Butoka looks up toward the ladder "I think this is too out of the ordinary to just ignore, Ela-San, what do you all say? Shall we investigate this gnome? Butoka addresses Ela and chakki.
Kidlat stretches himself upright peering down upon the village in an attempt to see if he can make out Butoka, Chakki, and Ela'in.
Sabs sits down and furiously writes in her journal oblivious to any going ons around her.
*Not in the ‘Grand Species Classification of Supernatural Entities and Other Monstrosities’ by Edith Evan Elliot Emily sense †
**Or would they hide forever and die!
†In the not normal of their usual type sense
Chakki responds to Butoka.
"I agree, though we should use caution. I've never heard of goblins being so colorful, so I doubt that's what we just saw. Still it's better to be safe than be 6 feet under Brinestump Marsh."
Butoka says to Chakki in response "Agreed, since we aim to search the village anyways, why not go where we saw this strange gnomish figure? eh Chakki-Chan? So, let's proceed then?" Butoka begins climbing the ladder.
Chakki follows Butoka up the ladder and to the place where the pink blur disappeared. After making sure that she has positioned herself in a way that any potential danger would get to Butoka first. She clears her throat then shouts inside.
"Okay you pink fluff! You have 3 seconds to surrender before I drop 80 fireballs on your face!"
She smiles to herself proud that her voice wasn't too shaky when she delivered her bluff.
Butoka whispers to Chakki in a frustrated tone "Chakki-Chan! whatever happened to using caution!? Butoka says as he slams his face into his palm.
Sabs appearance: Hot pink hair in one half foot dreadlocks, mint skin, and eyes the size of small saucers. Dresses in plaid pants, zig zag shirt, spotted cloak, and plain brown gloves.
Sabs bolts upright unable to miss Chakki’s shouting. She speeds toward the source finding both Butoka and Chakki, With a bright smile that is just a touch too wide to look normal, ”Hi! Are you a swamp-human? Can all swamp-humans drop 80 fireballs on people’s faces OR are you special?!” Sabs walks around appraisingly while drawing furiously in her journal. She turns to Butoka and her saucer sized eyes go even wider, ”Wow! I’ve never seen an extant subspecies of human like you!” Continuing to scribble not really waiting for an answer to any question she’s asked so far, ”Is this your village? Where are all the other humans? Are they too shy?”
Butoka hurriedly puts a finger up and lets out a sharp SSSHHHHH Butoka then whispers to Sabrinaa "This village is home to the Licktoad tribe, GOBLINS! If you don't know of those then all you need to know is they're nasty, barbaric creatures, and we DON'T want to alert them of our presence. So you MUST stay cautious little one!'
Butoka gathers himself, and lets out a deep sigh "Now, what is your name little one?"
”Goblins! Where?!” She looks around, disappointed, she continues, ”Why would you let goblins into your village? Is it some intra-species cohabitation agreement? Well probably not if you’re hiding FROM them!” She paces around tapping her thumb to her chin, her armor jingles and jangles, ”Oh! Are we on a secret mission? I’m very good at hiding from things.” As if she finally registered Butoku’s question she cheerily exclaims, ”I’m Sabrina Sara Sierra Sablesash, Sabs if you can’t alliterate!” She holds out a tiny gloved hand palm open.
Not quite expecting to find someone so eccentric in the middle of Brinestump Marsh, it takes Chakki a little while to regain her composure.
After seeing Butoka make the first gesture, she decides to shake Sabs' hand and introduce herself.
"Pleased to meet you Sabs, my name is Chakki. I must say that you took us both by surprise. We were not expecting to encounter a gnome in the middle of our goblin hunt. What brings you this deep into Brinestump Marsh? Does it have anything to do with what you keep writing in that book?"
”It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Sabrina Sara ZSierra Sablesash,” Ela’in bows low to the gnome, a curious gesture as she is lowered head is almost just as high as the gnome.
”I echo my friends, while we are relieved to see something other than goblins here, what are you doing here?”
How long have you been here? I’m assuming that you’ve only been here for a bit, maybe a day at the most, but since you’ve been here the entire village has been mostly quiet. Would Sabs have just set up camp and waited for something to happen? That may work best story wise, but if you have been exploring then it appears that a battle recently took place, most likely about a few days ago.
