Zoli shudders as she watches him die -- no longer caring that they won't be able to question him, and unable to stop this fresh onslaught of tears.
She readies herself to stab the goblins who're awakening as well, if they ignore her warning and try to move.
As the goblins wake, they start fumbling around for weapons, either not caring what Zoli said, or not understanding. Either way, the result is Zoli taking her emotions out on them, resulting in two more dead goblins on the floor, blood pooling from the sword wounds.
Shortly after, Kala manages to quickly hobble back to the back door, rope in hand, only to witness the three prisoners dead an Zoli standing over them with fresh blood dripping from her rapier, with a look of equal parts rage and sadness. At the other end of the room, Eugeni, Xamarath, Morythine, and the beaten Ameiko make their way in at a sprint to the same sight. Ameiko stops and stares numbly at her fathers body, only sparing a minuscule glance at the body of her half-brother.
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"Damned glass..." Kala says under her breath.
She turns to Zoli, unsure if what she sees was done of necessity or rage. "Why did you do this Zoli? They were defenseless, and we needed one, preferably the elf-bastard, for questioning."
Realizing she's coming on too strong, and that something has upset her halfling friend, Kala switches to a gentler tone. "They must have been waking up?" she asks.
Eugeni rushes over to Zoli. "Yeah, what happened? Are you okay?"
Zoli impales the final goblin while it lunges for it's weapon, and the adrenaline starts to recede. Moments later, her companions return.
Zoli just about has her tears under control until Kala starts to question her. As Eugeni rushes over she clings to him, burying her face in his furry arm for a few moments.
Not yet able to catch her breath, she says in gasps "It was-- He was the one who-- He, Tsuto, he woke up-- they all did, all at once, but he said he was the one who (sob) who killed Poppa. He smiled and insulted him and I--"
Pausing to steady her breathing she says in a smaller voice "Then the goblins were scrambling for their weapons and I warned them to stop. When they didn't-- I didn't want them to get away, or to be outnumbered and alone up here. But I did want to question Tsuto. I...maybe he meant for me to kill him? His words were so cruel. How does someone end up like that?"
Only now able to look around, she sees Ameiko and realizes she's not the only one in mourning. Turning toward her, Zoli says, "Ameiko, I'm so very sorry. Your father. Your brother. This is all so senseless!"
"Senseless..." Ameiko repeats, her mind obviously elsewhere. The word was muttered so quiet that it is barely audible over the roaring furnace. For a moment, it seems she is going to stand there staring for hours, but then she quickly turns and vomits beside one of the nearby work benches, and starts crying uncontrollably.
After crying for nearly a minute, she reaches up and grabs a still intact glass vase, and throws it at the furnace, screaming at the top of her lungs as she does so. She repeats this with anything else on the table she can find, eventually culminating in her raking everything off of it with her arms, violently sending shards of glass and tools smashing and scattering across the floor. Some new cuts open on her arms from already broken glassware, though they appear superficial. Ameiko then slumps to the ground, trembling and sobbing.
From outside, Kala can see several curious onlookers gathering at the corner of the factory, and a couple of guards begin pushing their way through. "What is going on here?" one calls out as he finally breaks through the crowd and approaches. Kala notes that, while their swords are not drawn, the guards are tense and have their hands resting on the pommel of their sheathed blades.
Seeing Ameiko's grief in an odd way helps Zoli pull out of her own.
The halfling puts her hands on the trembling woman's shoulders. She listens silently for more than a minute. When Ameiko finally looks up, she says simply. "I really am so very sorry. I just lost my father too so I know a bit of what your loss is like. I'm sorry."
Sensing the shift to the somber that is overtaking the room, given the overwhelming shock of yet more losses to the wiles of goblins unified and given purpose, Xamarath decides to head off the trouble brewing with the guard. Stepping around the corner to appear in the doorway, the red wizard offers a reassuring smile and raises his hands to fend off any alarm.
