Vera looks thoughtful for a moment, unsure of how to feel about to Gkirkhan's remarks. "I don't think being human is the definition of humanity...Its just called that due to my species own sense of self-importance. Humans are more than capable of being monsters…It sounds like that is something you have already experienced. " Vera gives Gkirkhan a sympathetic look, before continuing. "So if humans can be monsters, I don't see why an orc can't have humanity…"
"Vell, dot eksplains my grandmudder," Gkirkhan says as he shivers slightly. His eyes twitch a little and his entire body tenses.
Upon seeing everyone gathered. Giovanni rises to his feet and dusts himself off. He packs his book back into his bag and hefts it upon his shoulders. Sliding to the back of the group near Shalelu he falls in tow with everyone else as they set out.
Lem falls silent and waits.
As the others approach, he breathes a sigh and pulls himself from his leaning position against the wall. He looks questioningly at Yuto, Everything okay?
Talin approaches the gates, hefting his pack onto his shoulders and considering the strange group before him. He nods to Gkirkhan and touches the fetish covered wand strapped to his thigh. He fondly remembers the Orc shaman who had presented it to him, though his companions may not appreciate the irony.
He reaches up to stroke the hawk at his shoulder then looks to Shalelu and nods.
Lem picks up his pack and shoulders his bow. He nods, ready to go.
Gkirkhan doesn't seem to recognize the fetishes on the wand, although he does look at them for a moment.
"Vell, let's get goink. De odders ken catch op before ve get vhereever ve iz goink."
Vera nods, saying, "Yes, we should get moving." Doing a quick head count, she adds, "I think we are all here anyway..."
Drawing her bow and keeping a vigilant eye, Vera moves to the back of the party, explaining, "I shall stay in the rear and make sure no one catches us from behind. Shalelu, I'd appreciate it if you stayed nearby."
Gkirkhan doffs his hat and gives the two ladies a bow.
"Den Hy vill lead, jah? Just tell me vhen to turn, und ve vill be goot."
Joining the others, Yuto looks to Gkirkhan and nods. "Lead on, friend. And Shalelu, please stay close. I think Ameiko would want at least that, yes?"
Moves with the group. "I shall exert my skills in an effort to assist you in this erstwhile endeavor."
As the party sets out from Sandpoint, the air is oddly cool and clinging, the breeze from the sea being a little strong and filling the air with it's salty aroma.
Shalelu marches forth, looking back at the others. "Come on, you lot. Sooner we get the goblins that jumped Ameiko and I, sooner I can sleep easy."
Though she's obviously making a good show of it, her pace is clearly labored. It doesn't take too long, even, before she is more near the middle of the group.
Yuto shifts his pack before falling in line behind Shalelu. "Friend, keep you pace. I'd rather you see the goblins standing than on the ground trying to breath."
Gkirkhan, seeing Shalelu having trouble keeping up, slows until he is behind. Without warning or preamble, he picks her up with arms holding her at the shoulders and the knees.
"Hy tink hyu could make et, bot vot's de harm in beink pampered, ja? Hyu's seem loike vun ov dem peeple dot vould carry a friend even vit hyur guts hankink out," he whispers in the elf's ear before she has a chance to do or say anything, "No harm in beink carried, ekspeshully vhen de vun doink de carryink iz as good-lookink as Hy em."
The color of the poor elf's face changes rapidly to red, shooting up her ears as well. "I... I..." She struggles, falling to the ground with an oof, her face still solid crimson. Standing up slowly, Shalelu looks Gkirkhan in the face, a finger up and her mouth open but nothing comes out.
After a few moments, she about's face and shakes her head. "I... Will let you know if I need carried. Thank you." Taking a deep breath, she realizes where the party is, having gotten near the end of the smill rise of sharp hills known as the Pyre, quickly approaching the local area known as the Ashen Moor.
"The Moor up here was where Ameiko and I got ambushed. Be on your guard; Goblins are off-kilter and none-too-bright but they are good at ambushes."
Lem walks along, intent on the road and surrounding landscape. He carries his bow with an arrow knocked, ready to pull back the string at any moment. He remains silent throughout the trip.
Vera, who has been watching Shalelu like a hawk is rather horrified when the woman is picked up and subsequently dropped. Rushing forward, she exclaims, "Her injuries! What were you thinking?!?"
Pressing her fingers to her brow, Vera lets out a deep sigh, as she tries to regain her composure. I am letting this mission stress me out too much. I can't let my anxiety become a distraction...". Offering the elf a hand up, she asks, "Are you alright Miss. Shalelu?"
