Dalvin looks between Arthorion and Clementine, uncertain as to the proper course of action. A look of relief passes over him when Aubirn speaks up.
She points to the people that immediately leapt to fight the hobgoblins. "The five of you. Go and save as many people as you can. Oreld's shop, the Phaendar Trading Post, the Riverwood Shrine. I know there were other celebrations there, your friends and families could be there. You could even find something to bring down the bridge."
"Save the people, blow up the bridge," he nods enthusiastically. "Got it." He turns to address the others. "Sounds like either Oreld's or the Trading Post are the most likely to have something to use on the bridge," he suggests. "Maybe we should start there?" Dalvin stops short of making any definitive statements on how they should proceed, feeling that the ones native to Phaendar will be the best to make that decision.
He places one hand on Drako for support, still a little overwhelmed by everything that has happened, but feeling determined to do what he can. "And Kudera is right, we need to stick together," he adds, nodding to the witch.
Dalvin looks back at Aubirn. "Are you going to be okay to get across the bridge?" he asks anxiously, remembering Kudera's words about her wounds.
Kudera grimaces as Clementine contradicts Arthorion. Please don't fight. Now is not the time to be divided, she silently pleads.
Looking over at the fallen cleric, Kudera sees her trying to stand. Kudera moves to assist Aubrin, but pauses when the cleric speaks.
She points to the people that immediately leapt to fight the hobgoblins. "The five of you. Go and save as many people as you can. Oreld's shop, the Phaendar Trading Post, the Riverwood Shrine. I know there were other celebrations there, your friends and families could be there. You could even find something to bring down the bridge."
Kudera ponders Aubrin's words. Aubrin wants us to destroy the bridge, to cause more destruction. And yet... homes and bridges can be rebuilt. Lives cannot.
"If blowing up the bridge will save lives, then we must do it," Kudera says to Arthorion, Dalvin, Clementine, and Rayne.
"Sounds like either Oreld's or the Trading Post are the most likely to have something to use on the bridge," he suggests. "Maybe we should start there? And Kudera is right, we need to stick together."
"Thank you, Dalvin. You're right about the shop and the Post. Those do seem like the most likely places to find the materials needed to destroy the bridge. We have to be sure to search all the places that Aubrin mentioned, though. We have to save as many as we can. Arthorion's family is still missing as well, as is my own."
Kudera pauses at the mention of her family. Not since the day Gilroy nearly died had she feared as much for the safety of one of her own. Now it wasn't just Gilroy, but both of her brothers and her parents.
Please protect them, Kudera pleads to her patron.
Moz pecks Kudera in the side of the head and says, "It looks like that half-elf found some things on one of the hobgoblins. Wonder what she found?"
Kudera rubs the side of her head where the raven had pecked her and says, "Her name is Rayne and I don't know what she found. I'm glad to see you're feeling better. Perhaps there's something in there we can use to give us an advantage against the Ironfang."
Rayne nods impatiently as Aubrin speaks. "Yes yes, let's listen to her, we need to leave. Let's find something to blow up the damned bridge and get out of here." Truth be told, Rayne didn't care one lick about stopping to save any of the people in town, but if going along with this group of people was the only way to find something to destroy the bridge with and get herself to safety, then so be it. Any other time she would have an overabundance of confidence in herself and her skills to make it on her own, but against the Ironfang... well, she had seen first-hand what that kind of thinking lead to.
She hears Kudera say her name and turns to find the girl talking to... her bird?
"Her name is Rayne and I don't know what she found."
She raises her eyebrow at the two and tosses the looted backpack onto the table next to them. "You could have just asked, you know," she says to the bird. Turning to the others, she gestures to the bag. "There's stuff here you guys might be able to use. Let's try to hurry, shall we? I'd rather not die tonight."
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Arthorion is just about to enter an argument with Clementine when Aubrin indicates the correct course of action. He nods and backs down, a little ashamed for suggesting such a rash course of action. These are no soldiers, and he himself has not picked up a sword in decades. What chance could they stand against the Ironfang? Aubrin had been a Chernasardo ranger. She had far more experience. Of course she was right.