"Yet another in a long rash of goblin activity, I'm afraid. You would do well to round up a few more guards and post them here, I think; if nothing else, we should fend away the townsfolk—spare them the gruesome details while we piece together exactly what has happened. After doing this, have your most senior or ranking man or woman report inside where I will apprise him or her of the situation. You may post someone inside if you have any doubts or suspicions, naturally, superfluous though such a thing will inevitably be."
Eugeni looks increasingly uncomfortable as peoples' facades of social skill fall away under the onslaught of a tsunami of grief. He can only watch, mouth agape as Ameiko vents. No clever words come to mind, no platitudes to help her and Zoli. He just stands there, the blood on his fur slowly drying into clumps, looking dazed himself.
Morythine stays out of the way of the guards and the bereft, hoping that his companions will soon see things in order and that they can then continue to explore the Glassworks.
The guard appears to not take well to receiving orders from an adventurer, walking up to them with an obvious attitude. However, before he can produce a rebuke, he spots the goblin bodies inside the door, and his jaw drops slightly at the sight of the carnage beyond. He turns and nods to the mage and calls out to the three other guards making their way up, "Y'all get those people back!"
He then follows Xamarath inside, and says, "What...happened here?" It would seem that he is battling the urge to add more vomit to the floor.
Morythine looks to Xamarath, waiting for his charismatic companion to answer the guard. Despite Sheriff Hemlock's informal deputization, the dhampir's naturally uncomfortable around official keepers of law and order. Convinced that if he does open his mouth he'll say the wrong thing, he keeps alert and ready for anything.
The locked door is where Ameiko was. The underground passage we do need to look at though.
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"While investigating the disappearance of Ameiko at the behest of one of her serving women, we stumbled upon a note from her brother Tsuto, to the effect that her father had something to do with the goblin attacks. Upon arriving here we found the goblins and Tsuto. They attacked, Tsuto included. It was an unwise decision."
The guard nods at Kala's full assessment, growing more nauseous as he scans the gore scattered about the room.
Ameiko speaks up, "Tsuto was lieing about father. He wouldn't have had anything to do with goblins. He thought himself above most humans, let alone those savage things." Her tone is even and emotionless.
"I understand if some of you want to stay here, but I'm going to go look down the tunnel in the basement," Eugeni says, heading back to the underground tunnel. He knocks an arrow in his bow, and walks down the tunnel.
As you travel along the tunnel, you are able to determine a few facts about it's features. Firstly, it was definitely man made, and is lazily winding on a northeasterly route through the bedrock of Sandpoint. After several hundred feet, their are two branches leading off the main path, to the left and to the right. The one to the right seems to have at one point been bricked off, but has been torn down and there is another pathway beyond.
As Eugeni decides which path to explore, he is relieved to hear the footsteps of his allies come up behind him. He leads them down the right hand path, which winds for 50 feet before turning North for another hundred. At this point, Eugeni's and Morythine's enhanced vision in darkness is proving quite beneficial, while the others are reliant on created light sources.
Delving deeper down into the earth, you see up ahead two openings in the right tunnel wall. However, something moving in the first recess catches all of your attention...
__________
Eugeni raises his hand to halt everyone when he hears the noise, but whatever was making the sound does not stop, and actually rounds the corner. The group is greeted by a hideous creature that lashes out at Eugeni with claws and tooth covered mandibles. The strikes rake ineffectively against the dog-man's chain shirt, fortunately...
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Kala drops her torch to the ground and moves forward through her allies, drawing her shortsword in the process. As she reaches the hideous creature who attacked Eugeni, she stabs at it, wounding it in the chest.
"Take that you foul beast," she yells, as she resumes her defensive stance.
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Eugeni tries to tumble past the creature, saying "Ah! What in the nine hells..." The sinspawn lashes out at Eugeni with its clawed maw as he passes, but the nimble aasimar dodges the blow. He comes to his feet with his bow in position and snaps off an arrow at the monster. The arrow hits nothing but the ceiling of the tunnel. GRRRrrrrrrrrrrr, comes a low growl from Eugeni's throat. Why can't I hit anything evil!?
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Fail
Miss
Seeing Eugeni keeping the beast occupied, Zoli takes the opportunity to tumble past it herself.
