The elf looks at the goblin and speaks to it in its own language. "She says she'll let you get up and walk if you go where she points for you to go. You run, she kills you. You make her angry, she kills you. You walk with us and stay in front of her, you get to live."
Then he reverts to Keoish. "You should be able to loosen his feet enough for him to walk, now. Point at where you want him to go."
Rab moves over and helps Thout up onto the makeshift drag stretcher. "I hope you are right about these being the riders. I would LOVE to have a horse hauling Thout instead of doing it myself."
"What is the wretched goblin babbling about?" - Grond asks Rabalar as they get ready to move out.
"Someone help me with Pisssface. He's slipperier than an oiled up eel in a barrel of fishguts, an' I'm not keen to take chances."
Naia looks the man up and down with cool estimation. "Even as wounded as he is."
"I will help you keeping an eye on this one" - he grunts.
”Great! [sighs] Thanks Rab.” Naia cradles her harpoon in her crouched lap and cuts the goblin’s leg bonds with her dagger. She stands and points.
”Go. No run. Walk.”
She nods to Grond.
”Thanks. He gives you one bit of trouble, brain him.”
Finally she turns to the bound human.
”Oi. Horses? They yours? Where are they?” Naia prods him again. ”Lissen. I get it, mate. We interrupted your haunted house party. Or something. You hate us. Fine. But do you care for the horses? Let’s put it this way. I find out they were your horses, and you don’t tell us where they are, an’ they die - I’m gonna frackin kill you. Where. Are. The. Horses.”
She nods to Grond.
”Thanks. He gives you one bit of trouble, brain him.”
"Will do" - Grond nods back, drawing his morningstar to emphasize the notion.
"What is the wretched goblin babbling about?" - Grond asks Rabalar as they get ready to move out.
"I will help you keeping an eye on this one" - he grunts."Someone help me with Pisssface. He's slipperier than an oiled up eel in a barrel of fishguts, an' I'm not keen to take chances."
Naia looks the man up and down with cool estimation. "Even as wounded as he is."
Orcish (S/W correct?)
Keoish with Ulek dialect (S/W correct?)
Giant (S - speak only???)
[/QUOTE
Grond
When Grond glances over again at the documents he notices that most of the documents are about he ownership of the house and lands. Also documents on purchases of goods within the house. The two other sealed parchments don't appear to be any language you have seen before.
Grond peruses the documents for a few moments.
"I would like to take a few more moments to go over these with calm" - the inquisitive half-orc points out - "When we have the time"
Edan
Edan tends to Narciso's wounds. It does it respectfully and with care. Narciso hears him recite a prayer to a goddess called Berna...the prayer is one of compassion and good will.
At the House
The party finishes up preparing to leave. The stretcher is now ready to go and Thout resting on it.
The two prisoners are prepared as well. Rabalar, Edan, and D'ogryn tie them off with the goblin in front and the man in the back. The man, being critically wounded himself is not going to move fast.
All the documents found are stored in Naia's backpack and D'ogryn throws in the old pouch he found with the diamonds in there as well.
The breeze carries the smell of burnt bodies and a smoldering fire. It is not a pleasant smell.
Naia grabs a "nautical" crossbow, then volunteers to be rearguard, her fascination with prodding "Pissface" unabated.
Edan
Gathers up his gear, checks on Thout who seems to be grumbling about being carried, and picks up the stretcher from the foot of the young half-dwarf. "I will keep an eye on him for bit to make sure he is fine."
Soros
Turns and looks at the house and back at his friends. "Well me made it out in one piece and managed to root out the last of the goblins... I hope...I really hope we don't have to visit this place again...but there are many questions I have about what happened in there and what we saw."
He turns and picks up the lead arms of the stretcher after laying his staff down by Thout. He nudges Rabalar away from the stretcher. "You rest and keep those olven eyes on the woods. I would prefer to not get filled with goblin arrows and end up on a fire."
"Move along" - Grond pulls on the rope with a snarl, and gets moving.
Narciso gladly accepts the assistance from Edan, especially the bit of magical curing. "Thank you. That feels much better. Maybe we should burn that death trap down so nobody else gets hurt. But if there is still an owner I guess not."
He takes his position in the rotation for carrying the stretcher.
In Town
Warfa
As Ender makes his way into the common room Warfa turns. "Good lad it seems. A bit bookish for me taste but a good lad." He turns back to Peran and the rest of the table. "Be careful. I will be here the rest of the night. Got books and such to do for the Rest so if you need me I come find me." At that he turns and makes his way down the stairs. Waves at a few merchants that seem to know him and he makes his way over to them and pats a man on his shoulder as they speak.
