Before they get in, Loth drops a bit of information. "I doubt this is something that would otherwise affect us, but fair warning. I've heard of a bit of intrigue in the Vinder family. Apparently, Ven's been keeping his eye on his eldest daughter because he suspects she's having a romance. Meanwhile, the younger daughter, unchecked by her father, is involved in scandal after scandal. Let's try not to get swept up in Vinder family drama..."
"Oh! Also, Vinder's got a secret menu of hard ales. If anyone's interested, let me know and I'll see if we can have a look."
After gathering a small bag and a bowel and brush Razkiv goes to speak with Van.
"I am looking to put together a shaving kit, can I see that razor there, with the dark wood handle?" he runs his hand over the stubble on his scalp as he is speaking.
The flash of red catching her eyes, Mizzug stops; momentarily staring in that direction.
Slowly, she begins perusing the wares, snatching up a few vials of ink and some needles with a small hammer. "Nevah know when yas needs to add ter me ink." she remarks with a smile.
"Howsit go shop?" she asks, setting the items on the counter.
Aventail looks for grappling hooks.
@Razkiv: When you approach, Vin doesn't look up until you speak to him, instead keeping his eyes on his work. Once you do make your request, he raises his eyes without moving his head, looks at you for a beat, then with a small sigh puts down his wooden block and knife, reaches over for the razor and slides it to you, watching as you inspect it.
@Mizzug: When you approach behind/beside Raz, Vin looks a little more surprised (and a tad bit wary). You put all the things down on the counter and ask your question, which elicits only a squinty eyed look from the man. He looks down at the goods and just gives you a price (presuming 2 vials of ink), 17 gold. He gets out a small paper bag, but waits for you to pay him before bagging your items. He also checks a couple of the coins you give him as well.
@Razkiv 2: Once done with Mizzug, he turns back to you and just raises an eyebrow at you questioningly. If you don't immediately respond, he asks, Yes or no?
@Aventail: You find 3 grappling hooks. There is a fourth one, but it rolled better on its stealth and has remained hidden for a more perceptive buyer. They are all three standard grappling hooks, and can be purchased for a slight discount if you also buy at least 50 feet of rope with one of them.
"Looks to work, likely better than the dagger I had been using. I'll take it. He fishes out 2 of the fresh gold coins watching the humans reaction.
Having gathered some rope and a grappling hook, Aventail looks for backpacks.
@Razkiv: He also test your gold, tapping one coin onto the counter. Seemingly satisfied, he puts both coins beneath the counter and you hear them clink against something metal.
@Aventail: Good question. Let us say.... 50/50 chance. Low number, you get it.
So yeah, one masterwork back pack is in stock. Well made, lots of little pockets, padded shoulder straps, clip for around the stomach to help hold it in place, the works. The whole thing is made of leather and the top cover flap has a light embossing of a mountain range on it.
I'm guessing from the lack of posts this day that everyone is with shopping. I don't blame you.... But we've still got some time before anything action packed kicks off.
1) Does anyone have anything else they'd like to do before your appointment this evening at the Pixie's Kitten?
2) Do you want to play out the Pixie's Kitten or just have me "wall o' text" it as I describe the place and then fast forward to the next big thing?
Loth would like to get a bit of a head start on investigating Lonjiku's disappearance. Nothing too elaborate, just kind of ask around when people saw him last and if he'd been acting odd or anything.
Aventail picks up the backpack, marveling at the craftsmanship and artistry. With pack, rope and hook she approaches the counter. Oblivious to the proprietor's moid she carefully counts out the coins.
"Many thanks, fellow!" she beams.
@Mizzug: When you approach behind/beside Raz, Vin looks a little more surprised (and a tad bit wary). You put all the things down on the counter and ask your question, which elicits only a squinty eyed look from the man. He looks down at the goods and just gives you a price (presuming 2 vials of ink), 17 gold. He gets out a small paper bag, but waits for you to pay him before bagging your items. He also checks a couple of the coins you give him as well.
"Is gud. I watched others." she answers with a wry smile. Digging out the coin purse, she thumbs the items slowly.