As she passes it she thrusts with her rapier. It turns in response but she manages to nick the calf of it's hind leg.
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HP 15/17
Luck 5/8
Panache 4/4
Buffs Luck (round 3/3) +2 to hit, dam, & all skill rolls
In the cramped confines of the corridor it’s hard for Morythine to get at the hideous monster that has so suddenly revealed itself. As his companions jostle pass he regards the general horridness of the creature with no small appreciation before hurling a pair of shuriken at it. Unfortunately, as Zoli tumbles past him she brushes past Morythine's hip, ruining his aim so that one shuriken ricochets off a wall and other ends up being flung backwards rather than forwards!
As the monster appears and unleashes a vicious, if errant, attack against Eugeni, Xamarath brings the butt of his quarterstaff against the ground as he wills familiar energies forth to lend aid. The blast of force unleashed by the Thayvian is not deterred by the creature's resistance to magic. Xamarath is of Thay—the arcane powers at his disposal rivaled only by a power that has not existed in this world for thousands of years. A loathsome beast such as this, whatever it might be, cannot hope to thwart such an onslaught.
Xamarath smirks in the wake of his attack before saying, "Not chatty, this one. An old friend of yours, Eugeni?"
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>
>>
Kala drops her torch to the ground and moves forward through her allies, drawing her shortsword in the process. As she reaches the hideous creature who attacked Eugeni, she stabs at it, wounding it in the chest.
"Take that you foul beast," she yells, as she resumes her defensive stance.
Eugeni tries to tumble past the creature, saying "Ah! What in the nine hells..." The sinspawn lashes out at Eugeni with its clawed maw as he passes, but the nimble aasimar dodges the blow. He comes to his feet with his bow in position and snaps off an arrow at the monster. The arrow hits nothing but the ceiling of the tunnel. "GRRRrrrrrrrrrrr," comes a low growl from Eugeni's throat. Why can't I hit anything evil!?
Seeing Eugeni keeping the beast occupied, Zoli takes the opportunity to tumble past it herself.
As she passes it she thrusts with her rapier. It turns in response but she manages to nick the calf of it's hind leg.
In the cramped confines of the corridor it’s hard for Morythine to get at the hideous monster that has so suddenly revealed itself. As his companions jostle pass he regards the general horridness of the creature with no small appreciation before hurling a pair of shuriken at it. Unfortunately, as Zoli tumbles past him she brushes past Morythine's hip, ruining his aim so that one shuriken ricochets off a wall and other ends up being flung backwards rather than forwards!
As the monster appears and unleashes a vicious, if errant, attack against Eugeni, Xamarath brings the butt of his quarterstaff against the ground as he wills familiar energies forth to lend aid. The blast of force unleashed by the Thayvian is not deterred by the creature's resistance to magic. Xamarath is of Thay—the arcane powers at his disposal rivaled only by a power that has not existed in this world for thousands of years. A loathsome beast such as this, whatever it might be, cannot hope to thwart such an onslaught.
Xamarath smirks in the wake of his attack before saying, "Not chatty, this one. An old friend of yours, Eugeni?"
The creature scans it's foes with an intelligence none of you expected from a monster so hideous, and wheels about to attack the foe cutting off it's retreat. As it does so, it calls out in an alien language, "T'k ras! T'k ras yl do My'kstra abuday!
The creature's claws rake across her lamellar armor, leaving claw marks down each side of her chest. However, the creature's size bite goes unchecked as it rears up on it's hind legs and sinks it's mandibles into her neck. As it does so, Zoli's mind is briefly filled with the fresh memory of thrusting her rapier into Tsuto's heart, and the rage she felt as she did so.
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Cursing in frustration, Eugeni drops his bow on the ground and whips his sword from its sheathe. Taking advantage of the distraction provided by Zoli, he swings the long blade at the monster. The greatsword slices through the abomination's flesh, cutting it nearly in half. Despite its massive wound, the sinspawn continues to thrash about trying to attack Zoli.
