"I do not think you are a valet Ikoma. However I am a lady and a gentlemen helps ladies down from a horse. You are a gentleman are you not?" Yui says with her head held up high.
"Now you see me."
She concentrates for a moment, sticks her hands in both sleeves and pulls a lot of shadows from them which she covers herself with.
"Now you don't. I'll be fine Anisha."
Confident that it will be hard to spot her, she heads into the mound sneaking in with Takei a bit up front as an early scout.
Being the sneakiest of the group Yui and Takei head into the disguised hut, unsure of what they will find.
The walls of the place are decorated with nearly two dozen articles of shredded and bloodstained clothing, from smallclothes to jackets. The monster’s lair also contains a filthy bed of mud and reeds and brown grass, as well as a strange mound of what looks like a stack of nearly a dozen muddy spheres.
These are the poorly preserved heads numbering 11 packed in mud although little but bone and scraps of hair remain for what reason you can't tell. While there is no sign of the monster that lives here, you have a chilling feeling that his is a bad place.
Anisha is too distracted stopping a mud war between spirits to notice anything of relevance, she is quickly getting completely covered in mud.
"Stop it! You fools!"
Rishana checks the pile of bones at the entrance, while there is a large pile it mostly seems to be animals from the swamp. Bird, crocodiles but there are other that seems to be human, with bite marks all over them.
Ikoma scans the clearing and spots strange tracks of long feet ending in two long claws, that seems to be tracked back and forth throughout the clearing.
Fletcher feels a sudden hot breath on his neck. He freezes instinctively, like a rabbit in the lamp light. Almost too afraid to turn his head he cranes his neck instead, eyes pushed to the corners, straining... straining to catch a glimpse of the Soggy River Monster that's about to take a bite out of the soft flesh of his throat....
Gohei's horse blows a big, we huff of air in the singer's face.
Phew... what you been feeding this thing Gohei, rotten meat?
He moves away from the horse and begins kicking softly at the pile of bones.
Some of these look human. Or at least humanoid.
He takes his bow from his back and nocks an arrow, suddenly wary that everything in the swamp wants to end his career before it's really begun.
Yui looks at the poorly preserved heads and with the cloths she can piece together that some of these people were reported as missing from Sandpoint supposed to have run away but seem to have met a darker end. With a thorough search there doesn't seem to be anything else in the hut.
Outside the tracks all seem to muddle up heading in all different directions hard to discern where the creature could have gone.
Yui climbs out of the smelly mound and tells the others what she saw. Her demeanor definitely changes for the worse. Her voice and face look more solemn. She fiddles with her fingers as her weak voice says "It's smelly in there. A lot of heads as well. Seem to be Sandpoint locals."
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Yui's words bring Anisha's attention back to the group: "Oh no... Damn this monster whatever it is." Anisha takes a deep breath then begins speaking in a somber tone: "I'll like to make graves for them, but the dead can wait. First we need to take care of this monster." She speaks the last word with distaste. "I'll guess we either try to ambush it here or try any possible tracks?" She looks towards Rishana and Ellowin.
"I suggest we burn its house. That should surely anger it enough to come attack us." Yui says with a grim look in her eyes.
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Still with a grim look in her eyes Yui responds.
"Whatever is the best way to kill it. Such a monster has no right to live. Could someone push me up in that tree over there? I can hide up there and be a lookout. Most of my abilities are meant to be used from a distance."
"Yes, besides this place could become shelter for a less monstrous inhabitant. Then again I'm not sure we could burn it with all this humidity." Anisha nods in agreement with Rishan. "Then the question becomes ambushing it? Or continuing to follow the tracks? I'll can see merits in both options but I don't know a fig about tracking and hunting. What do you think Ellowin, Rishana?"
I say track it. It might not come back for hours and I'd rather not be stuck out here overnight. At least if we follow it and strike out we can head back to Walthus' shack whilst there's still daylight.
The group deciding to track down this monster spend the better part of an hour in the clearing just trying to pick up fresh tracks, Rishana pointing them out as she leads the way. Spending a few hours hacking their way through the swamp they come to a large waterway where the tracks end going into the water but you find a strangely mutilated animal just on the edge of the bank skin peeled off and it's head missing. Any hope of picking up the tracks now washed away.
Aye well I'm all for heading back to Walthus' place, this has been a slop with no reward. No wonder no one's ever found this Soggy River bugger. Still, there's always tomorrow! Fletcher says cheerfully.
After spending a few hours outside in the swamp exploring you haven't found anything although you now have a better feel for the swamp and what to expect from your time here.
Heading back to Walthus you are greeted by the halfling with a big smile a change from what he looked like earlier he seems to have gotten the colour back in his cheeks, he welcomes you back with a snake around his necks as if it was a scarf. "Welcome back how did the hunt go? You all seem well thats something to be thankful for. I've made us all some food and gotten the special wine out we're all alive thats something to celebrate!"
"That's a good days work in my book." He smiles at Rishana, as he starts to pour drinks and dish out food. "Of course my house is yours, although i don't really have rooms... but you can take all of downstairs as your own. We can then set off tomorrow nice and early."
