Lou spent a little too much time gathering his things and by the time he was ready the others left. well she did say she would leave ready or not. well not exactly in those words but still it was implied
Lou ran to catch up with those already getting ready to set out.
a bag slung over the shoulder, and licorice root in the mouth.
pulling the root out long enough to talk, sorry I got held up a bit. so anyone know where we are headed?
Lou seems only armed with a dagger, and several small knives and is wearing some pieced together leathers as armor
As Laurentii finally catches up with Shalewen, thanks to the stop she made to speak with the guard. As he watches the women attempt to get information, he also listens to Alfonso's answer to his querry.
"I actually enjoy all the talking. It is amusing. I still think the idea of smugglers providing goblin's with fireworks makes for a better story to your noble friends. It is more comical and would appeal to them more, no?" he finishes, not really awaiting for an answer.
Laurentii turns to Lou when he arrives, and shakes his head in answer to the Tian's question.
"We believe Shalewen did, but it seems it was not the case..."
As he spoke, Laurentii kept watch of Shalewen's interaction with the guard. Seeing the women struggling a bit the elf approaches them.
"Hello, sorry to interrupt your discussion. We are looking for site of the latest goblin ambush in order to stop the threat. Please, could you point us in the right direction."
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Suddenly, Alfonso hears a loud slurping noise coming from the man at the bar, Julen Brelade. He turns to see the man staring over a pint glass at him. A great guzzling sound rings through the room as the beer quickly drains away, like the sands of an hour glass lost in some forsaken pit. It is the blood of life disappearing down the gullet of time.
The look upon the man's face is a familiar one. Alfonso gets it every day from every person he passes in town. At once it pronounces him different, flawed, alone. Immediately feeling unwelcome in town, and eager to change his fortunes, Alfonso departs the tavern following the others. He is at once overcome by the urge to tolerate these rowdie adventurer's company. With Koya out of town, he finds himself grown uncomfortably short on his supply of friends.
As it turns out, the guards you speak to have a brother who was working freelance on one of the caravans that was attacked. They give you a precise spot along the bend in the road. ..."He was terrified when we saw him. He said the goblinses lit the sky ablaze. You'll not find me going after 'em."
In order to satisfy his curiosity, Alfonso accompanies you to the caravan attack site. At first, he follows your group at a distance. Then, he joins you properly once you reach the caravan site.
Shalewen sets a moderate pace to the location of the attack with Shadow far ahead to give ample warning. Upon arriving, she sets out to see what she can tell happened there and where the goblins went.
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As you approach, you can smell the old smoke from the recent attack. Along the road east of Brinestump Marsh, you find the burned out hulk of a wooden cart. Some charred textile goods lay strewn about the site. This is the main trade route to Magnimar from Sandpoint. Anyone who has read a map knows that much.
From the tracks of the first group, it's clear that at least a dozen goblins were present, but no more than thirty, and the tracks lead west into the swamp. Four goblins seemed to be carrying heavy prizes away into the marsh. Their ambush tactic seemed to involve a single lookout, and then the larger mass of the goblins ran in towards the caravan. It seems they tried to overrun the caravan, but met with solid resistance.
Second group-The tracks of six humans are on site as well. Mostly, the human footprints seem consistent for men, but it appears that a lone woman was present at the scene.
Some time later, a set of three heavy humanoids' prints were left. Shalewen's expert eyes can tell that by the time these humanoids showed up, the goblins were already long gone. This third group was made up of medium-sized humanoids.
Estimated time of the attack (based on footprints) places the original skirmish at about eight or nine at night.
Lou followed along, it is obvious he is unaccustomed to this sort of expedition, but he does not complain.
he somewhat appears to mimic Shalewen, hoping to pick up some of her skills.
instead he ends up looking for possible herbs for his rabbit stew.
When the tracks are in fact pointed out, maybe we should follow the human tracks first. they may in fact know something more about the situation.
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"Kirpate, make yourself useful."
Alfonso raises his wrist and a black bird appears perched there. The bird swiftly takes flight and spiraling upwards sees what it can see.
"We should be wary on these roads," says Trig, to no one in particular, still riding Fergus, "I've heard about a gang of vile brigands that have been raiding and stealing around this area, the rushlights they call themselves, I was told by this varisian fellow who brought me into town. It appears goblins aren't the only dangers here."
Watching The blackbird fade into the sky Alfonso comments.
"I wonder how much the Mayor would pay for their ears?"
"Nothing. She'd ask for heads. What they deserve," Shalewen says coming back from her search of the area. Even without her pouting canine she gathered much from the area. "About twenty goblins in the attack. Caravan fought back. Abandoned cart rather than get overrun. Goblins looted then burned it. Another grouped passed by after goblins gone." Its the most she has said in one go but she delivers the information in such clipped, sharp sentences that it takes little time to get through.
