"I don't think there's anymore information here. I'd like to go chat with the Constable... and the prisoner."
Once they are out of earshot of Zantus, Rig murmurs to Flo, "that's kind of a broad brush to paint all Sczarni the same way. They're people, same as you and I, just with a different set of customs than the standard Varisian perhaps. I've worked with a number of 'em in the past. Some are good, some are bad, most of them are a bit of both given the right circumstances."
He chuckles to himself. "They do know how to throw a party though."
Rig makes a good point, it seems rather bold for Father Zantus to be so presumptuous about a group of people like that... "Thank you for your perspective Rig. If I interact with any Sczarni, I will do my best to approach the situation with an open mind," she decides.
"Laurana, where is this Quink? Perhaps we could stop by afterwards? Or on the way if it makes logistical sense!"
"He lives by Old Light, so the garrison on the way would logical. I had completely forgotten about the goblin. We should have started with him first."
The group makes its way to the guardhouse. They are met there by Constable Hemlock.
"I figured you would be coming. We still have the two goblins down in the cells. They haven't been very co-operative. A lot of screaming about how hungry they are and cursing and swearing generally."
"I don't know what help they will be. Really I don't need information on the last raid so much as the next one. And even if I got them to talk I don't see how they would have any information there that would help."
"You're welcome to question them if you want. Goblins don't really have any rights here so you can do what you want, but I would prefer you didn't kill them. Not that I don't want them dead; just if they are put to death it should be an official act, and done properly. And obviously you can't release them either."
The constable leads you down to the cells where the goblins are being watched by a guard. The goblins are screaming and shouting at the guard, who looks like he is really sick of it.
"Hey, stupid longshanks! If you going to eat us you should feed us first. Fatten us up!" Shouts one goblin.
"Yeah!" shouts the other. "If you dog-f@#*ers don't feed us soon, we'll get so hungry we can eat metal! Then we chew our way out and bite your nuts off! Hah!"
Flo approaches the guard. "Sir, why don't you take a break? There is no need for you to suffer their presence while we are talking to them," she offers.
"Rig would you care to take the lead here? I don't wish to be cruel to them, but I think it might take a little unorthodox coaxing to get them to divulge anything we would want to know."
________
Rig rolls his shoulders and flexes his knuckles causing them to crack loudly. He reaches behind his back and pulls out his blackjack (sap) and grins.
"Now I get to have fun with you," he whispers to the goblin. A bright flame flashes across his eyes.
"All you have to do is answer our questions. One way or another, you're gonna tell us what we want to know."
The guardsman leans towards you, and whispers. "There isn't really a cell down here where you can't hear what happens in the other cells. But you could take one of the goblins upstairs as long as you clap him in irons first."
"Now I get to have fun with you," he whispers to the goblin. A bright flame flashes across his eyes.
"All you have to do is answer our questions. One way or another, you're gonna tell us what we want to know."
The goblin swallows.
"What? Whatever you think I did the other guy did it!"
To the guard, "Take the other up stairs, bound, like you suggested. We will come for it when we are finished with this one. Please."
Laurana then returned to the cell with the remaining goblin. "Go a head, Rig. Let's see what it has to say."
Rig grins. So many questions to ask, but let's see how he does with some basic ones.
"What is your name? Who is the human you were working with? What did they want with the body in the graveyard? Where are they taking it?"
Flo stands behind Rig but still in the view of their captive. Her hand rests on her starknife, ready to draw it if necessary. "Speak goblin!"
"What is your name? Who is the human you were working with? What did they want with the body in the graveyard? Where are they taking it?"
The goblin swallows nervously.
"I's Bugratch. You heard of me?"
"...human? Yah, one of you Longshanks. He was the boss."
"...body? I dunno. Maybe he was hungry?"
"...I dunno where he would go to eat da body."
"Speak goblin!"
Bugratch the goblin looks puzzled.
"Uh... okay. Urdin ilun urdindua ergela da! Goblin hizkuntza luze hizkuntzen baino hobeto. Zergatik goblin hitz egin nahi du?"
Flo looks down in shame at having a goblin taking advantage of the way she phrased her demand. That must never leave this room... How embarrassing...
She comes up to the side of Rig and whispers in his ear, "That all seems to be true, but he definitely knows more. Press him harder."
"I thought we had an understanding here, Bugratch."
Rig smacks the wall next to the goblin's head with the blackjack. Arcane sparks fly from his clenched fist.
