Even with her stormy aura soaking her entirely, the heat of the fire is intense, and this close to it Amaya can feel it scorching her unprotected skin. Heading up the steps next to the stage, she can now see the back of the building - a corridor, several rooms with closed doors (likely offices), and a door that stands open to the west.
The first bucket makes its way to Karana's waiting hands. Alak moves to help with the bucket chain in the other aisle. One of the guards starts heading up the stairs towards the second floor gallery. "I'm going to check if anyone is up there."
Kyrie stays up upon the stage, awaiting water from the bucket brigade.
Karana says to Warbal, “I will take this bucket and…” She’s about to hand it to Warbal, but fears the little goblin will have a tough time with the height of the stage. “…and hand it to Kyrie.
“You can get the next one from the door, and pass it to me.”
Karana then places her bucket onstage and moves back to meet Warbal halfway.
Gofran looks around and tries to organize the chains of buckets. "Ve need two carrryin' buckets on each line! Alak, Jorrsk! Ye handle the rright door!" He yells, with his loud voice, turning to see the goblin Warble carrying a bucket almost as big as he/she was. "Bojas! Help Karrana vith the left doorr!"
He then climbs the stage to pair with Kyrie. "Ye all have long legs... I'll thrrow the buckets." He then turns to the others, finding something for them to do as well. He starts with the guard by the door. "Ye guarrd! Go help yerr frriend upstairrs, perrhaps someone needs help therre... Miss Trrini, Beatrrix and ye goblin, ye arre too shorrt forr the buckets, go look forr morre people, orr somethin' big to smotherr the firre!"
The various people that Gofran shouts at rearrange themselves as indicated. Warbal moves to the door to pick up the next bucket, then lugs it to Karana.
Amaya's stormy aura puts out the fire that had engulfed the partition wall on the left. A bucket makes its way down the chain on the left to her.
Karana moves her bucket to Kyrie.
“Let us finish this, Dame Kyrie!”
If the fire is out, Karana will climb onstage. Else, she’ll stride back for the next bucket.
Kyrie accepts the bucket, then moves over and throws it on one of the closest fires.
Amaya seems to snap out of whatever trance she was in as the bucket is being placed in her hands. "Huh? What is... oh! Fire!" She grabs the bucket and walks over to splash it over the fire .
Amaya and Kyrie attack the fire from two different angles, extinguishing it completely.
The two guards return from upstairs, shaking their heads. "No-one was there, I think they all got out."
Melma Ann Sendari breathes out in relief as the blaze is extinguished. "Oh, well done, everyone! That could have been a tragedy and a disaster." Jorsk Hinterclaw pokes his head out and bellows. "It's out, it's done, stop with the buckets!" then returns inside to clap people on the back and examine the damage.
Fortunately, the fire was fairly contained and short-lived, so while some of the wood on the walls and floor is charred, the building itself remains sound.
Karana moves onstage to where the fire started.
She looks closely, carefully, and even takes in the scent.
“What caused this fire, I wonder?”
Now fully conscious of what is going on, Amaya seems to collapse in on herself, seemingly in pain, and she stays curled up like that for a while .
The winds seem to die down again, though not completely, and the rain seems to almost completely do away. Eventually, though, she stirs again. Looking around in confusion, she asks, "What happened?"
Karana inspects the area where the fire started. The smell of charred cloth and wood is strong, but there is also a subtler presence, the unmistakeable sharp smell of lamp oil. Looking around, one of the wall lanterns is missing, its remains shattered at the base of the partition wall on the other side of the stage. There are no torch sconces or other sources of open flame in the building that she can see, but a spent tindertwig is on the floor nearby, broken in half as if someone had stepped on it.
Bea is attempting to lug a full bucket of water to the fire. But her size combined with her lack of defined muscles has her ending up with more on her dress than where it needs to go.
She is rather happy when the Stop the buckets is called. The collapsed Amaya gets her attention then, and she runs over the mew over the pull woman, holding her hand and petting her head. A typically remedy of her sisters when nothing else could be done. "What happened? You were amazing! Like you have a storm bottled up in your chest that kept expanding and drenching everything. Is that why you are always a little soggy, the storm is leaking out?"
Karana says in her best detective novel voice, “Arson happened.”
She then points out to any councilor or fellow hero interested, “Please observe: shattered remains of a lantern—” She points to the empty hook. “—from that wall. A spent and broken tinderstick, stepped on.