"Oh I should say yes! It's my research notes! And I'm here looking for you! Well not you specifically, but humans like you," She motions to everyone present. "I'm the world's foremost expert on humans you see and I need some fresh subjects to study. So it's most fortuitous because I was starting to get a little bored. And you know what they say when you get bored." A touch of sadness can be seen in Sabs's eyes but it quickly vanishes. "Anyway I'm following you!"
You spend a few minutes trying to keep track of Butoka, Chakki, and Ela’in from such a distance and while difficult to see exactly what is happening you do see them climb up a ladder to their right and just catch a glimpse of them walking in to a building before the wall surrounding the village cuts off the rest of the view.
Ela’in looks at Chakki, ”Well she’s technically the only human here, we do have Kidlat but hes outside the village right waiting to charge in if something happens. Should we contiune moving around the village then?”
Butoka lets out a hearty but still hushed chuckle "Ooooo yes, I'm probably the farthest thing from human in our group, Sab-Chan. And yes, I do believe continuing to search the village will be in our best interest, feel free to follow, little one, and help out in any way you can."
He sits still for about a minute, slowly getting restless. However, if it is a trap, it seems like a well laid trap, perhaps one too elaborate for goblins to set. They are capable though, they might be able to handle themselves.
Kidlat about his surroundings, making sure that there isn't anyone about to ambush him. However, if it's a trap not set by goblins, they might not get a chance to alert me...If they don't signal me in five minutes, I'm going in.
Sabs appears to not have even registered the comments about various party members not being human. Continuing to chatter while the party searches, ”Oh! That’s a word I haven’t heard before! Is chan an honorific suffixed onto the end of a name? What language is it from? What does it mean? You’re full of surprises!”
As you move south out of the building that you found Sabs in you find yourself walking through a tower that leads to a small stained incline to the a second story that overlooks the rest of the village under a roofed thatch, but is otherwise open to the air.
On the first floor is another door leading south.
From the second floor you see Butoka astride Kabayo some feet away from the front gate but other than that you do not see anything out of the ordinary.
Just as the fifth minute is about to pass you see the faces of Butoka, Chakki, and Ela’in on the second story of a tower just south of the building they had entered in to. With them though you see a strange small pink haired gnome standing next to them.
"Wait a second, what is that?" Kidlat sits up straight upon Kabayo's saddle once more, carefully observing the gnomic individual. Is that...a gnome? What's a gnome doing here?"
Kidlat's grip upon his lance tightens. "Is she threatening them? What's going on?"
Kidlat observes these occurrences for but a moment before realizing, "They don't appear to be in any peril, and if they were they would have signaled me by now," and Kidlat's grip on his lance loosens slightly.
"They know the plan. They'll signal me if there's any trouble."
Kidlat resumes merely observing the actions of his allies, awaiting their call.
As the group moves onto the next building in town.
Chakki, amused by meeting an oddly dressed Gnome with a strange fascination for humans. Sees the opportunity for a little fun.
"So Sabs,"
She says turning to the Gnome.
"If you want to know anything about humans just come talk to me. I have 28 years experience in the field of being human, so I know a thing or two. For instance, you asked earlier if all humans could drop 80 fireballs on peoples faces. The answer is no, only I can do that. There is a fortune teller in my hometown that said I'm special. Let me see... She said. 'Something something ancient prophecy. Something something The Chosen One.' I don't know, I wasn't paying that close attention. But yeah, it's basically just me."
Sabs continues to speak rapid fire, "I intend to ask all you humans lots of questions! Were you something else 28 years prior? There are some powerful magics that can transform entities into other entities, were you a victim?" Sabs frowns briefly, "If you were have you faced social ostracization?"
Not waiting for answers, "Is this a part of your supernatural abilities? Can you demonstrate?! Probably best if you demonstrate. Wait let me get ready." Sabs casts detect magic before continuing, "Don't worry about not paying attention to your prophecy! Knowing what predictimancy predicts doesn't actually make it easier, more often than not it makes you take the HARD way."
Sabs brazenly opens the southern door.
