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Kargas may not be able to understand what Colvyn is saying, but it seems clear that he is agreeing with Kargas.
The group leaves the dead creature where it lies and begins making it's way back to Sandpoint.
The group heads up to the house of Brodert Quink, the local eccentric and scholar of things Thassilonian.
His house is at the north edge of town, near the Old Light. It is a small and somewhat dilapidated house. Strewn around the house are a variety of small boulders and pieces of masonry from the Old Light itself. Some of them are covered with canvas tarps.
Laurana knocks and calls out to Master Quink, and from inside there is a voice, calling "Yes, yes! Come in already!"
Laurana opens the door and you see what must have once been a parlor or dining room. But now the tables and chairs and floor are covered with scraps of parchment and small stone objects. A small old man with spectacles bustles around with a bundle of papers in one hand and a strange small statue in the other.
Master Quink bustles around the room in a fugue.
"Laurana! Good! I think I've found a piece of corbel in the rubble. If we can find a nice piece of eave that matches then we might be able to determine the circumference... oh! Who are your friends?" he says as he looks up at the group for the first time.
He eyes Floredana and Rig over the rims of his glasses.
As soon as Old Light comes into view Laurana exclaims excitedly, "There it is! The pride of Sandpoint. One day, it will be rebuilt." She finishes with certainty.
"Laurana! Good! I think I've found a piece of corbel in the rubble. If we can find a nice piece of eave that matches then we might be able to determine the circumference... oh! Who are your friends?" he says as he looks up at the group for the first time.
He eyes Floredana and Rig over the rims of his glasses.
Wow! Really?! Let me see." She takes the corbel in her hands turning it over and examining it before she realizes that that was not why they were there.
Setting the piece of stone aside, "Master, these are my friends Flo and Rig. They saved Sandpoint yesterday and are newly sword members of the watch. We have some questions for you about Thistlebottom somewhere in the vicinity? You see, this goblin we interrogated, well actually Rig interrogated, he was very scary, said something about Thistlehead... and it is very important that we find it." She then inhaled.
"What? I, uh..."
Master Quink is confused for a moment.
"Goblin? Why were you interrogating a goblin? Was it one of the ones from the beach?"
"The beach? No. Two from the cathedral attack yesterday." She looked at him as if he had sprouted another head. "What do you mean from the beach? Are there some there now?"
Flo looks about the room with a blend of curiosity and confusion. How does he get anything done in here? I've never been exceptionally organized, but this... this is something else!
She bows her head when introduced and keeps her hands folded as the two delve into conversation. What an odd but equally eccentric pair of researchers!
Her pulse races as talk suddenly turns to beachside goblins. "When did you see more goblins?" I hope nobody got hurt...
Master Quink looks both irritated and alarmed.
"What Cathedral attack? What are you talking about?"
"The beach... you know, below the cliff here. Junker's beach. When Gorvi goes around with his cart and gathers up the garbage, he pitches it over the edge. Once in a while you see goblins going through the garbage. They must be coming along the coast, because you never see any boats."
"I doubt they are there now; they prefer to go after nightfall. And don't worry: they aren't good climbers so they can't get up here from there. There's no way they could attack the cathedral."
Rig gently nudges Laurana. "Laurana, I think you mean Thistle-TOP."
"We may have a look at the beach later, but these goblins came over the wall outside the cemetery. And they were aided by a human, or at least someone who looked human-like. Their attack on the town seems to have been a distraction for this person to steal a body from the crypt. And they seem to have unified goblin groups in order to do it, or at least been able to command goblins from different groups. The one's we spoke to were from the Licktoad and Mosswood tribes."
Rig looks puzzled for a moment. "Is 'tribe' the right word? I'm not sure what to call them. A gaggle of goblins?" He shakes his head.
"The point is we need as much information on the local goblin groups as we can find."
"Oh yes, Father Tobyn. Master, did Father Tobyn have any enemies? That would still his corpse?"
