Ykka takes a few steps closer to keep everyone in range. As the song continues to inspire everyone, she pulls out her sling and loads it.
Rick steps to the side for a better shot on the beast and whips a ball of flame at it.
Skittles and Rick missed their attacks in the scrum, but Dahros and d'Log managed to pincer the boar between them and put it down. Dahros leaned on his hammer for a moment, breathing heavily, then turned around scanning for more danger. There was none, apparently.
The fleeing man looked behind him and came to a stop, wheezing and out of breath. It took a bit before he was able to speak, but then he said "Thank you, oh thank you. The damned thing came out of nowhere. Not sure I could have outrun it any longer. I'm Marny, and this is my farm. If you'll permit, I can dress and cook that boar for you, make it the finest meal you ever ate. My pleasure for you keeping it from killing me and all."
Ykka approaches the group slowly, keeping an eye on the man, when did I become so cynical? she thinks to herself. She looks toward the window to see if there's still someone watching.
"Hello Marny, home cooked boar sounds delightful. Where did it come from do you think?"
Ykka did indeed see the shape in the window, though now that she was closer the shape had the form of a human woman.
"Well, it's not like this is part of the city, you see? There's all kinds of wild animals out here. I expect he was just out looking for a sow, and I happened to be caught out an unawares. Had my mind on other things and didn't see him until he charged. But, since you all know my name, what are yours? And what are you doing out here? Not that I mind, seeing as you saved me and all. But...you don't have the look of turnip buyers, if you know what I mean."
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Skittles catches up to Dahros and offers him one of her special cocktails. "Here hun, try this"
She then turns her attention to Marny. "Good sir, are you hurt? Do you require any medical attention?" As she tends to his wounds, she comments "We actually came from plaquestone and are looking to speak with Trin about an incident that happened at the inn. Is that her looking out the window over yonder? Could we have a word with her perhaps?"
Dahros drops his hammer to the ground and leans against the home, catching his breath. He takes Skittle's concoction and downs it, instantly feeling better. "Thanks Skiz. Definitely helps." he offers before picking up his weapon and joining others in the discussion with Marny.
"I'm Dahros and this here is our rag-tag caravan group of d'Log, Skittles, Rick and Ykka. Boar sounds great. So does ale. Do you have anything strong?" he asks, heading for the front door with intention of walking in and taking a seat.
"Oh, no. Umm, I'm not injured. You got here just in time, though. I don't know if I could've run any more. That was my third time around the house. I was hoping to get some space so I could run inside, but the thing was too close. Couldn't risk it getting in and hurting my sister. Oh, you want to talk to Trin? I guess that's fine, come on in."
Trin and Marny's farmhouse was in good condition, and the inside was comfortable, if a bit homey. The front door opened into a common room, with the kitchen off to one side and door leading to the bedrooms on the other side of the house.
Standing in the living room was the woman you recognized as Trin from the Feedmill. Skittles also recognized her silhouette as the woman that had been watching your approach through the front window.
"Sis, these folks say they need to talk to you. Why don't you have a chat while I pour us all some ale. We all worked up a thirst, and there's a boar to be cleaned and spitted for supper!"
Ykka follows Marny to the house, greeting Trin when they enter, "nice to see you again Trin, sorry to come unannounced. Do you have a few minutes to talk while Marny is dressing the boar?"
Trin turned to look at you more closely, and you can see that she has quite the shiner on her left eye.
"Oh, you're the group that came in with Bort and his merchant caravan. Of course I can talk. What is it?"
Rick tries not to stare at her black eye. "Uhhh.... Ma'am, are you okay? I don't suppose the boar did that..."
Dahros stares at the black eye and then looks to to Marny. "Hey. Marny. Can you show me where that boar came from? I know they like to travel in a pack of three or five. There could be more. Let's go check 'em out."
He puts his arm around Marny's neck in a ole buddy fashion and walks him out of the house and away from the woman.
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Skittles smiles to Trin. "Good day Trin. Yes we are comrades of Bort, and my apologies for all of us approaching you in this manner, it must be quite daunting, however, something terrible happened to Bort and we were hoping to talk to you about it. I have a few specific questions, but please feel free to elaborate as you see fit."
She walks closer, trying to keep a friendly smile.