Walking outside of the south door you immediately find yourself in a small hallway. About 10 feet down is a door to your left and further down the hallway past that first door is another door. The hallway has no lights in it, save for the rays of the sun coming from a hole in the western wall.
Regardless of which direction the party chooses to proceed, Butōka continues to stay on guard, with his bo staff tightly held in his grip.
”Say, Sab-Chan, being an expert in the field of humans, have you done any studies or know any useful informations on goblins that may come in handy when the time arises? With goblins being humanoids and all? Butōka says to Sabrina in a hushed tone, as he scans both doors and keeps his ears open for any goblins that may be hiding.
"No! Yes!" Sabs pauses for a second and then says triumphantly, "They're not human!" She looks up smiling, "Oh and they detest dogs, horses, and gnomes for various reasons. Lots of gnomes also are prejudice against goblins but not me! I think a goblin could not be a murderous insane maniac."
Sabs opens the eastern door and says, "Boo!"
Sab’s voice echos in the empty room, bouncing off of the half dozen “beds” that are in the room. None of them look very comfortable though.
The only way out of the room other than the way you came is a door to the north.
Ela’in quietly speaks up rushing to follow behind Sabs as she has kicked down the last two doors. ”Miss Sabs, we are playing a game of hide and seek with the Goblins, it may be best to try to find them undetected.”
Sabs points a finger at her nose and gives Ela'in an exaggerated wink. She begins seeking goblins by looking through the beds.
Sabs quietly pulls the sheets off of one of the beds. The room hasn’t been cleaned in a while, if ever, and dust is quickly kicked up from the motion.
Under the sheet the bed is completely empty, it looks like it hasn’t been slept in for a few days. The more intriguing thing however is the pile of what appears to be decaying human bones near the foot of the bed.
Butōka quickly assesses the room, and decides that there is nothing for them here and whispers ”Let’s move on from here, our mission is to retrieve the fireworks, so let us continue to earnestly seek those out.”
Butōka then continues to the other door, and ushers the party to do the same.
Sabs agrees, "Okay!" She follows Butoka to the next door and opens it if he doesn't.
Chakki takes a look at the pile of bones that Sabs has uncovered.
"Were these bones placed here by someone for some reason? Is there more than one human skeleton in this pile?"
She thinks to herself as she investigates.
After she is done surveying the scene she moves to where Butoka has beckoned and takes a glance through the door next to where everyone is standing.
Sabs slowly opens the door to the North and pokes her head out, seeing nothing initially the Ela’in and the rest of the group follows.
When they find themselves on the walk away they hear a noise to the east coming from the nearby building, as a goblin head pokes out of the door, shrieks and shuts the door immediately. The sound of concerned shouting can be heard in the building followed by quiet hushes and silence.
As soon as the party makes it way out onto the open again, Kidlat can see them from where he sits atop Kobaya. Kidlat also briefly sees the small goblin head poke out from the door to the building immediately east and disappear.
You notice that there is a walkway that leads further south into the village nestled between the building you just came from and the building that the goblin’s head poked out of.
"Hyah!!!" Kidlat shouts as he jerks Kabayo's reigns, urging him forward towards the front gates. He gets his lance ready for combat as they charge forward.
Seeing the goblin Sabs cries out, "Found you! Olly olly oxen free!" After the goblin runs away she says in goblin,
”Ummmm.......yes! Come find us inside this building!” you hear a voice yelling from inside the building. ” Shhhhh! Quiet! We want them in here!”
Kidlat, while the gate are twisted enough that it would likely be impossible to get a horse through and Kabayo is initially resistantl, you usher him over the rubble to find yourself inside the goblin village. You find that Kabayo is standing in pure mud and its making it difficult to ride him, not mention the fact that the buildings are all on raised poles. Standing just a little bit in front of you on a raised walkway are your friends.
Sabs waves at Kidlat and Kabayo, "Hi new friends! We can chat later! There are sneaky goblins that need diplomacizing!" She goes over to the door and opens it,
Stepping into the mud that pervades the goblin village, "Ack!" Kidlat exclaims, "There's no use having Kabayo here."
As he begins to dismount, Kidlat notices the gnomic woman greeting him. He pauses for a moment, having not expected this sort of encounter (bit decides against it after what she said), before addressing his friends.
