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Giggett screams:
"Look at it right in its eyes, don't show fear and it'll let you pass!"
And Giggett tries to follow her own advice...
"Go go go, it's after me!"
And Giggett starts running around followed by the barking dog, and finally exiting the yard through another fence... just not the one Phinick is heading to.
"Giggett you are doing it wrong. You need to calm your voice and show it your hands..."
"Ugh! Stop barking at me!"
Dragh fails miserably.
Giggett looks at the dog in the eyes... and maintains... but then cracks, and starts running when the dog comes after her.
Dragh tries to calm the dog down, but does not even get to communicate with it since it is all excited.
Natsume bounds into the back yard without a moment’s hesitation!
...and near freezes when she hears the canine growl.
Just a dog, just a dog, just a—
Natsume bolts.
Tamerius tries to use the distraction made by his comrades to sneak pass the dog!
Natsume tries to bolt, but the dog bites her-- butt.
It too seems to find it appealing!
A nice bite--
--but then the dog spots Tamerius, and leaps over, biting him too!
Phinick seems happy his move through the backyard helped, and now he leaps back over the fence again, back to the track you were on.
Except that he crosses the track and races off into the turnip field, trying to disappear into the night!
You manage to get away from the dog and start to move after Phinick.
You can either try to make it through the super muddy field-- or try to remember when you passed here with the mayor, who was pointing out all the sheep paths and such: maybe you remember a shortcut you saw earlier?!
Natsume yips as the dog’s teeth sink into her posterior, and she gives the beast a quick smack to dislodge it before doing her best to get back up to speed! She vaults the fence, running after the goblin, not bothering to search for alternate paths—she’s got longer legs, after all, so she should be able to catch up eventually.
Especially if she keeps this up!
Dragh observes how Natsume and Tamerius got bitten by the dog just when he spots the Goblin. He first rushes after him, but he does recognize that turnip field ...
And takes a shortcut through the fields
Giggett is closer to the goblin when she sees him turning into the turnip field. And she remembers a shortcut! She's ready to take it, telling everyone to follow her, when she realizes that it would be a terrible idea. If she gets lost, she'd lose all her advance. She's the closest to Phinick, she has to keep sight on him. So, she goes into the turnip field just before Natsume, and does the exact same move she does before: Mud skating!
And literally crashes herself into a big mole hole!
Natsume hits the dog, leaps across the road and manages to race off after Phinick--
Dragh also manages to get out and across the field, but he has lost too much ground already, and feels that he is losing Phinick.
Giggett crashes into a mole hole-- but even though she loses her balance she somehow manages to remain on her two feet, though it jolts her and hurts.
She ends up close on Phinick's heels--
Tamerius is a bit lost, and though he sets out into the turnip field, he seems to have been ditched by the Goblin, but, maybe?
Tamerius tries to remember a short cut but get lost...
Tamerius is a bit lost in the turnip field, getting his nice shoes all muddy.
Exasperated he opens the lantern wider and shines it around.
He sees Dragh who is making it across the turnip field, but a bit too far behind.
Recovering her balance from having hit the mole hole, her arms wheeling around to remain standing, Giggett--
--smashes into Phinick who made the mistake of looking over his shoulder, this slowing down!
At the same time, Natsume comes running up, and grabs the Goblin, that Giggett just stopped cold in his run!
There you are, in the turnip field, and you quickly gather around Phinick, holding him tight so he cannot run away.
He grins at you, his eyes shining big in the lamp light:
"Oh? It is you? Do you want me to get some food for you? You want to place an order? Look... your clothes are all muddy. Phinick will wash them for you!"
Giggett takes the manacles at her belt and starts putting them on Phinick while talking:
"I don't think you understand, Phinick. We are not the ones who gonna interrogate you. This guy over there is. He's Tamerius Archilus of House Dulifer, cleric of Asmodeus. If I can give you a few pieces of advice, here's a couple of them: Call him by his whole name and title and don't make him angry."
Once the handcuffs in position:
"Natsume and I are against torture, we'll try to help you. But we can't refrain him if you don't help us."
When Tamerius arrives, Giggett speaks to him with apparent deference:
"Tamerius Archilus of House Dulifer, cleric of Asmodeus, the prisoner is ready for interrogation! He already told us that he's willing to talk and help us in all way possible."
Giggett winks at Phinick with a smile.
Phinick struggles to stop you from putting the manacles on.
"No, no! Phinick be a good Goblin.
Cannot shine your shoes with chains on."
