Olly chuckles a bit at the Sheriff's remarks. "Sounds like it's not the first time she's played that game, either." She is about to say more when the Sheriff's distraction becomes obvious, and she sees the armed men.
"What is a big squad of Hellknights doing in the middle of Sandpoint?" she asks, of no one in particular. "C'mon, let's go see what's happening." She starts following the sheriff toward the armed men, eager to hear what might be said.
Though the sheriff's speech to Vinder about his daughters' behaviors doesn't come as a big surprise to her, Zella is nonetheless glad to have her suspicions confirmed that it was the girl trying to take advantage of Darius and not the other way around.
Zella giggles along with Olly's remark. "Yeah, guess that shopkeeper has his hands full."
As the Hellknights ride by and the sheriff and then Olly head of towards them, Zella grabs Darius by the arm and moves to follow them. "Come on Darius, I think I'll just have to keep you in my sight for while. Seems like the best way to keep you outa any more *dire* situations."
After the sheriff removes the cuffs, Darius rubs his right wrist and replies, "What can I say? The women of Nybor are not nearly as devious."
Grins at the dancer, "Cute Zelladania, very cute." He falls into step with her and heads towards the Hellknights. The asks her a question, "Can I call you Zella?"
Zella smiles up at Darius. "Yes, you may."
The Sheriff walks over to the center of the town square just as most of the Hellknights arrive and dismount. A large crowd has gathered as news of the arrivals has spread. One of them removes his helm and speaks to the Sheriff, who looks angry and flustered. The lead Hellknight walks over to the stage that is still set up from the Festival and raises his one hand for everyone to be quiet.
"I am Paravicar Acillmar of the Order of the Nail. Due to recent events, we have been dispatched to maintain order and this land is now under our protection. As of now, we are instituting a curfew to begin after dark. Anyone out past then will be questioned, detained and punished." Acillmar appears to be a man of little words and steps down from the stage. The Sheriff looks angry and begins to argue with Acillmar, who promptly backhands the Sheriff, sending him flying backwards into the dirt.
Darius eyes flashed in anger, and his hands gripped the hilts of his weapon before he came to his senses. Relaxing his grip, the Half-Elf walked over and helped the sheriff on his feet. "You alright friend?"
Hemlock takes the offered hand and brushes himself off. "Appears we might have ourselves a serious problem..."
"Sheriff, do they actually have the authority to do all this?"
As the Hellknight hits the sheriff a load roar comes from Ignir and it's only a gesture from Karas' hand that keeps him from attacking the Hellknight. "What are these recent events that you speak of sir Ancillmar, that they draw the attention of your order? I mean, it seams the people here have fared well without you." There was no way they could have received news of the goblin attack yet.
The Chelish and their Hellknights were the worst of the invaders and Karas could feel the hate coming from Ignir. These men had to go or chances were he'd lose control and Ignir would end up murdering them. While he didn't mind that, it would cause trouble for the people of Sandpoint.
Olly hurries over to the Sheriff. "Looks to me like we have a whole bunch of problems," she murmurs, trying not to let the Hellknights hear. "What is going on that's so bad it'll bring Hellknights here?"
The Sheriff spits out a bit of blood from a cut on his lip, "They have authority so long as they have numbers. Seems Korsova is looking to control our little town. Meet me tonight at the mayor's house, I have a plan I would like to go over with you all. Come just before dusk, don't want you caught after nightfall with our new "curfew"
The Sheriff nods to you all and walks over to a group of scared townsfolk. He starts to reassure them that everything will be fine.
Zelladania sighs as she once again curses fate for throwing distractions into her life when she keeps trying to get some peaceful, quiet time to get to know Darius better.
"Well, I guess we had better make sure to eat an early dinner since it seems we have some clandestine plotting to done later this evening. This also ruins any plans for any picnics at the beach."And definitely rules out any moonlit strolls on the beach. Damn Hellknights.
"Not to mention any chance of performing tonight." Olly sighs. How am I supposed to get noticed if I can't even go out at night to perform? This is ridiculous.
"Oh crap! I didn't even think of that. The after dinner crowds at taverns are the best time to play for money. They tend to tip better when they've had a few drinks. That seriously cuts into the amount of money we will be making for the near future." Zella now begins to pout as she ponders this development.
