GM Woran's Rise of the Runelords

Game Master Woran

"WHAT!" Taj's hair blazes into a roaring flame. It's okay for a stranger to criticize them stepping in on official guard duties. That much was true. But to insult her brother and call him not only a murderer but the cause of the town's misery? She pulls herself up with dignity and looks him in the eye.

"I have no wish to dishonor my hostess and Vy's friend by starting a fight in her tavern, so I will ask you to apologize for your allegations and slander, sir. My brother is the kindest, gentlest soul in Varisia. He heals others at no charge, and protects those who cannot protect themselves. He has never done anything worthy of your disdain!"

Well. So much for that diplomacy attempt. Bar fight, anyone? :)

picture of Kaijitsu here

Sir Kaijitsu does not look impressed at Rataji's flaming hair.
"Violence is always the answer with you types. No wonder my daughter likes you. Such an insolent child she is. She always stuck up for that half breed too."
He fonds his arms in an agry and arrogance stance. " But the wolf will show his teeth in a smile too, before ripping your throat out. We thought he perished in the fire, but its clear its all a ruse now. He'll get his devils due, you can count on that."

Snowflake buries his head in his hands. There is simply no way this will end in way that will not get them run out of town

"Exactly what is this mans position in this town? he's either not high enough to make these decisions or high enough that I need to discuss his removal of office for a completely inept defense plan. "

Nursing a tankard of... ale? an elf drinking ale? What is the world coming to?, Vitro frowns at the one foreigner accusing the other one. He scoots a little closer to the rat-wizard and talks softly.

"What's going on? What is he accusing Vy of?"

Nursing a tankard of... ale? an elf drinking ale? What is the world coming to?, Vitro frowns at the one foreigner accusing the other one. He scoots a little closer to the rat-wizard and talks softly.

"What's going on? What is he accusing Vy of?"

"Attacking the town with goblins. And defeating said goblins without a license. "

Having heard the commotion, Ameiko rushes into the common room, a ladle dripping with soup in her hand, to find out what all the ruckus is about.
"父、あなたは何をしていますか？ 私は、あなたの議論を私のビジネスの中に持ち込まないようにあなたに言った。"

Sir Kaijitsu turns on his heel, throwing up his hands in exparation at Ameiko.
"娘、あなたはこれをすべて止めなければなりません。 あなたは私を台無しにしており、あなたはその家族の名前を台無しにしています。"

Ameiko puffs herself up, clearly angry. She punctuates every word with her laddle. "私は気にしない。 あなたとあなたの家族の名前は、私が気にするすべてのために地獄の穴に落ちることができます。 あなたはもはや私の人生をコントロールしません。"

Sir Kaijitsu brow furrows, his face turning red. "Stop being childish Ameiko. I am moving back to Magnimar, and you are coming with me. Or I am removing you from my will."

"HA!" Ameiko barks. "You can shove that will up your ass! You're a pathetic vindictive old fart and you've controlled my life far too long. If you sod off to Magnimar it cant come to early. You can take your precious honor and family name with you. I spit on the name Kaijitsu."

Enraged, Lonjiku tries to grab her by the hair to drag her from the tavern, but she dodges and brains him with her soupy ladle, spattering fish stock and potatoes all over his hair and outfit. He sputters for a moment before he finds his voice and utters, “You’re as dead to me as your mother,” before leaving the tavern.

With her back turned to most of the other patrons, only you see Ameiko blink back tears.
She picks up her ladle, inspects it, pulls a hair out of the mess, and says, “I’ll need a well-cleaned ladle now, since jackass stew’s not
on the menu.”
Her comment seems to break the heavy silence that hangs in the common room. The resulting cheers and laughter from the tavern’s patrons help her attitude immensely and she bravely smiles before going back into the kitchen.

"Humans..."

Prestidigitates the ladle.

Taj rushes up and hugs her. "You are the most awesome person. Come, share our Dad. I'm sure Pateba would be amenable!"

Ameiko freezes for a moment, then gently removes Rataji's embrace.
"Thank you Rataji, that is very kind. I just... I just need a moment, ok?"
Ameiko hurries back into the kitchen.

