Alara blushes as she follows Piper upstairs. She takes the lead, walking to the open door to the bedroom where she left Walthus.
Shaking his head, having wasted his healing magics on the beast, he steps over to follow Alara, to find the real Walthus. Before heading up, he looks over to William, "If you will follow me, I would like to try and conserve my magics. If everyone is close together, my healing will server a better use.
After heading up the stairs, his eyes gaze over the man as he whispers softly, [b]"Please, may I help you?" He asks as he checks the man for wounds that he might heal.
Sharrd comes running from around the house. "Wow, that's one ugly sucker." he says as he pokes it with his spear. He talks to Masamune and William. "There's a live snake in the garden, probably one of Walthus' pets."
Piper sees the halfling, injured. He looks over the wounds as well, seeing if there's anything he could do.
Before you take the lead, Piper looks back, smiles, and gives a wink before taking the board back.
"I understand Ash, we haven't even gotten to killing the goblins and I left my guard down. I deserve this wound until the end of the day."
Piper gives William a stern stare and writes, 'Nonsense. It wasn't your fault. We couldn't have known that a faceless stalker was impersonating Walthus. So, don't blame yourself.'
"I am here to keep you well, William, I will have nothing else, but I would prefer not to overuse my resources. If I can take care of more than one at a time, all the better. And I believe that we all let our guard down. I have to admit, I was a bit frustrated with our...compatriots for breaking in, but now, I'm glad that they did."
Alara giggles as you wink at her before heading into Walthus' bedroom. She waves her hand in the direction of Walthus' safe room.
"Gotta hand it to him; damn clever of him to build himself a hidey-hole. How are you feeling, Walthus?" She says, walking over to the open panel.
Walthus's voice is shaky and he looks absolutely exhausted and pale. "I feel terrible. That... that... thing attacked me in my garden. It had these terrible tongues that sucked up my blood while it had me pinned. If it hadn't been for my vipers, I'd have been a goner.
But who are you? What are you doing here?
As Ash and Piper look over Walthus's injuries, he offers no resistance and cooperates. His makeshift bandages have staunched the bleeding from a trio of close-placed puncture wounds. He appears to have lost a substantial amount of blood, is a bit dehydrated, and has suffered bruising from his fight with the faceless stalker.
Seeing that William and Walthus are near him, he concentrates for a moment and two bursts of healing are channeled around him.
He looks at Walthus and William to see how their wounds are doing. "I can heal some of the damage you have taken, but you will need to rest. We were sent by Sheriff Hemlock to ask some questions about the goblin tribes. We are apparently now goblin hunters..." he trails off, slightly embarrassed by this fact.
Piper, noticing Walthus's dehydration, writes: 'You need some water. Do you have a fresh supply somewhere?'
Piper looks towards Ash and writes: 'Jacen, is there anything I can do to help with his wounds?'
Seeing the saferoom, Piper whistles in amazement and writes: 'Indeed, love. Very clever. I don't suspect many intruders or creatures would think that this is a possiblity. If you hadn't found it, then who knows what would have happened to Walthus or us. You saved his life, Alara.' He gives you a small peck on the lips.
Alarm beams at Piper as he kisses her. She starts digging around in her satchel, producing her waterskin & offering it to Walthus.
"Unless you have spells that will heal his inner durability or remove a level of drain that severe damage does to him, unfortunately not. I have seen Mother do so in the past, but it is beyond my abilities as of yet."
At your statement, Piper gets a downcast look on his face. 'If only I had enough sense to pick a couple healing spells.' His face suddenly light up at an idea. He hastily writes to Walthus: 'Walthus, do have any plants with healing properties or potions? Are there any healing plants growing around here?'
At seeing you offering some of your water, Piper nods and smiles at you.
Both Walthus and William look to be in much better shape after Ash's magical ministrations. Walthus remains a bit pale and weak, but his wounds have closed and healed.
Giving the problem a bit of thought, Piper knows there are numerous herbs and other plants that have minor health effects in the marsh, but none are likely to offer any rapid panacea for Walthus - just a slow rebuild of his robust health. Dark green leafy plants like wild spinaches and chards would probably do him well given his blood loss.
You also do find a ceramic jug of water in the saferoom itself. It is still corked. Apparently Walthus passed out before he could make use of it, though he is still grateful for the shared water in the skin.
"Thank you, thank you very much. I thought I had finally run out of my luck. And I hear I have you to thank specially," Walthus turns to Alara.
He takes off his cloak and proffers it to Alara. It's a bit muddy and there's some blood on it.
