Lucien smiles as the hound follows, and hacks at it again.
+
Then he takes another step back, and begins casting again.
Sahr and Lucien both make excellent hits, and yet their steel does not seem to do as much damage against the outsider flesh as they might have hoped.
The hounds do some serious damage this time, biting both and bringing both to the ground! Lucien falls unconscious from his wounds.
Vulpidin backs up and heals Lucien, trying to keep him from bleeding out.
Sarh does her best to avoid the beasts teeth but gets bit very deeply.
"I" gasp "am not made for this sort of combat."
She rolls to the side, trying to avoid the teeth of the monster as she moves. As she settles in her no position laying on the floor she points and a thin beam of energy lashes out at the red dog.
"My spells" gasp "There better at hindering then damaging things."
"Halt!"
You turn and see in the doorway a woman with one arm replaced with what may be that of a demon claw. Her bare midriff shows intense scars.
"Surrender now, or I will let my pets finish you off."
Sarh pushes herself back towards the door without getting fully up. She grunts to move her bulk as she talks.
"Big blond lady?" grunt and slide "Where you come" grunt and slide "from. You the new" grunt and slide "chief?"
"You dare invade my place and then do not grovel for mercy!!!" The woman flies into a rage, and the hounds follow suit."[/b]
Nualia swings a pretty severe looking bastard sword at Vulpidin,
The two hounds tear at Sarh.
As the dogs lunge her eyes go wide. [i] I thought talking would buy us time. Better ending like this then in chains I guess. [i/]
Defiantly, Vulpidin spits a bolt of lightning in Nualia's face, aiming to hit her and the blue hound before he dies.
As the heroic party gets torn apart, and our catfolk member runs for his life, a calmer scene unfolds at the Rusty Dragon...
Trox arrives with a large sack that clinks and clatters a lot when moved. His sword is on this thin hips and his cable strong muscles move the bag with ease. A smaller sack is on his pouch with pins sticking out to be used later. Before he sits he removes three well crafted dolls and hands them to some local children with a small smile.
His voice is higher then expected and he is conscious of lowing his town.
"Well Ameiko, your right it does feel good to help again. As long as I am in front and take the blows I guess I can do this. Lets hope those kids are doing ok with the melon head goblins." He pauses. "I hope that half-orc girl is ok. Quite the weapon she had."
The sack is clearly his armor. Probably wearing heavy armor around town would be uncomfortable and a little silly.
She scratches her chest adjusting something under her shirt.
"I suppose we should keep the look out for goblins."
Druamin stands outside of Sandpoint, holding back just inside the edge of the forest. He sighs and reaches to stroke the back of Kuba. The giant porcupine's black-nosed face looks up at him, a knowing look in his eyes. "It is always so unpleasant going into town. It's not the people so much, just the business and noise and smells. It's just not nearly as comfortable as nestled in our hut -- a warm fire, a cozy chair, and a life with no one else to care about." A slight smile crosses his face. "But you do remember Ameiko, don't you Kuba? At the tavern. She always gives you a few extra scraps from the kitchen." Kuba rubs his laid back quills agreeably against Druamin's leg and then the pair moves silently from the forest and into town.
Druamin and Kuba go directly to the tavern. On entering the main room he starts to heads to an empty table. The half-orc Trox is already there and talking to Ameiko. Druamin's dwarven ears perk up at the mention goblins. He stops and looks at Trox. "Trox, my friend. You mention goblins?" Without asking he pulls over a chair and sits down. Kuba slides onto the floor next to him.
"Goblins are why I'm even coming into the loud and smelly town. You know how I would much rather be out there." He waves vaguely out towards the surrounding forest. "But goblin activty has been absolutely crazy out there. Just wanted to see what was going on. Do you know something?"
Trox clears his throat a little and nods to Druamin. "Mellon heads attacked the festival. Some young and brash ones went to clear them out from what I here, not sure if they are ok or not but... well it got me to get my armor back out after these years." he looks tired but probably always looks a little like that "Young half-orc with a gun went with them, nice kid."
"Heh," Druamin chuckles. He nods to Ameiko to indicate that he'd like to buy a drink. "Too much energy, not enough experience. Is that it?"
Sitting down the bar, eating by himself, Reynard's ears perk up. He glances over. Deciding to risk it, he steps toward the others and says "Are goblin attacks common in these parts? When I came north, I was hoping to find somewhere quieter to settle down." he says, his hood still raised. I suppose I'll have to risk it. Etiquette probably doesn't allow carrying on a conversation indoors with a hood up. Curses. Slowly, he reaches up and draws back his hood, revealing a face of pinkish skin, with noticeably elongated incisors, horns, and eyes like softly glowing coals.
Trox nods to Druamin again clearing his throat before speaking. "That's about it. The melon heads attack and the young ones run for glory. I've seen it end bad before."
When the new comer arrives Trox is briefly startled by the skin and horns but gestures to an empty seat.
"Normally quiet here, why I came here to make my creations. Something got them worked up. If the kids don't sort it someone else will I guess. Where you come from?"