"Le'see...1...5...3...8....2....6...4...10....19.....7....17!" announces the strange lady, handing over the requested coins. While her method may be entirely inaccurate...she somehow still managed to come up with the correct amount.
With a smile, she turns and heads back outside, calling back "Tanks!"
All right folks. Feeling ssssoooooooooo much better after what amounted to about a work week's worth of sleep over the course of 3 days. So here comes the aforementioned "wall o' text".
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Finishing up with your shopping, you all enjoy a free lunch at the Rusty Dragon Inn. Where better to begin your investigation into Lonjiku than to ask his daughter (Ameiko) who owns and runs the inn. A retired adventurer, she bought the inn from its previous owner in probably one of the most cliche adventurer motivations ever. But she still loves to share stories with adventurers, and is young and vibrant enough to still have partaken in the defense of the town (mid 20's is her age). Asking her about her father does bring down her mood though, and she tells you that he is a bitter man, with a mean streak a mile wide and 3 times as long. It is unusual that he didn't show up, she admits. Not one to miss a chance to (literally) look down on the other citizens of town. But she figures he's probably just being the sour old man that he is. But she'll look into it. This may satisfy your curiosity or it may not. But his general well being is assured to you towards the end of your meal when an older man of Tian descent burst into the room and starts yelling at Ameiko in Tian .
This argument seems to go on for a bit, with Bethanna trying to stop any of you that might try to interfere, and all of the locals in the area looking up in initial surprise but going back to their meals and conversations relatively quickly. This argument ends with Ameiko dumping the bowl of chowder she was carrying over onto Lonjiku's head, probably ruining his fancy little hat, and having him storm from the building in disgust. Again, no apparent reaction from the locals, and Bethanna just comes over with a bucket of water and a rag while Ameiko goes into the back to refill the bowl.
After lunch, a short few hours pass. Anyone staying in the common room to pass the time is greeted warmly by the townsfolk and invited to come and play the various games they're using to pass their time (dice, darts, checkers, etc).
Come later afternoon/early evening, your appointment time arrives. A young half-orc comes in and gives you a note from Aldern detailing the exact times, and those of you who wish head down to the Pixie's Kitten. Outside, the building looks like all the others, albeit with more windows than most, plain brick with a brown shingled roof. Inside, clothe of every color drapes the walls and hangs from the ceiling. Brightly colored couches sit up against almost every wall, and the floor is covered with similarly bright rugs and cushions. A true riot of colors, it somehow comes across as more festive and joyful, than tacky. One (admittedly scantily) brightly clad figure of a half-elven man sits in one corner playing a stand piano, and few other patrons lounge about the place. Several closed doors and a few staircases lead further in. Two very large shoanti men sit on opposite ends of the room, and you see at least one (presumably) off duty member of the guard being lead upstairs.
A curvaceous human woman introduces herself as Kaye Tesarani, the owner and mistress of the establishment. Her comments are polite, but always suggestive. She confirms who you are and tells you that Aldern is waiting for you. She asks and assigns you each a masseuse based on your preference, takes your drink orders, and tells you light snacks are being provided. You all find Aldern in another room full of raised beds, face down, mid massage. Without even looking up, he greets you cheerfully and tells the masseuse (thank god for spell check) See, I told you I knew them. The Heroes of Sandpoint!. Massages are offered to all, drinks are served, and a variety of other services. You can have your hair washed and trimmed, your nails done, another massage, a hot bath in perfumed waters. Food is always around, a smaller version of the Sandpoint Witch's Hats made with cucumbers.
AVENTAIL: you are offered a deep scrub and polish. They have essentially brought an armor cleaning and polishing kit and are offering you a full body wax and shine.
DOL: You ask around, more subtly than most dwarves but still pretty straight forward about it. You chat up the mistress, and when she's not around some of the others, and don't find much. About the closest you get is one of the workers wanted to be a wizard, but couldn't cut it so they ended up working here to pay the bills. As for the offer of healing, they would accept. One of their dancers sprained an ankle yesterday and otherwise won't be able to preform for a few days at best. They do have a "doctor" on staff, of a sorts. One of the prostitutes is also a acolyte of Calistra, but she has no divine powers. And focuses more on contraception, pregnancy, that sort of thing.
