Sten looks around for more targets, lacking any more goblins to vent his lord's fury upon he finds a scrap of cloth and begins to clean his Dorn Derger and his armor to avoid rust. He barely shows any notice when Foxglove comes up, but accepts the thanks in the spirit it was given. "I need no thanks for killing vermin lad. Especially since there are more of them out there. I do not think I will be able to rest till we find whatever nest these critters crawled out of and torch it to the ground." With that he will return to cleaning the blood off his gear. When asked about loot, "Lad, don't bother me with goblin gear. The stuff will break on ya at a moments notice. I will take my fair share of the coin and we can leave it at that." Sten will take 10GP and count it as fair. If anyone pushes the idea of group selling excess equipment and splitting the proceeds he will leave it to that person and except whatever they bring back to him from such an excursion. Also keep in mind the equipment off the gobs should be sized for small.
Vishoon Cleans the Blood off his Fachion by wiping on a dead goblin. "They can be pests."
Looking at Aldean "You are Welcome, I am Vishoon, Bounty Hunter."
As ALdean is leaving We will See you there.
Turning to the others Greetings I am Vishoon, Bounty Hunter, I do not know some of you. Is anyone hurt?"
Hearing Loupe's request He cast Stabilize on Maug. What is that thing? Does it take healing like us?
"I do not think I will be able to rest till we find whatever nest these critters crawled out of and torch it to the ground."
"That is one job I won't be able to refuse, for the right price of course" Said Karl as he reached to pick up a mostly clean white piece of cloth, with no markings or signs of decoration, that seemed to have been abandoned here when the goblins attacked.
" I will take my fair share of the coin and we can leave it at that"
"Because discussing loot while we all have our weapons drawn is a great idea, A mercenary I knew once got stabbed cause he argued over some piece of crap armor while he and his buddy were still standing over the corpse with their weapons drawn, well it wasn't a total loss, their fight was entertaining" The sarcasm in the mercenary's voice morphed to a happier tone of speech when he recalled the story.
Doubt my performance got anyone interested in hiring me, its not a total loss, the guards should be more lenient with me now
Karl began wiping his axe from goblin blood, using the piece of cloth he just picked up.
"I also wouldn't object to taking a fair share of the coin. It might help equip us if we mean to find the source of the goblin attack."
Replenishing funds is one of my reasons for being in this town. We should head the the Rusty Dragon have some drink, and talk about going after them there...and of course meet Foxglove. And see if I can find anyone named Tevok there
Loupe is obviously overjoyed when Maug's wounds vanish.
"Thank you Vishoon, Zander. I won't forget this!"
After the discussions he nods
"Look, give me a hand to grab this before someone comes. We can throw it in a sack and I'll see what can be salvaged and what can be melted down for metals. I've got a cousin in the slag-metal industry who might be prepared to give us a better price."
the words a "better price" make Vishoon poor pockets happy. He Goes about helping Loupe collect items from the dead goblins.
After helping Loupe strip the corpses, Vishoon heads to the Happy Dragon.
"Maug? He's a Mock Dragon - it's a sort of winged lizard from Mwangi. Not actually related to dragons despite the appearance. He's my familiar, and he's quite smart."
Maug hisses
"Very smart, I mean. And brave too!"
Loupe starts delicately stroking Maug's back between his wings. After a while Maug flaps into the air, then lands on Loupe's shoulders, tiny razor sharp talons digging into the padded shoulder on Loupe's jacket.
Maug's neck swivels and he leans over towards Zander, sniffing carefully.
The halfling retrieves his pair of daggers, and cleans each blade before making them disappear in his clothing.
"For those who do not know me, I am Dairkal, acrobat, juggler, and stage magician extraordinaire. I work and currently live at the Rusty Dragon, and am good friends with its lovely owner, Ameiko"
"Lead the way Dairkal! Let's go to the Dragon!"
Following the cleaning he gave to his weapon, Karl hooked it on his belt once more and strapped his spiked shield to his back, he listened as the group discussed a tiny flying lizard, loot and going to the Rusty Dragon, which was the part that caught his interest Looks like I'll finally get to see if any worthwhile employers or information can be found there he thought as he glared at the flying lizard that was busy sniffing Zander.
"How did you get this lizard Loupe?" Asked the former guard, wondering why the wizard would keep such a strange pet, and if all wizards kept strange pet.
Loupe pauses "I trained in arcane theory and construction for most of my childhood, but I was a working apprentice. I saved money for years, aiming for when I could get my own study. I was thirteen and was ready to bind a familiar."
Loupe shrugs, startling Maug who flaps his wings for balance.
