Seishin looks down at the jade crescent moon around his neck. "I suspect that we do--in this lifetime, I have not yet met another of the Wheel, yet all the shards of old lives still linger within me."
"As to fears and how much my old lives drive me..." He rubs the crescent moon. "...I would say that some shards are clearer than others. Tsukiyo's parables and mantras were among the first shards to return to me in this life. They offered direction and purpose--and with them, comfort." He glances over at Rhys. "The mind and body may change, but the soul within remains the same."
"My apologies for all the questions, it has been a long time since I've spoken to someone about such things. With my people, our very long lives can diminish the presence of death, but that's obviously different from knowing we have lived before or will again."
Seishin smiles and waves off the apology.
"And I must say, there is an appeal in knowing that you don't remember everything from each life. I've learned that painful memories build up over the years."
The man's face turns pensive. "Painful memories are not easy to accept, but they are perhaps the most important. They shape a man, for good or ill."
After everyone have left except Yako, Ameiko briefly pauses her performance. With a smirk and a raised eyebrow she asks. "Aren't you going to follow after your companions? You won't find much goblins in here. Or are you so smitten with my beauty that you can't take your eyes away?" The last part is said with a smile.
In a happy trance Yako was about to begin with his food finally after the music stopped before Ameiko called out to him, causing him to blink a few times as he looks around then back to her. ”The latter,” he said bluntly. ”Your music reminded me of more peaceful days out in the woods. Not every fox had a songbird perform for it. I was quite fortunate. ” he says with a bit of a smile of his own.
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Seishin finds the dagger, sling and bullets at Savah's Armory, the best weapons and armor smith in town.
On the way there he meets a fisherman named Ned. He tells him the crazy story of how his buddy Bud met a monster in the swamp.
"Yeah I know what's in the marsh alright. My buddy Bud went out there fishing a couple days ago. He met the Soggy River Monster on the new fish trail! Imagine that, not even the new trail is safe anymore. It stood taller than a man, had white skin, and had a mouth that opened up all the way down its neck. It was eating what looked like a goblin on the far side of the river which is why Bud managed to make it out of there all in one piece."
Scowling and spitting Ned shoulders his fishing rod and moves on, the man is clearly uncomfortable talking about what lives in the swamp.
Rhys is confused by the samsaran stopping and doesn't look where he goes. He bumps into a young lad that wasn't looking where he was going either. After both apologize the lad named Jake tell him a story that his pa told him.
"I'm Jake. My pa's a fine fisherman on the sea, got his own boat and everything. He says there have been some weird kind of unnatural red seagul lately. As if that wasn't bad enough, it always show up before something bad happens, an accident or whatever. The Stoot Bird everyone calls it, it's soaked in blood or something and posessed by the ghost of that maniac Stoot."
The boy hurries on and Rhys barely have time to say good bye before he's out of sight.
Rhys also finds the armor and weapons he's lookign for in Savah's Armory. Savah tries to sell him a fancy second tier enchanted dagger, but she loses interest when she understand that despite his age the elf is nearly broke.
On the way to get the rest of his gear he overhear a trio of elderly ladies talking about the goblins. Stopping by they tell him of what's up.
"The Licktoad Goblins have never been much of a problem before, but now that they’ve found all those fireworks, they seem braver, that’s for sure. Some folks say that they’ve even learned how to make them, and that they’re getting ready set Sandpoint on fire!"
Seishin tries to find information about the old witch and he meets an old hag with a tooth necklace, ear-rings made out of fingernails and several pendants made out of fingers.
"I'm Helga and I know Old Megus well enough. It's a shame she doesn't stop by more often, it's always interesting to talk to her. Unlike most people here. She's always obsessed with transforming something into some other, perhaps she transformed herself into a zombie and is now wandering the swamp looking for people to eat!?"
An rotund halfing woman with graying hair at the temples tells the pair about Walthus Proudstump.
