Pavro, little is known about about Shalelu's personal history or life, but she has devoted most of the last few decades to protecting Sandpoint and the region as a whole from the goblins in the area. She's not really the town's ranger, but many regard her as such by default. She has become friends with Ameiko, who she seems to see view as a sister of sorts.
Avian, the sheriff doesn't know any spot that would work off hand, but Kendra suggests you ask around some of the small farmers just outside of town that have finished the harvest already. One of them might be willing to let you use a barren field for that purpose. Amadeus, while a bit puzzled why Avian is leaving him at the Rusty Dragon, settles in soon enough, and he's more than paying for any upkeep as he becomes as the resident watch dog and communal pet.
Pavro takes a wander around the shops, purchasing the wand for the group and picking up a few scrolls of shield for when the going gets tough. He then heads out to one of the farms and purchases a goat for Aressa so he can avoid having to apologize, the pair having long since concluded that they both prefer Pavro's not infrequent apologies to be rendered in meat. He then summons the sphinx just outside of town and lets her chase the poor goat down and devour it while he examines his fingernails.
He wanders back home and checks in with his mother, doing very little listening, but a great deal of nodding. He has dinner with Shalelu lined up as an exit strategy just in case and arrives back at the Rusty Dragon in good time.
Glad the people of the Rusty Dragon have taken such a liking to Amadeus, Avian then starts asking around the local farmers to ask for a field to train in.
Once Avian has procured training grounds and finished the restoration of his pistol and the crafting of his alchemical cartridges he will commission a carpenter to build a lifesize wooden giant dummy and some fliers to be made by local scribes asking for a few good men to train in giant slaying tactics. Avian is willing to pay about 50 gp for the dummy
Severus keeps mostly quiet through all this. He wanders if eidolons actually have to eat (being extraplanar in origin), or if Pavros is just putting on a show for the locals, as he likes to do.
Dinner with Shalelu would be... enlightening, he hoped.
Avian is able to find a farmer willing to consider the possibility; he got injured early on in the summer, and though the man's neighbors tried to help, harvest for this particular farmer was both early and short. He is able to contact the carpenter's guild about the possibility of getting a giant dummy, and arrange for some fliers to be made, but such plans require time to implement, and a single afternoon can get the ball rolling, but not see it finished.
Vors goes to his meeting at the fish market, and finds his sister already there, along with Turch Sterglus, one of his older sons, and one of the adepts of Abadar to serve as a notary. The meeting is short, as the only things that remain to be determined are a few specific details. After going over all of the arrangements that had been worked up (these folks are clearly rather used to this kind of thing), the agreement is finalized to the satisfaction of all, his sister is placed under the charge of the cook, an older lady who has long served the Sterglus family.
Otherwise, the afternoon passes uneventfully.
The rest of the day passes quickly, and soon enough you find yourself in a back room of the Rusty Dragon with another ample spread before you on the table. Dinner is fairly quiet as you all enjoy Ameiko's fantastic cooking, but eventually Shalelu pushes back from the table a bit, "I've heard much about your doings; perhaps you would like to tell your story in your own words, after which I can share what I know of the area."
Severus wipes the wine stain from his lips with the cloth napkin before he turns to Shalelu.
"There is little to tell you, truly. A few of us are locals, many of us from Magnimar and beyond. I am a scholar of the Varisian mysteries, drawn here of all places by a chance to witness history being made. I did not realize that the goblins would attempt to bring the town that close to reliving it. But I am glad I was here to stop them."
He carefully butters a roll as he thinks of how to respond.
"I am an explorer of the wilderness, not in an attempt to find wealth or glory, but to simply reveal the truth about Varisia's origins. I see the ruins, the statuary, the lost wonders of the Thassilonian empire, and I wonder if their skills and knowledge might be known to us again. So I explore, I research, I attempt when I am able to uncover their magic and their way of life, as I surmise that they are intricately tied together."
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Pleased that for a second night in a row Marcoul is able to enjoy a fine dinner at the Rusty Dragon, Marcoul silently follows along as Severus introduces himself. As Severus finishes his introduction Marcoul slowly sips his wine pausing for a moment before he continues where Severus left off.
