Noticing the girl in his shadow was gone just now, he turned to the rest of them at the table as some were getting ready to go about different kinds of business. I'm ready whenever, although I'm going to have a bit more to eat. Just let me know when everyone else is ready and I'll come along."
Mirage pays for his beverages and moves outside to gather his horse. This place was too crowded anyway. To Arsil and Locke he wants to know where are they going. "Are we going after the group with the hobgoblins now?"
She pauses a moment, then shrugs.
Still, such acts are often more easily resolved in pieces. I might offer a reprieve while we seek a suitable vessel for the ghost in the short term, as we work towards a more permanent solution.
She dismisses the matter for the moment
It is a thought, and for now it is what I have. I believe we are to journey together, so we will certainly have opportunities to test it. For now, a show of my talents might not be amiss. You seem sore.
She offers her hand.
I can offer you a relief, but you must be willing.
Bond completed or not, Ondrea will move downstairs with Sareth and rejoin the rest once Arsil indicates she is ready to leave.
Ondrea clumps down the stairs, her footsteps slightly heavier than before. She nods at the patrons as she descends, then rejoins the group.
A small blessing seems in order, and then to work. I assume you know the way Llocke?
Once the group begins to assemble it would be mid afternoon.
Likely there are ways to disconnect a spirit from its vessel, though the ghost would likely become upset at the situation. A hallow spell might work, destroying the magical vessel would likely work and something along those lines. You know there is not much research on the topic at least known to the general public, a specialist would be helpful. Ghosts would likely only use one vessel at a time.
"I am no tracker, but I know generally where to search, following the path towards the great goblin massacure." Locke simply says as he waits for Arsil and the rest to join as Mirage heads out of the massive inn.
Arthur shrugs and adjusts his boots nervously. He picks at his pack and runs his hands through his hair before bouncing back and forth from one foot to another and cracks his knuckles. While indulging in his ticks his face is contorted in deep thought.
I still don't have a whole lot in the way of preparedness. This whole group seems rather ragtag and thrown-together, which is fine but it means there are likely some seriously unprofessional players present. If this is just a goblin hunt that shouldn't be such a big deal, however. The Pathfinders are rarely intrigued by just the presence of goblins, though, they're everywhere. Why would they hire outside help to deal with them? If it was merely a goblin run surely they'd still be out there if there were still more goblins about...
Well, if there's time before dark, we should see what tracks there are and begin as we mean to continue. We won't want to get too far behind Mirage, he doesn't strike me as the type to wait on things which need doing.
Saddle up, excitement ahead. Try not to get cut up this time big guy.
Ondrea rides after Mirage, taking a position to the side.
Sareth steps outside and sees the group all gathering their horses.
He sighs a little. Well, I guess I best get myself a horse. I'm used to travelling on foot, but I wouldn't want to slow anyone down.
He then heads back to the stable to acquire a horse.
Coming back out with his new horse, he mounts up awkwardly.
Here's hoping I don't fall off this thing
Weirdly enough, Mirage is ready but he's not on the way, yet. He is waiting for everyone to gather and move. "I don't cheat."
Cheating? Who said anything about cheating? I said you didn't look like the type to wait when problems need solving. Speaking of, I should probably do offer you the bond just to simplify any healing later.
She holds out her hand.
It's a simple thing, just establishing a baseline for your healthy state. It will let me heal minor damage at a distance, anything more serious I'd have to touch.
Bond accepted or not, she turns to Alabaster next, offering the same hand.
You as well big guy.
Bond accepted or not, she mounts and looks ready to go.
"Oh, so you were talking about me?" He raises a hairless eyebrown in surprise, but focus on the subject. "I'm just saying I'm not gonna start counting the kills before everyone else joins the battle. Is that the same healing Locke does?" He shrugs, letting you do whatever you need, as long as it doesn't affect his well-being.
Win first, count after. As for the healing, it's a different flavor, same nutrition...probably.
She shrugs.
Locke and I should compare notes, I suppose, maybe after something interesting happens.
