Shenderik draws up a barstool and smiles at Ameiko. Name's Shenderik. The group and I've come all the way from Alkenstar. Know where that is? Well, it's a long way south of here, I can tell you that. I'll have whatever you suggest, good lady. Something to give me a flavor of Varisia, eh?"
"As for the firearms, well, we're not used to seeing folks without 'em, so its a bit strange on all sides. Don't worry, everyone here is housebroken. No one will discharge a weapon without good reason. That sort of thing can get you run out of town where we come from."
The dwarf snaps his fingers as if remembering another reason he came in here in the first place.
"Say, we heard you folks had a bit of excitement a while back. Something about goblins and ancient threats. What do you know about that, dear lady?"
Lua is well versed in the customs of Desna. She adheres to the customs of Desna's followers as a sign of respect and also to illicit a positive response from the priest. "Good evening brother Abstalar. I am Lua, a paladin and priestess of Sarenrae, and this is Doctor Dukkan Longpaw. We are in town looking for a group of adventurers that had come through here in the recent past. They handled a goblin problem for you recently?"
"Ahh yes, those kindly folk. A brave crew of four they were. They cleared out all those troublesome goblins from Thistletop. I think they've been staying down at the Rusty Dragon. They were poking around town recently asking a lot of questions, but I have not seen them in a number of days now. Their priestess Kyra was a frequest visitor to our cathedral. She is a follower of your goddess as well. "
Shenderik draws up a barstool and smiles at Ameiko. Name's Shenderik. The group and I've come all the way from Alkenstar. Know where that is? Well, it's a long way south of here, I can tell you that. I'll have whatever you suggest, good lady. Something to give me a flavor of Varisia, eh?"
"Oh, well there's an ale brewed down the street here should suit you. That's as local as we can get. " and she fills four mugs of ale from the cask behind the bar.
"As for the firearms, well, we're not used to seeing folks without 'em, so its a bit strange on all sides. Don't worry, everyone here is housebroken. No one will discharge a weapon without good reason. That sort of thing can get you run out of town where we come from."
"Oh, I didn't mean to imply you were unsafe. It's just that such items are uncommon around these parts, and to see so many in one group is surprising. We're just not used to new newfangled devices around here. We're a bit on the rustic side really. "
The dwarf snaps his fingers as if remembering another reason he came in here in the first place."Say, we heard you folks had a bit of excitement a while back. Something about goblins and ancient threats. What do you know about that, dear lady?"
"Oh those fellows. Nice folks. After the cleared out that mess of goblins on Thistletop, they became known as the Heroes of Sandpont. We even had a little festival for them. In fact they are still renting rooms in this very Inn. Though come to think of it, I've not seen them in several days. Then again that's the adventurer lifestyle, always running off for escapades of derring do. I imagine they'll be back eventually. They had been sticking around town more lately, but they took off maybe five days ago all geared up for traveling and maybe fighting. Not really sure where they went. You could always try the Sheriff. He's up at he Guardhouse towards the north end of town. "
"Excellent," says Shenderik. "Right after I sample these local brews. And perhaps a meat pie."
The dwarf is in no hurry and soaks up both the local ambiance and the local suds before heaving himself off the barstool to wander north through the town, tipping his broad sunhat to the people he meets and chuckling to himself over the strange northern fashions and accents.
Finally arriving at the guardhouse, he raps on the door and goes in. "I'm looking for the Sheriff," he says, peering up.
Once he has discovered that worthy, the dwarf plants himself before the Sheriff and tips his hat. "Pleased to meet you, Sheriff. Name's Shenderik. I'm in town with my companions for awhile and I thought I'd introduce myself. We heard of some interesting goings-on and came to see for ourselves. Came looking for these here 'heroes of Sandpoint', but now we hear they ain't been back to town in almost a week. Ameiko down at the Rusty Dragon thinks you might know where they went?"
"Seems to me they might be in a spot of trouble and could use some help."
"Kyra, you say? Thank you, brother Abstalar, for the information." Lua reaches into her coin pouch and pulls out 20 gold coins as tribute. "I hope you will be able to do good with this." Lua gives the coins to the priest with a reassuring smile. "I have one last question for you, brother priest. Have you ever seen a seven pointed star symbol, called a Sihedron, before?" Lua traces the design on the back of a pew. "If not, do you know where or who I would need to talk to about this sort of thing?"
Gunner stands with Shenderick as he talks to the Sheriff. "Sheriff, have you seen this symbol, it's called a Sihedron. It's associated with the Runelords and now we hear that a goblin tribe has been sporting it."