Darius gently lift Zella's chin to look into her eyes, "Don't pout, it's not becoming a lady." Then gives her a wink.
Paravicar Acillmar gives Karas a quick glance and then sniffs in disgust, "Tribal savages like yourself are one of the main reasons that my order exists. Better keep your nose clean or we could find a reason to haul you in for questioning, you and your.... pet"
He turns away from Karas and begins organizing his men into patrols.
The warrior walked up to one of his new friends, "They'll have to go through me first." he whispered. Darius clasps Karas' shoulder to affirm his words then turns back to Zella, "Now what do you have in mind for dinner?"
Seldon glides through the crowd, placing a gentle hand on Ignir's shoulder and steps between him and the mounted man. Arms raised in a peaceful gesture, he nods in greeting before leaning on his walking stick. "It would not do to challenge several dozen armored hellknights in the middle of the town. We must bring them to the table." he says, barely a whisper. "Dreamer protect me..." he mutters, as he walks beside the Paravicar, towering high on his destrier, and meets his gaze with a diplomatic smile.
"My friend speaks reason, sir. Will you not come to the table?" he asks, entreatingly, trying for the diplomatic approach.
"You're a long way from Citadel Vraid, Paravicar. Far more than a day's ride, I might add. ...and to bring such a force to a lonely town like this... Surely they'd be best serve keeping Abrogail's peace " he says. "Whatever you came for, milord, it is not in Sandpoint."
"I suppose it may be best to just eat at the Dragon again. I have a feeling their patrols would interrupt any attempt at a picnic."
Ignir scowls, "Don't you worry about me dreamer, I've killed these infernal puppets before, and their devil masters. It was glorious. But that was a past life, a past me." He takes a step back, and then looks the leader in the eye, "Maybe another day."
Karas just shakes his head. Hellknights were bad. His tribe had stories about them and some other Quahs fought with them on a somewhat regular basis, with variable success. They were a hopeless lot and these lands wouldn't know peace until the Quahs had removed them. Peace with the other invaders was possible, but not with these thugs.
The Hellknight commander looks at Seldon, "As a cleric, I have a little more respect for you then the rest. But heed my warning, return to your daily business, we are here to bring order and peace to the town and assist in locating the cause of the goblin raid two days ago."
You hear the commander yell out, "Bring them out!", and over at the Sheriff's station you see two Hellknights dragging out a gnome in chains. You recognize him as Blixa, the gnome ranger that attacked Flit, the goblin Pathfinder. You also see two other Hellknights dragging out Flit. They drag both of them to the stage and Paravicar walks in front of them.
"Blixa Gratzuldash, you are found guilty of attempted murder; you are hear-by sentenced to death by beheading." A shocked murmur passes through the crowd. Paravicar turns to Flit, "Flitters, you are found guilty of inciting a riot, espionage against the nation of Cheliax, and stealing a royal artifact of the House of Thune; you are hear-by sentenced to death by hanging." The crowd has now been stunned to silence. Paravicar signals the other Hellknights and a rope is strung around one the banisters of the stage and a large log is rolled on, accompanied by a rather large Hellknight with a rather nasty looking axe.
You hear some of the crowd urging the Sheriff to do something, to which he whispers back that he can't.
Zella is stunned as she tries to understand what is going on. "Wait, what is going on? Did I miss something or are they about to execute Flit?!?"
Darius eyes once again flash a bright orange and blurts out, "You would hang a Pathfinder in public? What gives you the right? You have no authority here!" Immidiately after speaking, he wishes he hadn't.
Oh s!~#. Still fairly stunned from this turn of events. Zella can only look from Darius to the Hellknights as she wonders what's about to happen.
"No!" Olly blurts out before she can stop herself. She looks around, and her dismay at the Sheriff's inaction is obvious on her face. "I mean, I don't know what Blixa did or didn't do, but even I could tell Flit wasn't inciting any riots. I'm no fan of goblins - even he would tell you that!" and she gestures toward Flit. "But we were here! We saw what happened! We were the ones who fought them! And he looked as upset as anyone else did. And even if he did do something, and whatever Blixa did, there should be a trial!" She looks around at the uneasy crowd. "Sheriff, are we really going to stand here and let them do this?"
