Mae continues to follow the half-elf. Mentally taking note of everything that he does. At this point it doesn't matter if he notices her. As long as we are both headed toward those annoying bells I have a reasonable excuse.
If he fails to see anyone interesting enough to talk to, Jin'roku will give Anduil a beckoning wave and move toward the ringing bells in the center of town also.
Without finding anyone he might consider useful, as the crowds have already begun moving towards the center of town, Jin moves that direction as well. Few seem to be wearing anything flashy. Despite Desna being the goddess of the adventurer, most seem not to worship her by displaying things they have acquired from tombs and the like. But there are a few noblemen who cannot help but look fancy themselves.
Mae meanwhile follows the half-elf from a reasonable distance, closing the gap somewhat as the two reach the center of town and there is more of a crowd to blend into.
The very second that the makeshift wooden stage is completed, a newly middle-aged human woman jumps up on it. Everyone, even those from out of town, quickly recognise her as Kendra Deverin, the mayor of Sandpoint, and silence quickly falls on the crowd as she begins to speak. "Excuse me, excuse me! I'm so glad to see that everyone is enjoying the festival! I certainly am" She raises one hand, a glazed treat on a stick in it. "Welcome, visitors, to our town, and welcome, residents, to the Swallowtail Festival! I see so many familiar faces, even... oh, now this is a treat. Even Mister Rovanky over there has managed to tear himself away from the tannery to come!" Rovanky frowns, but most everyone else laughs at her joke. She notices his expression and chuckles even more. "That's the face he'll continue to make if you don't have fun!" With a wide smile, she steps off the stage to an applause as another human moves to replace her.
As the two cross paths, it's noticeable how much he towers over her. Bald and well into middle age, the Sheriff takes the stage. "Hello everybody. They're putting the final touches on now. I just wanted to take a moment to remind you that this evening's bonfire is a real fire and can hurt you. Please make sure your children keep a safe distance." He frowns for a moment, looking back towards the church. "I would like to request a moment of silence for those who lost their lives five years ago in the fire that claimed the chapel."
His dour mood and loud voice quickly draws the attention of the crowd, who initially laugh at his overly cautious warning, but seem to take the moment of silence very seriously. Complete quiet fills the courtyard for several seconds before the revelry kicks in again. Sheriff Hemlock then goes on to explain that Master Kaijitsu, the scheduled next speaker, has taken on sudden illness and that Cerdick Drokkus (the town's theatre professional) will be taking the stage instead. At that, a bouncy middle-aged man in colourful clothing jumps up, beginning to act out some scenes from his new production of "The Harpy's Curse".
While he performs, the local taverns all bring out lunch options, provided freely for everyone. The Hagfish serves a lobster chowder, while the White Deer offers a peppercorn venison. The most popular dish, however, seems to be the curry-spiced salmon offered by the Rusty Dragon.
Jin's eyes widen behind his mask at the array of food laid out before him. Many of the spices and proteins made available are completely unlike anything the tribe has ever cooked or eaten, and Jin is the kind of halfling that lives for new experiences.
Traditionally, in his tribe, mealtimes are one of the few times that masks are not worn. Instead, halflings rely on their facepaint that they always wear beneath their masks to obscure their true faces. Therefore, the halfling mage (with some trepidation) removes his mask, revealing his painted face, and begins to sample a little bit of everything.
His plate laden with food, he beckons Anduil to follow and approaches the roaring bonfire. He dons his Mask of Ecstasy, and feels the flow of magic through it as he puts it back on. With a twinkling of his fingers that he keeps concealed beneath his plate, the mischievous mage casts a spell on the fire, seeking to cast an illusion upon it that would make the fire a technicolor rainbow flame instead of orange and red.
Mae continues to follow the half elf, moving through the crowd and grabbing a quick bite to eat off a table. She begins to doubt the path. Is the half elf a dead end? Advice time. Mae grabs a piece of bread off a table and searches the grounds for a suitable small rodent.
Having wasted her time trying to find a sacrifice and losing track of the half elf, Mae's anger rises in her throat to a grumble. Haster curse this f$!&ing place. Seriously I mean it. Alright, you aren't going to like this, but I need your advice Haster darling. Let's say I owe you a death. She moved to the outskirts of the celebration and slid into an alley way. Sitting cross legged she let her mind go blank.