Finally arriving at the guardhouse, he raps on the door and goes in. "I'm looking for the Sheriff," he says, peering up.Once he has discovered that worthy, the dwarf plants himself before the Sheriff and tips his hat. "Pleased to meet you, Sheriff. Name's Shenderik. I'm in town with my companions for awhile and I thought I'd introduce myself. We heard of some interesting goings-on and came to see for ourselves. Came looking for these here 'heroes of Sandpoint', but now we hear they ain't been back to town in almost a week. Ameiko down at the Rusty Dragon thinks you might know where they went?"
"Seems to me they might be in a spot of trouble and could use some help."
"Welcome to our town of Sandpoint. What are you talking about in the way of interesting things? Things are about like normal as far as I know. As for the heroes, well they do tend to their own business. I appreciate their help and all, but they don't report to me. "
you can try sense motive if you like.
""Sheriff, have you seen this symbol, it's called a Sihedron. It's associated with the Runelords and now we hear that a goblin tribe has been sporting it."
"Sihedron you say? Interesting. Never heard that word before. I do think the heroes that you mentioned did say they saw such a thing and were asking around town to see if anyone had heard of it. The Runelords? They've been gone for a hundred centuries. They're hardly a threat to anything after all this time. Heck, I don't think people can ever scare children with takes of those anymore. "
"Kyra, you say? Thank you, brother Abstalar, for the information." Lua reaches into her coin pouch and pulls out 20 gold coins as tribute. "I hope you will be able to do good with this." Lua gives the coins to the priest with a reassuring smile. "I have one last question for you, brother priest. Have you ever seen a seven pointed star symbol, called a Sihedron, before?" Lua traces the design on the back of a pew. "If not, do you know where or who I would need to talk to about this sort of thing?"
"Thank you for your donation. I will be sure it finds a worthy cause. A Sihedron? I've never heard of that or seen such a thing. You might try Brodert Quink, he's the town sage. He can be found in a building in the northwest part of town near the ruins of the Old Light, that's the remains of a tall tower on a cliff. "
"Interesting can be a relative term, Sheriff. I was referring to the goblin attacks we heard of."
Shenderik pays attention to the man's body language and tone. For a dwarf, he's pretty sharp about such things.
<-- Or not.
Thomas barely has time to finish his drink before Shenderik and Billy make off for the sheriff. Flashing his best smile at Ameiko and tossing coins for the drink on the bar he hurries off to keep up.
Damn, can't even enjoy a drink." He mutters to himself as he follows them.
"Thank you, brother. Lights warmth be on you." As Lua leaves with Doc (I'm assuming), she turns to him. "Dukkon, would you like to accompany me to the towns sage? Or perhaps we should head back to the inn and await the rest of the party. What say you, Doctor?"
"Oh, the goblin attacks. Yeah, the heroes dealt with that hubub. They had a warren up at Thistletop. Quite a fair number of the little pests, and word is there were even some human mercs siding with them. The heroes managed to put them all down though. Good riddance. You can't trust goblins about. Though now that I think about it on that star thingy, you could try the town sage Quink. He resides over near the huge ruined tower on the northwest side of town. He's supposed to be quite the expert on all things Thassilonian. "
Shenderik sees nothing wrong at all with this response.
"Thank you, Sheriff. We'll be seeing you around."
He turns to Thomas. "Let's go see this Quink character. Maybe he has an idea where they are."
And the dwarf strides northwest through the town towards the ruined tower, asking for Quink's residence as he goes.
Lua and (I'm taking liberties here) Dukkan make the trek north and west towards the Old Light ruins to call on sage Quink.
"Yes, I think it would be a good idea to see this sage before we head back to the tavern. We might be lucky and find a solid lead there."
"Thank you for your time, Father Abstalar." He gives a quick bow to the priest and follows Lua out and towards the old lighthouse.
You both end up at the same location, which is the last house on the left side of the street which leads to the ruined tower. You knock on the door, and after a bit wizened bespectacled man opens the door. "Hello there. What may I do for you? "
Lua greets the sage with an open smile. "Good morrow, sage Quink. Bright days be upon you. My name is Lua. I am a paladin of the dawnflower. These are my brothers in arms. We have been sent to your stead because we believe that you have some information that we would respectfully request.
The seven point star of the runelords. It is called the Sihedron. Do you know of this?"
"Well met young Lady, and your friends as well. An odd bunch aren't you, all with those newfangled boomsticks eh? Don't see that every day.
But I forget myself, please come inside. Not very polite to have a discussion in a doorway. " he leads you into a sitting room and waves you towards some chairs.