"Are you guys alright?" he whispers to them so as to not spook any eavesdroppers. He dismounts Kabayo and ties his lance to the saddle once more, opting to wield his katana instead.
He urges Kabayo back to safety, hoping that he won't become a big target in whatever fight is about to ensue.
(+skill +circumstance)
Having done that, Kidlat moves towards the raised walkway upon which his allies stand, bracing himself for the goblins sure to attack and looking out for any hidden beyond that single goblinoid of which they are aware.
As Sabs opens a door, the first thing she see is a explosion of light as something hot whizzes past her head barely missing and only singing some of the vibrant hairs on her head.
As Sabs looks behind her to see what just flew past her face, another one connects with the back of her head. She spins around to see three goblins in the room, one immediately in front of the door and two goblins, five feet back.
Seeing the attack upon the gnomic woman, Kidlat rushes forward making his way up the ladder.
"Dunno who you are, but those goblin's ears are worth a hefty price each!" Kidlat yells toward her as he reaches the top and takes out his shield.
Butōka rushes at the goblin directly in front of the door, lunging and swiping at it with his bo staff.
Butoka rushes past Sabs, still reeling from getting hit by a firework the back of the head, and finds himself face to face with a goblin wielding one of Sandru’s fireworks. The light from the candle in the goblin’s hand is bright enough to momentarily confuse Butoka just enough that the swings with his bo staff miss the goblin as two arrows coming whizzing right past his face, just missing him completely.
”What is happening in there Butoka?” Ela’in shouts out as she moves over to the other side of Sabs.
An evil grin crosses Sab’s face when she sees the goblins bunched up like they are and she starts to take off one of her gloves. Then Butoka butts in in front of her and she complains, ”Hey, but I was… oh fine!” Putting her glove back on she says a divine chant to Nethys to bless her new friends. She then readies her shield and steps away from the door to let the other martial looking human have access to the goblins.
Chakki moves right behind Sabs catching a glimpse of the goblins in the room as well as the singed hairs on the back of Sabs' head.
"Oh girl, that is is not a good look."
She says to Sabs as she prepares to cast Color Spray into the room.
Range: 15 ft.
Area: cone-shaped burst
Duration instantaneous; see text
Saving Throw: Will (DC 14) negates; Spell Resistance yesA vivid cone of clashing colors springs forth from your hand, causing creatures to become stunned, perhaps also blinded, and possibly knocking them unconscious. Each creature within the cone is affected according to its HD.
2 HD or less: The creature is unconscious, blinded, and stunned for 2d4 rounds, then blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, and then stunned for 1 round. (Only living creatures are knocked unconscious.)
3 or 4 HD: The creature is blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, then stunned for 1 round.
5 or more HD: The creature is stunned for 1 round.
Sightless creatures are not affected by color spray.
"You might want to watch your head, this stuff does not wash out easily."
Chakki then sprays a multicolored psychedelic liquid over the head of Sabs, and into the 3 goblins in the room. Expending a point of her arcane reservoir to increase the DC of the spell. (DC 14+1) (Arcane Reservoir 2/4)
Firework Goblin HP: 5 Current Status: None
Left Goblin HP: 6 Current Status: Unconscious, Blinded, Stunned 4
Right Goblin HP: 6 Current Status: Unconscious, Blinded, Stunned 4
The two goblins and Butoka are sprayed with a cacophony of color from Chakki’s hands. The goblins in the back momentarily stagger backwards then collapse on to the floor. Unfortunately the firework is still lit as an explosion rockets from it just missing Butoka’s head as it flies out of the door past Kidlat as he climbs up the ladder; as that goblin drops the firework on the ground with it still lit and firing. ”OW! It burned me!! and quickly sticks his hand in his mouth in an attempt to cool it down only to realize that his hand was on fire when it went into his mouth.
Butōka shrugs off the spray from Chakkis hands and let’s put a breathy grunt as he strikes the goblin next to him with a flurry of blows from his bo staff.
Kidlat reaches the top of the ladder and stands up tall as he draws his katana and shield . Making his way past Ela'in , he attempts to strike the goblin through the narrow window that he has .