"Alistair, you or Bjorn will need to be ready to catch her so the toss doesn't kill her." Diego bounces Nualia slightly on his shoulder then moves back ten feet from the trapped area. "I think I can make it." He says just before bolting towards the trap.
"CATCH!"
With a hefty grunt, Diego abruptly stops just before the trap and attempts to launch Nualia over the trap and into Alistair's or Bjorn's waiting arms.
After attempting the toss, Diego takes a running start and attempts to make the jump himself.
Nualia, still gagged, lets out a very indignant sound at being flung over Diego's shoulder, and a muffled yelp when she's thrown over the trap -- a trap she is well aware of, and understands the danger of.
You return up a floor without incident, and Lyrie is still in the cell you left her in. Her face appears relieved, when she sees Nualia alive, but as you left her bound and gagged as well, they can exchanged nothing more than significant glances.
In short order, you're back in the courtyard, just outside the shed where the half starved horse is held.
Nico tries to bring the horse out under control, soothing it before leading it out of the shed with a makeshift rope bridle.
Kowing his lack of empathy, Diego keeps his distance from Nico and the horse, while keeping an eye and a firm grip on the two prisoners.
Nico's experience growing up on the farm came in handy, and she spoke soothingly to the poor abused creature, coaxing it out. It was a magnificent animal, graceful and beautiful even filthy and underweight as it was. A little care and he would be a mount fit for a king.
The rope bridge could be tied off more securely to ensure it would hold his weight. It's how the goblins got him across, after all. The horse was not thrilled to walk across, but Nico kept reassuring the beast, and with nervous nickering, the stallion followed her lead.
So the team is headed out. "Nico, think you can get him to take any weight? Otherwise it will be a long trek for us with the treasure box and other items we've collected."
While the horse is definitely in need of a little TLC, he's strong enough to carry some cargo, and you affix the treasure you found to him without issue.
"That is a beautiful beast, a shame it has been so mistreated!" Bjorn exclaims, looking over it and gently running his hands over it. His claws teased through the mane but never once scratched the horse's hide as he nodded. "They will make a fine companion once we can get them from this terrible place." His eyes look back at his captives. It had taken all his will not to drop Nualia into the trap and let justice be had right then and there. His rescuers didn't seem like the ones to enjoy that though so his promise to bring her head to her love was unmet. "Lead the way, I'll hold the back."
"Alistair, if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on these two," Diego asks while dragging the two captives over to the swashbuckler. " I'll take point, at least until we get clear of the large cat."
Once Alistair takes Controle of the two prisoners, Diego pulls his sword and begins leading the way back through the overgrowth. "Might want to keep a good hold on that horse. If that cat attacks, it's likely going to be by ambush."
Nico takes on the job of leading the horse.
Lief stays in the middle of the group throughout the process of leaving, trying not to act like a baby while keeping his shield covering his bloody and broken ribs. Recognizing the danger the horse could pose if it freaks out, the bookish guard makes a feeble attempt to help Nico keep it calm.
There is no sign of the predatory cat when you take your leave -- aside from a few tracks which, alongside a single pair of goblin footprints, imply the beast may have had a master that fled alongside it once it became clear the rest of the goblins had been slain or run off.
You make your way out of thebriar maze and eventually back to the Lost Coast Road. The horse is eager to graze, once you're back to an area the goblins had not despoiled, so the going is a bit slow. But shortly after midday, you lay eyes on Sandpoint once more. It's only been a couple of days, but it feels like much longer, after all the things you dealt with in the goblin stronghold. But you're finally home.
”We need to get these two in a cell and debrief the sheriff.” Alistair says as they come in view of the town. ”I’m ready for a bath and well cooked food.”
"Hopefully the Sheriff is back by now. If he isn't, or even if he is, we should also talk to Father Zantus."
"If the sheriff isn't back, we will need to post a guard to keep an eye on these two. I feel the danger they represent, being spell casters, is too high for a random guard. If needed, I'll post up for a shift and then catch ZZzzz's back at the barracks. If he is back..." Diego lets out a deep sigh. "I'm really on board with the bath and large meal. Where do we want to keep all this stuff? The horse we can probably stable at the garrison, but this is a lot of stuff."
While talking with the group, Diego begins heading to the jails.