“Ohhhh, stepped on by the rat I smell. Figuratively. In the literal sense, it is lamp oil I smell.”
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It takes her a moment to register Bea's words, but finally she responds, "Something like that, I suppose. I am merely a vessel, but one that is imperfect; flawed. Like a cracked vase bits of water finds it's way out, but when the pressure is increased, so is the size of the cracks." The winds surrounding Amaya are more detectable, even to the point of affecting Beatrix's clothes and hair. She wraps her arms about herself, though the summer warmth left no room to be cold. "I didn't ask for this; it was thrust on me. But I do what I can, trying to learn how to control what I can and make it something useful. Half the time, though, it seems to have a will of it's own."
Gofran also joins Amaya and Belatrix, worried for the girl who basically handled the fire on her own. Since Belatrix is there, Gofran lets her care for Amaya, staying around just in case he is needed. Once he hears her explanation of her powers, he shakes his head disagreeing. "Ve once had a crracked barrel o' ale vhen ve verre moving a couple frrom one taverrn to the otherr. Since it vas crracked, ve had to drrink the whole thin' and it vas a happy night. No one is perrfect and not everrythin' that is brroken is bad."
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Kyrie taps her chin as she observes the lantern and the tinderstick. "Start with what ya know, and you'll get to what you don't."
The latter sentence is the protagonist's catchphrase from Kyrie's favorite series of mysteries, . The still-ongoing series is about a gregarious halfling writer who takes it upon herself to uncover mysteries surrounding her small town in Varisia. Despite her folksy, bright demeanor, she is an incredibly smart and savvy woman who takes advantage of people constantly underestimating her.
"I think the culprit must have had the tindertwig on them. I think this may have been a crime of opportunity. I think the arsonist just used whatever was available to start the fire. I think they maybe did not originally come here planning to start a fire."
Gofran also joins Amaya and Belatrix, worried for the girl who basically handled the fire on her own. Since Belatrix is there, Gofran lets her care for Amaya, staying around just in case he is needed. Once he hears her explanation of her powers, he shakes his head disagreeing. "Ve once had a crracked barrel o' ale vhen ve verre moving a couple frrom one taverrn to the otherr. Since it vas crracked, ve had to drrink the whole thin' and it vas a happy night. No one is perrfect and not everrythin' that is brroken is bad."
Amaya looks up at the dwarf. "Thank you, sir, umm... I'm sorry. I don't think that we've met."
Greta Gardania returns, joining the small crowd behind the stage. "Is everyone alright? Do we know what happened? Oh, and thank you so much for helping get everyone to safety and in putting out the fire." She gazes at everyone with admiration and gratitude. "You truly are all heroes."
Upon hearing Karana's findings her brow furrows in deep concern. "Arson? That is... quite unprecedented. And during such a large gathering, many people could have been hurt, or worse! We shall begin an investigation immediately." She glances at Warbal, who is hopping from one foot to another again, wringing their hands and humming anxiously. "For now, a task has been entrusted to you. Rest a little if you need to, but I believe that you should better be on your way soon."
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Karana finds Kyrie’s advice and knightly expertise intriguing!
“Opportunity knocked,” she concurs, giving Kyrie a sly look as she holds up a half of the tinderstick.
“Crime answered.”
—Greta snaps her out of whatever she was doing. “Oh! Yes! We answered! Warbal’s cry for help, I mean. And who can nap at a time like this? Justice does not reh… ehh…”
She notices Amaya.
“Oh, are you okay? We can rest if you need to.”
Getting to her feet, Amaya shakes her head, though that just causing it to blow around in the wind even worse.
"No. I'm fine, thank you."
After a short break to allow Amaya to gather her energy after spending so much of her strange powers, the newly-hired heroes emerge from the singed, smoke-smelling townhall into the scorching afternoon sun. Despite the heat, some of the people who had attended the Call for Heroes are still gathered outside, chatting animatedly about the recent events.
Jorks Hinterclaw excuses himself from a group of townspeople and heads over. "Ah, there you are, well done, well done! The lads and lasses you helped save did a little collection, something they wanted you to have. Mostly potions and such, if you get in trouble up there in the citadel." He offers four vials, helpfully labelled.
He rubs the back of his neck, looking thoughtfully at the town hall building. "What a strange thing, that fire, eh? Greta tells me 'twas arson. That's bad business. Them's that's lived in Breachill for many generations don't think it was a local, they say Breachillians don't do such things." He shrugs. "Could be as they say. Keep your eyes open, eh?"