Sounds good! Even if a few people have dropped, I'm still interested in continuing.
After listening to the mayor's brief speech and spending a few moments watching the theatre that follows, Anduil focuses on keeping Jin in his sights. There is something strange about the halfling - not only a cultural oddity, but a strong sense of something hidden. As the pair move deeper into the crowd Anduil grabs a small plate of salmon. He favours the server with a cheerful smile as thanks, but keeps his attention mostly on Jin - watching especially as the mask comes off.
What is about to happen?
What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is not what it appears to be?
As Jin and Anduil move closer to the bonfire with their meals, the fire suddenly erupts into a rainbow of colours, much to at least Anduil's surprise. Within a few seconds, there are children running around near the fire in excitement and wonderment, while their parents watch in anxious excitement, uncertain if it is a weird, new part of the ceremony.
Someone who isn't fooled is Sheriff Hemlock, who storms over to the fire, looking furious. He recognises the frailty of the situation, however, and to his credit does his best to not make a scene. "Oi, it's still fire!" He snaps at the children, urging them away. His eyes scan the crowd, searching for who is responsible.
The rat comes too late, a thin, mangy creature that scurries out from under a building, intending to cross the alleyway. While mid-run, it stops hard, as if hitting a barrier that it cannot see. Confused, the rat sniffs at the air for a moment, before trying again, and hitting the same way. The rat then turns, trying to go back the way it came, to the same situation.
Looking at Mae, it decides that she is responsible, and starts snarling, its red eyes narrowing at her in fury. The sounds that emanate from it are a mixture of loud chitters and deep growls. As Mae looks back at the rat, she hears the sound of breaking glass, and sees small shards fall around the rat, as if it actually had gotten caught in some kind of cage, though none existed. Before the rat can react, however, it bursts into flame, still shrieking at Mae.
Jin giggles to himself as he lifts his mask back up and pops a cracker into his mouth.
"Oooh," he murmurs to Anduil, "Did you taste this curried salmon? Shak-ti-lay!" he exclaims, in ancient Halfling.
He goes on, "My tribe has very little fishing, and what little fish we add to our diet is imported, dried, and salted. Nothing like this! So fresh, so succulent!" he kisses his fingertips in appreciation - mwah - before putting his mask back on and wandering off somewhere else, in a random direction. He heads in the direction of the most commotion and flashy colors, mainly interested in the spectacle of the festival.
Mae rose to her feet with a terrible grin on her face. Waiting for the rat's flames to cease, she removed the 2 front teeth from the remaining corpse and tucked them away in her satchel. Remembering the chapel fire mentioned just earlier that day, Feel free, Haster darling... Mae looked for a building to climb to get a better view of the festivities.
Anduil turns from the Sheriff back towards the Halfling, the gears in his mind turning. As Jin is walking away, he can hear the Sheriff beginning to question Anduil, who looks confused for a moment. It's only as the Sheriff is dragging him away, muttering that "we'll see who likes practical jokes after a few nights in the jail" that Anduil finally puts the pieces together. He starts calling after Jin, but his voice is lost in the crowd as the little Halfling wanders in search of something more exciting.
As Mae climbs up to a nearby rooftop, she gets a pretty grand view of the festivities. From atop, it's easy to see some of the carnival games, people enjoying the various local foods, and even final preparations being made for the celebration. Any gaps in the revelry caused by Anduil's arrest are quickly forgotten, and the joyous occasion continues for some time until Father Zantus and several acolytes move a covered wagon to the center of the square.
"Attention! Attention, everybody. I am happy to see that you are all having so much fun at this year's Swallowtail Festival! I am happy to see that Desna inspires so much joy in the lives of others, as it has mine. Many, many, many years ago, Desna fell from the heavens, and was injured badly. She was nursed back to health by a blind child, and as thanks for her aid, Desna transformed the child into an immortal butterfly, forever beautiful and serene. I only hope that Desna grants you all similar gifts."
