrowed and magic swelled in her clenched fists, threading to erupt in furious rage. Suddenly, Yeda seemed to appear beside her from thin air. The warrior woman coming to her defense.
Loxley understood her companion was simply coming to the obvious aid of an ally, but a flush still came to her cheeks. She did her best to ignore it and focused on the goblin. The Arcanist pulled the dagger from her belt and held it defensively as magic swirled around her free hand. She didn’t speak goblin but she still threatened it venomously.
“I will sear the twisted spark of your soul from the wretched shell of your body.”
"Looks like the gobbos have been throwing poo at him."
"Probably driven him quite mad." Tamm says.
He steps forward and cuts the poo covered man loose.
As the first strap is cut, he swings sideways to the ground. He tries to catch himself on his feet, but his legs just fold. He doesn't thump to the ground, though, still dangling from the other strap. When it is cut, he falls.
Instead of trying to sit up, though, he starts trying to pull the material off his hands.
"Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." He starts to get the canvas off, revealing that his hands have, literally, been caked in manure. "I'm guessing you've dealt with my hosts. Do you have some water? First for my hands, then to drink?"
Once finished dressing, Evie looked towards the door on the eastern side of the throne room... But she decided it wiser to join the others. She knew better than anyone that dangers still lurk in this place. Better not to go off on her own. No telling where the rest of her things might be, anyway.
She moved towards Yeda and the blonde woman, flashing Zel a smile as she did so. Time to make new friends.
Tamm hands poo guy his waterskin and steps back to avoid the smell.
He'll politely refuse any attempt to return his waterskin.
bandit crawls up to and sits along side Jarl, and mimics the handwashing motion. He looks back at Sazzat, then at Jarl, and then again at Sazzat. His eyes grow large, more cute, more adorable, and his hands make the washing motion.
The goblin shifts his gaze from the magic user to the massive woman with the fell goblin blade. His eyes dart back and forth, and a moment later, it drops the blade, sheepishly raising its arms again.
Zeldana and Evriani rejoin Yeda and Loxley.
"I gave him my water .... he can wash his own hands." Tamm tells the raccoon.
"How's the horse?" he asks over his shoulder to Corrin.
Evie grimaces at the twice-surrendered goblin. Disgusting creatures. Better to just be rid of it, like the rest, she thought, looking at the slain goblins scattered around the room. "Even dung has its uses. Never waste a resource simply because making use of it is unpleasant," responded her ever-present companion.
Fair enough.
"Perhaps this one can tell us what's waiting for us behind the closed doors we've yet to open?" Evie suggested aloud to the other women. She then smiled at the blonde one. "Sorry, I don't think we've been properly introduced. Evriani D'krent, the recently rescued and recently clothed. Just Evie is fine, too. Who might you be, and where did that dashing elven man run off to?" She looked around.
"I've never set an equine leg before. I think I set it right, and the berry helped heal it, but really it should stay off its leg until I can conjure mo...."
He paused and watched the man try to wash his hands with the waterskin. He cast a simple cantrip and 6 gallons of waters appeared above the man gravity drenching him and hopefully clearing some of the mess and smell.
"I can manage to create more berries, but they provide sparse healing. I am running out of druid tricks I am afraid though. Hopefully we cam find and remove the kinslayer's heart."
Before using the water, Jarl tries knocking his hands together and rubbing them to get as much of the mostly dry manure off as he can. The wettest bits are, naturally, right up against his skin. Then he sits up and starts the real work.
Once he gets the water in play, he can get most of the manure off. He works a little harder on his right hand than his left, but it is obvious he wants to be rid of it all as best he can.
He doesn't get all of it before he turns what's left of the skin into his mouth, in small amounts.
He pushes himself to his feet. "That is so much better, but it is going to take more than that to get clean again. I am Jarl Purrun, from Sandpoint." He takes a moment and turns to face everyone in line of sight as well as he can, bowing slightly as he says "Mulțumesc," obviously being far more formal than he has been to this point.
He continues taking small drinks. "Have you found any plate armor? A good bow? I have no idea what they've done with my gear. I hope they didn't burn the bow. That would be sad."
He looks at the palm of his right hand, where a tattoo of a bow and arrow is very prominent. Then he suddenly looks very sheepish. "Are any of you hurt? The least I could do as an immediate thanks is offer a little healing. I'm sorry I didn't think of it faster."
Okay okay, this time we're tying this little guy up so there's no more nonsense!
Yeda looks around the room for a spare scrap of something to tie up the goblin with.
"I'm Tamm, this is Bandit." Tamm says pointing at the raccoon.
"The green-hair over there with the horse is Corrin."
"Glad we came along to rescue you from whatever that was...." he says, gesturing to where Jarl was tied up.
"Haven't seen any armor or a bow, just a bunch of goblins, goblin dogs, and a big lizard."
Corrin, rope! the warrior woman yells out as she maintains her thread of pitiful goblin.
He had been about to wave at the man they had rescued.
"Yes! this horse could use some aid! Its leg bone is still far too weak to stand on i think!"
He began excitedly while he tried to keep the horse calm and prone when he heard Yeda call for the rope. His head immediately lashed to the side and he started to reach for his pack as he rose.
He made a quick be still motion to the horse and hurried torwards the Shoanti woman's voice.
Without taking her eyes off the goblin Loxley stepped forward to retrieve her sword. The glare in her eyes almost daring the creature to try something. Give her excuse to unleash her magic. Sword in hand she quickly stepped back again. Standing by Yeda she leveled the blade at the goblin like she had before.
”Is anyone in need of healing?”
She asked aloud, still watching the goblin.
"Buna ziua, Jarl" Zeldana said with a smile and a wave. "What are you doing here?" She asked, then she gasped "Is the family okay? Is the farm?"
Jarl shakes his head, slowly. "Last I knew, they were all fine. Hemlock sent me with a caravan. We lost the fight he must have worried about. Not sure how long I've been here. Weeks? Feels like forever."
He works himself into a standing position and begins shuffling towards the animal. "What did you do to him? He was suffering in there, but he wasn't really hurt." As he approaches the animal, he can't miss the scene with the captive goblin.
"Don't bother tying it up. Just kill it. It will force you to soon enough, bringing harm, hurt, and destruction to you over and over again until you either kill it or it kills you. Save yourselves the pain and the time. Just kill it now." Despite what you might expect, there's no anger in his voice, no aggression in his face or movements. To the contrary, he kneels and starts soothing the horse while he talks.
"How bad is it, boy? What did they do to you trying to free you?"
"The horse seemed to trip over itself as it came through the gate after I opened it." Tamm says.
He collects up Bandit and then sees to some other priorities by searching the dead goblin chanter and lizard rider.
He casts Detect Magic before he gets started examining the dead goblins.
[ooc]Jarl, make a Prof Farmer check, DC 15. [/spoiler]