After an evening of relaxation, the night begins to fall and you all make your way back to your various places. Aldern comes with you all, singing a song off key after one to many drinks, and says his good byes before anyone parts ways. He's planning on leaving in the morning (late morning now) back to Magnimar, but urges any and all of you to look him up if you're ever in town. Foxglove townhouse shouldn't be to hard to find.
Returning to your beds, a peaceful night comes to an abrupt end with the sound of the rooster. For some reason, even the late sleepers find themselves up early today. Probably just because of how deep the sleep was after such a relaxing massage. Convening once more in the common room of the Rusty Dragon, the various plates of breakfast are just being served out onto the table when a crying woman goes from the open door to standing next to your group before you even realize the door is open.
Bumbo, it takes you a minute to recognize Amele Barett through the disarrayed hair and the tears, but it is her. Holding a baby swaddled in her arms and towing the young Aeren along by his arm, she breaks down in sobs, barely able to speak.
Plea..... please. You have to help......... him....... He's ... you have to help.... PLEASE!!!!! My husband.... Please help him! Aeren looks scared, and both of them are bare foot and in sleeping cloths. (These people are the ones that owned the dog Petals you saved during the goblin fight.)
What do you do now?
Sighing and luxuriating in the treatment, Bumbo is more than willing to get his nails trimmed, hair hit with a fruity concoction that made him thing of home, and have his not-really sore muscles be formed like putty in the masseuse's hands. He was never one to turn down the finer things in life, and often Toot would ridicule him for it. Hope you're enjoying your time off too, Toot. His tone is half-mocking, but in fact he did wonder how the eidolon's time away ticked by.
Back at the tavern after a nice rest, Bumbo is just ready to plunge into his several plates of eggs, ham, potatoes and some odd stewed mush that he drowned in cinnamon, when Amele bursts in. He immediately jumps to his feet, his round belly knocking over his drink into Dol's potatoes. Miss Barett! What's wrong? He looks around for the aforementioned husband, then turns back. Where is he?
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Having just finished his morning prayers, Dol is considering what he can craft this morning as he comes down the stairs.
Seeing Bumbo already up and breakfast on the table, he stops to put together a quick plate, only to have it ruined as Bumbo nearly knocks the table over.
A quick grimace quickly passes and is replaced by a look of concern. Speaking softly, he attempts to calm Amele. "Don't worry at all, Amele. We are here to help and will do whatever we can. Simply tell us where he is and we will head there as quickly as we can.
Sit and eat. Take care of your children. Whatever the problem, I am sure we can set it right."
Loth is pleasantly surprised by the 'spa day' Aldern provided for them, but he notices staying around the man is somewhat difficult for him. Foxglove reminds him of Magnimar, and enjoying these massages has something of a bitter taste when he remembers his family's current circumstances. Still, he tries not to let it show.
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As Bumbo addresses miss Barett, Loth springs to action as well. "What's going on?"
Raz is just leading his roommate Mizzug to the Dragon and sees the woman and children enter, he quickens his step and gets to the door as the woman explains.
He unconsciously reached down to his ax.
Having stayed on at the Rusty Dragon after the chowder-as-impromptu-headwear incident, Aventail looks for games to play. The Magnimarian turns to see her fellows return, then stands as the townsfolk enter in disarray. Aventail stands attentive to find out what the trouble seems to be.
@Aventail: So I had to look these games up to see what they are and skimmed them. Crokinole, maybe. The board seems relatively simple. Wooden, few divets and lines. So we'll say sure, 1 game. Klask, no. Looks like this require magnets, which the average person wouldn't be spending money on.
After all your solicitations of help, she begins to breath deeply before sputtering out. We thought Aeren was just having night mares, hearing thing. But this morning, my husband finally went to go look in the closet and show him nothing was wrong. Then he screamed. So I grabbed the children and ran out of the house. Please, come with me. He's hurt. I know he is. Please! She starts edging towards the door, still pulling on Aeren's arm and looking back at you all imploringly.