"Tell me about the human. I want a name! Who is it and what were they doing with the body?"
"I don't know no name!" The goblin screams as he jerks away from the spot where Rig struck the wall.
"I don't know 'bout no body neither! All's I know is they said this Longshanks is the boss. He had some kind of 'secret mission.' I dunno what it was."
Laurana could not help but giggle at the goblin's obstinate nature. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands and tried to put on a serious face. "Do you want me to translate that?" She asked innocently.
"...I'd like a translation, but after the initial wound of a goblin out maneuvering me verbally stings less," Flo admits sheepishly.
Distracted by the recent blow to her ego, Flo isn't able to get a read on the goblin. Alright, shake it off, it was just a fluke! She stays silent as Rig continues his interrogation.
"Who said the longshanks was in charge? What did this man look like?"
"Chief Gutwad said so! He said to do what the Longshanks said!"
The goblin thinks a moment about the man.
"He looked like a Longshanks. You all look the same! Well, like you, only paler."
Flo stands menacingly close to the goblin with her Starknife out while Rig continues to talk.
________
"Where is this Chief Gutwad?"
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Laurana had given up on trying to be scary, she knew she would be terrible at trying to pull it off. Instead, she tried reading the goblin, to see if it was lying.
"Where is this Chief Gutwad?"
"Back at the village! Where else? Big chief Gutwad way too important to go on raid."
Laurana doesn't sense any deception from the goblin at this point.
"Fine. Where's the village?"
"In the swamp! You never find it, you sink in the mud. I could take you there maybe. Chief Gutwad give you big reward for rescuing me! He very rich!"
The goblin smiles and nods vigorously.
"Rig it seems unlikely that they would be rewarding us for bringing him back... We did beat back their raid quite handedly. Maybe we should start working the goblins against each other?"
"Agreed. I'm done with this one."
Approaching the second goblin, Rig gets that gleam in his eye again.
"Your buddy Bugratch down there gave us all we needed to know. There isn't really any reason to keep you alive. Unless he was lying. So tell us, what's your name and what's the name of the human Gutwad told you to take orders from?"
The party switches goblins and starts interrogating the other one.
"Gutwad! Me no work for Gutwad! Ha! Gutwad is chief of Licktoad goblins. They is so pathetic they live in a swamp. No, me a Mosswood goblin! They the boss tribe around here."
The goblin thinks for a moment.
"Longshanks? Yeah, there was a Longshanks. Came with the Thistletops, I think. No, wait... that Longshanks. His name was... uh... Bolgurp! He is ... King of Nybor! Yeah! Those Longshanks want to fight Sandpoint Longshanks! Made us attack you... yeah! They made us do it! Mosswood goblins nice and peaceful and never attack Sandpoint Longshanks! But... ah... the other Longshanks stole our food! Said we only get it back if we join raid! We gonna starve if we don't do what they say! Yeah, that's it!"
"Rig, press him for the truth. Or at least not to make things up when he doesn't know. That bit about Thistletops sounds true, but the rest is a sham. Nybor has a count, not a king, and is upriver from Magnimar." Thistletops though... What are those?
Rig sighs. "Mosswood, it didn't have to be like this."
Rig smacks the goblin with his blackjack.
"Let's try this again. Who was the Longshanks and what did he look like? Was he from Sandpoint? And DON'T LIE TO ME!"
The goblin ducks under Rig's blow and tries to cower in the corner.
"I don't know who he was! They just said he's the boss for the raid! Not that he was around much. He just said 'go over there, set fires, and kill longshanks.' He looked like you, only his skin was not so dark. More like a dead-fish color, kinda. Like her," he points at Laurana.
"I dunno where he came from but he knew what was where in the town."
"He seems to be telling the truth. I think we've learned what we can, nice work Rig. Let's go see if the others have learned anything and stop by Quink's place on the way!"
Laurana listened carefully considering the goblin's words. "If it is to be believed, the longshank was a elf probably from Sandpoint. There are not too many of us. We could ask my parents, they know all the elves here. Master Quink knows everything else. I am sure he could tell us about Thistletop, if it is in the region. Possibly also about the goblin tribes if we want to know more about them."
She nibbled her lip thinking for a moment, "Yes, well done Rig. You certainly have a talent for this kind of thing. I have to admit I was scared and you werent even talking to me."
Rig blushes a tad at Laurana's comment. "Agreed. Let's go talk to Quink."
