[b]"I guess if we want to find out what these guys are up to our best bet is following these tracks back to were they came from or to where they are going. We should get that tracker over here."/b]
As they are about to walk away from Naffer, Trunt pipes up with, "Was Father Tobyn buried with anything of value? Perhaps that is what they were after..." Trunt trails off staring at the grave for a moment, and then haltingly says, "Do we...know...that 'Father Tobyn' is still down there? Should we...check? I hate to disturb the dead, but it seems as though he already has been."
"We checked the grave. It's empty alright. Hopefully, he didn't get up and walk out with them but I've stories of such things. Not here mind you, but I've heard the stories." Naffer replies.
"This gets stranger and stranger... Goblins working with a human to steal a dead priest's body?" Camil says, shaking his head. "We're definitely going to need help and find the others from the last few days. But lets see what the ranger has to say about all this, maybe she knows more?"
Camil makes to depart, settling his hat back upon his head. "Lets see if we can find everyone else on our way to see the sheriff and this ranger."
Wrath follows Valtrya back, looking for the others.
Conveniently the two groups converge just outside the town hall. The monument explorers were headed to the jail when they noticed the others. After a brief explanation of what happened with the interrogation and the graveyard, the entire group enters the town hall. The double door opens onto a large open room with numerous benches. The windows all around confirm it occupies the entire first floor except for one small room in the back right and an enclosed stairwell that leads both up and down. There is a sign hanging over the stars leading down that says “Sandpoint Bank”.
Someone quickly hops down the stairs and asks the bank teller where they might find the mayor’s office. They find out it is on the second floor. Everyone heads up. A secretary is staged in a room with his desk facing the hall. When he sees the group come meandering up, he calls out, “May I help you?”
Seeing that no one else is speaking up, after an awkward pause, Trunt steps up to the desk and proudly proclaims, ”We, the Heroes of Sandpoint wish to speak with Shelalu, the tracker. We have discovers vital information about the attack last night!”
The man looks unconvinced. ”Yes. I’m sure you have.” Then gesturing to his desk he says, ”Please write your name and business, one of you is bound to know how to write, and will notify the Mayor you are here.”
About this time Sheriff Hemlock steps out into the hallway. He sees everyone and looks back into the room he just exited. ”You’re not going to believe this, they’re here.”
Then looking at the group he waves everyone toward him and says loudly enough for the man in the office to hear, ”Bonnifer, don’t worry about it, they’re with me.”
As everyone files past the office, Bonnifer calls back, ”Sheriff, a good bureaucracy cannot persist in the face of a good ol’ boys network.”
MTF...
The exchange goes over Runt's head who's concept of bureaucracy is limited to thugocracy. She ignores the man behind the desk and wordlessly follows behind the mayor
My this place is clean. I don't think I've ever seen anything more clan in my life.
Lavanor listens as Camil fills everyone in on what happened with the interrogation and at the graveyard. "So the attack was just a diversion? What was buried with the cleric that someone would go to such lengths to get?" he asks as the group heads into the town hall.
While he has some experience tracking, he realizes that a more experienced tracker would be useful for such an important quest. Besides, the person they were following was able to unite multiple tribes of goblins so he must be powerful. The half-elf was unsure if he was ready for such an encounter.
"Beats me, though," she adds as if it were her own idea, "it could be they were after something the cleric knew. Like the location of an artifact or something. You can question the dead, you know, with the right magic."
"So," Sheriff Hemlock says gesturing to everyone as you file into the large room, "These are the ones I was talking about."
There are two women in the room seated around a large table with a map of the surrounding area. One of them, an elf, is dressed in leather with a cloak draped over her shoulder. The other is dressed in a very fine yet practically cut dress. Both the sheriff and the elf look at the lady in the fine dress as if waiting for her to speak.
"Welcome and thank you for your actions on the day of the raid. I am Mayor Deverin." the lady says. "Because of your initiative, Sheriff Hemlock wanted to bring you into the discussion. We are a bit short of trained fighters and again, your abilities speak for themselves."
"Thank you Mayor." the Sheriff says. "I wanted you to hear what Shalelu has to report. She is an unofficial member of the town guard and patrols the surrounding lands, keeping tabs on the goblins. She just rescued a family from a goblin raid two days back. So, what have you come to see us for? Then I will have you listen to Shalelu's story."
"Earlier today, we questioned one of the goblins captured during the attack. He told us that the attack was organized by a third party who used the chaos as a distraction so they could sneak into the town's graveyard. Naffer told us that the body of Father Tobyn had been stolen during the raid. We have no further clues as to who this third party was or what they wanted with Tobyn's body. We also learned from the captive goblin that they are using Briar Hill as their hideout."
