Ali looks around for a minute before shrugging and pulling back the wrapping on the corpse to get a better look at the extent of the damage.
If there was a larger critter leading the goblins, then probably a bugbear or hobgoblin since they can bully the gobboes around. Certainly they would need to be goaded into attacking Sandpoint. So if we can get a good lead from the tracks, we might find their lair and see just what is going on. I'm up for an expidition.
"Seems like a solid option" - Helgarr pipes in, having been silent for most of the time.
Azeri nodded at Vandra and inclined his head to Jeaux, before speaking. "The more of us working to solve this problem the better. It is only right that we try and figure this out as quickly and as quietly as we possibly can. Thank you both for your offer of assistance!"
Cleo raises her hand and agrees to help as well, mumbling "Protecting the community above all else" remembering her mentor, the hamlet's cleric repeat that with a smile to his young apprentice, who really was just trying to get out of becoming a tanner or worse, married to a tanner.
sighing, and instead of leaving to go get the innkeeper, she'll try and help Ali figure out what happened.
Well if we still have daylight we can get going, otherwise first thing in the morning we can meet at Ameiko's
Found it!
It is around late morning when Sheriff Hemlock finds all of you somewhere in Sandpoint. As always, he is dressed in his chainmail uniform and carries a serious look on his face. He greets you formally and requests that you meet him in the cathedral at noon
Cleo and Ali work together with Sheriff Hemlock in piecing together the mystery of this planted corpse. The two of them manage to figure out that this middle aged man died of multiple stab wounds, and several shattered bones. The man stood a bit shorter than most, and was fairly heavy, but was still definitely a human rather than a dwarf. The only clothes present are his undergarments, and there are no objects that might identify him. Cleo does find an additional piece of the puzzle however, the body has been bitten by something powerful. A portion of his side is missing.
"I would be very grateful if you all helped in solving this mystery, though if I were you I would be careful of the goblins nearby. I'm not your mother or anything, but goblins tend to be more active at night. So do tread with caution."
Cleo as well, maybe sharing a few of the biscuits she stashed from breakfast with Maria, since they are the useless at the moment.
"I hope it's a hobgoblin, cause if someone from the village did this..." that child's body "... they'll deserve whatever is coming to them. You know it's possible the body is the betrayer and the goblins did what goblins do."
The first two hours of tracking passed by fairly easily. Furnok took the lead with plenty of experience, but Vandra and Jeaux managed to aid the huntsman from time to time, especially in the later portion of the tracking. The goblins and their larger ally were fairly easy to follow since for most of the journey since they simply walked due east along the road. They did not make any attempt to cover their tracks. The journey did prove to be a little bit slow, as Cleo and Furnok cannot travel at quite as fast a pace as some of the others. (Cleo has a speed of 20, and Furnok is wearing medium armor. Survival checks were high enough to move at full speed.)
The third hour however was much more difficult. The tracks turned off the road and headed north into some unknown dense forest. Many of the trees twist and turn in ways that one might not think to be natural. Trekking through proved to be significantly slower and will require more time.
If the trees don't look natural, Cleo would investigate, wondering why they were so.
Furnok ponders about the trees
Furnok knows that they are entering a forest known as Nettlewood, which is known to be home to a large number of goblins.
Neither Furnok nor Cleo can make much sense of the twisting trees.
Trees ain't a bit of normal. Cleo says but I don't know why
Ali frowns in thought, trying to figure out if he had heard any rumours about the twisted trees of the forest, or maybe an explanation or something, in his time in and around the town. He broke his focus in to two trains of thought, and at the same time, began to search his mind for a possible Arcane reason, for the trees looking so twisted and unnatural.
His head began to ache and he rubbed at the back of his neck worriedly before giving up with a sigh. 'Not a thing...'
Azeri spent little time and focus on the trees, choosing instead to focus on the surroundings and the possibility of an incoming assault. He flexed and caused his razor sharp claws to extend, as he stared around, watching and listening for any hint of an attack.
Nettlewood is home to a bunch of goblins, so they might be the culprits. Do you want to try tracking them down?
The group slows down and spreads out slightly to search for answers.
Vandra has heard of this Nettlewood before. A forest of unique twisted, thorny trees that get denser the further you travel in.
Ali can see magical residue on the trees and suspects that they have been influenced by magic.
Azeri manages to make a mental map of the area, effectively memorizing the way back so they don't get lost.
And Maria climbs up a tree and spies little more than denser and denser trees. However, she also sees rainclouds approaching.
Helgarr stands guard, watching their surroundings as soon as she hears word of goblins in the area.
Ali shrugs and pulls his crossbow from the hook on his belt, cranking the mechanism back in to place and fitting a bolt, before turning to stare off in to the forest. "No point in standing here and waiting. There is a magical trace on these trees, I'm not sure what, but there is something messing around in these woods, and it is up to us to figure it out. If I can get a closer look, maybe further in, I might be able to figure out what is going on. So... Let's move out. We are burning daylight!" He steeled himself, before pushing ahead.
"Shelyn guide me and Pharasma avert your gaze!"
Azeri steps up beside Ali as the kid pushed forward in to the woods, the large Bear-man taking the lead, sticking to the trail. He keeps his eyes peeled and his claws bared, ready at any moment to cut an enemy to ribbons.
"Good going kid. Nice backbone!", he thought, glancing back at Ali for a second.
'Well I am glad they couldn't hear my knees knocking together!', came the self-depreciating reply from the young Summoner.
"Nah, you did great. Just keep it up!"
Furnok nods. Okay we can continue n, we have a few more hours of daylight and we should be sure to make camp before we lose all light
Huh, this isn't Nettlewood. Why are we now near Magnimar?
The party wanders for roughly two hours after Furnok loses the trail. It is a long and difficult trek, with dense twisted trees, thorny bushes, and tough underbrush getting in the way. The trees are now so close together that the sky is almost completely blotted out. During the hike, Vandra trips over a large root and falls into a leafy bush.
Azeri looks around, frowning slightly. It was getting darker, but not the dark of night, but of dense canopies and the solid press of something dark and dangerous.
"I don't like this, not one bit."
Furnok and Azeri both know that they are roughly an hour's hike from the road.
Furnok points off in one direction. Hour hike to the road. I think we have probably lost the trail on the gobboes.
We head back then?
I think it is a good idea, we shouldn't be wandering all over. Get back and get a good plan on how to find out which goblin tribe his Sandpoint.
"Lets double back then, no point in pressing forward if we do not know where we are heading" - Helgarr nods, then turns to Vandra - "Are you well friend?" - she inquires.
As the team starts to head back, Vandra notices that his left leg is driving him crazy. It itches constantly and is extremely distracting.
Although the hike is slow, the party heads due south to reach the road back to Sandpoint. The sun begins to set along the ocean waves with a beautiful orange glow that fades in and around the cloudy sky. As the party heads due west to reach Sandpoint, Helgarr notices something coming up the road towards them. A team of four goblins, unaware of the party, seem to be dragging a large object down the road, pulled by two goblin dogs. The object itself is wrapped in a cloth. Each goblin has a dark purple skin tone to them, similar to the goblin riding the goblin dog that the party killed just the other day.