"We should be able to store it at the garrison. I think we still have salvage rights so except for the papers which can be used as evidence we should get to sell or use for ourselves anything we found." as they go in through the northern gate Alistair will step out to the side, "I'm going to step in here and let dad know to get some vittles going for us." With that he steps into the White Stag lets his dad know they are back and comes out to rejoin the team. "I'm sure he will drown us with good grub when we make it over here. We can come back in teams if need be since we may be guarding these two."
Diego nods and then looks over at the two captives. "This is going to draw a lot of attention, for sure. Do you think we should send word to the sheriff and hang out on the outskirts till nightfall?"
"I think it would be good for the people to see the watch hauling in the guilty for trial." Alistair answers Diego.
"I don't see any harm in going ahead. It's going to attract plenty of attention tomorrow too. Let's not stop and loiter around talking."
"Or, expect a dinner out anywhere to be quiet and private" Nico adds ruefully.
You all seem in agreement and head into town, Nualia and Lyrie manacled and gagged behind you, and as predicted, the town gossips start whispering and dozens of eyes linger upon you all as you pass.
Ameiko is sweeping the walk in front of the Dragon, her bruises mostly healed at this point, just a few discolored spots on her face remaining from her brother's beating. She looks intensely curious, but refrains from bombarding you with questions. "Welcome home," she calls. "Glad you all made it back!"
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Daviren Hosk, the fellow you runs the Goblin Squash Stables, frowns upon seeing the horse as you pass his establishment. "Have you been neglecting that animal?" he calls out.
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News reaches the garrison ahead of you, and Belor Hemlock meets you in the courtyard, with a half dozen other guards you don't recognize right behind him and a rather imposing looking elven fellow to his right. "You're back," he stated the obvious. "And it seems your mission was successful."
”It was, sir. We managed to capture these two and confiscate significant evidence of their plans.”
Unaware of the sheriff's concerns, Diego steps up dragging the two captives with him. He then looks over at the elf. "Who's this?" He asks in a very literal, transparent tone.
As the guards make their way towards the city, Lief remarks, "You know, the Headmaster was an adventurer before he settled here and started running the Turandarock Academy... he might be able to open this chest for us, and he might be willing to in exchange for for stories about the ruins under Weathertop."
Lief looks the strangers up and down as he and his fellow guards approach the sheriff.
this elf looks like a real d!ck... even for an elf... no wonder Hemlock doesn't like him... I bet making the sheriff look good will annoy him...
Completely ignoring the elf, he snaps to attention--for the first time that any of his coworkers have seen--and surprisingly professionally reports, "The woman with the arm, you'll recognize once she's cleaned up a bit and the gag is removed, is Nualia Tobin, sir. Apparently, she didn't die in the church fire during the late unpleasantness but rather set the fire to murder her adopted father and used it to fake her death. She's the one who was leading the goblins to attack the city. The other woman is one of her lieutenants, sir."
Diego looks over at Lief with a concerned look. "Perhaps we should hold off on any more details until we know who this gentleman is."
Belor gives Diego a look that speaks volumes. "This is Justice Ironbriar, from Magnimar. It seems that my pleas failed to net me additional guardsmen, but arresting the man responsible for the goblin attack on our city at least got the attention of the courts."
Ironbriar gave the slightest bow of his head in greeting. "The man who allegedly was responsible for the attack, Sheriff. Or is Sandpoint in the habit of denying its citizens a fair trial before guilt is decided?" He peered at the two captive women. "Now, it seems, you're accusing someone else of the same crime?" He made a soft tsking sound. "It's a good thing I came along, it seems."
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"Yep, collaborators. We can go over it in detail in a more private setting."
Diego looks back over at the sheriff. "I'm hungry, where do you want us to dump these two clowns?"
Nico finds the elf off-putting.
"It was a conspiracy, which by definition involves more than one person. So yes, it was a plot planned and initiated by Nualia Tobin, with the other two helping her carry it out. We have the documents so we don't need to make any assumptions."
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gods… the stick up this elf’s a$s must be the size of Nico’s arm…
”I apologize for my imprecise language, sir,” Lief says to the sheriff, still not directly acknowledging the elf at all. “This woman who looks exactly like Nualia Tobin was apprehended in possession of extensive documentation corroborating her alleged identity, and outlining her role in the setting of the church fire and murder of Father Tobin, as well her role in masterminding the attack on Sandpoint and theft of the late father’s remains, which was allegedly carried out under the direct supervision of the suspect in custody, Tsuto, as attested to in his own personal journal. We’ll leave it to you and the courts to sort out all the challenging nuances of their confessed crimes, sir.”
