"Eeeeee!!!!"
Seeing his chance to take advantage of the now prone beast, Sigfried would step up after him, chopping down now at the vulnerable brute. Sigfried understood mercy, but his job had required these goblins to die, and for their crimes and attack on his group, he would not hold back any. It wasn't a lack of honor, only a job.
Taejin will shift behind the Bugbear, attempting to take advantage of its prone state and strike a pair of pressure points. "Get ready to hit him when he stands up!"
Hideaki strikes downwards at the goblin, but it manages to get its cloak in the one, which has become as hard as wood, blocking the blow.
The beast stands up again, provoking attacks from Sig and Hideaki, then releases its cloak in order to cast another spell, pointing a finger at Hideaki.
The two goblins swarm around Lucius, flanking him.
The last fires an arrow at Sindri.
Lucius will continue to try and dispatch the goblins swarming him.
After the first miss, Sigfriend would watch as the bugbear stood to cast a spell, swinging horizontally hoping to land its target this time. It seemed the creature was more than a brute, far trickier and slippery than he had given it credit for and had read about them in logs back with his people.
He would find the previous dark aura though blocking the way of his blade, but a far better issue than having missed completely. Still undetered, he would take another swing at it, trying desperately to bring the savage down and end him once and for all.
Hideaki strikes the bugbear as it is standing back up, weakening it further, before his mind is filled with abject terror.
Lucius takes down one of the goblins harassing him.
Sindri fires another set of arrows at the remaining goblins.
He takes out one goblin, and seriously wounds the second.
As Sig strikes the bugbear, the creature topples to the ground, then bursts into a bright flash of flame. As it does streaks of fire zip around the cavern striking each member of the party, including one that hurtles down the cave tunnel after Silas. After only a brief moment the corpse of the bugbear is gone, leaving only a pile of equipment that appears to be unhurt from the flames.
As the flames burn everyone, there is also a feeling of power and strength in the flames.
The remaining goblin gives a shriek and flees towards the back of the cavern.
Sindri follows up with more arrows.
After being burned by the gout of fire, Lucius decides to accept a bit of the other burn to clean up this burn.
and he's feeling OK (except for 1 burn).
Mwk Morning Star
Mwk Chain Shirt
Pearl of Power (1st)
Shield Cloak
200gp
There were also the potions from the goblin captain that I don't think anyone claimed.
potion of cure light wounds and 2 potions of endure elements.
With the goblins and their leader vanquished, the group is releaved to exit heat of the cavern. Lyra and the men are still busy getting the livestock in motion and headed back towards Gumlat.
Several days of uneventful journey leads to safely arriving in the small village where the farm hands quickly take over the care of the animals and seeing them returned to their rightful owners.
The mayor ushers everyone in to his modest home. Another man stands to the side of the room, richly dressed in fine silken robes marking him as a wizard - and very out of place in the small community. The man is at ease, and waits as the mayor bumbles over to his desk and pulls a small chest from off the floor and sets it on the desk. Given his grunt the chest is clearly heavy.
The mayor speaks, "Well done. We are in your debt for your aid in this matter. Winter would have been hard without the animals to supplement our food stores."
"But the reward of course, well, I guess that is payment for our debt." The mayor looks over at the wizard as if for assurance, but getting no response of any kind, turns back to the chest and opens it to reveal it filled with gold coins.
The wizard then speaks, "Mayor, may I have a word in private with Gumlat's saviors?" His voice is even and calm, but he speaks as one who knows he is the mayors better.
"Of... of course your excellence." The mayor hastily departs.
The wizard sits down on the desk itself next to the now empty chest. "My name is Ris'jae. I wonder if you might be willing to share your experiences these last few days."
The days pass in almost a blink for Sigfried, or he assumes as the turn of phrase doesn't apply to him as well with his ever staring optic. Still, he experiences his first semblance of a job well done with his new companions. An odd sense of nostalgia and familiarity weighs in each day of cheer on the return trip, almost as if he could recall this joy with a bother group of heroes.
Ever sense the death of the bugbear, his heart as never felt more aflame, his spirit lit hotter than any forge he had seen before. He finds his body more responsive, his thoughts clearer than ever in training. He was even beginning to explore new ways of communication, though it seemed his body kept those limitations, but he felt maybe one day, those too good break.