From nearby, a woman in a flour-stained apron chimes in. "Heard someone saw a goblin running with a lit torch towards the north gate." She eyes Warbal, none too friendly. "I always said you can't trust those buggers to live so close without causing trouble." Warbal shakes their head violently. "Nonononono! Wasn't me! Wasn't goblins! We good neighbours! Helba says to live in peace with l- with tall people!"
"Seems odd that they'd send in one of their own to ask for help at the same time one of their own would be torching the place." Bae frowns and wiggles her mouth from side to side as she thinks "That would do nothing but make us remember the goblins were an option for blame. Plus why would they still be carrying a torch outside the gates? That would scream Look At Me! Oh, and lastly, the fire wasn't lit with a torch, but a tindertwig, so none of that makes any sense." Bae isn't discounting it as much as logicing it into nonsense.
Karana moves close to the woman. Does she smell of lamp oil?
“You say you heard. And you speak angry words, the same as Calmont’s angry words.
“Is it Calmont who told you a goblin did this?”
The woman takes a step back as Karana moves close. She smells of sweat and flour. "Y-yes, he did. He was very scared. can't blame the poor fellow, everyone knows his entire village was slaughtered during the Goblinbood War."
Oh no, here comes the emotional after-shock. It wasn't a strange phenomenon to Beau. After all, he had tried to rob a Lumber Consortium caravan of its valuables and in doing so, made some very wealthy people very angry. Perhaps this particular instance of an emotional after-shock is new to him. Whatever the case, the young Andoran pretends to know what's up. "Perhaps it is wise to give the dust our hearts and minds some time to settle down before we go pointing fingers and making claims we can't back up with actual proof. The fire gave all of us a proper scare, and by Desna's grace, it could've been much worse."
The woman takes a step back as Karana moves close. She smells of sweat and flour. "Y-yes, he did. He was very scared. can't blame the poor fellow, everyone knows his entire village was slaughtered during the Goblinbood War."
“Mine too.”
She thinks on her words. But as Beau speaks, Karana decides to say no more on her past or her suspicion.
“Thank you for this information. Kindly inform Ms. Gardania all that you have told me, and from there, please allow her and the other investigators do follow the evidence before jumping to conclusions.”
She then turns to Warbal. “I believe you, Warbal, and am ready to help the Bramblebashers.”
Gofran extends his hand. "Gofrran Axebane, frrom Davarrn. Ve'll be companions in this quest to the rruined citadel. I must be honest that I thought o' ye all as untested kids... I vas mistaken, at least tovarrds ye, so I apologise."
Gofran nods to Beatrix's reasoning, but feels he should add a thought. "Not disagrreein' vith ye, lass, but logic is not such a videsprread concept as ye might think."
As they discover Calmont was the one telling about the supposed goblin arsonist, Gofran points out what their next move should be. "I think be should pay this Calmont a visit, as he is ourr main suspect... vould like to know forr surre the goblins arre indeed not parrt o' this firre."
Beatrix opens her mouth to argue somewhat, but she's worked in a bar for the last three months so the evidence against widespread logic is too great. With a big sigh, she does say "Calmont is not a bad person. He sells books and is nice to my sister. But I think I know where he lives if you want to see if he is there."
The gnome will lead them to the place she thinks he lays his head.
Beatrix has only ever visited Calmont at his place of work, his living situation is a bit of a mystery; the halfling has always been a little cagey with details about his life.
As the group discusses the aftermath of the fire, Alak approaches. "Hey, great job in there! Listen, if you're going to the citadel I would like to come with you. I figure this is my best chance to explore it and hopefully find what I'm looking for."
"Sorry, I could have sworn Whim pointed it out once..." Bea gives a soft sorry smile. "He works at the book store, so we could stop in there."
As Alak comes up she gives him a wave "It's okay with me. Do you know anything about the citadel that would be helpful in exploring it?"
Gofran extends his hand. "Gofrran Axebane, frrom Davarrn. Ve'll be companions in this quest to the rruined citadel. I must be honest that I thought o' ye all as untested kids... I vas mistaken, at least tovarrds ye, so I apologise."
"Ah yes!" Amaya responds, smiling, "I remember now. It is a pleasure to meet you, and look forward to be working with you."