"I was going to get a Raven. Everyone gets a Raven. There's a gnome who trains them to talk, so when you bind them as familiars they can talk to people properly. They're great - they can take messages for you, act as a secretary, read passages while you work... but as I was going through the market I ran into this guy selling just hatched dragonets. He was making all sorts of claims - even said they could be bonded as a familiar. I had just enough money to buy one."
Loupe turns and smiles at Maug.
"I named it Maugore - after one of the big Dragons from the Old Days. I ran home with him and discovered I'd been conned. The guy had stolen the eggs off a real trader and was desperately offloading them when they hatched."
"It all worked out okay though. It wasn't easy, but I managed to bond Maug here - or he bonded me. He can't speak, but he's way more dangerous than a Raven, and flies just as well. My uncle caught the guy who conned me in our area - he tried to fight his way past my uncle. My uncle fined him ten joints, and gave them to me."
Loupe scritches Maug, who rubs his fanged muzzle against Loupe's head - there is obvious affection between the two of them.
"One day I'll work out how to do some of the big shapechange spells, and Maug here can be a real dragon."
Loupe scritches Maug, who rubs his fanged muzzle against Loupe's head - there is obvious affection between the two of them."One day I'll work out how to do some of the big shapechange spells, and Maug here can be a real dragon."
"A real dragon or just a big lizard with wings, both are useful in battle" Karl gave the winged lizard one last look before he snorted at it Pretty full of it self considering its size thought the brown haired, large man as he waited for Dairkal to lead the way to the establishment he works at.
Casting his gaze at the goblin corpses, Karl walked to the closet one, his eyes looking for anything familiar, but to him one goblin corpse was the same as any other. He was no smith but he could tell terrible quality when he saw it Except for that Horsechopper, never liked polearms though He looked away from the goblin, walked to the closest barrel and sat on it Could be that their part of a bigger army, or could be their just suicidal He put his right hand to his forehead, casting a shadow on a part of his face Would probably be able to set up a trade of information with the guards if I found out He mentally smiled to himself and placed his hand on his thigh, and turned to gaze at the people he fought alongside today I could probably rope a few of them into the scheme, and I don't have to pay them anything if I tell them I am expecting to be paid by the town, which isn't a lie per say, people get nervous when they get attacked and they love to pay their problems away if they could Thought Karl Always better to move as a unit A voice from his memories echoed through his head yeah, but my unit wasn't there when I needed to find one serial killer He thought in anger, unable to hide the frown that etched it self on his bearded face.
"As the Groups starts to move off to the Rusty Dragon they take one last look around for any enemies that may still be lurking, and realize that the battle is primarily over and most of the goblins have either been killed or have retreated..as you search through the square you come across a badly wounded goblin trapped under an overturned cart..he is conscious and poses no threat of attack."
As soon as he caught sight of the wounded creature, Karl moved as close to it as was possible without stepping on it, he looks down at the creature, a cruel gleam can be seen in his eye and a wicked grin on his mouth "You know what's funny?" He asks rhetorically "I was just thinking about a plan that concerned you and your buddies" He paused, placing his right hand on the overturned wagon but not putting any of his weight on it"It was going to be messy...I was going to leave town, track your friends, if you had any left, well I won't bore you, its a long and complicated plan" As he continues, he puts some of his weight on the overturned wagon the goblin is trapped under.
"So sing to me little goblin, do you have any friends left?" He asks, in a tone that sounds calm and quite relaxed.
The Goblin Spits a mouthful of blood at Karl..manages an evil laugh and says in goblin:
"Gonash di ethallin do Nudo..loshstanks!!!"
"Gonash be telling you Nothing longshanks!!!"
"What did it say? Was that Goblin?"
That's disturbing, but he's a professional. I don't think he's actually going torture it - just threatening. Yeah.
Vishoon follows Karl over to the Goblin. Not understanding a word He is saying.
Vishoon Growls at the GoblinSpeak So I can understand you Greeny or yer head will lie in the field with the other heads we left there wishing he hadn't cleaned the blood off his falchion yet...
"the goblin just laughes at Vishoon..and says"
"Dun whah do mush Ork Holfbrish,Gonash di ethallin do Nudo..exish menah Nudo!!"
"Do what you must Orc Halfbreed, Gonash be telling you nothing..death means nothing!!"
The Goblin Looks at Zander..spits out another mouthful of blood and says in the common tongue:
"Gonash be dead soon enough, I'm not afraid of you or afraid of death..you do to Gonash what you must..but i know nothing and will tell you nothing.."
The goblin then closes his eyes and starts singing some incomprehensible goblin song under his breath
Loupe kneels down and smiles
"Of course Gonash not scared. Gonash is brave. If Gonash help us get other Goblins we give Gonash gear, and food, and money. Gonash can set up Gonash tribe with Gonash chief."
Dair lets the others handle the intimidation of Gonash, after all, that wasn't really his style. It lacked any subtly or style, two things he was all about.
