Hmm, the maggots could come in useful in case one of us develops leprosy...
Despite an urge to develop his medical skills, Lleidr will leave the dead bird alone and recover the other items. Once he's back in normal gravity, he'll pass the book, the scroll, and the wand to Selia. He'll examine the bottle of wine himself.
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Selia sets the book and scroll down in front of her and puts her hand to her eyes once again.
"Being this far underground is affecting my concentration. I do not know what the wand can do. I will try again later, but that is all I can do for now, I do not have any magic prepared in order to read the scroll. Nicholae or Jubrayl, are you able to read it?"
I've got to take something back. The book does have a magical aura, some preservative magics as the volume is an ancient one. Anyone speak/read Abyssal?
BTW, where to next?
Ned will glance the the book, "No, it's nothing I recognize"
I can't read it either.
Before I forget ... welcome to 3rd level! Please let me know what you want to sell. I'll assume you eventually ID the wand.
It's a wand of Shocking Grasp. Also, anybody looking into the book, or are you keeping it shut tight?
Where to next fellas?
You've already explored the tunnels thoroughly. Think of them as like a cross or plus sign. The south end leads to the Glassworks basement. The western end leads here, to the Catacombs. East leads to a collapsed tunnel. North leads to a small cave, overlooking the beach, which is how some of the goblins were able to get into the town.
Hemlock has told you that as soon as you're finished, he's having the Glassworks' tunnel bricked up once again.
The stairs leading down are blocked with rubble. You could try to get through somehow.
Nicholae is no engineer (though he is studying it as part of his military education and will likely have enough down soon to be able to lend some sort of professionalism to his judgements in the near future) and so only sighs at the rubble.
I think we've at least cleared this area and made it save. Lets see if Shalelu has any suggestions for what the next thing we can do is. We're all still fresh enough for action.
Jubrayl suddenly buckles over in pain, then starts screaming as his skin starts to turn grey and metallic before everyone's eyes until his skin seems to completely turn into metal. He stops screaming and seems to recover after the transformation is complete.
It seems this is an new side-effect of my angel blood. I can hardly believe how much that hurt.
What in the name of the Inheritor has happened to you?
I'm not precisely sure... but if I had to guess it's a side affect of being part angel. Metal skin doesn't seem particularly unusual once the planes get involved.
"Nope. Pretty sure it's unusual." Ned will edge away uneasily.
"I...uh...wow."
Crap, Lleidr is filled with questions! What kind of metal? Can you be magnetized? Did your eyes turn metallic too? Did your hair? Are you heavier? Could I take a level of Perform and play your noggin like a steel drum?
Steel, probably, for the sake of coolness (I don't think it makes a mechanical difference, but veto at will) let's say yes, no it's just a thin layer where my skin was, and I don't want to be your drum.
lol
Well... , he says still a bit wierded out lets head up and see what else we can be doing.
Is anyone tracking party loot? Who'd like to volunteer?
Topside, things are relatively quiet. No word on goblin raiders, or any such movements in the hinterlands, but as soon as you clamber out of the smuggler tunnel, the Sheriff has a mason ready to start slapping down bricks.
One minor, odd thing Selia notices after returning to the Rusty Dragon. Your comb & brush are nowhere to be found. You're also missing a small glass bottle of perfume.
Well, not nearly as dramatic as Jub's tranformation, Lleidr will manifest a scar like mark on the back of his left hand, shaped like an oak leaf.
Hey Lleidr, don't you have twin daggers and the stealth of a ninja? I hear a sneak drum solo coming on.
Even better, I have halfling juggling sticks and pretty good DEX. I could just bounce them off his head! You know, if paladins were known for their carefree, funloving ways...
Jubrayl will get the biggest cloak he can find to try to hide his new appearance.
Speaking of his part of the loot, Lleidr will examine the wine to see how it rates from "handy clubbing weapon" to "worth selling."
As you're sharing a mid-day meal at the Dragon, Bethana glances at the vintage in your hands.
"Ah, that's a bottle from Jep's winery. Good stuff, that is. I'll give you 20 silver for it right now, out of the till."
Without missing a beat, Lleidr will compliment Bethana on her sharp eye and make the transaction.
Anything else you want to sell or purchase?
If you'll remember, the clock is ticking. After your first journey into the Catacombs, Hemlock shared Tsuto's journal with you which revealed that whomever has been coordinating these goblin tribes is located in Thistletop. If the journal is accurate, they're planning a 2nd even larger raid on the town.
I will ask Shalelu (who should still be in town) for advice on our next target to disrupt a likely attack.