------------------------
Amaya stays quiet during the exchange with the frightened villagers. She didn't agree with what they had to say about the goblin, but didn't want to escalate the issue any further.
After going to see if they can find this Calmont character, Amaya gently puts her hand on Bea's shoulder. "Perhaps we should stick to the task at hand. I'm sure that whoever was responsible will show themselves eventually."
"I agree. I think we should get ready to head to the citadel."
She pauses, realizing she has not introduced herself to two of their number.
"I thank you for your help. I heard your name is Gofran. I think you heard my name is Kyrie. I am pleased to have you along." She curtsies before turning to Beau. "I am sorry. I have not caught your name. I suspect you have caught mine."
“It is a pleasure to know you by name, Mr. Axebane,” Karana says Gofran. She adds, “The phrase ‘untested kid’ applies to me in some ways.” She is about to raise a hand to the markings on her face, but realizes that not having undergone the coming-of-age ritual is not what the dwarf meant by ‘untested kid.’ She redirects herself. “Before my teens, I had a place in society, as the daughter of the Druidic chief. This was a position of both privilege and responsibility. In my case, the responsibility was to respect the place of those my father delegated charge of hunting, of agriculture, of crafting, and of matters of war and peace.
“I am no longer Chief Chowig’s princess. I lack the privilege, but still wish to bear the responsibility. Ms. Gardania says she will investigate the fire, and she will pay us to help Warbal. I wish to respect her place, which is like Chief.” She mutters a self-correction, “Or perhaps more like one who is delegated charge of…”
Amaya puts it much more concisely. “Yes, task at hand. Citadel is…” She isn’t sure. “…uhh, please lead us, Warbal, or Sir Stagram.”
Gofran shakes the hands of all those involved in the task, but disagrees with their eagerness to depart. "Unless I underrstood ourr task incorrectly, it consists o' two parrts..."
"Firrst and mainly, ve shall deal vith the supposed underrgrround drragons, as they might be a menace not only to the goblins, but also to the town."
"Second, as perrhaps a sidequest, ve shall confirrm that the goblin trribe is indeed peaceful and not a rrisk to Brreachill. The town is divided betveen those who believe they to be a menace, as theirr kin has allvays been, orr if they arre peaceful. Therre have been no attacks frrom the goblins, but lack o' agrression is not the same as peacefulness." He points out.
"Knovin' if this storry Calmont told about a goblin settin' firre to the hall has no imporrtance to ourr main task, but it is imporrtant to the second one. I'm not sayin' ve should find the one behind the firre and delay ourr main quest... I'm simply askin' forr us to have a quick talk to Calmont so he can tell us if therre vas a goblin orr not." He looks around, checking if anyone was agreeing with him.
"Inforrmation is one o' the most imporrtant things to have, and most vould rraterr have it in excess than be lackin' o' it." Thinking he had made his point, he adds. "This is my vote, and ye arre frree to disagrree. If ye do, I'll not trry to convince ye again, norr vill I hold this against ye in the futurre."
Karana thinks, but only for a couple seconds. “The bookstore is my favorite place. Perhaps we pass it on the way, and see if Calmont is there. If not, we keep going with no further delay.
“I guess I am voting a compromise, but it essentially is with your vote, Mr. Axebane.”
"Aren't our goblin's people in mortal danger? Meaning shouldn't we be in a hurry to get there before they are killed, eaten, and defecated out in tight balls of excrement." Bea says with noticeable worry and a hint of morbid curiosity.
Karana says, “We can do both, Bea! I will run ahead! I know the way!”
She’s about to bolt, buuuut… “Umm, anyone want to run ahead with me?”
Alak goes into a squat next to Beatrix to avoid towering over the gnome. "I have explored a small part of it, and most Hellknight citadels are designed with the same basic principles, so I can infer quite a lot of its layout." He glances to the northwest, where the abandoned fortress is visible at the top of a tall, sheer bluff. "This one is called Citadel Altaerein. The courtyard is its central feature, and from what I've seen it has a northern and a southern wing around that."
Warbal approaches hesitantly, maintaining a good distance from the armoured man and cocking their head at the talk about the citadel. "In terms of access, there's the main gate and a side door in the southern wing, but also portions of the wall that have collapsed and now allow passage into the citadel at various points. I entered through such a gap into the northern wing, but only managed to explore a few rooms before having to retreat." A tightness comes across his face. "Time... has not been kind to the place, and there have been looters and squatters as well." He gives Warbal a sideways glance. "It's not only goblins and... whatever those creatures are that have attacked them, we can expect all manner of creatures to have made their lair inside."
