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"And, I am to ask you, if you may be of service to Sandpoint once more?"
Trapper stands, bows, and says, "This Dwarf is always honored to serve, Sheriff Hemlock."
Trapper then cuts his eyes to the two vials of a blue liquid and strokes his beard.
Most dwarves love gold, while I love potions and scrolls. I need to drink more.
What would you have us do Sheriff?
Gozer sits quietly waiting to see if there is something that might actually make him go.
It seems like the goblins are going to be pushed to the back burner... I don't care too much for investigating or sneaking around... hmmm...
Sheriff Helock gestures at the items on the table. "Pieter Jaggare seems to have eluded us for the moment. Though we will search for him in the town, I think he made his escape with the Demeter and her crew. I haven't the resources or authority to pursue him."
"Furthermore, I have more immediate concerns," he leaned forward and lowered his voice to a more confidential tone, "For the past few weeks we've heard more reports of goblins coming out of the mountains further afield than before. We know of one farm that has fought off a raid and we've been asked to investigate others that their neighbors have lost contact with."
"Some of you may know that five years ago we fought off a goblin raid. In no small part we owed our survival of that incident to a small band such as yourselves. Since then we've built up our militia and watch. I have 30 watchmen working for me and at a moment's notice can put two hundred militia on the city walls. We take the threat of goblins seriously here."
He pauses. Ameiko brings him an ale and, without waiting for an invitation, joins you at the table.
"We, that is me, the mayor, and the Mercantile League, want to hire you," he looks round at you all, "to investigate what is happening. The normal goblin bounty will apply and I can offer you 10 gold a week and 150 gold each as a prize when the job is done."
Ameiko joins in, "You can make the Rusty Dragon your home while you are in the service of the town, both room and board."
Belethor thanks the waitress and finishes his ale as he listens to the Sheriffs proposal. "So you want to hire all of us to go kill some Goblins. Sounds good to me I'm in." He smiles and looks at the giant of a man "Looks like that axe might come in handy again."
Talberon stopped chewing just long enough to make an observation, "Missing Merchant, ship sales off in a hurry, dead Ogre, and now potions in the middle of the table." and with a nod noted the pile the Sheriff just set down.
"Wouldn't it be funny if those potions turn out to be something that would polymorph someone... a merchant perhaps... and our dead Ogre turned out to be our missing Merchant or Captain?!" he finished with a wry chuckle and went back to stuffing his face.
It was obvious that Talberon was still deeply engrossed with the Ogre, having never seen one so closely before.
'It might be common affair for these others, but it is DAMN strange in my book!' he thought.
Well sheriff, I think you know my answer before I give it. I still owe some a particular band of goblins for the death of my late husband. In fact, I'd been trying to hire these lads to help me with such a task when the incident with the ogre happened. So I'm in.
The main problem is that I don't think there is a one of us here that really knows the countryside well. It would be useful to have a guide of some sort.
Tamilius responds to he request "I'll take your money, but not for you, for the town." and to Talby "You know what? That's what happened! For a common swordsman, you know a little something about magic."
Gozer glares at Tamilius for a split second. The mention of magic irritating the young barbarian.
Point my axe in the right direction and you will not have this goblin problem anymore...
Gozer thinks about the offer of money, food, and lodge.
I don't care much for money and I can sleep outside... I can always find my own food but not having to worry about my next meal will save my energy and the money, now that I am traveling... I guess I will have a need for it...
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Trapper wrinkles his brow and glares at Tamilius, incredulous that the man would be so brazen toward a man like the Sheriff.
But, Trapper thinks, that's his business, not my own.
"My war hammer and short bow are yearning to rid the coast of Goblins once and for all. I'm in, Sheriff, and I very much appreciate the offer."
He looks at the bounty on the table, and coughs conspicuously:
"Now, about this gold and these potions ..."
Talberon choked momentarily on a bite of food at Tamilius' words.
"No, it was an observation. A simple matter of mathematics, you see, one and one seldom add up to anything other than two..." he said with a wave of his hand.
"As for this quest Sheriff, I am sure to lend a hand. Assuming these Goblins are not a mass of transe... morphed Dwarves or Halflings," he said as a jest.
"Yes, the gold should probably be divided amongst us, the dagger... hmmm, whomever may need it I suppose. The potions..." he said looking up at the Sheriff before continuing, "perhaps someone here in town might know what magic they contain?"
He turned to Tamilius, "Unless you might know?" he asked, trying to thrust the conversation of magic back to the openly magus Tamilius.
'Keep the magic suspicious eyes off yourself,' he thought.
"I'll tell you what, you can all keep the gold, and I'll keep the potions, I am the only Wizard here after all. But I don't know what we have here, my spells can only detect magic, not identify it." Something just isn't right about that 'Fighter'
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"I'll tell you what, you can all keep the gold, and I'll keep the potions, I am the only Wizard here after all. But I don't know what we have here, my spells can only detect magic, not identify it." Something just isn't right about that 'Fighter'
.