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"C-caww" Alfonso's bird calls down. This seems to mean that it sees the swamp nearby. It can see for a good three miles in every direction, but the dense foliage makes it hard to pick out anything of particular interest at the moment.
Swamp 101: There are two houses in the swamp - one along the Witch's Trail in the south. One more along the northern trail has a small jetty in the clearing around it. A middle trail seems to lead to a clearing where cook fires are sending smoke into the air. However, our bird would not be able to see anything but the smoke and tree leaves in that area.
Lou finds some grasslike blue herbs nearby. They seem to have minute fuzzy protrusions along their surface.
The blackbird drops like a stone. Wings and tail barely twitching to make course corrections. With a dramatic, and audible, flare Kirpate dumps air-speed and lands daintily on Alfonso's wrist.
"Show off" mutters Alfonso.
"There are two houses in the swamp - one along the old Witch's Trail in the south. Another on the northern trail. This second house has a small jetty in the clearing around it. A middle trail seems to lead to a clearing where cook fires are sending smoke into the air. However I must admit to guessing about the cook-fires. All I actually saw was some smoke through the trees."
The blackbird's voice, though grating as is the voice of all ravens, is confident, measured and possesses perfect diction.
Laurentii joins the others as the search the caravan. At first excited, he takes a look at everything. Yet, the skilled or magical ways with which Alfonso and Shalewen uncover clues make him reconsider where his strenght lies. Letting go of the fabric he was handling, he walks out of the road, trying to find left over bits of fireworks.
From the side of the road he answers to Lou:
"Perhaps... track the trackers, should make things easier, no? And hopefully, they were wise enough to avoid the brigands. What do you think Sir Trig? Ever faced such circumstances in the army?"
Lou gathers some of the blue fuzzy plants being careful in case they are sharp.
he tucks a few in a pouch and joins the others
If not my idea then perhaps to the fires. see who is there.
Follow the goblins. Four carrying something heavy. Easy to follow." The huntress takes one more look at the tracks and nods. They should be easy to follow. And from the looks of things they were going to head for the smoke anyway. She has Shadow sniff around for a scent of the goblins and has him set off ahead while she follows. Both keep their eyes, ears, and nose open for surprises.
Trig replies to Laurentii, "Never personally, however many of my order are skilled trackers and we have not one but two wolves on our side so tracking them would be a good plan. Also that's Sir Jegman to you I was never ... all that fond of my first name."
Follow the goblins. Four carrying something heavy. Easy to follow."
"Perhaps walking directly down the path the goblins took we could take a different route? Goblins though far from bright are skilled at ambush and traps. Considering the likely and horrible fate of the previous adventurers sent to look for them would it not be wise to avoid the traps on their back-trail and perhaps learn something about them before confrontation?
The house Kirpate saw, the one with the jetty, seems a good source for information on the swamp. A jetty implies travel, possibly even trade and Goblins are not know for their skill at construction. Worst case we would be facing the goblins on ground of our choosing rather than theirs."
Shalewen pinches the bridge of her nose in annoyance. If he kept talking so much, yes, they would hit every ambush on the way. But she had faith in Shadow and her own skills derived directly from the master of this area. "And you know of other routes?" she asks sarcastically. "The trail is here and fresh. I cannot follow if I cannot see it." Shadow hovered a few feet away as Shalewen waited for the others to get ready to move...or argue more. They were wasting daylight.
"Kirpate tends to mumble sometimes. The jetty house is on the Northern trail through the march. I think the trail head is that way."
Alfonso gestures towards the trail-head as Kirpate walks sedately up his arm and finds a perch on his shoulder.
"Understood, I..." Laurentii answers to sir Jegman, before coming to the realization that he had just heard Kirpate speak.
For a moment, the elf stop his search for left over fireworks as he looks toward the raven in puzzled amusement.
Interesting. Quite interesting, this man command his tattoo into a bird which can speak... I shall have to remember that.
"Not to be careless, but I agree with Shalewen. If we follow the goblin track, we are likely to find both the goblins and the group of mercenaries who went after them. Plus, with such a companion, maybe you could send him as a scout. That would be secure, no?"
...
"Not to be careless, but I agree with Shalewen. If we follow the goblin track, we are likely to find both the goblins and the group of mercenaries who went after them. Plus, with such a companion, maybe you could send him as a scout. That would be secure, no?"
"I would hate to err too much on the side of caution. It would be almost distressing to be named a coward again. So please lead on Shalewen and dog. Kirpate and my unworthy self will follow."
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Shalewen expertly follows the tracks she has seen so far. You all take the middle path down and west, into the swamp below.