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With a hiss of frustration, Morythine launches another two shuriken at the monster. This time there's none to blame but himself - one spinning blade flies past the creature and nearly slices Eugeni's ear off, the other clangs off Kala's shoulderpiece!
Morythine pulls his tricorn low over his eyes to mask his embarrassment.
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Zoli pushes the creature off of her neck, yelling, "AUUGHH!!"...partly in response to the close call and partly because of the disturbing thoughts that accompanied it.
She sees Eugeni slice the thing wide open and is impressed that it doesn't just collapse right then, but it gives her an easy opening and she thrusts her rapier into it's eye. As it collapses she wipes the ichor from her blade on it's hide.
"Yeesh! Anyone have any idea what that was? I've never heard stories of goblins accompanied by monstrosities like that..." Then, dabbing at the blood coming from her neck, she says, can anyone tell me how serious this looks?"[/b]
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HP 12/17
Luck 7/8
Panache 4/4
Buffs Luck (round 2/3) +2 to hit, dam, & all skill rolls
Eugeni sees that Kala and Zoli are wounded from their previous battles. "Come here girls, give me a hug. Let poppa Deadeye heal you," he says to them, holding out his long arms for an embrace. If they comply, Eugeni channels the power of his god into the hug, healing their wounds.
"Everyone, I'm down to one more healing spell now. Please be careful, if you go down I might not be able to save you," the idyllkin warns his companions.
"Let's keep going for now, but everyone stay sharp. If things start going bad, don't be afraid to retreat," Eugeni says. My bow is essentially useless in these tight corridors. Guess I'll stick with the old giant hunk of sharp metal for now... he thinks, hefting his greatsword to rest on one shoulder. He begins to creep quietly down the corridor, trusting the others will follow.
Xamarath notes Eugeni's intent to explore further up ahead. Though his ego would never allow him to admit it, he inwardly frowns at how rapidly he is depleting his arcane reservoirs. Given that their previous run-in with that... thing nearly caught the Erastil worshiper unawares, he turns to look Crichton in the eyes.
"Give me that leather cord. Go up with Eugeni and keep an eye out. If you're going to come along, best to make yourself useful."
With a sputtering of never-voiced protests, Crichton eventually sags in defeat. "I just knew this would be a mistake, I did. Oi, Crichton ole chap, what've ye gotten yourself into now?"
The plump cardinal hovers forward and alights on Eugeni's shoulder, head cocked sideways as he looks and listens for any sort of trouble lurking in the tunnels ahead.
Eugeni leads on deeper into the bedrock, turning into the first open area that the beast came from. It would appear this was a natural formation, a simple cave opening in the rock. Continuing on, the next passage leads down another tunnel that eventually leads to another torn down wall, opening into a man made room. The original purpose of this chamber is unclear, but large mounds of rubble lie strewn on its floor. A door is present on the northern wall of the room.
Beyond this door is a narrow passageway, turning sharply to the left after fifteen feet. After another thirty feet, it turns back to the north, hallway extending on into a room ahead, as well as another hallway to the right. Eugeni nods with his head towards this side passage, and heads in that direction. As Kala rounds the bend, she hears the sound of something moving from the direction of the other hallway, and Morythine's head snaps around, hearing it as well. Zoli also thinks she heard something, but isn't quite sure as to what due to the sound of all the others moving about and the echoes of these caverns.
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Eugeni halts and waits for further info. In this narrow passage there's not much chance for him to get back that way without circling around.
Rather abashed at having taken so little part in the monster’s defeat, Morythine does his best to recover the shuriken he hurled so ineffectively. He can only find one. This, plus his lengthy struggle with the goblins earlier, is rather dampening the past glories of earlier battles.
He follows his companions, continuing to be impressed by the dog-man’s battle skills and enthusiasm to wreak destruction on more foes.
It holds more intelligence than I had suspected . . . As he walks, he draws the quarterstaff from its sheath on his back, holding it lightly in one hand.
His attention drawn by a noise, he kneels, finds a small, loose stone on the floor of the passageway and sends it skittering down the corridor in the direction of the sound.