About fifteen minutes later Laufey returns with a long spear in her hand and a fully stuffed rucksack on her back.
"Can anyone tell me where I can find a place to stay?"
The Sheriff shakes each of your hands as he says, "Thank you again for your assistance. If you intend to stay in town for a while, we may be able to arrange some work for you. We'll need to find out more about what happened, first."
He then walks off and signals to a couple guardsmen before giving them orders.
After the Sheriff leaves, a woman you recognize from serving lunch comes up. She's wearing a suit of studded leather armor and carrying a rapier.She smiles as she approaches you and says, "I heard about what you did to help the town. I'd like to thank you. I'm Ameiko Kaijitsu, owner of the Rusty Dragon. If you'd like, I can offer you free room and board for a week as a reward. What do you say?"
Seeing Isabella, she smiles and says, "I know you're staying with Hannah, but I'll give you free food for a week."
Yasu is quick to accept Ameiko's offer, sighing now that his first few days of room and board have been taken care of.
Rasmorn nods his head in agreement to her offer, "That is very kind and generous of you, thank you."
Laufey nods to Ameiko. "Many thanks to you. If you are going there now, may I come as well? I would like to put down these extra things. I also need to clean up and change."
Laufey looks down at her torn, sliced, and gore splattered clothes.
Isabella smiles to Ameiko and says, "You know I can't turn down your noodle soups." She also notes, "This will be a convenient coincidence, since that other fellow - Aldern - is also staying at the Dragon."
Talia perks up when she hears 'Free food.' "Is there any salmon curry left? I've worked up a bit of an appetite."
Turning to the others, "This offer of work sounds interesting doesn't it? Shall we stick together and see what the offer is?"
"Sounds agreeable to me," Wenona says with a grin. "Together, we made short work of those goblins. I headed out this way with the hopes of tracking down a couple specific beasties, but an offer of 'work' sounds just as good."
"I'll help patch you up if you run into any trouble," says Isabella. "Seems the least I can do."
"Sounds good to me. Perhaps we should head on over, get our rooms, and then check in on that poor man and his ever-so-fast beating heart" Rasmorn says, with a slight grin at Isabella.
"... Yeah, room. Good idea... Raz." Yasu says, scratching under his hood.
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Ameiko smiles and says, "Excellent! Why don't you all come on down to the Rusty Dragon, then? We'll see if we have any of the salmon left for you, no worries."
You follow Ameiko down to the Rusty Dragon. As you do so, townspeople stop and thank you as you go by, shaking your hands. You appear to have made a bit of an impression.
You soon arrive at the inn, finding how it got its name from the big, rusted metal dragon above the entryway. Inside, you find the common room comfortable and well-lit. Ameiko instructs a halfling woman named Bethana to make your rooms up and gestures you all to a table before disappearing into the kitchen. A short time later, she emerges with bowls of some sort of noodle soup - and yes, more of the salmon.
"Ooh!" says Isabella, with a tiny squeak of happiness at the sight of the buckwheat noodle soup. "My favorite!"
Wenona gives Isabella a hearty, perhaps slightly too forceful pat on her shoulder.
"That does look good! Best part of hero-ing: post-saving-the-day rest and relaxation, am I right?" she exclaims with a wide grin. Wenona then eagerly takes a seat, placing her gear next to the table. She then makes a show of an exaggerated stretch of her limbs followed by cracking her neck.
Talia thanks Ameiko gratefully and tucks in with relish, sopping up any leftover curry with a piece of bread.
Once the bottomless pit is temporarily sated she turns to the others with a cheerful grin. "So then, Talia Burrows is my name. Noticing things is my specialty. Especially traps and other hidden nasties. I also deal with removing the traps, and picking locks. Fighting wise I prefer to stay well back and put bolts into any problems."
Yasu sits near the group if only because of necessity; still somehow he seems distant. He unhooks his mask and pulls back his hood. Revealed beneath the blue cloth is ruddy skin, and two horn-like lumps on his forehead, with a shock of white hair, roughly cut and falling back behind his ears. A tiefling, but not a kind you would easily recognize. He has no tail, but his skin seems thin, tightly wrapping rippling muscle. Part of a tattoo can be seen up the back of his neck. Though his face is not ugly, per se, but there's a lot of otherness making it hard to see him favorably.
He eats and drinks quietly, and doesn't go out of his way to make conversation. He watches the others, almost as if anticipating when he would be unwelcome again.
This fame can't last long. Soon, they'll remember what I am, and I'll be on my own again.
