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Light Condition: Normal
Active Buffs: Bardic Performance
Active Penalties: None
Green Bloodseeker(29,Dead)
Blue Bloodseeker(6,Dead)
Orange Bloodseeker(0,Attached to Screech, Flatfooted)
Allania(-5,Drained 1, Bleed 1)
Screech Razorsong(-8,Drained 1, Bleed 1)
Screech's rock decimates the green bloodseeker. The orange one attempts to grab onto Screech again.
Light Condition: Normal
Active Buffs: Bardic Performance
Active Penalties: None
Red Bloodseeker(14,Dead)
Green Bloodseeker(29,Dead)
Blue Bloodseeker(6,Dead)
Orange Bloodseeker(0,Attached to Screech, Flatfooted)
Allania(-6,Drained 1)
Screech Razorsong(-12,Drained 1, Bleed 1)
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The last of the bloodseekers is squashed by Screech's telekinetic Projectile.
With the shrine now clear, you are able to check it out. It appears to be a basic shrine dedicated to Gozreh, but has been left unused for a long time. Searching around does not reveal anything of interest, save for a few coins.
"I don't, unless you have a healer's kit in your pack Screech. We may just have to rest this off later." She also looks worse for wear as she turns to the old man. "You alright? Any of them get you?'
HP 11/19 (Drained 1)
AC 18 (20 with shield raised)
Hero Points 1/1
Allania grabs the kit and begins to bandage the pair up as best as she can.
He does a surprisingly good job, too. But all for naught if Phinick simply isn't there...
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The old man appeears perfectly fine. He almost dozed off during the whole scuffle, and not a single bloodseeker even got near him.
You return to the feedmill, somewhat bruised but now with some pocket change you can cover a few nights with at the inn.
The irate farmer shares everything he knew. He was gambling with the caravan boys and got into a fight when Krenel caused him to spill the drink all over him. Aside from that, all he knows is he is missing a lot of money from the gambling.
Gobil suddenly hears something coming from the Western end, he shushes Chewface for a moment. Then Chewface hears it. Something is out here scurrying around. You both watch in silence.
A small face peeks around a corner, looking around. It is green and has a very toothy mouth that hangs agape. It looks afraid. When it turns and sees you two, it vanishes around the corner and you hear the sound of something falling over.
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The two shortest members of the party begin to chase the unseen short creature!
The Market (Location 1): DC 13 Athletics to push past carts, DC 15 Acrobatics to vault around them; Drawback—none.
The Road (Location 2): DC 14 Fortitude save to sprint; Drawback— winded (the PC takes a –1 circumstance penalty to checks at the next location).
The Alley (Location 3): DC 15 Reflex save to avoid falling in the mud, DC 13 Survival to pick a better path; Drawback— The PC is sickened 1 for the rest of the chase, unless they spend a turn to retch.
Backyard (Location 4): DC 16 Stealth to Sneak past the dog, DC 18 Nature (trained only) to calm the dog (no drawback if anyone makes the Nature check); Drawback— The dog bites the PC, dealing 1d4 damage.
Turnip Field (Location 5): DC 16 Reflex save for the PC to keep their feet, DC 13 Society (trained only) to remember a shortcut; Drawback— none.
"The song worked! We found him now we just need to catch up! At least he has short legs like us." Gobil says sprinting along with Chewface.
"We can push our way past these carts!" he says while charging straight through.
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There is a point system involved in this. 1 Point for a success, 2 points for a critical success, and if someone gets 4 points, the chase is over. You progress to the next zone whether or not you get a success.
If neither of you get 4 points by the time the chase is done, you fail. I am not really in the mood to post this over several days though.
Merin shrugs and, after Hulgur pays for the information, goes to leave. After they get out of earshot, he says, "Not much for a drunk, but maybe a lead. I'd want Screech with us when we go to visit this Hallod, since he's familiar with the smell of the poison."
Gobil doesn't let up the pace as they head down the road. He isn't able to say anything but he is still wondering how the three shortest people in town are the ones running around like crazy.
We he turns down an alley Gobil follows but nearly falls into a puddle of mud.
"No, can't mess this up!" he says catching himself at the last second.
When a guard dog in a backyard starts growling he stops to calm it down before it attacks him and Chewface.
Yet his animal handling isn't quite up to snuff as he gets bitten as he draws closer.
"Gah, now I am Chewgnome." he yelps in pain.
Distracted by his pain Gobil falls onto his face in the field. Mouth full of dirt and turnips he mumbles a curse before continuing.
After making it through the market, Chewface manages an all-out run...
...uses the momentum to hurl himself over some mud...
...and comes to a dead stop upon seeing the dog. His goblin scent is unmistakable; and gets a bite taken out of him as a result.
After that, he points out a good path from what little he saw earlier.