Mistress Shalelu, it is I think much as Professor Aldenhyne said. I myself am from Egorian, by way of Magnimar. In truth, I arrived in Sandpoint just a few days ago, prior to the consecration of the new cathedral. My order wished for me to observe the ceremony. When the attack happened I was in the right place at the right time to assist the bystanders. To be honest I only did what anyone else would have done had they been in my place. Shrugging Marcoul fills up his glass and offeres to refill Shalelu as well. Actually Mistress Shalelu, what concerns me is how organized the attack was. I would not have expected something like this to have been planned by goblins. It was too well though out. Quiet frankly I have found the creature to be inept, and have wondered several times in the last few days why Sandpoint has not had done with them and put their villages and hovels to the flames. Eyes glittering over the rim of his wine glass Marcoul quietly finishes his statement It would make things far easier in the long run.
"Like our friend Marcoul, even if he is a little too focused on his religion, I agree that the goblins are being led by another force, more intelligent and organized."
Pavro blinks at Marcoul's comment and swallows, Hello slippery slope, what you doing down there Marcoul?
"Lot of things would make things easier that aren't right. While I'm willing to say a good goblin is far and away the exception, I'm not willing to butcher them, especially those that aren't bothering us. I see laws as sort of suggestions, because I know in my belly when something is right and when something is wrong - for the most part without having to think about it - and burning down villages, and wholesale slaughter make my belly ache, even if the victims are goblins. Besides I am guessing that even if Sandpoint could muster up enough willing butchers doing that to one tribe would probably stir up the rest as sure as kicking a wasps nest, I'm not convinced we would fair well in such a scenario."
He sips his wine looking thoughtful,
"Now something with a point is different, if you need to rescue someone, or something. Its pretty simple, if it starts sounding unheroic don't do it, "then I killed the goblin babies" sounds horrible, because it is. As does, "and then we torched their village.""
"But back to your question Shalelu, well we just stepped up and took on a few bunches of goblins. Truth be told it was the hobgoblins we fought that were the most worrisome, that as much as the planning troubles me, are there normally hobgoblins in these parts?"
I'm from a village in the Fogscar Mountains, and I came to Sandpoint to warn of a possible giant attack and train up anyone who's willing to fight them. This group was willing to help this bird out and now we have goblins to worry about in addition to the giants, after that despicable attack during the festival. I agree that there is something more sinister, cunning, and dangerous lurking behind the goblin attack, and we aim to find out what that is and, if in our power, to stop it.
Avian glares at Marcoul at his suggestion of torching goblin villages. You wouldn't talk like that if you'd seen your own village ransacked by bigger and stronger creatures just because you were in their way.
The glare fades into a look of deep introspective pondering. Never thought I'd see the day I empathized with a goblin terrorist like the festival attackers, but here I am. Maybe they see themselves against us like I see myself against the giants. Never looked at it the other way round before. They did wrong, and deserved our blades and bullets, but maybe we need to extend more hands of friendship to the goblins. Avian dips his beak into his goblet of mead as he mulls his thoughts over.
Never had he been in such sympathy with Thandion's reluctance to use lethal force, though just as he was not going to stop fighting the goblin terrorists just because he sympathized more with their race's plight, he was not going to endanger himself or the others by using nonlethal force even when met with lethal forces.
Shalelu listens quietly for a while before speaking, "While I have no love for the annoying pests, there are two very good reasons why they have not been exterminated. First, on a moral level, seeing that kind of violence as a solution would make us no better than they are. Second, on a purely practical level, it's effectively impossible; their numbers are such that no extermination effort is going to be entirely successful, and even a high degree success would require far too many resources that could be better spent elsewhere. There are five different clans in this area scattered about, and wiping them all out would take the gods themselves to organize. The hobgoblins concern me a bit, but not too much in and of itself; they aren't large in number, and even less organized than their smaller kin. Also, they and the bugbears tend to concentrate themselves in and immediately around Devil's Platter, and this doesn't seem to be connected to the activities of that plateau. There is outside influence here, and that worries me." She goes on in more detail about the notable locations and names associated with the goblin presence.
Thandion ignores Marcouls bate and continues what he thinks is the important line of investigation "I can't imagine that who ever organised thought they could successfully attack Sandpoint even during a festival. I suspect it was much more likely a diversion by someone who holds the lives of individual goblins in as high regard as our friend. So almost anyone, including any of the goblins. From what the Balor has said none of the capturer goblins know anything."