As it was, the meeting with the mayor would set in, Sigfried quietly observing at first until the mayor took his leave, and the wizard began to speak. The word 'excellence' stuck hard with him, the now bolder and aware construct feeling curious enough to question. "Observation: I noticed his honor, the mayor, referred to you by a grander moniker. Are you the true one in charge of Gumlat?" he'd ask directly, his voice showing more emotion that before, but not by much.
"Sure, I'll be needing work. Don't want to blow through my recent earnings. "
Hideaki Taejin experiences a similar revelation to Sigfried, his body feeling lighter and more responsive than before on the journey home, and his spirit feeling bolstered by something... more. The journey passes quickly and uneventfully, the most action that any of them sees taking place with Taejin's daily shadowboxing session, which he performs after packing up camp and before the party begins travel once more, and the group arrives in Gumlaut.
The brawler comports himself with simple silence throughout the meeting with the mayor. When he leaves, the brawler regards the wizard cautiously. Before he speaks, he'll examine the man before him, wondering what his motives are, and he'll feel that strange infusion of insight sharpen his observations as though responding to his desires, but the wizard proves inscrutable even with that assistance.
At a loss for Ris'jae's motivations, Taejin will simply take the direct route; "Not to be rude, but why? It's fairly easy to guess what the problem was, and how it would've been dealt with. What could we have seen that would pique the curiosity of a man whose presence makes this small town's leadership quake in fear?"
"I am not in charge here in Gumlat. That burden happily rests on Mayor Oleic. I'm to much of a book worm to be bothered with politics. Though sadly, I'm associated with the mage tower in Coran, so I cannot escape politics completely."
He looks at Hideaki, "A fair sets of questions. I study magical anomalies" he frowns slightly, "and there have been a number of them popping up recently throughout the region. My resources in the mage tower allow me to get a general location of these anomalies, but tracking down the exact location is a time consuming process, and well, to be honest, the first one I explored caught me unprepared for dealing with things in the wild. I escaped, but was not able to properly study the area."
"However, when I got back to Coran, there were three more of these odd phenomena. Two near Gumlat, and one in desert near Issust Hold."
"So I came straight here hoping to investigate further, but I wonder if you may have already stumbled upon what I was looking for. The first occurrence was to the north of Gumlat. So I'm hoping you could tell me if there was anything out of the ordinary with what you encountered."
"That big, hairy goblin priest was tossing around spells that were far more powerful than what I would have normally expected."
"Yeah, and after we put him down, something flared up and I felt rather odd. Still do in fact. My appetite is about gone. "
"I feel... lighter, if that makes sense. Sometimes it's like everyone's moving a little slower."
"Well all I can really say is, I feel rejuvenated... I feel power." the Svirfneblin's eyes lit up like ioun stones.
shaking off his infatuation with power, he tried to remain cool and collected.
"I cannot say what happened but it's almost as if we're ordained. There was a bugbear priest of some dark deity, i'm not sure which one, one of us figured out who it was. Anyways, this priest was performing some sort of ritual, sacrifices to be clear. This isn't an uncommon practice, many drow and duergar do the same." he told the wizard with a heavy heart.
"Agreement: Things have indeed changed since the battle against the bugbear. I cannot say what, by my body seems more responsive and mind far sharper."
Ris'jae begins rapidly taking notes as the group talks about their experience with the bugbear. "Given your varied descriptions, it sounds as though one would have to experience it themselves to really understand?"
He drums his fingers on the desk, tapping the end of the quill pen against his chin. "Hmmm, I don't want to bear bad news, but that may not be safe. Or maybe it is safe." he looks around the room at each, "I honestly don't know, I need more information. Given you've already been touched by this magic though... and given your being more prepared and capable of dealing with whatever else may be being attracted to these magical auras than I was, I wonder if we might work out an arrangement?"
"I can provide you with the location of these phenomena as they occur, you investigate them for, bringing back blood samples of any creatures that have also been touched by the power should they prove dangerous and need to be put down. In return I will see what funding I can get from the tower to aid in these expeditions. In addition, the tower can craft quite a variety of magical items should you be unable to acquire what you need elsewhere. The tower would charge the normal costs for such items, but I'm sure I can persuade them to put in any requests you have at a high priority so there would be minimal delay in gaining the items you need."