Arsil takes some more time to get herself ready becore coming downstairs and meeting the assembled people
a bit surprised but the sheer number she looks at Locke and then at mirage and pause for a few seconds
The female elf has a normal chain shirt and quite a few melee weapons.
But the things that draws everyone's eye toward her is that she is probably the most stunningly beautiful woman you have ever seen.
To all of you, i am Arsil Dawnsinger and it seems we shall all be riding together in the next few days. Our targets are roving bands of greenskin he nods toward mirage present company excluded of course. I shall be reviewing you during this stage of operation. At anytime I or locke may ask someone to leave. Normal treasure will be split evenly with all that participated while magical treasure will not be part of your share until we admit you into our group.
She looks at every one again and then leave to go fetch her horse
Once done she will take the party back to the separation point in order to resume tracking
Arsil takes the group out away from the small village that is between the Dragon Draught and the river. Down the road and veering off to come to the sight of the massacre. Only goblins can be seen decomposing in the ground though it looks like nature has been doing her duty as crows and other creatures are picking at the bodies. Many of the corpses seem to have been dragged off as well.
Leaving the sight to track down a group of a dozen goblins with some liquid in them that glows green.
Sareth looks at Mirage questioningly: "Is this your work or someone else's?"
Not waiting for a response, he steps off his horse and start studying the tracks around the site.
"Good riddance either way."
Shaking his head, he sighs:
"These tracks are quite old. I can't make heads or tail of them. Maybe someone else will have more luck."
Locke goes into the stables with most of you and collects his horse. He comes out with his light warhorse with leather barding. Perhaps a bit stranger he now is covered in banded mail with a simple unadorned helm. His tall 6 foot body seems adapted to the weight of the armor as he stands straight as he leads the horse out of the stables. His long dark almost black hair, with only a few grey hairs, is either tucked into the helm or down into the breastplate. His deep blue eyes now sheltered by his helm seem to be harsh and vigilant.
Without a word he climbs up a stand to get mounted on his horse. He pats its neck and adjusts some of the barding. He lifts his hand and a large canine comes barreling from the side of the inn. It stops next to him and he pats it on its head as well. "For those joining us, this is Thaolin. Arsil should we just let him be a surprise for later?"
Locke is in the lead with Arsil though after a while he asks the group, "Who has good tracking skills? It has been a few days and the tracks may be harder to find now."
Yes Thaolin is our friend and chose to go as he please she says to the party as she goes over to him and fondly scratch the back of his ear
----
At the sight of the massacre
Our collective fight yes. she replied to Sareth
I know that Mirage is proficient in that skill she says trying to assist
=> Failed
Since Arsil has already answered to Sareth, Mirage just smiles wickedly. He nods to the large wolf as it arrives, and focuses on the task at hand.
Although Mirage looked fine when standing, sitting and walking in his full armor, now his moves are kinda limited. It must be hard to ride with such weight on you. If you are perceptive enough, you will also realize he's not very good at riding.
Probably because of this he doesn't even step out of his horse, letting the newcomers show their skills. If necessary, from atop his horse he just helps Lyrian find some information to start, pointing out something important. "There, do you see that larger footprint? Try following that one."
Arthur stands to the side bemused the. Begins picking at the shrubbery, looking through it.
There are more going this way.
Al rides along after the group, keeping in fairly good spirits until they reach the massacre. Having seen goblins dead before, he noted that their blood was still typically red. This glowing green goo was definitely interesting. He intoned the spell to give him magical sight, and after concentrating for a moment, he was able to discern a few things.
Transmutation, magical goo, it seemed as if the goo was being used to transform or improve the goblins. Later on when they found the skull, it was obvious there was definitely some demonic influence doing this very thing. "It seems this magical goo is attempting to turn these goblins into demons, or at least give them their strengths. If we can track the source, we can probably put an end to this."
Demons. Not a good sign.
She looks over the clearing, her eyes strangely bright.
Her gaze settles on the bones, instantly recognizing the demonic visage.
Definitely not something we want to carry around, but it might be worth retrieving. Carefully, of course. Nasty bit of work.