"That line of investigation cut off I think we have to ask what could it have been a distraction for? The stealing the late Father Tobyn's remains while well organised and occurred at the same time I can't see that the goblin attack made it easier, if anything it risked someone running into the graveyard to get away from the goblins and raising the alarm. Far easier to steal the remains silently at the height of the celebrations without a goblin attack. So what else, nothing else of note happened on that night has come up yet. We saved the life of Mr Foxglove and I suspect that others saved the lives of several others that night so perhaps it was an elaborate failed assassination attempt. However anyone who was important enough member of the community that I could smuggle that many goblins in the gate and more importantly wanted someone dead enough to plan the attack would be have been there to see it happen, and there was one no there to see Aldern die but us atleast."
"So maybe it wasn't a diversion at all. Ms Shalelu could this purely be a political move within the goblins? A new big chief takes over and needs to get rid of those that opposed him, what better way than to send them on a suicide mission?"
"Actually, Shalelu has a valid argument there. It does indeed seem like the goblins were a diversionary force. They weren't attacking the town so much as released in it. Chaotic and destructive, with no logical or tactical insight. It seems as though someone wanted the town occupied for a time while the grave was emptied."
"My question is, why would someone want the body of a priest?"
"Could it be for some spell or ritual? If our thief was skilled in necromantic arts, he might attempt to raise the priest as an undead. But I can see no purpose that would serve."
The only two reasons you can think of that would require a dead body would be necromancy or some obscure demonic like cultist ritual, in which case the desired end could literally be anything.
"The part with the body puzzles and worries me. Having a spy to sneak goblins in is not, in the end, all that terribly hard; having someone who seems to be willing to sacrifice goblins for the sake of capturing a 5 year old corpse suggests an inside connection, perhaps with a major grudge, that may decide to come back for more. I doubt the young noble had anything to do with it; he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, as someone inevitably is in this kind of raid. Whatever the reason may be for the raid, I can only hope we discover it before they have an opportunity to strike again."
Vors sits nursing an ale, listening to the conversation. He runs a finger absently along the rim of the tankard.
"How do we do that, exactly? Seems the opportunity would've been to follow the graverobbers, but that trail's probably gone cold by now. Without knowing where the goblins came from and who sent them, aren't we just shooting in the dark? Our two clues seem to be the priest's body and the goblins..." he says, turning first to Pavro, then to Shalelu.
"Pavro, if we want to get anywhere with our first clue, we'd need to know who'd have cause to want to harm the Father--dead or not. Shalelu, if we want to find our graverobber through the goblins, we need to know what tribes were involved and where we can find them."
"You pinpoint the problem precisely. I believe the good sheriff's hope is that with you in town to cover any additional attacks and, if we're lucky, stumble upon some kind of clue here, and myself trying to track down this outside source, we can catch whoever is causing this in the middle before they have time to prepare their next move."
"Another posible path foward it to look at wagons the Goblins were smuggled in on and see if we could trace that back to who did the smuggling. Probably difficult given the festival but worth a look."
"I think we need more information before we can do anything in any event. And for the moment we need to stay in town anyway," Pavro concludes. As Shalelu gives them the information on the goblin tribes Pavro's attention is drawn by one particular nugget,
"A magic sword hey? Sounds like it could be worth a trip to these caves when we get the chance, if we can find them that is."
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These are all good points. Marcoul agrees. The fact that the body of the late pastor was taken is the piece that does not fit the rest of the events in question. Vors, while I think you are likely correct that the trail has gone cold. Now that I consider it, has anything strange or odd occurred in the last few days around Sandpoint that would bear looking into? If there was some sort of personal connection to the priest we may want to cast an eye closer to home. Marcoul pauses and then gives Shalelu a speculative glance. [b]Do you have any suggestions where to start Miss Shalelu?[b]
"I fear that our investigation into who would bear a grudge against the old priest will take us into the town's archives, which I hope the Deverins will allow us to peruse."
Severus strokes his beard thoughtfully, brushing a few errant crumbs of bread from the hairs.
"The fact remains that the only purpose for the body theft is for necromancy or demonic rituals. I feel that we should have already dealt with more undead, or at least encountered further empty graves, if a necromancer were at the center of this. So that leaves the demonic ritual as a viable purpose."
"I know little of such opportunities, however. Marcoul, do you have any knowledge on demonic rituals? Any that would require a dead body, or the body of a devout person?"
"More walking bones? I should buy a mace..."