Aldern has managed to close his mouth and sat down, but he's still a bit pale round the nose.
"Ah. Ehm. Well. I am sorry you had to see the more... 'old fashioned' element of town. I dont know about you guys, but I'm ordering something a little bit stronger for myself..."

Aldern orders a round of brandy from Bethana for himself and whomever wants a glass.

while Aldern is off to the bar to make his order, Snowflakes whispers to the other:
"Sir Kaijitsu, and I'm using the title Sir lightly here, has a way to put people in their place, or rather the place he thinks they ought to be. You have no idea how rude he just was. Forget what he said about me. He called Aldern a disgrace to his father. The reason Aldern even is in Sandpoint at all, is that he and his two sisters lived here as children, when their parents died in a fire , far away in Magnimar. Aldern is an orphan, just like me"
Snowflake look ups, to check how much time he still has.
"And what he said about Ameiko her mother is even worse! She is actually dead. It's not a figure of speech! And her death was always...well, there are rumours about that it wasn't a natural death..."

Aldern returns with a glass of brandy for everyone.
"so, one for everyone. I propose a toast. To wild adventures that dads are not supposed to know about."
He raises his glass, inviting you to add to the toast.

Taj laughs and raises a glass. "To wild adventures!'

"usually it's mom you need to worry about..."

Taj, starting to get giddy with the drink she's slammed down, says, "Never knew my mother. She was a peri. Just flitted into my dad's life, and then flitted out again once she had me. Always wanted to meet her though." She looks over at the elf, and starts pouring him a drink. "Drink with us, Vitro! Don't be a standoffish elf! Did you know your parents? Also..." She pauses. "Did you know you have cute ears? Justin, you should wiggle them. Just 'cause."

Bethana serves dinner, letting you know Ameiko appreciates your support, but she will need a bit of time for herself.

Dinner is a hearty fish soup with rice and vegetables on the side.

Aldern signs, and another round of brandy is brought.

"I'm afraid the lack of fur and a tail is a deal breaker as far as ear wriggling goes. "

Clearly, Vitro's middle name isn't "poker face" - as the elder Kaijitsu impulsively disowns his daughter, he's looking utterly shocked.

When offered a drink, he moves to drink right away, but checks himself at the last moment, remembering his manners. Then when Taj invites him to join he looks surprised but happy.

"To wild adventures!"

"Now is not the time.. don't think about that.. remember, the half-orc isn't to blame.."

"Thanks.." He tosses his head as if shaking off some dark thought, grins, and his ears seem to twitch slightly. Not as wiggly as a ratfolk might, but on those long ears, even a slight twitch is visible.

Snowflake raises his glass
"To Pateba's ever extending family" he says with a wink towards Taj

"To Pateba's ever extending family!" Taj raises a glass and laughs. It's clear she's slightly tipsy. "Maybe we can adopt all of you. What do you think, Justin? Wanna be our brother? By the way, I wasn't trying to get your ears to wriggle... just Vitro's." Then she pauses and looks at Vitro's ears, giggling. "Hey, you wriggled them!"

She looks down at her drink. "Think I've had too much?"

"Since his ears haven't moved a bit I'm going to say yes, you've had to much, but must pass on the adoption. Mom would never let me go for less than 15 silver."

Taj fumbles in her pockets for change. "Nope, don't have it."

Then she turns to Vitro. "Sure your ears haven't wriggled?"

With a studiously innocent face he sniffs the booze to figure out if it's unusually strong. "I spent a few years with a Varisian troupe when I was eighty.. they thought it was fine to give a kid strong liquor so I've had to learn to pace myself."

His ears don't appear to wiggle. Or do they? When you looked away for a second it seemed something moved in the corner of your eye.

As Taj continues to fumble for change, a realization slowly dawns, "Maybe this is a bit stronger than I'm used to. I should head to bed so that we'll have a clear head for the orphans in the morning."

Feel free to move us forward, GM.

aw. No trying to get aldern drunk? ;)

It didn't seem to be an option. There was only me getting drunk, and being drunk all by lonesome isn't fun, it's annoying to my team. Since no one was really reacting to it, I'm cutting out gracefully.