With that, the acolytes pull heavily at the cloth cover of the wagon to reveal thousands of butterflies. The massive swarm emerges, quickly filling the fairgrounds to the delight of the town's children. They quickly rush around, trying to catch the beautiful creatures but are largely unsuccessful.
Father Zantus chuckles for a moment before continuing. "And now, the consecration of our new, beautiful cathedral is at hand. If you could gather your family and quiet down, we will begin imminently."
The acolytes wheel the now-empty wagon away, and Father Zantus begins to recite the Prayer of First Dreaming, with a Scroll of Consecrate secured firmly in his hand. He takes a breath, opens his mouth, and...
A woman's scream cuts through the air. A few moments pass, and another scream rises, then another. With the screaming comes more voices - high-pitched shrieks that sound more animalistic than anything. Across the street from Jin, a dog staggers out from under a wagon before collapsing to the ground, blood pooling from its slit throat. The sound of glass breaking as a rock strikes it sounds through the air like a brief alarm.
Jin is relatively short and barely has to duck to peer underneath the wagon, looking for what may have killed the dog. If he sees nothing, he will scramble up on top of the wagon in order to get a better vantage point to see the crowd with. He'll never be able to find out where the screams are coming from if he tries looking around at Halfling height.
I can roll Defy Danger with Dexterity if climbing to the top of the wagon is challenging enough to warrant it.
Blah, blah, blah Desna blah. She imagined Haster rending their Desna and child apart at the spine. Their screams...Wait, their screams? As she realized that the screams weren't just part of her day dream, Mae snapped out of her thoughts. She scanned the crowd, looking for the source from the rooftop.
Jin climbs to the top of the wagon and comes face-to-face with a goblin who had climbed up the other side. The goblin grins wickedly, raising a crudely made sword before bringing it down towards Jin.
From the rooftops, Mae can see the crowd start to scatter as people try to get to safety - some of them unaware of what is happening, but all of them frightened. She can see multiple small groups of goblins.
When the goblins appear, many eyes go towards Bolgrond, and though the people had more or less welcomed him into their town, they are quick to return to their previous ways of thinking. While he raises his sword against none of the townspeople, he's met with a lot of glares and fearful eyes as people try to get to safety. While he can't immediately see any goblins through the rampaging crowd, Bolgrond knows all too well what the shrieks sound like.
Marcan and his wife had been enjoying the festival - seeing the children play, talking to good friends, sampling the different cuisines - when everything started to go to hell. As the screaming and glass breaking sounds through the air, she turns to him with wide eyes. "What's happening?"
Behind his mask, Jin's eyes go wide. Thinking quickly, he relies on a spell he has cast numerous times, over and over, specifically so he could cast it in emergencies. Cunning Duplicate...
When you weave a spell to help solve a problem, describe it and roll +INT. Spells cast this way can never deal damage directly. On a 10+, the spell certainly helps, but choose one.
On a 7-9, the spell takes effect, but the choose two:
• Your spell won't last long - you'll need to hurry to take advantage of it.
• Your spell affects either much more or much less than you wanted it to.
• Your spell has unforeseen side effects, and might draw unwanted attention.
• The casting saps your energy. You take -1 ongoing to INT until you have a few minutes to clear your head.
On a miss, something's gone horribly wrong. Your spell may well have worked, but you will regret casting it.
To the goblin, it looks like he had struck a lethal blow on the halfling. The masked halfling image is cut deep into the shoulder, gasps, writhes around, and dies messily on the goblin's blade. But it was all a trick.
Masked by the spell by a temporary invisibility that led credence to the duplicate, the halfling bolts away from the wagon as fast as he can, only resuming visibility a few seconds later. He flees into the crowd, not in a specific direction, but mostly just away from the goblin. If he sees Bolgrond's head above the crowd, Jin will assume that the bugbear is the ringleader of the goblin attackers, and will make his way toward him to thwart his evil plans. (He will revise his opinion of the bugbear once he sees the fighter's noble actions, I'm sure)
Mae scans the crowd from the roof to get a better sense of the situation. She is trying to get a better sense of where the goblins are coming from. Are guards prepared for such an attack possibly because this happens with some frequency? What are their numbers at the moment?