Arthorion lowers his head. "Yes. Yes, Aubrin, of course. We'll find something to blow up the bridge and get back with as many people as we can. We'll meet you on the other side of the river," he acquiesces. Is this the time to be selfless? Shouldn't I put Rowena and Flora before everyone else?, he struggles internally. But Kudera's family is also out there, and so is everyone else's. We gotta do everything in our power to save whomever we can, and hope it will be enough for our loved ones, too. Someone ought to be looking out for them, wherever they are. We're a community. He shakes the thoughts away to focus on the moment.
He looks at Dalvin and Clementine first, and then to Rayne. "Alright. Let's go to Ored's trading post. Miss Rayne, you're a visitor and you don't know us well, but I guarantee: these are folks worth saving. I'm honored to have you fight on our side." Finally, he turns to Kudera. "Miss Rivani... I know exactly what you're going through right now, 'cause it's the same as me. I'm certain you want to come too, and I wouldn't even dare asking you to go with Aubrin. But you're not a fighter, so take care and stay close to us, so our weapons can protect you." Arthorion then walks to the door and prepares to head out. Looking back over his shoulder, he observes Rayne and Kudera pouring over the hobgoblin's items, and pauses to give them time to make sense of the wand and scrolls. "I'm ready when you are."
Before Clem could raise any objections, the former Chernasardo Ranger struggled to her... foot... and made her input. And her plan made the most sense. Regrouping and striking from the Fangwood was usually the plan when Molthune's troops struck up this far, and it wouldn't change for anyone else. And blowing up the bridge would slow them down.
"There's stuff here you guys might be able to use. Let's try to hurry, shall we? I'd rather not die tonight."
"I'm ready when you are."
"Before we go, let's check the kitchens and stuff for food and supplies. she suggests. "The more supplies we have, the less we'll have to rely on nature's mercy... and the less we leave for these bastards the better."
"Thank you, Dalvin. You're right about the shop and the Post. Those do seem like the most likely places to find the materials needed to destroy the bridge. We have to be sure to search all the places that Aubrin mentioned, though. We have to save as many as we can. Arthorion's family is still missing as well, as is my own."
Dalvin nods fervently. "Of course! I didn't mean to suggest otherwise," he says quickly.
"There's stuff here you guys might be able to use. Let's try to hurry, shall we? I'd rather not die tonight."
Dalvin scurries over to the bag, and begins helping Kudera sifting through the contents. "I can read these scrolls," he says helpfully. "It'll take a few minutes, but there might be something useful in here to help beat back the Legion." He pulls out a small prism from his component pouch and quickly studies the scrolls while Clementine searches for any useful supplies before they set out.
Jet makes no objection to the search of her stocks. She manages to turn up an easily-transported keg of clean water and a variety of hard cheese, sausage, and bread.
Jet also produces a dusty lockbox. "These are from when I was a performer," she explains. "Some of these could be of use to you."
Finally, before you head out into the war-torn town, Aubrin calls over to Arthorion. "Before you go, take this." She unsheathes her longsword, an exquisitely-crafted blade complete with a pale hardwood handle. "I need my staff to walk," she explains. "And I can defend myself with it in a pinch if I need to."
With the help of a couple of townsfolk, Arthorion finishes donning the Ironfang armor. He then hears Aubrin calling his name and turns around to see what it is about, and the sight of her fine sword being handed out to him takes him by surprise. He walks over to the wounded ranger and accepts the gift. "Aubrin, I... thank you. I'll bring it back to you. That's a promise." He runs his hand smoothly over the blade, feeling the cutting edge, and raises the sword to contemplate its beauty before sheathing the blade back. "Still, take the hobgoblin's swords with you, in case you need to fight. Good luck to us all."
Kudera smiles as she realizes what spell is contained within the wand before her. "This is a wand of magic missile and it appears to have 11 charges left. I think I'll hold on to this, if no one else minds. It could come in handy if we encounter anymore hobgoblins during our search."