"I used to like Walthus when we were younger. But then he started raising snakes and liking them better than people? No wonder he moved out there. He coddles them like my nice does with her pet rabbit, takes a special kind of weirdo to do that."
They can see in the dark and are very stealthy. They like to sneak up on their targets, but rarely plan well enough to actually go through with them.
Goblins are very superstitious and obsessed with wierd things and can keep the oddest things as treasures. Some of them are pure junk, but sometimes they can get something like a harrow deck and hang all the beautiful cards up as if they were religious ornaments. You know Koya would be unhappy if she saw a deck used like that as she very much likes props like that
Unfortunately you fail to find a map anywhere, but you do find everything else on the list.
---
Sigrun is guard in chainmail carrying a longspear on the way into the garrison.
"Hold there for a moment miss..." Though it seems like the guard is more interested in eying her up and down rather than actually asking her questions. The guard trails off as his gaze travels downwards towards her chest.
Without raising his gaze he continues. "If you're going in here I need to know what for..."
Ameiko sighs as she remembers. "Ah yes... Those were simpler times. We didn't have as much luggage to carry with us as we do now. I enjoyed playing for you then and I still enjoy it now even if the emotional backdrop is different. Though I think it would be too shocking for most in here if you leapt into your dance here. You should eat your food before it gets completely cold though, it's better warm. I want you to taste my cooking at its best. I can still play a bit more, it'll be a while until the lunch rush, but I soon got to start preparing for that." She picks up the samisen again and sweet music flows forth once more. Several of the other guests are also enraptured by her music, hanging around longer than they otherwise would.
Yako chuckles. ”No, we did not. And it probably would. My apologies, I did not mean to insult your food, I’m just.... easily distracted.”
”Thank you,” he tells her as she goes back to her music as he finally attends to the food, his tail swaying happily at the spiced sustenance before it falls pray to the strings again. Yako however dutifully eats the cooled soup.
Ameiko laughs, a thrilling sound. "Don't worry about it. But I got to go prepare for the lunch rush. It was nice to see you again Yako. I hope to see you around later as well." She gets up and start moving towards the bar, ready to enter the kitchen to prepare more food. On the way there she'll hang up her samisen on a peg on the wall behind the bar.
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Sigrun helps the guard out a little. She puts her hand on top of his head and gently tilts it back until his eyes meet her's.
"Hi there" she says with a smile.
"I am here to ask questions about the goblin bounty. I will be going to collect soon, but I need to know a few more things first."
Seishin commits each piece of information he gets to memory.
Hmm. I'm not certain that goblins are smart enough to make fireworks on their own... but, that being said, they could somehow be under the thumb of someone smarter than them. How else would they get access to fireworks?
The man looks a bit flustered at being physically corrected. He straightens himself and says. "Just checking miss. Sheriff Hemlock is inside."
Inside she finds the big sheriff going over some paperwork. He's alone in this office. A couple tribal totems reveal his Shoanti origins along with the huge earthbreaker propped against one side of his desk. He looks up as Sigrun enters. "Hello there. You're the one from the Rust Dragon right? That armor sure changes things. What can I do for you? Did you manage to get some goblins already?"
Sigrun thinks the sheriff's question is odd, the bounty was only posted a couple of hours ago... But, she needn't be bothered with the man's unrealistic expectations. She falls into a chair and makes herself comfortable.
"Yes, I was at the Rusty Dragon. No goblins yet, we haven't gone anywhere. I might be going to look for goblins with some other people, but there are some things I want to know more about."
The bounty you offer for the chief is good. The bounty you offer for ears is okay, but only if we can get many goblins, not just one here or there. I am hearing the goblins live in a swamp near the coast road."
"How many goblins do you think there are there?"
"How big is the swamp? Can it be crossed in a day? More than that or less?"
"What do you know about this goblin chief?"
"It is said there is a witch who lives in the swamp. What do you know about the witch?"