Reynard returns a blank look, as his mind skids a bit. He doesn't know. He doesn't know? How could he not know? Where does he think tieflings come from? After a moment, he shakes his head and quietly, bitterly says "Cheliax. Infernal, damned Cheliax."
Druamin scoots over a little to make room when the Tiefling moves in. "Here. Have a seat." He seems completely untroubled by the man's appearance. "Huh. Cheliax. A little far from home I suppose. But no matter. People come here from all over. I myself am a local. Well, close to local. I spend most of my time out in the forest. These stupid goblins have me worked up. Guess I needed to come into town to see what was going on."
Druamin looks up at the newcomer. "Huh. Howdy. Care to join us? We were just talking about the goblin activity. Sounds like you might know something about it." He pushes his chair back as he stands and offers a firm handshake. "I'm Druamin, by the way. And you are?"
After the greeting he slides his chair over some more and sits back down at the table which is getting a bit crowded.
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"My name is Erond I am a priest from the cathedral. I have been looking into the rumours."
Erond takes a seat.
"The Chuch has sent people out in the surrounding area that have brought back odd sightings. There are also people that have ranged much father toward Thistletop but I have not heard anything of their discoveries."
As Erond sits he loosens some bandoleers and book straps and sets them on the back of his chair. In there a dozen or so easily accessible scrolls and books. He leans his bow against the arm of the chair.
Trox nods and clears his throat before speaking in a gravely voice.
"None of that sounds good. I'm really worried about that kid, well those kids, who went in looking to deal with the problem. They might have been in over their heads."
While he talks he is still stitching the hair into a rag doll that he has been making. The outfit looks very similar to one of the servers in the tavern.
"Don't really want to risk more lives on this sort of thing. Never seen good come of adventuring."
"Erond, huh? Well, nice to meet you. I'm not sure sure that the kids were sent anywhere. They might have been impulsive enough to go out on their own. But who knows. I know that these infernal goblins are driving me crazy so if we need to head up to Thistletop to take care of them, I'm all for that." Druamin drops a hand down near the floor, snaps his fingers, and makes a couple clicking sounds with his tongue. "Kuba, scootch over." The giant porcupine raises its black-nosed face and looks at the dwarf with sleepy eyes. "Come on," Druamin coaxes.
The porcupine doesn't quite stand up but shuffles on the floor to get out of the way of Erond's chair and to get closer to Druamin's. The druid reaches into a pocket on his cloak and pulls out a dried root of some sort. He drops it on the floor in front of Kuba.
He turns back to the table, his gaze fixes on the tiefling. "Did you mention your name?"
Sitting at an adjacent table, a young undine with seafoam skin and a tight braid of emerald hair eagerly tucks into a plate of fish as soon as it's placed in front of her. Pausing to turn over her shoulder, Faywen inserts herself into the conversation by saying, "The human is right, you know. No one ever got anywhere by just hoping things would work out."
Trox shoulders slump at Faywen's word. He nods.
"Agreed, I.... well I have seen things and I have the scars, both kinds. I well go check on them if there not back soon. My armor is quality at least. "
He looks at the doll he was making and shakes his head sadly before putting it away. The joy of creating for kids stifled for the moment.
"Let's just hope they come back soon."
The tiefling nods to the dwarf. "Reynard." turning to the green-haired woman, he says "Hope is necessary. But you're right, it isn't sufficient. I know a lot of folks who spend a lot of their time hoping. They're still slaves." he says, then snaps his mouth shut I may have said too much, there.
"Tieflings are also found about Lost Sarkoris, called the Worldwound these days," the tall, lanky fellow interjects as he folds himself about one of the chairs, "honestly, the land finds itself in the grip of the nether planes."
"There, you will find sad souls warped by it's presence, Tieflings, in short."
"The plane-touched aren't sad or warped, friend. We've been blessed by the primal energies of creation." Turning about in her chair, Faywen continues tearing chunks off the fish with her teeth. Inclining her head toward Reynard, she swallows another bite, saying, "Name's Faywen. What's your story, Reynard?"
As the conversation turns to warped souls Trox quickly signles for another ale. A lot of things can warp someone. he thinks has he scratches the bandage under his shirt Best not to get into that myself I think, it would be thought that I was a lost soul by most.
He sips his drink when it arrives and waits for news some more.
Druamin scoots over even more when the wizard joins the table. "Hey, green girl, you may as well join us here at the table." He waves and a friendly smile peeks through his beard. "It looks like we're all interested about the same thing. Those youngsters that went up to Thistletop. Did they come back yet?"
When Trox signals for more ale, Druamin also mimes the action for eating, hoping that the host knows he also wants some food.
Faywen shrugs, stands up, and plops herself down at the table with the others. "Haven't heard anything yet."
Just as you are starting to get a bit restless, a kitsune enters the inn, eyes wide with fear and looking quite exhausted and ragged.
The man-fox looks around and sees Sheriff Hemlock near you. "The goblins... they are not alone! Hounds from hell... ate the others, I think. I'm sorry - I am not going back! Good luck to you and your people, but I am outta here!"