Laurana can't recall anything historical about the name "Thistletop."
Flo nods her head and heads out the door. It isnt long before she awkwardly stops and pivots around, waiting for Laurana. I don't even know who this Quink is, much less where he lives!
"I think I saw or heard something about Thistletop being a goblin tribe. I'm guessing Mosswood and Licktoad are goblin groups as well. So that means that at least three tribes of goblins are working together. I didn't think they liked to do that."
Cade, Colvyn, and Kargas follow the trail through the Swallowtail wood. The forest is damp and misty, but not really wet, as the tree cover keeps off much of the rain. The ground under the tree cover is a little soggy but the footprints are still present.
The trail sticks to the wood, keeping roughly mid-way between the Turandarok river and the Lost Coast Road. After an hour the ground begins to rise as the land enters a hilly region known as the...
Though there are still plenty of trees the rising terrain makes the path slower going. The forest is quiet and you see little signs of wildlife here, though you do hear the occasional caw of a crow calling from the trees above.
The quarry's path tends to stick to the lower areas between hills but this means that the route winds north and south and progress is slow. After another hour and a half, the land seems to begin to descend again, and you think you are leaving the area of the hills.
As the trail descends, Colvyn notices a strange colored light through the tree branches up near the top of one of the overlooking hills. The light is pink... wait, now it is green... and then it shifts to blue. The trail does not head that way, following the downward slope instead.
Colvyn's gaze shifts from the trail to the light and back. "The trail heads this way, away from the light. While I would rather follow the trail, I would understand if you want to investigate the light. But the longer we delay, the colder the trail gets." Colvyn waits for his companions to voice their opinion before continuing.
Kargas glances around warily. "This is good ambush terrain, and I don't trust flashing lights off in the middle of nowhere. Let's stick with the trail, but..." bending down, the half-orc makes a small blaze in the dirt--an arrow pointing in the direction of the shifting light. Straitening, he makes sure the others noted the mark's location and then nods. "Alright, we can check it out later if we want."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
oh come on can we just see what the lights are doing...It is not like a really bad idea to go walking off the trail to investigate a strange light that is floating up in the trees and changing colors....that is normal for this area..right?
Cade smiles and follows after the others.
It kind of reminds me of those horror books...you know the one where the last adventure in line notices something odd and decides to investigate on his own. They are never heard from again.......
He glances behind himself
S@&! I am the last one in line
He shudders a bit...
Hey wait up for me.
The three companions continue to follow the trail through the forest. the trail gradually descends, winding between hills, until the forest suddenly ends and the group emerges onto a wide dirt road, with trees on either side.
Clearly you have reached the Lost Coast Road, the main road running along the coast east from Sandpoint.
The tracks disappear at the road. The combination of the rain, and the tracks of a number of wagons and travelers passing by, has obliterated any remains of the tracks that were protected from the elements by the trees as they meandered through the forest.
The Lost Coast Road goes a long way, all the way to Windsong Abbey three or four days away on foot. None of you are really sure about the local geography but if the road goes through civilized lands then no doubt there will be plenty of turn-offs onto smaller farm roads as well. It is unlikely that continuing east along the road will allow you to pick up the trail again.
The three adventurers pause and consider what to do.
Colvyn looks at the ground, trying to see if he can find the trail through the mess on the road. After awhile he stands back up and looks at the rest of the group. "I've lost the trail. There has been too much of traffic here to follow just one set. I was hoping to get more information out of this." He starts walking back toward the forest. "Come on, seems like we can investigate those lights after all."
Muttering a curse as the trail goes cold, the half-orc glances up and down the path. "Well whoever they are they aren't stupid. Let's see about that light then."
The group heads back up the trail into the hills. It is still raining, though the leaves of the forest canopy overhead scatter the rain into mist. The forest remains quiet.
About a half-hour in, Colvyn and Cade manage to spot the flickering light up near the hilltop. It seems to be in the same spot.
The group leaves the trail and begins making it's way up the hillside. It looks like it is perhaps 200 feet to the top. After about 80 feet, Cade and Colvyn spot a tree with a mass of fibrous material clumped around the trunk in the upper branches.
Cade realizes this is some kind of large nest for insects of some kind.
"Good eye Cade. If there is no threat from this, might I suggest we just go around it. No point of killing natural things for just being there."
Kargas grunts when the other two point out the...bug nest, or whatever it is. "I'm with the ranger, we're here to pick fights with goblins, not big bugs. Let's go around."