Dart can read from Elise that she is genuinely happy with the doll. Also, as she starts to wrap her head around the situations, she acts a little afraid, as if it was dangerous for her to hold the doll.
With her voice returning to normal, she says "Maybe we can call her Danielle. I think she looks like a Danielle. Don't you think?"
Poppy didn't say anything when Sid appeared but she was watching him. not menacingly, but rather curiosity.
she was about to say something to him but it was too late and he hurried off.
Poppy immediately looked at herself to make sure there wasn't anything funny about her that scared him off.
Poppy finishes her own cupcake and heads off with dart. but walking with Poppy is like taking a dog for a walk that likes to explore everything it can see.
Along the way she stops back at the sables to get Spot and bring him along for the walk.
so Dart, who we visiting? is your wife? or your girlfriend? maybe family. do they have pies? I like cherry pie, and apple, and peach. but not fish, fish is smelly.
later after Dart finds his friend, She stay quiet. not wanting to intervene.
She just waits patiently to meet Dart's little friend.
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Dart is highly amused by Poppy's energy and string of questions. Finally, he gets a chance to answer and says, "No, Poppy, I don't have a wife and I don't have a girlfriend," then, thinking of Aneka says, "not yet anyway. I've actually never had one, but it's probably a very lovely experience. Like cherry pie, which is also lovely. We're going to check in on little Elise. She's the little girl we kept safe and reunited with her mom during the fighting. And yes, fish are smelly."
Once they are at the house and Elise has received the doll and offered a name, Dart responds, "That's a lovely name, Elise. Don't you think Danielle is a great name for the doll, Poppy?"
Then, Dart says, in as gentle a voice as he can muster, "Elise, I noticed you seem a little bit nervous. Is everything ok?"
Dart notices that Elise has a practiced way to respond to questioning. She says "I am well, mister. Thank you for the doll." She lifts her head up like a dog who has seen something in the dark, gets up and as she says "I'm sorry, I have to go now." Dart and Poppy hear a woman's voice calling for Elise. She runs into the corn field and, for the first time, you see fear in her face.
After lunch has passed, those who want to can attend the consecration ceremony in the cathedral. It is much smaller than what was apparently originally prepared, as evidenced by the overwhelming amount of decoration. It is held in the interior of the cathedral. The people present can see that in the middle of the cathedral there is an open area with some monoliths. Father Zantus and mayor Deverin are just inside along with some younger helpers. There is also an elderly woman you've never seen before. She is very old.
Father Zantus begins chanting something in an ancient language which he reads from a book and the helpers light candles and incenses in apparently timed and programmed intervals.
The ritual goes on for about ten to fifteen minutes. At its end, Father Zantus says in Common "and let the gods bring their grace to this place, and their love in a dove."
At this moment, a dove flies in from the ceiling and from its wake, snow appears to form, but it only falls for a few feet before dissipating. The interior of the cathedral cools down in contrast with the warm exterior. The party feels energized with divine power.
A few moments pass as everyone inside take in what they're feeling and the boys and girls begin collecting the ritual materials. The mayor approaches Father Zantus and is about to start saying something when the party notices the sheriff standing outside and beckoning them over, apparently looking like he has been trying to catch their attention for a while now.
Dolgrin greets Father Zantus formally, at least as formal as the grumpy dwarf knew. He never attended a religious ceremony outside of dwarfen homelands and wasn't too familiar with the procedures. Thus he kept to the side as much as possible and only spoke his prayers toi Torag out loud if asked for.
Ah, there's the sheriff. Just the man we wanted to visit afterwards anyway. He does look annoyed, though. I wonder why.... He'll have to wait for now.
When the ritual ends, Dolgrin - Master of Magic - can feel the presence of several lawful and good gods. Even so Torag is not amongst them, their purity enlightens Dolgrin and warms his heart.
After everything was properly finished, Dolgrin slowly stepped towards the sheriff. "We need to talk."
Jonathan demurred on the invitation to join in the ritual, saying "I thank you for the kind offer, and I would surely be the best looking date you ever had, but I do not feel comfortable being among those of faith. I would never say such a thing is wrong or others should not practice, but I....it is not for me to partake in such things."