House
The House
The goblin seems to comply after Rabalar "talks to him". Naia listens to the Olf speak in what she assumes is goblin and the words coming out of his mouth seem like gibberish and coming from Rabalar even more so.
The unnamed man rises slowly and doesn't seem in a hurry to take the long walk he knows is coming. There is a brief look of regret on his face but as Naia watches him the look turns to disgust and he spits at his feet. Blood and bile float in the muddy pool in the walkway between his feet. The man doesn't seem to have a happy bone in his body...
The goblin looks around and it is obvious the creature is terrified with so many "big things" around him.
Thout seems to be half in and half out of consciousness, but the color of his skin seems better as his body fights the effects of the poison in his body.
Grond moves deliberately to rip a piece of the greasy man's shirt, and gags him - "You spit too much" - then gets back to pulling the rope ahead.
As Grond goes to gag the seriously wounded man, Rabalar starts to say something, but stops himself. He can swallow whatever he's been spitting. Swallowing it won't kill him, even if the damage it represents will.
And with that, he tries to focus on watching the environment, looking for more danger, until it is his turn to help haul Thout. He seems slightly distracted, however.
Naia shrugs and her lower lip juts as Grond gags the man.
"The wages of sin." she remarks. Casting a final look at the baleful house she turns to the road ahead.
The Party - 4th Day of Readying, GodsDay
Time - several hours past noon
The group prepares to leave the courtyard of the old house. Grond moves to the front and walks to the gate. Rabalar starts to move off as Soros and Edan pick up Thout's stretcher. The goblin follows and the stranger follows...after Grond shoved the rag in his mouth that seemed to break the the man...probably more due with the pain he is in and the condition he is in. Narciso stays right by the trussed up stranger as he painfully walks behind the goblin. Naia takes up a position behind the party. She turns to keep an eye on the house...half-expecting goblin arrows to come flying out of the windows.
Not fully accepting the "painful stride" of the prisoner, Narciso draws his rapier in case he gives any trouble. He watches the area ahead as the group gets moving.
Freona returns to the others seeing Antas awaiting her, the light blue fabric of her dress clinging pleasantly to her body. Extending an arm to the holy warrior she awaits him to escort her outside. "It is a pleasure to spend the evening next to you my...darling." Her words to the man are a bit uncertain as she is unused to being close to a man before.
I am not sure this will go smoothly...Antas is about as comfortable with this as I feel!
Wandering down towards the fisherman's wharf, Brother Peran is dressed in a set of work clothes he brought with him from Seaton. He greets the various fishermen and offers his assistance in bringing in the evening catch.
Town of Saltmarsh - Peran
Peran changes his clothes in the room and then makes his way down into the common room and out the front door. He takes the walk down Fisherman's Road which will lead him into the Dock Streets as it splits to the west. If went east it would take him down Hymns Road. The road is mostly empty with just a few carts, small wagons, and a few people on horseback. The walk is quiet and it gives you time to reflect on the day's events.
The salt air is crisp and it will be a cool night with the wind coming from the east. You pass the Full Moon in and you can see men and women, more men, going inside. There are several large men standing at the doorway. You pass by it and make your way to the turn that takes you west to the Dock Streets. You make the turn north and are on the docks...
Grond trudges onward.
Not knowing exactly how far the group will have to trudge along today with wounded and prisoners Narciso tries to strike up a conversation with Naia. He maintains his focus on the prisoner rather than the area around them. "So... The goblin. Was he in the house, or with the bandits that attacked you, or did you encounter a group of them before you got here? I'm only asking because the couple that Grond and I encountered, well, we didn't even try to take any prisoners. They were trying to kill us and well, Grond's pretty good with that big axe of his. My little sticker here just doesn't compare."
"But that was a couple days march away. We didn't see any close to here. Has your town been having goblin trouble?"
Naia thinks.
"Heh. Goblin "trouble". If you got goblins, you got trouble."
The young woman looks away in the direction of the canyon.
"He was in the house, now the last of a bunch in there. We think he was part of another tribal group that we tracked from their ambush of a wagon en route to Saltmarsh. Their lair was in a canyon, all tricked and trapped. A friend...acquaintance...Zove with her big cat came with us. We did for them, they got.... us... a little...then we tracked 'em to the house."
Naia scrunches her nose and lips up in thought momentarily.
"I don't think they are in league with Pissface an' his mates. Could be wrong. As my Nan says, wouldn't be the first time."
A brief pause ensues while they walk.
"I forget the name of the tribe. Rab'll know. Or D'og, or Ede or Thout. But they had puffball arrows that slammed us with poison. Lil bastards. Sound like your gobs?"