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Gofran sighs. "And if ye find the goblins in dangerr vill ye be able to help them on yerr own? If ye get caught, vhat good vill ye do?" Gofran questions. "Ye have yerr hearrt in the rright place, but carre not to trrip overr it, Karrana."
"I'm a scout, and I know this verry vell. The scout sees vhat is ahead and rreporrts to the grroup. He puts himself in dangerr in orderr to give good inforrmation to the otherrs, but everry second he is aparrt frrom the grroup, his life is thrreatened. The scout never acts on his own and if he gets caught he is probably dead, with the addition of havin' rrevealed the prrsence o' the grroup." He explains from experience. "If a scout can't act and have no one to rreporrt, than he is simply a lone lamb vith a brroken leg."
"I'd rratherr give up on any inforrmation to be gained about the goblin, than lettin' ye go alone."
Kyrie nods along as she listens. She can see the values of either option, so she has no particular preferences one way or the other. "I am a shield. I am sworn to protect. I will go wherever my allies tell me. I am first into battle and the last to leave."
“Oh, I meant to the bookstore. But I do not want you to worry, so we can simply walk together.”
Bo never had a woman, let alone a lady, curtsy for him. An eyebrow arches upward, but he hastily reins in the rebellious brow and reassumes a cool and collected demeanor. "Bojas Gladhand, but do call me Beau."
Only my mother calls me Bojas, and ugh, no, let's not start thinking about her right now! He blinks away the annoying thought, only to find out the others are already busy debating what to do: go straight to the citadel, or stop by the bookstore? "Let's stop by the store. Desna willing, maybe he has some advice or information to share with us about the citadel! Gotta stay positive, right?"
It is only a short walk to the Reliant Book Company - traversing Monument Circle, across the bridge over Breach Creek, down the street, left, right, and they are before the small bookstore. A sign hangs in the door: Closed for inventory.
Knocking eventually yields the somewhat frazzled Voz Lyraine, the shop's owner. "I am afraid that we are closed for the moment, please come back later."
"Is Calmont here, Ms Lyraine?" Bea smiles sweetly as if nothing is wrong and please don't pay attention to the many armed people around me. "He got upset at the Call, and we're... I'm worried about him."
Karana uses Bea’s distraction to her advantage. She says to Beau, “Would you please do me a favor? Tell Miss Lyraine your pet Chipsie has gotten away, and you must get her back.
“But wait for me to enter please. As a chipmunk!”
Karana then zips around a corner and casts her spell!
If she can, in CHIPMUNK form, Karana will slip in the door!
Beau's eyes grow tenfold as Karana's shift takes him by surprise, but hopefully, the lady's attention is solely focused on Bea and not Beau. Chipsie, gotta get the name right!
As () the chipmunk slips inside, Beau throws his arms up into the air. He reimagines the feeling he felt when the fire broke out, and tries to ride that same panic caravan as he begs Lyraine for help. "Miss Lyraine, did I just see my chipmunk Chipsie in your store?! I lost her earlier today, before the fire broke out! I was so afraid the fire had taken her, but no, she's in your store! Desna be praised!!! Please, can I go get her???"
Voz Lyraine rubs her forehead and sighs. "Yes, I was there, 'upset' is indeed a word... I was worried about him as well, so I left the Call early and came here, but he had ransacked through my personal effects, took all the money from the till and ran gods know where!"
Through the bookseller's distraction and distress, Karana manages to slip through the partially open door into the interior of the store.
Voz Lyraine takes in the rather large group, her gaze lingering on Alak. "Has something happened? Have you all been engaged by the council for a job? Does it involve Calmont?" She grows a little heated. "If you come across that ungrateful rascal, you can tell him that he's fired!"
As Beau starts waving his arms about Chipsie, Voz blinks, taking half a step back. "Your chipmunk...? Fire? Erm, alright?"
"Yes mam. Yes mam, and no mam." Bea answers the woman's questions respectfully. "At the citadel, large scaley dragon-esk lizard things are boiling up from the ground, devouring the goblin tribe up there. We were hired as budding Heros for rescue and discovery." the gnome woman swells a bit in pride. "Your shop was on the way, so we were just stopping back on our hurried way to see about Calmont."