He looks over towards Tamerius:
"Great Lord Tamerius Archilus of House Dulifer you have mud on your shoes.
Your clothes, though not dirty, for a master like you is never dirty, are somewhat soiled.
Come let nice Phinick clean them for you!
At least let me clean you up before torturing.
And who want to torture on an empty stomach.
Phinick will go get you a nice loaf of bread and wine."
Giggett feels that Phinick is not crazy - unless it be scared crazy - nor taunting you.
Also, Giggett sees that not magic spell seems to be impairing the Goblin's mind.
Rather, Phinick is terrified, and now that he is caught, and said to be tortured, is trying to do whatever he can to get out of this.
Trying to ingratiate himself with you, and grovel, and maybe not be whipped too hard... maybe.
Amused by Giggett's way, Tamerius plays along.
I have already have servant for that.
The only thing I like to do myself is torturing my prisoners...
But, you can may be get ouf of this, if you tell me who's behind Master Borth death. Tell me everything you know about the event at the Feedmill and this Hallod and maybe, maybe I will consider to not take pleasure in torturing you...
Phinick starts to but then Tamerius manages to change his way of talking--
--and manages to calm Phinick down, explaining more clearly that there will be no torture if the Goblin talks.
So the Goblin does talk.
Well... he blubbers and begs you for mercy at first.
But then he finally get to talking--
"When Master Bort came to town. And you must know that Phinick loves Master Bort. Never would harm Master Bort.
Hallod come to Phinick.
Hallow is not loved, not liked by Phinick. No one likes Hallod. Hallod is bully. Hallod is town bully.
So Hallod cornered nice Goblin.
Hallod gives Phinick a vial of “spices” and tells Phinick that if he does not put them in Bort’s food, Phinick would find himself facing the sharp point of one of Hallod’s many knives!"
Phinick shows to a spot in his ribs where he was poked.
"Hallod tell Phinick that the spices will make Bort sick. Give Bort diarrhea.
Hallod tell Phinick this is bad joke to get a little payback for a bad deal he made with the merchant the last time he was in town.
Phinick no want to be hit any more. OUCH OUCH! STOP!"
Phinick flails about.
"Phinick agrees and slips contents of the vial into Bort’s porridge just before fight broke out.
Then Phinick flee the bar.
Next morning Phinick learn that Bort died from poisoned dessert. Much diarrhea? Like killed my uncle..
So Phinick scared. Been hiding ever since.
Please no kill. Please no torture. Please no give Phinick to Hallod!
Phinick honest. He no idea vial was filled with deadly diarrhea poison."
Giggett's quite proud of her deduction!
"That's ok, Phinick, if having a limited intellect was a reason for being whipped, I would whip nearly everyone."
Giggett removes Phinick's manacles.
"Do you know where we can find Hallod?"
Phinick bows deep before Giggett:
"Mistress Gnome should not say she has a limited intellect.
She is like all Gnomes.
Not her fault.
No reason to whip Phinick for that.
Phinick cannot make your brain smarter."
Then Phinick nods, and when asked if he knows where one can find Hallod:
"Yes."
Giggett laughs at the goblin misunderstanding her. And then rubs her hands when listening that Phinick knows where to find Hallod.
"Where then, Phinick?"
Thinking at what the goblin said, Tamerius takes a few seconds before saying
For your own safety, I think it’s better to stay at the Sheriff’s office. We will get you there.
In the meantime, as you seems to know where the real killer is, give us his location and we will find him and confront him.
"He lives at the Dead Willow."
He points to the West.
He is talking about one of the seemingly abandoned buildings on the north side of town, to the west of the main path out of town.
Giggett nods at Phinick.
"Thanks Phinick. We will get you to the sheriff's office."
Then to the three others:
"Some of us are hurt. We can take half an hour to prepare ourselves and then go explore this Dead Willow? Hallod is human, he should be at a disadvantage in the dead of night."
Then back to Phinick:
"Have you ever been inside the Dead Willow? Could you describe us the building? Maybe draw us a map of it?"
Phinick looks at Giggett like she was even crazier than he thinks.
"It's just another run down old farm.
An abandoned, half collapsed place that he is squatting.
I've never been inside the place.
Don't wanna be beat up!"
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After finishing talking to Phinick, you set off to see the sheriff.
You arrive and knock on the little house, which is a nice sight, since it is south of the square, and clean, with curtains and a painted door.
A lot less depressing than what you saw up north.
Rolth Garley is there, with a cloth around his neck, since he is eating his turnip soup of the evening.
