She heads inside and finds the spyglass right where she left it. While it's totally smashed, all of its pieces are present and accounted for, after a short search for some little little bits. She repairs the item and stows it in her pack and heads back, none the worse for wear.
When she returns to the town, she finds the little shepherd she had named Hobble. He is playing with a couple of very small Kellid children, who are using the giant spider-leg as a tug-of-war toy, but he runs to greet Aisha when she arrives. After a moment, he goes to get the spider leg from the kids and offers it to Aisha, an inquisitive look on his face. Meanwhile, the children whisper suspiciously among themselves.
"Beth yw gyda'r robot rhyfedd hwnnw?" whispers one.
"dywedodd mam-gu wrthyf eu bod bob amser yn eich lladd ac yn troi'ch corff yn fatris." says the other, with a fearful glance at Aisha.
The other is wide-eyed and curious, and stares unabashedly at the android. "Ond mae hi'n bwyta cawl. Dwi ddim yn meddwl bod robotiaid yn bwyta cawl."
Aisha looks to the children, then back to Hobble. Then back to the children. Hobble was broken, and so were the children. Perhaps there was enjoyment to be gained in fighting over the spider leg? She could go get another spider leg for the children if they wanted one...
"Nid robot ydw i. Rwy'n android!" Aisha responds to the children, brightly. "Ac nid cawl yw hwn, mae'n stiw." She tugs at the spider leg once more, testing Hobble's grip, and focusing on him rather than the children. ""Fy enw i yw Aisha, ac nid oes gennyf ddefnydd ar gyfer batris." She then takes another bite of the stew, before turning her attention back to them. "Ydych chi'n gwybod ble mae fy nghymdeithion wedi mynd?"
"Why care what he says?" Kaussek asks. "Were he here I would admonish him also. This would not be the first mercenary company I have been in that destroyed itself via infighting before the enemy could even face it. The best I have seen to do with a man of ego is to ignore him. Arguing simply convinces him that others care for his opinion. So yes, I am suggesting you ignore him. Your opinion on the matter is already abundantly clear. I doubt anyone will mistake your silence for agreement."
Ishana feels a little sad as she observes the carrion birds feeding on the horses, it wasn't their fault that their masters had abandoned them. She glances briefly at the stable to see if she can spot any surviving horses but isn't particularly hopeful.
Moving on, Ishana is surprised to find no weapons in the Smithy, before realising that the completed weapons probably find their way to the fort itself, which would explain the stack of weaponry there. None of the team had shown much interest in blacksmithing so she doesn't spend much time in the smithy, seeing it clearly abandoned like the rest, giving it a quick once over.
Curiosity sated, Ishana decides to visit the Town Jail. She predicts it too, to be likely abandoned but Ishana didn't like leaving things unknown unless she could help it.
"Becuase he has been slandering and insult us by trying to say it was our fault. Meanwhile, he didn't chase after the killers or even gets the man's name, his first thought was to find us and tell us how wrong we were for not listening to him." Lyon replies with a bit indignantly. "I am not a mercenary and it's not infighting if he's not part of the group. But fine, if you want to work with him I won't say anything to him or his sidekick."
Kaussek nods once. "Good."
He turns to his stew and eats slowly, secretly striving to cool his riled anger as he eats. It would only be fair for him to go broach this topic with Marcus, as well... and he would want a cool head for doing so.
As Ishana turns and leaves the smithy, she finds herself face-to-face with the hobgoblin father whose family Ishana helped to kill earlier in the day. A look of rage twists up his face, and as he sees Ishana he is already mid-charge, a longsword in his hand. "Die, pinkskin murderer!" he snarls, although his Common accent is strong.
He pulls his arm across his body, pointing the end of his blade towards Ishana. Gracefully, he thrusts at her. His technique and style is very precise, and his blade slides along her torso, leaving a thin, bleeding wound that he exacerbates as he pulls back. However, his footwork is not up to par, giving Ishana an opportunity to act before he strikes a second time!
The two small children look more and more amazed as Aisha reveals that she speaks Hallit. says one. The second one addresses her directly. and where he points you can see Lyon and Kaussek sitting with Ven and Alana next to a bonfire, eating stew.
Meanwhile, Hobble idly tugs at the spider leg, but he is quite small for a dog.
Alana merely looks wide-eyed between Kaussek and Lyon as they continue arguing from her spot on the floor, and Ven's wrinkled face is set into a frown of disapproval. When it seems that the argument is mostly over, Alana takes a loud slurp from her soup. "So... can I come with you tomorrow?" she asks. At that, Ven looks sharply down, but doesn't say anything first.
Ishana turns and flees.