Justin was reacting to it by messing with her and pretending the elfs ears weren't wriggling :)

Aldern keeps the drink flowing, but since you are all more drinking to get the foul taste out of your mouth due to the altercation with Kaijitsu Senior, the alcohol consumption stays quite low.

By the end of the night, just before he stumbles off to bed, Aldern tells you, "Sgood that you stuck up for Ameiko. She's wonderful. Does lot of good work. Great woman. Made something of her life and did good by others at the same time. I admire her you know. Sticking up to her old man like she does. Wish I could have done that....anyways. Good night. Swas good hunting with you. And good rinkin. Drinking. G'night."

After stumbling off to bed, you also take off. Dreaming perhaps of boars in meadows.

The following morning, Ameiko is back in the common room. You realize you had not seen her all evening, but she's happily serving porridge.
Any mentions of last night are all brushed away. She clearly doesnt want to talk about it. You can see her chatting happily to a female elf you have not seen before at the bar.

Having had a good breakfast, and in some cases, a big mug of jet black tea to chase away any lingering effects of the drink, you head off towards the orphanage for another morning of tutoring.

Tutoring comes fairly easy now, as you've gotten a feel for the interests and pitfalls of your individual students.
Ilosari still looks like he is herding cats, but enjoying it.

In the afternoon, you meet back at the Rusty Dragon with Vitro.
Ameiko tells you there are two messages waiting. One is a note in a neat handwriting, adressed to Rataji.

The other is from Sheriff Hemlock, if you could come to the garrison, regarding 'recent developments'.

I'll pause the narrative here, as its an exelent point to bring Vitro up to speed in game if you want to about what you have discovered. He can read back of course, and as someone currently living in sandpoint, he knows about the attacks happening, but not much more.

"Tha sinn cinnteach gun urrainn dhuinn earbsa seo Guy? Cha robh sinn dìreach a 'coinneachadh ris a h-uile agus rinn e bha feagal air muc. stèidheachadh rudeigin a ghabhail thairis bho agad mòr oghaichean, no rudeigin"

AT breakfast, Snowflakes sits down at the table, slides a hude mug of extra strong, extra sweet, something extra dark Taj's way, accepts his porrideg given by Ameiko, and looks at Vitro. He's not quite certain what Justin is saying, but Vitro and him drank together, and Vitro didn't take advantage of his sister, so he trusts him. A little bit.

"So, I guess you were in Sandpoint when the goblins attacked? We were at the market place when it happened. We killed a few, and than we ran into Aldern, who could use our help. That's where all the gratitude comes from, from saving him and Princess"

Vy eats a bit of his porridge.

"But do you know why the attacked happened? We're thinking it was a ruse, to distract us from a theft. We investigated a disturbed tomb in the graveyard, and somebody left some moving skeletons to keep us out. Still not sure what they took away though, or why"

Vy waves his hand around to indicate the rest of the party
"We've been helping around town to help the people to clear up after the attack. And to clear our name. Because some of us are new in town, and therefore suspect, and ...some of us have a history in this town"

Snowflake looks down into his bowl of porridge, clearly indicating himself with that last part of his sentence.

Taj drinks down the bitter sweet dark liquid gratefully. Oh how her head throbs. Still, she responds to Justin's query without thinking. "Chan eil e coltas an scheming seòrsa. Tuilleadh neo-chiontach an da-rìribh."

She grabs her brother's hand and squeezes it. "Vitro, some of the people in this town are idiots. They think my brother responsible for some truly horrendous things that happened a long time ago. If you decide to hang around us, you have to know that we're only intermittently revered as heroes. The rest of the time we face distrust and asses like Ameiko's dad. Are you still interested in being with us?"

"Goblins attacked the town. Apparently they're being cajoled into it by a necromancer who used the distraction to sneak off with the remains of the towns founders and leave some arcanely created substitutes in their place. We're not sure who they are or what they want but they may be some of Rataji's extended family. To keep suspicion off of us we're doing good deeds around the town. I'm teaching the waifs nth dimensional mathematics and I now have a pony to bribe the class with. "

Rataji looks up from her headache to give the rat the hairy eyeball. "My head is still throbbing. Did you just say, Rataji's extended family?"