Seldon bows slightly and turns on his heel. If you look closely, you notice a curse on his lips. His expression turns grave as the sentances are read out, but he does not make to stop them. He places a cautionary hand on Olly's shoulder. "Please... don't give them any reason to turn their blades against the townsfolk." he pleads, sadly.
The crowd begins to yell and scream at the Hellknights, spurred on by Olly's remarks. Paravicar signals to his men and several Hellknights walk on the stage and unsheathe their weapons, they stand ready to prevent any riots.
Blixa is strapped to the log and the noose is looped around Flit's neck. Flit seem's horrified at what is about to happen, but he lowers his head and begins to sing. His song is beautiful and mournful, Olly recognizes it as a funeral song in Gnomish. A few of the Hellknights seems distracted by it, and a few townsfolk begin to wipe away tears. Paravicar yells at his men to pay attention and slaps the executioner for tearing up. When the commander looks back at the prisoners, he screams out, as they have disappeared.
"Find them!" He bellows, and a squad of Hellknights quickly begin to search the area, including the stage and surrounding shops.
What the...? Where...? Darius mind begins to race as his eyes dart around looking for Flit.
Oh thank Desna! They got away! Relief clear on her face as everyone notices the prisoners have disappeared, Zella looks about, hoping they've made it far enough away that the Hellknights won't find them.
Olly can't help but grin a bit at the disappearance of the prisoners. "Well, he did say he was a bard," she says. "And a clever one too, from the look of it." Gotta give him credit, that was pretty smooth for a goblin. This is going to make a great story!
Olly looks around to see if she can spot the prisoners, and to keep an eye out in case any of the Hellknights come after her or her friends for interfering.
The Hellknights begin searching and none of you are able to catch a glimpse of Flit or Blixa. The commander finally shouts out to the crow of onlookers "Get Back! Nothing to see here, go about your business"
Karas is approached by Mr. Foxglove at the Rusty Dragon, "Seems that we have some new problems around in town. I have a neat idea to help release some of that stress. Been thinking of going boar hunting tomorrow, you and any of your friends are sure welcome to come."
Not seeing any sign of Flit, Darius looks at the sky as best he can. "Well Zella, it looks like there is still enough daylight left for a small picnic." He looks into her eyes with a slight grin on his face, offers her is arm, "Shall we?"
Olly grins at Zella and Darius. "You two go have fun."
She will spend the rest of the day trying to find someplace to perform, if anyone is paying any attention, what with the crowd of Hellknights in town and all. If she can find someplace with an audience, she'll go back to her solo act of storytelling and drumming. If anyone wants to come along, she'll be happy for the company.
Late in the day she'll make her way to the mayor's house to join the others.
Zella takes hold of Darius arm. "Yes, I think we shall." And I'm going to try to not let those stupid HellKnights ruin my good mood.
Zella grins back at Olly. "We'll try to. Catch up with you later." Waving with her free hand, Zella will walk with Darius over the Dragon to get some food and drink to take with them on their little picnic. From there it's a walk to the beach to find a suitable place to sit and eat and talk.
"So you said that you travelled alot. Where have you been?" Darius asked while passing Zella a drink.
"Oh, we traveled all over Varisia. Though we steered clear of the larger cities, like Magnimar. The streets of larger cities tend to be a bit narrow for some of our wagons and some of the guardsmen tend to be less than friendly. Or in a few cases, way too friendly if you know what I mean and they don't like being told no. I couldn't remember the names of all the little towns and villages I've been to, no matter how I try. Just too many of them and they tend to blend together since they'll all about the same."
"Usually the smaller and more remote the village, the better reception we'd get from the locals. They'd be starved for entertainment and news and the goods that we'd have with us. It was a fun life for a while, but eventually it just got too monotonous for me. The towns kept blending together and it was the same routine over and over again. There wasn't much point in trying to make friends in the towns since we would never be there for long. Which meant no real relationships for me either."
Zella gives a shrug. "People just assume it's a fascinating life to live, but you get just as tired of it as anything else. That's why I came up here to try something different."
"Well given recent events, I'd say you've succeeded." the Half-Elf says with a grin.