Ishana turns and withdraws, running away from the hobgoblin warrior as far as she can go. He chases her, drawing his revolver and firing it at her as she flees. His bullet impacts with her shoulder, staggering her and nearly sending her topping forward - the bullet really had a punch to it! But after that first shot, Ishana is able to get enough distance between herself and the goblin that he cannot see her with his darkvision and it would be foolish to pursue her, so she is able to return to the caravan.
Ishana staggers out of the dark, bloodied from two fresh wounds.
Aisha stops fighting over the bone and begins idly scritching Hobble's ears. She tilts her head curiously. she says, matter of fact.
says one boy, older than the other, with a slight crease of his eyebrows.
Aisha returns to the main camp with an empty soup bowl in hand, head tilting as she arrives where Lyon and Kaussek are, she looks around for a bit wondering where Lu is, Marcus was whatever passed for a doctor in these parts and would be in his tent. "Why is the party mage traveling in the dark alone?" Aisha asks, clearly not a leading question. "This is something that never happens in the stories."
Lyon shrugs at Alana's request. She really didn't want to risk her dying to Varn's team but Alana wasn't much younger than Lyon and if she was a capable fighter then they might need her help, so who was she to stop her? "I won't stop you but I wouldn't suggest it. They were hitting hard and had powerful magic. More people on the field makes it harder to spread out and I'd prefer the caravan have some reliable defense while we're away."
"Welcome back." She greets Aisha as she returns. "I am still angry with Marcus, she disagrees but I'm supposed to ignore them apparently."
Ishana staggers into the fort, bleeding from her gunshot and stab wounds. ”Hobgoblin seems to still be out there” she mutters dryly, chest heaving from her recent sprint.
When the gunshot reached her ears Lyon already had a guess at what had happened. Either Aria had gotten an upgrade or the ogre-kin that had gotten away were back. "Maybe you can help with this instead." She tells Alana while she gets ready to follow after the noise. When Ishana staggers back Lyon holds back a sigh, she felt a tinge of schadenfreude followed by a healthy dose of guilt. Despite the way she'd acted, Ishana was still part of the caravan and she needed Lyon's help. "Where at and how many? I don't think we have any magical healing left but he might be able to dress your wounds at the very least." She offered her help but intentionally avoiding using Marcus's name.
Kaussek rises to his feet, hand going to his hammer. "Were they following? Is the camp in danger?"
Without waiting for a response he starts towards the door.
"Oh, my gosh!" says Alana, getting up from the stump she had retrieved as a chair. Ven moves to help as well, his hands glowing with healing energy as he does. "Here, let me help you," he says.
"There, that should make you feel better," he says, laying a hand on Ishana's shoulder and letting the positive energy wash away her wounds. "I'm sorry to say, but that's nearly all I've got today."
Hearing the commotion, Lu comes around from having spent the evening among his tribe. He'd had better things to do than continue to participate in the argument over who caused what, especially when his people had suffered a loss. Unlike the others he had to actually deal with the repercussions, though he had appreciated the effort Lyon had made to help with Cedric's funeral.
"It's good you were able to escape. Lyon is right, however, I cannot heal you any further today," Lu says as he sees her wounds, "Perhaps the rest of us should track down the hobgoblin before he escapes?"
"Kaussek, wait. He may be preparing an ambush again. We should go together."
Kaussek stops in the gateway and looks out. "I was not planning on going farther than here. I simply wish to be in position to respond if there is an immediate attack."
He pauses. "I am not certain venturing out tonight would be wise. We are spent, and from what we have seen of this hobgoblin he is cunning. He would not wait to be found without making preparations."
Back at the medical tent, Marcus was finishing treating his wounds. His armor, mask, overcoat lay in a heap next to bubbling cauldron where he was boiling an impressive number of bloodied bandages.
He had pulled his pants on, but not his tunic when the gunshot rang out. He had a split second of hesitation, then slung his weapon belt over his shoulder and ran out to his horse. Mounting bareback, he took off toward the sound at a gallop.
It might just by Lyon practicing or venting her frustrations.
It isn't.
How can you be sure.
She would not waste bullets. Either she is shooting something, or something is shooting at us.
"This is why this never happens in the stories." Aisha says, calmly. "Do you know any illusion magic, Ishana?" Aisha asks as she moves past her to interpose with some ease, focusing not on her and her injuries - she could do nothing for those - and instead on what could continue to occur. A starknife of roiling light and darkness forms in her hand as she moves to the gate with Kaussek. "It is strange that they are still within the town. I would have thought it likely that they would flee more permanently. Why would they stay when they had fought and mostly all died? A monster should flee a more dangerous creature unless it has no other choice but to fight." Aisha says as she peers into the darkness, conjuring dancing lights and sending them flying outwards, four tiny sprites swirling forward together.
"Vengeance can drive beings to be very stupid," Kaussek states flatly, "More stupid than any storyteller would dare say, lest he be disbelieved. But that does not mean the vengeful are any less dangerous."