As soon as a potential ambush is mentioned, Vera walks close to Shalelu and scans their surroundings.
"Hy vas tryink to make et easy for her," Gkirkhan says, obviously a little annoyed, "Et vould haff been fine if she vasn't actink like Hy vas goink to kidnap her."
The big half-orc sighs and turns to Shalelu.
"Hy apologize, Miss, Hy meant no insult," he says formally and polite with a bow before quickly making his way back to the front, and a little further ahead, of the group. Hearing that this was the place Ameiko was attack, he begins to trot further ahead.
Gkirkhan looks around to see the others are not in sight. A wicked grin spreads on his face as he carefully prepares his greatsword.
"Oh no. Hy haff become lost. Voteber should hy do? Hy hope no goblins attack me and steal my pickles," he says, trying to keep the anticipation out of his voice.
Giovanni's smile seems out of place, as he walks silently beside the elf. His head drooping watching the ground go by, oblivious to the beauty of the path they're traveling. His eyes lift every so often stealing glances of the elf, then shyly returning them to the ground.
His eyes lift quickly and sharply as the Orc lift's Shalelu on his shoulder. Eyes locked on the Orc like a hawk on it's prey. The ember of a spell begins to burn, flames licking at the edge of his mind ready to attack. It's obvious to anyone how badly he wants to unleash the full fury of all his magical might upon the beast.
Once the paladin intercedes, Giovanni clasps his eyes shut trying to reel in his rage. His breathing is labored as he tries to calm himself. As the Orc rushes off on his own, he sincerely hopes they'll leave him just long enough to let the goblin's gut him.
Vera would have liked to have been surprised when she saw Gkirkhan run ahead of the group and try to get ambushed, but the last twenty-four hours seemed to have desensitized her to his confusing behavior. As she sighs and readies her bow to strike anybody he might attract, only one thought flitters through her mind.
Why pickles...?
Talin scans the trees and the area around the Moor looking for signs of goblins or tracks that might indicate recent passage.
As Gkirkhan runs up, Talin shakes his head but directs his attention in his direction.
As the group presses on and Gkirkhan rushes ahead, Shalelu goes wide-eyed and turns to Vera. "Pickles?" Hoping it's a joking lure for the goblins, she puts a hand up for the others to hold.
After strutting around for a few moments, no crazy goblin songs begin to filter out from the trees or hills. In fact, almost no sound beyond the sea's wind can be heard.
Shalelu stiffens, looking around. "Not to sound too cautious, it's a little too quiet..."
Sensing Shalelu's anxiety, Yuto walks ahead to Gkirkhan. "Let's head back. Something is up around here..."
Getting back, he looks at the others. "So, no goblins. I don't know if I should be relieved or more anxious."
Vera considers Yuto suggestion of heading back, seeming torn. I do want to get to the bottom of this, but oh how I wish Shalelu wasn't here right now...
She turns to Talin and Shalelu, who seem to be the best trackers in the group and asks, "Do you see any recent tracks in the area? Are there any indications that this might be an ambush or where they might have gone?"
Lem looks around into the trees and brush of the swamp surrounding them, trying to find any trace of these creatures. "Maybe they're just using a different ambush position. Using the same one over again doesn't seem like a smart idea and goblins aren't stupid."
Talin looks over at Lem and says, "Well that one sees a lot. I will take a look for additional tracks up here."
Talin looks carefully for anything that might be out of the ordinary or signs of what has occurred.
Shalelu shrugs and hobbles around, her eyes trained at the ground. But before she could really move around, Talin discovers a small site with burn marks in the ground. However, the tracks are runny, some rain ruining most of them. However, they clearly lead into the Brinestump Marsh.
Lem's eyes spot only the odd bug, his ears not picking up more than the very faintest of warbling of birds from the East.
Shalelu, as she looks at the site, suddenly feels her leg give. "Drat!" Using her bow as much like a crutch, she slowly lowers herself to the ground. "Does... Anyone have something to help splint my leg?"
Yuto dashes forward, checking the older Elf woman over. "I think you should go back to town, Shalelu. I know you want to help, and you have. We know now where to look first, but you'll slow us down and who knows what would happen if Goblins attacked now with you injured like this."
"I have to agree with Yuto." Vera says shaking her head. "You have every right to want revenge against them, but you can barely walk. Doing permanent damage to your leg, or worse, getting yourself killed, isn't going to prove anything."
