"Oh!" Corinna replies. "I'll try. Um...." She approaches the pony skittishly, darting in to grab at its lead at a speed and angle virtually guaranteed to startle it. "Nice horse," she tells it nervously, tugging at the rope half-heartedly. "You want to go home, don't you? I'm sorry," she tells the Small riders. "I'm not used to animals that aren't summoned."
"Nice! Maybe Ameiko has something at the Rusty Dragon for us;" she tells Walthus, "I think you have a good chance to find a free bed at her inn - she loves to hear stories; and from what I've seen here, I think you have quite a one to tell."
"Thank you," Walthus says. "Thank you all." He hand the house key to Corinna, who locks up. Then you set out back along the trail the way you already came.
As is often the way with these things, going back feels shorter (although it really takes virtually the same amount of time). Walthus dozes most of the time and has to be watched to make sure he doesn't fall off the pony.
You pass over two of the bridges and are nearing the third, the one where the goblins ambushed you on your way in, when notice a freshly killed marsh rabbit lying on the trail in plain view. The body has been torn apart.
Aago moves to the front as they finally make their way back to Sandpoint, though he isn't looking forward to returning to Ameiko's without any significance accomplishments. As he sees the rabbit, he frowns and moves forward to take a closer look.
"Oh! The poor bunny!" Corinna murmurs.
Aago moves to the front as they finally make their way back to Sandpoint, though he isn't looking forward to returning to Ameiko's without any significance accomplishments. As he sees the rabbit, he frowns and moves forward to take a closer look.
1d20 + 6
The rabbit is in multiple pieces, but still identifiable as a rabbit. No parts of it appear to have been eaten; instead, something has simply torn it apart and dropped it on the trail.
"Whatever did this wasn't hunting for food. This is an act of cruelty." Aago looks away from the rabbit. "Are any of you skilled in the study of tracks?"
"I am," Walthus says, feebly raising his arm. "I don't think now's a good time to follow them though. It could be a trap. We should keep moving."
"I was actually thinking more along the line of finding out what kind of creature did this. Goblins would certainly fit but I'd prefer to be sure it was them rather than something else entirely."
Aago shrugs. "Either way, it's a warning to be watchful."
Walthus nods. "A good point. I'll see what I can figure out. Can somebody help me down?" Assuming somebody does, he gets down off the pony and begins carefully going over the ground around the dead rabbit, peering at blades of grass and examining the wet dirt.
After a few moments, he stands back up. "Well, it definitely wasn't goblins. However, it was humanoid and barefoot with three toes on each foot. Roughly the size of you big folk. It went off to the west."
"Three toes?" Corinna asks in surprise. "Like a bird?"
"Three toes?" Corinna asks in surprise. "Like a bird?"
Walthus points out the footprints to Corinna so she can get a better idea of what the foot looks like. It's a long, thin foot, with three long toes. Alas, she's not aware of any creatures that would fit.
Walthus climbs back up onto the pony. "Whatever it was, it's gone now. We should get going."
The remainder of the journey out of the swamp is uneventful. It's a relief to be back on solid ground again. The oppressiveness of the swamp seems to melt away as soon as you step onto the Lost Coast Road. Your vision seems less hazy, the temperature seems more comfortable, and there are a lot fewer insects buzzing around. Apart from the insects, you're pretty sure those are just products of your imagination, but it feels nice nonetheless.
The sun is low on the horizon when you draw close to Sandpoint and reach the trail that leads to the Valdemar manor.
Melon nods, "Whatever it was, I think it left. There was a strange figure, about my size far to the west. Three toes. That's odd." She inadvertently looks down. "Toes are odd in themselves. I mean. Look at them. Do they serve any purpose really?"
Corinna hesitates at the fork in the road, glancing up the trail toward the Valdemar manor and at at the position of the sun in the sky. "Do you need me in Sandpoint tonight? I assume that the Rajah and Gilfroy can see the Warden safely to a healer, but someone needs to tell the Sheriff what happened -- about the faceless stalker." She clearly wants to be sure the message is delivered properly but is also leery of the thought of walking back from Sandpoint to the manor by herself after dark.
"I'll speak to the Sheriff while the others see about getting the Warden his healing." Aago promises.
"Thank you ... Aago, was it?" Corinna replies warmly, offering her hand to the oversized man. "Buck up, Warden; you're almost there. Fare well, all." She watches them go a few more paces up the Lost Coast Road before turning and making her way quickly toward Valdemar Manor.
