As Hallod stood over a dying Dahros, Skittles ran over to try and perform battlefield medicine. She groaned as her efforts didn't help, and as she turned Dahros on his side, his wound gushed even more blood. It was slowing to a trickle when Rick managed to land a healing spell from far away. Color returned to Dahros' face and he blinked a few times before looking down. The horrific wound was still bleeding, but the cut was much smaller in size. He could stand on the leg, probably, but he wasn't going to be running much for a time. Hallod was distracted by the healing, and was unprepared when Ykka's telekinetically thrown rocks smashed him in the face. He turned to glare even as a slingstone hit him in the eye and d'Log ran back into combat.
"Coming back for more, eh greenie? Well, I won't say no to putting you down again. Hopefully for good this time."
d'Log dodged the first knife swing and ran right into the man's left fist, which stunned the goblin long enough for the kukri to come back around and gut him. Once more d'Log hit the hard-packed dirt.
Dahros received 16 healing
Dahros was crit for 14 damage, and is prone and dying.
R5: d'log, dahros, hallod, rick, skittles, ykka
R6: d'log, dahros, hallod, rick, skittles, ykka
map is updated
blue lines are the tripwires, Acrobatics DC 10 to cross without setting them off
current status:
dahros 16/20 (Wounded 1)
d'log 0/19 (dying 1)
rick 16/16
skittles 18/18
ykka 15/18
hallod -33
Ykka does not like this wack-a-mole.
She does not like being in this hole.
She should have bought that missile scroll.
Instead she'll throw another chunk of coal.
She mutters a quick prayer to Geisel and sends more rocks flying through the air. The sounds of cats screeching fills the air as she rips her bow across the strings, "maybe that will inspire d'Log to get up if thinks dinner's here!"
Rick whirls another sling stone and firebolt at the murderer, swearing as they go astray.
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d'Log peers open his eyes once again and shakes the all too familiar fog of unconsciousness.
d'Log lets out his battle cry trying to drive the fear of green into hallod. It comes out as a meow
Frustrated, d'Log pops up from the ground and takes a two handed grip on one of his dogslicers and wildly dashes straight into hallod's thigh.
Ykka kept up her encouragement, and while her projectile and Rick's spell did no damage, the encouragement helped Skittles bring d'Log back just enough to stab Hallod in the leg. The man looked down and knew that the wound was bad, but he still sneered at the goblin, sure that he could easily take the greenskin with him. The sneer turned into a look of surprise as a loud thunk echoed in the area. A squelching noise followed as Dahros twisted his hammer back and forth, trying to free it from the back of Hallod's skull. The head finally came free and the big man slowly turned to face Dahros, then collapsed to the ground, brain tissue spilling from the 2-inch hole in his skull.
Rick look at Dahros freeing his hammer from the man's skull. "So you think you can get some answers out of those brains?" With a sigh he finishes, "I mean the traps, attacking us, and his opening comment about 'Bort's lackeys' was enough for me... let's hope it is enough for the sheriff."
Taking a quick look around and not seeing anything noteworthy Rick begins examining his colleague's wounds to see if he can treat them without injuring them further.
Hallod didn't have much of worth on him, unsurprisingly as you apparently surprised him at home. What he did have was interesting, though. There was his kukri, of course, and an iron key. There was also a note. There was also the crossbow he dropped, his armor, and a couple of vials.
Ykka's lowers her arms and the music fades. "well that was exciting. Everyone ok? Nice hit Dahros." She takes a look at the note and raises an eyebrow, "Bort was dealing in corpse blood? I wonder what that's used for."
"This note should do for vindication. Where do you suppose this 'stump' is? I'm all about easy pay."
Rick grabs the key, pockets the note, and stuffs the rest of the loot into Dahros's waiting arms.
Dahlia groans at his wounds from Skittles ‘bad medicine’. Turning to face her he asks ’The hell was that back there?! You almost killed me’!
Turning back to Rick, he nods ’The note will do, but who the hell is V? I guess that’s who we look for next? It’s V that killed Bort.’
To d’Log ’Been wanting to do that for a long time. If you woulda stuck the landing it would have been pretty effective too.’
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"Oh gosh well glad thats over. unfortunately based on the status of his head, I do not think we can question him. Hopefully though, with this note, we have some leads. Now who is still hurt? I can help with some of you for sure. I am so sorry Dahros. The nerves of the battle got to me. Here, i promise this will help you feel better"
Given that d'Log was already hit by one of the spears chucked from a trap, he had a pretty good inkling of what they did. The rest of you gathered loot and treated your wounds as best as you could, while discussing where to go from here.