"Yes, I wish we had found it, but I'm glad no one is hurt and we found that lair so I'll say things turned okay." Anisha will go meditate on the day's happenings once they arrive at Walthus house, she will go to sleep early and recommend that the others do so too.
We've only been here a few hours, let's not be too hard on ourselves. Fletcher says, happily plumping up cushions on the one armchair and plonking himself down with a satisfied sigh. There's always tomorrow.
He spends the rest of the evening joining in polite conversation with Walthus, scribbling a few absent-minded lyrics in his notebook and munching away on tea and cold meat form the warden's larder. He doesn't ask which type of meat it is, feeling safer in his ignorance.
The next day he wakes bright and early as the first rays of light filter in through the shutters and stretches with a loud yawn. After a simple breakfast of porridge oats and weak wine, he gathers his gear and armor for the goblin hunt ahead.
"We should have burned his place. That would probably anger it if it has any intelligence and come after us." Yui continues to brood.
She continues to stay a little absent minded for a while longer until someone takes her out of her slum.
The next day she is a her shiny self again. The goblin hunt has her excited and curious as to what they will find there.
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Being the first to wake Gohei leaves the hut and does his morning excercise, starting with silent meditation before going to half a dozen katas to focus his mind and body for the tasks ahead. Taking care of winddancer he greets the morning rays like everyday with a silent sweetsad smile.I still greet the sun every morning father.
Upon returning and seeing Fletcher making breakfast he not unkindly wakes the others and hushes them to breakfast, listening to their plans to assault the goblins.
So the village is to the south east, that's right isn't it Walthus? Do you know how many goblins are there?
I don't think I'm really qualified to give an opinion on this but it makes sense to me that we check it out before heading in there. But hey, even with fireworks, goblins are dumb enough to kill eachother! They'll be talking about this for months when we bring that chief's head back!
In the morning you all wake to Walthus packing his gear, with a few bread rolls and cheese set out for breakfast and tea. "I'll lead you there we'll be taking the old fish road, but if we set out soon it should be to early for them Goblins to be on patrol. I've no idea how many there could be and i wouldnt like to guess with something like that." Finishing his bag he makes sure all his snakes are outside.
"They will protect the place while we're gone. We will be skirting around the swamp then back down should take about 4 hours, we'll stop before we get to their camp maybe do a little scouting first. I hate to say it but i don't think i'd be any good in a fight still recovering but i will stand with you if you need me."
You all set off with Walthus as your guide. On the way he points out all the amazing things that the swamp holds like, swamp mud used to stop the insects biting and swamp weed brewed to stop infection. He doesn't stop talking as you leave the swamp and make your way down the lost coast road. Then he points out a old trail that most people would miss that takes you into a very overgrown part of the swamp this is where the traveling slows down as you chop away at the vegetation spotting old road markers and crossing old bridges. Tell finally Walthus stops you and whispers. "We're here just over there 200 feet away." He then moves in a little closer and you can now clearly see the camp.
A filthy village-fort surrounded by a crude wooden palisade sits atop a low hummock of solid ground here. A wooden gate in the north wall of the palisade lies in shambles on the ground. Nearby, a large, algae-filled pool on the northeastern side breaks the palisade and allows a clearer view into the village’s interior, which consists of a collection of ramshackle huts connected by wooden walkways, all built on thick wooden stilts.
And I thought the swamp was bad already. Somehow these goblins have made it seem even worse. Fletcher muses.
Can anyone see any movement in there? That gate doesn't look right, it's been smashed already by the looks of it. Maybe that's our best way in, I'm going to struggle to climb over any walls
"Shall I scout again? I can be sneakier than a gobsy sneaker" Yui asks with a grin on her face.
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Walthus looks out trying to make out anything in the camp. "It's too quiet we should at least hear them, they aren't known for being good neighbours."
No doubt you are, but let's just have a little look from here. What's that building over there, it looks destroyed.
Oh man, and taken the reward..! Fletcher adds.
Rishana searches the area for any tracks finding loads of Goblin foot prints but also a strange set almost worn away by rain, it looks almost like a skeletal foot heading towards the camp.
The silents of the camp is punctuated with a loud bird call overhead, as light rain begins to fall.
Fletcher watches on with amusement as Gohei and Yui ride into the village. He can only imagine the looks on the goblin’s faces as the huge warrior and the little blue girl trot proudly between the ramshackle buildings.
That’s definitely one way to get an audience!
He scuttles up to the broken gate with his bow ready, scanning for any charging little green men.
Sick of waiting and deciding to not play games with the Goblin's Gohei rides into the village, with Yui. They again don't see any movement as they move in but in a flash they spot four goblins sticking their heads up from the walkway above them, aiming bows at them as they let loose on both of them.
15
17.5
Group one
Fletcher
Anisha
Ikoma
Yui
Goblin's
Group Two
Rishana
Group One up!
Yui looks at the arrow in disbelief and yells "Ouchies that hurt! The shadow spirits take you!".
She casts a spell and a large globule of shadowy bits attack the three goblins to the left and jumps off the horse to moves around the nearby structure for cover.