Arthur leans on his staff and pokes his chin with one roug, dirty finger.
This isn't the sort of thing that just happens on its own, I'd imagine. If goblins just turned into demons spontaneously you'd think there'd be a lot more Demogobs running about, and if it were something Goblins could do to themselves they'd be burning cities everywhere. Someone gave them this stuff, the question is why? I'd imagine there are easier ways to get demons into this world, no?
He looks to Alabaster quizzically.
Aerin will also cast a detect magic
It is a tad more complicated than this Alabaster so for the moment until some peices of the people are missing Arsil takes the skull and pulls out a small chest and from the chest a small bag
This thing right here will go into a little cage she says putting it in the bag and in the small jewelry box and then under her armor
After we have cleared this area we will head back and track Group n 3 since group 2/6/5 have been dealt with
The goo looks inert, not bubbling or boiling. If you touch it with a stick the stick is just covered in the goo not dissolved or anything. The area seems to be pretty nondescript, not even a trail runs through this location.
Look over there there is a trail lets "track" it arriving at the cave Arsil will make everything stop as she looks a the runes marking the entrance
These are runes of warding, either keeping something in or out: in order from left to right: Warning, deep power, evil, water, stones, warning.
"There's definitely some kind of source here. But if you're looking an easy way to bring about demonic power, don't ask me. I much prefer the study of dragons." With that he lets out an easy laugh.
When they get to the cave, Al takes a look at the markings and speaks up again. "There's a double warning on these runes. They are to keep something either in our out. My guess is they are keeping some kind of demonic evil in, and this evil is using the goblins to try to find a way out. Of course, that would make sense, and demons don't always do that."
With Arsil seeing the cave she leads the group to it and moves some vines and shrubbery out of the way to see the runes and a slope leading down.
The runes are very old, likely not placed even within the last 100 years. Not something a goblin would use.
'Words steal your thoughts!' - a goblin saying
The runes meant for words have something important to play here, you know to keep your eye out for such things.
Realizing he had some of the same thoughts as Arsil, he grinned sheepishly and put his hand on the back of his head in embarrassment. Maybe he should have just let her say it.
Pondering the runes for a moment and scratching his chin, Al also adds some more thoughts. "These runes seem to be keeping evil both in and out of this place. They're also old, easily pre-dating the rise of House Thrune. It's definitely not an invention of Goblins, due to their racial hatred for the written word. These words are important here, so we will do well to keep them in mind."
They seem to have some sort of tracking system. Maybe they're not as amateurish as I thought.
Arthur hollers at anyone who'll listen.
Hey! We have some more tracks over here. Looks like there were more goblins and they looped back toward the site you referred to as "the massacre"
Great. So lets leave the wards in place and not open the door to some greater evil we can't confront. For the moment the green skins are what we are after. So lets go back to the site and track down Group 3 she says after hearing arthur pointing out the tracks
Sareth was a bit embarassed by his failure to spot the tracks earlier. This was soon forgotten when they found the demonic looking skull.
It looks like my instincts were right to follow this group. The trail is hot once more.
When he sees the runes and hears their meaning, he speaks up: "Tread very carefully here friends. If there are demonic forces at play, we must investigate further, but lets not release something that shouldn't be."
Ondrea appears agitated, and speaks quietly but clearly to the group.
I am going to check my understanding of the situation, stop me if I stray too far afield. One, we have goblins playing with demonology. Two, they seem to have dissolved themselves. Three, we have what is obviously the lair of some foul power. Four, the lair is situated in a fairly normal looking hillside cave. Five, such caves are not known for their proof against acid or demons. Six, the entrance is blocked, but the land appears unwarded.
She trails off, expectantly. When noone replies she continues.
I definitely think we want to spend the night away from this cave, and with a firm grasp of where the remaining goblin band went. It sounds like we have a trail, let's follow it.
Ondrea heads back away from the cave mouth, once the group is clear she points out the obvious.