Shalelu looks at the group, her mouth open ready to protest when Lem spots a caravan moving up from the south. It's moving at a leisurely pace as it does too.
Lem points to the south. There is a caravan moving this direction, he says. Then he turns to Gkirkhan, I think it's time to try your trick again, but just to that caravan, where they can see her safely back to Sandpoint.
"Dem," Gkirkhan says quietly his mouth quirked in a crooked frown, "Hy thought dot vould vork."
Seeing Shalelu stumble the half-orc moves to check on the elf, but is soon interrupted by the news of a caravan.
"Vot? Hyu vant me to get dem to try und attack me," he asks Lem, obviously confused.
Yuto looks up spotting the caravan. " We should move Shalelu off the road. If this is an ambush or Sczarni nonsense, she can at least use her bow from cover." Before the Elf could protest, Yuto hoists her up and starts moving her.
As she is rather unceremoniously dragged away, Shalelu squirms. "I, uh, what? Yuto! Don't drag... Ugh! Damnable Goblins!" Grumpy but accepting her fate, she is finally brought to a small copse of trees.
As Yuto is moving her Talin will help and examine the leg, grabbing nearby branches and some rope to quickly throw together a makeshift splint.
Take 10 for an 18 heal check to splint the leg.
Talin will point to Lem, showing him the spot to see if he can make any more detail out.
"Lem, it appears that our current location was indeed the sight of the previous altercation. Natural ablutions have erased the majority of these signs but this here indicating the correct location."
Lem holds his hands up, "Whoa, whoa. Not talking about ambushing the caravan. I was talking about when you carried Shalelu, but apparently, Yuto's got that. She needs to go back to town, and they can take her."
Vera nods, "We should wait for the caravan. Although, the less armored of our group may want to join Shalelu in the woods...just to be safe..."
Giovanni wordlessly listens to all that is going on, keeping as far from the confrontation as possible. When yet another person begins to manhandle Shalelu, he parts his lips wanting to protest, but can not find the words. He sighs, slumping his shoulders and following into the woods after Shalelu.
After several minutes, the caravan slows to a stop, a jovial Varisian man in his very early 30's driving a wagon as two other Varisian men drive a beaten up carriage behind.
"Resting on the road? If you weren't the motley looking lot, I'd swear you were up to something truly foul!" Letting out a laugh, suddenly Shalelu's head pops from the tree line.
"Sandru?!" Very slowly, the elf hobbles out and looks up at the man. "I have a small favor to ask, I guess..."
Looking down, Sandru's eyes go large. "Shalelu? What happened?!"
"She vas beink stubborn," Gkirkhan mutters under his breath.
Talin stands and addresses the caravan leader.
"To elaborate on what my companion has summarized. She was injured and refused to accede to well-reasoned arguments regarding her current condition. Creating a self-fulfilling prophecy as it were. Her leg is hurt now and she could use a ride back to Sandpoint, assuming that is your intended destination?"
[ooc] Going to roll sense motive to get a hunch about this guy, see if anything sets me off.
Vera gives Sandru a friendly, but weary smile. "Yes. If you were heading to town, it would really be best if she went with you."
Sandru looks at the party and chuckles some under his breath. "Shalelu, what would Koya say if she saw you like this?"
Shrugging, Shalelu looks at the man. "Koya has already seen o me, Sandru, and is probably tending to Ameiko. Goblins attacked us last night and I was assisting these folk to the site."
Sandru's eyes go wide at Ameiko's mention. "Help on the wagon, I need to get to Sandpoint. How bad is she?"
Yuto frowns before assisting Shalelu into the wagon with the others. "Ameiko? She's... In a bad way, Sandru."
Talin looks a little bit shaken and approaches Sandru while assisting Shalelu into the wagon.
"Greetings, um I noticed the scarf you have on, it is a Family thing , yes? I have one as well. Perhaps some time we could talk of such things, yes?'
Talin draws from his back an identical looking scarf.
Sandru, after helping to get Shalelu up into the wagon turns to look at Talin. "Huh? My kapenia?" Looking down, he nods. "My parents passed away this day some time ago. I wear it to remember them."
Looking down at what is in Talin's hands, Sandru's eyes go wide. Grabbing his from his waist he compares them and then looks at Talin.
"Where did you get this?"
Giovanni reaches his hand out to Shalelu offering to help her into the wagon. His eyes stay down on the ground attempting to avoid eye contact with her.