Despite the added chaos of a skeleton of all things joining the fray, Hana still sees Gutwad attempt to flee through a door and goes after him. Even as she chases the goblin down she warns the others of the absconsion. "He's trying to escape through that door!" she bellows.
Unfortunately, when she catches up with the Licktoad her strike once again goes wide as the nimble chief dodges the blow.
Seishin hastens to identify their foe - not a major threat, it seems.
Torra effortlessly blasts the skeleton to pieces with a single earthen projectile - despite very nearly missing due to her efforts to avoid hitting Yuto or Hana.
Despite her agility and best efforts, Hana cannot manage to land a single blow on the chieftain.
Finally, the priest of Tsukiyo attempts to heal Cyrus once more, but though some of his bleeding stops, it is not enough to get him back on his feet.
Cyrus remains on the floor, his body still, and wind howls outside as a particularly strong gust blows through.
Teruko reloads her crossbow but doesn't go after the chieftain. Instead she crouches down and reaches for Cyrus' shoulder. Her lips are drawn into a thin line. "I can only do this once more. For anyone. Be careful."
Yuto trembles at the sight of the skeleton tearing apart Cyrus.
When Torra destroys it with a piece of mud, Yuto focuses on the running goblin and does not register he is healed "Oh, no, you will not escape, Cyrus give his life to end this, and we cannot allow it"
Running forward with the katana straight to the front to cross the door safely as he did against the goblin snake, Yuto charges against the goblin for once forgetting about his own safety and giving all to accomplish his word "I challenged you, you cannot escape! For Cyrus! Die Gutwad!"
Yuto launches himself across the room to slash the goblin chieftain again, crisscrossing Gutwad's chest with wounds, but the goblin remains more or less on his feet - albeit infuriated.
Despite her healing, Teruko finds that Cyrus does not stir.
Gutwad throws open a door to the side and launches himself down the ladder. Agilely avoiding both Yuto and Hana's attacks, he slides down the ladder and darts into the storm. Yuto and Hana both lose him swiftly.
Torra rushes behind Yuto, trying to see where the goblin went...
But the rain gets in her eyes and she wipes furiously at her face.
Seishin expends the last of his blessings to heal Cyrus and Yuto.
Then he starts to move back towards the entrance to the throne room.
A curse escapes from Hana's lips as both hers and Yuto's blades miss the fleeing goblin. Undaunted, the kunoichi continues the hunt and follows the chief outside only to lose sight of him for a moment. "Do you see him?" She asks a nearby Torra and Yuto even as her stay firmly focused on finding Gutwad through the rain.
As Torra enters what appears at a glance to be the goblins’ treasury, she casts her gaze into the darkness and the rain… but sees no sign of Gutwad. Where could he be?
Like her dwarven comrade, Hana cannot see anything lurking win the storm - though at least she doesn’t get any water in her eyes (her hair is soaked).
Seishin unleashes his last healing blast for the day, and Cyrus stirs slightly on the floor as he slowly opens his eyes. ”Dammit…”
Cyrus sits up and slowly pushes himself to his feet. ”Where’s Gutwad?” He asks, lifting his falcata again and glowering around the area. ”Is he dead?”
Not seeing where the goblin has gone, Yuto looks back at the situation at the room and notices Cyrus pushing himself up "I-I believe it finally escaped. There is no where to be seen... bu-but that is a miracle, you are again up!"
"Wha-what was that skeleton? Why did it move and attack like that?!"
Cyrus frowns. ”Dammit, I wanted him dead. Do you think he’s going to come back? Or is he gone for good?”
Seishin starts looking around outside for the errant goblin chieftain, invoking the guidance of Tsukiyo.
Teruko bites back what she wants to say, (which would be a diatribe about how maybe if the goblin chief is gone that's a good thing, vengeance be damned), and instead roughly reloads her crossbow before joining Seishin outside.
It's still pouring rain, she's nearly out of spells, and her heart is pounding from the adrenaline of trying to keep Cyrus alive. Then there's the skeleton. Why was there a skeleton there?
"Could Gutwad have been trying to create an army of skeletons?" Stranger things have happened, when goblins get involved.
It's more likely that the skeleton generated spontaneously from the resentment of its death... though why there was a human here to do so is an open question.