The wards look nice, but caves don't always have only one exit, and this soil isn't going to stop anyone determined to dig. Let's assume we have a demon to worry about. Keep sharp.
I hope everyone remembered their cold iron. Lead the way to the goblins.
Aerin listen to ondrea speech but made no comment
I think you've got a good summary of the situation, Ondrea.
Sareth smiles and hefts his mace: Luckily I never leave home without my cold-iron.
As they head down the track, he comments to the group: When we find this next group of goblins, maybe we could try to keep one alive. I would very much like to question one.
Mirage observed the newcomers work and said nothing for a while. He spotted a second trail of goblins running away, but since they were observing the runes he said nothing. He was daydreaming about what kind of fight would the creature down there put up. It would be certainly awesome, and he was dying to find out more about it, so he said nothing about the trail, although this Arthur called everyone's attention to it, giving them an easier option.
The hobgoblin didn't like it, and stayed a while longer observing the runes and the cave, but eventually he caught up with the group. "Cold Iron? My steel is as hot as it comes. You will see. Good luck saving one of yours, by the way, cause mine got a ticket to their next life already reserved."
Arthur nods at Sareth's suggestion.
No competent bounty hunter doesn't have a means of taking prey alive. I can render one unconscious but breathing easily. Also, it's been forever since I had to gather field samples, but I'd like to take a look at this demon-goo later once I have time to analyze it in detail. Does anyone have a bottle?
Mirage my friend, you and I will have to visit a smith when we make it back. You'll like cold iron weapons, they have a satisfying finality to them. Best of all, demons cannot stand them. You do have to pay attention to cleaning them though.
She shrugs, then tilts her head at Arthur.
I'm Ondrea by the way, and normally I'd have a stash of bottles, but my stock and my crucible were on the other horse. Hopefully my old companions see to her. I'll remind you about the bottle when we get back to the inn. For now, I think we leave it. If it hasn't already faded, it will likely be there when we come back that way.
Locke looks around in his pack and then the saddle bag which has a good amount of miscellanous items. He brightens when he finds a bottle and says lightly, "Arthur, I got a potion bottle you can use." Still keeping a lookout he follows the group glad he doesn't have to face a demon yet.
The group goes and follows the trail, before leaving it looks like some of the tracks did lead up to the cave entrance and then left, another half hour and the group might see something.
Off to the right of the trail you can see six columns each are separated by about five feet. It looks to be some kind of ruins but the row of columns are the only thing still standing. Fallen over rocks and slabs litter the ground around the columns for about a radius of 50 feet. The six columns slowly drop in height, the closest being 20 feet high. The last column, only 10 feet high, is next to a pile of dirt.
Mirage notices something in the columns and moves closer to identify them. It seems he's laughing of something. "It seems we had some goblins around, but they were terrible painters." He points to some goblin drawings on the columns.
As the group approaches the columns, Sareth quickly scopes out the surroundings. He notices the smoke but forgets about it quickly as he spots the goblin on top of the tallest column.
He stops, gets off his horse and pulls out his sling.
"We're being watched. Goblin scout. Top of the column."
She speaks quietly to Sareth.
Which column? You'll never hit him with that, but if you can flush him into the open it looks clear enough here for Lady.
She motions absently with the longbow, then raises her voice to talk to Mirage.
I'm sure they'll like your painting even more, and you might even get a chance to paint soon!
He looks around and notices a few things but stays in the saddle, he casually says, "A goblin you say? Didn't someone want to speak with 'a' goblin? This would be an excellent chance to do that."
Losing sight of the goblin, Sareth gives up on the sling for now.
"He's hiding on top of the tallest one. You're right, I can't hit him from here"
Moving up to the column, he shouts up to the goblin:
"Hey you, up there. Why don't you come down for a chat?"
The goblin remains quiet but with your group not going away he squeaks out a few words after a few minutes of silence, "Ye not hurt me?"
"Well, that really depends on you. If you help us, I might be able to convince the big guy over there to leave you be."
Sareth points to Mirage when saying this.
"Lets start with something simple. What's your name and what on Golarion are you doing hiding up there?"