Finally, the Sheriff looks to you. "My people can't handle the likes of this. Those folk were my only hope."
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"Calm son. Your back and safe now. Sit and have some water."
After going the man time to recover he says calmly,
"You are talking about Thisttop right? How deep did you make it? Where were the non goblins located?"
After the answers,
"Well, whatever is going on there it is much worse than they expected. Meaning someones got to try and stop it. I will go Sheriff."
Reynard regards the lanky, bearded man coolly. Raising an eyebrow, he says "And you're...what? Some sort of expert on the planes?"
Quickly turning to the blue woman coming to his defense, he says "It's long, and mostly boring. And some other less boring parts I'd rather not talk about, or even think about, really. Suffice to say that I was born a slave. Tieflings are common in my family, and among Chelaxian slaves generally. Common relative to anywhere else, anyway. No one, well, no one I knew" he says, eyes flicking to the bearded man "is quite sure why, though there are theories. But anyway, I eventually...gained my freedom" he says, slowing as he chooses his words carefully, "and came north. Eventually I arrived here. And how about you? What's your story?"
"Live in Magnimar, down the coast," she says, gesturing toward the door with her chin. "Make a decent living selling artifacts, place is absolutely full of ones in easy reach that no one ever looks for. Probably cause they can't breathe water."
"As for how I got here, well. Friend sends me a letter telling me all about these goblin war bands, and how she heard about skeletons being raised right in town. I figure, well, my lady Gozreh blessed me with these gifts for a reason, and he sure hates undead and anything else that threatens the natural order. Probably ought to check it out, put a stop to it."
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At the kitsune's sudden entrance and spectacle, Faywen can only look on in surprise, both at his behavior and brief tale. After he leaves, she looks around at the others. "This one of the kids you were all waiting on?"
"Expert? No... but that howl... it was unnatural! Chilled me to the bone! Below the surface, on the island, underneath the fort. The goblins are lead by someone, something else. Nualia is alive, according to the goblins. Alive, and planning the attacks on Sandpoint! I am packing up and headed south."
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"Yes ma'am it is. Ok son, but remember there are lots of other dangers out there so don't go out along. Hitck yourself up to a cravan and stay near the middle. Got it?"
Erond looks at the group.
"Another questions for the young one?"
While people ask questions Erond speaks to the sheriff.
"Don't let him leave today. He is in shock. He will get hurt or die. Force him to get some bed rest and healing at the cathedral."
As the kitsune starts to speak Trox nods. He speaks quietly first.
"The others are all gone. Young runs running off again. Dead again.... curse it." after a moment he looks at the kitsune clearly speaking to them "It was good you tried, I am sorry about your friends. You deserve to get someplace safe."
As the last sentence comes out he stands and looks at the others nearby.
"At least someone must get their bodies back and clean the place out once and for all. I have no idea what a Nualia is but I am sure it can be killed if it lives."
Clearly there is no excitement for this, just resignation.
The Sheriff seems shocked. "Nualia was the daughter of our previous priest. Both were assumed to have perished in the church fire... the one that led us to build the new cathedral. What could have happened there?"
Vulpidin, wide eyed and trembling, sits down, and Ameiko (the proprietor of the inn) brings him some hot tea. "Well, you know we all came back for the grand opening of that cathedral when the goblins attacked in center square," Vulpidin starts off.
"Making you all heroes to the town, " the sheriff interjects, causing the kitsune to shrug, as if ashamed.
"Right. Well, we tracked the goblins to the glassworks up the way, and found that Ameiko's father, Lonjinin, and her half-brother, Tsuto, were behind the attacks, bringing the little buggers in through an underground smuggler's entrance. We managed to defeat them and find some notes hinting at a hidden love, Nualia, and Thistletop as a base of operations."
This time Ameiko jumps in. "And don't forget rescuing me from Tsuto's clutches. You will forever be my hero."
The kitsune blushes, but continues. "Thistletop has become the home to not 1, but 5 different goblin tribes! They are all working together. We did, however, kill their war chief, Ripnugget, and a few of his more powerful confidants, so we believe the rest have already scattered back to their previous hidey-holes."
From the corner of the room, a female elf ranger you all recognize as Shalelu Andosana chimes in. ”I believe you are correct. I was patrolling the nearby area and saw a lot of goblin activity, but for the most part they seemed only interested in getting out of the area.”
The kitsune appears a little relieved, and then continues. ”Below the goblin lair, however, there is a vast fortress, including a chapel of pure evil, dedicated to Lamashtu. It is there that we ran into two beasts, I think they are called Yeth Hounds. I am shamed to admit it, but their wild howls chilled my bones and caused me to run in fear. I started to turn back, but then heard a female voice and then battle… and my friends, they did not survive! I changes into my… other form… and ran as fast as I could back here.”
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"You should not feel bad. You did your best. We all encounter trails you have encountered more in the last week than an average person will in their whole lives. You are still a hero. You have faced monsters of legend and I will ensure your name is prominent in my chronicles."
Turning toward the others in the room, "Sheriff, Shalelu Andosana what should we do now. This danger must be dealt with."