..
Trapper throws up a solid, callused (and paper cut) hand, and turns his firm gaze directly at Tamilius.
"Hold it there, mate! More than just YOU might be interested in these vials. We Dwarves are pretty hardy when it comes to potions and poisons. I'll not agree that all magics go to Wizards. You've spent too much time around Elves, it sounds like to me.
...Gozer gets up and slams his hands on the table.
Looking directly at Tamilius: I don't care who takes the damnable bottles but I tell you this wizard...Cast your magic anywhere towards me and I will make what I did to the ogre look like a slight headache compared to what I do to you! Do you understand me!
His voice almost shaking with rage.
May, who standing by Ameiko and the Sheriff watches the interaction with amusement. Her interest in strange blue potions being minimal. She has no particular trust of magic, but she doesn't have much of a trust of savage barbarians either.
It looks like this lot is going to keep me on my toes.
Belethor calmly stands just behind Gozer hand on the hilt of his sword "Calm yourself. As far as I can see magic only helped in that battle." His words are calm and strong hiding the fear that show in his eyes.
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Trapper stands.
His face softens.
He holds his hands up, palms outward in a gesture of peace.
His voice is steady when he says,
"Evil dwells outside the town walls. If we are going to survive, much less prosper, from this mission, then we are going to have to come to an agreement. These things --."
Trapper points to the gold and potions.
"These things are a trifling compared to what we could acquire out there. But it's all for naught if we're throttling each other."
Tamilius gets up and looks at Gozer before using Hand of the Apprentice to make his Dagger fly into his(Tamilius') hand. "Is that a threat? Because I don't take too kindly to threats, you bulbous-bellied barbarian." Tamilius hears Trapper "Very well then," Tamilius puts his Dagger back and sits down "I'm willing to talk about it if this 'man' is too."
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Trapper lifts an eyebrow at Tamilius' left-handed compliment, shrugs and decides that there's nothing that he can do about it ... so he turns his attention to Maya and Ameiko, and gestures for the women to join everyone around the table.
"Ameiko, would you be so kind as to help us divide this bounty evenly, so that no one is left in the mineshaft all alone?"
Trapper waves his hand in a grand, dramatic gesture at the fine clothes, sheathed dagger, two vials of blue liquid, and bag of coins.
In the bar, all eyes are on your table. The sheriff says nothing. He just keeps his eyes focused on Gozer's.
Ameiko nods to her bartender, who grabs something behind the counter.
As the blade sails across the table into Tamilius' hand Gozer lets out a roar of pure rage rattling the glasses at the bar.
The man if possible seems to grow even bigger, muscles bulging, eyes wide, a look of pure rage crosses his eyes.
Gozer lunges foward and attempts to punch Tam right in the face.
Gozer provokes and attack of opportunity I believe for an unarmed strike.
Damage:
Non leathal
Maya sees Gozer's anger starting to boil over.
Gozer, you need to calm yourself!! This isn't your homeland. We do things different here. Save your anger for the goblins we need to get out and deal with.
Diplomacy if applicable:
Great this guy is a total savage. I can see this going real well. I suppose every mercenary company has to start somewhere.
After seeing Gozer punch Tam, Maya attempts to hurl herself between Tam and raging barbarian. She leaves her sword in its sheath.
You wouldn't hit a woman would you?
Initiative:
Tamilius looks in much pain for a second and then just begins to laugh. "Well, I can already see that this is going to be a lot of fun. How about I buy you an ale?" Well at least he's strong.
Initiative Order
- Tamilius 21
- sheriff 14
- Ameiko 13
- Maya 10
- Gozer 8
- Belethor 5
- NPCs 2
- Trapper 1
Tamilius looks in much pain for a second and then just begins to laugh. "Well, I can already see that this is going to be a lot of fun. How about I buy you an ale?"
Sheriff Hemlock was on his feet quickly and standing next to Tamilius. His hand hovered over his sword hilt but didn't touch it and he fixed Gozer with a determined stare, "Your companion here is willing to let this pass. Now please sit and let us have peace here."
Ameiko said nothing but stepped in next to the sheriff, her eyes fixed on Gozer.
"You wouldn't hit a woman would you?"
Three people now stood between Gozer and the object of his ire. Their meaning was clear. They weren't going to let the barbarian hit Tamilius again.
Gozer stops abruptly almost as if there is a mental battle raging inside of him. His eyes, that were half glazed over, return to normal and he sits hard back into the seat he was sitting it. His body returns to normal and he waves a hand at Tam.
Fine...
He has made his point...
"Well that was certainly fun!! Everybody friends now." He wanders over to Tamilius "That must hurt like a giant man in a rage punched you!! Mind if I give you a little bit of healing?"
