By this time of day, Lou has had a few drinks. he surveys the situation swaying ever so slightly.
those goblins are smaller than I remember. they're like little monkeys. Lou takes an odd stance mimicking a monkey. and hoping up to the first goblin "monkey" he sees.
and as he rolls on the ground he comes up next to it with a pair of sudden strikes.
Liera stumbles back awkwardly, one of her shoes slipping as she does so. Clutching Speckle tightly in one arm, she flicks her free hand towards one of the goblins near Ish, chanting in a strange language as she does so. "Ut in umbram tuam in fame!"
Seeing that Ish is out numbered, Fenra moves to the edge of the bridge to aid him.
The goblin is spooked, but laughs loudly. As Fenra runs past, he takes a swipe at her with his dogslicer.
His blade nicks her, but leaves the little 'monkey' open to Lou's drunken, mixed up martial arts, his neck snapping under the first punch.
With that, the 'red' goblins take their time trying to take down Ish.
The western goblin screeches as his insides decide to see what the weather was like all of a sudden. As a splash of blood smears his face, the last goblin giggles. "Solu blota!" It yells as it's 'friend' falls.
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Kaaji spits at the foul seen unfolding on the bridge. The ranger had always detested defending against the goblin attacks on Sandru's caravans. They were no test of his skill and all too disgusting. Kaaji looks to see if he can hit the goblin nearest to Liera, but dismisses that idea with Lou in his line of view. Not feeling comfortable with an unfamiliar companion's life in the line of his shot. Kaaji grimaces at the smile the goblin bears on the bridge and decides it has outlived its time. The tengu stays in his perch in the tree and draws back his string to let loose another arrow. "Foul thing. Kaaji thinks the world better without you."
Before Ish or Fenra could deal with last goblin, an arrow pierces it's skull. With an almost comical 'what?' look, it falls to it's knees and then it's face.
And with that, the battle is over. The stink of blood begins to mingle with the general stench of the marsh.
Liera gasps as the last goblin collapses, looking around in alarm. "Where did that come from?" she asks, voice small. Deciding the marsh is more dangerous than she thought, she opens a small case at her hip, coaxing Speckle inside.
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"Everybody alright?" Ish responds, flicking the blood off of his blade. His dogslicer wounds seep blood into his lamellar, ruining the floral design on his overcoat. "Looked like one got you, Fenra. You okay?"
Ish is too preoccupied making sure everyone is okay to notice the arrow. Or maybe he already has? He has priorities.
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Kaaji was satisfied by the groups performance and calm, he only hoped it would develop a stronger resolve in the face of more dire situations. The tengu ranger shouldered his bow and lowered himself from the tree now that the danger had passed. The group could probably have noticed Kaaji in the tree, however, to them they would have only seen a black mass of shadow. Now that he had dropped from hiding, he still didn't resemble much beyond a black mass armed with weapons. The shadow approached the friends and waved one of his hands slightly. "Kaaji sees everybody is well? Though, Kaaji thinks Ish needs to mend his armor and skin before we continue." The bird-man walks towards the bridge and looks at the goblins' bodies. "Disgusting things."
Fenra leans on her spear. She peers down, examining the wound on her leg. Although bloody, it is shallow and seems to pose no imminent danger. "Eínai móno mia gratsouniá tha eímai mia chará."
Closing her eyes, Fenra takes a deep breath trying to center herself, collect herself, calm herself. She opens her eyes and kicks the goblin at her feet. She looks at the arrow, turns to the tengu, and smiles. "That was a good shot, Kaaji."
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Kaaji jerks his head in Fenra's direction at the words of praise and then looks down at the ground just as quickly. "Ah, Lady Elf thinks it was Kaaji that shot goblins? Kaaji is no good at lying, so he will admit that he was in the tree hiding and shot the goblins. Kaaji was hoping to keep you all from harm and eliminate problems without your knowledge, as to not alarm you. Seems Kaaji was mistaken of your capabilities. Especially, of the Swordman's and Stinking One." The ranger gestures towards Ish and Lou.
