Yuto carefully approaches the corpse after Hana. He is entranced by the mixture of odor and gore.
"Wh-what killed this goblin now? Th-this marsh is very scary" the young man picks up any items from the body that might be of use. Then when everybody else is ready, he picks up the route and continues towards the village.
Seishin lets out a cough as the party finds the goblin corpse.
"...well. That's... unpleasant."
Torra feels inordinately proud at Yuto's praise, and doubles her efforts at keeping her eyes peeled for tracks. That's probably why she doesn't smell the dead goblin until Hana points out the body. Pulling the end of her scarf over her nose and mouth again, the dwarf gets closer to try and figure out what killed this one.
Teruko's light lifts some of the shadows from within the Marsh's dense vegetation, but somehow, it also makes the shadows seem more threatening, as for every movement the group sees, there could be a dozen more that lurk in the darkness cast by the plants. Soon, the heroes know, the sun will fully set (as it is already doing), and they will be in the wilderness in the dark.
"This one's been dead for days--and slain by an edged weapon, perhaps an axe or sword." Seishin reports.
"We should move."
Yuto blinks at Seishin's words and the goblin appearance. He would seem not to be in agreement with the diagnosis but does not dare rise his voice "Ye-yes, let's move on"
Noticing the shadows getting larger as they walk in the growing darkness, the young man takes the shield from his back and adjusts it to his forearm. He swallows. He steps forward, a step, then another step, taking his pace after Torra, holding the katana's light up, like a torch.
At some point he will think to hear something and will turn "Wha-what was that?" only to light a marsh owl, or a small snake making their way on hunting "Th-the marsh seems more alive now than du-during the day..."
The next half-hour proves to be an exercise in frustration, as the Marsh grows yet darker - fortunately, Torra does not even need minimal light to follow the tracks of the Battered Shield. Nevertheless, with Teruko keeping the light spell on Yuto’s sword active, the heroes manage to avoid tripping over roots or falling-face first into mud, for the most part. Seishin does have a close call, but catches himself on a tree (scraping his hand in the process) before he hits the ground.
It is at this point that the tracks fall into a mess - one easily identifiable as the site of a battle. One thing is immediately obvious - the monster’s footprints are present here. After a few moments, Torra identifies three separate trails. The monster’s leads south, towards the river, while a pair of humanoids continued to the west. The third went north, back towards where the heroes entered the swamp to begin with.
As they travel Teruko keeps close behind Yuto, ready to reach out and refresh the spell any time the light begins to wane. Most of her focus is on this task, (as well as the important task of not falling face-first into the muck), so she continues to pay little attention to the tracks unless Torra points out something different.
The dead goblin interests her not at all. No doubt the Battered Shield had come across the creature during their flight and slain it. Or perhaps it had been killed by another goblin; they seemed as prone to fighting each other as they were to fighting everyone else.
"We can probably ignore the monster's tracks. The tracks leading north might belong to Koras; they seem to be heading in that general direction." She grimaces as she thinks again of the dead body they'd found. "I'd say follow the pair leading west. What do you all think?"
Yuto gulps at the sight of yet another fight signs "We-well, tha-that has sense Teruko Sama. Koras probably is the northern trail" the Tian becomes grim at the thought of the now dead half-elf "We-we can guess there was a fight and our heroes had to run away from the monster. Wha-what strikes me is if four came here, and three ran away... th-then maybe the monsters took one to the south?"
The young man looks to the south trying to discern the landscape, but the night falls in front of his eyes "If-if that is the case, the southern person is probably in the highest dan-danger" Yuto trembles on the thought of what might be happening, the light tingling.
"I think only three came here, so the fourth is back west where we came from." The dwarf chews on her lip. "It's my fault, I got confused with directions, we should have checked. And there may be more than one of the chicken-footed creatures." She turns around on the spot, indecisive.
"So we take the trail going to the west?" Hana questions, being not entirely sure whether Yuto is right and that the person taken south is in need of aid or is already beyond the hope of saving. In the end she opts to take the choice that's more likely in her opinion to get them to actual survivors. "I think it would be best if we take the west. Even if Yuto is right and one of the Battered Shield was captured by that... thing, I don't think we can risk losing the others who might still be alive," she says with notable regret.
Yuto nods and points to the east with the light of his katana "O-Ok. Let's see if those to the east are still ok."
Assuming everyone is ok with it, he will start walking in that direction "Do-do you think the goblins will burn them down? They quite liked the fire when they assaulted the Cathedral four years ago..."