Rowan pauses to let them process what he said. He then turns to Shalelu and asks "So Shalelu, what else is going on that we should be aware of?"
"Um. Don't forget the tracks."
Turning towards Shalelu she adds, "There were tracks."
But she says this in a distracted way. She is taking in the Mayor's outfit, liking the way it combines beauty with practicalness. Her new scarves, though beautiful, are hardly useful and bound to get in the way if she is going to be running around burying goblins. And those high heeled boots - well - anyway...
Nodding at Rowan's words, Camil adds when he finishes, "The goblin didn't seem to know why the five tribes were all working together, just that its chief told them to accompany the man here and cause mayhem."
Then Camil awaits the words of the ranger.
At the mention of the extra information Sheriff Hemlock smiles and nods. Shalelu stands and says, “Belor’s told me of your work against the goblins—it turns out to be more extensive than he had said. Belor showed me the grave when I arrived. Impressive work running that down with limited leads. As for my part of the tale, I’ve dedicated the last several years of my life to keeping goblins from causing too much trouble around these parts, but they’re tenacious and fecund little runts. Like weeds that bite."
“Anyway, there’s five major goblin tribes in the region, and, traditionally, they’re pretty good at keeping each other in line with intertribal squabbles and the like. Yet from what I’ve been able to piece together, members of all five tribes were involved in the raid on Sandpoint. A fair amount of the Mosswood tribe goblins I dealt with yesterday were already pretty beat up, and there was a lot of chatter about the ‘longshanks’ who killed so many of them. Now that I’ve met you, it seems obvious from their descriptions who they were talking about. Seems like you’ve made an impression."
“In any event, the fact that the five tribes are being organized by a single entity is disturbing. Goblin tribes don’t get along unless they’ve got something big planned, and big plans require big bosses. And judging by these recent raids, what they’re organizing seems like bad news for all of us.”
"It probably won't last long. The little turds are too scatterbrained to maintain focus for long."
"When you checked the grave, did you see where the body was taken? Was it just goblin tracks around the grave or were there "longshanks" tracks as well taken part in the grave-robbery?"
"I did not check for tracks beyond confirming the goblins were involved. With your information, it would be a good idea to check. I can do that in the morning before I take off. Belor has asked me to run a check around some of the local goblin haunts. You mentioned briar hill. I think that is what we call Thistle Top here locally so I'll swing by there as well." Shalelu says.
Then Sheriff Hemlock gets up and says, "Speaking of taking off. I have to head down to Magnimar and try to get another contingent of soldiers with goblin activity ramping up. That brings us to why I was going to come find you. The town trusts you now. I like for some if not all of you to volunteer for the Sandpoint Guard and keep an eye on things here in town while I'm gone. Shalelu will handle the outer farms for now. It will take me about 4 or 5 days, maybe a week. What do you think, can you do it? The mayor has offered to have the town pay 10 gold to each of you for the week due to the short notice and unexpected request. You would also qualify for the town guard's discount on arms and armor bought in town."
Wow. My first real paying job.
Almost before the words are out of his mouth she blurts out, "I volunteer!"
Zandril smiles and nods at the Sheriff, "I'd love to help. Is the gold paid in advance? I'd like the extra gold to make use of that discount."
"I'm happy to volunteer. I certainly won't be going anywhere until this mystery is solved. Erastil would never forgive me if I turned away from a town in need of help."
Hey, this is great, I was already going to keep my eye out, but I wonder if I can get a little more.
Trunt speaks up with after the first couple agree and says, ”How about a bonus if it comes to blows with more goblins?”
Hemlock looks at Trunt and raises his eyebrows, "Sir, the reason the pay is so high is because you have already engaged and there is the possibility of another engagement. The amount you are being offered is as much as we pay the standard guardsman per month."
Lavanor raises his eyebrows soon hearing the generous offer. "I will help as well. Is there anything in particular we should do other than patrol and protect the town? How many guards do you currently have?" he asks.
"I have 6 guardsmen right now. That's enough to have one guard on the north gate and one at each bridge to the east. They will rotate duty on those locations if you all can be a mobile response and patrol." the sheriff responds.
Trying to hide his surprise at being hired so generously by the town, "Thank you Lord Sheriff! I'll do whatever I can to assist in protecting the town. I'll admit, this is a little outside my experience though, how should we best set about doing it?"
Camil addresses the last part to the whole group and the sheriff.