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Ish nods. "I don't speak that language," he says in an interested tone. "Glad you're okay, though."
Looking to Kaaji, he holds up his hands. "I thought you were taken off by a crocodile and eaten in the swamp or something! But thanks for the back up. That last one looked like he was about to lose his mind or something."
Ish kicks a goblin and then starts rummaging through the corpses-- seeing if they have anything worth collecting, and then, cutting off their ears with his boot knife.
Lou looks over the goblin he punched like it may still be alive. but after a couple of pokes he is satisfied it is no more.
pulling out a small knife Lou removes the ears of the goblin he took down.
when the Tengu appears, he looks over, You shoot that guy? indicating the dead goblin.
of course, you must have, nobody else shot a bow... he adds realizing what he asked probably sounded stupid or redundant.
Alright? Would the party like to continue down the New Fish Trail?
"If everyone is alright, we should move along. I'm sure there's more of these buggers to take care of. Unless you're all done for the day... Fenra trails off, letting the question sound more like a challenge. She smiles.
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"Kaaji was taught by his parents to move unseen as to make our prey all the easier. Crocodiles would be no challenge for a trained tengu of the Ebonbeak nor these goblins."
The ranger looked up to the sky and mutters something under his breath.
"Lady Elf is right, we should be continuing on our way." With that Kaaji begins walking across the bridge on his own.
"Ish, are you going to be alright? That wound looks nasty..." Liera's voice trails off as she crouches hurriedly, fumbling with her slipped shoe. When she straightens, she fidgets with her hair, tiwlring it around a finger. "Let's keep going. I'm sure we'll find more of them soon enough..." She stumbles after Kaaji, moving awkwardly on the old bridge.
The next few bridges are just as nasty and weatherworn as the first. The odd chirp of a bird, rustles in the foliage, and general noises in the marsh rise up around the party the further they go in.
As they cross the third bridge, though, a stench meets the party's nose.
Lou trails along seemingly distracted by all the "nature"
but despite his tipsy demeanor, he still keeps tabs on his surroundings.
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Ish launches into an optimist's tangent, intending on deflecting Liera's worries about his bleeding dogslicer scratches. "Naw, I'm alright. It's just a scratch after all. I've had worse! Like that one time I tumbled down the bluff. I caught some air near the end and landed on that broken wheel, do you remember? Uh-- you probably don't. I'm not sure if you were around then. Were you?"
Many bridges later, Ish has grown quiet again. Suddenly, his head perks up. "Oh, wait-- no, there's Kaaji. I lost him for a second. Nobody got like, bushwhacked and carried off, right?"
"I feel down a hill and into a thorn bramble once. Found some good berries that day.
Fenra covers nose, trying not to obviously gag at the stench. "Hopefully that smells means we're getting closer..."
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Kaaji keeps his eyes scanning their surroundings, not wanting to be caught unawares again. The tengu seems tense, like a predator ready to unleash its strength in a hunt. The smell catches the ranger full in the face, it has an odd quality to it.
Even though the smell seems to catch his attention and perplex him, Kaaji slightly bends his knees in anticipation of something he notices.
Anyone who rolled over a 15 is able to sniff out where the smell is coming from. AS they approach the spot, a small area of thicker foliage, a humanoid leg is seen sticking from it.
Upon investigation, the body has been viciously assaulted and few signs of who it is can be discerned.
Lou, you remember hearing some of the town guard talking with some folks about missing people. The townsfolk seem to think that a monster has nabbed the missing folks, though the guards state that since all the people missing are young adults that they most likely ran off to Magnimar or Korvosa, maybe somewhere else. You recognize the tattered remains of this person as one of those who have been declared missing.
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Ish pokes the corpse with a stick, looking to Lou. "Yup. He's dead. One of the missing people... Think the goblins got him?"
He steps in front of the corpse so that the others don't see it when they move up, trying to spare specifically Liera from accidentally looking upon a messily decomposing corpse under a brush in a swamp, teeming with carrion insects and flies and burrowing parasites and oh wow I'm making myself sick. "Found a dead guy up here," he announces helpfully to the others. "One of the guys who was missing from Sandpoint a while back."