When it was pretty obvious they weren't getting anywhere, he offers "Why not take him to the sheriff, lock him up."
Sten quietly unwraps his dorn derger from around his waist, waiting for his compatriots to finish interrogating their captive.
Speak So I can understand you Greeny or yer head will lie in the field with the other heads we left there
A little direct...but he knows what he's doing Thought Karl as he saw Vishoon attempt's to get the goblin to reveal the information they needed.
"Oh he's pretty good at chopping heads, he's cut down at least three of your buddies" He pauses as he looks at the goblin to witness its response.
"Karl... Vishoon... It's not nice to play with your food, just kill it and be over with."
"We won't be long now" Karl pats one of his sheathed daggers with his left hand.
"Gonash be dead soon enough, I'm not afraid of you or afraid of death..you do to Gonash what you must..but i know nothing and will tell you nothing.."
"I knew that you understood common, one of your friends was speaking it...of course, after we we were done with him, he didn't speak anything anymore" Said Karl as he kept his hand on the wagon, but eased up a little. He couldn't possibly care less about the goblin, but he also knew that a dead goblin wasn't a good source of information either.
"You know something goblin, and I am sure you'll start singing soon enough either to us or to the sheriff of this town will get it out of you Karl stops for a few seconds "But for your sake we better be your audience first" He continues, his plan was to apply a little weight once more but he saw Loupe approaching the goblin.
"Of course Gonash not scared. Gonash is brave. If Gonash help us get other Goblins we give Gonash gear, and food, and money. Gonash can set up Gonash tribe with Gonash chief."
Ever the merchant, well if it gets the stubborn little git talking, that's fine with me Thought Karl as he waited for the response of the green skinned raider.
"Why not take him to the sheriff, lock him up."
"Because information we get now--" Karl stopped mid sentence as he saw Sten unsheath his monstrosity of a weapon, that is the one thing he forgot about, the mountain of hatred dwarves carry for all goblins. It appeared that the armored dwarf was waiting but Karl could not take that chance, he left the goblin behind him and walked to Sten in slow and steady paces.
"Look I hate goblins" Said Karl Especially after today He said to himself "Not as much as you hate them I am sure, but trust me when I say I understand hate, and I am sure you'd like nothing more than to smash its skull" He continued, finding the situation quite strange, as he never thought he'd ever find himself trying to calm someone down.
"Just let us get what we can out of him" Reasoned the mercenary as he looked at the goblin with the back of his eye "And even if the sheriff takes him, I'll sneak you in my self so you can finish him" Karl made his offer and hoped the dwarf would re-chain his beast of hatred for now.
"Lad, this is not about hate. I take no more pleasure in killing one of these little monsters than I take in sleeping or breathing. What I do take is a considerable amount of contentment in the fact that I have the chance to remove one more threat from this world. Your kind rarely understands boy, but these are not things to be reasoned with. You can not teach goblins how to be Dwarves my lad. You can only pity them as you crush them beneath the boot. For every time you let one go you only allow them to breed into another army. They don't feel pity for your kind lad, they don't philosophize over the nature of their kind, they don't think to themselves what if we don't go and slaughter these people today maybe we can be friends. All they want is to kill you and everyone you know and then feast upon the carrion like some devouring wave."
Sten stares hard at the goblin as the others talk to it like it was a child. The very thought of locking it up, feeding it and keeping it like some pet mongrel, sickened him to his very core. "The only way to stop them is to kill them, kill every one of them, every male, every female, every wee babe in the cages they use to keep them from eating each other. This is the way of it, so don't talk to me of hate for them. I do not hate, no I feel pity for them. It saddens me that they are so corrupt that all I can do is slay every last one of them, and the only solace I can take is in the fact that every tribe we burn to the ground is a town full of people that do not have to feel sorrow for the loss of their fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, and every single person that makes their lives worth living."
He stared into the face of the man before him, a look of weariness in his eyes. "So no lad, I will not slink into the sheriff's office to end this little ones life, that would make me no better than a goblin myself. No lad, that would be a disservice to my enemy I would never abide by. I will let them extract what information they can from the beast, and then I will end his miserable little life. For that is the only mercy I can spare for it. A death as quick and painless as I can give."
"Fine by me" Karl felt himself breath a soft sigh of relief, he never really understood why Sten refused his offer If you are so intent on wiping them out does the way you do it really matter? Pondered the grey eyed mercenary as he looked to his back hoping that Loupe's coaxing was getting them somewhere with the goblin.