Looking over at Jet and Clementine, Kudera sees the Taproot's proprietor bringing out supplies.
"Ah, thank you for your generosity, Jet. Those will certainly help in the days to come. That wand of grease might also be useful if we encounter anymore hobgoblins. I will take that as well, if it's okay. I may not be a fighter, but I can still aid in our search in my own way."
Kudera glances back at Arthorion and Aubrin and manages to catch the last part of their conversation.
"Still, take the hobgoblin's swords with you, in case you need to fight. Good luck to us all."
Ah, Arthorion, Kudera thinks. Despite everything, he's still the kind man I've always known him to be.
"That Rayne seems to still be hurt. Anything we can do for her?" Moz asks.
Kudera examines the half-elf with the eyes of a healer. It's not much, but perhaps this will help a bit, Kudera thinks.
"Calm animals, magic stone," Dalvin mutters as he looks over the scrolls. "And cure light wounds, if you need it!" he adds with a look toward Rayne, remembering the injury she suffered in the fight. "All very useful, especially once we're in the forest." Now the only one who can currently read the spells, the gnome quickly pockets them for future use.
Dalvin whistles for Drako to come to his side and pulls out his bow as he watches Arthorion receive Aubirn's sword. We'll be taking out hobgoblins left and right, no problem, he thinks reassuringly to himself. And look at what Jet has for us. We can do this!
Dog by his side and weapon in hand, Dalvin stands ready to move on.
"Miss Rayne, you're a visitor and you don't know us well, but I guarantee: these are folks worth saving. I'm honored to have you fight on our side."
Rayne starts to respond but stops herself, and instead nods with a small, quiet sigh. These people were too nice. She had doubts that any of them had ever needed to fight for their lives before now.
Tonight will be interesting, at the very least.
"And cure light wounds, if you need it!" he adds with a look towards Rayne.
She smiles back at the gnome. "Ah thanks, but I'm good," she says with a wink, placing her hand over the wound on her side. "Don't worry about me right now. I've had much worse than this."
As she finishes speaking she feels the familiar sensation of some sort of magic wash over her. She glances behind her to Kudera and nods to her with a smile in acknowledgement.
She steps just outside to survey their surroundings and wait for the others, twirling a dagger in her hand anxiously. She didn't know exactly where any of the locations they were going to were, but from what she could see in front of her, it didn't look as though there would be an easy way to get to any of them. Her nerves were running high, but it felt good. She had spent the last week dreaming of revenge, and though she hadn't expected the opportunity to come so soon, she was going to do everything she could to make the most of it.
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Clem was happy to find what she could, taking them and shoving them into her pack as carefully as she could.
Jet also produces a dusty lockbox. "These are from when I was a performer," she explains. "Some of these could be of use to you."
"Ah, thank you for your generosity, Jet. Those will certainly help in the days to come. That wand of grease might also be useful if we encounter anymore hobgoblins. I will take that as well, if it's okay. I may not be a fighter, but I can still aid in our search in my own way."
The halfling giggles. "Grease is my big brother's favorite spell. Told me it'd never stop being useful. And those elixirs would be great for me and Rayne." Not wanting to overload her backpack, she (reluctantly) lets Miss Jet keep the juggling balls.
After making sure she had everything, she straps up her pack, secures her buckler to her arm, and points her rapier in the Trading Post's general direction. "Alright guys. Trading Post or bust!" she announces before taking the lead.
Stepping out into Phaendar, the situation becomes more clear. A tower of smooth, dark stone has appeared in the center of the Market Green, a place affectionately considered the town square despite it not being remotely square. An ominous archway at its base seems to descend into the earth and from it more soldiers pour forth. Troops now fill the green; a hundred Ironfang soldiers of various races, mostly hobgoblin - but also bugbears, goblins, worgs, and the occasional minotaur, are already in the process of building rough fortifications. The screams of the terrified and the dying ring through the night air.
