Dart comes to a busy bakery. Aneka sees him after being elbowed by her sister and she looks and makes him a "wait" hand sign as she finishes a platter.
As Dart waits, he notices an older woman who resembles the two girls. She is currently sitting at a table talking to some customers. She seems very comfortable.
Poppy spends the next morning wandering the market, trying to meet new people in town. she picks up a few items in the market to much on. she eventually decides to make a trip to the docks to see about doing some fishing and hoping to meet some of her new friends along the way.
Izumi spends time with Ameiko, hoping to assaunge any pain she may be feeling...
Dolgrin grabs his gear and especially his heavy backpack with ist mysterious content and heads back into town straight towards the old light to find this old Sage...
Jonathan spent the rest of the evening working on his giftbox.
Dart is fairly certain that the woman is Alma. At this point, Aneka comes talk to him "Hi, what can I get you, dear patron", she says jokingly.
Jonathan finishes his box, which looks fitting to the jewel it is supposed to harbor.
Ameiko is obviously shaken, but not sad. She talks to Izumi about how she feels somewhat lighter and exhilarated. She doesn't go into the specifics about her relationship with her father.
The next morning, most people are laughing and trying to boast that they know the new heroes better. A few people, however, have been talking about the elf this, the elf that... They talk with worried faces, with fear in their eyes.
Dolgrin easily finds his way to Brodert Quink's home near the Old Light.
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Dart gives Aneka a big smile and says, "I have great news! Next time you come to the theater, you'll be seeing this handsome face up on stage! Acting, not just talking like last time," and he flashes her a wink. "But I was so happy and I came straight here to share the news with you. I mean, after all, you kind of made this all happen."
He gives her a moment to take all of that in and respond before asking, "Is that your mother? Would you care to introduce me?"
Aneka says "Congratulations!", although it wasn't as excited as an accomplished actor would want. She says "Yes, MOTHER. This is Dart. Say hi, Dart." Alma stands up and comes closer to Dart and says "Hello, I've heard much about you. A bit of a performer, are you?"
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Dart gives a respectful bow as he's introduced to Alma. "Ma'am, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance at last. Yes, as you say, I am a performer. An actor thanks to the gifts that Shelyn has given me. However, if I may speak plainly to you with no acting, no character, but simply as myself, I'd like to ask you something," Dart's typical confident stance and bravado has been somewhat dropping as he's been speaking. "I'm not completely certain I'm doing it correctly, but I am definitely doing it sincerely. I would like to ask your permission, ma'am, to court your daughter," he gives Aneka a smile before continuing, "She is amazing. Truly. Her spirit of kindness, her thoughtfulness, and as is readily obvious, her beauty. She captivated me from the moment I met her. I'd been praying for Shelyn to provide me a muse to encourage me to reach new heights and I believe your daughter is the answer to those prayers. So, ma'am, if I may have your blessing?" and he looks at her, a mix of hope, joy, and worry on his face.
As Dart finishes telling madam Avertin about his feelings, he notices the whole bakery has fallen silent and he has become the center of attention. Alma seems a bit confused and Aneka is going through a flurry of emotions, apparently.
The spell of frozen time breaks when Arika slams the door behind her leaving the bakery, seemingly crying. Alma looks at her a little hurt, but then turns to Dart and says "Well, young man. That was... sophisticated, in the least. I am perfectly sure Aneka can decide this for herself. And she's doing a pretty fine job, isn't she lads?" The patrons raise their beer filled mugs in agreement. Still, one of them says "Careful, Aneka. I hear these new ''heroes'' are just interested in deflowering our young girls! Ven told me himself!" More agreement comes from the crowd, and Aneka says "Dart, maybe we can talk about this later. I have to work now." She seems somehow sad. The Avertin matriarch goes back to her seat.
Izumi begins her day with her customary religious rituals but is sometimes distracted, and she has to force herself to focus. She slept poorly. Her dreams were variations on conversations with Members of the Tien community, her proclaiming to them, family by family, that Lonjiku Kaijitsu was, in effect, persona non grata.