"I could really go for some hot soup right now." Dahros mentions out of nowhere. "You know, for Bort and all."
Ykka wanders around the cave, "what is this place?" She examines the water, looking for more snakes.
Rick turns over a box and finds Phinick cowering underneath. "I can't bear Dahros's terrible jokes any longer, we need to get out of here. Or at least I do. Does this mean anything to you Phinick?" He shows the goblin the note without letting him touch it.
Skittles knows that Corpse Blood is a special type of alchemical reagent, and not actual blood taken from a dead body.
Ykka find a stick and uses it to see how deep the water is. If she thinks she can manage it, she wades across and checks out the trees (from outside).
Ykka decides that the pond is too deep for wading, but it's not that big and she walks around it, looking at the trees and caves from a different angle. There's not much to see. The forest here is thick and she can see nothing but undergrowth and tree trunks in all directions.
Ykka calls out to as she circles back around the pond, "we can either go through these woods or back the way we came. That seems to make more sense to me at this point. We can always revisit these woods." She nudges Hallod's leg with her foot, "we have the letter. Anything else we need? We should report back - clear Phinick's name." She looks pointedly at Dahros, "that work for you?"
Dahros considers if they should take Hallod's head with them. "Probably." she says, looking down at the dead man. "Let's go back the way we came."
You return through the caves, following your path back to Hallod's hideout. Once back in the man's living quarter you stop to give it a good search, looking for anything of interest or value. Skittles found several mostly empty vials with the remnants of juggernaut residue in them, unsurprising given that you took some from Hallod's body. You also found a small wooden chest under the bed, whose lock yielded to the iron key Hallod was carrying. Inside the chest are 14 receipts for "reagents", signed by Bort, with the latest date being the day you arrived in town. There is another scrap of parchment that lists each transaction, but with a slightly higher gold amount than listed on the receipts. Gold and silver coins weigh down the bottom of the chest.
As Ykka was reading out the transactions from the parchment, Rick ducked his head to see what was scrawled on the back. It was a crudely drawn map! You recognize the pond and tree where you killed Hallod, and a path ran from there to a clearing in the woods with a stump drawn in the middle.
"So... let's go check that stump out. Any ideas as to where the drop is for these reagents? Were the rest hidden somewhere? I'm dying to know what's being made... care to share the secret Skits?" Rick turns to stare at Skittles, waiting for her to speak.
"I think we should head back and let the sheriff know what's going on before checking that out. No need to drag Phinick down there again."
"Ahh yes. The 'starving artist' archetype truly fits. I'm not big on missing out on paydays. Seems like more work to make a second trip out here rather than to take a short walk back down that tunnel, doesn't it?"
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"Based on what I see here, it seems like some sort of body enhancing mutagen. Let me do a little more research on these vials"
Skittles pulls out her alchemy kit, and begins to examine the vials found, to attempt to diagnose more about what they are for.
"I am having difficulty getting a clean sample to test. I am not sure I can determine what these are for, but I will continue to research. In the interim, I agree that we should not rope Phinnick into this. We should clear his name, and let the sherrif know whats going on before we proceed any further. She might have more useful information for us based on the evidence we have found."
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Research? We just searched everything, why do we have to search again. Law man sounds good, food sounds better.[b]
d'Log walks over to Skittles [b] You want see what this mut-a-gem does, let d'Log drink. HE tell you what it does.
When skittles mentions rope and Phiinnick, d'Log hisses. Phinnick doesn't get any ropes. No binding goblins.
Having finally agreed, mostly, on going to the sheriff first, then checking out the stump and the rest of the wide wilderness, you gather up Phinick and head back to the heart of town. The sheriff was not pleased at what you had found.
"Phinick did the deed, but Hallod forced him to? And Hallod was working with Bort and this mysterious 'V' person? This is much worse than an accident or a simple murder. You're talking conspiracies here! And the dates on these receipts go back years. I mean, sure, you're no longer suspects, I imagine, and the caravan is free to leave, but this...I just don't know."
"The thing is, we need to find out who was the ultimate hand behind Hallod, and I don't think I have the manpower to do it. I mean, look at what you've already accomplished in a couple of days. You've caught the poisoner, tracked down and killed Hallod - a man we were all a little afraid of - and unearthed his mysterious partner. A few more days couldn't hurt, could it?"
"As for Phinick, he'll still have to be locked up until the judge gets back here next month. He did poison Dahros here and Bort, after all. You say he was bullied into it and had no idea it was deadly poison he was putting in Bort's pudding, but the fact remains his actions directly caused Bort's death. I'm afraid I have no choice. Come along, Phinick. There's only two cells in teh jail, but I'll give you one to yourself. That and three meals a day. It's better than most'd offer, I think."
