Wenona, you see an assortment of predominantly longspears and boarspears as you look at the reach weapons, a couple of which look to maybe be cold iron. You also spy a bardiche, a guisarme, a lucerne hammer, and a ranseur.
Taking your measurements, Hayliss nods and says, "Well, we should have some shirts that will fit you. The trousers may need the waist taken in a bit, and hemmed, but should be ready by the end of the day. Will that be satisfactory?"
Talia will buy the Stonebow, and the bullets for it.
Making sure it's unloaded she points it at the targets. "Pew pew!"
Wenona hefts the lucerne hammer, admiring the devastating polearm.
"Oh, I think this one has found a new home."
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"Yes, I am satisfied. I will return at the end of the day to make payment and get them. Thank you for your help."
Laufey gives the woman a smile and a polite nod of her head. She interrupts Yasu's bow rumination with "I am finished, Now let us go back to the inn, it is time for ale."
"Ale. Good plan." he says with a smile.
"A good choice, that one. It's a bit unusual for these parts, but I always suspected someone would come and grab it. That's why I've held onto it for as long as I have."
"Excellent. We'll have everything ready for you then. We look forward to seeing you. Yasu, have a good day as well." Hayliss seems to have gone ou tot her way to actually say something to Yasu - possibly a bit more accepting of him than she might have been previously.
You arrive at the Rusty Dragon after a busy morning in time for a mid-day meal. The food is wonderful, some sort of noodle soup with chicken, mushrooms, cabbage, and egg. As you sit and enjoy yourselves, Aldern comes down from upstairs. Seeing you, he smiles and approaches. "Ah, my saviors! I am so pleased you have come by. Now, I can properly thank you. First of all, I would like to present you with this." He places a pouch that clinks on the table. "A proper reward for saving my life. I was also wondering if you would accompany me on a boar hunt in the Tickwood tomorrow. They say the boars there are fierce, yet their flavor is second to none. Surely such great warriors such as yourselves would desire to hunt them, yes?"
"Boar hunting?" Yasu asks with a smile creeping onto his face. "Sounds good to me. I'm in, sir."
Laufey recalls the fancy little man from before. While she isn't much impressed by him, he does seem to not lack for money.
If the Sandpoint Devil is going to be a long and complicated conquest, having a patron wouldn't be the worst way to manage things during that time. He seems to have some standing, even if he's not much to look at. I will see where this might lead."
"A hunt would be a fine thing. My thanks to you for this invitation."
After purchasing her new weapon, Wenona waits for Talia to finish her transaction before lugging the polearm back to the Rusty Dragon.
Intending to excitedly show it off to her new friends, she instead is surprised to see Yasu and Laufey engaged in conversation with the nobleman they rescued during the goblin attack. Albert? Alpo? She couldn't precisely recall his name.
Approaching the group, she does her best to smile and come across as polite. "Ah, if it isn't our friend from all the excitement. I hope you are well, all things considered."
Talia is polishing her new Stonebow and nods to everyone without joining the conversation.
"A boar hunt?" says Isabella with evident surprise. [b]"Why I... er... I've never done such a thing," she finishes lamely. "But... we appreciate your thanks, of course, m'lord. Is there something we should do to, uh, prepare?" Her normally confident and easygoing patterns of speech are broken with some hesitation, as she was obviously caught off-guard.
"Never been boar hunting before - should be fun! I'm always up for new experiences" the gnome replies, between bites of soup.
"Mmmm. Roast boar." Talia smiles.
Aldern's face lights up at your acceptance. "Wonderful! I'll make all the arrangements. Until tomorrow, my friends! Enjoy your lunch, and I look forward to the morrow."
He then leaves the Rusty Dragon to go about his business.
"Mmmmm... Boar." Yasu mumbles, finding a seat and plopping down. "Wish I remembered Nan's recipe for spit cooking. Something in that rub that made it amazing."
Laufey picks up her clothing in the late afternoon.