So the heroes set off once more, following the trail of two of the Battered Shield eastwards - parallel to the river. It takes them nearly ten more minutes to manage to get somewhere, but finally, the light from Yuto’s katana shines on something that is very obviously not natural - a battered wooden palisade, about ten feet tall. No entry is immediately obvious, but the facts are clear - the heroes have arrived at the goblins’ village.
But there’s something hanging in the air that seems… off… about the village.
"...no goblin singing or fires, and the stench of death." Seishin looks around, his grip on his longspear tightening. "Everyone, stay on your guard. Something is very wrong here."
Teruko nods. She knows little about goblins, but the stench in the air is certainly ominous. No doubt Seishin knows what he's talking about when he calls it the stench of death.
"Torra, do you think it would be worth it for you to try to scout ahead? I mean, I know it would be risky, but..." She inclines her head towards Yuto's katana. "I don't think any of the rest of us will be able to see much without that. Except perhaps Seishin?" All she knows of Samsarans is what little he's told them today, and whether or not he can see in the dark was not part of that information.
"My vision is as acute as an elf's in the dark... so long as I have some light to see by, of course."
Torra thinks for a little. She wasn't very practiced with moving unseen and unheard, and after a day of trucking through the marsh she felt that she was squelching at every step, but the suggestion was logical. She was the only one who could see in the dark, at least somewhat.
She nodded. "I will go. South first. If I find anything, I come back here and tell you."
Torra returns to the group and whispers. "I did not see an entrance this way. I'll go north now."
Beyond the broken entrance, Torra can see a large, algae-filled pool that stretches off into the darkness - interestingly, there doesn't appear to be a wall built on either side of the pool. It seems the goblins trust the water itself to keep intruders out. From the glimpses she can get into the compound, it is filled with ramshackle huts connected to one another with wooden bridges - on stilts, no less. Maybe flooding was a common problem? Or maybe they just liked being up high. Hard to tell with goblins.
"A-are we sure we want to enter there?" Yuto speaks while covering his nostrils "I have smelt enough of this today to know it-it reeks of death"
The young man waits patiently for Torra to return. Meanwhile he studies the palisade trying to determine how difficult it would be to climb or break through it given the need.
"This silence is unnerving" the Tian looks around, moving the katana's light trying to find some signs of life, but he is too nervous to make it profitable.
"...I saw one." Seishin points his spear to where he saw the flash of green. "It appears some goblins survived."
"I hope Arika has as well..."
Torra rejoins the others once again to share her findings. "There's a gate to the north, it looks broken. Inside the compound I saw huts on stilts and a large pool of water. Did not see any goblins."
The dwarf waits for the others to decide what to do - she wanted to explore further, but Teruko was right, the others would not be able to see without at least some light, which might give them away.
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"One? A goblin Seishin San? Where?" Yuto is looking to where Seishin is looking when Torra comes back.
"We-well, I was starting to consider climbing the pallissade. It looks doable. But if there is a breach at the northern side, let's just profit it?" the Tian starts walking north unless he is stopped by someone.
When they are up there, he sheathes the katana for some seconds to let Torra enter a bit ahead "What do you think has broken the wall?"
If the dwarf says it is still clear, he draws the katana to see where the group is advancing next.
"Could be the monster we just fought," Hana quietly speculates to Yuto. "Or perhaps it was Vakrin? We know there's some kind of feud going on within the tribe, so that might be why the gate's been blown from the inside." The kunoichi shrugged. It was impossible know for sure without asking the Licktoads themselves, something that she definitely wanted to avoid if at all possible.
As the group moves past the broken gate, Hana peeks up again. "I may not be able to see as well as Torra in the dark, but I still got sharp eyes," she says confidentially, selling her half-truth with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "I can scout ahead with her and back her up in case something ugly decides to rear its head."
With that said, the kitsune moves forwards from the rest of the group and enters a proper crouch as she shadows Torra from behind.
Torra steps over the broken gate, trying to keep it from clattering, as she scouts ahead into the goblin village, taking some comfort from Hana's presence behind her and stealing glances at the woman's crouching technique. Ah, right, that's how you move quietly.
Torra and Hana enter into the silent compound, walking by the pool and a pit in the center of the “courtyard,” such as it is. Whatever purpose it once served, now it provides a new one - a mass grave. The two women can see a great many pieces of goblin corpses - mostly charred and cremated.
In front of them, the rickety walkways and buildings are cast in shadow by the light of Yuto’s katana behind them.
Teruko stays behind with Yuto, feeling rather useless as the other two women scout ahead. "I know I suggested scouting earlier, but now that we know for sure there are goblins still alive, would it be better to stay as a group? If Seishin saw one, they definitely saw us. I don't want Torra and Hana to walk into an ambush while we're too far back to support them." She keeps her voice low and clutches her armored coat around her shoulders, clearly nervous.