"Good day to you as well, Corinna." He nods in farewell.
"C'mon Gilfroy. Let us see the good Warden to Father Zantus."
"Right. We'll be by bright and early for you tomorrow, Corinna, have no fear. A good night of peaceful sleep to you."
Gilfroy takes up the reins and steers Umbral towards the cathedral.
Corinna turns down the trail to the Valdemar Manor while the remainder of the group continues on to Sandpoint. The road leads first past the Rusty Dragon as it enters the town.
Aago heads to see the sheriff, while the Blue Rajah and Gilfroy take Walthus to the cathedral (Aago can actually travel with them most of the way, since their destinations are fairly close together).
Malan goes with the Warden to see Father Zanthus.
Aago smiles and offers his hand to Corinna in return. "That's right. A good eve to you, lady."
He makes his way off to the Sheriff, already dreading such a lackluster report but determined to get it over with.
Melon breaks off from the group. "Okay, good luck Walthus. See you guys later, at the Rusty Dragon, okay?" She takes the latest possible turn to get to the inn without actually having to backtrack. "Tomorrow we go again!"
Corinna is the first to break away from the group as she heads to the Valdemar manor. Melon is the second; she heads into the Rusty Dragon as the group passes it. The others remain together as they cross the town. Then Aago splits off to visit the sheriff, and the remaining head to see Father Zantus.
She is met by Mrs Hasmel as she enters the manor. "Corinna, my dear," she says, taking Corinna's coat for her. "I'll let your uncle know you've returned. I trust you're all right?"
Mrs Hasmel doesn't give Corinna much chance to reply before heading off into the manor to find Corinna's uncle. He arrives shortly after, with her "Aunt" Alil following behind. He crosses his arms over his chest. "Well?" he asks in a tone that says, "Tell me how you screwed up."
Across the room, Ameiko waves to Melon as she heads behind the counter and into the kitchen.
"There's one of the ones who went after them!" someone calls out. Suddenly, all the faces turn to look at Melon expectantly. There's a very brief moment of silence before the noise erupts again, this time everyone trying to yell out questions at Melon:
"Did you catch the monsters?"
"Is it true they ate all the dogs in a vile ceremony?"
"I heard the goblins were transforming the dogs into giant monster dogs for an attack on Sandpoint! Did you stop them?"
And so on...
Several minutes later, the guard returns with Sheriff Hemlock. "What's the news?" he asks.
Less than a minute later, Father Zantus arrives. "Greetings, my friends," he says. Before anyone can reply, he has already noticed why you are here and is moving over to Walthus. "Warden Proudfoot, yes?" He bends down by the halfling.
"Proudstump, yes," Walthus corrects him.
"Proudstump, my apologies. What has happened?" Father Zantus begins to examine Walthus.
"A faceless stalker from the marsh nearly blood-sucked him to death before we arrived. It got me, too, but I had back-up, so it wasn't as bad. We're hoping you have the magic needed to get him back on his feet quickly." A smile flashes across his face. "I'm sure Lord Valdemar would be willing to make the appropriate donation so that we may better able do the work necessary to secure his home against further goblin attacks."
Aago smiles and shakes the Sheriff Hemlock's hand. "It's been a momentous day. We reached the warden -- Walthus -- without much trouble, aside from a minor encounter with a few goblins who shot fireworks at us. Most of them ended up fleeing us after we fought them, though I did throw one into the river."
The lightness of his tone gives way to graveness as he goes on. "At the warden's house we encountered something that looked exactly like the warden but was not. He -- it -- tried to send us away but it was clear that something was wrong. When we did refused to leave it abandoned the pretense and revealed itself to be something unnatural. Walthus calls it a Faceless Stalker. It feeds on people's blood."
"Walthus came out of his house after we slew the beast and explained that he'd been attacked by it and forced into hiding. He has been gravely injured so we brought him back to Sandpoint for the ministrations of Father Zantus. Assuming that the Father can restore him, we'll be departing again tomorrow for the goblin village, with Walthus as our guide."
"A faceless stalker from the marsh nearly blood-sucked him to death before we arrived. It got me, too, but I had back-up, so it wasn't as bad. We're hoping you have the magic needed to get him back on his feet quickly." A smile flashes across his face. "I'm sure Lord Valdemar would be willing to make the appropriate donation so that we may better able do the work necessary to secure his home against further goblin attacks."