In some faces she saw a savage joy... he was never a pleasant man. In others? Fear. Whether it was of the consequences and implications of loss of divine favor or if it was fear of the new Priestess exercising her authority in such a heavily handed way, just days after her ordination, Izumi could not tell. Finally in others, she saw resentment... either because that particular family relied on the Kaijitsu for money or because they resented this young woman dictating their associations. Yet none of them dismissed her.
Truly it was one thing to call forth divine Magic's, but another to wield this far greater power.
And it weighted heavy on her, even if the judgement was just.
She dressed and decided to patrol the village for signs of new threats.
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Somehow, things went in an entirely different direction than it had played out in Dart's head.
"Of course," Dart says in response to Aneka's request to discuss things later. Then turning to Alma, he bows and says, "Again, it was a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."
In the back of his mind a voice from the crowd was rattling in Dart's head. As he got outside and began to wander, it suddenly occurred to him that he remembered the name: Ven. That was the guy with the daughter that Jonathon had warned him about. Dart hoped that their slander hadn't changed Aneka's feelings about him.
Not really paying attention to where he was wandering, Dart discovered that his feet had taken him to the temple. Specifically, the portion dedicated to Shelyn. Dart found a quiet space, sat on the ground, and began to quietly cry.
Izumi walks around town and she finds many signs of new threats, all of them clear defense weaknesses by the guard and constructions. She sees that the townsfolk lack discipline and they feel maybe too comfortable after the last raid's end. In particular, the populace feel a bit frightened by her, it seems. And the rumors about the elf start to become more apparent. Some people refer to a half-elf instead, but the talk is always the same. The elf or half-elf being here means bad tidings. Still, as warm as the sun is, Izumi feels somehow comforted by it.
In the large empty cathedral, Dart finds the Shelyn part beautiful, but not as impressive as the one in Absalom. Sitting by himself, his memories wander to the temple in Absalom, and a particular painting that is featured in the temple there, featuring a very delicately drawn small rabbit in a seamlessly endless prairie. He remembers something about it, but can't recall what. The painting claws at his attention, forcing him to focus on it.
That painting is called Love Is Slow As A Rabbit, and is famous for taking over 2 decades to be finished, where most of the time was spent on the small rabbit. The artist, a painter named Mirella, dedicated it to Shelyn, saying that the goddess gave her the patience and the resolve for every stroke.
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As Dart ponders the painting entitled "Love Is Slow As a Rabbit," he finds a bit more peace in pondering the idea that, perhaps, he must be patient. Of course, rabbits aren't slow, so the metaphor may not have been ideal, but maybe he was too eager. This whole romantic feelings thing was a new and uncomfortable world to be sure.
Another thought struck Dart as he sat there: Ven is speaking such ill of the group, so something should be done to help improve their image. That's when he remembered the coin purse Foxglove had given him. Dart immediately set off to speak with the mayor about donating the money and asking her to ensure that it went to those who needed it most...and if she happened to mention the group while distributing the funds, well, that could only help things.
down by the docks, Poppy finds a nice spot not to far off the beaten path but far enough away to be out of the way of the shipping and whatnot.
she gets herself all situated with a homemade fishing pole and and a little picnic basket.
she tosses her line in the water and gets comfortable for a nice afternoon of fishing without any goblin menace to distract her... or at least she hopes will be the case.
Dolgrin knocked on the door. "This is Dolgrin Stonecaller. Brodert Quink, are you there? I would like to steal some of your time, if you don't mind."
"It is said, you know your history. What can you tell me about old Thassilon?"
The next morning Jonathan comes down stairs with the box in his pocket, intent on finding a time when no one is paying attention to hide it.
Dart finds that the town hall seems to be busy. "The mayor is busy.", says a cranky overweight elderly lady. She makes a head motion towards an old wooden bench.
Poppy manages to catch some fish until almost lunch time when Sid comes up running and says "Hey, hero Pomegranate, how are you? Uhm... The sheriff is looking for you. He says to meet you in the town hall." He lingers for a while.