"This cloak of mine bears a minor enchantment. I believe it protected me in many of my old travels and adventures, keeping me from the worst of harm. I want you to have it with my thanks. I don't adventure anymore and it sounds as if you'll need it more than me."
"I do have some herbal tea downstairs in the pantry. If you'd be kind enough to help me, I'll make some and we can talk about this goblin business."
Seeing Walthus up and about brings a huge grin to Piper's face. He writes: 'It's no problem at all, Walthus. I'm just sorry that we couldn't figure it out sooner. By the way, why was that faceless stalker after you?'
At Alara's new cloak, Piper narrows his eyes at it. They then glow a light blue color.
Piper nods at Walthus and helps to his feet and downstairs. He then has Walthus take a seat at the table and writes: 'I'll make the tea. You've been through enough. Just show me where it is and the kettle; I'll be more than happy to prepare it.'
"I don't know what he wanted. He came over the wall at me at dusk. I don't know if he ever said anything I could understand. Looking back on it, I think he did say something, but I didn't pay very close attention."
"Thank you Ash, good work Alara finding the real Walthus. Now after we get you patched up maybe we can get down to the real reason why were are here."
Alara blushes even more from everyone's congratulations. She gratefully accepts the cloak Walthus offers her, putting it on.
"Oh, by the way, I'm Alara, he's Piper, he's Ash, and he's William." Alara says, pointing to each person she names.
She catches sight of Piper's glowing blue eyes. She titters, then folds her arms behind her back.
"See anything you like, songbird?"
"Glad that I could be of some help," he says with a nod.
Looking to Walthus as the tea is being prepared, "Do you think that we could have your assistance with information about the goblins around here?"
At Alara's question, Piper stops his spell, his eyes returning to normal. He looks at his girlfriend up and down, a blush taking over his face. He writes with a small smile: 'Well, yes, love. Yes, I do see something I like. But I was trying to see the specific properties of the cloak you earned. But, you're good to look at too.' If there's time, he resumes the spell.
When he gets the opportunity, he writes to Sharrd: 'Sharrd, can you identify the magic on the cloak Alara got from Walthus? Also, you found some snakes?'
Piper brings the tea to the motley crew of seven, making sure there are enough cups for everyone. He then rummages around the pantry, knowing he saw some sugar and honey during his earlier search. Finding the jars, he places them on the table. Taking a seat, he mixes the honey and sugar with his tea before writing on his board. 'So, Walthus. I just want to go over the information that the faceless stalker told us to make sure it's correct or if he was leading us to our doom. Also, earlier up the road, we came across some odd footprints. We need to know if we have to worry about the Soggy River Monster on our way back home.' He then tells Walthus all of the information they were told.
Alara smiles, then holds the cloak out for Piper to examine.
Alara gingerly takes her cup of tea and sips it before putting some sugar in. She continues sipping at her tea while Piper explains things to Walthus.
"--understand when to admit defeat. Sleepy, sleepy, sleepy." Alara says as she rubs her eyes.
Walthus idly asks, as he gets the tea, "Who ransacked my pantry?" but manages to find the tea much more quickly than Fake Walthus and soon you're in the cozy kitchen with some warm drinks and with some food cooking.
After reviewing the map that Fake Walthus sketched out, real Walthus says, "The map is actually reasonably good. That thing does seem to know the swamp well enough. But if he told you the goblins are itching for a fight with Sandpoint, that's more than I know. They've been braver lately, and louder. They found some kind of fireworks somewhere and sometimes shoot them off, so that could be the reason they're itching for a fight. Things had been quieter over the last couple of days, though. So maybe a warband is already gone. More likely they just ran out of fireworks.
The tracks you found sure do sound like the Soggy River Monster. He's pretty shy and I only catch glimpses of him myself. But if he's living in this marsh, sure enough he can take care of himself, can't he? I wouldn't go seeking out any trouble from him and he'll probably leave you well enough alone like me."
After a meal and some reasonably pleasant conversation, Walthus invites you to stay at his home for the night. Don't worry about my snakes. I'll keep them out, just mind yourself in the garden. That's where they abide most of the time." He grabs a couple of small mice out of the storeroom and his crook and sets out to tend to his remaining vipers.
Walthus has one extra bedroom on the second floor. It has a bed big enough to fit two people with reasonable comfort if they shorten up a bit and more space on the floor. There is, of course, also the main sitting room.