"Yes, that's better. Ahh, a Sihedron, of course. I couldn't very well call myself a sage in Verisia if I didn't know what a Sihedron was. All the remains of the great civilization of the Thassilonians surround us here." and with that he glances towards the ruined tower outside his house.
"The Thassilonians were an offshoot of the Azlanti people. They shared the great magical powers and technical achievements, but they rejected the moral code which made the Azlanti empire great. They departed the continent of Azlant to make their own way here in Varisia and founded an empire, subjugating the local people as well as many monstrous species. Their rulers were known as the Rune Lords, and there were seven of them. "
"Once more I forget myself, such a poor host I am these days all absorbed in my studies. Would anyone like some tea or such?"
Lua accepts the tea, with a smile. "Thank you for the tea, sage Quink. Could you expound on the ruined tower? Are you saying that the tower is of Thassalonian design?"
"Tea," agrees Shenderik, amiably. "And I wouldn't mind a drop of whiskey in it, if you've got any."
"And perhaps you'd know where the 'heroes of Sandpoint' have gotten off to in their search?"
"Oh yes, I'm certain this tower, or rather what remains of it is of Thassilonian construction. It is why I relocated here from Magnimar. There's plenty of scholars in that city studying the ruins. I wanted to work on a dig much less crowded.
From my investigations I have found that the tower was once very lofty. Hundreds of feet in height. I think it was a magical artifact unto itself. The Rune lords created some very amazing works, but they did not put them to anything I could consider a good use.
They prided themselves on their sins. Each of the Runelords was associated with a deadly sin. Sloth, Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, Greed, and Lust. I have not yet been able to determine which of the Runelords constructed this site. I am still poking around you see.
But I am curious, what brings you here to Sandpoint? You don't really have the look of scholars about you. You lot appear far too rough and ready to be up to your nose in musty tomes, and scraps of history. "
"Tea," agrees Shenderik, amiably. "And I wouldn't mind a drop of whiskey in it, if you've got any."
"Oh yes, let me see I have a bottle around here somewhere. " and he looks around on the shelves which are piled high with papers, scrolls and tomes. Eventually after shifting enough documentation he does find a dusty bottle. "Yes, I do believe this is whiskey. Might be Dwarven, but I honestly don't recall. Help yourself" as he hands over the bottle.
"And perhaps you'd know where the 'heroes of Sandpoint' have gotten off to in their search?"
"The who? Oh, those heroes that dug out the goblins nearby. Yes, a friendly bunch. They had visited me asking about a sihedron as well now that you mention it. I think they were looking into something for the Sheriff, but I only found out because one of them slipped up while we ere talking. I think it was supposed to be confidential. Of course now why did I mention that? Please forget I said anything. I'm sure if the Sheriff wanted something kept quiet he has a good reason. Hemlock is a good man. "
"My dear Sage, can you share anything at all that you told the adventurers? The confidentiality of any information is their obligation after all, not yours."
" ...and to answer your question, sage, we are merely here as investigators." Lua doesn't want to lie to the sage- couldn't if she wanted to- but she feels that she should guard the reason for their presence here lest it fall into the wrong hands.
"Well I pretty much have told you what I told them already. I could probably work up a few more little details here and there, but it was really just background on the sihedron. That was what they came asking about much like you."
"Investigators? I'm not sure I understand. As I said, you don't much seem to be historians. The town appears peaceful enough as far as I know now that the goblins have been eliminated. "
Once they finish at the seer's home, Billy suggests that another visit to Sheriff. "It seems that he clearly knows more about these so-called Heroes of Sandpoint that he shared with us the first time. Maybe he would warm up better to Lua?"
OOC: Sorry for the delayed post - I've been on travel.
After numerous drinks, Urga looks up and finds that the others have left. "And I was just getting started..." Standing up, he tosses several silver pieces on the bar to pay his tab. "Bartender, why would the goblins attack Sandpoint? With all due respect, why bother with this town? What do you think they were they looking for? Where specifically did they attack? Do you know of any victims? Are there other goblins beyond those at Thistletop? Are you aware of any other threats in the local area that the heroes may have been investigating? "
Diplomacy check:
"They attacked because they are goblins. They tend to do that you know. There were a number of victims of course. They were raiding the town all over the place. They hit a bunch of the outlying farms and stuff. But as to other threats, nah seems peaceful since then. You need another drink?"
"Sage Quink, I will tell you that we are on a mission from Alkenstar to investigate the finding of the seven pointed star. Please do try to recall any details about the Sihedron, no matter how minute.
Billy attempts to aid Lua's effort at diplomacy.