He then walked half way to the wagon and kept staring at Loupe and their "prisoner", as he waited he felt his thoughts try to reason with the Dwarf's logic, the idea of killing someone for reasons besides hate, profit or self preservation was a foreign concept to him, and feeling pity for someone you are about to kill was definitely not something he ever considered anyone doing Do all dwarves feel this way? Or is it different from dwarf to dwarf? He wondered as he focused on the goblin for a minute Maybe I should ask him about that... He looked back to Sten who has not sheathed his weapon Maybe when he's not holding that thing Karl looked around hoping that the guards or the sheriff wouldn't show up now, they were short on time and this was an opportunity that should not be wasted.
The axe wielder went back to his spot at the overturned wagon and waited for a chance to interject and hopefully force this little monster to spill whatever secrets its keeping.
Creatures like you that attack innocents are a blight on the world, the dwarf is right your very existence is an affront to people everywhere. the dwarf may want to give you a painless death, but yer kind and ilk deserve to suffer as much you make others suffer. Tell us what we want to know and I'll let him kill you, or not and I can make you suffer for weeks like you deserve.
Even when kneeling down close to the goblin, Karl still appeared tall to the pitiful creature "You know what he sounds like to me?" Asked the mercenary, his voice still sticking to a surprisingly calm tone "A professional" He continues his voice a bit lower in volume then it was before.
Karl's hand snakes its way behind the goblin's head and forces it to look up towards Vishoon, making sure that the process was as painful as possible "Look at him, now think about being under his care for a few days...a week...two weeks?" He paused for a few moments before he let the goblin's head go free. Karl stood up and leaned against the cart, looking fairly relaxed "My one piece of advice to you goblin is this...sing us the song we want to hear, tell us how many friends you've got out there, tell us what kind of weapons you are armed with and tell us who's backing you" Karl's voice grew louder as he unleashed these questions at a surprisingly quick pace.
The little goblin spits out another mouthful of blood and his eyes grow dim..as he lays there on the ground he looks over at Loupe..then to Vishoon and Karl..then back to Loupe..
"Gonash....Gonash not know anything..Gonash told to kill and Burn..that is all..other goblins be more lucky.. they go on secret mission with Longshanks to graveyard..we use goblin dog slicers and horse choppers..made from scraps that longshanks throw into heap..many many goblins..from many tribes come..Gonash knows no more..Gonash..think...you..be...in..big...trouble..."
The goblin closes his eyes as he sputters out the last words..exhaling his last breath as he says "trouble"..Not being healed or removed from under the wagon the creature expires from his wounds and will be of no further use.
"Do you think the trouble he refers to is big by his standards, or ours?"
Wow... they really hate Goblins.
Watching the Goblin just... die... like that. It seems wrong somehow... but a Graveyard? That's bad.
"Graveyard" says Loupe, shivering "That does not sound good at all. Let's get the Sherrif."
I should be volunteering to go... but I'm out of everything but some cantrips, and I almost lost Maug once already tonight...
Guess he didn't feel like talking any more...One of you is from here right? take us to the graveyard, if someone put these goblins to this task they need to pay, besides evil people in graveyards is never a good thing
Vishoon will follow anyone who will lead him to the graveyard
Dair sighs slightly at the death of the goblin "Not the best outcome, but not the worst either."
"I know where the graveyard is. I'll lead the way" The little man does just that, rapier and one knife drawn, ready for trouble.
The graveyard, a necromancer recruiting for his army? In this small town?" Karl began pondering this particular possibility and almost instinctively turned towards Loupe who was suggesting that it was better to inform the sheriff Wait a minute, if he tells the sheriff, then I won't be able to use the information as leverage! Karl immediately moved across the goblin's corpse and stood by Loupe's side.
"I'll come along, I've worked as a guard before I know how to get through to his type" Said the mercenary, his voice devoid of any emotion, having to mention his previous occupation wasn't something he enjoyed "Lets go Loupe, we can discuss future armor deals on the way" Continued Karl, his tone of speech shifting to normalcy.
|
Zander uses the death of the goblin to gauge his newfound comrades’ reactions. Then, as they make their way to the graveyard, keeps fairly quiet. Goblins in a graveyard can’t be a good thing, but shouldn’t there be acolytes of Pharasma that would be tending it, and making sure none of the bodies rise? If they were over run, what real hope does this little band have? Still, I cannot send them on their way without anyone to patch up their wounds, especially Karl, he seems to be a magnet for these goblins weapons he thinks.
Sten will watch as the others try to get themselves in some semblance of consensus. Then, with a small harumf, he will look to the halfling. "Lad, I admire your ethic on this. That being said we need to inform the proper authorities first and then, after getting their permission to search a sacred place, go to the graveyard to see what has been despoiled. So if you would be kind enough to show the way..." Stem will then motion for the halfling to show the way.
"I agree with the Dwarf. The last thing we need to deal with is the restless dead on top of goblins. Let's make sure we are not unwelcome there."