"Besides, I need to spend some time coming up with a better name than that which you have given us."
Jonathan smiles and then says "besides, I have an errand to run."
He looks around at the group and says "I will get us a meeting room at the Rusty Dragon this evening so that we can talk over recent events and plan our next steps. I hope to see you all there." With that, he takes his leave and heads into the city.
Jonathan returns to the Rusty Dragon and spends some time creating a small box out of paper, one that is big enough to hold the bracelet he would have tomorrow. It takes him several tries, but eventually he pulls it off. on the lid, he writes Kaijitsu Ameiko in Tianese characters and then hides the box in his room where it won't be found.
By the time dinner rolls around, Jonathan makes his way downstairs sans his armor and weaponry and arranges a room for the group. Wanting to avoid attention, he opts to spend some time drinking alone while waiting for the others.
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Dart found the interaction with Elise odd.
On the walk back to town, he commented to Poppy, "Things are definitely different here than where I grew up, but I suppose the more of the world I see, the more I'll find different groups behaving in different ways," and at that moment, the idea of leaving didn't seem appealing at all. Well, it's obviously because I haven't had my time to shine on Sandpoint's stage yet, he thought, but the words seemed somehow hollow. Just nerves, I guess, from the odd interaction, he thought to himself, yet didn't feel all that confident of it.
Returning to town, Dart joined the others, except for Jonathon, at the ritual.
It was a nice ceremony and Dart only found his mind wandering about half the time. Well, maybe two thirds of the time. Still, the dove thing at the end was cool. Showmanship. A nice touch there, Dart thought to himself.
As he was getting up to leave, Dart noticed Dolgrin approach the sheriff. Since the group had determined they wanted to chat with him, Dart made his way that direction.
Izumi has little to offer from Shizuru but she is familiar with some of the prayers and ceremonies. The worship of these five gods is common in Sandpoint and over the last year, as she grew towards the Priesthood she took time to understand each in turn.
Such was the power of the ceremony that she could not feel anything but uplifted, and vowed that she would bring the fervour and devotion that Father Zanthus displayed into her own ceremonies.
She takes note of Dolgrin after thanking the Priest for having her present. She gains a measure of comfort from the solid as stone dwarf and hopes to learn from him as well. She draws near to hear his words to the Sheriff.
The sheriff says to those present "I'm sorry to disturb you. I wanted to talk to you and Father Zantus, but I believe he can know later." He looks over to Father Zantus talking happily to the mayor and the elderly lady. He motions you to accompany him outside.
Once outside, he says "It appears something... happened.... last night, apart from the goblin attack. One of the vaults was broken into." Looking at Tanwen with a particularly pitiful way, he continues "It appears that the Tobyn family vault was desecrated."
He went on "Being experts of combating goblins, I ask you to take a look. Goblins are known to hide very well until it is convenient to leave."
Izumi frowns, dredging up memories.
The last priest, before Father Zanthus, she supplies to the others. He and his daughter died in a tragic fire.
She turns to the Sheriff. For my part, I am happy to investigate. I cannot speak for the others.
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"But we'll be back in time for the play...I mean, of course we'd love to help. Where's Jonathon? Should someone go get Jonathon? Is that small boy child messenger around?" and Dart begins looking around for the child and hoping that no one took notice of his fixation on the pay over this obviously important news.
Poppy looks up at dart, there are many things in the world that are new and exciting. but some things are really bad. like goblins, they are really bad.
as she thinks a moment. but you seem nice, so that's a good thing.
Poppy caught up with the ceremony folk. she seemed a little out of place there as she wasn't very familiar with these things. but she watched with wonderment, trying to not interrupt anything.
Then came the sheriff, If there's more goblins about, Spot can sniff 'em out. Right Spot?
You want me and Spot to start searchin' we can do that. Poppy seems anxious to find more goblins.
question though, do goblins rob dead folk?
Jonathan will spend some time correcting people and explaining the group's actual name should be the Heroes of Sandpoint.