You keep to the back roads, using buildings and the dark of night to keep out of sight. Soon, you reach your destination. A signpost by the road announces the clapboard wooden shop and barn-like smithy sharing a single large, stone wall to be the Phaendar Trading Company. The smithy’s double doors stand open, revealing a large, still-glowing forge within. Two slaughtered goats and a dead horse fill an adjacent animal pen. Many fresh scratches and dents mar the trading post’s heavy wooden door, and a chair leg juts through one broken window. Small flames lick at the thatch rooftop where a red-hot iron has been tossed.
Most of the Trading Company's profit came from the exchange of lumber, livestock, and other large supplies kept in this yard, though it has been cleared out for the Market Festival.
Three Ironfang soldiers prowl the lot, each clearly wounded from fighting. Their arms and armor show signs of heavy battering, as if from a great club. They see you approach and make ready for a fight.
Arthorion rushes past his allies and goes for the nearest hobgoblin, swinging Aubrin's sword. Against his best judgement, the fervor of battle proves once again to be an automatic trigger to the draconic rage trapped inside him. As he advances, his mind tries to control the feeling, but by the time he reaches the enemy the mild-mannered miller is already lost in frenzy.
Dalvin stares in horrified awe at the massive tower that now occupies the center of town. As they sneak past it, he can't help but wonder how the Ironfang managed to get themselves so embedded in the town with those in the Inn none the wiser. How long were these monsters sacking Phaendar while they drank and laughed the night away?
Three Ironfang soldiers prowl the lot, each clearly wounded from fighting. Their arms and armor show signs of heavy battering, as if from a great club. They see you approach and make ready for a fight.
Dalvin shakes his head. No time to live in the past. Can't change what's happened, need to focus on what is happening now. He commands Drako to attack the same hobgoblin Arthorion's attacking with gusto (Still not used to this new Arthorion) and, grateful he had his bow ready, runs to position to shoot the next nearest hobgoblin.
Kudera follows Clementine and her other three companions as they leave the inn and enter the inferno that is the rest of Phaendar.
Our town, Kudera thinks as she looks upon the Market Green. This place will never be the same.
As the group arrives at their first destination, Kudera notices the three injured hobgoblins near the smithy. Under different circumstances, she might feel sorry for them. Now, anger rises again inside her at what the Ironfang is doing to Phaendar.
At least we aren't the only ones fighting back.
As Arthorion and Dalvin move to attack, Kudera stares down the hobgoblin that Arthorion approaches.
Clem couldn't help but stare at the wide variety of scoundrels and mercs now infesting the town square... and the dark tower they all seemed to come out of. 'When the hell did that get here?' she thought. As the Trading Post came into view, she wiped the thoughts from her mind and focused on her new opponents: three more hobgoblin soldiers... and the makings of a fire atop the building!
"Put these guys down quick!" she warned, pointing at the flaming thatch before bolting toward the hobgoblin closest to Dalvin.
Hob3 - 12/17
Arthorian Bloodrage - 2
Arthorion slices into the wounded hobgoblin in front of him. The wiry humanoid steps back to counterswing, but screams in pain as Drako buries his fangs into its exposed calf. The Ironfang soldier goes down, helpless and bleeding.
Dalvin's arrow flies wide of the middle hobgoblin, a broad-shouldered brute with artichoke-colored skin.
Clementine's charge is easily deflected by the final Ironfang. The soldier leers at her, his brows covered in piercings. "You will make a fine slave, halfling," he taunts before delivering a slash across the swashbuckler's chest.
Rayne moves silently through the shadows of the town with ease, once again thankful for her unorthodox upbringing. As they travel, she can't help but glance up at the large black tower, wondering how it appeared out of nowhere, and what its purpose was.
As they reach the trading post, her eyes narrow as she spots the small group of hobgoblins, another rush of anger building inside her. Before she can react, one is cut down while the others avoid any damage. She watches as the last creature slashes at Clem, drawing blood with a large, deep gash across her chest.
With a dagger grasped in each hand, Rayne sprints towards the southernmost hobgoblin, lunging towards its chest and neck as soon as she comes into range.
