Well, it's no critical hit, but Sharrd's final blow does take the last of the fight out of the final goblin to show his face. The crows remain a bit agitated but the rest of the village seems quiet again. Of course, given the way the goblins were hiding for some time before they rose up to defend the village from the intruders, who knows if more remain in hiding?
Twelve goblins lie at your collective feat (for collecting bounty ears as necessary). They will all be dead shortly, if they are not dead already.
Alara emerges from the watchtower after collecting her nunchaku. She walks over to Piper & Sharrd.
"We did great, didn't we? But what happened here?"
She walks over to a nearby dying goblin.
"Think we should interrogate one of them?"
Piper sheathes his rapier. He places his left hand back on his wound, pulling back his blood stained hand to judge how much he's losing. He then wipes his hand on one of the goblin's dirty rags of clothing. Seeing his hand is clean, he writes to Alara, 'I don't think we'll get much information from them. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt. I also think we should continue looking through the village for anything. We still need to find the Chief.'
Sharrd leaps down from his perch on the roof. "We didn't just do Great! We did AWESOME! Did you see me up there on the roof. I may not be able to stealth like a ninja, but I can roof fight with the best on them." He looks at one of the dying goblins. "Does anyone actually speak goblin?"
Alara smiles and raises her hand.
"Yep!"
"If you can speak with them then we will save one, and kill the rest. We don't know if there are more of them, so tie up the one we want to interrogate, while some of us check around to make sure there are no more goblin surprises."
Masamune glances at the dead goblins and adds in as an afterthought.
"Oh, and someone remember to take the ears off the other goblins."
Piper nods before walking to Ash. He writes, 'Ash, could you provide me with a little healing?'
After the healing, he wanders around the village, keeping an eye out for anything.
Ash nods, but he waits for others to finish off the remaining breathing goblins. "I will, gladly, heal us all. However...first we should collect our bounties and ensure they are no longer breathing." Once this is done, Ash gathers everyone close enough to him to channel.
And feeling his own wounds are not closed, he tries it again.
Flexing his hands several times, as if the pain will not go away, he shakes his head slightly and releases a third wave of healing.
A little bandaging keeps one of the goblins alive and a bit of restraining keeps him relatively harmless as well. Upon regaining some consciousness, he struggles a bit until it's pretty clear to him the effort is futile. At that point, he spits out a stream of goblin...
"Vy obří parchanti nejsou tak těžké. Šéf Gutwad bude hodovat na maso a nosit skiny pro to."
Alara takes a quick look around before sitting cross-legged in front of the goblin.
She quickly racks her brain, searching for any rumors or information she may have heard about goblins that could help her here.
She speaks in a soft voice, trying to at least calm the goblin down before asking him about Chief Gutwad.
"Dobrý den. Máte jméno, maličká? Jmenuji se Alara." She gives the goblin a smile.
Sharrd, thinking Alara is trying to Intimidate the little fiend uses Prestidigitation to make his eyes glow with furious fire just over Alara's shoulder.
The goblin settles down a little more though he still seems to hold Alara in some contempt. "Nezáleží na tom, jak se jmenujete. Budete stejně mrtvý. Šéf Gutwad je lstivý. Více lstivý než Zupog."
Then once Sharrd plays his trick, the goblin sputters out, "Jsem Zupog! Zupog!"
Alara looks behind her at Sharrd's magical theatrics. She bites her lip.
Not exactly what I was going for, but at least it's working.
She looks back at Zupog. Her smile doesn't leave her face.
"Určitě jsem neviděl náčelník jeho rozlišení zde. Zdá se mi, jako byste byli poslali na smrt, zatímco on zůstal."
She pauses, letting her words sink in. "Skutečný vůdce vede svůj lid do boje a jen otáček a běží-li boj obrátí proti němu."
Another pause. "Nemyslíš si, že to, co Gutwad udělal, je ... zbabělé? Ve skutečnosti to, co jsi dnes udělal ukázal, že máte více než dost odvahy být lepší šéf než Gutwad kdy byl."
"A true leader leads his people into battle and only turns and runs if the fight turns against him."
"Don't you think what Gutwad has done is... cowardly? In fact, what you've done today has shown that you have more than enough courage to be a better chief than Gutwad ever was."
Let's see if his ego is vulnerable to being stroked...
Now that the goblin seems cooperative, Sharrd turns his attention to removing ears and picking up his thrown and discarded weapons.
Jacen feels very uncomfortable at the fact that he is unable to sooth the goblin, but he simply doesn't have the language in his repertoire.
Zupog seems a bit taken aback by Alara's suggestion. "Ne! Ne! Jeho Mighty Girthness je silný. A on je chytrý. Dal poklad zpět do bonemen a oni nás nechají na pokoji. Zachránil se Licktoads i když Squeally Nord běžel."