Narciso thinks a moment in the silence of trudging along before answering. His voice seems a bit more strained than usual as he speaks, and a bit lower. "No. The goblins we encountered on the trail here were simple. Just a pair, wandering along. I think if they'd noticed us before we spotted them they might've run away. We didn't give 'em the chance. See, we'd just been through a bad encounter and we weren't feeling very diplomatic...."
"We lost.... Well, I lost an old friend. Name of Warick. He was a holy man and he had word of what was thought to be a plague. Sickness can be bad for farmers so we went to help. But something just felt off.... The animals acted spooked. Then we found one of the girls dead. It was obvious murder but we couldn't find the killer. Then the parents and the young boy. When Warick finally faced the last little girl with his holy might she changed, and ripped him apart. Grond's axe split her into pieces but Warick was gone."
"I think Grond is OK now but we were both a bit jumpy for a few days. I've tried to figure out a way to tell the tale and make it heroic.... But maybe that's a fool's errand. It was a tragedy. We got rid of whatever possessed the girl, but a whole family and a holy man, my friend, was killed"
Naia pales a bit at the telling of the fate of Warick snd the farmer's family.
"Ough. Sounds terrible. Something is amiss in the land, I'll tell you that for nothing."
The Temlow lass brightens visibly, like the clearing away of a storm to make a clear day.
"Still, no need to be jumpy now. You met us. An' I almost trust you!" she finishes cheekily, but without a hint of falsity.
Wandering down towards the fisherman's wharf, Brother Peran is dressed in a set of work clothes he brought with him from Seaton. He greets the various fishermen and offers his assistance in bringing in the evening catch.
Peran makes his way down to a group of fishermen on the east dock who are unloading fish from two small boats. This group of fisherman accepts the help but they are not chatty.
The older fisherman shakes Peran's hand...Aye...thank you for the help Peran. The middle-aged man with a lot of missing teeth look at you and give you a weird look and just turns and picks up a wooden crate off the boat and gives it to you to put on the dock. It is full of red mackerel and black mullet. The other man is younger, maybe in his early twenties. He is folding the net on the dock and watching you as you help.
Narciso grins back at Naia. "Almost trust us? Thank you! That's high praise. And I'm glad Grond and I met you. We were looking for work but maybe we found something even better. Friends?"
'Ello there...need a hand?"
Peran talks to the first group unloading this vessel that he comes upon. He seems a little too eager as he grins and looks to help, but the fishermen can see he at least knows what he is doing.
Antas takes Ferona's hand bowing low his gear shined and cleaned his lips lightly grazing the back of her hand Lady, you look as if Heironeous brought the stars and placed them upon you to accent your beauty
Antas and Ferona make their way from the Rest down the Coastal Road and turn north up Fisherman's Road. After a short walk side by side they come to the Full Moon which sits on the corner of Fisherman's Road and Common's Road.
You can hear the sound of music, laughter, and a general good time inside the building. Two large men (over six feet tall stand by the door keeping an eye on who goes in and who goes out. The two of you walk up to the stairs and they both give you a quick once over but you see no expression on their faces.
Ferona gives the bouncers here, for that is surely what they must be, a brief look over before she allows Antas to lead here. Once they have entered the main dining area she turns to face her 'partner' here with a (hopefully) convincing smile on her face. "This looks like a wonderful place to dine here! Where would you like to be seated?" She asks as she scans the area.
Grond does not turn as Narciso recounts the grim tale they have been through the last couple of weeks - "Yes" - he snarls - "Warick was... A good friend. The girl who killed him... She was just another victim, like the rest of her family" - he adds, shaking his head.
Narciso grins back at Naia. "Almost trust us? Thank you! That's high praise. And I'm glad Grond and I met you. We were looking for work but maybe we found something even better. Friends?"
"One could even say they are 'almost' growing on us" - he chuckles, again without looking back.
Ferona gives the bouncers here, for that is surely what they must be, a brief look over before she allows Antas to lead here. Once they have entered the main dining area she turns to face her 'partner' here with a (hopefully) convincing smile on her face. "This looks like a wonderful place to dine here! Where would you like to be seated?" She asks as she scans the area.
[dice=Sense Motive (bouncers)]1d20+1
[dice=Perception]1d20+1
As you walk between the two bouncers the two of you can tell they are looking over your attire and what you are carrying.
One man, on your right side, puts his hand out in front of Antas. "Sorry no weapons, no armor, no staves, no wands." He says with a gruff and stern voice. There seems to be no malice or ill will just a simple statement of the rules. The other man looks at Antas as well and follows that up. "We have a room with lockers that can attend to the storage of your gear and weapons."