Shalelu has shared her knowledge with you of local goblin lore:
“As I mentioned earlier, there are five major goblin tribes in the region. The closest to Sandpoint are the Birdcruncher goblins, who live in caves along the western edge of the Devil’s Platter, although traditionally these goblins are the least aggressive of the five. To the south are the Licktoad goblins of the Brinestump Marsh, pests who are excellent swimmers. East are the Seven Tooth goblins of Shank’s Wood, goblins who’ve secured a place for themselves by raiding Sandpoint’s junkyard and rebuilding the stolen refuse into armor and weapons. Farther east are the Mosswood goblins, likely the largest tribe but one traditionally held back by feuding families within their own ranks. And finally, there are the Thistletop goblins, who live on the Nettlewood coast atop a small island.
Shalelu actually left to scout out the Hinterlands the day after your dinner with her.
If you'll remember, you all already decided to go to Thistletop during a meeting with the mayor, Hemlock and Father Zantus once you had finished clearing out the catacombs.
/changes name to Rocky
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"I can use this wand to create electricity, but it will not be consistent, as I am unfamiliar with the arcane magic it uses. Perhaps Lleidr would find more use from it, with his new found abilities and his penchant for being closer to our foes."
After Selia wakes in the morning, her vision repeatedly flashes, making everything appear clear to her. Selia looks outside and, when the flashes occur, she can see through the fog on the streets as if it were not there.
As she ponders this new manifestation of her abilities, she discovers that whatever force has gifted her these powers has given her access to new magics. She feels as if she can now read the demonic book that the group found in the catacombs. She decides to wait until she is with the others, though.
"Thistletop will not be easy to assault. I do not know effective being diplomatic will be, either. If it is our only chance, though, we need to take it so Sandpoint does not fall."
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"Diplomacy is for the weak anyways and if you ask me we have been acting much to weak as of late. If we had just stomped these goblins hard and fast in the beginning word would have reached their leader that there are strong forces protecting this village and maybe we wouldn't have to be dealing with this problem now."
I agree with the sentiment if not the actual words. Let us get a map or lay out of the place and plan our assault. Hopefully not a frontal one. I imagine we've got some travel time ahead of us en-route to the objective - we'll need a report on that too, says Nicholae, sounding more confident and knowledgeable about such matters.
The book you found floating in the spherical chamber is a well-thumbed tome all about the worship of Lamashtu. It reads like a bestiary of especially horrific and cruel monsters, focusing on how they kill, but is also a religious text. I'm assuming this isn't enough to convert you?
There's no maps of Thistletop. Indeed, no one in Sandpoint has much knowledge of the place, other than the cliffs around it are covered with the Nettlewood, goblins are known to issue from there, and that a small isle of rock near the cliff is said to house them.
After asking around town for information about the place, you hear that Brodert Quint insists the island is man-made; it's part of a sculpture from the ancient world, but everyone knows this is preposterous.
Forgotten what charming welcoming names they have here, says Nicholae as they kick around local knowledge and routes to the Nettlewood.
"Wasn't that where the other trail was heading before we split off by Leb's Tors?"
Sort of. There's no known path directly to Thistletop. I relinked to the Hinterlands map in my prior post. The road you were on, continues east, but Thistletop actually lies north of that path. Still, if that's where you're going, that's the road you'd take for most of the distance.
And, it's only a few miles away.
"I can use this wand to create electricity, but it will not be consistent, as I am unfamiliar with the arcane magic it uses. Perhaps Lleidr would find more use from it, with his new found abilities and his penchant for being closer to our foes."
Lleidr will hold the wand and stare at it intently as the oak leaf scar on his hand throbs, causing his fingers to twitch.
"Mae hynny'n hynod! I can see the magic bound into the wood, but I don't really know what I'm looking at."
she can see through the fog on the streets as if it were not there.
After he finishes with the wand, Lleidr asks Selia, "Were you able to look over the scroll as well?"
Let us get a map or lay out of the place and plan our assault. Hopefully not a frontal one.
"I agree that attacking the whole lot of 'em head on is a bad idea. I think it'd be better for us to keep our focus on getting to Tsuto and the woman leading the goblins. Once their leaders are taken out, the goblins will be much less of a threat to Sandpoint."
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"That sounds all fine and good, but how do we find them in the first place. They might not even be in Thistletop, they could be calling the shots from one of our neighboring towns and we could be heading into a trap. I say we take the first goblin we see and" Hakak starts slamming his fist into his palm, "'persuade' him to tell us what we want to know. If he doesn't know anything at least they will be down one more goblin and we can always find another."
Jubrayl suddenly twitches as if snapping out of a daydream.
What exactly is it we want to know? I think we should at least get a look at the place before we make any real decisions. No plan survives first encounters and all that.