The sage is not evil.
He can give you more little detail stuff on Thassiolonian relics until your eyes bleed if you like since he's made a lifetime of researching the junk. I'm not overly interesting in making it up and typing it however as it would not be plot relevant.
There is a little more relevant stuff he can offer:
"Each of the Runelords was associated with a certain school of magic and they specialized in it. Their specialization was different than how wizards practice today with a much stronger exclusion of opposition schools. Also there are rumors that float about from time to time about how the Runelords managed to foretell Skyfall, and prepared a way to survive the process and come back to pick up the pieces. This is mostly dismissed these days since it's been a hundred centuries and nobody has seen hide nor hair of them. Though I will say what the heroes said about the sihedron and how there was a goblin wizard using magic in a very specialized style does concern me some. You will need to talk them them since I'm not really expert enough in magic to full explain or really grasp what their arcanist was saying. "
"I believe Billy's earlier suggesting of letting Lua try to talk to the sheriff is best. Perhaps she will have better luck prying information from him."
Lua nods to Billy and Thomas. "Thank you Mr. Quink for your hospitality and for imparting on us your vast knowledge. I think we will be taking our leave."
When outside, Lua says, "Billy, you and Thomas think that the Sheriff is hiding something? If no one else objects, let us away. Please lead the way, brothers."
Urga leaves the Rusty Dragon and joins the others.
"Unless the Sheriff gives us additional information, I suggest we explore Thistletop next. Maybe we can find out what the adventurers were looking for."
"Yep," drawls Shenderik, lighting one of his ever-present cheroots. "We're not going to get it out of him, so let's go find these heroes ourselves."
Lua nods to Billy and Thomas. "Thank you Mr. Quink for your hospitality and for imparting on us your vast knowledge. I think we will be taking our leave."
When outside, Lua says, "Billy, you and Thomas think that the Sheriff is hiding something? If no one else objects, let us away. Please lead the way, brothers."
"Paladin, I'm not sure if the sheriff is hiding something but everyone says that the Sheriff is the best person to ask about the 'Heroes’ but then the Sheriff acts like he has no idea of what's going on. I think he's trying to protect them and doesn't trust us."
"I see your point. We don't know if the Heroes went back to Whistletop, or to another location. However, the Sheriff does, or so it would seem. Hopefully the Sheriff will talk to me or Doc."
Gunner accompanies the others to the Sheriff's office. While the good Paladin converses with the Sheriff, Gunner will try to aid her diplomacy.
Urga will also attempt to aid Lua.
You folks had on back to the sheriff at the guardhouse. He seems a bit bothered to see even more of you there this time, but he is willing to see you.
"Oh so there's even more of you. Well I hope you found out what you needed from the sage. Nothing has changed since your last visit, but I'm sure you have more questions, so ask away. "
Lua does start in on him and is quite persuasive (with well timed help from Billy).
"Oh alright, things aren't quite as placid here as they seem. But you folks seem to mean well. We've been having a string of grisly murders around the town and surrounding area, and they seemed related to me. I gave it to the Heroes to figure out. I also tried to keep it on the quiet side because the town really doesn't need another panic like we got from the goblin raids. "
"The Heroes had been reporting on their progress and seemed to be making a fair bit. Then they said they were going to check out the Foxglove estate and then i've not heard from them since. I prefer to have faith that they are still on the job, but honestly I'm getting a bit worried. Local legend says that place is beset by evil spirits, and nobody goes near the place if they can help it. The Heroes were a lot more capable than the town guard, and while I've been curious about their situation and wanting to help them, I don't imagine that anything which took them out is something my men and I can handle. "
"Thank you for your forthrightness, Sheriff. You said the murders were related to you. What did you mean? Also, where is the Foxglove estate?"
"Thank you for your forthrightness, Sheriff. You said the murders were related to you. What did you mean? Also, where is the Foxglove estate?"
"Sheriff, I also commend you on your forthrightness. Do you mind giving us a timeline for when these murders occurred? Was there anything particularly unusual about how the murders were done? Lastly, any idea why the Heroes chose to go to the estate?"
Once the rest of team has had their chance to ask questions, Gunner will say "We should make all haste to the estate. The Heroes are our best link to what's going on and they may in mortal danger. I vote we saddle-up and ride immediately to their rescue!"
Urga frowns,"Sheriff, does the legend say anything about the nature of these spirits? Are they ghosts of the Foxglove family or something else? What is the history of the Foxglove estate? Is it currently occupied? Has anyone else besides the heroes been inside that we can talk to"?
Diplomacy check:
"I agree Gunner, let's ride."