What should I be on the lookout for?
What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is useful or valuable to me?
What here is not what it appears to be?
At the first scream, Marcan's daggers are in hand before he even thinks about it. "Sounds like goblins. Take this, stay with me," he says, pressing a dagger into Serina's hand. He leads her to the side of the nearest building ( don't want to be caught in the middle of this crowd if they panic ). Looking around, he spots a goblin and a strange halfling atop a wagon, and sends his second dagger flying at the goblin.
Without waiting to see the result, he turns and starts heading toward Bolgrond as best as possible, sticking to the edges of buildings. If he's really changed, that'll be the best place to be; if not, someone over there will need some help soon!
Bolgrond looks around at the fleeing people, standing his ground as they rush to safety.
He doesn't need Red Father's glow to tell him that Goblins are nearby. So he moves forward through the crowd, gently ushering the smaller humans to the side until he's in sight of the Goblins.
Hraa - Goblins! He roars at them Here to celebrate with us no doubt! Come little ones! Come and partake of the New Ways!
Jin easily tricks the goblin, getting to the relative safety of a crowd filled with targets much larger than he is. Both Jin and Marcan (with Serina with him) have an easy time finding Bolgrond, as a small grouping of three goblins approach the Bugbear. They look surprised to see him there, but also pleased, thinking that they have the added support. They come closer, wicked grins on their faces, and crooked blades in their hands. As Jin and Marcan begin approaching, they look expectantly at Bolgrond.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop, Mae gets a look at what's happening in the town. She can easily see the group forming in the center around Bolgrond, as well as two other satellite groups of 3-4 goblins. Though she hasn't been in Sandpoint long, something about how quickly these goblins have appeared is unsettling to her. It should not have been possible for them to get into the town center unnoticed as they did.
Bolgrond claps thunderously, his huge armoured paws each the size of a goblin.
Come and join the festivities little ones. Put away those stabbers- those weapons. Bolgrond corrects himself. Remembering the proper words in Common tongue was always particularly challenging for him.
This is a time for celebration, and look... He gestures to the oncoming Marcan and Jin. Ho' there frail old man! You've found another Goblin too! Bolgrond exclaims cheerily in a booming voice.
"Put away your weapons"? "New ways"? This hobgoblin speaks like no other hobgoblin I've seen before....this calls for a closer look.
Jin pulls out his Mask of Anguish and concentrates on it while holding it in his hands.
He succeeds, but the casting saps his energy. His mind feels more sluggish after intensely focusing on the casting of his spell. He feels a headache coming on as he finds an unobtrusive spot and puts the Mask of Anguish on his face. (-1 to Int until I've had a chance to clear my head.) Bolgrond, you said you were looking in my direction, so you may see all this happening. Depends on how distracted your character is.
When he switches masks to the Mask of Anguish and puts his Mask of Ecstatic Joy away in his backpack, the illusion from his enchantment drapes over him and his appearance is just like one of the goblins approaching Bolgrond. Sneaking up behind the group, the false goblin joins with the other goblins and waits to see what happens next. He stays toward the rear of the goblin pack and tries not to get noticed.
Jin, Bolgrond, Marcan
Jin blends in fairly easily with the other goblins, who are too distracted by the weird things occurring around them to notice him having joined. They look with hunger at Marcan, but the man not considering Bolgrond a target has them feeling confused. They look up at the large bugbear, who hasn't drawn a weapon, and feel confused.
Finally, one of them shrieks "Party!" as if he finally understands. Scampering off briefly, he returns rolling down the square on a barrel of ale. Leaping off, he slices it open, and the trio of goblins begin to drink off the pavement. One of them looks cautiously at Jin, and scoots aside slightly so that he can get in for some ale, too.
On the other side of the square (~50 feet away), a small wagon erupts into a flame. Bolgron and Jin can hear a mad cackling from behind the wagon.
Serina tugs on Marcan from behind. "We should go home where it's safe." She urges.
Mae
Mae can see that the town is doing not well with the attack. Ordinarily the Sheriff would be the one to rouse the guards to action and coordinate their efforts, but he was last seen arrested someone and hasn't returned yet. The guards themselves have leapt into action, but it took them a bit to really get going, and their numbers are quite small. Of the 7 that Mae could see, 3 have already perished to goblins (not to mention the civilians who have died.)