Seishin shakes his head as he searches. "Shalelu did mention that the Licktoads had a skilled shaman... but so far we haven't seen anyone who could be that powerful yet."
"Besides, if he were, I'd expect he'd have more goblins swearing loyalty to him. Or the one who actually reanimates the dead would have deposed him."
Torra shields her eyes as she keeps looking for the chief.
"I-I am sorry Cyrus San" Yuto waits to see how the man is faring and offers a hand for him to stand up.
Then, seeing everyone is going out to check for the goblin, he goes to back up Seishin and Teruko, not wanting to leave them alone "He-he just disappeared from my-my sight when I was at his grasp without me seeing where he went. I-I do not think we will be able to find him now."
And when people starts to talk about the skeleton, Yuto shivers "That-that sounds like something dangerous... I-I saw a skull in my dreams... do you think it is related?"
If the goblin does not seem to appear, Yuto will come back inside and check the skeleton, also searching the room for other fireworks or some hint about how the goblins got them.
Hana looks back to the others to discuss the skeleton. "Maybe there's more going on in the marsh than we know," she speculates, thinking back on the Licktoad's destroyed front gate.
"I thought that monster in the river might have had something to do with the damage done to the gate, but maybe we a necromancer that's recently set up in the marsh and wants to remove the competition." The very thought of that makes Hana's spine shiver for a moment. Goblins were one thing, but undead in altogether different league of foulness.
As if to take take her mind off the that troubling thought she turns back to the marsh and once more tries to spot Gutwad. "But we have to deal with one problem at a time. Once we finish off Gutwad we can try to sort out whatever other evils are here."
Yuto moves through the palace, putting himself near the entrance, but the storm blocks the light on his sword, and he cannot see very well at all - there’s no sign of Gutwad out there that he can see.
Teruko pushes herself to exit the room into the storm, where she finds that she can barely see ten feet in front of her, let alone any hiding goblin chieftain.
Water smashes down on the roof overhead as Torra descends the ladder to continue her search for Gutwad, but the rainstorm continues to obscure her vision and hearing - there’s no sign of the little dastard.
Hana keeps her eyes peeled for the goblin chief, but has no greater luck in finding the little creature than her companions.
Seishin exits the “palace,” joining Teruko in her search for Gutwad. Unfortunately, the wind and rain prevent him from seeing much of anything.
Cyrus looks at the group, going pale and his eyes widening in horror. ”What if he finds Arika?” He moves as swiftly as he is able (not terribly) out of the chief’s home and into the storm.
"Oh, Arika!" Yuto suddenly realizes of the danger and starts to move forward towards where they left the girl "I am going to bring her here"
The young grizzled man double moves through the passageways and goblin buildings.
"Wait Yuto! We need to stick together!" Not expecting him to listen, (if he could even hear her over the wind), Teruko chases after him. Over her shoulder, she calls, "Seishin! I'll stay with Yuto, stick with Cyrus and the others!"
As the Minkaians rush past Cyrus, he lifts his hand helplessly. The two pass through the central house, and leave the others in the dark, stormy weather.
Thunder booms overhead, briefly lighting up the village - and Cyrus cries out. "Gutwad!" He points forwards, but the light vanishes before anyone else has the chance to see him. "He's in the central building!"
Seishin nods at Cyrus and moves to investigate the central building, invoking another blessing of Tsukiyo as he moves.
Torra ducks under walkway, weaving between the stilts to come up on the other side and attempt to locate the fleeing goblin chief.
Hearing Cyrus's cry, Hana dashes from the far side of the decimated village to where Torra and Seishin have already ran to. "Do you see him?" she asks urgently once she gets there, her eyes darting around the area for the goblin chief.
Torra splashes through the ankle-deep muddy water as fast as her legs can take her, dodging between the stilts and moving up the ladder in her ongoing search for Gutwad. When she arrives, she notices him immediately - as he stabs at her with a spear, the point piercing through her armor and biting deep into her shoulder.
Hana practically blurs through the rooms of the “palace,” bypassing both Seishin and Cyrus, only to arrive in the shadowy central building, where she sees a shadowy figure before her that has to be Gutwad. The goblin chieftain holds a bloodied spear in his hands, and his eyes glow faintly in the dark.