She leads you through town at a near run, as quickly as she can pull her child behind her and carry her infant. You all quickly come up to a small(ish) house about 3 blocks from the church. Here, he's in here. Amele points towards the door to her house, still partially open. Inside, left, first door. That's Aeren's room. Please help my husband.
Bumbo nearly has to run to keep up with the frightened woman, and he is quite winded when they arrive at the house. Hands on his knees, he heaves out a breath. Miss...please...just one moment. He then begins his minute-long ritual to summon Toot, which consists of some odd dancing, wiggling, and then a few stances that look like an eastern martial art form, if they were performed by someone very tired.
When Toot appears, Bumbo quickly explains the situation. Toot, sounds like we may have something in there, but...and this is important! There's a man in there...do not kill him. He smiles sheepishly at the worried mother and wife. Uh...well, we think he may be hurt...you can kill whatever hurt him, okay?
Toot grumbles loudly, sounding like cascading boulders. Fine...better be a fine monster in there, Bumbo. It's been too long!
Before following Toot in Raz will lean over to Bumbo, "Can he really tell the good guys from the bad guys?" after securing his ax to his wrist he follows.
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As Amele explains, Dol nods along. His exoression conveys concern, but not alarm.
"These sounds started occurring right after the attack? I certainly would have suspected nightmares as well. It is no fault of yours that you didn't investigate before now."
Smiling at Aeren, he adds, "Well, let's go and get rid of this monster in your closet, shall we? Can I offer you a ride?", as he pats his shoulders.
Whether Aeren accepts the ride or not, Dol will engage the boy on the way to the house. "So, what kind of sounds did you hear? Did you hear any talking? Perhaps something like this?" Dol will speak a few simple phrases in goblin.
Loth offers to go in first. "I'm pretty confident in my ability to get in there without being noticed. I could look ahead and signal you guys when I see what's up."
Aventail decides the house is somewhat cramped, especially given her choice of weaponry and offers to wait outside, should any "monster" break out...
Bumbo winces and pulls at his collar, as if it had just gotten a bit warmer. Well...Toot, um...I'm sure he'll know what's what...we've talked about this before. He smiles, his eyes still showing his concern.
"Perhaps we should have one group wait outside in ambush, and one trying to lure the beast out of the building?"
Loth still intends to at least be part of the group that enters the building, near the front.
@DOL: The boy seems very frightened and doesn't respond to much of anything you say. But when you squeak out a few words in the goblin tongue, he nods his head and grips his mom's hand tighter.
@EVERYONE: We'll go with the marching order Dol mentioned unless anyone objects. At the least, we'll go with Toot in the lead.
With Toot leading the way, you enter the house and immediately turn left down the hallway. It's not far to the first door, which is also slightly ajar. Toot pushes the door open with his snout to see better into the room. (Luckily he is intelligent enough to tell you what he sees as the hallway is to narrow for anyone else to get up there to look). A small bedroom outfitted for a child. A rumbled up bed sits in the corner, a chest of drawers nearby, an open top box full of wooden toys with a few more scattered about. Petals lays near the middle of the floor on a rug, blood pooled around her neck. An adult human man (presumably the father) is laying half in a closet directly to the right of the door (think both the door Toot is looking in and the closet door both touch the same 5 ft' square.) The body doesn't move and the top half seems to be covered over in cloths that have fallen on it from shelves in the closet.
@AVENTAIL and MIZZUG: If you don't want to stay outside, let me know. Either way, what are you doing?
Bumbo glances at the closet, but of course instantly begins to tear up at the site of Petals. No! He starts in that direction, then points to the open closet. Toot, that's a good guy...what's in the closet? Then, he rushes to Petals, furiously trying to staunch the flow of blood.
Loth nods. "Gothca."
With Toot checking the closet, Loth will check other parts of the room, like under the bed.
Aventail looks at Mizzug, the house and yard. She waits patiently, glaive-guisarme at the ready...
@Loth: You move over a take a quick peak under the bed and see some terrifying bunnies made of dust! They induce a tremendous sneeze attack against you. But you manage to resist their dastardly affronts.