Sharrd is able to retrieve his weapons and collect ears without incident.
Piper notices that under the huts and walkways, there is a fair amount of debris. Arrows, a few bones, plenty of garbage, but no real sign of any other live and active goblins can be detected from his current location.
Okay, so his ego isn't that big. His mouth, on the other hand, certainly is. This just got interesting...
Alara arches an eyebrow and leans forward.
"Počkejte - kosti muže? Poklad? Co se stalo s vaší obci?"
Piper moves back to Alara and stares at the goblin. His eyebrow raises in confusion at the Goblin speak. 'I've got to learn more languages.'
Sharrd climbs back up on the building and sits so he can see as much of the village as he can. Well, they obviously kept swine and they escaped so let's see if anyone is left who would care if they came back. A couple of quick words in Draconic and a gesture and suddenly the sound of a rooting passel of hogs fill the air near the center of town. Sharrd looks to see if anyone or anything looks out.
Masamune just continues to patrol around the house looking for any more goblins.
Zupog launches into his tale, with a bit of gusto.
"To je Scribbleface chyba! On psal slova, tak jsme ho vyhnali. Ale v chatrči, kterou létání ofinu tak generální Gutwad odeslané armádu zjistit, kde Scribbleface je dostal. Oni se vrátili s další ze staré lodi. Přišli s mapou bažiny taky. Mapa pokladu! Takže šéf Gutwad poslat armádu najít poklad na mapě. Zjistí, že je další staré lodi a jeskyně a vrátit se s více létající ofinou a hrudník a nám Licktoads šťastný.
Pak kostí muži přicházejí a nám Licktoads ne tak šťastný. Chodí přes rybník a rybník je hluboký. Warband dělá bojovat. Zabíjejí armádu. Oni odtrhnout Chuffy hlavu. To byla sranda. Chuffy hlava. Heh, heh. Zabíjejí Slorb taky. Licktoads běží všude. Squeally Nord utíkat taky. Ale šéf Gutwad, že na to přišel. Chtěli kořist. Takže šéf Gutwad hodil ji zpátky k nim. Vzali ji a nechte Licktoads sám."
"Then bone men come and us Licktoads not so happy. They walk through pond and that pond be deep. Warband does to fight. They kill warband. They tear off Chuffy’s head. That was funny. Chuffy’s head. Heh, heh. They kill Slorb too. Licktoads running everywhere. Squeally Nord run away too. But Chief Gutwad, he figured it out. They wanted loot. So Chief Gutwad threw it back to them. They took it and leave Licktoads alone."
He reacts to the magical sound of pigs in the village.
"Hej, to je Squeally Nord? Je to zpátky?
Alara listens attentively to Zupog's story.
So, the goblins found fireworks in a shipwreck and treasure in a cave, brought them home, and got torn to pieces by skeletons that came back for them. Looks like we'll have to investigate that after we're done here; I don't like the idea of skeletons wandering around. They could be up to something else...
"Má Gutwad ještě tuto mapu pokladu? A co z létání rány? Má ještě některý z nich zbylo?" She asks.
She looks around at the sound of the pigs.
"Byl Squealy Nord Gutwad je oblíbeným prase?"
"Was Squealy Nord Gutwad's favored pig?"
Disappointed that no goblins show up to see the pigs. Sharrd continues to sit on the roof, looking out onto the village. He starts to pick at the branches that compose the roof, tossing one up into the air and seeing if he can ignite it before it hits the ground. He fails, the little balls of light he can summon evidently have no heat, but he continues to practice.
Piper just puts his hands in his pockets and looks around, whistling a small tune while the interrogation goes on.
Zupog continues to spill his guts.
"Šéf Gutwad může mít mapu. Nevím."
His face really lights up when discussing Squeally Nord.
"Každý, kdo miluje Squeally Nord! On je mocný kanec. Tančila jsem s ním jednou. Musel mě Buck dvakrát na mě hodit."
"Everyone loves Squeally Nord! He is a mighty boar. I danced with him once. He had to buck me twice to throw me."
Alara smiles at Zupog as he finishes talking about Squealy Nord.
"Děkujeme vám za sdílení svůj příběh s námi. Byl jsi velmi užitečné."
She stands up and beckons the rest of the party over.
"Okay, from what Zupog here has been kind enough to tell me, Chief Gutwad sent out a team of his best goblins to kill some goblin in the swamp called Scribbleface. They succeeded and brought back a bunch of fireworks and a map from a shipwreck in the swamp. Gutwad decided that one bunch wasn't enough, so he sent out his goblin team again, and this time they came back with a treasure chest from the old ship. Problem is, when they brought the chest back, skeletons followed them and butchered the village until Gutwad got a clue and gave the treasure chest back. They also had a boar called Squealy Nord that got loose during the skeleton attack and ran off." She says. She repeats what she just said in Goblin so Zupog can understand.