The Prince of the Moon smiles upon his priest as Seishin enters the building. Like his comrades before him, he comes face to face with the shadowy figure of Gutwad, his spear at the ready.
Cyrus seems taken aback by the rapidity that the heroes have taken action, and he looks around before jumping off of the walkway. Landing lightly on his feet and splashing mud everywhere, he passes through the shin-deep water of the flooding pool in his journey to get to Arika.
Hearing all the noise of combat, Yuto traces his steps back "Oh, he is here Teruko Sama!"
Resolved, the Tian moves forward and attempts a swing at the goblin's feet trying to trip him down "You do not run more from us"
Teruko bites her lip again as Cyrus jumps off the walkway. Making a quick decision, she calls out to the others, "I'm going with Cyrus to get Arika!" Quieter, (quiet enough that it's possible she isn't actually heard over the noise of battle and the sound of rain), she adds, "I'm sorry."
She turns her back on the goblin chieftain...and the rest of the party. Without Yuto's light she can't see well, but she remembers how to get to the ladder.
Yuto turns, dashing back into the room and illuminating it properly, revealing Gutwad to the others. Oddly, the goblin seems less wounded than when last they saw him - some of the wounds that Yuto inflicted upon him have healed.
The samurai nevertheless swings down to knock the goblin chief off of his feet, leaving himself briefly open to the bloody spear in Gutwad's hands. The spearhead scrapes across his armor as Gutwad thrusts at him, but it does little more than leave him bruised.
Teruko makes her way (somewhat cautiously) to the ladder, and is left largely in the dark - she can barely see anywhere into the storm, and the watchtower she stands in sways slightly in the rushing winds.
Gutwad leaps to his feet once more, and as Yuto swings his katana at the little dastard, he deflects it with his spear's haft, dodging out of the way easily. Hana slashes with her own blade, but the goblin chief ducks under it, only to turn and viciously thrust at Yuto with his spear. The spear flickers out and catches Yuto in the chest, piercing through his armor and narrowly missing his heart. The young samurai falls to the floor with a bang, and Gutwad steps out into the rain, giggling delightedly.
Again! This goblin was something else, downing Yuto and Cyrus so many times that the dwarf had lost count. Torra runs inside to stand protectively over Yuto, even if this means moving perilously close to the frightening goblin chief, then slings another clump of earth at his head.
Seishin goes for a stab against Gutwad with his spear.
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Hana forms a steely grimace as her strike against Gutwad once again goes wide. However, her expression quickly turns into one of shock and then fury as she sees the goblin chief stab Yuto in the chest. "Yuto!
Seeing the samurai fall not so long after Cyrus's near death seems to trigger something dark and feral within Hana as her next slash against Gutwad proves to be her most deadly yet as her wakizashi finds its target and digs deep into the goblin's flesh.
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Stepping protectively over Yuto, Torra launches a blast of earth at Gutwad, who ducks and blows a raspberry at her.
Unfortunately for him, Hana steps into the place he had been standing, and with a vicious assault that the goblin cannot prevent, lands a precise slash across his throat. He collapses with a wail, onto the floorboards of the walkway.
Meanwhile, in the dark and pouring rain, Teruko hears a splash and a curse from behind the watchtower and below.
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Before Gutwad even hits the ground, Torra rushes forward to try and stop Yuto's bleeding. Ripping off strips from her tunic, she binds the wound in his chest tightly, stemming the flow of blood as she applies pressure to the wound.
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Teruko hears the commotion behind her and freezes. Cyrus is still down on the ground, but from Hana's shout it sounds like Yuto is hurt...
Her back straightens as she remembers her lessons. Priorities. The customer you already have always takes priority over the customer you might have, no matter how big the latter's order could be. Handling things any other way risks losing business. Or, in this case, lives.
Cyrus might be hurt, if he runs into any enemies. Yuto is already hurt.
"I'm going to help Yuto, Cyrus be careful!" With that she turns and rushes back into the room. Seeing Yuto on the floor she drops to her knees beside Torra and casts her last spell.
Helped by Torra and Teruko, Yuto quickly recovers consciousness. Still grasping his katana despite having fallen, he reacts looking for the goblin to defend himself.