Tamilius is clearly injured with a broken nose and a good amount of blood on his face "Yes, it did hurt, and I'd love some healing, thank you."
""We, that is me, the mayor, and the Mercantile League, want to hire you," he looks round at you all, "to investigate what is happening. The normal goblin bounty will apply and I can offer you 10 gold a week and 150 gold each as a prize when the job is done."
"Well then, back on point," Talberon said turning to the Sheriff, "where do you propose we start? I mean, do you have any lead on the current Goblin problems? You know; Who, What, Why, or How?"
Talberon adjusted one of his hip daggers from digging into his stool, then went for his drink.
'I wonder how you get Ogres on the dock and Goblins at the walls? Something, as the Dwarf says, is wrong here...' his thoughts trailed off as he waited for the Sheriff's reply.
Belethor places his hand on his sword and once more Channels Energy.
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Trapper returns to the table and sits.
He carefully places his war hammer beside him ... it is nonthreatening ... but quickly accessible if needed.
He shifts his eyes from Gozer to Tam, and then to the Cleric and nods approval
Thank Torag's fire-singed hands for these men of the gods, he thinks, impressed by Belethor's cool-headedness.
Humans are so ... emotional
"What do we know, Sheriff? Anything will help. We Dwarves prefer cold hard facts, but even rumors will do at this point."
Hemlock was the first to take his seat after Gozer. That seemed to a clear signal to the others that the confrontation was over. Ameiko looked over to the bartender and nodded, then took a seat herself. The bartender went back to his work. Around the room the inn's patrons resumed their conversations. This wasn't the first time angry words have been exchanged in here and everyone seems to take it in stride.
"where do you propose we start? I mean, do you have any lead on the current Goblin problems? You know; Who, What, Why, or How?"
The sheriff reached into his coat and drew out a map which he unfolded on the table.
He points to the mountains south of Sandpoint. "Here is where the goblins dwell. Winters are as hard on them as it is on us, and we usually expect some raiding in the spring. Sheep-stealing mostly. But never more than a mile or two from the mountains. They don't want to be caught in the open, usually."
"But now we're hearing of sightings as far south and east as here." He points to a spot on the eastern bank of Cougar Creek and below the last of the quartet of villages in the area. "They've never crossed the creek before."
"We, the town I mean, patrol the road along here." He traces the route on the map between Sandpoint and Cougar Creek. "We're used to seeing goblin signs, and sometimes we even catch one or two. But lately we're seeing signs of larger groups and, more troubling, we haven't been seeing the goblins themselves. They're getting better at staying away from us."
He straightened up. "My gut feeling, and Ameiko agrees, is that we are being scouted. I've no doubt my militia can hold the town walls against any attack they can mount but I fear there's a more cunning plan at work."
"If they can disrupt the farming and shut down our overland trade route to the south, we'll be in for a hard winter. Food will have to be brought in by ship and we can't afford to keep that up for long. If it goes on for a second year, then I fear people will leave our town which in turn will leave us vulnerable to attack. It is only because we've a willing and trained militia at the ready that merchants and citizens view us as a safe place to do business and raise families."
"I want you to go south, search along Cougar Creek, and try to bring me back a goblin for questioning. Or any clue you can discover as to what is going on. If the goblins are coming out of their mountains, why? Are the being driven out or lead out?"
"In the morning we have a road patrol leaving. If you accept our offer they can take you south to the creek. I can offer you one of my watchman as a guide from there. He knows the area and it would do well for him to be out of town for a few weeks lest I have to arrest his wife for his murder."
Talberon stood and looked over the map.
"So, as I gather, we should focus here," he asked, running his finger along the Eastern edge of Cougar Creek, from the South tip of the mountains to Habe's Asylum
"...from the mountains to this... Habe's Asylum? There appears to be two villages along this side as well. Anyone there we should speak to?" he asked removing his finger from the map and straightening.
'Two miles to the first village, another mile or so to the pass between the plateau and the rise... we could be done and back in a few days. Probably four at the most, barring any confrontations.' he thought.
Knowledge Local -> 6; Ouch! Trapper doesn't pay a lot of attention to local politics, does he? All he knows is there is a body called the Sandpoint Mercantile League and they function something like an advisory council to the mayor and sheriff.
Sense Motive -> 9; You know the sheriff for an honest man and he appears to be no different now. As far as you can tell, he's letting you know all that he knows with nothing held back.
Well it sounds like we should all get some rest and meet up in the morning, so that we can get work.
MAP of what I see we are suppose to investigate?
Sheriff Hemlock concluded, "If there aren't anymore questions, I'll bid you good day and see you tomorrow morning at the Council House at dawn. It is early yet, so those of you new to Sandpoint I invite you to get to know our town and people. Please," he glances between Gozer and Tamilius, "stay out of trouble."