Ishana winces slightly, before the healing magic takes hold.
"Thank you sir" she remarks to Ven in gratitude, before turning her attention to Aisha.
"I don't quite know what sort of spells you might be referring to. I have a minor cantrip that is sort of a half illusion spell to make noises, but that is all that I have prepared for today that is from the illusion school."
"So," says Alana, standing up and belting on a dagger. "Are we going to go?"
Kaussek catches sight of Marcus on a horse, riding off who-knows-where.
he shouts after the riding man.
At Kaussek's shout, Marcus wheeled his horse to join the rest of the group.
The doctor was unrecognizable. His usual bird-like mask and heavy coat were gone, as was his armor. All he wore were trousers and fresh bandages that covered nearly all of his body, enshrouding him like a mummy. The lower half of his face was still covered by a simple black surgeon's mask. The exposed skin around his eyes, forehead and hands was a laticework of scars. The only things that revealed him as himself were the Saranite rosary around his wrist and the intricate weapon belt slung over her shoulder bearing his curved sword.
All he said when he rode up to the group was "Where?"
"Most any." Aisha responds. "The Venture-captain where I am from is perhaps the most powerful illusionist wizard in the entire world, and the Crusades relied upon such things heavily in order to survive. In doing so, it highlighted that illusion magic is perhaps the strongest of all magics when it comes to defensive use. The school also offers unparalleled versatility. Nearly any spell that you may learn from within the school may serve multiple purposes." Aisha explains.
"Primarily, I was curious if you had access to the vanish spell, or similar. You are... not as swift as I am, or as armored as Kaussek or Marcus. As a result, you must rely upon your magic to stay safe, even when that does not seem viable. And because you do neither of those things, outright protective magic is very weak for you. However, even cantrips can be utilized for exceptional tricks." Aisha pauses for a moment. "We should develop codes and signs. A ghost sound of a specific sound may be used to cry for help. Different colors of dancing lights can mean different things. Firing them directly into the air of the green persuasion could mean 'Safety', while red means 'Danger'. You could even experiment with height or pattern to create different messages. Looking at your weakest spells and discovering nuance within them can mean the difference in life and death, especially if you talk about that nuance with others." Aisha says simply. "We can create rules that the group adheres to that helps with understanding the overall workings."
She turns her attention to Marcus as he arrives, her head tilting. He looked like pain.
Lyon gives Marcus a bizarre glance when he rides up but doesn't say anything, he was already a weird dude but this was next level. She told Kaussek she would ignore him and she intended to keep her word, at least for now. "If we don't deal with it now it will just be a problem later on, I say we go. Even if he's had time to lay traps we can deal with it, just stick together and watch each others back. Would you be willing to carry a torch Alana, or do you need both hands to cast your spells?" If Alana agreed Lyon would offer her one of her torches. "Great idea Aisha but we don't really have time to do plan all that out right now. We need to get moving before he gets away. Who's coming?"
"I can carry the torch, I don't need to carry weapons. Anyone carrying it will be a target, and I would rather it be me," Lu says, offering to provide light instead. Picking up a rock, he imbues it with light and holds it. "Let's go get rid of him before he manages to escape."
Marcus didn't acknowledge the odd glances he was getting. He focused on the job at hand. Since no one was answering him, he picked up Ishanna's tracks and followed them back the way she had come from until he found the Hobgoblin's tracks and started following them.
In spite of her injuries, Ishana manages a light smile at Aisha's remark. "I would like to have a diplomatic debate with you sometime, on that topic perhaps when we are not quite so pressed for time. Its my belief that Abjuration is better suited defensively, while Illusion has the most creative uses. I'll admit that I'm not particularly well versed on either school though, as I'm studying transmutation which unfortunately has limited use at present."
Ishana is happy to converse with Aisha at leisure on this topic, but quietens down when the rest of the party begins tracking the hobgoblin, not wanting to give their position away.
Alana comes with the group, quietly creeping along behind Marcus as he stalks further into the town, looking for the hobgoblin. It seems, as they follow the trail, he is hiding within the jail.
"That is the way that abjuration is advertised by wizards, yes. But in my experience it has only been 'don't let them do the thing they want to do' if they are a spellcaster. For example, Mage Armor, a spell that is generally utilized to protect a creature's body from damage by creating armor of pure force, is a conjuration spell. The rules of the universe are sometimes... silly." Aisha says with a snerking noise as she moves to follow out after the others.
Once Marcus begins looking for new tracks, she does so as well, looking around steadily and slowly. "We should not follow the trail directly. If there are traps laid out, they will be in the path."
Lyon follows after Marcus keeping her eyes out for anything that could lead them to the creature while trying to be on the lookout for any signs of an ambush or trap. Once they have tracked him to the jail she tries to stop everyone to make a plan. "Aisha should go in first, she can blink back if she triggers a trap and I can warn her about any attacks. Once they're out of hiding we should be able to deal with them pretty easily."