You awaken the next morning to the smell of a wonderful breakfast. Dressing yourselves for boar hunting, you head downstairs and begin wolfing down delicious eggs, bacon, sausage, and fresh, hot biscuits. As you eat, Bethana delivers a note from Aldern, asking you to meet him at the Goblin Squash Stables when you are ready.
Laufey is rather surprised to find herself first downstairs. She's always loved her sleep, and didn't rush things this morning. She asks at the bar for food and coffee, then settles in for a couple of plates while waits for the others.
A healthy appetite had never been seen as anything but normal back home. Laufey had trouble putting on or keeping weight anyway. It was her elven blood no doubt, so she tended to go even further than typical healthy.
As she thinks about the upcoming hunt, she finds she's actually more excited by the idea than she expected. The movement and outdoors would be welcome.
Yasu comes down the stairs, dressed in his usual garb, and carrying that powerful bow of his.
"Morning." he greets Laufey as he takes a seat, ordering coffee and a large plate of food, he will take a seat next to her, and join her in silent consumption of large quantities of food.
Isabella is still yawning when she joins everyone, her hair a bit mussed, though somehow it just makes her look cute and sleepy instead of disheveled and dirty. (Likely that aasimar heritage.)
"So, um... does anyone know how a boar hunt works? Do I need anything special for it?" she asks as she settles in to a seat.
"A bow or crossbow for starters." Yasu explains. "Boars aren't easy to deal with up close, and sometimes they'll bolt before you can close with melee weapons. Better to shoot them while they don't see you or haven't decided you're a threat yet."
"In the Linnorm Kingdoms it is done with spears. They are impulsive animals and will charge readily if bothered. A set spear maybe stop them. Shorter weapons risk the user being gored. That is often fatal." Laufey answers casually.
"Boar spears are used here too." Talia nods sleepily to everyone. "I hope this guy has a good cook with him."
She tucks in to a hearty breakfast with appetite and an attempt at manners.
Wenona staggers downstairs dressed, armored, and geared for the day but once again sporting the countenance of the walking dead.
She groggily scoops up a mishmash of the breakfast offerings before sitting next to the others, shoving a handful of biscuits and bacon into her mouth.
"Boh shounds shaffer," she speaks around her food. Then, after swallowing: "But a spear sounds more fun." A bit of excitement sparkles in her eyes, indicating the food is doing it's part to drag her back to the land of the living.
"Then we should do both. I will shoot, you can brace with spears. Teamwork." Yasu offers.
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"And I can clap excitedly from the back and lob an occasional glob of acid at the beast. Good times will be had by all!" Rasmorn adds, as he happily consumes his breakfast, having slipped in unnoticed by the hungry group.
At a certain point, when it seems the eating has been concluded, Laufey asks the others "are you all ready to go to the stables now?".
Isabella daubs her lips after finishing a snack and says, "I can't think of anything else that needs doing first."
Gathering her gear Talia wraps a leftover sausage in bread and munches on it as she joins everyone and heads to the stables.
As you walk through the town, those who are out and about greet you all warmly. You are clearly all very well-liked, and the townsfolk are happy to see you.
As you arrive at the Goblin Squash Stables, you see several horses saddled outside. Emerging from within, Aldern says, "My friends, thank you again for joining me. In order to speed our hunt, I have bought you all horses. Please, mount up, and let us ride forth."
Aldern is wearing hunting clothes, although they look to primarily be made of linen and well-crafted leather, with little sign of wear. There are mounting blocks next to each horse. As Aldern easily mounts his horse, a dappled gelding, he removes a boar spear from its wrappings and sits the saddle, butt of the spear resting in the stirrup.
He has clearly never been boar hunting before.
Ah, he is very much the typical patron. He does not hunt, but wishes to try it. His gift to us is also our gift to him. With a horse he buys our protection if things do not go well. So it always is.
Laufey chooses a horse based on nothing really since she knows little about them, and mounts up with her long spear in hand.