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+9
"That's exactly, what I wanted to ask. If there are potentially more dangerous goblins around."
Dolgrin moves to the stash next to the cathedral, where they put their weapons and arms himself ready for another fight.
Poppy suddenly remembers that Spot was never trained for tracking. He is a guard riding dog, not a hunting dog.
Dart doesn't see anyone that would send a message to Jonathan apart from the boy who seemed to have fetched the sheriff. But he seems to work for the cathedral. Dart thinks how he should go about talking to the boy about sending a message.
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Dart crosses the room to where Sid is. "Hello, young man," Dart says, squatting down to be eye level with the little messenger. "The sheriff needs us to do some important stuff and we'd love to help him, but my good friend Jonathon isn't here. Could you go find him and ask him to join us here at the cathedral? He's the good-looking fellow with the silk shirts. Has kind of long brown hair. Probably has two or three gals around him batting their eyes at him or maybe proposing. I think he's probably at the Rusty dragon. Can you help us with that, buddy? I can double check with Father Zanthus first if you need me to, but as fast as you are, you'd probably be there and back in less time than it would take me to ask him," and Dart gives the youngster a big smile.
Let's try this again:
Poppy looks down...err... up at Spot, after a second or two or three. she frowns then gives spot a hug. like they just had some telepathic conversation.
Spot says he really doesn't understand tracking, but he does know how to bark. and if he sees a goblin he can bark.
The kid hears Dart and promptly walks over to Father Zantus and is about to speak, but Father Zantus looks at him in a certain way that makes him freeze and just hang around waiting.
The sheriff looks at the group expectantly. He seems to want to say something, but shuts himself up. He looks up trying to figure out something to look at while he waits.
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Dart, who has never been known for his patience, Turns to Dolgrin and says, "I'll be back." He then walks out of the temple and heads out towards the Rusty Dragon Inn looking for Jonathon. It hasn't really occurred to him that the small child is probably still waiting to ask and might also come looking for him.
Dart gets to the Rusty Dragon and Jonathan was nowhere to be seen.
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Dart approaches the front desk, asks if Jonathon has been seen there or not, and asks them to deliver a message for him to meet the group at the cathedral. Dart makes a mental note to leave a message with Father Zanthus in case Jonathon shows up at the cathedral after the group has left.
But apparently, no such message is needed!
Bethana the halfling gets her face red as Dart talks directly to her and tells him in a low voice "Yes, he's in his room. It's up the stairs, second on the right."
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Wonder if our blushing beauty here is another would-be Mrs. Silk, Dart thinks to himself in amusement.
He heads upstairs to Jonathon's room, knocks, and calls out, an ornery smile on his face again, "Hey, handsome, it's Dart. Hiding from your fans, are you? Well, sheriff needs our help with something. If you'd care to join me, I'll explain on the way."
Jonathan sighed and then you can hear some stuff moving around and then he opens the door, wearing armor, shield, and weapon.
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"Excellent! Let's be off then," Dart says, then adds, "Guess you ended up being my date to the cathedral after all," and nudges Jonathon with his elbow.
It's great to have a friend I can tease like this, Dart thinks. Then another thought occurs to him, Are we friends? Do I actually even know this guy? He wears silk shirts, does blasty attacks, and...yeah, I guess that's most of what I know. It's possible I am not a very good friend.
To remedy this, Dart asks as they're walking, "What brought you to Sandpoint anyway, Johnny? It was the theater for me."
Jonathan seems distracted, but answers the question "I was guarding caravans and ended up in the city and decided to take a break."
As they reunite with the group, the sheriff is sweating. He, then, leads them saying nervously "So, how lucky we were to have you all in town yesterday. How do you like our small town" His attempt to chit-chat clearly needs work.
Getting to the back of the cathedral reveals a cemetery with tombstones and a few mausoleums. As you make your way through the grounds, the destination becomes clear as one of the vaults has its door hanging half-open.