"Are there any people living in town who go to the swamp? Where can I find them?"
While walking about, Seishin also picks up a couple of sacks--one for goblin ears, one for a goblin chief's head.
The sheriff smiles and burst into laughter. "I like your style, straight to the point. I do like knowing who I'm speaking to though. As you might know, I'm sheriff Belor Hemlock. Who do I have the pleasure speaking with?"
He waits for Sigrun to respond before continuing. "As for your questions... As a carvan guard you'll rarely get anything as good as a gold per day. A single goblin is worth ten days. We don't exactly have amazing income here either. I'm giving as much as I can. I wish I had more as I have tons of things I would wish to use funds on, but I think you're getting a good price. I obviously don't know exactly how many goblins there are, but I would guess maybe twenty or thirty."
"As for how wide the marsh is, it's only a couple miles. The terrain is rather treacherous, however there are a few paths through it so you could probably cross it and get back in much less than a day."
"Naturally I don't know too much about Chief Gutwad. The goblins aren't exactly a friendly lot you can just walk up to and chat with. But he has managed to rise to the top of a murdering crazy band of evil lunatics. I imagine he backstabbed plenty to get to the top, so he's probably the shifty sort, don't expect him to play fair."
"All I know about Old Megus is that she's a witch that lives in the swamp. She does come to town to buy supplies from time to time, but I've never met her personally."
"There are a band of fishers who enjoy risking it to go fishing in the swamp. Why they can't fish in the river or the gulf like normal people, I don't know. You can talk to Ned Minnow or Bud Bowfin, they are the most experienced of the lot, though I believe there are a few more as well."
"Even if it's just you pumping me for information, I've quite enjoyed talking to me. Please make time to chat the next time you're in town, don't just drop off the ears and leave." He smiles at Sigrun.
"It was good to see you as well," Yako replies with a smile. He watches Ameiko walk off before attending to the rest of his soup. Piling his dishes up he will deliver them where instructed, otherwise he'll leave them on the table as need be.
Stepping outside of the Rusty Dragon he suddenly begisn looking before his tail raiss up to rub his chin. "Huh, I wonder where the others went."
"I am Sigrun. Sigrun Magpie if you want a long name."
Sigrun listens to what the sheriff has to say, then responds.
"Your comparison is not a good one. I make less gold as a caravan guard yes, but I also get food and a place to stay. I am also paid for every day no matter what."
"Your bounties must be split among four of us. I also have to buy food and a place to stay. I get nothing for a day if I find no goblins."
"But, as I said, it is okay if we can find many goblins in one place. If the swamp is small we have a better chance of finding where they live. Then we can kill them all at once without so much walking around and so many days. It is also better that way for finding the chief."
"I will try to find the people you mentioned. Thank you. Maybe we can be back in three or four days. I will come back when we return and find you."
After leaving the Garrison, Sigrun asks around town for the fisherman Sheriff Hemlock named. She also decides to go ahead with buying the longspear. It could be handy for poking at things in the water. Along with it she picks up ten more lead bullets for her sling.
Sigrun is lucky and manage to track down Bud shortly after. He's fishing by the river, though it doesn't appear that he has much luck getting anything. He has blonde hair starting to recede on the top, sharp blue eyes, a rugged face and a constant scowl. "Yes, I'm Bud Bowfin? What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"
The man's face turns pensive. "Painful memories are not easy to accept, but they are perhaps the most important. They shape a man, for good or ill."
Rhys nods, contemplating the words, but doesn't reply.
Later, with their shopping finished, they begin to head back. "Soggy River monsters and red seagulls, zombies and snakes. I wonder how much is superstition. They aren't unlike the goblins themselves in that way."
"Have you battled with goblins before?"
"Have you battled with goblins before?"
Seishin cringes. "I have, though it could hardly be called a 'battle'."
"Were it not for Shalelu, I wouldn't have survived."