Lou makes his way to the body examining it. looking to determine possible signs as to what creature killed him.
@Ish: Yep, you get the same info, even narrowing it down to being the son of one of the millers.
@Lou: Goblins are vicious, but this? This is something else. Whatever killed him did so with a perverse pleasure before taking out some choice bits of meat. Looks like it was also trying to tear the head off too.
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Kaaji watches the two examine it from a distance, he doesn't seem squeamish, more distant than anything. "Kaaji thinks we must be careful. What thing did this left it and may come back." The ranger unshoulders his bow and knocks an arrow, looking into the surrounding area and down the path. If they must mourn for their dead they do not seem to do it in a traditional sense. Or perhaps they do not know the man.
The trip down the remainder of the trail is uneventful, though bothersome as mosquitoes swarm about now in seemingly increased number. Rounding a jog in the trail, an odd and worn building appears through the thickets. Two stories tall and covered in patches of moss and overgrown foliage, the building, you can hear, groans as a stiff breeze whips in from Sog's Bay with the smell of sea salt carried with it.
As you approach, a odd looking halfling is seen near the door, looking around at some plants curiously. Suddenly, he turns and sees the party and with a little jump, he shuffles forward. "Um, uh, yes? How can I help?"
Lou stumbles forward. Hello there. we are from Sandpoint, well I guess you probably guessed that already. Anyway. we were told you might have some information concerning goblins and some increased activity?
Though he does not slur his words the smell of rice wine does linger a bit on his breath.
Liera blinks in confusion as the others examine the body, not entirely sure why Ish seems intent on blocking it from her view. She allows him to do so, however, and nods in agreement with Kaaji's suggestion.
Upon reaching the hut, she stays behind the group, clearly apprehensive and not wanting to say anything. One hand finds its way into the satchel at her hip, stroking Speckle's ears for comfort.
Although concerning, the body, or what remained of it, intrigued Fenra. There was something greater at play here. And that was promising.
Upon reaching the hut, Fenra watches Lou speak to the halfling; despite her own distaste for alcohol and its typical effects, Lou handles himself well enough.
Fenra observes the halfing. He seems an odd little fellow. Living in the woods by himself with goblins, and worse, lurking about. Surely he must know something. Or perhaps even had a run in with the little buggers.
The halfling looks at Lou and nods. "Oh, yes, goblins. Yep! They are about. Mostly over that way." He points towards the southwest. "Yeah, dangerous ones. You all look ready for them, how about you take care of them, yes? Now, please, I'm trying to..."
"Trying to do something right now, so very busy, very busy..." He eyes them all for a moment before he goes back to the bushes, shuffling some more as if his legs are stiff.
[occ]Sense Motive checks, please.[/b]
Lou gives the little halfling a bit of stare like "I know you are hiding something so best be out with it"
The little Halfling yips and shakes his head. "No, not hiding. Protecting! Big snake nipped me earlier, I'm trying to find, run it off. In fact, you all should leave too, don't want you being bitten or worse, yes?" He returns to looking around the front entrance, shooting nervous little glances back at the group.
"Big snake, you say? What did it look like? It wasn't poisonous was it? We wouldn't want you to become ill if we could help. Let alone if it slithered up on one of us..." Fenra gives the halfing a stern yet convincingly concerned look.
or
"Oh, well... It was big! And had some lines on it's back. And poisonous? I think so. My legs have been off a little today, but i'm fine! You all should head out, in case it comes back. And what about the goblins? I think they are up to something. No, positive they are! Hurry now, or it might be too late!"
AS you look at the Halfling, he turns away, coughing some. But as he raises his hand, a 'shimmer' ripples across it and up his arm to near his elbow. As it dawns on him that he's been spotted easily. He curses under his breath. He lunges forward at Ish, trying punch him in the gut. As he does so, he fades quickly into a disgusting looking, hunched over and faceless thing.
He winds Ish some and tries to grab his leg, but as Ish reels lightly, he misses it.