"We are hoping to understand more about how you know Bort, and what exactly you were doing at the Inn last night. I did notice that once the fighting started, you bolted out the kitchen back door. And if you are unaware of why I question that, you may see how suspicions can start to rise when you hear that Bort was poisoned, and died from that poisoning. Only his food was affected, and YOU were the one who fled through the kitchen."
Marny took Dahros' words at face value and left with the man to show him where the boar had come from. That left Trin to be questioned by the others.
"Oh, the eye? No, not the boar. It was a thrown mug from last night's brawl. I got hit in the face and everything went woozy. That's why I left...I think. It's all a bit unclear. I remember helping to serve the meals and then someone started shouting and I looked over and took a beer mug to the face. I'm not sure what happened next. I must have run home, because Marny says I was crying and staggering..."
"Wait? Something happened to Bort? What? Poisoned? Dead? Oh no."
Trin sank into one of the chairs in the room, her eyes tearing up.
"I don't know anything about poison. I don't...I just helped serve the drinks and the food. Amora prepared and plated it, and Phinick and I served it. Are you sure it was poison? Did anyone else get sick?"
Skittles wasn't sure about her skills at reading people, but Trin seemed to be telling the truth.
Trin's eyes are dilated and she is showing all the signs of a concussion.
Rick walks over to the other side of the room to watch the exchange, content to let the ladies chat. As usual.
Ykka hangs back, trying to see gauge if Trin is telling the truth.
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Skittles listens intently to Trin's response, and believes every word of it.
"Oh dear, deary dear! Come here now and let me take a gander at you. Oh no, you are showing clear signs of concussion. I'm sure Rick can help you with that." She motions over to Rick to get him to help treat Trin.
"Now I know it is difficult, but please tell us, do you recall seeing anything else odd about that night? Anything at all out of the ordinary."
Ykka is sure that Trin is telling the truth, or at least the truth as she believes it.
"No, I don't really recall much of anything. Not too surprising if I have a concussion. Most of the time before the fight, and everything after is a blur."
Rick slowly examined Trin's face, careful not to make things worse.
"Ma'am I'm afraid that concussion is all too real. You'll want to take it easy and avoid prolonged exposure to particularly strong sensory inputs. Bright lights, loud noises, powerful scents like Dahros after a boarfight.... that kind of thing."
After pausing and giving her a little space, he continued, "Do you recall anyone meddling with the food preparation that evening? In particular the pudding? Anything unusual at all?"
Ykka moves to the kitchen and begins preparing some food, letting Skittles and Rick talk to Trin. She occasionally calls out to ask where something is but doesn't want to slow down their talk.
"No, nothing. Like I said, Amora prepared it and Phinick plated it. IK helped Phinick carry it out to the table. I just can't think of any reason why anyone would want to hurt Mr. Bort. He was always fair, and kind, and..." she broke down sobbing.
Ykka asks from the counter, "and ...?"
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"Oh no! I am so sorry to spring this on you in this manner. Please take as much time as you need. We just want to get to the bottom of this. Do you know of any enemies Bort may have made here? Do you know where Phinick is now? Maybe we should talk to him next. Do you happen to know where we can find him?"
Dahros continues his walk with the man, asking for clarification on the arrival of the wild beast and if he's seen any other around recently. After that conversation has concluded, he asks "So what do you think of what happened to old Bort?"
Dahros' question seemed to confuse Marny. "What do you mean? What happened to him? I wasn't in town yesterday, and haven't been in yet this morning because I was taking care of Trin. What's going on?"
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Inside the house, Trin seemed to have nothing more to say. She truly seemed to believe that Bort had no enemies. How could he? He always treated everyone fairly, and was generous to the Feedmill staff.
"Phinick? I only ever see him at the Feedmill. He probably uses one of the abandoned houses as his home, but I couldn't tell you which one. He's not a bad person, just because he's a goblin. He's a bit twitchy because of how he's been treated, though, and is often untrusting. Some of the townsfolk bully him a bit, but no one really hates him, I don't think."
Rick murmurs his condolences to Trin and advises her on care for her concussion. Thanking her for her time he slowly walks out to join Dahros, giving him the 'done here' nod.
Ykka scoops the food into a bowl and sets aside the knife, "there you go, Trin. A start on supper. Thank you for your time." She follows Rick outside.
Dahros frowns. How had Trin not told him? That's odd.
He proceeds to break the bad news that he was tragically poisoned to death last night and they are following up leads as to what could have happened. "You don't happen to have any information for me, do you?"