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The first thing Laufey does after arriving at the Rusty Dragon is find her room so she can drop her extra gear and clean up. She washes quickly then takes stock of her clothes. The shirt is a total loss, both sliced in the fighting and ripped by her for bandaging her cuts. The pants can probably be mended.
only one other set of those clothes, and I should save them for when I need to move. The dress it will be I guess.
She dons a simple peasant-style daily wear dress, then buckles her sword belt around it. She then heads back to join the others at their table.
Laufey finds an open space and sits down. She looks about at the others and smiles a bit awkwardly. "It has been a good day for us yes? Very successful. We must toast it."
Rasmorn sits down to eat with the rest of them, with a quiet but content grin on his face. He tears into the noodle soup when it is delivered (This is amazing! Fantastic noodles.) then moves on to the salmon (Still good, but not quite as good...)
When Yasu takes his mask off, the little gnome is immediately curious. He immediately begins talking to him. "Are those horns? How fantastic! I've never met anyone with horns before. Do they get in the way? Can you still wear hats? Were you born with them, or did they grow in over time? I can't imagine giving birth to a son with horns would be at all pleasant, if they were there from the beginning..."
Realizing he's probably asking too many questions, Rasmorn looks a little sheepish. "Sorry, it's just that I've never seen someone with such a feature before, and certainly never been friends with someone with horns before, this is new for me. Not often you get to ask these sorts of questions!"
When Laufey speaks, Rasmorn nods in agreement with her. "Here here, it was quite the fantastic experience! I mean, horrible, but, well, not horrible because of you all but because of the goblins, you guys were fantastic." He stops talking and just holds up his glass instead.
When Yasu takes his mask off, the little gnome is immediately curious. He immediately begins talking to him. "Are those horns? How fantastic! I've never met anyone with horns before. Do they get in the way? Can you still wear hats? Were you born with them, or did they grow in over time? I can't imagine giving birth to a son with horns would be at all pleasant, if they were there from the beginning..."Realizing he's probably asking too many questions, Rasmorn looks a little sheepish. "Sorry, it's just that I've never seen someone with such a feature before, and certainly never been friends with someone with horns before, this is new for me. Not often you get to ask these sorts of questions!"
Yasu shakes his head as the little gnome tries to apologize. "No, it's okay, I better get it out of the way now."
He touches his horns. "Yeah, they're horns. Looks like they didn't break the skin, but they're as hard as any horn you'd find in the wild. Pretty sure I've had them since I was born but I never knew how my mother handled it; she had abandoned me shortly after I was born." He shrugs. "From what I've been told, my mother was raped several times by an oni... a kind of eastern demon. I came from that."
He takes his drink and finishes it off. "Not great dinner conversation, now that I think about it. I'm sorry."
He frowns slightly as the details come out, then replies "I'm sorry to hear about that, that's awful! Still, though, for what it's worth, the horns look pretty cool. As is that mammoth bow you used back there. I'm not an expert in archery, but that isn't a normal sized bow, right?"
Yasu nods. "Yeah, it's bigger than normal. The draw isn't outside of man's strength, but my arms are better built for larger weapons than most people. I made it and the arrows for it myself."
"People get around and have lots of experiences... some good, some bad. Ultimately you can't be responsible for your parentage, only what you choose to do with it," says Isabella as she sips delicately at her udon.
"Speaking of which, you all seem to have made quite a good impression with the sheriff, which is a good thing! I hope that if you plan to stay around for a few days, you'll help out with trying to figure out how the goblins got into the town." Her expression darkens momentarily, but it passes and she says, "There are many tribes of goblins in the forests and swamps around Sandpoint, so they are a constant nuisance. Usually they don't get inside the town walls, though."
"I come through town often during my travels, it's almost like a second home to me. Of course I'll stay and help figure this stuff out. Plus, I never turn down free food, and as I understand it we have another good six days of free food here! If I hadn't been convinced before, that would have done the trick." the little gnome says, with a big grin on his face.
Wenona has occupied the last several minutes of conversation primarily by stuffing her face eagerly with the noodle soup, though she paused to listen solemnly while Yasu briefly explained his personal history.
Gulping down the last of her bowl, she drops the spoon into the dish with a clatter.
"Did I ever need that. Fighting always works up such an appetite!"
She wipes her face with a napkin, then responds to Isabella: "I wasn't planning on shipping out any time soon. I came here to do some creepy-crawly hunting, but I think goblins qualify as plenty creepy and at least a little crawly."
"Free room and food is always good." Talia nods, "Add a little Goblin hunting to work up an appetite and it's almost a holiday."
