Seeing that Siegfried is tending to the wounded, Alden does his best to see if he can pick up something of the goblins' trail. Apart from his modest woodland skills, he calls upon Old Dead-Eye to help him sense the passing of the evil creatures.
The kobold did indeed take the family up on their offer, certainly not one to turn down more food, and even something sweet! She took a seat at the table and eagerly watched as the food was set out, tail tip excitedly tapping against the floor in bare constrained excitement. ”Oh, good, good, very pretty! Must be yummy, yes yes,” she hummed happily before setting the candy on the side of her dish, saving it for last. The little dragon could eat it seemed as she carefully filled her plate, not wanting to take from the family, but had a clearly hefty portion for someone of her size. Almost as soon as the plate hit the table she dug in, letting out pleased sounds at the delicious food, all the while keeping an eye on her candy, lest someone thinks they could sneak it from her.
Rabbit, encumbered by no armor, is still relatively fresh on making it back to town. He wheezes just a bit and catches his breath before jogging forth in search of Jaxom, long enough for a very winded Alden to sprint up and explain the situation.
Kras'tak is no longer with them, Rabbit notices with concern. Maybe she stayed back with the Toomses in case the goblins tried out there again?
"Er-- excuse me but either of you see if Kras'tak was following you?" he blurts worriedly at Alden and Siegfried. "I was too busy running..."
He fidgets with his hands as The Tall Menfolk (as Rabbit thinks of them) discuss plans and traps. "If they're wounded, they might be making, um, a slower pace?" he offers shyly. "We can try to, to carefully follow?"
"I believe, dear Rabbit, that she stayed behind," Siegfried responds. He had liked the halfling from early on in his interminable stay in Passbog. Not strong in the physical sense, no, but Siegfried had long since learned to look past such trivialities. Not all were meant for the forge. Not all were needed by it. And strength came in different ways.
"I saw her wave at us as we turned back to town. Like as to not leave the Toomses undefended."
"They hit and ran back at the farm, and here as well? Are they just testing our defenses, or are they trying to get us to follow them into a trap?" Alden wonders aloud, as he continues to search for tracks and traces of evil .
Once the wounded are cared for Jaxom is ready to go. "We follow them, carefully, probably back to whatever hole in the ground they live in. There'll likely be traps, and they'll have their defenses ready for our approach. But we can't let them attack us, trying to burn down what we've built, without reprisal." He glances to Alden with his questions. "They didn't run back here to attack. You had just a couple at the farm right? We had more than a half dozen here. I think they'd have loved destroying the farm too. But the main target today was here."
"We fought them before and showed mercy. We let them escape and recover. And they repaid that kindness with this attack. This time we should destroy them! They're evil to the core and won't let us live in peace."
Siegfried scoffs at Jaxom's declaration. "They're mischievous," he counters, "Not evil."
Then again, he looks at the damage here in town. Mischief or malice, this wouldn't do. It wasn't sustainable.
He sighs and furrows his brow, rubbing at a beard now flecked with ash, sweat, and blood. "But I don't mind reminding them to stay the @#$% out of our business."
Hearing his comment Jaxom looks at Siegfried in wonder. "I guess it depends on your definition of evil. Three attacked at the back, four out here in the front and two on the roof. They attacked with weapons and alchemist's fire. That's not mischief. Somebody could've been killed. The inn could've been burnt to the ground. A couple of them are dead, and they're probably not too happy about that!"
Siegfried waves a hand in the air in a half-shrug. "If you want a philosophical debate on the nature of good and devil, Mr. Buhr, we can do that later." He seems either unaware or uncaring that he had been the one to turn it into a debate, but continues unabated. "I'm not dissuading the motion, just tempering expectations. We don't know their motives unless we ask. But if they don't give us a chance to ask," he swings his longhammer down from his shoulder to his hands, "Then we're not left with much choice, are we?"
There is much to do about the village. Siegfried taking on the task of looking at the wounded. Tel Bey's wounds were closed. From the look it was magical healing from Milana. Though she still winced in the sunlight, indicating not all the trauma was fully healed. Fogril was in worse shape, with burns still up one side of his collar and down the cheek on that side of his face. Milana had treated him as well, but not to the same extent.
It was the dead goblins that seemed to concern Tel Beys, turning one over with the butt of her spear. Getting a better look at it, there were odd growths about it's body. Warty lumps and just under it's exposed collar there seemed to be a small deformed breast ringed in warts. Giving the dead goblin next to it a once over there were some feminine features on it as well. It's brow and jawline on one side had morphed, and it's shoulder and neck were more slender.
"I thought we got all the females last time." Tel observes, "Were we wrong?"