"I heard about you from Sheriff Hemlock. He told me you often fish in the swamp south of town. The goblins there are causing problems and there is a bounty on them now."
"I am going with some other people collect the bounty and I want to know more about the swamp before we go."
Sigrun asks him a number of questions, hoping he can tell her things that will cut down the time they spend mucking around and walking in circles, and more time finding and killing goblins.
"Do you ever see goblins in the swamp? If so, is it in any particular places?"
"Do you know where in the swamp the goblins live?"
"Where are good places to go into the swamp?"
"Are there places in the swamp where we should not go?"
"Have you ever seen the witch who lives there?"
The old fisherman shakes his head and harumps. "Aye, I've been fishing in the marsh alright. There are some goblins, but thankfully I've been able to avoid most of them. They were more common on the old fishing road than the new one. That's why we switched after all. But you have to ask Walthus about where they're now. I haven't been on the old road in over a decade. It's about five hundred yards after the new one. Might be a bit hard to spot it since it doesn't see much use anymore, but it might still be functional."
As Sigrun continues her questioning he waves his hand dismissively and spits in the water. "I think I've answered more than enough of your questions girl. I'm having a bad day, or even a bad week to be honest. Leave me alone." He turns back to watching his unsuccessful fishing.
Finally the whole group arrives back at the Rusty Dragon. Sigrun is the last to arrive to find the other three already seated. There's over a dozen people in the room and it's quite busy. Ameiko and her halfling helper are both moving around rapidly serving guests.
This time the menu is a bit different, hot red chicken curry that's so spicy it burns the tounge or alternatively a platter of raw fish and rice, expertly prepared by the help of magic to keep it fresh and safe.
Seishin takes an order of the raw fish and rice platter and settles in.
"Our shopping trip was mostly successful." The blue-skinned man taps his foot. "The only item we could not acquire was a map of Brinestump Marsh--hopefully, this Walthus will be able to provide us with it."
"It appears that most of the locals are concerned about things called a 'Soggy River Monster' and a 'Stoot Bird', though I'm not entirely convinced such beings exist..."
Sigrun chooses the fish as well. Since she's been in Sandpoint she's eaten fish whenever it's on offer. Back home fish was as much a staple as bread, but its been lacking, almost nonexistent, in caravan cookery. Sigrun has missed fish terribly.
Sigrun mentions the trails she heard about.
"I talked to a fisherman who goes to the swamp. He told me of two trails. One is newer and now used. The other is not used anymore because the goblins made it dangerous."
"We should find this Walthus first. I think he will be living somewhere on the new trail. After that we can go back and take the old trail to find goblins if he can't tell us of a better way to go."
Ameiko comes over to take orders and serve food. She has a smile ready for you as she overhears your planning. "It's very nice to hear your planning this through so thoroughly. The last group going after goblins didn't do so well. With proper planning and precautions the chance of survival and success increase a lot. I wish you all the best on your journey."
She starts handing out the platters of food. "Oh yeah, here's your food. This is called sushi. It's quite delicious. Slices of salmon, tuna and halibut so fresh you can almost feel them quivering. Try some of the wasabi for an extra kick, though be careful, it's quite strong. It goes well with the soy sauce either way."
Seishin takes a bite of the sushi, chews it for a bit, and starts having more.
Shards start emerging from the darker corners of his mind as the flavours of fish mix in his mouth. His expression turns quite distant, only absentmindedly nodding in affirmation with Sigrún.
--keep chewing. Flavour's nice. Fresh and tasty. Not like his... he made it so well, and now he's GONE--
A tear starts to form in the corner of his eye.
"I love sushi, it was a treat my mother would always prepare for us when I had been good that week," Yako happily tells no one in particular before devouring the sushi.
"That good?" he asks the dazed and teary eyed priest as he stops eating mid bite.
"Mmm?" Seishin blinks the memory away. "Oh... yes. Yes."
He finishes his meal without saying anything else.