Snowflake hides his face by drinking from a huge mug of tea

Vitro looks up from a pile of gravel that he'd been sorting through on the table. A few shiny stones lay to the side, all nice and cleaned up yet still in rough natural shapes. Rather distractedly he mentions in Thassilonian with a sort of Varisian lilt to it;

"Cheap mé go raibh sé harmless, cé go raibh sé go tapa go leor leis sin rásúr teacht chun smaoineamh ar é."

"ಸರಿ, ಮಾನವರು ಯಾರಾದರೂ ನಂಬುವಂತೆ ಅಥವಾ ಬೇರೊಬ್ಬರ ಬೈದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾ ಆಫ್ ಯಾವಾಗಲೂ. ತಮ್ಮ ಟ್ರಸ್ಟ್ ಪಡೆಯಲು ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ ಮತ್ತು ಏನೋ ತಪ್ಪಾಗಿದೆ ಮತ್ತು ಅವರು ಮತ್ತೆ ಬಲಿಪಶುವನ್ನಾಗಿ ಹುಡುಕುತ್ತಿರುವ ನೀವು ತಿಳಿದ ಮೊದಲು. ನೀವು ನಿಜವಾಗಿಯೂ ಸತ್ತ ಏರಿಸುವ ಜನರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಜೋರಾಗಿ ಮಾತನಾಡುವ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು?"

Sweeping some of the stones aside and brushing the dirt off the table he makes some more room for you guys to sit.

"Still, you guys do the right thing and people will catch on about that. And I'm getting the idea that you share some of my interests, so I'd happily tag along for a while and see where we end up. If nothing else, it's always interesting to meet a fellow practitioner and exchange ideas." Nodding to Justin.

"So you guys got called in for something again? Any idea what we might run into?"

"Well there goes all the fun of talking about you behind your back right in front of you. " his whiskers twitch and he looks at Rataji "your brothers sister? Dark, troubled, killed the the fire that "killed" him? Mentioning her makes the nice guy g.... " the rat EEEPS and pops out of existance in his chair and appears with rataji in between him and snowball

Blinks, looks over to the rat's new spot. "I guess your approach to fast travel does have its upsides. And yeah, I learned the tongue of the ancient humans from a Varisian wise woman a while back. I'm still trying to get better at it though, hers was mostly oral tradition, not sure how well it'll match up with actual texts. That's kind of why I came to this town, to study."

Lowering his voice a bit so not everyone has to hear "So what is the connection between the fire back then and the trouble now? Are you saying maybe Vy wasn't the only one who didn't die quite so truly as everyone thought?"

"The only connection there is between the two fires, is me, and that is exactly the problem. I was there when the church burned down, and I was here when the town got burned again. And I'm not even suppose to be here, because I'm supposed to be dead at the first fire. Like my father and my sister. Now the people see me alive, and they're thinking: He apparently didn't die then, and here he is, again, and lo and behold, another fire!'"

The growling Justin was afraid of, starts again on the background, and Vy's speach starts to get more and more of an outlandish accent, as he's losing his grip again.

"But I lost everything!!! I watched from afar when they drew out my father's body!!! There wasn't even enough left of the body of my sister!! And now those কবর অপহারক গাদ took my father's dead body from it's Tomb!!!
How much more do I have to ভোগা!!! I have suffered enough!!!"

Vy takes a deep say, grabs his practice sword from against the table, and walks out, to the yard next to the tavern. The heavy canine presence leaves with him.
Outside you hear a furious twakking against a practice dummy

As Vy stalks out, Vitro starts to rise to go after him, worried what he's going to do. But when he hears a dummy being whacked, he sits back down, and starts sorting stones, underlining points by putting stones down like bullet points.

"So, we know the following things...

• Goblins attacked in an abnormally coordinated fashion.
  
• During the attack, someone snuck into the crypt, took out bones of Vy's father and a few other people and left some dummies in place.
  
• Vy's father died in a fire, along with perhaps his sister. And most people thought he did as well."