Hob3 - 12/17
Rayne tumbles behind the hobgoblin fighting Drako, stabbing it in the back. The warrior yelps in pain and spins to face the new threat.
Arthorion runs up to Drako's side and thrusts his sword against the hobgoblin invader, his face twisted with anger.
"No, Clementine!" Kudera says as one of the hobgoblins' swords connects with the halfling.
Dalvan grimaces as the hobgoblin cuts into Clementine. Seeing Arthorion continue to rip into the hobgoblin he was shooting at, Dalvin moves down to face the southern hobgoblin and commands Drako to do the same. He aims his bow and lets another arrow fly at the creature as Drako tries to bite.
Clementine's charge is easily deflected by the final Ironfang. The soldier leers at her, his brows covered in piercings. "You will make a fine slave, halfling," he taunts before delivering a slash across the swashbuckler's chest.
Clem grunted in pain as the soldier's blade slid through an opening in her armor and along her flesh. No matter how many times it happened, it never seemed to hurt any less when her foes got lucky enough to land a solid hit. And this one was quite solid. But even as her armor gained a crimson tint, the woman didn't even consider backing down (especially in the face of the 'slave' remark).
"Not in my lifetime! Or yours!" she taunted back before attempting to tumble between him and Dalvin, getting beside Darko to strike at a new angle.
The second Ironfang gurgles bloodily as Arthorion's blade impales it.
Clementine rolls to place the final hobgoblin between herself and Rayne. The soldier tries to bring his shield over in time, but Clementine's rapier punctures the armor on her foe's thigh, leaving a bloody wound.
The pierced warrior grunts and brings his sword down in a swing short of the halfling.
Rayne moves forward with both daggers, stabbing into the hobgoblin's back.
The last hobgoblin slumps to the ground, Rayne's dagger sticking from its back.
Kudera watches as the last hobgoblin falls to the ground. All of her friends... and her latest companion, Rayne, had proven to be fearsome warriors. She was thankful to have them by her side.
Seeing Clementine's wound, Kudera grimaces. Kudera could heal the brave halfling, but she would have nothing left if something worse happened. Despite her uneasiness, Kudera forces herself to save her healing for if matters worsen.
With the fight over, Kudera looks to the Phaendar Trading Company's smithy and wooden building. If the trading post had anything that could take down a bridge, it seemed likely that it would be stored indoors to keep it out of the weather.
Kudera sees small flames licking at the thatch rooftop. "We must move quickly if we are to find anything before the building goes up in flames. I would lead the way, but it would seem wise to have one of us that's more... robust... lead the way."
Rayne puts a foot on the dead hobgoblin's back, bending over to yank her dagger from the corpse. She wipes some of the blood off of the dagger onto her thigh and returns them to their sheathes.
"We must move quickly if we are to find anything before the building goes up in flames. I would lead the way, but it would seem wise to have one of us that's more... robust... lead the way."
"Well," she says, dusting some dirt from the arm of her shirt. "We'd better get moving, then."
She starts off towards the building's entrance, scanning her surroundings as she goes.
With the last of the hobgoblin menaces dead and the adrenaline rush of combat wearing off, Clem hisses and presses her left arm over her wound. "F*ck ,that stings..." she groaned. Seeing Kudera look at her worriedly, she gives her friend a smile and a thumbs up to reassure her that she's alright. Then, she turns her attention to the flaming rooftop.
'There's gotta be a way to stop that fire, or at least slow its spread...' she thought before jumping on her opponent's corpse, running past Rayne, and opening the door to examine what lay inside.
Dalvin lets out an unexpected cheer as Rayne finishes off the final hobgoblin. He hurries over to Drako to make sure he wasn't harmed.
Kudera sees small flames licking at the thatch rooftop. "We must move quickly if we are to find anything before the building goes up in flames. I would lead the way, but it would seem wise to have one of us that's more... robust... lead the way."
Dalvin nods in agreement. I'll catch up, I'm gonna check these guys real quick for anything useful before anymore soldiers come across them." After searching the hobgoblin corpses, Dalvin and Drako quickly follow the others into the trading post.