Piper writes to Walthus, 'The stalker tried to find the tea and, thinking that he was you, I tried to help. I apologize for that.' At Walthus's information, Piper nods. But he writes, 'Just because things are quieter with the goblins does not mean that the threat is gone. This is similar to what happened five years ago. So we must stop it as soon as possible.' At the Soggy River Monster, Piper strokes his chin while thinking, 'Indeed. But the question is if we should kill it to protect Sandpoint ever further.'
As night creeps ever closer, Piper writes to the team. 'Here's what I think we should do. William, Ash, and Sharrd. You guys will be downstairs. Meanwhile, Masamune, Alara, and I will be upstairs. Each group will have two main hitters and a support. I would like at least one member of each group to be awake, trading shifts with the others. That way, we have Walthus and the house protected. Also, as a side note, I think Alara should take the guest bed. It's the gentleman thing to do.'
At her cute yawn, Piper smiles at her and thinks, 'Ah, that's adorable.'
"I'll take first watch for the group down stairs. I know Ash needs his rest so I'll wake up Sharrd after my watch is done. Oh and Sharrd you are going to have to help me get out of this armor when my shift is done, it takes a while to do alone."
Alara arches an eyebrow.
"What about you, Piper? I don't know if you have your own place to sleep. I mean, I do have my own bedroll..." She trails off, blushing a bit.
"...you can use it if you'd like." She finishes.
Hey, it's not like I'm gonna... well... sleep with him. I'm just loaning my bedroll to him, that's all.
"Also, I only need to rest for about four hours. Either you or Masamune can take watch for 2 hours, then the other one goes for 2 hours, then you wake me up so I can take the rest of the night."
Ash nods to Walthus and then begins to prepare for rest. "I know that my brother will need more sleep, William, but I can have broken sleep, so if you can take first, I will take middle and then he can have the final watch."
Piper thinks for a moment. He writes: 'Thank you, love. I left my bedroll at home, thinking that the job would have been done sooner. I don't mind sleeping in your bedroll.
Looking to you, he writes: 'All right. Alara will take the last shift. The question comes to who will stay up first: me or Masamune? We'll decide with a simple coin toss. You call, Masamune.' He then takes out a silver coin. He shows both sides to Masamue, showing that it's not a trick coin. He then flips into the air.
As the team prepares for bed, Piper sits at the table, turning over his old flute in his hands. He seems to be a bit down.
Sharrd reverently hands over the sack of dead snakes to Walthus. "I'm sorry sir, but I think only one of your snakes actually still lives. He's in the garden. I'll help you bury the snakes if you'd like."
Sharrd says a quick phrase in Draconic and gestures. He looks at the cloak for about 20 seconds.
"Well, I'm piking up some faint abjuration, but I can't make out the properties."
Sharrd rolls his eyes. "All right, I'll do it tonight. But in the future, I may have had to tap into my prodigious magical energy and I'm going to need my sleep. First or Last watches for me."
Sharrd actually digs the graves, letting the injured Walthus rest and say goodby to his beloved pets. After laying them to rest, Sharrd actually says a prayer for them.
Sharrd looks for a place far from the house and relatively dry and above water and buries the face stealer.
Walthus takes the dead snakes from Sharrd reverently but bury them? "Nah. They go back to the natural order. That's where they came from. That's where they go in the end. It's where they belong." He takes them and lays them outside his walled garden where they will be easy pickings for any carrion animals. It seems simple and matter of fact, but you do notice a bit of a tear in Walthus's eye and hear him mutter something about "Brave little fellows".
The group settles in for a reasonably comfortable night given that they're in a marsh. The final watch assignment between Piper and Masamune is handled with a coin toss easily and the night passes uneventfully… if not exactly quietly given all of the frogs and crickets chirping all night long. It is, nevertheless, a very natural sound.
The morning arrives with a thick mist surrounding the shack, though the weather seems otherwise promising for a warm day. Walthus putters a bit in the kitchen making some bacon and duck eggs for breakfast. He looks substantially better. Still a bit pale but on the road to recovery. Over breakfast, he asks you for your plans.
I know ol' Sheriff Hemlock doesn't pick his people hastily. He must be pretty confident in you or he wouldn't send you off looking for goblins. They can be pretty tenacious, though. If you need a place to stay as a base camp, my home here should fit the bill. Come back a bit before nightfall if you can. You'll want the daylight to help you stay on the trail."
Alara's stomach growls as she spies the bacon and eggs. She sits down and promptly starts devouring her breakfast.
"Thanks for the breakfast, sir!" She says between mouthfuls.
"Thank you for housing us last night and this wonderful breakfast Walthus."
After breakfast William will ask for help putting on his Banded Armor.