Yasu watches the man and then rolls his eyes, sighing. "All right, so I know you're an experienced hunter and everything, but for the sake of working with us as part of a bigger team, I'd appreciate it if you followed my directions out there, okay?" he explains, trying to keep from bruising egos. "I'll be calling targets and we'll need the spear hunters working together to stop any charges."
He pulls himself up into his horse, more uneasy about riding on the creature than he is about the hunt.
Rasmorn looks around at all the horses, and picks out the shortest one of the bunch to climb up onto. It is apparent that he doesn't really know much about horses, though he seems happy enough to try it out.
Once he is mounted he looks back and forth between Aldern and Yasu, seemingly more than willing to follow either lead. "Ready to go - this should be fun!" he says, as he adjusts his equipment, making sure his scroll case is at easy access and not blocked by the saddle.
"Of course, Yasu! I will follow your lead, as you seem quite experienced in this action."
As everyone mounts up, Aldern points to the Tickwood and says, "Onward! Let us sally forth!" He then blows a horn he has looped over his saddle and you begin riding in the direction of the Tickwood.
After a short while on the road, Aldern says, "Please, all of you, tell me more about yourselves. How long have you been Goblin hunters? Where do you come from? I must admit to a great deal of curiosity about each of you."
Isabella says, "Goblin hunter? Oh, no, it was... I was just defending our home. They came to us, remember! In fact I moved to Sandpoint to get away from goblin attacks... certainly I will protect the town if needed, but hunting down goblins in the woods isn't the usual for me."
"My dear, surely you have experience in such things. The way you stood your ground against such vicious creatures and showed your strength shows you to merely be using your no doubt endless modesty to not detract from your companions."
Noticing the fine, unworn nature of Aldern's clothes elicited a vague sense of frustration in Wenona. Sure would be nice if I could afford an expensive set of clothes just to romp around through the woods in.
She catches up with the group at the stables, thanks Aldern sincerely for providing horses, and mounts up with the others. She had precious little experience riding, but trusted in her ability to wing it.
When Aldern starts singing she and her companion's praises, Wenona finds herself somewhat put off. She was proud of what they had accomplished, but the nobleman was laying it on a bit thick. Still, they were riding off to a boar hunt astride hoses provided gratis: she had had far worse days.
She concluded she didn't particularly care for Aldern much, but also decided she was happy to put up with him if he was willing to fund escapades for the group.
Isabella sighs and says, "I have some experience with goblin raids. Everyone living along the Varisian coast does, I think."
Talia is content to observe, and let other carry the conversation.
Laufey simply restates what she has told the others before.
"I came here from Kalsgard. I am hunting the Sandpoint Devil, but the goblins were the immediate problem."
Yasu shrugs, "Goblins happen. Like the weather." he summarizes. "Just gotta be prepared."
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Noticing Isabella's sigh and short responses, the little gnome urges his horse forward and attempts to draw the man into a conversation.
"To be honest, I'm much more researcher than adventurer. I just happened to be here when they attacked. My passion is history, particularly Thassilonian history. You appear to be a well educated man, have you ever given any thought to Brodert Quink's theories about the Old Light?"
Isabella perks up noticeably at Rasmorn's interjection. "Oh, yes! Your family must have some connection to local history, do tell us," she adds.
Aldern looks somewhat surprised you are asking about him. "I'm afraid I don't know much about Thassilonian history, my gnomish friend. I know that there are large monuments all over Varisia that can be attributed to them, but little else. The Irespan in Magnimar is a particularly prominent one. As to family history, my great-uncle was merchant and built an estate along the coast, although after his death it lay empty for a time until my father moved in to reopen the place. Unfortunately, both of my parents died when I was very young, so I don't remember much of them or how it happened. I was raised by relatives in Korvosa, along with my sisters, who are still there. I am working to fix the manor up, but have a townhouse in Magnimar I live in primarily. You will have to stop by should you find yourselves in Magnimar. I would be more than happy to host such brave and honorable adventurers."
Looking at Laufey, he says, "Where is Kalsgard? It sounds like somewhere far to the north. Tell me, what is it like there?"