Alden senses no evil about, but with Jaxom pointing out where the goblins were (and where one fell off the roof) he is able to discover a wet pool of blood. The badly injured goblin having fallen to the ground and been slow to rise. He has no trouble noting a blood trail in the short grass, leading toward the woods. No doubt back toward the swamp.
The other sight of combat behind the inn leaves less of a trail, just some matted footprints and a few dribbles of blood that quickly dry up. It seems the two with the ladder made a cleaner escape.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch... Kras'tak enjoyed a meal with the family. She was bombarded with a slew of questions by the children, who knew nothing of kobolds. Even their parents snuck in one or two questions for her. Curiosity allowing her to talk about nearly any topic. The Tooms knew better than to be afraid of her, so they seemed eager to entertain their guest. Eventually the meal was finished, with Yana taking the dishes and Martin preparing to go back out in the field.
"If they haven't come back by now, they likely won't be coming back anytime soon." he reasoned as he led the kobold back outside, "We can walk about and see. I imagine your friends could use you if that's the case." Giving a glance back to his son, walking behind her and watching her tail move he shook his head. "Though, if you'd like to stay a while longer you're certainly welcome. The kids are more curious about kobolds than I've ever seen them about chores." he explained.
"You can tell the difference?" Siegfried asks Tel incredulously. It was an earnest question. He was well aware of the jokes around some folk not being able to tell dwarven men and woman apart, but he had also had a Rivethun auncle when he was younger, so... "Nevermind."
He turns back to Fogril. "I dare say that's the worst forge burn I've seen since my cousin Dankrad got drunk and tried to weld his boots to his ass," he says to his friend and co-worker, trying to joke and bring a bit of crass levity to an almost-certainly painful situation. "Here, I think you need the Forgefather's Favor more than I do right now."
Siegfried takes a breath and reaches towards the burns. He closes his eyes and reaches his other hand to the heavy iron hammer like a millstone around his neck. "Father of Creation," he sighs. "Look down on we your children, scattered under the Ever-Sky, and show us your favor this day."
It had worked before. Hundreds, thousands of times it had worked before. It was one of the few things that kept any sort of hope flickering alive within him.
Just one more time. Please.
When Tel Beys points out the oddities on the goblin Jaxom does look it over. "And they had alchemist's fire. Somebody had to make the stuff. Maybe they've got a mage or alchemist among them? Could be doing some sort of strange experiments to try and turn their males into females? If that's the case they'll be breeding all sorts of weird monsters. Unnatural! Another good reason to find their nest and clean it out. At the very least find whatever is changing them before they figure out how to turn that into a weapon against us!"
Tels shakes her head and then covers her eyes in an open palm. "Just when I thought we might be somewhat safe." she muses, "Now the little blighters are using alchemy."
Milana helps prop up Fogril as Siegfried goes to cast a healing spell. He was barely conscious, eyes thin slits as he looked the fellow dwarf in the eye. The magic of the forge father manifested in a softly glowing light in Siegfried's hand. Covered by his palm as he placed it across his wounds, it worked it's way into the other man. His burns seeming to dry out like a pond bed in the sun. Lightening to pink new flesh and then smoothing into new, unmarred skin.
Fogirl than sat himself upright and clapped a heavy hand over Siegfried's palm. Pinning it to his shoulder. "I'll owe the forgemaster's book a good thumbing through for this." he reasoned, "Help me up."
After getting to his feet Fogril will release his fellow dwarf. "I'll etch your name on my anvil as well. Not that it's worth a thick copper piece in this place."
"So, are we going to follow them now?" Alden asks the assembled group. "If so, should we get Kras'tak and perhaps Farmer Toomes to come with us? Are we forming a scouting party, a small strike team, or mustering the full militia?"
Rabbit nervously twists his hands together at Alden's question. "I... I.... admit I don't... really want to try and go after the, um, the goblins. But-- but I think we have to?
"Or they might come back, um, worse. If Mr. Jaxom hadn't suspected um, a trap, it might have gone differently back here....."
Biting his lip, Rabbit does his best to inspect the goblin bodies with their strange growths.
Jaxom nods to Alden. "We need to resolve the issue with the goblins. I think I'd refer to it as a scout mission with a possibility of being a strike force. They probably won't talk so we will have to defend ourselves. They've got a good lead on us so I think we should take the time to get Kras'tak. But we don't want to leave the town undefended."
"I think our priority should be to find whatever is mutating them. I think maybe their leader is a mage or alchemist. Remove that and the rest of them are mostly harmless...."
Farmer Tooms waves away any thought of going with the group. Not only is he not confident in himself as a warrior, but if he's going to kill a goblin it will be on his farm defending his family.