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d'Log paces around the room as the sheriff talks, and grows visibly angry when hearing of Phinick's fate
Mister law man, this not right. What do you think would have happened to Phinick goblin if he went against Hallod?
d'Log takes out Hallod's kukri and lifts up his shirt to show the scars he got from Hallod
This is what would happen. If you found Phinick goblin dead on road in town, would you investigate? You don't have long man power, so no? Right? Dead goblin is just another day for you. So Phinick did what he needed to be living, like all goblins do. Was Phinick tricked? It sounds like all were tricked.
I killed Hallod, do I get jail cell too? Or do I get reward? I want my reward to be Phinick's ability to be free and keep working honest living.
d'Log picks his ear with the kukri.
This law is makes brain hurt in funny way. Who decides wrong?
"Be that as it may, his hand was the one that held the poison. You think the townsfolk'd treat him kindly if I just let him go on your word? No. Let the Judge find him innocent, though, or at worst an unwilling accessory and there will be more compassion for him. Maybe if you could get a large number of town citizens to vouch for Phinick, I could put him on work release, but that's as far as I am willing to go."
"As for you and your friends, you have evidence that Hallod was involved in poisoning Bort and your fighter there. And from what I know about Hallod, he wouldn't take it easy that you tracked him down and confronted him. So, I can easily say that you could have been acting self defense while serving the task I asked you to do. Practically deputizing you as it were."
"Deputies? " Dahros asks, intrigued. "Yep. I almost died. I think you should deputize us. We should get on the books for a reoccurring payment as well. You know, for services rendered in safeguarding and protecting against poisoners, goblins and what not."
Ykka sighs and moves over to speak to d'Log.
He turns to the sheriff, "since we're deputized witnesses with vital information about the case, I expect the judge will insist on talking to us before they decide anything, eh?"
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Skittles is obviously upset at the decision to leave Phinnick behind. It shows through her tone when responding to the Sherrif.
"I will sit aside and let you keep phinnick here, but you must make a promise to me that he will remain unharmed while in your custody. He was an asset to our team in confronting and capturing Hallod. That needs to go on record for whatever trial may come of this. In the meantime, if you have no further information to make of this letter to help us, then I suggest we be on our way.
As you turned to leave, the Sheriff said, "By the way, there's an elf in town looking for the people that killed those mangy wolves outside the town. Said she wanted to ask some questions. Didn't meet her myself, but some of the boys mentioned it to me in passing."
Grudgingly deciding to leave Phinick with the duly appointed authority of law, you head back through Hallod's house and the underground tunnels, looking for the stump marked on the map. A handful of buzzard leaped away from Hallod's body as you came out of the caves, the local wildlife having already started the process of claiming the dead. Skittles held the hand-drawn map at multiple angles until she finally managed to detect the faintest of trails in the brush.
It was slow going from there, moving through a forest following a hunter's trail. After about 3 miles of this, roughly a 2-hour walk, you come to a small clearing dominated by a large stump. There are a few empty crates in the clearing as well. Examining the stump, you see that the center is hollow. While it is possible that something had been stored there at some point, it was empty now.
Ykka looks around, wishing she's paid more attention in gnome scouts as a child, "Anyone able to locate and tracks to follow?"
Skittles sees lots of footprints, mostly her own. No illusion spells that she can see.
"Skittles, your tracking is about as good as your battle medicine. Step aside, little one. Follow me everyone." he says, gently moving the gnome aside and leading on.
Despite Dahros' excellent tracking skills, there is nothing that he can see here. The heavy rains in the last few weeks have likely washed away any signs.
Rick looks in and around the stump searching for any means of payment he might be able to pocket.
"Great. We diddle'd around reporting that there was a dead guy and missed out on our chance of nabbing some loot. Anyone see anything of interest here?"
"Anyone run the numbers? Do the coins we found tie to the transaction list? We might still have a chance to catch V." She looks around to see if they'd be able to easily hide and watch the stump.
Dahros looks sidelong at d'Log and grunts "I know they ain't asking us to do math to figure out a path forward?"
"Are we too early or too late then?" he says aloud. "If we are too late, we best get moving on."
Rick hops up on the stump, doing a merry jig like some sort of leprechaun.
"No better way to release the frustration at murdered friends and wasted time than dancing! Let it out boyos!"
A few minutes later a slightly sweaty Rick hops down and motions for the group to follow along. "My bad guys, I was excited by the prospect of more money. Let's go talk to Borts team to see if they had any inkling he was smuggling this stuff."