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Dart is pleased to know a bit more about Jonathon, and completely misses that his friend seems distracted as dart is wrapped up a bit in his own thoughts, but goes on a little bit about his performance in the comedy competition and impromptu performance after the cookie eating contest, though Jonathon was actually nearby for that one.
Reaching the cathedral, Dart walks along with the group following the sheriff to the cemetery. In response to the sheriff's awkward attempts at chit-chat, Dart says, "Yes, I like her quite a bit. She's lovely," and he smiles. He then quickly, perhaps too quickly, adds, "The city. 'Her' as in the city. I think it's fairly common to call a city 'her,' right? Of course it is. So, which crypt is...oh. Probably that one with the door hanging open. Look lively everyone," and he begins scanning the area for possible threats.
Jonathan chuckles at Dart's story and says "you seem to have forgotten that I was there as well."
Given that they were entering a tomb, Jonathan drew his new blade and said "Sooner we get started, sooner we're back at the bar drinking."
As Dart and Jonathan walk together through Sandpoint's streets, the girly giggles seem to be the theme song that they leave in their wake. A few of the girls are as young as Elise, although they seem to only be mirroring the older girls, without actually understanding the meaning of it just yet.
Later, Jonathan seems to take a more aggressive posture towards the problem at hand.
At the Dragon, Poppy spent most of the time trying to keep Spot from causing trouble. (He is a rather large dog after all).
She kept apologizing to people for Spot.
Poppy lets Spot sniff around looking for goblins as they walk.
Unlike other times, Spot is decked out in leather barding and seemingly ready for battle.
As they head to the cemetery, Poppy can't help but ask Dart, why do you talk so much? are you part gnome? cause if you were that would be so cool, but then you would have to be a little smaller. maybe your part halfling, but then that would make you more like a three-quarter-ling
At the crypt. Who was buried here? was he important, wait, maybe he was a she then was she important?
she tries to keep an eye on spot to see if he notices anything around.
Spot doesn't bark and wags his tail happily as Poppy shows him around.
In we go... anyone have a torch?
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Responding to Poppy's questions about his possible Gnomish heritage, Dart smiles and says, "Well, I've always been told I'm half Elven, but nobody ever mentioned what the other half is. I've also been told my blue hair is from some sort of fey being, and Gnomes are fey-blooded, so maybe I'm part Gnome after all. In fact, maybe we're even cousins," and he gives young Poppy a big smile and a wink.
Later, when Izumi asks about a torch, Dart says, "I'll do ya one better," and reaches forward touching the tip of his longspear and quietly saying, "Shelyn, let your light shine in the darkness," and the tip of the spear erupts in light.
Not understanding Izumi's question at first, Dolgrin pushes past her and leads the group in. "I can see perfectly fine as it is." he mumbles into his beard.
Just before Dolgrin walks into the vault, Poppy notices that the ground near the vault is churned up and there are many goblin and one human-sized set of tracks.
As Dolgrin enters the tomb, two animated skeletons which were looking at the wall turn to face him.
The skeletons walk up to Brand and attempt to slap him.
Dolgrin is taken by surprise. While one of the skeletons only scratches his armor, the other manages to hit him between the plates in his stomach.
Channels energy vs Undead...
DC14.
May the light of the Goddess cleanse you of corruption!
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Hearing the noise from the crypt, Dart moves over to stand by Izumi, remembering from the Goblin fights that he needs to stay back so Jonathon can go in and do blasting stuff. As he moves, he asks, "Is it more Gob...oh my gosh!! Undead Goblins! Undead...man-sized Goblins!"
He then quickly tries to get himself composed and switch back into inspirational mode. "Alright, Brindleflame Brig..." Oh right, they wanted to change the name "you...divine warriors...let's work together. Flank when you can, but steer clear of Johnny's blasts."
He also looks at his spear, looks at the bony foe, and realizes he is not quite set up for success this time around.
"Sekeletons. Of course. Do you guys not know how to burry properly?" Dolgrin shouts angrily, while one of them claws through his armor.
Dolgrin assumes a defensive stance trying to block the skeletons from reaching the others.
Jonathan double moves into the tomb, provoking from Red.