  Removing a stone But his sister's corpse wasn't found. It's possible it was consumed entirely, but it's also possible that she wasn't there either.

• This bit of grave-robbing happened on the same time Vy came back. That could be because his return prompted the necromancer to set something in motion that was suspended back then. But more likely it's something he didn't count on. He'd only just come back into town, and a goblin attack like this takes quite a bit of preparation.

• Let's also keep in mind this was a Desnan ceremony. The goddess of luck has been known to nudge along coincidences to give good people a chance to foil evil schemes. At any rate we should be alert for such opportunities.

• So here's a question: what would someone want with the bones of (among others) Vy's father? Is it for sentimental or emotionally disturbed reasons? I don't think so, that would make more sense if only his father's bones were taken. And leaving fake skeletons behind smells more like a deliberate scheme. As does organizing a goblin diversion. Someone has a plan to do something with those bones. And it can't be good.

• Assuming the culprit needs the bones for some magical or religious purpose, what could it be? Is there any kind of ritual that requires very specific bones?" he goes on, apparently oblivious to how his stone-cold analysis might affect listeners' feelings "It could be raising some very specific kind of undead perhaps. Or interrogating the dead to learn their secrets. I understand Vy's father was an important person in town, and this place is built near ancient ruins. Maybe the culprit is trying to learn about that?
  

Anyway, I don't really know much about necromancy, do you have any theories Justin?"

"More powerful people can make more powerful undead. Or you want to mess with the town and send a mockery of their former leaders and upstanding citizens back at them to demoralize them. I'm leaning towards the latter. "

"So does the town have any enemies like that? Someone with occult power and the motivation to use it against the town?

And if so, is this person staying in town, or elsewhere? I'd say using the goblins would require on-site supervision, so the culprit is either there or has a lieutenant."

Taj rubs the bridge of her nose, trying in vain to reduce the headache. Vitro and Justin's analysis makes all too much sense. "Aasimars can easily wield that kind of power, and despite our celestial connection, we can sometimes fall to evil." She pauses, considering what she's learned of Nuallia, the mysterious other sister of her Vy. "Vy told me that this town hounded Nuallia, seeking miracles, pressuring her to a life in the clergy, demanding samples of her hair to cure their ills. Like Snow, she grew up strange, with other kids turning from her because she was different."

Taj looks at Vitro and Justin, flames dancing in her eyes, her hair lightly smoking. "I grew up different too, raised by my father. But Pateba's a bard, one whose voice is so sweet that it causes angels to come. We moved constantly, and most people who see me immediately think I'm an ifrit rather than a Peri-blooded aasimar. The smoke and flames confuse them. When Pateba and I found Snow, he was lost and confused. It was Pateba's complete acceptance of each of us that helped him heal, I think."

She pauses. "So... If Vitro's theory is correct, Nuallia could have lived. Without acceptance, I could easily see her decide to burn her way to freedom, then turn to darker arts as guilt and rage took hold. If Nuallia's alive, she'd only be able to walk around Sandpoint in disguise. We aasimars tend to stand out, wherever we are. So to find her... Assuming that she even exists... We need to find the goblins."

"Well, if we were in civilization we could have an authority round up the entire town, have everyone put their hoods down and scan them for magic. Not sure if that would work here"

"You suppose that this Nualia went dark because of all the pressure? It sounds possible, but doesn't make it any easier to pin things down. I guess it's likely she'll take an interest in Vy though. Gossip should trail him from a distance, to see if anyone else seems to be following him around. Maybe we'll be able to spot Nualia or someone else. If it's her she'd have to be in disguise though."

He leafs a bit through a book apparently filled with drawings of rough rocks, side by side with drawings of dozens of elementary geometrical shapes that together approximate the forms of those rocks. Obscure diagrams with a heavy calligraphy denoting chunky mathematics accompany them. Staring at one page he takes a mortar and pestle and grinds some small colorful rocks to dust and puts the dust in a sort of quick-release baglets.

"So was the new cathedral built on the same site as the old temple? Maybe we should search the old site, see if there's anything significant about the location. A forgotten crypt perhaps, or ley lines. Or maybe more ancient foundations, maybe there's more than just the lighthouse lurking below here. Underground tends to be prime lurking ground for evildoers."