Rajah shoots Gilfroy a stern look for that last bit he threw out there. Turning his attention back to Father Zantus, "What the good Warden needs, Father, is restorative healing. As Gil said, the creature nearly drained him to the point of death." Looking to the weakened halfling then back to Father Zantus, "Can you help him, Father?"
"Monster dogs? That one is new, I haven't heard of that one," Melon entertains the thoughts of mostly any of the wild rumors; but then settles in to explain - once somebody offers to buy her a drink - "We've run into one of their groups, along one of the bridges on the new fishing trail. They definitely had some of those weird fire cracker things - good thing they know as much as I about how to use those, which is to say, not much. I got this scar from that fight, look here."
"After that we pushed on to the Warden's cottage. And we found Walthus there - except not. Some strange rare creature had stolen Walthus' appearance and was parading as him. Was only luck really that it showed its true colors when we tried to help it out. Was a tough one that, nearly took out the little gnome that was with us. Gilfred Fuzzywig."
"We did find the real Walthus afterwards, nearly bled to death days before from when the thing initially ambushed him. We helped him back here first, he should be with the clerics by now, here in Sandpoint. We decided to come back for today, and go again tomorrow - armed with more knowledge of where to go and what to watch out for."
Once Father Zanthus begins to administer to Walthus, Malan excuses himself and goes to the Rusty Dragon.
Turning to Rajah, he says, "I can help. I will make him comfortable for the evening and will see to it that I have the proper spells prepared for tomorrow so that I can speed up his recovery." He turns to Walthus. "If that is okay with you, of course, Warden."
Walthus nods. "Thank you, father."
Malan excuses himself and heads off.
He looks over Corinna. "And just what do you think you're doing accepting such a charge from her? A muddy marsh is no place for a Valdemar!"
"He has a point, Corinna," Alil says, with an infuriating smile. "Just look at your clothes. They're filthy. You really should change into something cleaner. I'll have one of the servants bring you some dinner to your room, if you like."
"To be fair, Uncle," she cajoles, "it's not as if Sandpoint pays Shalelu for her protection. We all merely sit back and wait for her to save the day. And she did send her apprentice. He seemed quite competent. I believe he would have gone on to take care of the goblins all by himself if he hadn't been concerned about seeing the rest of us back to town safely with the injured Warden. I'm sure he'll make quick work of the goblins tomorrow. And you oughtn't to blame Shalelu for conscripting me. It's just ... everyone seemed to assume that I was coming along. It was all a misunderstanding, but I'm back safe now." She offers him a hopeful smile.
"Actually, I was referring to Corinna's uncle Belvin, and if you don't bear such a man ill will, apparently you haven't met him. Wouldn't know a good painting if it bit him in the...well, it's neither here nor there. If you're one of the decent folks of the cloth who don't only help people in need when they're also in gold, then I apologize and thank you for your help."
Aago bids the sheriff good night and makes his way off to the Rusty Dragon.
He stands up. "If you'll follow me, Warden, I'll show you to a place you can rest for the night." Walthus nods and Zantus turns to Gilfroy and the Blue Rajah. "Good night, gentleman. You did the right thing bringing the warden here. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours tomorrow." He shakes their hands and then leads Walthus out of the room.
Alil places a hand on Belven's shoulder. "Belven, go easy on her. You're just distraught from the day's events. I'm sure Corinna realizes her mistake, right Corinna? She'll go get cleaned up and nobody will the wiser."
"And I don't appreciate people who are too stuck up to have a sense of humour and feel it necessary to point out what they perceive as other people's character flaws, but I don't like to point out other people's character flaws, so I just won't say anything," Gilfroy says after Father Zantus has left.
"Let's get out of here," he says to Rajah quite huffily and stomps out of the office.
Ameiko brings you all a round of drinks and some stew. "On the house," she says. "Least I can do to repay your efforts today."
It seems that Alil's definition of "right away" is a bit non-standard as it takes nearly an hour before the food actually does show up. However, that gives Corinna time to clean up a bit and settle in her room.
"A muddy marsh is no place for a Valdemar," he'd said. But I'm not really a Valdemar, am I, Uncle? Not completely. And you've waited all these years for my father's shoe to drop.