"Do we need the jail?" Marcus asked, looking around at the surrounding structures.
Lu spends his time aiding the others in trying to find signs of the hobgoblin's trail. For the most part he ignores the discussion about magic, not particularly interested in the details. Studying it was pointless. Either the spirits granted you power, or they didn't in his opinion.
"I do not have any use for the jail, but no. Do not burn it down. The city will have need of it and burning down a building to kill one or two foes is... unwise." Aisha says, looking over the building. "Do you wish for me to do a quick loop around and over to look for alternate exits? Not all of us should go in at the same time."
It's clear from the tracks that two creatures are hiding within the jail: the hobgoblin male, and his one remaining ogrekin child.
The jail is made out of rough-hewn wood, and as long as people were standing by to help put out any danger zones, there wouldn't be much risk of it spreading. Of course, bad things can always happen with fire, when left to chance.
Alana whispers: "Why would they come out of hiding if it would be easy for us to kill them after they did?"
There are two doors: One main front door, and a service door in the back, probably for employees to hide on the side of from their manager while they take a smoke break or something like that.
Aisha does her quick loop, turning her question into a rhetorical one, before pointing to Marcus and casting her message spell.
"There is a back door that we should wedge shut. I will look atop for any other ways in or out." she says, causing her body to articulate once more. Her legs straighten, and the keratin spikes elongate down her fingertips, having shifted into her climbing form, she clambers easily up the side of the building, moving quietly around up top.
"Fire is risky, and logs take a long time to catch, unless you have something with you to speed up the process," Kaussek states. "We have enough numbers we could come in by both doors and flank them. If there are indeed only two they shall find our numbers difficult to defend against."
"All right, then we need to find something to block the other door or have some people waiting outside in case they try to run again. Aisha should go in first and I should be close by, where does everyone else want to go?" While Lyon did speak to the entire group she was clearly focused on Kaussek and Lu.
Marcus was in no shape to fight and he knew it. "I will block the back door."
He started moving to the back of the house quietly, slipping into cover then moving low.
"I'll stay towards the back. I can try and blind him again if required, but that shouldn't be needed so long as we have a large numbers advantage" Ishana remarks quietly, a little anxious to stay out of the line of fire this time around, but still be in a position to help.
Alana speaks up again. "I'm going with Marcus," she says. "Someone's got to keep an eye on him."
Aisha does not find any other ways in or out. There isn't even roof access, and all of the windows all the way around the building are barred, as it is a prison. Marcus does not find traps on the back door, and finds that it opens outwards (fire code compliant!). Lucky for him, that's easier to bar.
Aisha peers down over the top of the back door, "Perhaps you could use your traps again, rather than simply holding the door?" Aisha suggests via whisper, before refreshing her spell, and clambering back to the front door and down, shifting back into walk-mode. "Blinding or disarming. Either will be effective against a gunman. If we can remove his weapon, he will be at a significant disadvantage. All the better if we can do so in a more permanent fashion. What sort of magics did the 'shaman ogre' utilize previously?"
"I can advance first, under cover of this spell," Kaussek states, then casts mirror image.
Two copies of him appear to either side of himself.
"I have noticed that such weapons rely on single, powerful hits. Provided with false targets, I should be able to close the distance before with minimal injuries."
"The traps are with my armor." Marcus said quietly to Aisha. "I was in a hurry."
The shadows began to swirl around the doctor again as he levered his dagger into space between the door and the frame, next to the hinges.
When the dagger was thoroughly wedged he unsheathed his sword, stood with his back to the wall next to the back door and waited.
"Thank you Alana. If you want to go first instead, sure. I'll follow behind and keep an eye out for an ambush." Lyon still thought Aisha's teleportation ability was a better opening move but who knows if she could still even do that today, they'd been through a lot without much rest. "I can try to blind them but if it fails the first time I'll need some time to try again and I'd rather just focus on ending the fight instead of trying disable them again."
The party enters the jail, Aisha, Kaussek and Lu leading the way. They come into an open entryway with what seems like a reception desk, a fireplace, filing cabinets for paperwork, a small yard for recreation and a warden's bedroom. In the far left corner, a staircase leads up to a balconied second floor where the cells - ten of them - are. The click of a revolver hammer being pushed back alerts the party to the hobgoblin, revolver pointed straight down at them, leaning over the balcony railing.
Meanwhile, the ogrekin shaman stands at the top of the staircase. She holds a club in one hand and a flickering fire in the other hand. Both goblin and ogrekin have furious, unyielding facial expressions on.
1. Faluhann
2. Ogrekin Shaman
3. Alana
4. Lyon
5. Ishana
6. Hobgoblin Gunslinger
7. Marcus
8. Aisha
9. Kaussek