Arthorion pulls Aubrin's longsword out of the hobgoblin's torso and lowers the blade, calming down. When Kudera mentions the fire, he turns around to take a look at the trading post. He follows Clementine into the building and helps her search the place.
The centuries-old forge here provided ample space for working iron and steel as well as limited farrier serves. Most of the weapons and armor here have already been pilfered, snatched up by the meaty paws of the Ironfang invaders. A pair of longbows lie discarded on the floor.
A wounded hobgoblin drags itself towards you from the shadows, battered and bleeding. It struggles for a moment before being set upon by a second, roughly humanoid creature. Made from dirt and stone, it raises one heavy, blunt limb and finishes crushing the life from the hobgoblin. The creature looks up and regards you with a pair of glowing gemstone eyes.
Kudera comes to a halt behind Arthorion and Rayne. Looking around Arthorion's statuesque figure and Rayne's lithe physique, Kudera sees a bloody and battered hobgoblin moving toward them.
Readying herself for an attack, Kudera is startled when the hobgoblin is crushed to death by a second creature. The new creature's eyes mesmerize the witch. Hobgoblins, bugbears, goblins, worgs, and minotaurs weren't enough dangers for Phaendar, now a new and unknown creature had beset the town. No, not beset, likely emerged from below like the hobgoblins and their cohorts.
The question was: what was it?
"Perhaps this is a good time to leave,"Moz whispers in Kudera's ear. "I don't think we'll find anything helpful in here. We should check the other locations that Aubrin mentioned."
"Not so fast, Moz," Kudera whispers back. "That creature did kill that hobgoblin. Perhaps it doesn't mean us harm. I'll take any ally we can get, even an unexpected one. He may turn out to be an enemy, but we can't afford to assume that under the circumstances."
Kudera looks straight at the strange creature and tries to communicate with it, while being careful to remain strategically behind Arthorion.
If Kudera doesn't know what the creature is and it replies, she'll try to discern its words to be able to speak back.
This new creature seemed rather out of place, even with the hobgoblin invasion going on. Clem had never met a stone that could move or bash someone's brains in before... but if it was fighting the hobgoblins, it might not have been an enemy.
Sheathing her rapier, she holds out her right hand to the creature and greets it with a friendly smile and tells it "Hi there. I'm Clementine. Where're you from?"
Dalvin stares anxiously at the strange creature, wondering where it could have come from.
At least it's attacking the Ironfang, he thinks grimly to himself, admiring the bravery of both Kudera and Clementine. Dalvin sticks close to Arthorion, in case the stone creature turned out to not be too friendly. "Ever see anything like that?" he asks Arthorion quietly, waiting for how the creature will react to their presence with bow in hand.
Arthorion stands with his blade lowered, but his eyes are fixed on the creature before them in case he needs to react quickly. He turns his head slightly to Dalvin, without taking his tare off the stone humanoid. "Can't say that I have," he replies, waiting to see how Clementine and Kudera fare in dealing peacefully with the situation.
The creature speaks in a strange tongue, its voice like boulder being dragged across a gravelly road. Despite the language barrier, it seems to lower its guard towards Clementine. It steps back from the slain hobgoblin and begins to burrow into the earth, leaving the forge behind.
Shouting is heard from the building attached to the forge, the trading post proper where Phaendar's resident dwarf, a prickly woman by the name of Kining Blondebeard does business.
Rayne lowers the blades she'd been ready to attack with and turns to Clementine in disbelief. After staring at her for a moment she shakes her head and turns to make her way further into the building.
As she looks around for something, anything, that might bring that damned bridge down so they could get the hell out of this nightmare, she hears shouting from the next building over. Groaning, she trots over to the door, readying her daggers again as she opens the door.
As the strange, rocky creature burrows into the ground, Kudera realizes that yet another mystery will have to wait to be solved on another day. Was it trying to communicate with its dragging noise? Kudera wonders. Another time, she reminds herself.