Yako takes the blue man at his word and happily goes back to his meal.
"Right." Seishin gets up from his seat, leaving a few silvers behind for the meal. "We should get moving, no?"
Ameiko stops by when you're on your way out. With a smile and a wave she says. "Good luck! I hope you all make it back in one piece. So I can hear the tale of your adventure, but also so I get to see you again."
The sun is approaching the middle of the sky by the time you make it down the Lost Coast Road to the fish trail. The road is hard-packed dirt. You meet a couple guardsmen patrolling on the bigger road.
Eventually the marsh starts spreading out in front of you on the right side of the road. There's clusters of bushes, trees or other vegetation, surrounded by small stagnant ponds, big rocks and a wet mixture of plants and water that make up the marsh. Covering all of it is a thin layer of mist or fog, rising up despite the sun in the sky. There's a cacophony of sound from insects, frogs and other creatures chasing each other in the deadly game of life.
A loud splash draws your attention, but none of you can catch quite what made the sound. However it does also draw your attention to the fishing trail. It's just a series of tufts, rocks and small mounds of dirt that make it possible to cross into the marsh mostly without getting wet. Due to the mist it's impossible to see where exactly the road leads, but you've heard that it would eventually take you to Walthus.
Seishin looks upon the misty marsh with a detached eye.
"...you know, there's a certain beauty to be found, even here." He starts. "It evokes a memory of Nature, in Her full glory, undisturbed by Man."
"That being said, we should watch our step. Which of us should go first?"
”I hope as well,” Yako tells Ameiko.
————
Yako nods along with Seishin’s musings, ears and nose twitching at all the natural noise. ”It’s rather peaceful here, detached. Shame for the brigands.”
With that he he takes a step past the priest, ”I suppose I can lead and Magpie can cover our rear, or would you prefer that be reversed, Sigrún?”
Sigrun is pleased they are able to find the trail as Bud Bowfin had described.
She takes the rear guard when Yako takes point. "I makes no difference to me Yako. But if you're in the front you will need to watch for snakes too."
The swampy environment is a new experience for her, unlike anything she's traversed before. Sigrun does her best t adjust to the differences in sight, smell, and sound, but so much unfamiliarity makes her uneasy.
"Why would you think I would exclude them?" Yako asked with a questioning smile before taking point. He had spent most of his early life living in the woods nearby, but had only rarely ventured into the marshlands. The Worldwound on the other provided innumerable and unnatural facsimiles of the swampy environment every chance it got it had seemed to Yako while he served.
Rhys takes up a position near the center of the group, letting those who are stronger and more fit take point, but not so far back that he doesn't still have good line-of-sight for anything that may be approaching them.
"I don't think about what you think one way or another" Sigrun snarks back at Yako. "Would you rather I said nothing if you had forgotten them?"
Yako tilts his head. "How could I forget them if I'm looking for threats?"
There are also a number of snakes in the swamp, from tiny ones smaller than your hand to large constrictor snakes twice the length of a man. It's unlikely that the splash was a constrictor snake though, the monsters are known to be lazy for large parts of the day and it did not sound that big.
There are giant frogs, turtles and toads living in the swamp and any of these could have made the splash, though as it hasn't attacked you yet, either it wasn't that or it wasn't hungry.
Leeches, giant dragonflies and giant slugs are other dangers you might face int he swamp, but none of those are the kind to make a splash like that.
You're only about three hundred feet into the marshlands when Yako spots a three-toed footprint slowly filling with water. All of you look nervously around, but none of you can spot any movement nor creature despite it obviously being quite recent.
Mosquitoes attack all of you, but Seishin is particularly heavily targeted, almost as if the insects can sense that the cleric is the least dexterous of all of you. The insects along with the constant buzzing and other sounds from animals keep you constantly on your toes even as it makes it harder to listen for other sounds that might be out of place. Rhys identify several really loud croaks that could belong to giant toads or frogs, which could prove dangerous if they catch you at the right moment.