As the group is leaving the house.
"Oh and Walthus don't be ashamed about being knocked out by that monster. It nearly took me out in one shot! In fact it probably would have if it weren't for this armor I'm wearing."
As the morning sun shines, Piper wakes. He puts on his leather armor and tries to fix his appearance (despite the lack of grooming kits). Hearing William asking for help, he helps put the armor on.
As he eats, he writes: 'Indeed. Thank you very much, Walthus. We are very grateful.' At Walthus's comment, he writes: 'Well, we are some of the best trained than the normal citizens. Some of us have been trained by professionals. For example, I spent five years at the White Grotto in Absalom. Plus, it helps when you're the adopted son of the sheriff. Thank you for offering your home, your food and the advice you give.'
Piper looks over the map that the stalker drew. He writes: 'Looks like there's no paths deeper into the marsh. Which means we have to go trudging through the muck and water and... ew.' He shudders. 'So which way do we go?'
Msamune ponders the map laid out in front of them.
"I see that we have two options. One, we can go back the way we came, and travel along the road until the other path that will lead us straight to the Licktoads." Masamune traces the path from the Shack, to point A, to point B, to the Licktoads tribe camp. "Or we could go straight through the marsh, and arrive at the Licktoads back. The road path is obviously safer, but it will take time. The marsh path could be dangerous, but we might get the drop on these Licktoads."
Masamune sits back, and waits for the others to think about this.
Walthus tosses in his 2 copper bits. "As someone who knows this marsh I feel I should offer my advice, and I can tell you that short cuts often make for long delays. If you could go as the crow flies, then you'd be looking at a very short trip - maybe one mile instead of four. But since none of you are crows, you'd have to contend with a channel of the Soggy River and her spillover. I'd recommend a flat-bottom skiff if you had access to one since it won't be easy to ford."
Piper shudders a bit more. 'Well, no one has ever explored the entirety of the marsh. That may be something we could take advantage to take anything we find. Despite my revulsion, I suggest we take the marsh, to find any treasure and get the jump on the goblins. Walthus, do you know where we could find a skiff and how much one would cost?' 'Please say that we can find one. So I don't have to wade through the marsh.'
Alara's too busy munching on her eggs & bacon to really notice Piper's discomfort.
"I don't really see any problem with taking either way."
Well, aside from the fact that I can't swim...
Sharrd shovels the food away, everyone but his brothers are amazed by how much he can eat. "I say let's take the path. I don't know the first thing about navigating a swamp."
Walthus gives the question about the skiff a bit of thought. "Sandpoint will have one or more for sale. That's almost certain. Maybe a farmstead along the way between here and there might as well. I expect a new one, one that will hold the lot of you, would probably be about 50 gold coins, maybe?"
At Walthus's answer, Piper thinks for a moment. He pulls out his money and counts out 5 platinum pieces. He then puts away his coins and writes: 'I say that we go for a skiff. It doesn't seem expensive and we can pretty much go anywhere in the marsh without being bogged down. What do you guys think?'
Finishing her breakfast, Alara chips in.
"Either option is fine by me. Just one question, though..."
Alara picks up her plate & utensils, looking for someplace to leave them.
"If we take the skiff, how well can you swim? Just in case the worst happens?"
That involves going over water.
Noticing Alara's nervousness, Piper stands and caresses her hands. He writes: 'If you don't want to go into the marsh, that's fine. I don't want to put you into a position that you're not comfortable with. But if we do, know that, even though I can't swim, I'll keep you safe. I care about you far too much to lose you.'
Alara smiles at Piper. It's not her usual sunny one; it's too nervous.
"Well, that makes two of us who can't swim. That's a relief." She says with a nervous chuckle.
Piper sighs and gives Alara an comforting hug. When he releases, he goes to the table and writes: 'Guys. I would like to change my vote. I would rather not risk those of us who can't swim.'
Sharrd just shrugs. "I'm as good as swimmer as the next person I suppose. I think we can all swim, its just our he looks at William 'stuff' that drags us under. And I'm not sure how well a horse is going to fit on a skiff."
"I would say that I am a decent swimmer however in this" William points at his armor "I can't even doggy paddle..."
Masamune nods after hearing the majority of votes he sees the decision is clear.
"Paths it is then. We'll head back with Alara scouting, and Piper in front. Sharrd, and William will take up the back. Jacen, and I will travel in the middle to assist as needed. When we get close to the camp if it's late we'll set up camp, if not then we'll make a plan of attack for the goblins. Any objections?"
Masamune looks around waiting in case someone does.