There are signs of a few civilians fighting back, though most are simply running. Mae can see to the south there is a fight breaking out between a group of ~6 goblins and a woman. Mae sees her slice one of them open with a sword. To the north, a building is blocking the sight, but Mae can hear the distant cries of someone calling for help.
"I'd like to, but if these fires get out of hand, nothing in town will be safe for long," Marcan replies to his wife. Looks like Bolgrond's got this group under control for the moment...though I'm not sure drunk goblins will be a big improvement over aggressive ones. Marcan looks around, and spots James' stall a few doors down. "Come on!" he says, and makes his way over to the stall, trying to grab a couple of able-bodied citizens en route. "Follow me - you'll need weapons to help fight them off!" Once he gets there, he opens the stall, and tells Serina to stay here and help distribute weapons to the townsfolk.
Parley with the citizens to stand and fight; leverage is not looking like I'm totally panicked.
If the stall's locked, trying to open it without it being obvious:
Also, assuming the above work and James' stall has them, I'd grab a couple of replacement throwing daggers for myself.
Having mistook the diminutive Jin for a Goblin anyway, the fact that his appearance now reflects this only confirms Bolgrond's assessment. He nods to himself approvingly.
Bolgrond smiles broadly as he grabs one half of the barrel, and drinks from it like a teacup, pinky raised. If it's one thing that the Common races did well, it was brewing alcohol. He'd only tasted it from the rare kegs that he and his littermates managed to pilfer.
Seeing the fire and cackling, Bolgrond starts ruminating on what Marcan said, perhaps the Goblins weren't here to celebrate.
"Goboks, Duun kaal o? dec agaan o maagaan?" Bolgrond bellows to the partying goblins in between gulps of ale. (Goblins, who leads you? Why are you here?)
Mae lowers herself from the roof and heads towards the woman to the south, weaving through the groups of people fleeing the scene. Haster darling, I would give you one of these but they are weaker than you deserve. Spotting the goblins closer now, And goblins...they might be worse. Protect my, dear and I will deal with their wretchedness.
Shield (+3 armor forward, Reach)
She moved the tips of her fingers over the raven bones hanging from her neck as she approaches the scene and from the depths of her soul she summons the power of Haster's tentacle-y goodness for a blast to knock back the one coming in to attack the woman while she removes her blade:
Ignoring the overturned ale, Jin the "goblin" runs across the square, staying out of arm's reach of anyone in his way, and tries to find the source of the cackling. He stays at a good 30 feet or so away from the flaming wagon, but he tries to loop around the side to get a good view.
As Mae attempts to gain Haster's attention, the dark god reacts with annoyance, and instead of the blast that Mae was hoping for to knock back the goblins, instead tentacles burst from the ground, pinning the woman to the ground, as she screams, with her sword just out of reach. As Mae moves closer, drawing her blade, she immediately recognises the woman as Ameiko. The goblins grin at their fortune, and move in for the kill.
Jin slides around the side of the wagon, keeping a reasonable distance from the fire itself, and easily sees another goblin standing there, holding a torch. This goblin bears the several burns of someone who never learned to not play with fire. In addition to charring, his dark blue skin has large patches where it is covered with soot and ash. The goblin looks at Jin and cackles madly, the flames from the wagon dancing in his eyes.
Approaching James's stall with Serina close behind, Marcan finds the purveyor meeting him there. "Had to make sure my family was safe." He says, pointedly looking at Serina as he does so. With Marcan rounding up some townspeople and James and Serina helping to distribute weapons, they put together a sizable group: James, Marcan, Serina, and four townspeople. While most of them are not exactly fighters and are certainly scared, they're fueled by having each other, and by the passion of protecting their home and families, even if it means dying.
The group can easily see the goblins in the center of town with Bolgrond, who seem nonthreatening at the moment. There is still a wagon on fire on the East side of the square. Screams from the South, and cries for help from the North, both situations out of view from where they are.