Six hundred feet further in you come upon the gory remains of a turtle cracked open and feasted upon, there's blood and small bones scattered all around, making it hard to pass by without stepping on the mess. There's no sign of the attacker even though the blood is glistening fresh and bright in the muted sunlight.
There's not much to do except continue. Shortly after you come to the first real river. The current is flowing slowly, but the water looks deep enough to at least reach your chest. It's difficult to make out the bottom of the muddy river and the vegetation doesn't make it easier. Thankfully the river has been made crossable by a makeshift bridge. It's just five large logs tied together with no railing, but it looks like it'll still be safe enough to get you across.
Rhys spots a white-skinned humanoid creature hunched over a bit outside the path on the other side of the river. He doesn't get a good look at it before it scampers away into the undergrowth, but it looks like it's slightly larger than a man.
Seishin swats a few flies away.
"Well. That water doesn't look too..." He stops.
"Who's crossing first?"
"Stay sharp," Rhys urges the others, particularly Sigrun and Yako, who he fears are more focused on sniping at each other than the tasks at hand. To help stymie any kind of further conflict, he gestures to where he saw the creature. "I saw something over there. It was human-shaped, with pale skin. Perhaps something from a nearby cave." He shakes his head, "Whatever it was, it was larger than us."
Rhys doesn't move forward to be the first to cross the river, thinking it probably not the best time to bring up that he somehow never learned how to swim.
Sigrun rolls her eyes at Yako's retort.
"Of course. How stupid of me. You are always perfectly prepared for anything and everything" she sarcastically concedes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sigrun frowns when Rhys alerts them to the creature he saw.
"Like a human but bigger? What was it doing? Is it still there?"
She scans the swamp on the far side of the river while standing at the foot of the bridge.
No one spots anything further out of the ordinary from this side of the bridge. Whatever it was, it's likely gone. Though there might be tracks on the other side...
”Not prepared, just aware,” Yako mused, at this point very confused on why he would exclude looking out for snakes while in a swamp of all things.
———
”Do we have to wade or is there a crossing down or upstream?”
Sigrun snorts in amusement. She points out the log bridge to Yako with obvious satisfaction.
"You're not AWARE of this? Or should I continue to hold my tongue while you wade?"
Turning more serious, she tells everyone "I'm not seeing anything over there now. I'll go ahead and cross, then hold the far side clear just in case as you come across."
Sigrun walks carefully across the log bridge. When she's on the other side she takes up position to guard it. She plants the butt of her spear on the ground, braced by her foot. She brings the point down ready should anything charge.
Nothing charges you out of the swamp, but there's a tense few moments as you all cross. Two mosquitos attacking Sigrun simultaneously while she stands guard doesn't make things better. A loud croak can be heard over all the other sounds, but there's no body to go with it. Whatever made it must be big to have been heard so well despite not being all that close.
"Oh?" He lets out as he turns to where Sigrun points out. "Oh! Wonderful!" He then turns back to Sigrun with a smile. "In fairness I was looking for threats, a bridge is the opposite. It certainly doesn't look like a snake."
As Sigrun leads on Yako waits for Rhys and Seishin to pass before taking up the rear.
Seishin takes a few tentative steps on the bridge before crossing it.
Sigrun drops her banter with Yako in favor of paying close attention to her surroundings. When everyone is across to the other side of the river, She begins moving forward and looking for clues that might suggest what exactly it was Rhys saw.
The ground outside the path is a mixture of dense vegetation, mud and holes filled with water. She steps in one of those on the way and drops down to the knee. Luckily nothing takes advantage of her misstep and she makes her way over to the spot where Rhys spotted the creature without being attacked. The wet ground makes it hard to not leave impressions and Sigrun is easily able to find tracks that looks like they come from a large dog. The vegetation is deformed in the direction the creature went and there's plenty of deep imprints on the ground that you can follow if you want.