"I just need you to be visible. We'll post that you've been hired to help people feel at ease. When I leave a lot of people will typically get jumpy. Knowing you are on the job, they should stay calm. So again, just be visible and if the goblins should attack again, doubtful though it is, defend the town. Any other questions?"
Sheriff Hemlock pays everyone 5 gold up front. He also gives everyone a finely carved wooden token in the shape of a shield. It is your badge of sorts and will gain you the guard discount at the tannery, the smithy, and Savah's armory. It will also make you official in case you need to break up situations involving locals. The Sheriff intends to leave in the morning with his primary deputy, leaving the town with the aforementioned six. They already have their guard schedule and should be ale to operate separate from your group.
Runt can hardly believe her luck. She visibly puffs up and starts walking differently, occasionally touching the growing gold bag of gold as if reassuring herself it is real.
Zandril takes the coin and places it in his belt pouch, "Thank you Sheriff and safe travels."
He turns toward Shalelu, "What time would you like to look at the dug up grave tomorrow morning?"
"I'm staying at the Rusty Dragon this evening. Are any of you staying there as well? I thought we might do dinner and discuss the goblin raid." Shalelu asks.
The mayor stands up, "If you will excuse me, I have work to attend to." Then she walks out.
"I'll probably visit the grave site again after breakfast and then head north." Shalelu answers Zandril.
Rowan proudly accepts his new badge. He was happy to see the townspeople appreciating the group's work.
Maybe seeing us working together will inspire folks to step up and serve the community. Erastil would like that. I won't be able to stay here forever, but hopefully I can give the people what they need to keep the town safe when I leave.
"All of us who aren't from Sandpoint are staying at the Rusty Dragon. Discussing things over dinner is a good idea. I'll be there for sure."
Trunt gives a cheeky grin as he takes the badge and the advance, "Well, can't blame me for trying! We'll keep an eye on things around here." and pins his Badge to one of his many folds of clothing and it almost gets lost in the bright overlapping colors.
When Shalelu mentions the Rusty Dragon, Trunt says, "I've been staying at Fatman's Feedbag, but maybe I ought to move over there, seems like that's where most of you are staying isn't it?" Don't want it to look like I'm not pulling my weight if one of the guards comes to get them but not me in the night.
"Thank you, Sheriff. What discount do we get at the shops?" Lavanor says as the gold and tokens are disbursed.
"I look forward to continuing the discussion over dinner," he says to Shalelu.
He nods to the mayor as she excuses herself.
"It's a 20% reduction in price. Actually the owners bring in purchase logs and the city reimburses them but from your vantage point it is 20% off." Sheriff Hemlock answers Lavanor.
Zandril nods at Shalelu, "Sounds good, I'll see you at dinner."
That evening the Sandpoint heroes sit down around a table at the Rusty Dragon with Shalelu.
Added a calendar, game started in the fall.
Nice! I love maps and calendars or any visual aid that helps me figure out what is going on!
Quiet through most of the discussions, as her voice would just add clamor without adding anything useful, Isabella arrives for the scheduled dinner meeting at the Rusty Dragon slightly early. The aasimar woman takes a seat at a long table, expecting the group to be rather sizeable. Though she glances about at various people in the room when she sits, she doesn't linger too long on anyone and folds her hands on the table, simply waiting for the event to start.
Seeing the conversation is done with Shalelu, Trunt announces, ”Well, I’m off to get my things, I’ll meet you at the Rusty dragon.” Trunt meanders about town on his way to Fatman’s, taking in the sights and getting to know the layout of the town. He’ll keep an eye out for any locally made knick-knack or bit of jewelry that catches his eye, wandering around, getting to know shopkeepers and craftsmen about town. Once he gets to Fatman’s, he asks around for his Sczarni friend and tells him, ”Well, I’ve managed to get in good with the Sheriff here. All it took was offing a goblin or two. They’ve got me watching out around town while the guards go after the ones out of town. Say, do you know a anything about that old Father? I forget his name, the one that died? His body was dug up during the raid. Strange business. Anyway, I’ve got some work around town so I’m moving to the Rusty Dragon and I’ll be paying for myself the next week or so. Let me know when you hear about that trip to Magnimar.”
Trunt gathers his things on his donkey and makes his way over to the inn, paying his room and waiting for the others to arrive. Trunt lodges his donkey there while he’s staying there and gets him settled in with a treat. When he gets to the common room and sees Isabella holding a table, he goes up to her and says, ”May I join you?” Trunt makes some small talk and eventually gets around to ”So, the sheriff seems to be trusting us with an awful lot. Does that seem strange to you? I mean, some of us have only been in town a few days. What brings you here?”