Dolgrin finds Brodert in a good mood. He says "Oh, hello! I always have time for inquisitive minds! Sit down, have some tea!" As Dolgrin makes himself comfortable, Brodert starts retrieving scrolls and books. As he does so, he asks "There are many misconceptions about that time. Thassilon was divided by different empires, or countries. Each was ruled by a powerful mage. They used a sort of magic called rune magic. For this reason they were called rune lords." He stops for a while, turns back to the dwarf, as if realizing that he was almost talking to himself and asks "Is there something specific you would like to know?"
Jonathan finds that the tavern is fairly calm at morning and he finds no trouble hiding his gift box. However, short after he has done it, the sheriff enters the tavern and says "Master Jonathan, would you come with me to the town hall? There has been a development."
Dolgrin listens to the nice man and doesn't even notice how his fingers move into his backpack. "I have heard there is even an old language. Do you know it, is it also a kind of rune language?"
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Dart bows slightly to the woman saying, "Thank you, ma'am," and makes his way over to the bench to sit and wait. As he does so, he decides to take advantage of the busyness of the town hall by trying to eavesdrop to see if he can pick up any more on these rumors Ven is spreading (of course, that means he might overhear more of this talk about "the Elf" that's going around).
He replies "Yes, yes! Wait a moment" Brodert goes on to fumble through many pieces of paper. After a long while, he finally pulls one out of the mess and starts reviewing while mumbling "This came from the new scholar's monthly. Quite a few scholar around the world agree that there were three runic systems used for alphabets. Now I thought there were two, and still do, of course. I mean, the third seems to be a variation of one of the others, more simplified, you see?"
He starts showing Dolgrin the excerpt he means, where a few apparently prestigious scholars said basically the same thing in different ways. Still, Brodert seems to like some more than others.
Dart spends some time listening and some people come to ask the lady in the front about the coming of Shalelu. Apparently the receptionist's name is Lilly and only replies with "If there's something you should know, you would." drily.
Sid also comes to talk to Izumi and relays the summoning to the town hall by the sheriff.
"Happy to be of service Sherriff. Please lead the way."
Poppy seems engrossed in her fishing when Sid appears.
his greeting startles her causing her to drop her pole into the water, soon followed by Poppy falling into the water.
Ahhh, Sid, help me out! she pleas, As Sid reaches to help her out she "accidentally" pulls Sid into the water as well.
After several attempts the two manage to get back onto the dock. they both lay there a moment looking up to the sky nd soaking wet.
after a second or two, Poppy looks to Sid and starts to laugh. heeeheee, your hair is a mess, we're all wet too. heeeheee, you think the Mayor will complain?
After a bit, they both get up, and Poppy grabs her catch and walks with Sid to the Town Hall. both of their shoes squishing with each step.
I gotta drop off these fish for Ma to cook up for dinner, you wanna come over for dinner? she asks Sid.
After dropping off the fish and getting a bit of an earful from her Ma about dripping water on the floor, and drying off a little, She hurries off with Sid to the Town Hall.
Sid seems to enjoy spending time with Poppy, but she quickly realizes that he is constantly requested by various townsfolk to do some chores, and he quickly needs to leave her. He runs off to help a lady get a small plate from behind a cupboard.
As pleasant as the talk is with Brodert, he seems a little unfocused and after a while, Sid comes up and tells the dwarf that the sheriff is waiting for him in the town hall. Dart sees people in the group come one after another, all ignorant to what is supposed to happen. After a while the sheriff appears and says "Thank you for coming."
The group is led by the sheriff to the second floor of the town hall, in a very comfortable office. The mayor is there talking with an elf. As the group walks in, both of them get up and sheriff Hemlock says "As you can imagine, these are the ones we talked about. They're the new... uhm... goblin experts. Sandpoint heroes, this is Shalelu Andosana. She is sort of an unofficial member of the town guard." The elf smirks at that comment.