The rest of the dinner and following evening is quiet as you all ponder the information you have received. The common room gets quieter much earlier as most of the visitors have departed. The next morning, you all wake up and are talking about your plans for the following day around the table in a corner of the common room when one of the older halfling maids comes up tentatively and very distraught, "Excuse me, good lords and ladies, but might I be able to talk to you in the kitchen about an urgent matter that has come up." It is at this point, you realize you haven't yet seen Ameiko, which is unusual.
Following the maid "Of course, whats the problem?"
Avian says nothing after Thandion's response, but follows him and the maid.
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Gracefully rising from his morning meal, Marcoul folds his linen napkin and places it onto the table before rising and pushing in his chair. We may be in haste but that is never an excuse to show poor manners. As he turns and follows the halfling into the kitchen, Marcoul cannot help but shake his head. In Egorian she would never have had the temerity to so casually address a Priest of Our Lord in Darkness. But she also would have been wearing a iron necklace. Well... when in Absalom, as they say. Striding into the kitchen Marcoul spots Avian and Thandion already in attendance and he draws up short. What seems to be the problem? He announces.
Pavro blinks,
"Where's the lovely Ameiko? She gets lovelier with every free wine she gives me its true, but she wasn't half bad to start. Have I been in the kitchen before?" Pavro asks getting up and making to follow.
"You were drunk." Aressa says, stalking along behind the wastrel.
Severus makes his way into the kitchen as well, book still in hand. He says nothing but listens carefully to the others and examines the maid's face in a gentle study of her emotions.
Vors gives a silent nod and rises with the rest to head to the kitchens.
She leads you to what could almost be called a private office off the kitchen. "My apologies for disturbing you breakfast, but when Mistress Ameiko didn't come back this morning after her midnight trip, I felt that I had to do something." With that, she hands you a letter, and will translate it if need be.
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Well this poses a bit of a problem. Marcoul dryly states. Normally, I would just say that we bring this matter to the attention of the sheriff and let him sort it out, however since he has already departed to Magnimar and he asked us to keep an eye on things in the town, the responsibility is on us to investigate. Looking at each of others in turn for agreement Marcoul continues. I would suggest that each of you go and gather your things and return here in quarter of a hour. Once we are all prepared we can head out to the Glassworks and investigation Ameiko disappearance. In the meantime what can you tell me about Ameiko's brother Tsuto, miss?
"The Glassworks. Hmmm... what a suspicious location. Letters of this sort rarely yield the whole truth."
Severus examines the paper carefully; hoping to determine if there are any invisible ink marks, or shadow writing impressed on the paper from the parchment above.
That being done, he agrees with Marcoul's general sentiment. "It is apparent that something must be done, and as we have been left in charge of the town, that would likely be us to do it. Should we inform Shalelu?"
"Ameiko's father in league with the goblins? Seems hard to believe. I'll go grab my gear and meet the rest of you out front. If nothing else, we should check on Ameiko's whereabouts and ensure she's safe. No point in speaking to Shalelu, I think, until we know for certain there's something wrong."
Vors exits the kitchen and heads for his room.
Pavro frowns as he listens to her translation of the letter,
"Well I don't know Tsuto, but he sounds like a prick. I know Ameiko and I trust her. If she went to the glassworks to meet him and has not returned then we need to find out what happened to her and make it unhappen - hard," the summoner, "nothing else matters until we find Ameiko."
He looks up at Marcoul, "I'm not waiting a quarter of a hour while my friend might be in trouble. I'm leaving as soon as possible, grab weapons go - simple."
Thandion nods to Pavro "Agreed we need to move as quickly as possible, although we might well be 6 hours too late. Lonjiku Kaijitsu certainly would have the contacts to get the goblins in and he was acting oddly the other night. Perhaps he heard of this meeting, Tsuto might be in trouble. I'll be back in 30 seconds." Thandion rushes back up the stairs to the rooms and returning shortly with a saddle bag gangling with the sound of metal.
It occurs to a few of you that none of you have a key to the Glassworks, and so while the others grab their gear, Pavro seeks out the foreman, who quickly gathers the other workers, and after seeing that they are properly equipped, leads both groups to the living entrance of the Glassworks. As he opens the door, two things hit you right away. The first is the absolute silence that greets you; the second is the stench of death.