@Bubmo: Sadly, it is clear to you that Petals is dead and has been for some minutes now. Also clear to you, the slit on her throat was made with a crudely made blade. It easily reminds you of the wounds you saw inflicted on your fellows (and some of the civilians) by the goblins.
@Bumbo (TOOT): Toot moves over and uses his snout/tusks to move aside some of the clothing that has fallen onto this man. He grabs his leg and pulls him back, also pulling along a good deal of the aforementioned clothing still heaped on his head and shoulders. The bodies unresponsiveness seems to indicate his health or lack there-of. But this is quickly overshadowed by the uncovering of a hole that has been hacked into the closet floor. Springing up from this hole is a small green figure with a football shaped head and a blood stained sword in his hand. Letting out a cry of hunger mixed with delirious rage, it springs at Toot.
Sword drawn, not seeing just how many people are in this room, the little bugger lashes out at Toot. Luckily for Toot, his thick hide protects him from the green menace and the blade slides off without even a scratch.
Raz moves into the room, "Drag what ever you have there back into the room you ugly hog" the Druid tries to sound light hearted as he pats Toots on the rump.
Toot snorts in delight at the sight of the goblin, then wastes no time as he lunges in to bite and stomp. He seems to care little about the human at his feet, as the man obviously lost and is not the greater challenger. Razkiv's words spur him on even further, though it probably wasn't needed.
Bumbo shrieks at the goblin, then composes himself and grunts in an exaggeratedly low voice. He then reaches down to try and help Dol pull the man out.
Instinctively, Loth moves to get a visual on the goblin and tries to toss a dagger past Toot, ideally into the goblin.
Aventail resists the urge to barge into the dwelling, instead moving to the wall closest to where the sounds are.
@Dol and Bumbo: You pull the corpse of the man awkwardly into the hallway and away from the immediate fighting. His throat has been cut, and his hands and face are covered with bite marks with chunks of missing flesh. It seems the goblin was trying to eat him.
@Aventail: There is a window you can look though. Sits on the wall opposite the door into the hallway. You can see Toot trying hard to kill something in what you can only presume is a closet. Loth runs behind the giant boar and skillfully throws a knife in.
Mizzug looks at the Amele and says, You calm down.
Reeling from a hoof to the side, the little bugger once again screams out in rage and attacks at Toot. He crouches to swing low, narrowly avoiding the dagger that flies over his head.
Scoring another hit, but actually breaking skin this time, the goblin howls in glee and shouts.
Amele looks at Mizzug somewhat intimidated and crouches down to hug her children to her tightly. Neighbors have begun peeking out windows and doors, some shouting out questions to know what is happening.
Toot roars in rage, and thrashes about in the closet, biting and stamping.
Seeing that Toot has the goblin handled, Bumbo nonetheless takes out his swing and readies a shot, in case another goblin is somewhere in the room.
Then, seeing Toot taking hits, creates an arcane link between himself and the angry pig, and immediately funnels health to him. He gasps at the pain, even though it's fully expected.
Loth, panting, looks at the goblin's destroyed body. "Oh no..." he mutters, as the gravity of what likely occurred in here starts to dawn on him. He slowly, carefully peers into the hole, to make sure no other friends are hiding down there.
Aventail looks for any other means of entry a "creature" might have used to enter the building.
Toot does indeed squish the goblin. As it is cheering itself for actually drawing "blood" from the great beast in front of it, said bestie brings its full fury crashing down on his frail, green frame, leaving it batter, beaten, and broken.
@Loth: Looking into the hole, you see a very small crawlspace under the house. Even you (and thus presumably the goblin) would need to crawl to get around down there. But you see no other creatures.
@Aventail: You search around the base of the house looking for some sort of entrance. You find, eventually, a small hole where it looks like the mortar had been chipped away from the foundation and a small chunk of the wood pushed out. You would barely be able to fit your arm through the hole. Perhaps it was trying to cut its own way out?
In a sad turn of events, the father of this household and the family dog are both dead, the father also having been chewed upon. What will you do now? Amele is still outside, unknowing of what is happening in her own home.