She pushes open the door to her room and speaks a light cantrip. Even as quickly as the arcane light begins to glow, she still barks her shin on a rocking horse and sits down to rub the ache away as she strikes a tindertwig to fire the oil lamp. The room is cluttered with old toys. As the youngest child in the house, all the cast-off playthings had been put into her room. It had been thrilling when she was young, like living in a toy store, but as she had grown up, there had been no younger Valdemars in the house to pass them down to, and they had simply stayed. A few of her aunts had married and had children, but they were out of the manor and in their husband's homes. Perhaps if Alil has a child, they'll take some of these things out, she thinks, but quickly dismisses the idea. Any child of Alil and Belven will warrant brand new toys, not Corinna's castoffs.
She shoves aside a dollhouse to make room to open her bag and pull out clean robes. Examining the grime on the ones she has taken off, she decides not to put them out for the servants to wash; it will be quicker to simply learn prestidigitation in the morning and clean them herself. She drapes them over the rocking horse, runs a brush through her hair to get out the tangles and any lingering twigs, and sits down on the narrow bed to look out the window. Across the harbor, she can see the twinkling lights of Sandpoint. She wonders how the little Warden is doing and if the near-giant -- Aago -- remembered to tell the Sheriff about the threat posed by the faceless stalkers. She wonders if everyone is sitting around the Rusty Dragon, laughing and having a good time. She wonders if Alil will remember to send her dinner up or if she'll have to sneak down to the kitchen to scrounge for a sandwich.
After thanking Ameiko for the drink and the stew, Aago laughingly holds court in a corner of the tavern, embellishing the story of the firework wielding goblins and the mysterious face stealer, making the tale quite a bit larger than life but in a friendly manner, praising his each of his companions in the telling.
Malan does not give much information to the questioning crowd. He refers them to whatever Melon has already told them. Once Aago makes his entrance, Malan fades into the background and observes.
At the Rusty Dragon, the crowds do eventually stop their ever-continuing questioning once you've denied all the various rumours (the most creative one is that this is just the first step in a goblin plan to starve the residents of Sandpoint by removing all their feed animals; however, the goblins are too stupid to realize that dogs are not feed animals). At last, things begin to quieten down, and the townsfolk slowly return to their homes. Ameiko offers any of you who don't have anywhere else to stay a room for the night on the house.
At the Valedmar Manor, Corinna settles down to sleep, no one else from her family coming to visit her.
The morning is bright and sunny. The sky is clear and blue, with only a hint of cloud to the south. Those of you who stayed at the rusty dragon find a hot meal waiting for you when you come downstairs.
Those at the Rusty Dragon are awoken early (dawn has just broken) by high-pitched whooping and hollaring, as well as light-weight galloping in the hallways. Incessant pounding begins on Rajah's door.
Rajah (or whoever opens their door first) sees Gilfroy, half-dressed and face red with excitment practically bouncing off the walls. He rushes over, pointing vehemently at his head.
"Look! LOOK!! Look at it!" he shouts, holding a few strands of hair in his hand. "It's BLUE again! I'm not dying anymore!! Yippee!!!" and he throws himself up at whoever it is in a huge bear hug.
Aago wakes to the uproar in the hallway, looks around wildly for the trouble and then, recognizing the gnome's voice, flops back down onto his bed.
He lies that way for several minutes before sighing, throwing back the covers and swinging his legs off the bed, dressing slowly with a number of bonecracking yawns.
Delaying as long as he can, Aago waits until the sound in the hallways dies down before leaving his room and heading downstairs to the common room to break his fast.
Malan opens the door to his room in response to Gilfroys clamor. He's wearing a silk shirt and comfortable britches from last night as if he hasn't slept. He is about to shut the door when Gilfroy notices him and runs up to Malan saying something about blue hair. "Yes. It is marvelous. Now I am.." Malan staggers backwards as Gilfroy jumps up and gives him an excited hug. He looks for someone to help. His relief at seeing Aago poke his head out flattens when Aago quickly shuts his door again. Gilfroy continues on without note to Malan's discomfort for what seems an eternity to the young elf. Eventually, though, he does convince the short fellow that it is time for breakfast and they should go to the common room.