In the town's square, the goblins look at Bolgrond with surprise. "Kill." One says simply, as if it's a given. "We serve half-blood." Narrowing his eyes, he looks at Bolgrond with more suspicion. "Who you serve?"
"Everyone grab an extra weapon, in case you find more people who can fight. James, why don't the three of you head north; the rest of us will head south. We can worry about the fires once we've dealt with the things setting them. ", Marcan says. To Serina, he adds quietly, "If we get clear of the goblins, you can head for the house, ", before leading his group towards the screams from the south.
In response to the mad pyro's giggling, Jin's goblin disguise feigns a grin. He half-dances, half-walks his way over to the other goblin and points at the fire, laughing madly. He tries to get within easy arm's reach of the trusting goblin, and stab him in the back so he doesn't get a chance to resist. If he doesn't suspect anything of me, that should be an easy kill without a roll needed - if he does discover what I'm trying to do, and try to stop me, let me know, and I'll roll a Hack and Slash.
Haster darling, you make me so happy. Of course you know best! She watches the scene with amusement. Clearly there is a reason this women should die before the goblins. She looks around to see if anyone in the vicinity is watching the scene as well.
As soon as the goblin says 'kill', Red Father smashes into the group of goblins. The enormous runeblade easily larger than the goblins combined.
Bolgrond acting instinctively, repeatedly brings the sword up and down, reigning a bloody tantrum upon the three.
Bolgrond swings over and over, turning the goblins into a sprawling pie of blood and flesh across the dirt. Turning, he can see Marcan has assembled a number of people with weapons, who are breaking off into two groups. Bolgrond hears the shouts and screams drawing them to the north and south, respectively.
The goblin grins with a crooked smile as Jin begins half-dancing, half-walking towards him, and joins in. He starts to hold out the fire to Jin as an offering, and his eyes say "Come with me, we can burn the entire world", but they quickly go dead as Jin, having other plans, embeds a dagger into the goblin's back. Jin can also see the barrage of people with weapons moving towards the square. Also, the wagon is still on fire.
James nods to Marcan, taking two of the men and starting to make a run for the north. They stop when they see Bolgrond, absolutely covered in blood. The men with James instantly pale and raise their weapons, but James can see what remains of the goblins at his feet and smiles, holding up a hand to stop the others. "Some more trouble to the north." He says. "That is, if you haven't had your fill yet."
Marcan, Serina, and their own civilians head to the south, seeing a group of goblins circling something that they can't see, and a possibly helpless looking human woman a good 20 feet away from them.
As Mae condemns Ameiko to a death by Haster, and turns to check for witnesses, she can clearly see Marcan, Serina, and three other armed men coming down the alleyway. They haven't spotted Ameiko yet, but can see both Mae and the circle of goblins.
Jin removes his mask of sorrows, dispelling his goblin illusion and returning to halfling form, before swapping to the Mask of Ecstatic Joy, peering down at the poor, foolish goblin. Then he remembers that the goblin was a murderous pyromaniac, and he shakes his head, dispelling any traces of pity from his heart. This world was hard and creatures like these made it harder.
Then, he jumps up to a non-burning part of the wagon in an attempt to peer inside for anything to grab that the original owners won't be needing anymore. If it's not safe to jump up on the wagon because it's completely ablaze, he won't do it. It's not his intention to search it carefully - just a cursory glance. Once that's done, Jin's going to look for Bolgrond and try to make his way back to him. Shouldn't be too hard with him slaying the drinking goblins.
Old habits kick in, and Marcan starts to gesture in the Korvosan guild's hand codes before catching himself, and just waving for the two men to follow him and charging the nearest goblin.
How do you want to handle the townies? Narratively, or as hirelings, or something else?
Mae, what's your emotional state look like as Marcan approaches?
Mae let's her glee slide into a forced visage of slight fear. Act normal for the others Mae! Now that Haster has had his handsome way with the former tavern owner she goes to the task of dealing with the goblins, Haster darling, once more with feeling? Fingers to the bones, staff toward the closest goblin not skewering:
Realizing that it isn't in the cards for her she turns towards the approaching folks. Quickly now! It looks like they have already had their way with someone.