Inside the house, Trin thanked you all for your help, and for your efforts in tracking down Bort's killer. She said she would take care of herself, and that Rick's ministrations had already helped immensely.
Outside, Marny looked aghast at Dahros. "What? Poisoned? Do you my sister had something to do with it? If you're coming here to accuse my sister of poisoning someone, you and your friends can get off my property! "
Inside the house, Trin thanked you all for your help, and for your efforts in tracking down Bort's killer. She said she would take care of herself, and that Rick's ministrations had already helped immensely.
Outside, Marny looked aghast at Dahros. "What? Poisoned? Do you my sister had something to do with it? If you're coming here to accuse my sister of poisoning someone, you and your friends can get off my property! "
Dahros waves his hands "No, no, no. We came to ask her who she thought would have something against him. Relax Marny. Remember, we just walked up and saved you from the boar. If we thought you or she were guilty we wouldn't have risked our lives for yours!"
"Sorry. It's just...well, she's my sister, you know. I have to protect her. It's practically my second job."
Dahros nods and grunts in a manly way, conveying that he understands perfectly. "Alright. Let's head back and check on them, I think you're looking clear out here. I can't wait to dig into that boar meat myself, he really ripped me a good one on my arm!" he says, raising his hand and looking at the wound.
The meal was delicious, and Marly promised to smoke the rest of the meat and deliver it to you at the Feedmill the next day. As you took your leave of the siblings, you reflected on what you learned:
Ykka thanks the family for the fine, filling food and foretoken Feedmill feast before following the others outside, "we should find Phinick"
She turns to d'Log, "he give you any idea where he's living?"
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d'Log moves around anxiously. Poison doesn't seem like a likely goblin thing to do. We just eat mostly whatever we can. I have met fellow greenies that things longshanks say as poisonous. Did you see the Bufo we drank at the tallbar. It made from milking frog, I've seen them sharp ears vomit from just the smell. Dog, I've seen those stonedogs try to drink it and curl up in lots of pain.. Greenies are pretty resilient to poisons and usually could care less.
d'Log turns to Ykka He didn't look too dirty so he didnt burrow, but let me see if I can find some stuff outside.
d'Log takes the plate that the food was on and walks outside with it
Dahros thanks them for their time and food as his party departs. Gathering the group outside, he consults his big brain for what to do next since the group seems to be having trouble deciding what to do. "We need to find Phinick, but we don't know where he is. I think we should go ask around town and see if we can locate him."
With no objections, they had back to town to do just that.
Dahros spent the rest of the afternoon asking around town to see if anyone knew where Phinick might be hiding out. One or two of the townsfolk gave him information on where they'd seen the goblin about the area, but most simply associated him with the Feedmill. Finally, near evening, d'Log saw a familiar-looking flappy footprint. Following the tracks was difficult, but it took you to a shack near the outskirts of the Dead Homes on the northern side of town.
The hunched, green-skinned figure of Phinick peered out through a broken window, then disappeared. From the back of the building came the slam of a door being thrown open, and you can hear the sound of bare feet slapping on hard-packed dirt as the goblin ran off.
The chase was on!
Ykka walks around with d'Log most of the day, her short legs tired by the time they find the tracks and follow them to the shack. When Phinick takes off, it's too much for Ykka and she immediately falls to the back of the pack.
Dahros is in fantastic physical condition and is able to easily keep pace with the fleeing Phinick. He calls out "Stop! This will go better for you if you just stop so we can talk!"
Rick dodged between his lagging friends to chase after the fleeing goblin. He wasted no breath shouting after the goblin, he was bearly keeping up as is.
Phinick scrambled down the road, moving as fast as he could, with Dahros, Rick, and Skittles right behind him. d'Log and Ykka fell behind, clutching stitches in their sides as they regretted the stiffness and lack of exercise from the weeks of wagon rides.
The goblin burst into the market area, where Tamli and the others had unpacked the wagons to do a little trade while they were stuck in town. The goblin leaped crates and skittered under wagons, and you have to do the same if you are going to keep up with him!
d'Log 0
dahros 1
rick 1
skittles 1
ykka 0
Dahros had no problems keeping pace with the fleeing goblin and as the obstacles presented themselves in the market, the fighter hudled, ducked and dodged around them to stay on his heels.