The group is now whole again, and can decide if they want to start tracking the goblins or take another tact.
Jaxom loads his crossbow so it'll be ready when they find the goblins. "OK. The trail isn't 'fresh', but back here there's plenty of blood from the ones that were badly wounded. I'm not a tracker but as long as they're bleeding it should be pretty easy to follow...."
Siegfried snorts once more at the declarations of "unnatural" and such, but lets the comments go along. He had other things to focus on. Like Fogril.
As his kith is restored from a deadly wound, Siegfried releases a sigh of relief. He had almost not realized how much he had been holding the muscles in his chest and back taut during the prayer. "A name etched so is worth more than coppers on the Taskmaster's scales," he paraphrases. He lets his arm linger on Fogril's for a while longer before nodding solemnly.
Torag was still delivering, it seemed.
---
Properly armed and reunited with their little group of scouts and strikers, the dwarf prays for a bit of guidance from Torag and holds low to the ground as he tries to follow the trail of blood back to the goblins' hideout.
But a priest with doubt in his heart was a distracted priest.
"How do we want to form up? Who's in the front, who's in the middle, and who's guarding the rear? I don't mind taking a position in front, in case there's an ambush, and the fighting is close," Alden offers.
"We just keep the ones without armor away from the melee," Siegfried responds, noting their smallfolk witch and sorceress. "But close enough to cast spells. Mr. Buhr is likely the fastest among us, save perhaps Kras'tak."
"If we spot the goblins at distance I'll start with my crossbow, but then set it down and charge in to them. If they ambush us, I'll drop it and pound on the.... enemy."
She happily answered any questions about kobolds regardless of who asked, though weaved carefully around why she wasn’t with her tribe anymore and why she was so well traveled. The kobold happily sucked on the candy as the meal was cleaned up and followed the farmer out, tail playfully twitching and bapping the child as they walked. ”Mm, it does seem safe here, yes,” she hummed around the candy, scratching thoughtfully at her chin, ”Kras’tak will have to visit more, this was fun and she is happy to answer questions! But town probably needs more help. Thank you for the food and company, was very good, yes yes. She think it is safe for Farmer Toomas and kin, and will head to town if he needs her no more.”
"We just keep the ones without armor away from the melee," Siegfried responds, noting their smallfolk witch and sorceress. "But close enough to cast spells. Mr. Buhr is likely the fastest among us, save perhaps Kras'tak."
"Oh, um, I-- I mean-- I only know just a very little magic," Rabbit says, eyes a bit wide at all this.... tactical discussion that he has somehow now become a part of. He nods very earnestly along with-- honestly, with anything that anyone else proposes. One hand slips inside the satchel at his side to reassure himself via petting Mr. Whisper.
When they reunite with Kras'tak Rabbit offers her an anxious but relieved smile. "I ran back to town so fast I didn't see you'd stayed behind! I'm, um, glad you're alright-- I think we're going to, to, to go after the goblins.... the men have it all planned out, we're going to march in formation, like, um, soldiers! It's uh-- exciting."
Lots of enthusiasm there.
Still, Rabbit nocks a bolt into the quarrel of his small crossbow, and tries to offer a brave smile around. "Um. Lead on? I am right behind you..."
But he's no good at following tracks, as will become apparent when he looks bemusedly at Siegfried's attempts to do so.
Siegfried has an easy enough time tracking the goblin that fell from the roof. Jaxom's bolt was nearly fatal, and there was a regular spatter of blood here and there among the grass to follow. The trail briefly disappeared after crossing into the wood, but was picked up again when Jaxom noticed a smear of blood against the base of a tree. It looked like the wounded goblin had stopped here to rest.
Until it met with the other survivors it seemed. There was enough tamped grass to indicate that the other three survivors, with their own wounded goblin, had met up here before the lot all made for the swamp. There could very well be another fight to follow, and as the party pressed on the cover of the trees offered more shade. More shadow as well.
As they came upon a break in the ever thickening tree cover they came across a surprise. The earth recessed here, right before the terrain started to turn to bog, and beyond the heavy undergrowth growing between the last few healthy trees they spotted several bodies. Dead goblins scattered about. The two Jaxom had wounded had collapsed with their throats cut, and another two lay sprawled together in a heap. Badly burned with the ground around them blackened.
A handful of footprints went into the muck of the swamp, leaving a few deep footprints before vanishing. At least from a glance.
Jaxom examines the burned bodies and the area around them. "Did they kill them with their alchemist's fire? What a waste!"
He moves over to the swamp to check the footprints there. "It'll be harder to follow, but maybe if we just head in the right direction we can find their lair?"