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"It seems likely that any meeting would have taken place in the private offices, but if anyone can follow this stench to it's source that would be better."
Severus stands silently for a moment or two, attempting to discern where the scent is coming from. Alas, he does not have the ability that some animals have to smell things out more clearly.
Alert for trouble, Vors nocks an arrow in his bow and stands ready, awaiting a decision on where to start the search. In the meantime, he stretches his senses through the doorway, checking if the taint of evil accompanies the odor of death.
Whatever awaits us in here can't be pleasant. Avian says as the stench hits even his diminished bird sense of smell. He loads a bullet and dose of black powder into his pistol and looks around with his keen bird eyes.
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Following behind the rest of the group, with his crossbow out at the ready Marcoul gives a start as he smells the stench of death. As a priest of Asmodeus, death was a subject that he was unfortunately familiar with. Not that there was anything wrong with the occasional goat or lamb upon the alter. No, the Lord of Law was a master who demanded his due, as was right and fair. Like a lord who demanded his rightful share from the peasent that works his land. Still, there were others among his faith that were not content with the ox or bull and in truth they were as much a problem to the faith as the bigots who only heard the fears in their heads and hearts. Sighing Marcoul took a deep calming breath and focused at the matter at hand. My lord is a patient lord, who knows all due will come in time. Focus on the matter at hand.
I agree, we should investigate the administrative area first. That would have been the most logical area for a meeting to have occurred.
On the way over Pavro fills the others in on Tsuto Kaijitsu,
"Like I said don't know him well, but him and his father did not get on, so bear that in mind with his accusations. Ameiko always stuck up for him, but he even had a few blow outs with her before he left town five years ago... Hmmm, five years ago some bad stuff went down, it seems like a big coincidence he left then as well. You know from what I recall the serial killer, The Chopper, Jervis Stoot, had carved out rooms beneath his house on Stoot's rock where he had an alter to some dark god... Thinking on that the guard only collapsed the entrance, we might want to take a look later and see if anyone has opened it up."
Pavro and Aressa hurry forward for the meeting rooms with the eidolon leading, Pavro having cast mage armor on the eidilon on the way.
Thandion freezes for a moment as Pavro talks casually about The Chopper then when Pavro starts moving he follows casting shield as moves.
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Marcoul nods politely while listening to the Pavro relay some of the details from Sanpoint's notorious past. As Thandion pauses in mid stride Marcoul raises an eyebrow. Theres more then he let's on. Let's see how he reacts to some stimulus... As they crest a hill and spot the Glassworks Marcoul nods. I suppose we could investigate that Pavro. It's possible it might be a coincidence, but it could be more. I would be interested to learn more about this "Chopper" and what god he claimed to follow.
"Killed loads of people, about thirty I think. They only caught him because the old Sheriff found him over one of his victims, but then he killed the old lawman to. They say the now Sheriff Hemlock found him minutes later, and was able to follow a blood trail from a wound the old Sheriff had inflicted. It lead to Stoot's house. Nobody believed the Chopper was old Stoot who was a harmless seeming fellow, but when they searched his house they found the rooms carved out of the rock below with an altar and upon that altar, the eyes and tongues of all the Choppers victims!" Pavro says with the glee of someone for whom the events are an unreal legend, his youth and isolation within Deverin Manor at the time making it seem otherworldly and fiendishly intriguing.
Heading to the office area, the offices themselves don't seem to have been bothered, but the store rooms that sit between it and the workshop, and the stairs leading down in that area, tell a brutal story. You see a trail of bodies leading from the main workshop/furnace room down the stairs. Most of the bodies seem to be goblin, with several human mercenary corpses mixed in for good measure. The sight almost makes you all gag, and indeed, many of the workmen back off to regain their composure while you plan your next move.
Severus keeps a wary eye on the surroundings as he loads his hand crossbow with a goblin-bane bolt.
He leans down near a mercenary corpse, trying to determine how long the body has been dead.
"Leave this to us for the moment please, we will be better served carrying this search out alone for the time being," Pavro says to the foreman, "until we know if whoever did this is still here we need to keep this place locked down. Please wait outside and prevent anyone entering."
Aressa stalks forward glancing about for any signs of danger. And once the workers have departed Pavro suggests,
"How about we search the other rooms up here swiftly and then head down, I don't like the idea of anything behind us," he then follows Aressa into the workshop area, if there are no objections.