"The skeletons came up from the pond--" She points to the pond. "--and raised havoc."
"A few more things: Gutwad may still have some fireworks left, as well as the map. If we're going to go after him, I recommend we use caution." She doesn't repeat this part in Goblin.
Piper takes out his board and writes: 'A map? Skeletons? Treasure and old ships? Interesting. But, I think we should take care of Gutwad and then go after the skeletons. They might pose a threat to Sandpoint.'
At Alara's recommendation, Piper writes: 'I agree. We don't want Gutwad running off. And while they might be fireworks, they still hurt. Trust me. I know.' He flexes his left hand, as if remembering something.
"We are here about goblins...so that is where we should first focus. Then move to these skeletal problems..." He says softly, having remained quiet and frustrated during the entire discussion, unable to speak Goblin.
The goblin pipes up, "Nech mě jít a já být užitečné. Můžu vám ukázat Gutwad chýše."[b]
[spoiler=Alara]"Let me go and I be more helpful. I can show you Gutwad's hut."
William chimes in, "I agree that we need to think about the goblin chief first. That's the bounty we were given. And we'll see what happens from there."
Alara looks back at Zupog, then turns back to the rest of the team.
"He says that if we let him go, he can show us Gutwad's hut." She says, repeating in Goblin for Zupog's convenience.
"What do the rest of you think?"
"I am of mixed opinions, but I find this acceptable, if we agree to it. Otherwise, he should help us in our secondary task."
Piper just shrugs and nods, indicating that he's willing to let the goblin lead them.
Sharrd plops down from his rooftop perch. "I'm all for going after the goblin chief first. But come on. Pirate ships and skeletons? We've got to check that out!"
"In due time brother. We should not rush off to see these skeletons until after we have made sure that Sandpoint will be safe. Afterwords we can go to see the pirate ship. Also, tie up the goblin before we allow him to lead us, and somebody be ready to deal with him in case he leads us into a trap."
Alara nods at the team, then approaches Zupog.
"Já vám nabízím řešení. Na oplátku za nás vede k náčelníka Gutwad chatrče a, pokud je to možné, loď, kde se vaše příbuzní našli poklad, budeme jednat s-muži kostí a nechat jít. Co si myslíte?" She asks. She repeats it in Common so the rest of the party will understand.
"Mimochodem, jak dobře byste řekl šéf Gutwad k vám chová?" She adds. She repeats this in Common as well.
Zupog's expression turns skeptical.
"Ukážu vám, kde šéf Gutwad je, ale já nevím, kde jsou lodě nebo jeskyně. Jestliže je kostní muži jsou tam nebudu."
He then shrugs. "Šéf Gutwad nás chová jako šéf zachází nás. Je to těžké. Dělá nám tvrdší. To je způsob, jak věci."
Alara nods, satisfied with Zupog's answer.
She draws a knife and proceeds to cut Zupog's legs free from their bonds.
She leaves Zupog's hands tied, however.
"Budu řezat volné ruce poté, co nás vede k šéfa Gutwad domova." She says. She repeats it in Common.
Piper looks to Alara, before writing: 'Let's go, then.'
Sharrd asks.
"So just how far away does Chief Gutwad live from his city? Shouldn't he be here?"
Zupog gets up and leads you along the walkways and through a couple of huts to the edge of the walk. It ends at a burned out hut (the burning old enough to no longer be smoldering) and points to the largest hut of the community.
"Chief Gutwad. Throne there." he says in heavily accented common.
Alara follows Zupog to the burned out hut. Upon seeing Gutwad's hut, she smiles and produces a knife.
"Děkuji, Zupog."
With that, she takes Zupog's hands and cuts them free of their bonds.
"Nyní si můžete jít." She says, repeating in Common as usual.
Masamune will be in the building next to Alra if that place is open.
Zupog climbs down from the walkway and onto the burnt debris of the hut and then, frequently checking back over his shoulder, makes his way along the shore of the pond to the main gate. How well a badly injured goblin will fare in this marsh is anybody's guess, but his future is likely to be short.
The hut you are currently in bears the signs of recent habitation of the messy goblinoid sort. There is nothing of apparent value, but it does offer a bit of a vantage point to the most sturdy looking hut in the village, the one Zupog pointed out as Chief Gutwad's. The chief's hut has a double-door where it meets the walkways and there are no significant windows or gaps in the walls to speak of, making direct observation of the interior impossible. It does appear quiet, though. There are no signs of activity visible.