Bolgrond wipes the blood off his face with the back of his hand and nods to James. "A bloody welcome to you Sword-Beater. The little ones will learn the strength of the New Ways this day - one way or the other" He says as he readies his runesword
Bolgrond heads north on James' suggestion, letting Red Father's glow guide him - all the while pondering what the Goblins said. Something about serving a Half-Blood?
He struggles and attempts to recall what he would know on the matter.
Becoming increasingly disappointed in Mae, Haster's response to her continued prayers is met with a black tentacle, roughly 5 feet in diameter, bursting from the ground. The shock of it coming through the ground knocks the goblins and Marcan both off balance. The ground rupturing sends Ameiko's sword skating across the ground, where she's struggling beneath more tentacles to retrieve it. The tentacle easily scoops up one of the goblins, crushing it with little effort. The remaining goblins look uncertain of who to fight first.
James nods to Bolgrond, following the bugbear as they move to the north, James flanked on either side by the civilians, still looking terrified as they clutch their weapons. Coming around the corner of a building, the group spots the commotion easily. There's a nobleman crouched behind a barrel, while his hunting dog duels a goblin mounted on a hideous, ratlike creature. Three more goblins cower nearby, terrified by the nobleman's pup. The group arrives just in time to see the mounted goblin stab through the dog, to the cheers of his lackeys. With that out of the way, the four goblins begin to advance on the nobleman.
What in Abaddon was that? Marcan thinks as he struggles to regain his footing. "I'm fine" he says back over his shoulder to Serina and the others. He glances quickly from the goblins to the unknown woman, evaluating. Well, I know the goblins aren't here to be friendly... flashes through his mind, as he draws and flings a dagger with his off hand.
Bolgrond leaps into action, roaring his ferocious battle-cry: "I. HATE. GOBDOGS."
He swings Red Father in for the kill, and with his weight carrying forward he aims a hulking shoulder at the mounted goblin, attempting smash the pair into the wall.
Jin's mouth hardens into a thin line as the nobleman's dog is slaughtered. The halfling likes dogs.
Focusing on the endangered nobleman, trying to spoil some more of the goblins' fun. Touching his forefinger to his mask's forehead, he empowers a spell and infuses his mask with it. He takes off the spell-bound mask and throws it at the nobleman hiding behind the barrel. An illusion will sprout around the mask's impact point when it lands at the nobleman's feet - creating a thick wall of brambles, thorns, and nettles in a 10 foot radius around the man to discourage any of the goblins from trying to attack him. Of course, the brambles are completely illusory, but they LOOK like they would be very painful to touch.
The spell almost goes off as planned, but his headache interferes with his spellcasting and he bungles it somehow. The fake brambles will only last about 45 seconds to a minute - after that, they'll fade away and expose the nobleman again.
Serina huh? She seems important to this man. Serina? Watch out for the goblins...and all that..I know a little protective magic, I'll see if I can help out your friend. Haster darling, I'm beginning to look like I'm not helping... She touched her necklace and then motioned toward the man who had just glanced at her.
Marcan hurls a dagger at one of the goblins, catching it in the face. Not quite dead, but certainly not having a good time of it, the goblin falls to the ground, howling in pain. One of the others leaps at Marcan and takes a swing at him, but Mae's magical protection of him causes the weapon to bounce of ineffectively, to the goblin's confusion. Seeing Marcan not be wounded by an attack that would surely have killed a lesser man, the two civilians leap into action. One of them assists Ameiko with getting her sword and starts hacking at the tentacles pinning her, while the other dispatches another goblin. In his efforts, however, he moves a bit too close to the large tentacle, and it scoops him up.
On the North side, Bolgrond let's loose a terrible shout as he charges at the mounted goblin. The shout draws the attention of all of them, and the goblins quickly move to swarm him, using their size to their advantage and dodging his savage blows.
James and the two civilians move behind Bolgrond, partially covering him and partially observing. Their weapons cut through one of the goblins that stands in their way. Recognising the nobleman, James calls out "Aldren! Stay there. We'll deal with this." The nobleman nods, and then leaps back in fear and surprise as Jin's bramble's appear in front of him, giving him cover.