She then grins teasingly at Isabella. "Or were you hoping for some company to keep your new found 'Admirer' at a safe distance?"
For the most part Laufey stays quite during the chit chat, eating slowly and listening to the others. There are some things she would say or ask, especially of Talia right now, but she would rather do that outside of a group. When the the subject of work comes up she does speak up though.
"I think my plans will keep me here for a while. I will be tracking down the Sandpoint Devil, but that will not pay. It is good to have a work offer here. It will pay for things as I search. Besides, the caravan master was not so happy to hear I was leaving them right after the goblins raided. He will talk to others and there will be a black spot on my name. Jobs of that kind will be harder to find now, so I must make this work."
"This is a good start. A reputation is important, and now we have all begun to build one."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about mister Foxglove," says Isabella. "He's probably just in a bit of shock from the attack. Besides, I get... attention of various kinds pretty often. I try not to let it bother me. I can only control my own responses, after all." She swirls her udon about with her spoon a bit. "Anyway, you're all very fortunate to be offered rooms here! Ameiko is a bit of a local celebrity. She is the daughter of one of the town elders, and her family owns the several businesses. Ameiko happens to spend a lot of time managing this place because she loves to be around people."
At Laufey's mention of the Sandpoiont Devil, Wenona's expression becomes serious.
"I didn't have a chance to mention this before, but if you go after the Devil -especially alone- you're going to get yourself killed."
She holds up her hands in front of her in a placating gesture: "That's not a criticism of your skill or ability. I saw you handle yourself out there and I can't think of many other people I'd want at my back in a fight. But Jaxson, my mentor, he could lay you and me both out while tied to a chair and even he refused to ever track the beast down."
Laufey looks at Wenona and raises her eyebrows in curiosity. "What is it? Truly a devil? Why is it so fearsome? Yasu said earlier it can fly."
"It can. Many witnesses have seen it prancing away in the sky." Yasu reassures, getting up to get a refill.
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Talia gives Laufey a serious look. "If it's that well known, and as far away as Kalsgard then it must be very nasty. Be careful Laufey, something that's been around for as long as the Sandpoint devil has will be both dangerous and cunning."
She turns to Rasmorn. "Do you think Bodart Quink is in town. It would be so interesting to look over the lighthouse in his company!"
Wenona gives a casual shrug, but her tone still contains a solemn bite."All Jaxson would tell me is that more than a few of his friends in the business went after the thing, at that was the last time he ever saw them."
At Talia's inquiry to Rasmorn, Wenona's expression becomes quizzical. "Is there something special about the lighthouse?"
At Talia's inquiry to Rasmorn, Wenona's expression becomes quizzical. "Is there something special about the lighthouse?"
The little gnome gets an excited look on his face when the lighthouse is brought up. "Well, for starters, it is a fascinating ancient relic. In all honesty, we don't even know for sure that it is a lighthouse. It's old enough that most of the top has crumbled to ruins, but what is left up there are various Thassilonian markings and writing that seem to indicate there was a bright light at the top; that's why people assume it was a lighthouse."
Glancing over at Talia, he continues "Adding to the intrigue about the structure is Bodart Quink, the man that Talia mentioned. He is a local historian who maintains that it was not actually a lighthouse, but a massive weapon that could hurl fire across the sea! Most people seem to disagree with him, but in truth there isn't much to go on either way."
"Talia and I have a shared fascination with Thassilonian history, so we've talked a lot about Quink and his theories before. It is an interesting discussion, whether he is right or not. " To Talia he says "I don't think Quink does a lot of traveling these days, he is likely in town. It would be fun to go see it with him, if these troublesome goblin pests don't take up all our time."
"Brodert is a bit... grouchy," says Isabella. "He spends a lot of time at the Curious Goblin, the local bookstore."
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"They named a Bookstore after goblins." Yasu states for people who don't get it. "And we wonder why they attack us regularly."
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Laufey doesn't get it.
"You mean the goblins seek revenge on the town because of the bookstore name? That is very odd."
"Goblins don't read. It's a joke," explains Isabella. "The goblins raid whenever they think they can sneak away with something interesting or tasty. Honestly it puzzles me that they got in right during the festival, and somehow got past the walls without anyone seeing them."
"Ah, a joke. There are tales of goblins in the north, especially on the fringes of the High Ice. They are rarely seen though, and I know nothing of their habits."
"All the way up north?" Wenona asks rhetorically, her left hand idly fiddling with the handle of her spoon. "Must be so much harder for the damned things to go about lighting every last thing they can find on fire." The annoyance is clear in her voice.