Runt linger around the inn, not sure what to do with herself. Every once in a while when a patron makes a mess she has to stop herself from cleaning up after him, so used is she to that task.
Well... Well then, it sure seems like I'll be here for a while. I can;t see staying in an inn for all that time. I wonder....
Over dinner she broaches a sensitive subject, at least to her.
"Say, .. friends."
the word rolls off her tongue awkwardly but it tastes good.
"If we are planning on staying here for any length of time, we should see about renting or buying a place."
Again, the words are awkward. She has never been in a position to spend money or keep house or anything else other than what she was told to do. The only reason that she knows that a place CAN be rented or bought is because she keeps her ears open and her moth shut, most of the time, partly out of fear that she will say the wrong thing. the folks she has hung out with spend money on very different things, not that she herself has ever had any.
Her holy symbol is buried deep within her clothing and she has been entertaining finding a different one. The problem is that the emblem means too much to her and she is not at all sure she could make the transition, whether or not she worships all aspects of Lamashtu.
You notice that several of the homes and businesses sport blown glass. Some are balls, others have colored glass panes, still others are shaped glass ornaments or figures. You recall that Sandpoint is renowned for its glass works. Seems to be a very distinctive Sandpoint thing.
Jubrayl smiles at Trunt, "So the guards are leaving town? As for Father Tobyn, not much to say. His precious little adopted daughter got knocked up. He didn't take that well but he took the burning of the cathedral a bit worse since he was in it."
At dinner Shalelu asks about the raid, the goblins' tactics. She also shares what she knows about the surrounding tribes. There are five major goblin tribes in the region. The closest to Sandpoint are the Birdcruncher goblins that 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 that 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. Further 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 that some say holds a passing resemblance to a decapitated head.
After dinner she thanks everyone for their company and retires to her room.
Trunt gathers his things on his donkey and makes his way over to the inn, paying his room and waiting for the others to arrive. Trunt lodges his donkey there while he’s staying there and gets him settled in with a treat. When he gets to the common room and sees Isabella holding a table, he goes up to her and says, ”May I join you?” Trunt makes some small talk and eventually gets around to ”So, the sheriff seems to be trusting us with an awful lot. Does that seem strange to you? I mean, some of us have only been in town a few days. What brings you here?”
Isabella motions for Trunt to take a chair. "Since it seems that all of us will be discussing next moves, it felt prudent to secure a table large enough for all of us," she replies.
"I think that Sheriff Hemlock is taking what he can get," she says after another moment's thought. "His guard is small, compared to protecting the town from an entire goblin raid. He may not know all of us, but we did put up a fight when the goblins showed up. He is making a hard choice: Trust some strangers and hope that the locals in the mix will keep matters from becoming a crisis while he deals with other avenues out of town."
"As for me," she says, one hand rolling over the ring on the thong that also holds her holy symbol, "I lost my home in a goblin raid. I moved to the city to find work and safety after I recuperated from the physical injuries. I've lived here a few years now. I'm a bit surprised at the goblin attack - goblins are not uncommon in these parts, after all they do rummage through the dump on the coast from time to time - but somehow getting into the middle of town in the midst of a festival is a bit unexpected. I fear something larger is amiss."
Nodding at the ranger's information, Camil focuses on what Isabella's story is. "I've only lived here a year or so, but what Isabella says is true, there aren't a lot of guards, and they need the help right now."
Turning to Isabella, "I'm sorry for your loss Isabella, I've never lived outside a city, so I can't imagine living with that threat over your head and then to have it come true... I do agree that it is very strange how the goblins got into the heart of town to attack. Does anyone have any ideas how that may have happened? "
Camil looks around the room, seeking input from the group.
Rowan sits down for dinner with the rest of the group. He listens carefully to Shalelu's description of the goblin tribes. "Seems like the different tribes are all pretty distinct. I wonder how our culprit got them working together. Are they powerful enough to scare the chiefs into it, or did they offer some kind of reward? The goblin we interrogated didn't seem to know, so we might have to try and get the information out of a higher ranking goblin."
When the conversation turns to goblin atttacks away from the cities, Rowan says "Aye, goblin raids are much more devastating out on the frontier. The village where I was born was destroyed in a goblin attack. I was only a baby at the time, so I don't remember it, but from what I've been told it was unimaginably horrible. One of the reasons I dedicated myself to Erastil was so I could protect people from that. It just never ends. The goblins always come back no matter how hard we hit em'."