Looking up, Kudera sees a pair of human men in the rafters, clinging to the beams that run along the ceiling. Her eyes widen for a moment, but she quickly realizes she would have likely tried doing the same thing when faced with such a creature.
We have to save as many as we can.
"It should be safe to come down now, for the moment at least," Kudera begins.
As the words leave her mouth, shouts can be heard from the trading post building next to the forge. Kudera glances over at Rayne to see the half-elf trotting over to the nearby building's door.
Kudera looks back at the pair of men and says, "Get to the Phaendar bridge as quick as you can. Aubrin and some others are gathering on the other side. Tell any other townsfolk you find. We're planning to bring down the bridge to prevent the invaders from following. Please hurry!"
With that, Kudera follows Rayne and prepares herself for whatever may lie behind the adjacent building's door.
Dalvin quickly places a hand on Drako as the creature begins to move, but relaxes as it becomes clear the thing has no intention of harming them. "Good job, Clementine," he says, relieved at the prospect of having something of an ally like that against the hobgoblins.
"It should be safe to come down now, for the moment at least," Kudera begins.
Dalvin follows Kudera's eyes up to the rafters, trying to make out who she was talking to. Looks like we got here just in time. As shouting echoes through the buildings, Dalvin follows Rayne to the door, ready to fight whatever may be in there.
While a bit disappointed that it didn't stay to help, she shouted "Nice meeting you!" to the thing as it burrowed away.
"Good job, Clementine."
"Thanks, Dalvin." she replies. "And you too, Darko." When she hears the shouting, she remembers what they were doing before and resumes her search while the others rush to the building.
While Clementine searches the room and Kudera instructs the hidden folks, Arthorion follows Dalvin and Rayne to the adjoining building.
Two half-elves, male and female, drop from the rafters above. Both have freckles and wavy brown hair, although the woman wears it longer. "Thanks for your help," the girl says. "I'm Lirosa and this is my brother, Taidel."
Taidel picks up the bows and hands one to Lirosa. "You keep gathering the townsfolk. We've got hobgoblins to hunt." Lirosa nods and moves towards the door. "We'll buy you some time."
The door to the trading post won't open, something is clearly blocking the way into the building.
"Help!" cries a voice from the inside. "We can't bre-" The voice bursts into a hacking cough. "The fire," adds a second voice, a gruff woman's. "The fire's spread and we can't get out!"
As Kudera turns to walk toward the building where they had heard the shouts, she can't help but turn back as the two half-elves descend from their hiding place.
"I'm Lirosa and this is my brother, Taidel."
"Nice to meet you, Lirosa, and you as well, Taidel. Under normal circumstances, I'd be happy to talk further. But right now..."
"You keep gathering the townsfolk. We've got hobgoblins to hunt." Lirosa nods and moves towards the door. "We'll buy you some time."
Kudera frowns. She had hoped the half-elves would heed her first words to them. They needed to get to the Phaendar bridge, not strike out on their own. Frustratingly, there was little time for debate.
"Please be careful. Make for the Phaendar bridge as soon as you can. We'll make do on our own."
Resisting the impulse to say more, Kudera forces herself to run to the adjacent building, knowing there were others who needed aid even more than the half-elves needed advice. Reaching the trading post's entrance, Kudera and the others at the door hear voices inside.
"Help!" cries a voice from the inside. "We can't bre-" The voice bursts into a hacking cough. "The fire," adds a second voice, a gruff woman's. "The fire's spread and we can't get out!"
Thinking she recognizes at least one of the voices, Kudera shouts, "Hold on, Kining. We're going to get you out of there."
Kudera glances over at Rayne as the door fails to open for her.
"Kining, the door won't open. Is there another entrance?"
Kudera looks at Moz and says, "Fly around the trading post. See if you can find another way in."
The raven nods dutifully and flys off to search the perimeter of the building.
Dalvin throws a worried look at the others as the door fails to open. "Do you think you could use your... claw thing to break down the door?" Dalvin asks Arthorion, feeling awkward at bringing up his new condition so bluntly but knowing that this was no time to be polite.