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"Shall we secure these two and take this inside?" Diego says in a firm tone while looking back over his shoulder. "If we share to much about what we found, it could start a panic."
”Excuse us, gentlemen. We are going to unload the horse and put these two in pretrial confinement. Sheriff, one of us will bring the documentation and evidence we spoke of to you as soon as we unpack it.” Alistair says and leads the horse away toward the stable intending to take the closest door to the cells from there.
Satisfied with the swashbuckler's intentions, Diego falls in behind him while escorting both captives.
Nico goes along as well, planning to take care of the horse after it's unloaded.
It was strange walking into Sandpoint, his bright eyes betraying a look of guilt. The people here seemed common but kind, the kind of simple folk he should have been protecting for coin rather than serving the woman strung up behind them. The eyes lingering on his impressive physique are ignored as best as he could as he lifts his head with a proud, almost smug, look. He keeps track of who they speak to, who they regard, as they are finally approached by who seems like the man in charge and the sternest looking elf he had ever seen.
The human man seemed uncomfortable in the presence of the elf and Bjorn noted that he was trying to be as restrained as possible. The fact fell from him quickly though, deemed unimportant in Bjorn's mind as he looked about the town and did little to notice the going-ons. When the elf spoke though, his head tilted a little bit to listen into it and a laugh escaped his lips.
"Ah, I see. He's an a*&&~%@." Bjorn said with a nod, confirming it for himself. "Makes sense. Stern and stout as the metal, probably has a tiny prick." Bjorn grinned at his own wordplay and stretched a little bit, looking back at the two others. "They're right though. The b@+*+ with the arm hired me as a guard and delved into some nasty business. The other one delved into her nasty business. They tried to murder me when I said that killing a bunch of innocent people seemed like a bad thing." Bjorn nodded, coughing quick and clearing his throat.
"Speaking of hiring, any of you have work? A man has got to eat."
While heading out, dragging the two captives in tow, Diego looks back over his shoulder and responds to Bjorn. "Stick with us Bjorn, we'll work something out."
Lief closes his eyes and, with great effort, stifles a laugh at Bjorn's antics. Without breaking his soldierly stance, he adds as Diego leads the other large man away, "And that was Bjorn Sornstad, a victim of their violence whom we rescued, sir. He will give testimony to confirm those crimes confessed in Tsuto and Nualia's journals, sir."
As the others all head off to other tasks, the suddenly (overly) professional guard waits to answer any follow up questions, or to be dismissed by Sheriff Hemlock.
After the group gathers, Diego presents some thoughts on what the group should focus on and in what order.
Here is what I think we should do next.
1. We secure the captives, then present what evidence we have to the sheriff in a more controlled environment.
2. We Take turns guarding the captives, only taking their gag off long enough for them to eat and only with enough of us around to insure they don’t cast spells.
3. While swapping out guard duty, we eat well and get adequate sleep.
4. We get the toilet box opened and see what’s inside. We can most likely take the box to Volioker Briskalberd, who is Sandpoint’s locksmith.
5. We get what items we couldn’t identify looked at and hopefully identify them. At this point it looks like only a single scroll, a spell book, a cloak and the Medallion I’m carrying wasn’t identified by Lief. We should be able to address these items with Father Zantus or we could take it to Risa’s place and see if she will identify them.
6. Then we get items apprised and sell what we can. Things that we need to know what they are worth include the dented golden crown, the chief’s key ring, the silk sheets that Lief slept on, and the silver comb. Depending on what’s in the chest, we could include that as well.
7. We testify and present evidence at a public trial, condemning all three conspirators. Hopefully the end result ends up being "they hang." This would give the city a since of justice.
Looks like a good list for the immediate future. We also need to follow up on this from Nualia's notes:
"The mysterious leader of the Skinsaw cult saw her potential, gifting her the seven pointed medallion you took from her -- a Sihedron Medallion, she calls it. The leader told her she had a role to play in coming events, and to follow her dreams."