Here the trees overhang the many creeks and rivulets of dark grey or muddy water. The brush which the goblins passed through is thock, and you must decide, is it worth pursuing by hacking your own path, or will you find your way nimbly through the swampy terrain?
Perfect. This should have been expected. They went through the swamp. The soft ground might reveal tracks more easily but the difficult terrain and pungent odors would make following difficult. Shalewen considers the options before her. They could hack through and follow the trail but make a lot of noise or find a different path and hope they stay in the same general direction. Going through noisily wasn't her style but she through that out the window when the others came along. She could probably move ahead alone and be fine but Shalelu had indirectly told her to not do that. So that meant finding a safer path. It would also mean less chance of an ambush and more likely to be on better terrain if there was. The smoke was the likely target and would serve as a guide when she could see it.
Shadow:
At first, Laurentii at been excited to experiment a hike in nature. However, the experience had quickly become a string of uncomfortable events, branches snapping in the face, wet boots, mosquito bites, plus, the weight of his pack was slowly but surely tiring the elf.
In the process of holding a branch from snapping at Lou, Laurentii noticed the change in direction of their guide. Clueless as to the cause, he slowly approache Shalewen, trying to be noisy enough that he would not surprise but also being steathy enough that he would not be hear by goblins.
Reaching Shalewen, Laurentii spoke soflty to her:
"What happened? Why the sudden change in direction?"
Shadow gives Shalewen a warning growl at Laurentii's approach. It sounds like an angry or defensive noise but the dog remains in place.
Shalewen looks back at Laurentii then waves her hand at the thick shrubbery before them. "Too thick. Have to chop through. Better to go around. Find a better path."
Reaching Shalewen, Laurentii spoke soflty to her:
"What happened? Why the sudden change in direction?"
"Our skilled guide is listening to the voice of caution dear Laurentii. Or at least I think it is caution, starts with a 'c' anyway. Can not seem to remember precisely, dammed headache. She has no doubt realized that a group unfamiliar in the subtle arts of woodcraft will make better time on marked and maintained path rather than trying our luck with leeches and midges and quicksand."
You notice Alfonso is spotless. Even his boots shine as he stands in the mud.
Laurentii nods to Shalewen, glad to have her expertise and to be learning these kind of things. As for Alfonso's clean clothes, they elicit a crooked smile but not comments.
Well well, this nobles is eithers really careful as he walks or has more tricks than I would have imagined.
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You follow your parallel route down beside the trail until you arrive at a steep creek bank. Off to your right, you notice a rickety-looking bridge. It crosses the ugly stream which slowly crawls between the mud banks. Beside the bridge is a wooden plank sign which bears the faded common letters, "Fish Trail." It looks like the bridge is old and covered in short purple and green plant life, but serviceable. It looks like the bridge is drier than the damp earthen path beyond, which makes it look a sight better than most things here.
You all continue across the old fish bridge and deeper into the swamp proper, yes? Or do you attempt the creek?
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Trig turns to Shalewen, You know this area better than I, should we cross the bridge? I can't imagine that Shadow enjoys getting wet, Fergus quite certainly doesn't."
The bridge looked serviceable but it was best to check unknowns thoroughly. Trusting his sense of smell and danger, Shalewen sends Shadow across the bridge first to make sure no goblins have tampered with it or are lurking nearby.
Assuming both dog and bridge survive Alfonso will happily cross. Kirpate happily flies ahead, perching on the far side and grooming its ink-black wings.
Laurentii follows the others, now happy to be on the a trail rather then in the watery marsh. As he walks, he looks around, curious about this vegetation he has never seen and also curious to know who would ever take such a trail to go fishing. Clearly, there were better places than the marsh to do this.
"Has any of you ever heard of the people who inhabit this swamp? On my way here I was told there was a witch... although, from what I heard, she sounded pretty harmless. There could be others, even though it seems like a harsh place to make a living."
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The wolf approaches the bridge, and noticing a sweet smell, he steps onto the bridge.
The wolf falls down before your very eyes, and then the plants on the bridge begin to grow over Shadow. Like a swelling green and purple carpet, the moss rolls over the wolf, covering it.
From what you have seen, the trail has not been commonly used. However, you have all been striking off a bit off the path to avoid potential ambushes.
As plants start to engulf the wolf, Lou runs up with his staff in hand and hey...leave that wolf alone. he yells at the plants and starts whacking it with his staff.
Laurentii open his eyes wide in surprise but quickly recovers. As soon as he does, he bursts into a sprint and follows Lou as closely as possible. Focused, he forgets about the mosquitoes, wetness, and such, his mind races, reviewing all the books he has read in the past and trying to identify what this moss might be. Simultaneously, he draws his rapier, certain it might help.
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