"That's sounds more than fair to me. I'm in. "
"I agree as well."
"Excellent." Ris'jae proclaims. "That is a relief for me."
"Well let me see here." he looks through his pouches until he pulls out a scroll of parchment, unrolling it on the desk to show a fairly detailed map of the region.
"We are of course here in Gumlat." he points at the eastern edge of a vast section of forest. "The next anomaly is somewhere here. It is a rather thick part of the forest - I don't think many, if any, travel there, as there are no roads through that part and most folk talk of spirits haunting that part of the woods. A few who have hunted near there say they've heard strange music coming from the deepest and darkest parts. And that prey they have chased to that area mysteriously vanishes, the trail gone."
Given the map, it appears it would take five or six days travel through the forest to arrive in the vicinity.
"Well that's a bit of a hike so we should probably get on our way. "
The brawler stretches and nods in agreement. "That sounds like something we could stand to investigate. Do you have something we could contain these blood samples in? Perhaps something more sturdy than the average vial, since field travel invites all kinds of unplanned violence and I'd rather not have some highwayman get lucky and shatter the blood sample when we're halfway home."
Sindri will hear out this wizard, distrustful of him yet secured in this spell resistance.
Sindri will try to bring some back some hidden knowledge about the area, still new to surface realm, perhaps his slaver overlords mentioned or information that his masters in Ioso would of taught him while honing his skills.
"Ris'Jae, what can you tell us about folktales and creatures that live in the area?"
Looking towards the rest of the group, Sindri makes his presence known by stabbing the map with his wakizashi.
"Now that I have all of your attention, we cannot go yet. We need information and supplies. I've helped lead this group and I will continue to do so. We should buy supplies, indulge our base desires whatever they may be and leave at dawn in two days. Perhaps an alchemist could supply us with iron flasks."
"Maybe they do things differently where you come from, but being in front is not the same as being the boss. I see no good reason to wait so long, and I never agreed that you were in charge. Unless someone is in serious need of supplies, I see no reason to wait. Now waiting till tomorrow mornings is probably a good idea, but I don't see why we need to waste a day. "
"There is a saying the Svirfneblin have said for eons,"it's better to have more supplies than none"."
Sindri will take in what Lucius has said," considering we're now missing someone, having extra stock would be useful would it not? I've dealt with Drow,Duergar and deep horrors that remain hidden to much of humanity all my life. Call me foolish for wanting to be better stocked and informed. If I wanted to die in vain, I would of stayed in the salt mines of Issust Hold and not escaped whatever cruel fate remained for me there!" Sindri will say in an angered tone.
Taking a breath Sindri will try to calm down,"Forgive me for allowing my emotions to get the better of me, that wouldn't be professional. All I am saying is that I've risked my life for this group so far, only two of us can actually see in the dark, this hurts all of us. Buy and Ioun torch with your share of the loot. I never said I was in charge, only that I have lead this group in those caverns with Sig at my back for the most part. Having some leadership is better than none. If you need me I will be in town, remember my words. You might not like me, but you may need me now and again."
Sindri vanish from thin air and walk out the room, into the town to calm down and gather some supplies and information.
"Ok, that was odd. Does anyone else need to take a full day off? I'm ok if they do. I just don't like being bossed around. "
Sigfried had remained quiet yet again to observe, merely watching the interactions as the little dark gnome worked to take charge before taking his leave. In a lot of ways, he was much like the Proto, the first wyrwood who had first managed their own consciousness and had built him. Perhaps this is why he felt more in turn with the little one being in charge and less bothered by it. "Response: I have finished repairs and I am ready to take to the path when the others are," he answered, his pink eye on Lucius.
"Concern: I do have my doubts about bringing back samples of these creatures, I would not want to see power like the bugbear's fall into the wrong hands. However, knowledge must first be acquired before it can be deemed hazardous, and gold and prestige are still required for this one. I believe Sindri has the best knowledge to follow when it comes to hazardous territory," Sigfried went on, probably speaking more than he had ever in the time he had been with the group.