How has this man not heard of the attacks? What doe she do all day? Laurana has peculiar friends... "Mr. Quink, please help us find out more information. We are working very diligently to get to the bottom of this and could really use your expertise!"
Flo waits as patiently as she can, but the overwhelming chaos and Quink's ignorance of the state of his hometown starting to eat at her.
"Goblin graverobbers? Oh my! That sounds dreadful! I better get my Ranseur! I have one around here somewhere..."
Master Quink begins to upend his belongings as the group continues to ask questions.
"Tribe? Yes, I think they are considered tribes... though I imagine the truly correct term would be what the term is in the goblin language... I don't speak that, sadly..."
Master Quink begins pulling clothing out of a wardrobe in his search.
"Tobyn? Well, I didn't really know the man myself... we didn't get along really... he seemed to think I needed his 'permission' to study the old stone circle... nothing I did was invasive at all, the shovel was just in case, you know... nope, not in there."
He shuts the wardrobe and goes into what is either a bedroom or a storeroom (hard to tell from where you are), and you can hear more sounds of rummaging.
"...I don't really know much about goblins though... not my field... though I have often wondered if the ancient Thassilonians might have bred their nastiness into them... I never seem to have enough time to study these things... Aha!"
He comes out of the back with a ranseur, badly corroded and caked with lime and other detritus.
"All right, let's go deal with these goblins, shall we?"
Laurana became concerned about the old man, "Master, we need your help, your wisdom and knowledge, not your sword. Leave that up to those a bit younger. Have you never heard of a place called Thistletop in the area? What can you tell us about Father Tobyn? Although you too didnt get along, surely you must know something about him."
Master Quink is taken aback. "How can you tell me to put away my weapon when there are goblins running loose in the streets! Haven't you heard? They're attacking the Cathedral!"
"And it's a ranseur, not a sword! Genuine Thassilonian, excellently preserved. Outstanding weaponsmiths back then. Look at this engraving work..."
When asked about Thistletop, he rubs his head.
"Thistletop? I think I've heard the name before. Is it an island? I think it's an island. Yes... you could ask a local sailor I suppose."
At the mention of Father Tobyn, he shakes his head.
"Tobyn, I don't know... he was the head priest when I arrived in Sandpoint, which was, oh, twelve years ago, or so. He seemed to be very old-fashioned - he never married, you know, said he was 'married to Desna' or some such thing. If so Desna must have a lot of husbands! Ha hah..." his laughter drifts off as he sees Floredana's holy symbol around her neck.
"*ahem*, anyway, yes, never married, though Desnan priests are allowed to have wives. Much to the disappointment of a few ladies in town you can imagine. So I heard, anyway. He did have a daughter though. But now that I mention it, I think she was adopted. Must 'ave been, as he wasn't married, of course."
Master Quink suddenly snaps to attention. "What are we doing standing here talking? We have to defend the town! We're under attack!"
Rig stifles a laugh... or a sigh perhaps.
"Apologies if we have confused you, Master Quink. The attack is over. No more goblins. Now we're trying to figure out why they attacked and who was leading them. And possibly where they came from."
"That IS nice engraving though."
"The attack is over? Well... why didn't you say so?"
He leans the ranseur against a stack of books.
"Probably for the best. Never used one of these before. Mind you, the principle seems simple enough - the sharp bit goes into the enemy. Don't know why everyone venerates warriors - anybody could figure that one out."
"Yes, the engraving is very fine, which probably means this was an officer's weapon. The enlisted men probably wouldn't be issued something like this. But there aren't a whole lot of examples of Thassilonian metalwork that have survived, so its hard to say."
He sits back down behind his desk.
"As to why goblins would attack... well, why wouldn't they? They don't like us very much. And where they came from... well, there's goblins in every direction from here as far as I know. Especially in rougher terrain. They cleared them out of the arable areas a long time ago."