Seishin moves to investigate the nearby building to the west.
Seishin makes his way to the building closest to the gateway. Ascending the ladder, he tries to push the door open, only to find that it is thoroughly jammed shut. Unfortunately, he does not have the leverage or agility to force it open whilst maintaining his balance on the ladder.
"I saw a goblin, some of them are still alive. We should go back to the others."
Torra felt very exposed here, just the two of them with who knows how many goblins lurking in the ramshackle buildings.
Yuto nods "You are right Teruko Sama. Let's go in after them"
Joining Seishin, when it seems the Samsaran is having troubles to open the first building, Yuto points towards the tower where he said to have seen a goblin before "Wh-why don't we try to look if there is indeed a goblin in the tower?"
Seeing Torra and Hana coming back, the Tian makes some silent signs indicating the group to go check the tower with the goblin.
Assuming everyone is ok with the procedure, once at the ladder, Yuto sheathes the katana, trusting in the light of the stars and the Moon to climb until he is right at the top, where he will draw the katana again if everything went well.
Despite holding a sword that blazes as brightly as a torch, Yuto attempts to move with what he imagines to be stealth. His ascension of the ladder causes it to creak alarmingly, but he manages to get up onto the walkway with no incident (other than his rather obvious “sneaking.”)
Hana grimly nods as Torra points out the goblin lookout near the guard-tower.
"For a bunch of bright monsters with red eyes you'd think they'd be easier," she quips, hoping that the joke would relieve of the growing tension in the air. Alas, for even Hana's well-trained heart, it doesn't quite nullify the fear of being ambushed by dozens of hidden goblins.
As such, she turns more serious and says, "But I agree. Let's double-back before any of the greenies actually manage to spot us."
Hana and Torra return to the broken-down gates just in time for Yuto to leave them, taking with him the light of his katana, and leaving the three women in the relative darkness .
Yuto adjusts the armor with clear discomfort, and sets the shield on his brace once more. With a knot in the throat he slowly pushes the door of the tower open with the alight katana.
Yuto pushes the door open slowly, whereupon his blazing sword reveals four goblins, each armed and with wide, terrified eyes. They shriek in berserk terror and rush at him.
The goblin closest to Yuto lashes out with his rusty sword, cutting at the human’s knees. Fortunately for the young clothier, his father's armor deflects the blow easily. More surprising is the fact that this goblin (one who has a truly tremendous jaw) snaps out with his teeth, trying to bite the man. Once more, Yuto has his ancestors to thank, as the green git's teeth do little more than catch on the fabric of his thigh armor.
Unfortunately, that is not the only goblin in the watchtower. Its neighbor shrieks something terrified in her own tongue, and practically stumbles forwards as she slashes at the samurai-to-be with her dogslicer. However, she trips and nearly falls flat on her face.
The third goblin waves around a thick rod, eyes wide with terrified glee as it points it at Yuto. A burst of fiery sparks sprays at him - or, well, in his general direction, as it sprays off one of the doorposts next to him.
The final goblin, a woman wearing a glove on only one hand lifts something round and dark and flings it at Yuto. Whatever it is, it cracks squarely against his armor and buzzing wings fill the air as the samurai is surrounded by angry stinging insects, which launch themselves at him in fury. The goblin had thrown a damned wasp's nest at him!
The two goblins closest to Yuto take advantage of his surprise to launch their attacks again. The male continues to be foiled by the young man's armor, but the female catches his thigh at a bad angle and cuts up into his stomach with her rusty blade.
The firework-brandishing goblin launches another spray of sparks at him, shrieking in fear. This time, it strikes home above Yuto's head, and he is forced to duck the sparks. With that, the goblin flees from the watchtower, shoving the wasp-throwing goblin out of the way in his haste to get away. Unfortunately, he comes out moments later onto the walkway, sparks flying from his firework, and he stops dead, eyes widening at the others in the goblins' courtyard. Abruptly, he frowns and shrieks something at the top of his lungs.
How many goblins were in this place? By the sound of that godsforsaken racket inside, probably a hundred or so. And one of them has just burst out onto the walkway, almost in range to be pelted with some mud! Taking a few steps closer, Torra goes through the well-practiced motions, gathering a clump of earth and mud to her and sending it flying towards the goblin.
Torra’s earth clump sails over the goblin’s head (perhaps because she's somewhat distracted by being surrounded by partially-cremated goblin bodies). He shrieks again, ducking (even though he didn’t need to), and throwing his hands up in the hopes of avoiding the projectile. When he isn’t struck by the earthen blast, he looks up, startled, before bursting out in (what is definitely nervous) laughter.