"I have no objections to him scouting ahead. He seems competent at that. However I'm pretty sure he just demonstrated that he has no temperament to be a leader. "
Taejin would nod in response to Lucius, having watched the shadow-gnome's tantrum with no small amount of surprise. "I'm not sure we're any sort of unit that needs a leader. I'd follow Sindri underground, but I've got no small amount of experience with ruins and languages. Similarly, I'd defer to Silas for anything magical, seeing as I know almost nothing about it. Why must there be a leader right now, or at all?"
His piece said, he would await the answer to his earlier question of the wizard before making his way into town, to follow the Svirfneblin's advice and purchase an Ioun torch, the floating stone being much more efficient than torches but previously out of his price range. "I'll meet you all back in the middle of town tomorrow, where we joined together before leaving to hunt the goblins. I'll try to find Sindri myself and let him know, and we can go over our supplies as a team and see what's lacking."
"I just need to pick up food for the trip and I'll be ready to go." Silas says.
"I'm not sure I trust any of you yet well enough to make all the decisions, so I think we should keep this like a democracy."
"I would appreciate it if Sindri waits until we're a little closer to any future enemies before he starts firing arrows."
"Yeah, I've had some issues with leadership in the past. I prefer to have input into decisions. "
"Anyone know anything about the forest we're headed to? or the spirits that are supposed to inhabit it?"
"I'm rather new around here myself. Perhaps our employer can offer some details. "
"Containers... containers. I don't have anything other than a couple of glass vials at present. But I'll order some lead ones in Coran. That would also block any magical scrying to locate or determine what you are carrying in the future. But I don't have any lead vials on me. Though we could check with the locals to see if they have any, or have someone who could craft a few for us?"
Ris'jae listens to Sig's concerns. "Hmmm, yes. I can understand your concern there. There probably won't be enough magic in a few drops of blood to gain any benefit from other than study, but its possible. But as you said, that can't be determined till I can actually study the stuff more closely. I'll have to think on this one."
Following the conversation, Ris'jae jumps in at the next topic, "I don't know what might actually be in those part of the woods, but asking around town might uncover something. There may be a few who've seen first hand."
From a historical perspective, there are accounts of the woods having been haunted in the past. Travellers would find items missing from their packs in the mornings. Eerie music heard in the distance. Harnesses for the horses broken, or straps loosened, or various other misfortunes.
Asking around town for a bit to see if the locals know more you run into an old trapper that claims to have been in those parts of the woods before. "I was hunting a stag. I'd wounded it, but the creature had stamina, just kept going, keeping ahead of me. As I entered a darker part of the forest, following the trail, I heard music coming from the trees. Then something caught on my feet and I fell. As I went to get up, there standing in front of me was a tiny elf with green skin, and a thin needle pointed straight at my eyes. Well I got out of there quick as I could and I hunt and trap elsewhere now."
"OK, I guess people should poke around some. "
Once out of the building, Sindri will attempt to acquire information on the strange sightings in the surrounding area. Asking trappers,farmers and apothecaries might prove useful.
Once the information was acquired,Sindri settle out to buy poisons or ingredients to make some, as well as more arrows of different types and various other supplies.
Letting their scout gather the information they need, Sigfried decided the best way he could help the group would be to remain somewhere they could easily find him (an easy task considering what he was). He spent his time training his body, getting used to the new power and responses his body felt. Despite the wealth he had acquired, he didn't feel the need to rush out and spend it at the moment, feeling his own tools should still prove adequate for the next task ahead of them.
The meeting with the wizard Ris'jai comes to an end, and each heads their separate ways to gather supplies for the coming journey. A number of the mercenaries still about town give the members of the group dark scowls.
As Sindri goes about town gathering supplies and information, you come to realize there is a man in worn clothing following him. A few days growth of facial hair marks his otherwise plain and unmemorable face. The man does not seem to quite fit in with the other ruffians in town, his face a more serious look of study and curiosity as opposed to the hostility many others expression show. A glint of metal from beneath his shirt suggests a chain shirt underneath his clothing, and a longbow and great sword hang from off his back. He turns a corner and you are unable to find him after that.