"You know who you should talk to if you want to know about goblins? Daviren Hosk. He's a ranger and patrols the area around town looking to keep the goblins under control. No, wait..." he pauses. "I take that back. Daviren's retired. Well, I'm sure he still knows lots about goblins - ask him about the ten facts about goblins, he loves telling people those. But his replacement would know more, probably. Her name's Shalelu... something. She's an elf. I don't know if she's in town but if she is she would have the most up to date information."
He looks around the room, and waves at the various bits of stone and artifacts around the room. "My field is ancient Thassilon. I am a Thassilonologist. I have a variety of projects going on right now. But if you have any questions about that, I certainly would be happy to help. They really are a fascinating people. The Thassilonians lived thousands of years ago, so the fact that their structures still stand at all is a testament to their architecture. They left enormous monuments all over Varisia, like the Old Light here. The Old Light is only a fraction of it's height now; it once was a huge tall tower. But the Irespan in Magnimar is even more impressive."
"I'd probably be in Magnimar studying the Irespan right now, but there are far too many people doing the same thing. Meanwhile, they harvest the stone there to make golems out of, and there are people living in the damned thing. Ridiculous! Impossible to get any real research done there. That's why I came here. Nobody bothers with the Old Light, so I have it all to myself."
"Is there anything you would like to know about the Thassilonians?"
Flo makes mental notes of the individuals Quink has mentioned. A goblin expert? Superb! We might even be able to ask Father Tobyn's daughter a question or two! Finding out about an island should be easy enough!
"Mr. Quink, would you be able to tell us anything about the late Father Tobyn's daughter? She may be able to lend us more clues as to why his body was taken," she explains.
After he finishes rambling on again, "I do not have any questions, but if I do, I shall come to you straight away!"
________
"His daughter? Um... I forget her name. She died the same time as him, in the fire. She was just a teenager. It was quite sad. I can't say I ever had reason to talk to her though."
"Many of the priests and their families lived in the cathedral complex back then, and most of it burned down, particularly the Desnan wing. Father Zantus was on an errand at Windsong Abbey at the time which is why he survived. But a bunch of priests died. I don't recall how many... perhaps a dozen?"
"Old father Julius survived because he got trapped in the basement and hid in the vault. Priests of Abadar always have a vault, apparently. He was the senior priest after the fire, but they didn't make him head priest because some people said he hid down there instead of helping deal with the fire."
"I'm sure he could give you details about Tobyn's daughter. Or Father Zantus could too; he studied under Tobyn."
"Zantus, Julius, Shelelu... possibly Hosk."
Rig whips out a small notebook and jots some notes down. He motions to Flo and Laurana.
"We might want to catch up with the others, see how they're coming along. It looked like Cade already had some sort of tie to Hosk that might help."
He turns back to Quink. "Thanks for your help. We will definitely come to you with any Thassilonian questions."
"Of course, of course. Come back any time... especially if you find something worth looking at. Heh."
"Oh!" he exclaims, suddenly realizing something.
"I should have put some tea on! That's what you do when you have guests. Do we have tea?" he asks Laurana.
"Remind me to get some tea for next time," he says. "I have a teapot somewhere..." he begins rummaging through his things again.
Laurana had already marched out the door, not wanting to waste another minute before asking her questions to Father Zantus, talking to her favorite persons Shalelu, and asking her own father about Thistlehead, when she realized that she hadnt said goodbye. Rushing back in the door, "Goodbye Master. Thank you for your help."
Once everyone was outside, "My father is a sailor and works with a bunch, so someone would know about Thistleear. Also, Shalelu is a good friend of mine but she is often not in town. She comes and goes as she pleases. It sounds like a wonderful life."
"I've done some freelance work with the sailors in town, what is your father's name? We may have sailed together!" Flo says joyfully with a smile.
"Isn't traveling a beautiful thing? Have you ever left Sandpoint Laurana?" She asks as she heads towards the city gates to wait for her other companions.
________
"My father doesnt sail as much as he used to. He is a carpenter for the Valdemar family, the shipwrights guild. His name is Porthos Kanan." She then was subdued, "I havent spent much time out of Sandpoint. It is a dangerous place for the Forlon elves." She then brightened up, "But it sounds like I might get a chance. Someone needs to go to Thistlescalp, it might as well be us. If we can find it!"