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Chewface manages to catch the little shadowy guy, which turns out to be a goblin. It is Phinick!
"Please... Don't hurt me.. Oh most wonderful and powerful goblin king.." The goblin pleads. He looks ready to burst into tears.
As you exit the Turnip Farms, you see Gobil and Chewface chasing around another small creature. Chewface manages to catch it, and Gobil appears to be catching up.
"Yeah, we were looking for you to make sure you were okay with everything going on. I am exhausted...you are an excellent runner, Phinick. I would rather us be friends and talk though." Gobil adds once they catch up.
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The little goblin begins to bawl his eyes out. "Oh please don't hurt me! I didn't know that the dwarf was going to die! Hallod gave me the vial and told me to put it in the dessert! He said it was just a prank! He told me that if I didn't put it in the food, he would have me at the sharp end of his knife!" The goblin sniffles a bit, "He said that the dwarf needed payback after a bad deal Hallod made with him. I didn't want to get beaten, so I did it. In the morning I went back to the Feedmill, but I overheard that the dwarf died because of me!"
He begins to sob heavily again.
The goblin is pouring out his heart, and you do not detect any fallacies or lies.
"I do believe you and I also agree with Hulgur. Let us look into it and into Hallod. If he is threatening you and behind this we should be bringing him to justice which would clear your name. Do you have somewhere safe to stay while we handle it?" Gobil says trying to comfort Phinick.
Merin frowns. "And another lead that points to this Hallod. I think we have our culprit." He turns to Phinick. "Can you tell us how to find Hallod?"
In a rare moment of observation, Chewface sees the truth and doesn't have to press further. "We'll buy you something to eat before we go get Hallod. What'd the vial he give you look like? Still got it, or maybe threw it away?"
Following that, the goblin votes to go back to the Feedmill. "We can, uh...reconvene, that's it, and get some food for Phinick there."
Allania looks tired and beaten as she rests in her chair. "We found giant mosquitoes and 10 silver near the shrine, otherwise the tour was a bust." She tosses the coins down on the table, fixing one of her bandages. "I am ready for bed, what did the rest of you find out?"
"Phinick did it," Chewface says bluntly, likely leaving others scrambling to elaborate. He presses on. "But he didn't mean to. Apparently the gob got set up to by some Hallod guy. We chased down Phinick, he gave us a place to look for the real murderer."
"From what I can tell," Merin adds on, "Bort was delivering 'reagents' to this Hallod for the past five years. I'm guessing alchemical and spell reagents. In any case, something in the deal with that last shipment angered this Hallod, who bullied Phinick into adding the poison to Bort's food. Now, the question is, do we deliver this information to the sheriff, or confront Hallod first? Either way, we need to do this swiftly."
Gobil indeed starts to scramble but sighs in relief when Chewface finished his explanation.
"The sheriff doesn't seem like a bad guy but I do fear for the reaction to Phinick being the one who did the poisoning even under threat. I see the merit in both but Phinick is innocent in my eyes." Gobil says torn.
"That's not entirely true. Bort's ledgers would also be evidence, if anything to give an extended link of contact bewteen Bort and Hallod. In any case, it's sounding like we need to go find Hallod then. 5 minutes to prepare for trouble then?"
Allania was ready for bed but she knew they were right. "Let's find the little terror before he realizes Phinick talked." She grabs her shield and armor, preparing for resistance.
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A huge, dead willow 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 are all boarded over, and the front door hangs open about a foot, kept from swinging wider by a frayed rope.
"You sure, he's here?" Allania heads to the front door, kicking it open further as she looks inside. "Hallod, we have to talk!" She says angrily.
Merin follows Allania up, hand on scimitar. "If this man was willing to poison so readily, expect any weapon he uses to be envenomed as well,"he quietly adds.
"I imagine his tongue will drip poison too if he threatened Phinick." Gobil says pointing to his own as they walk.
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Twang!
The rope to hold the door open appears to have just been a ruse. It leads into a pile of debris that clogs the front foyer. Beyond the door, the foyer empties into a clearly abandoned living space. The hearth is choked with branches and debris from above, the furniture is smashed and soiled, and a thick layer of dirt and grime covers every surface. It is obvious that no one has used this room in years.
The only other exit leads to a room thoroughly filled with debris from the collapsed roof above. Digging through the debris would take several hours at least and would likely cause a further collapse.
The spear crashes into Allania's chest, throwing her to the ground in pain. "Gaaah!" She screams snapping the haft of the spear off with her sword, before pulling the metallic hunk out. She gasps, groaning in pain as she collapses to the ground, unconscious and bleeding out.
HP 0/19 (Dying 1; Drained 1)
AC 18 (20 with shield raised)
Hero Points 1/1
"Uh oh," Chewface yelps. Unequipped to help properly, he picks up the spear's remnants for future investigation, dancing out of the way of healers.