Ribitta blinks in silence at the sheriff for some time before starting. "We interrogated the captured goblins with the help of a dwarf and a blue man. The goblins claim to have entered the city from the north gate, and their invasion plan was spearheaded by a tall and pretty humanoid woman. Among their numbers were multiple goblin tribes, and the goblin boss of the Mosswood tribe, Big Gugmut, is pressuring his tribe to behave."
The sheriff says "That's impressive! I only managed to get from them that there was a human-sized leader, but they said he looked like me." He brings up a notebook and starts scribbling the information Ribitta brought.
He pauses in the middle and says "There's an elf. Shalelu is her name. She usually handles the goblin intelligence. There's no real way to reach her, but she comes in time and again if there's something worth noting. Next time she comes, I'll relay this information to her. This may be helpful. Thank you, errrr... I'm sorry, what was your name?"
"Ribit-er, Betty. Betty Andersen." She limply holds forth her damp and clammy hand to shake the sheriff's. "I am staying with Mr. Quink."
The sheriff shakes Ribitta's hand and then continues writing down the information she gave him.
Mashaka starts taking mental notes. Shalelu..., she thinks, Elf. Goblin. Human-sized. Sheriff., she continues, Betty. Sheriff Betty, human-sized intelligence.
And I'm Ribit-er Lyra. Mashaka Shalelu. - she finally says to Ribitta, extending her hand to shake the Tiefling's, instead of the sheriff's.
A thin film of Ribitta's wet skin peels off and sticks to Mashaka's palm as they shake hands.
"Let's see if we can catch the boys at the consecration, Lyra," she says, trying to make sense of it all.
The consecration ritual 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 party 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.
Elan nudges Brand during the ceremony and nods toward the sheriff. "The gods have turely blessed us today. We should go see the sheriff though, he appears to need us."
Distracted by her history with the old cathedral, Tanwen finds it hard to focus on the consecration ceremony, as beautiful as it is.
”Arshea, watch over us.” The Chelish woman says as the ceremony ends with the prayers to more common gods and goddesses.
Tanwen walks outside the cathedral to join the sheriff, but for now remains quiet, letting the others lead the discussion.
The sheriff says to the party "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."
Father Ezakien Tobyn was the former spiritual leader of Sandpoint. He died in the fire that destroyed the previous church during the Late Unpleasantness, along with his adopted daughter, a girl called Nualia with heavenly beauty.
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."
Elan sighs and shakes his head, "The crypt of the former priest of the old temple. He died in the fire that destroyed it. This isn't a coincidence. We need to check that out."
As they walk, the sheriff says somewhat nervously "So, how lucky we were to have you all in town yesterday. Do you... uhm... mean to leave? I mean, uhm, 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.
The sheriff replies to Brand "Interesting, I could actually use your opinion on the city's defense. And with your help, maybe I can convince the mayor to give the defense some more funds, now that the cathedral is done and all." He seems genuinely happy to have Brand he might be staying, at least for a while.
"I am," Ribitta sucks air in between her teeth, "local to the area. And it seems I will be staying in Sandpoint for some time. Myy god has commanded I enact vengeance on the Licktoad tribe of goblins, for actsss against my kin and against myself specifically. There were, Licckktoadss in the innvasiionn forcce." She leaves the implications uncroaked and unsaid.
Elan smiles at the sheriff, "I will be here until the Dawnflower leads me elsewhere. Let us take a look at this crypt."
The sheriff seems satisfied with the group's response to his question, but he does look a little confused when Ribitta brings up a specific goblin tribe. It doesn't look like he knows much about it.
At the cemetery, he looks at the group expectantly.
To the crypt of the Dawnflower Licktoad! With giant funds! - Mashaka announces from behind Ribitta, probably not exactly sure of what was going on, but definitely onboard.
Mashaka arrives and her curious eyes immediately starting circling around.
As they pay close attention to the ground, Brand and Mashaka see that the ground is very churned up. There are many goblin footprints moving about, and also a medium-sized humanoid.
As Brand 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.
Brand 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.