When he sees only the two Sandpointers over him and the fallen chief, he breathes and looks around "Wh-what happened?"
"Yo-you know... I think getting wounded is not that painful as I thought it would be... do you think I am getting used to it? Thanks Teruko" Yuto touches the side where the spear stabbed him "Although that spear must be magical or something, it pierced the chainmail like if it was a slice of cheese!"
Seeing the Gutwad defeated recovers some resolve in the young man "We-we made it. Sandu is not going to believe..." the young man, his face swollen by the beating, starts to laugh in the middle of the storm.
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Cyrus only response to Teruko is a few choice curses - mostly at himself, she guesses.
Was that how it worked? Torra peels away her hide armour to peek at the bloody hole in her shoulder. She feels doubtful that getting more of these will make it hurt less. She snaps out of her musings with the sudden recollection that Cyrus was still stumbling around in the dark, probably about to break something or knock himself out. Since Teruko, Yuto and Hana seemed safe for now, the dwarf takes off in search of the lone remaining Shield.
"Cyrus! Gutwad is dead!"
Torra thinks she hears a response, but it's muffled by the rain and the wind, so she cannot quite make out the words. Dropping down the ladder, she finds Cyrus lying on his side in the mud near the increasingly flooded pool. His falcata lies next to him, sticking out of the soaked ground at an odd angle. "Oh, hello Miss Torra. I seem to be having some trouble standing."
"Then perhaps it's not the best idea to go haring off on your own, in the pouring rain, yes? Here, lean on me, ouch, no - the other shoulder. Let's see if there's anything I can do about your wounds. I think all our magical healing is spent, so it will have to be bandages for now.
Her first priority is to get him inside, where it's relatively dry, there's better light and her companions can help bind the wounds. She's not the strongest, and Cyrus is heavy with all his armour, but Torra is stubborn.
Luckily, Cyrus' armor is not so heavy, and Torra manages to get him to the ladder... where she's left at something of a loss, unable to both drag him up and climb the ladder.
Yuto slowly stands up, trying to make himself a picture of what happened, he observes the blood in the ninja blade "Di-did you kill him Hana?" the face of the man is that of great relieve "Th-thanks gods you came my friend"
The Tian tries to help Torra attend Cyrus "Here, I am used to profit leftovers to patch dresses for Rhynshinn's clients" the man improvises a bandage from a piece of cloth and hands it to Torra.
Then, Yuto approaches to Gutwad's body, and with shaking hands, still scared it can somehow come back from the grave, he searches the remains for any healing potion or other loot he might have.
"Arika, we should check for the girl"
Yuto discovers that other than his small bow, nine arrows, and spear, Gutwad has a single potion, and a finely crafted chain shirt (albeit one covered in typical goblin filth) - probably stolen from someone. He also discovers a significant number of gold pieces .
With Gutwad dead, Seishin takes the vial from the goblin's belt and tastes its contents.
--the taste of almond and lavender. Bitter. But the pain stops, if only for a moment. A lesson in that. Heal the wound, leave the bitterness that caused it behind.
"A healing potion." The samsaran chuckles. "Tsukiyo be praised."
Together, Torra and Yuto manage to get Cyrus up the ladder, out of the storm, and into the central building. Once they have finished treating him, he looks a little better. "Wait, Yuto. Someone should check to make sure there aren't any goblins left."
Teruko stays with the others while Yuto and Torra help Cyrus up into the room. She gives him a quick look-over, (lip curling slightly at the muck covering his clothes, even though her own aren't in much better shape), but it seems they've done enough to keep him upright. Which is good, because she's out of magic and has no idea how mundane healing works.
As Yuto begins removing items from Gutwad's body, she studies them with a businesswoman's eye. Ameiko occasionally talked about the treasures she found while adventuring. She'd found enough of them to enable her to buy the Rusty Dragon outright. She couldn't really imagine her sister looting a goblin's corpse, but some of those things did look intriguing. There's definitely something about those arrows...
She allows herself to look with something other than sight, and immediately understands.
"Six of the arrows are magic." She points out the specific ones. "I can't quite tell what they do, but someone should hang onto them."
"As for looking for goblins, we can do that while we head back to Arika. If we circle around to the southwest, we should be able to quickly check the last few rooms on our way."