This leader seems to have been expecting something to happen involving Nualia. But she only played a part. What are the other parts?
"Thats a good point. After squaring things up here with Nualia, we could look into that."
Lief hoists the (now cleaned) treasure chest that had been retrieved from the goblins in the fort up onto his shoulder and announces, "I'll take Bjorn into the Garrison to file an official report, and then I'll take this chest over to the academy to see if Headmaster Gandethus can open it. Why don't the rest of you meet me over there when you're done here?"
With that, the two men disappear down the road.
The stern elven justice looks down his sharp nose at the remaining guards and answers, "We shall see. After I've reviewed all the evidence, and spoken with the prisoner, I'll render judgment."
Turning his gaze towards the sheriff, he continues, "and, your pleas have not gone completely unheeded." He gestures for the tall, green-skinned woman behind him to step forward and announces, "This is Karga Blackhook, a member of Magnimar's citywatch. She has volunteered to assist your watch until the situation here is more stable."
"Now, I'll retire to your office to begin my examination." The elf, and the other watchman with him, turn without another word and head towards the Garrison.
Hemlock gives the group a quick, appreciative nod and instructs, "I've got to stay with them. Go do whatever you need to do but show Blackhook here around while you do." With that he trots off as well, leaving Diego, Alistair, and Nico to introduce themselves to the newcomer (and vice versa).
"Karga is it? Come on, we have to settle these animals and the horse before we do anything else." Alistair says with a smile. "How's life in the Magnimar watch?" Alistair as per earlier, leads the horse off along with the prisoners. As soon as the horse is in a stall he takes the shortest path to the jail cells.
"We will probably want to move to a two man watch on the prisoners rotating every 12 hours until they stand trial. That should give the off watch pair time to clean up, run some errands, get sleep, etcetera."
Diego quietly looks over at the Half-Orc for a moment, allowing his comrades the opportunity to take the lead on the introduction.
Tagging along as Alistair begins settling the animals, Diego looks over at Nico with a concerned look on his face. "I sure hope that justice doesn't come to some crazy conclusion and let them go. Something feel's off about that guy. I mean, who's to say he's even a justice. I could just as easily say I'm justice Diego from Magnimar."
After considering the possibility that the justice could rule to set those two loos, he shifts his attention over to the new girl. "Karga, do you know much about that Justice? Have you worked with him before or have any knowledge about him that would confirm his position?" The concern in his voice is laced with since of urgency.
Karga traced the scar over her right cheek as she waited with justice for what felt like an eternity. This was the first time she had really left the big city, even if it was just a day or twos travel away from Magnimar. When the group finally arrived, the Half Orc woman was relieved, standing firm and proper as the elven justice said his peace. She knew the type, stern, direct folk that seemed somewhat self-important and scared everyone else into towing the line.
"Not all that bad. It's a bit of a heavy workload for sure but the city does have its perks," she spoke with a partial accent, the kind many of the lower class of Magnimar seemed to speak with, "You all know my name, though I haven't been informed of you all's names."
She'd shake her head in response to Deigo, "I believe so, but I don't think I've worked with them before. He's the first elf to the justice council, caused a bit of celebration from some parts. I haven't ever worked with em," she says in response. Her position usually had her dealing with far less savory folk and the occasional occurrence of the random undead in the sewers of some of the more crime prone districts of Magnimar.
"I can't think of anything right now that would allow for a more polite way of proving he is who he is, but what makes you say that?"
Nico is delighted by the prospect of not be the only female around, even if just for a while. She offers Karga a welcoming smile and sticks out her hand for a shake.
"I'm Nico. Welcome aboard Karga."
Nico doesn't put much stock in Diego's suspicions. It's kind of predictable from him, and who knows what city people are like really?
"You know what important people tend to be like Diego. He's an elf to boot. I mean Hannah's great, but the judge is from the city. He's probably used to not being friendly or approachable, part of the judge role I'd suppose."
Diego agrees to accept the fact that the justice is what he says. "I guess I'm being a little over concerned about the whole thing. The idea of those two possibly getting a reprieve has me concerned. It's probably nothing but a bad gut feeling. Anyway, I'm Diego and it's a pleasure to meet one of our counter parts from Magnimar."
"Aside from helping with keeping watch over those two, we should get the rest of the stuff looked at and possibly sold. It would help to lighten the load."