"Oh, I am happy to see you!"
And, before you can talk, he explains some things, overjoyed to have something positive to share with you - or so he hopes.
"I have been investigating!
I though that might actually be a good thing for a sheriff to do!"
He tells you he went and talked to farmer Eallon in his farm on the north side of town.
"I decided to do the good sheriff - bad sheriff routine on him.
And I found out that, as usual, he was drunk and does not remember much.
He does remember he talked to me.
And got into a fight with Kolnral.
And lost a good deal of coin to Olf and Ulf.
And I am not sure that is a clue.
But I think not."
He smiles again, and says that he used a different method with his next suspect.
"When I also talked with Flonk, the bard, I did the bad sheriff - good sheriff trick this time! Ha!
He says that Bort died because the music was so beautiful it reminded him of Desna.
But I think he was drunk.
I mean Flonk, not Bort."
The Sheriff is actually quite sad you solved the case, and that his questions do not help.
Rolth Garley takes Phinick into custody, and says he will lock him up in the cellar of his house.
"Well, okay Phinick, I'll lock you up tomorrow, after you do my ironing. That's kind of you!"
The sheriff will keep him there until the circuit judge arrives to sentence Phinick.
Rolth says that: "It seems Hallod is behind this. What do you think?
If this is true, it would go much easier for Phinick if Hallod were in custody as well."
He looks at you--
"I would go arrest him now. Right away. On the spot. But...
But I have to finish my soup.
And keep an eye on my prisoner.
And Hallod is a massive man. And a bully.
Maybe you should do it?"
The sheriff confirms Hallod lives at Dead Willow.
But adds nothing, just saying its another one of the abandoned buildings
on the north side of town.
"Tell us Master Phinick, what have you done with the container that held the 'spices' that you've added to Borts porridge? Was it a jar?"
Asks Dragh. The dwarf looks fairly rough with leaves and small branches in his beard and hair. Crossing the bushes left its mark on Dragh look.
"I would gladly question Hallod. He seems to be the culprit of Borts killing, but we will know for sure after we have him."
He turns towards Giggett, Tamerius and Natsume
"I would prefer to catch Hallod after a good night's sleep. But I am afraid that he might escape. I am almost out of my spells, but we still should be able to handle him."
Phinick answers Dragh, saying it was, as he said, a vial that Hallod gave him.
"I just left the inn, and tossed it somewhere. In the courtyard I think."
Phinick moves in to comb Dragh's beard with his fingers.
"Let me clean you up, master!
Then I can... go?
___________________________________
The sheriff smiles at Dragh:
[b]"Oh, good idea. I was thinking of going to see Hallod.
But you are right. Best you question him.
I will remain here in case you need... well, I will remain here."
So, you wonder, go for him tonight, or after a night's sleep?
[b]"Of course, sheriff. We don't want to interrupt your diner. We will catch him and bring him here. But before going, we need to rest a bit, two of us are hurt and need a little bit of healing "[\b]
During the rest, Giggett will retrieve her disguise kit from her backpack and start disguising herself...
... into Phinick! Deception is the art of war!
This town really need some order...
Thinks Tamerius, listening to the Sheriff.
We will take care of the culprit Sheriff, don’t worry.
Once the goblin secured and te sheriff reassured Tamerius turns to his comrade.
It’s only scratches but if the man is a seasoned warrior, better taking care of that.
I think it’s better to catch him unprepared in the middle of the night rather than once he’s wake up and fully armed.
Tamerius will uses treat wounds on Natsume and himself if time permits.
Natsume is generally quiet at this point; plenty of folks who have the mind for an investigation are keeping the questions moving forward, and she’s happy to simply provide the “lady with a big shield and flail who is hard to slow down” aspect.
It is around 1 am right now.
If you knew the sheriff better, you'd know that he loves having a midnight bowl of turnip soup.
Tamerius moves to tend to the dog bites--
After having finished her disguise, Giggett takes a little bit of time "acting" like Phinick. It looks like she's having fun.
"Do you want a bowl of turnip soup, Mistress Natsume? Or do you prefer that I rub your back?"
Dragh, seeing that he can't help with healing his allies, pulls out his leather-covered book and begins reading it. For couple of minutes, he is completely absent from any social interactions, delving into the mysteries of arcane spells
The sheriff sighs: "I had my turnip soup, so I imagine I have to have a back-rub."
Phinik jumps to the occasion: "Let me rub all your backs!
Then I do ironing.
Then laundry."
He starts massaging the sheriff's back.