"The poor things." She says pithily.
The evening progresses as you swap stories and learn more about each other. By the time you all decide to turn in, you find yourselves feeling quite good about how things are going. For those staying in the Rusty Dragon, the beds are comfortable, the rooms clean and well-maintained. You pass a calm night, and awaken the next morning to the smells of a delicious breakfast.
Huh. When's the last time you had breakfast that you didn't have to make yourself? or for everyone else? he thinks, taking care of shaving and cleaning up before dressing and coming down. His hood is down, and he internally debates wearing the mask anyways before deciding to pocket it and only put it on if he's getting uncomfortable.
Yasu comes down for breakfast, leaving his armor and weapons in his room upstairs.
Rasmorn walks lightly down the stairs and looks to see if any of his new friends were around. He had already been up for some time, going through his morning preparation (you never can be too careful), but now came on down. He had on his component pouch and scroll case, but left the backpack upstairs.
Upon reaching the main area and grabbing some food, he sees Yasu and sits down by him. "Good morning Yasu! Did you enjoy the bed? They've got quite a nice place here, I think." He then proceeds to tear into the breakfast. (Man, this is good! I love breakfast...)
"The bed was almost too soft." Yasu observed. "Too used to sleeping on the ground. Lots of room though. Slept all right after a while."
He tries to smile at the gnome. "How about you?"
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Talia nods silently to the other two before tearing into her breakfast, gradually becoming more alive and interested in the world once she's had some food.
"I suppose we should go see the Sheriff when everyone is here." She finally remarks, clutching her mug of tea and adding honey to it by the spoonful.
In response to Yasu's question, the gnome responds "Oh, I quite enjoyed it. They have lovely beds here, some of the best really. Slept quite well, particularly after the excitement of yesterday!"
When Talia joins them, he smiles happily and waves to her. "Talia, cheery as always first thing in the morning, I see." Rasmorn says with a grin.
Isabella is brushing her silver hair as she arrives. She puts the brush down so that she can unloop the heavy falchion from her back and put it to one side before she sits and continues brushing. "Good morning! You all slept well, I presume? Ameiko's accommodations have always been well-accounted." She looks over the combination of exotic and local fare on offer and says, "I was thinking of having a chat with Sheriff Hemlock and seeing if we can find any signs of how the goblins got into the town, if anyone's interested."
Wenona stumbles into the common room in her breeches and tunic, a shadow of the warrior the rest of the party saw in action the previous day. One hand rubs the sleep out of her eyes while the other probes for a chair at the table the others are sitting at. Finding one, she slowly pulls it towards her, the sound of the chair dragging along the floor sounding throughout the room.
She collapses in the chair, resting her head face-down on the table. Wenona's hands reach out across the table, grasping whatever unattended food they can and pulling it towards her.
"Grghble."
Laufey sleeps in a bit. Her first wakeup revealed a slight hangover in the form of a throbbing headache. With a couple more hours of sleep it had subsided enough to make it worth her while to get out of bed and wash up a bit with cold water. The cold is bracing enough to clear her head and get her blood flowing.
She needed to do some repair work on her clothes, but some food would put her on the right track to feeling normal again. She decides to combine the two. Putting on her same dress from the night before, she takes her sword and the trousers she wore yesterday downstairs.
She joins the others and has some food, but quickly settles into drinking plenty of milky coffee. With a couple of patches fashioned from her ruined shirt, she goes to work sewing up the cuts in her trousers.
Mostly she works and listens in as the others talk. She very much agrees with the idea of finding the sheriff. "Yes, I need this job he talked about. We should get a strong agreement on it in case he changes his mind, or the chance passes."
She also asks "Does anyone know where there is a good place to buy a shirt? The one I wore yesterday is ruined and I only have one more."
Yasu thinks for a few minutes. "Yeah," he says. "I know a place. I have to go there often because my shirtsleeves have a habit of shredding whenever I exert myself." He looks down and sighs. "They just started sewing them without sleeves."
He gives his left bicep a flex, and it bulges almost alarmingly large before relaxing. "I think it's an Oni thing?" he says. "I always wondered if I was going to try too hard one day and just... pop right out of my skin or something."
Rasmorn finishes off the last of his breakfast, and sits back with a content sigh. "I love breakfast, favorite meal of the day." Looking up at the others, talking about going to see the sheriff, he nods in agreement. "I'd be fine with tracking him down, glad to help however I can."
VampByDay
Alendree
Jesse Heinig