Zella laughs. "I think I succeeded far too well."
Darius and Zelladania continue to eat and talk until the sun starts to dip low. The warrior takes notice, "We best be getting to the meeting before it gets dark." He helps her pack up and they head to the mayor's office.
"Yes, we don't want to get caught out after dark by those HellKnight thugs." Zella take hold of his arm as they walk back to the town.
Boar hunt? It always struck Karas as odd that these people hunted for sport. His people hunted for food or for ritual purpose, like a rite of passage, but never for sport. He just nodded, there were more important things going on now.
That evening, before curfew, both Karas and Ignir made their way over to the mayor's house.
Darius and Zella arrive at the Mayor's office to find that no one else has arrived yet. "Seems we're a little early. I wonder what the sheriff and mayor have planned?"
Zella gives a little shrug. "I don't know, but hopefully it will have to do with getting those HellKnights outa town."
"Do you not find it a little strange that they show up the day after a goblin raid that appears to be a cover for the robbery of a tomb of a church elder?"
"I have found everything to more than a little strange since I got here."
Darius crosses his arms, leans one shoulder against the wall, turns to the dancer and says, "Everything? What else have you found strange, if I may inquire?"
Zella thinks. "Well, it was also rather strange to meet a goblin pathfinder." Smiling over at Darius she adds, "You do not fall under the strange category if that is what you are concerned about."
With his arms still crossed, Darius points to himself with a wide-eyed expression on his face, "Me? I'm not strange. I'm just a normal man with a slightly exotic parentage." The warriors mind trails off for a second, "I hope Flit is okay." then he grins, "Olly would be crushed to lose her number one fan."
You all arrive at the City Hall, Zelladania and Darius arrive first, followed by Noro and Olly, and then Karas and Seldon bringing up the rear. As you walk in, you see both the Sheriff Hemlock and Mayor Belor present, as well as an unknown elf woman. Her armor is well used as well as her weapons, especially her bow.
Hemlock asks you all to sit, "I would like to introduce you to Shalelu, she's an unofficial member of the town guard who keeps any eye on the five goblin tribes nearby. I will let her take it away from here."
Shalelu stands and addresses the group "Belor’s told me of your work against the goblins—well done. I’ve dedicated the last several years of my life to keeping them from causing too much trouble around these parts, but they’re tenacious and fecund little runts. Like weeds that bite."
"Anyway, there’s five major goblin tribes in the region, and, traditionally, they’re pretty good at keeping each other in line with intertribal squabbles and the like. Yet from what I’ve been able to piece together, members of all five tribes were involved in the raid on Sandpoint. A fair amount of the Mosswood tribe goblins I dealt with yesterday were already pretty beat up, and there was a lot of chatter about the "longshanks" who killed so many of them. Now that I’ve met you, it seems obvious from their descriptions who they were talking about. Seems like you’ve made an impression."
"In any event, the fact that the five tribes are working together disturbs me. Goblin tribes don’t get along unless they’ve got something big planned, and big plans require big bosses. I’m afraid that someone’s moved in on the goblins and organized them. And judging by these recent raids, what they’re organizing seems like bad news for all of us."
Shalelu sits down and the Sheriff stands once again, "So there you have it, two problems at the same time, Goblins at our door and Hellknights in our house. I leave in the morning with a good portion of the town guard. Our destination is Magnimar to recruit more guards, both to help with the goblin problem and possibly force the Hellknights out. Shalelu will be staying in the area to harass the goblins as best as she can to slow them down and disorganize them. I need you to stay here, make a public appearance in town once a day, keep morale up that your still around, people seem to like you. Would you be able to do that for Sandpoint?"
"Well that certainly wouldn't be any hardship for me since I had planned on stick around for a bit and making some public appearances anyway and there's nothing like some good performances to help keep peoples' spirits up. I mean really, you're not asking me to do anything that I wasn't going to do anyway, so the fact that it'll aid you and the town is just a bonus."
Zella glances over at both Darius and Olly as she talks. One glance making it clear that she has another reason for sticking around Sandpoint and the other glance a questioning one as she mentions performances. Clearly she wonders if Olly will still be sticking around as her partner in performances.