Meanwhile in the watchtower, the wasp-throwing goblin backs hastily out the door as well, drawing out an eerily familiar rod. She cracks it open and points it in Yuto’s general direction. A burst of sparks sprays towards the watchtower. Once more, the young man is only barely able to avoid the firework, despite its incredible inaccuracy.
Teruko curses herself for being so slow to react to Yuto's advance. Now he was being attacked by Shizuru only knew how many goblins, and none of them were there to help. "Yuto, back up a little! We can't get to them!"
Fortunately, one of the goblins has been foolish enough to show their face. Teruko may be running low on spells, but she still has plenty of bolts for her crossbow. Which is good, because this particular bolt hits the walkway.
Yuto covers himself with the shield from the many fiery sparks flying around. What he is not prepared for is the sudden cloud of wasps "Oh no!" With his distraction and shield up, one of the goblins manages to cut at his leg.
Trying to remember something that might be useful, Yuto barely manages to do something other than defending himself, but among all the mess, he tries to push his katana through the first goblin in the door "Oh, now what am I going to do! There are four of them"
Refocusing as he overhears Teruko's directions, Yuto steps back a little to give the archers below an easier target. Fortunately for them, the light in the katana fully bathes the goblins in light, removing any inaccuracies in their shots.
Seishin moves towards Yuto and tries to stick one of the goblins with his longspear.
If the sound of dull steel clashing against armor did not alert Hana to the fact that the goblins had finally caught on to them, than the sight of wild fireworks flying surely would have.
Without missing a beat, the kunoichi moves out towards Yuto and the goblins with her weapon already in hand. After a few quick steps (and deftly moving through Torra and Teruko) she finds herself in range of a particularly nasty looking goblin and promptly drives her wakizashi down to cut it.
Seishin starts climbing up the ladder to join Yuto.
The young man holds up his shield while swinging randomly his katana in the front to try protect Seishin while he makes his way up.
Trying to think what tactic a real warrior will follow, he remembers reading something about the pincer maneuver "There are some doors in the tower that lead east" Yuto points to the other tower "Perhaps you can got their backs coming from there Hana"
As the fighting starts in earnest, Hana bolts towards the western watchtower door. Despite the samurai's advice, she knows that Torra spotted some goblins in the other watchtower near the pool and she wasn't keen getting caught and isolated in another ambush.
Once in the room leading to the hallway, she speaks to Yuto in her native Minkaian. "Yuto back me up if you can. I'll be easier to fight them here."
Seishin drops down from the ladder he had ascended and rushes as swiftly as he can over to the ladder where Yuto
Teruko calls out to Yuto, requesting that he move back, and Yuto heeds her, but not before slashing at the first goblin with his blade. Unfortunately, the buzzing wasps distract him just enough to allow the little green dastard to evade the blow.
The ninja flows towards the western watchtower, scaling the ladder and shoving on the door… only to find, as Seishin had mere moments before, that it is firmly shut, and any effort of breaking in would take a lot longer than she has at the moment.
The young Kaijitsu fires a bolt in the general direction of the fireworks-brandishing goblin. Unfortunately, the bolt thuds into the walkway near his feet. He leaps, startled, but isn’t in any danger.
One of the goblins - the one with a tremendous mouth and sharp fangs, steps out onto the walkway, apparently having forgotten about the waps. He yelps and swats, but his beady red eyes fix on the ladder-bound samsaran, and he launches himself frenziedly at the priest of the moon. Fortunately, his blade is so unsteady Seishin barely has to move to evade. Instead of biting the samsaran, the goblin snaps at one of the wasps, catching it in his mouth and crunching on it.
The other goblin still within the tower scrabbles desperately to throw herself at her enemies, but only barely manages to lash out with her battered sword at Seishin. This goblin, undistracted by the wasps, catches him in the arm and cuts deep into the flesh. Clear fluid drools from the wound as the samsaran bleeds his alien blood.
This attack destabilizes the poor man, who sways dangerously on the ladder. Fortunately, he manages to keep ahold of the rungs and does not topple back to the muddy ground.
The goblin out on the central walkway waves his firework again, before pointing it in Torra's direction. Surprisingly, the sparks strike her in the chest like a punch to the gut, only infinitely hotter, searing her skin even through her armor.
The two men were in trouble, but she was afraid to aim a projectile in their direction - she might hit one of them instead! So Torra maintains her focus on the goblin on the walkway, shouting over her shoulder. "We need some help here!"