Ribitta swings her ranseur over the top of Brand's head, chopping and slashing at the skeleton.
Tanwen brings up her hand and begins channeling her racial powers over fire into her hand. Then, she moves closer to the enemies and engulfs them in a cone of fire .
Mashaka moves and attacks the other enemy, trying to help dealing with the threat.
Both skeletons are engulfed in Tanwen's flames, but it's not enough to kill them. Ribitta swings but glances off the skeleton's bone. Mashaka's swing connects, but only chips the bone. She thinks she hasn't done any real damage.
Seeing the undead abominations still standing, Elan raises his holy symbol high and says "May the Dawnflower give you the eternal rest you deserve! and holy energy emanates from him.
One of the skeletons crumbles under Elan's energy and the other is hurt but still tries to attack whatever's in front of it.
Brand misses the shield bash and his attack momentarily lowered his defenses which allowed the skeleton to hurt him in the belly.
Mashaka attacks again the skeleton in front of her, insisting on her sacred weapon.
Mashaka slashes the skeleton which crumbles lifelessly to the ground. After it is clear that any danger is taken care of, the sheriff approaches and asks "What happened?"
"Bones."
Elan looks at the sheriff and says "There were undead skeletons here. We have dispatched them. Who knows what else is in here. Brand do you need any healing or will you do it yourself?"
The sheriff looks troubled when Elan mentions undead. He even looks a little afraid, as if that was a subject too complicated for him to handle. Wanting to be sure, he asks "So, is it safe? What happened here?"
Elan shrugs, "I don't know. We haven't had a chance to look around yet. Though it looks like two of the sarcophagi have been disturbed." He then enters and takes a look around the tomb.
After a while adjusting his eyes to the darkness in the tomb, Elan finds two noteworthy things. The first is a discarded black robe in the back of the tomb.
This is a Robe of Bones with no charges left.
The other thing is that Father Tobyn's sarcophagus lies open and his remains have been taken.
Mashaka keeps her weapon drawn and moves around with the others, this time uncharacteristically quiet. She knees down at the skeletons, as if inspecting to see if they have anything useful - and the others can notice the scavenging is something she's clearly used to.
Mashaka doesn't find anything beyond what Elan found. The sheriff shyly comes closer and comes into the tomb. He seems deeply troubled from seeing Father Tobyn's empty coffin.
Outside, two birds seem to challenge each other to a singing contest.
As Tanwen notices the sheriff looking uneasily at her, she remembers the events leading up to the fire at the original chapel. Maybe this wasn't the best time to demonstrate my ability to call forth fire, after all, it's still not known what caused that fire...
"Who would steal Father Tobyn's body?" She pauses for a moment before adding "Is his daughter's body nearby? I remember her from before the fire, and I don't believe that she could have escaped."
Tanwen avoids looking at the sheriff but continues speaking. "I was around when the old chapel burned down, as far as I'm aware I was the only survivor." The young Chelish woman obviously didn't wish to speak further on the subject.
The sheriff points to another sarcophagus nearby. It has the name of Father Tobyn's daughter, Nualia. It has not been touched.
Someone outside shouts a name in the distance. It could be Vanessa or Clarice or Alberto. From the shout that follows, it seems that this person hasn't done the dishes as requested.
Meanwhile, the sheriff looks outside and notices someone and promptly goes talk to them.
Ribitta follows the sheriff, uninterested in further investigation. "Did you need us for anything else?" she croaks.
Ribitta sees that the sheriff is walking towards mayor Deverin who looks curious about the dealings of the group. If she is scared of Ribitta's face, she doesn't show it.
The sheriff answers her "I must report to my boss." Despite realizing that the sheriff is walking towards her, the mayor keeps looking at the group, but hesitates to walk forward.
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"Chain of command is important but it still doesn't answer the question. Any of you from around here? Know if the old priest had any enemies? It'd probably be best to start there. Anyone good at tracking? Let's see if we can figure out where they ran off to with the body." With that he tromps away starting to walk slow, ever widening, circles around the sepulcher.