Corinna lets herself in and smiles at her mother's reflection in the mirror where she is sitting pinning up her hair and finishing her toilette. She drapes herself over the foot of the bed and rests her chin on her hands, looking around the room. If Corinna's room is stuck in permanent childhood mode, her mother's is no less frozen in time, albeit at a later stage of development. The frilly pillows trimmed with lace and ribbon and delicate glass and china figurines belong to the teenaged girl whose evolution into a respectable and prosperous wife ended suddenly twenty-seven years ago when she conceived a child without a husband. As a girl, Corinna had thought her mother's room glamorous; now that she has been out on her own, she finds it unutterably sad, especially when she considers her own unintentional part in her mother's tragedy.
"Mother," she begins, "there's a reason I came back -- other than to see you, of course. I've been thinking about ... making a change. The Academae's been wonderful; I couldn't have gotten a better education, but Korvosa ... it's not like Sandpoint. A lot of the people there -- people in the Conjuration school...," she trails off, not knowing how to explain to her mother the sorts of devil-summoning and pursuit of power that she had grown used to without shocking her. "I'm just not sure I want to stay there," she amends.
"There's another school, in Magnimar. They're not as good, not near as good in conjuration, but I think I could get on there quite easily, with an Academae education, probably with more responsibilities and a higher rate of pay. And I was thinking...," she pauses timidly, "perhaps after I got settled, you could come and stay with me. They say Magnimar is lovely; they call it the City of Monuments, you know. You could ... we could both have a fresh start there."
She sees her mother start to reply and breaks out again nervously. "Mother, I don't say a word against Uncle. You know I couldn't; he's been so generous to me ... to both of us. But you've lived your whole life here -- not even in Sandpoint, which is confined enough, but in this house! And I know," she lowers her voice cautiously so as not to be overheard by anyone outside in the hallway, "it must grate on you to see that little social climber Alil, who used to curtsey and call you ma'am, made head of this household and take precedence over you at family occasions. I know you've," she lowers her eyes to the bedspread as she makes even a veiled reference to her own birth, "made mistakes, but after twenty-seven years, surely your penance has been paid. I can't promise you anything like this house, but we could get along nicely in a little flat, couldn't we? There's a lovely garden right by the school for walking in. I know you've never intended to leave Sandpoint, but please at least tell me you'll think about it."
Already having awokened at dawn, Rajah is startled by Gilfroy's antics. Quickly rushing to the door, opening it, and stepping out into the hallway, "Gilfroy! What in The Dawnflower's name...," he stops as he notices Gilfroy hugging Malan. Raising an eyebrow and then chuckling, "I must confess; this is a scene I truly believed I would have never lived to see!" He says with a smile.
"Yeah, you wish," Gilfroy replies good-naturally as he descends the elf.
"All the excitement yesterday, I need some more. We have to get to the goblin village. Let's get moving!"
Corinna's mother looks at her with sad eyes, but smiles broadly. "Of course I'll think about it," she says. "Indeed, I've often though of Magnimar and what it might be like to live there." She looks away suddenly, back at her mirror, her smile vanishing. "Your uncle wouldn't approve though," she says sadly.
Before Corinna can say anything about her uncle, her mother looks at Corinna's reflection. "Now don't say anything about your uncle. He has a lot on his plate, and many things to consider. No doubt, he would secretly love to be rid of me--and you as well--but that, in itself, could cause scandal, and he won't let that happen to the family. They are things of such little consequence, really, but he is so caught up in them. You should feel sorry for him."
She begins to make tiny adjustments to her hair, all of them completely unnecessary and clearly done out of nervous habit. "As for Alil...well...she achieved what she set out for, I suppose, didn't she? Must give her some credit there." She frowns and begins unpinning her hair entirely. "She's wilier than she pretends. I am glad your education has gone well, Corinna. You have a chance to make more of yourself than any of your family, even though they will never realize or acknowledge it. We can at least take comfort in that."
"What's all the noise?" Ameiko asks as Malan first arrives. She doesn't give him a chance to reply before she passes by and into a back room, only to re-emerge moments later with a basket of bread. She moves about full of energy, as if she's been up for hours, although if she has, you have to wonder when she found the time to sleep!
She carries the basket to a man standing across the room. He's a tall, Varisian man with a goatee, large earrings, and several gold necklaces. He wears fine travelling clothes and carries a sword on his belt. "Don't eat it all at once," Ameiko tells him as she hands him the basket.
He laughs. "Oh, it'll be eaten all at once," he says and gives her a light kiss on the forehead. "You know they'll devour it in a flash. I'll be lucky to get a piece."
Ameiko turns to Malan and the others who are now arriving behind him. "Malan, have you met my old friend Sandru Vhiski?"