Glancing at the ratfolk, you can almost hear the gears grinding in his head

"... which of course doesn't mean all people from underground are necessarily bad. Some of my best friends speak better Terran than Elvish..."

"Keep an eye on Vy, stay out of trouble myself, collect only unguarded shinies. Got it!"

Gossip flies out of the window, but will keep an eye on Vy, while trying to evade the notice of evildoers, townsfolk guarding shinies, and cats.

Relevant stats: Fly 40, Low-Light Vision, Perception +9, Sense Motive +2, Stealth +14. Can understand and speak Common and Thassilonian. Relies on high Wisdom to avoid doing stupid things.

"Shouldn't that be unOWNED shinies? "

yeah... I tried to tell him that. But, you know, I should have never tried to teach him Varisian proverbs...

"În cazul în care l-au dorit ei s-ar fi folosit un sistem de blocare mai bun?"

Having brought Vitro up to speed to what you have experienced and what you are thinking about the whole thing, you leave for the town hall.
You grab Snowflake on your way out.

The town hall is a lage building on the corner of main street and tower street.
The majority of the ground floor of this two-story building consists of a meeting hall large enough to seat most of Sandpoint’s adults, although town meetings have rarely been even half so well attended. The upper floor contains offices and storerooms, while a vault in the basement below has functioned as the town bank for decades. Plans to build a proper bank have been stalled for various reasons since the town was founded.

The meeting takes place in a comfortable office on the second floor of the town hall.
Sheriff Hemlock opens the door. Two other people are in the room. A human female and an elven female. You recognise the human from the Shallowtail festival. And wasnt that elf in the Rusty Dragon this morning?
Sheriff Hemlock introduces them to you as Mayor Kendra Deverin, and Shalelu Andosana.

The mayor shakes eacht of your hands in greeting and gratefully thanks each of you for the help you provided Sandpoint during the raid.
Hemlock then introduces Shalelu as an “unoff icial member of Sandpoint’s town guard”, an introduction that causes her to smirk, and you to Shalelu as “Sandpoint’s newest crop of goblinslayers.”

Hemlock explains that Shalelu has been a thorn in the side of the local goblin tribes for years, and that few in the region know more about them than she does.
He folds his arms behind his back, and paces up and down the office. Sandpoint hasn’t been the only place in the region that’s had goblin troubles.
In short, there’s 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. Shalelu 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."

The mayor makes a calming gesture to Hemlock. "Yes Belor. But let Shalelu explain herself."
She motions for Shalelu to speak.

Shalelu eyes you critically before beginning. "“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.”

With Shalelu having told her tale, Sheriff Hemlock stands back up from his chair. He's clearly full of nervous energy.
"I'm 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, I've asked Shalelu to sniff around Shank’s Wood, Brinestump, Mosswood, Devil’s Platter, and other places where goblins live to see if she can discover anything else about what’s going on. I would also like you all to maintain a public presence in Sandpoint over the next few days, if you don’t mind.
“The locals seem to have taken to you,” he says, “And seeing you around town will do a lot for keeping worries down over the next few days.”

With a nod to the mayor he leaves the room. "Better get going. Its a long trip to Magnimar."

The rooms feels easier, as Hemlock takes his nervous energy with him.
The mayor sighs. "So, thank you again for coming here and helping us all out. This is all grim news, but please keep it to yourself for now."

Shalelu nods at your. "I'll leave town tomorrow morning. I'm staying at the Rusty Dragon, in case you have any questions about what is going on."

The ratfolks cheeks puff up as he takes in a deep breath and lets out.

"Yeah, we're going to need some authorization for that written down. or better yet an announcement to the town. We're also going to need to conscript some people, put the whole town through a few bucket brigade and defense drills, gather some sand for fires, get some rocks as weapons, commission some spears and crossbows.. oh, and we're like to get everyone gathered in the same place at the same time to sweep a detect magic over everyone in case the culprit is using a disguise to stay in town. There's ways around that and its even less likely they're in town if they're attacking everywhere but it's still worth a shot....