The sheriff goes on "Shalelu has been a thorn in the side of local goblin tribes for years now." As the sheriff pauses to think about what to say next about the elf, she tries to drops in, but the sheriff hijacks the conversation saying "Well, Sandpoint isn't the only place around here that has been having goblin troubles lately. All over the Long Coasts there have been increasing reports of goblin activity. Particularly in Nettlewood and Mosswood. Yesterday a farm south of Mosswood was burnt to the ground by a group of goblins. Shalelu was nearby and nobody was hurt, but the building was lost, nonetheless. It seems the goblins just aren't going away just yet."
Shalelu makes sure that she can talk now and says "Belor’s told me of your work against the goblins. Well done. I’ve dedicated the last several years of my life to keeping them from causing too much trouble around these parts, but they’re tenacious and fecund little runts. Like weeds that bite." She seems to not like goblins very much.
“There are five major goblin tribes in the region, and, traditionally, they’re pretty good at keeping each other in line with intertribal squabbles and the like. Yet from what I’ve been able to piece together,
members of all five tribes were involved in the raid on Sandpoint. A fair number of the Mosswood goblins I dealt with yesterday were already pretty
beat up, and there was a lot of chatter about the ‘longshanks’ who killed so many of them. Now that I’ve met you, it seems obvious from their
descriptions who they were talking about. Seems like you’ve made an impression." She takes a pause to breathe, then continues.
“In any event, the fact that the five tribes are working together disturbs me. Goblin tribes don’t get along unless they’ve got something big planned, and big plans require big bosses. I’m afraid that someone’s moved in on the goblins and organized them. And judging by these recent raids, what they’re organizing seems like bad news for all of us.”
Sheriff Hemlock doesn't realize this and says "This is very troubling. With your permission, madam mayor, I'll leave immediately to Magnimar to ask for more troops.", and leaves at the mayor's acknowledgement. Before actually leaving, he asks Shalelu to visit places where goblins dwell so that she can keep tabs on them. He also asks the group "If you can, try to make your presence known to the Sandpoint people. They seem to have taken a liking of you, so seeing you around town will do a lot for keeping worries down over the next few days."
With the meeting over, Shalelu asks the group "Would you join me for lunch at the rusty dragon? I'm starving and would like to hear more about your help in the raid. Also, I can share what I know with you if it helps."
Dolgrin was a little pissed about his talk with Brodert being interrupted. But he had heard about this Shalelu already and was curious what she had to say. "'course we can. I feel we share a mutual hatred for these little buggers."
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"I agree, Master Dwarf, a mealtime exchange of information about our foes would prove most beneficial. And Madame Shalelu," he says with a bow, "it will be an honor getting to know such a stalwart defender of this town we've been honored to protect."
As the group moves in the direction of the Rusty Dragon, Dart moves close to Johnathon and says quietly, "I heard of nasty gossip about us being spread by your friend Ven when I was at the bakery. As uncomfortable as the conversation might be, you might want to share your experience with the rest of the group since part of the sheriff's willingness to leave us as the 'authority figures' has to do with the positive way the townfolk view us. It's possible Izumi might have some way to help with the situation. She's a local and is wise beyond her years. And Father Zantus seems to have a fondness for her as well, so maybe she could recruit him to help put a stop to the rumors?"
As they get to the Rusty Dragon, Dart moves to the still-damp Poppy and says, "Goodness, Poppy, it looks like you were summoned from bathtime and barely had time to towel off your hair. May I?" and assuming she says yes, he begins finger combing out her hair and styling it in piggy tail braids.
Indeed let us eat and talk further. This worries me to no end, she says after Dolgrin.
"This is not a great problem. I thought that Goblins didn't like working together."
At Shalelu's offer to gain a meal, Jonathan says "Of course. That sounds good."
I forgot. Is your gift box "signed"?
Getting to the Rusty Dragon, Shalelu acknowledges Ameiko but doesn't go talk to her. Sitting at a table, it doesn't take long for cooked vegetables to appear alongside enough roast beef for everyone. Contrary to most elves, Shalelu is clearly not vegetarian.
At first opportunity, she says "So, tell me. How did the raid go about? Anything particularly different that stood out? Uhm.. dig in!" She voraciously eats the food on the table. It is not clear that she will actually listen to everyone given how focused she is on eating, but her pointy ear still moves around ready to listen.