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Giggett looks at how Phinick does it and... decides that she'll give up on the back massage. There's something far too unsettling about this goblin.
Phinick is very intense, for sure.
And, actually, he is not too bad at massaging.
"Oh, there is so much to do. Cannot lock Phinick up until all is done...", moans the Goblin.
Giggett waits for Tamerius to take a small break in his healing, and then tells him with a large smile:
"Dear Master Tamerius Archilus of House Dulifer, you know I'm a people person? Do you trust my instinct?"
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By Elyseum!
Tamerius tries to patch up Natusme and himself and fails both, almost cutting one of his own artery in the process!
Clearly, Giggett 's words seems to have annoyed the cleric! Quite pissed he answers the gnome question with a single No.
Giggett frowns, unhappy about the answer, but then appease herself as Tamerius is obviously annoyed by something.
"I'll tell you anyway! I think we just met a perfect follower of Asmodeus. Not the one you imagine, of course, the powerful and charismatic leader every cleric of your deity must be. No, I think of the perfectly loyal, hard working, pain resistant servant that thrives to obey the master's orders. One who will serve restlessly, who will accept the hardest punishment, as long as he serves someone of high status. The embodiment of obedience."
Giggett's smile is now very large, which is really weird as she has the face painted in green and big fake ears on each side of it.
"You don't like Lady Luck, but we need to recognize the stars are aligned for you. This place, an ancient property of your family, is in need of some clerical leadership. But it's also a sh... hole, where I don't see someone of your standing staying more than a few months a year. Having a servant here, to tend the church, send you messages about your followers, and prepare everything for your return is a must have.
Anyway, take my advice for what it's worth, I don't have any interest in spreading your faith. It's just amusing me."
Faith is not amusing.
"I don't think what I find amusing even remotely intersects what you find amusing.
So, do you want to take an hour of rest to try to heal yourself and Natsume again or do we go right now? In my opinion, 3AM is the perfect time for an attack, as few humans are awake that late in the middle of the night. So we have easily an hour to spend before going."
I don't feel that I will be able to do much now, lets go see the man and arrest him.
"Phinick, now, I'm you, so stay here far away from sight!"
Giggett straps her shield. Once in the dead homes, she draws her rapier and starts behaving as Phinick, bending herself and moving like the goblin. As usual, she favors the shadows and moves with muffled steps.
By Elyseum!
Tamerius tries to patch up Natusme and himself and fails both, almost cutting one of his own artery in the process!
Natsume, feeling Tamerius's fingers slip, quickly hikes up the back of her trousers and steps away.
"Nope! Nope nope nope. I'll just let that heal on its own," she says with a glare at the "doc."
Phinick is massaging the sheriff and sees the healing is not going well.
"Maybe Phinick can heal you.
Then Phinick can clean clothes.
Phinick big help.
Then Phinick can go... work in fields. Far away?"
He holds a hand out towards the healing kit.
Phinick is sad you did not let him heal you.
As you leave he calls out: "Phinick make nice breakfast for when you come back?
Phinick cannot make breakfast from cell."
And then, refocuses but not healed, you leave, and head out through the Dead Homes, in the dead of night, all the way to where you are told Hallod lives.
Giggett is a bit over-armored and over-dressed, but she is trying to look like Phiniick.
At night is seems to work.
You come up to the Dead Willow, taking a very short path that goes north, off the main road that circles the town.
Located on the north-west side of town, close to where you passed before, but more towards the outside of town, the building is easy to find.
It earned its name from a large dying tree in the front yard, just to the left of the path you are on, facing the house.
Well, the house... it is truly in very poor condition.
Like most in town it was constructed from thick wooden posts, slats, and plaster. It’s barely standing, with the entire second floor having collapsed,
The tree is a huge, pretty much dead, willow that stands in front of a house that appears to be in serious disrepair.
It might have had a second story at one time, but that long ago collapsed into ruin, taking parts of the first floor with it.
The windows on the front seem all boarded over, and the front door hangs open about a foot, kept from swinging wider by a frayed rope.
Tamerius does not see much of anything, since I imagine you are covering your light.
Natsume might manage a bit, being used to the forests at night.
Dragh and Phinick The Giggett see well.
The yard is a complete mess of overgrown weeds.
I first want to make a Perception check to see anything on or in the house. It would be a good idea to stay for a few minutes to see if anything is moving around.
Are there houses around? Are they close or far away?
Is it easy to make a turn around the house from a safe distance, to look at every face of it (maybe is there a back door)?