Rig stifles a laugh every time Laurana comes up with a new name for Thistletop. Clearly, the curse of a busy mind.
"We are not too far away from the docks." Laurana added for Rig's benefit. "We should go there first. We can return to the cathedral some other time." Seeing that they were all in agreement, she started down Tower Street towards the docks.
Floredana vaguely recalls the name Thisltebum Thistletop, but can't recall from where.
The group heads down to the docks and starts to ask around.
Floredana asks the sailors around the docks.
"Thistletop, eh? Yeah, sure. Sailed by it a few times. Big stone outcrop off the cliffs by the Nettlewood. Looks kind of like a human head if you catch it in the right light. There's some kind of fort on top of it. I hear tell goblins live there."
Laurana asks down at the shipyard where her father works. Her father points out a former sailor who now works at the shipyard.
"Sure, I know Thistletop. It's a big rock just by the coast to the east, near the Thistle River. Not too far. The coast along there has sheer cliffs about 80 feet high, so there's nowhere to put in. The rock too. Closest place you could land a boat would be the mouth of the Thistle, which is just a creek really. Though sometimes at low tide there are grottoes that you could get a boat into. Don't know why anyone'd want to land there though."
Rig checks out a tavern frequented by sailors, called The Hagfish.
"Thistletop? There's a goblin tribe around here called the Thistletop Tribe. They're not the biggest tribe, but they live in the Nettlewood, which is full of thornbushes and such. Nobody likes going in there, even without the goblins. I think Thistletop is the name of their hideout."
Laurana, Floredana, and Rig gather back at the Rusty Dragon Inn to compare notes. Shortly afterwards, Cade, Colvyn, and Kargas come in. Cade and Colvyn have both been hurt.
Of the two, Rig thinks Cade looks a little worse for wear (Rig's also pretty sure Colvyn can heal himself).
A bright light flashes across Rig's eyes as he touches Cade's shoulder.
"Judging by your wounds and whatever the hell Kargas is carrying, you guys got into some trouble. You guys alright?"
Colvyn looks up at Rig. "A called deadline shames the fighting playground. Her enlightening occurrence suspects the bundle below the completing album. A fast expenditure walks. The spokesman flips under its dread." With that, he walks over to the bar and tries to order something to drink.
"We got into a fight with a creature and a couple swarms. It was a tough fight. But Kargas took it out, while Cade and I used our alchemist's fire on the swarms. Also, we found something in a cave that our wizard might want to take a look at.
Cade looks up at Rig as he starts to talk
You should see the other guy...he is right over there
Cade points towards the head of the creature.
He sits down and orders some mead. When the mead arrives he stares into the mug trying to see his reflection in the fluid.
They say it feels worse that it looks...bull...sorry...why did they have to bite my nose...I like my nose...why can they not have bitten my knees. No one looks at your knees....
Sighing some more he drinks the mead and explains what just happened.
Well we tracked the human as far as we could but lost him on the main road. Then we decided to investigate this strange light we saw off the path. Turns out that thing made a home there and had some pet spiders that like to sit in wait as traps. There are some strange lights of sorts in the den of that creature. I can not make heads or tails of it. So now we are here in need of healing...Thanks Rig
"Yeah, freaky looking thing, huh?" Kargas is very obviously pleased with himself as he presents the hideous head to the others. "Killed it m'self! Cade and Colvyn did a number on the spider swarms too."
Lowering his voice with a conspiratorial glance around to see if anyone was watching, the half-orc whispers, "Also...there's some sort of magical spinning disc-thing in the creature's cave. It looked like it was a part of some larger thing, still mostly buried. We figured that you lot would know more about it than any of us so back we came! How'd your chat with the goblin go?"