Vicious, crazy and muddled is my impression.
I have no experience to compare it to... what should we be looking for? Maybe if you jog my memories?, she says helping herself.
She looks to Dolgrin.
Maybe you have insight?
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"There was tomb robbing that rather conspicuously happened during the raid," Dart informs her, standing as a stark contrast to the Elf as he takes dainty bites of a bowl of stew sitting before him. "Might have been a coincidence, of course, but it just seems a bit too convenient that the raid ensured everyone was so nicely distracted. They do serve rather tasty stew here, don't they?" he observes a bit more loudly than he'd made the previous statement. "And it was, apparently, the tomb of Father Zantus' predecessor, if you knew him or think that's significant, but this is all being kept hush hush from the townsfolk, of course. They're spooked enough from the Goblin raid, don't want to add to it. I wonder what this spice is?" he muses more loudly. "Cumin, maybe?"
Poppy tried her best to keep from getting everything wet as she listened to everything.
darts right, I think there is some naked wizard, well not really naked, but he did leave a robe. and wizards can be sneaky. I'll bet that the wizard that robbed the crypt is the same one that is making all the goblins work together.
We should try to find where they are camping out and put an end to them before they can make use of whatever they took from the crypt she adds clamping her hands together ready to squash some goblin heads.
are we gonna eat? I love to have some pie, but ma is making fish for dinner. If you want maybe we can all have dinner at my place. less chance of goblin spies hearing us. and I caught lots of fish today.
Maybe you have insight?
Dolgrin looks back at Izumi with the same lost face that she has. "Us dwarves fight goblins regularly, but they are so irrational that I really can't see any pattern. Maybe the fact that there was a slight hint of pattern during this attack is already astonishing."
Shalelu munches the food and makes an impatient gesture for people to join her in feasting. She talks with a mouth half full.
Shalelu says "It's clear to me that they used the goblin raid as a distraction for nefarious reasons with Father Tobyn's remains. I don't know much about magic to understand why. We should be on the lookout for any indication about what motives there might have been."
Answering Dolgrin, she says "There are five main goblin tribes nearby and, as I said, they all participated in the attack. The closest to Sandpoint are the Birdcruncher who live in a cave in the mountains to the south. They aren't very aggressive, though. Following the road south to Magnimar, there's the Brinestump marsh to its west, where the Licktoad tribe lives. These ones are excellent swimmers. They are led by an obese goblin called Rendwattle Gutwad, but there's a goblin cannibal called Vorka who lives there, much to the Licktoad's dismay."
She sighs and continues "Following the road out the north gate to the east, there's the Seven Tooth goblins in Shank's wood. They have or had a champion called Koruvus. He disappeared a while ago, but I like to feed the Seven Tooth goblins the notion that he is still in a secret hideout and will kill any goblins that find him. It keeps some of them from being too curious. Still, I don't know his true whereabouts."
After smirking for a few seconds, she says "Then there's the Mosswood golins who live in... you guessed it, Mosswood. They are the largest tribe, but for that very reason they are kept in check by fights among themselves. They have a frightful big leader called Big Gugmut. Finally there's the Thistletop goblins also to the east. They live in Nettlewood on top of a small island that may or may not look like a decapitated head if you look at it at the right angle. I think it's just imagination. They are led by Ripnugget. These goblins are important because all tribes agree that they have the best lair. In Nettlewood there's a bugbear called Bruthazmus. I have some sort of a feud with that one. Neither of us has managed to get an upper hand in our several fights. He seems to hate elves particularly. I won't let him get an upper hand."
After that, she comments to Dart "I wouldn't ask Ameiko for her secret ingredient, nor her cook. She tends to have some fun with people who ask to their detriment."
Finally she says to Poppy "Dinner sounds wonderful. I hope I don't get used to it. I don't eat so well in the wild and depend on catching game for it. But I would never say no to an offer like that!"