Floredana is overjoyed to see all her companions return, but her mood quickly darkens when she sees their wounds. Amid a flurry of channels, she berates them. "What were you thinking? You weren't supposed to go LOOKING FOR TROUBLE, just investigate where the tracks led! What if something serious happened to you? Colvyn doesn't even make sense anymore!" She rambles on and on until she has sufficiently exhausted herself. "Kargas, that looks like a fine kill," she concedes. "The Sandpoint Devil won't stand a chance!"
After one more severe look, she sighs. "We learned that we need to head to a place called Thistletop. Apparently that is where the leaders of the raid were from. No idea how to get into the place though, it's a small island off the coast of the Nettlewood and has sheer cliffs. We also met Laurana's Master, Quink. Maybe he would be able to help us learn more about your spinning disc-thing?"
________
Laurana listened as the others reported their adventure, "That sounds very scary. But I am glad you are all alright."
She then took a moment to stare at the head of the beast before wrinkling her nose at it, "That thing looks worse than a goblin."
After hearing about the magical disc, "Hmmm, what a mystery, a magical disc thingy that omits a spectrum of lights? I cant think of anything. Maybe if I actually saw it, I would know what it is. I dont know if we could get Master Quink to leave Old Light right now, he is very excitable."
"We also need to speak with Stablemaster Hosk about the goblins and Father Julius about the fire and Father Zantus." She reminded them.
Rig leans in and keeps his voice low. "The disc sounds fascinating. I wonder if it is related to the goblin trouble or the body snatching."
..."What were you thinking? You weren't supposed to go LOOKING FOR TROUBLE,..."
Looking a the head of the odd creature, nobody in the party recognizes the creature.
But as everyone talks, Ameiko comes over.
"That... thing... is an ettercap. They are strange creatures, related to spiders. They're generally quite cunning. Their bite is venomous."
"I'd really prefer you not leave the head on the table, though. Especially if some of its venom drips out of its mouth. If you like I can give you something to wrap it in?"
"If you want to have that mounted, Lars Rovanky runs the Tannery in town and I'm sure he can do it for you. Though it looks like this specimen has seen better days. Even before you killed it, I mean."
Rig fills the group in on the information they gathered from the goblins and Quink.
"Perhaps Kargas could show a few of us where this disc is, while a few others speak to some of the locals. Cade, I believe you know Hosk. Perhaps he has some information on Thistletop. Or at least maybe can point us toward this Shilelu person. We were also told that Zantus and Julius might have information about Father Tobyn and his family."
He gestures at the ettercap head. "Of course, you may need to put that away first."
After finally being able to make himself understood and get his drink, Colvyn heads back to the table with the rest of the group. "Below an explanatory..." He coughs a bit take a sip of his drink. "Blurb shifts... Argh!!" Taking a long gulp of the drink, he tries again. "Some of us... Ah! Finally. This was getting annoying. As I was trying to say, some of us have guard duty tonight. You might want to get some rest, cause it's going to be a long night."
He then turns to Floredana. "Sorry if we, um, had you worried. It wasn't our intention. We just, you know, couldn't leave those traps in place. Someone less prepare could have fallen victim to them..." He lowers his eyes, looking at his tankard. "Sorry."
"I dont think we have a choice, we must go and retrieve the disc." The excitement of leaving Sandpoint apparent in her voice.
Flo softens up on Colvyn substantially as he explains how their work benefited the community at large. "Are there more of these traps? It is was wonderful of you all to dispose of traps! What if someone got caught in them and had no one to help them?!"
Feeding on Laurana's excitement, Flo joins in. "Why don't we all go to retrieve this disc? If we come back at a reasonable hour, we can go around town to learn more. Then we can have a nice dinner and head off to guard duty," she suggests. Haven't been outside the town in some time, this should be great!
"Works for me."
At Ameiko's admonishment Kargas nearly trips over himself in his haste to get the head off the table, and listens attentively to her explanation. "Ettercap, huh?" he muses, glancing at it again.
When the talk turns to retrieving the disk, the half-orc nods. "Yeah, no reason to leave it out there, I'll show you where to look. Colvyn's right about the guard duty thing, I probably oughta be back here by evening."