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"Well," Dart said, again more loudly, "I suppose I'll just have to trust my palette to figure out the flavors then." He then adds more quietly, "So, if we do end up needing to tangle with these combined Goblins tribes, might this Vorka figure be a potential ally given her cannibalistic ways? I mean, the more Goblins we take out, the better she eats, right? There's an old saying, Taldan I believe, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,' or something like that. Might this be the case for us?"
And then, Dart turns his attention towards Poppy and says, again more loudly, "What an extremely generous offer, Poppy! I'd certainly be delighted to come over for a fish dinner, and if you are even half as good at fishing as you are at smashing Goblins, I have no doubt there's plenty of fish for all of us," and he gives the little Gnome a warm smile.
Shalelu thinks carefully before answering. She says "I've hear of goblins becoming more civilized, but you propose an alliance based on a more... uncivilized goblin! Well, let me tell you, if you try this I won't be able to help. They attack me on sight. But if you do pull it off, you will be known as a legendary diplomat, my friend. It would be definitevely a hard endeavor."
"That's a lot of goblins. We obviously can't attack all of them. Sandpoint should improve its defenses, I suggest."
Shalelu stops eating for a moment and gulps down the food in her mouth. She says "Now, now, no need to despair. These goblins have been here for a long while, but only now they're a problem. We only need keep an eye on them for a while until we find whoever's rallying them and see if they make a mistake. They're goblins. They will make mistakes. And seeing how well you work together, we do stand a chance."
She smiles and puts some more food in her mouth. It's actually a bit surprising how much food fits into such a slim elf. Finally she says "I think you five would benefit from knowing a bit about each other and learn to work together in fights, like you did during the raid. When the stakes get high, your survival may hinge on how well you got each other's backs. I'll help wherever I can, but you should grow to not depend on my help."
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"Hold on, you've got something just...there" Dart says as he wipes a bit of pie from Poppy's cheek and chin.
He then directs his attention back to Shalelu and says, "You speak wisely, Madam Elf" and gives a slight bow of his head, "we do, indeed need to learn how to work together more effectively. I mean, we put ourselves in Johnathon's burst zone several times and we only just barely managed to use flanking. And after all, the sheriff is counting on us to be a symbol of keeping order, and the townsfolk having some knowledge or visual of us training as defenders could only help that, I'd imagine."
And Master Foxglove wanted to learn to fight as well, Dart thinks to himself, maybe I should get him a longspear and take him under my wing. Would that make him my apprentice? Squire, maybe? I think squire, he'd probably like that term better. Sounds more upper class, I imagine.
A group of female dwarves enter the inn and order themselves a large plate of cheese and ham. They seem to be enjoying themselves and chug down a lot of ale in one gulp. They laugh among themselves and seem to be enjoying some tales about elves falling from trees.
Outside, a small girl seems to have been hurt by a boy in a game. She cries as her mother calls "Margaret? Are you all right?"
Poppy smiles as Dart wipes her cheek and nods a thank you, not wanting to interrupt the elf.
she looks amazed how much she eats. she occasionally peers under the table to see if she is actually hiding it in a bag on her lap or something.
are you part halfling? she asks, not really expecting an answer.
the dwarves entering does not seem to phase poppy at all. but she does try and take not if any appear to carry warhammers.
I wonder if they follow Tor, that would be.... her words lost at the sounds of a girl getting hurt.
Spot. she calls. Making sure Spot isn't tha cause of the trouble. as she goes (following Dart) to check on things.
Margaret and the other children look at Dart approaching and cheer and come hug and high five him. Margaret seems to have forgotten all about her boo boo. "Dart, how did you kill the goblins", they ask.
Poppy notices that some of the dwarves that entered carry, while some two carry dwarven waraxes. The others don't have a visible weapon on them.
Shalelu is entertained by Poppy's notion of her relationship with a halfling and replies "I sure would like to. They are quick on their feet and one of them actually beat me in the Avertins classic yearly Pie-Improved-with-Zucchini-and-Zebra-Antic eating contest."
Shalelu excuses herself with a quick stand up that seems impossible given the amount of food that is supposed to be in her body, and says "Excuse me please, I have to talk to Ameiko for a while. I'll probably leave town tonight, so if you want to discuss the goblins some more, I'll be here."