"Knowing even a little magic is a feat beyond what most can do," Siegfried says, rebuking Rabbit's meekness. "It is not the amount of magic, but they way you use it that matters."
---
The grisly sight of murdered goblins intrigues the old dwarf. "I take it this is worse condition than they left you in," he asks rhetorically.
Siegfried goes up to the goblins. Although their deaths were clear and the causes nearly so, he wonders if he might be able to glean more information about their final moments by assessing the clues around them.
Then he begins to look more closely at the footprints. More goblins? Or something else?
Alden looks around the scene, as well, hoping to spot something that will give a more clear indication of what happened.
"Did they turn on each other? Does any one see any tracks joining them, or leaving?"
Jaxom returns to the bodies when Siegfried asks about them. "They were hurt, and pretty bad. but they were still alive. Gotta admit that I didn't think about any other enemies. Did the goblins kill their own? Or is there something else out there?"
Siegfried is able to find some answers upon searching the goblins. Judging by the rigor mortis, the two wounded goblins with their throats cut had been kneeling at the time. There had been no struggle. The angle of the cut also suggested it was from a creature of roughly the same height. Both bore several weird growths on their bodies, but neither seemed to sport any breasts or structural changes.
The two burned corpses were clearly killed with alchemist fire. He had seen the alchemical agent's handiwork not very long ago. Though he wasn't able to find more than a few shards of green glass on the ground.
The jumble of footprints on the ground seemed to all belong to goblins, though two of them were heavier footprints. Not counting the four dead goblins (All but one of the survivors from the raid, by Jaxom's account.), he counted four goblins leaving alive. One last survivor, the two heavier goblin tracks, and one other goblin.
Jaxom is able to find the goblin's tracks in the bog of the swamp after a moment milling about. The Frogstump tribe were known to have webbed, oddly jointed toes. This became apparent when he found shifted spots in the muck where they had stepped. Not your typical track, but something that served just as well. So long as someone could follow them through the Spring Bog, he would likely be able to spot the trail should it get cold.
Rabbit is confused by the tracks, even when Jaxom and Siegfried point out the tracks and the differences among them.
"They... fought each other?" he says, uncertainly echoing Alden's question. "That's... actually really sad... in a way..."
He picks up a few fragments of green glass to keep as a tiny memento-- he could drill holes and hang them as a windchime/suncatcher!-- then indicates to the tallfolk with a nod that he's ready to keep going into the... swamp.
"Um. I hope it doesn't get too deep. I don't know how to swim," he confesses.
The old smith's brows raise and then furrow as he takes in the reality. "I don't know if it's so much fought as--" he runs his fingers along the gory serrations around the goblins' necks, "--executed."
He meanders over to the burnt corpses and arrives at a similar conclusion. "It could have been ritualistic, too. But that's speculation."
Siegfried nods and hefts back up to full standing, his knees cracking. "I'm a halfway decent swimmer, but this armor'll sink me like a stone if I'm caught in a swift draft. We'll need to keep our footing reliable if we can."
Consulting with Jaxom to identify the Frogstump footprints, Siegfried moves carefully forward, taking the lead .
Jaxom walks at the front of the group with Siegfried, trying to help him tracking the goblins.
"Murderers always leave evidence, at least in every tale I've ever heard," Alden says. "Maybe we'll find a clue in here somewhere."
"Well, well, look at the forensic investigator over here," Siegfried teases Alden. "And what tales have you heard of murder? Ustalavic romances? Fey tales? Galtan intrigue?"
Kras’tak would have greeted Rabbit with a toothy grin and a nod, attempting to reassure him. ”Hatchlings would have to play games like this alot, to keep them in order so predators would take get us! Was fun when we did not know the reason, but we would march in order of age, yes yes! Very fun, though some fights over minutes between hatching,” she hummed happily as she trotted along beside the halfling. Her head tilted to the side as they found the corpses, hands coming together in front of herself as she wrung them out anxiously. ”Mm, maybe decided too weak to spend the resources on. Yes, yes, no use taking care of tribemates who will only die, or take away from the whole,” she mused as she gingerly lifted up a hand of one of the goblins with a slit throat, then letting it drop.
As the pair lead the way she scampered after them, gently ushering Rabbit along as well. ”Oh! Kras’tak met a detective once! He was kinda rude, kept insisting she had stolen something but she certainly did not! He was not very good at his job as everyone saw the elf hatchling take it but nope,” she huffed, crossing her arms with an indignant snort, ”Just because other kobolds steal, does not mean Kras’tak does!”
Siegfried smiles at Kras'tak's story and lets out an inglorious snort. "Many detectives merely think themselves smart, deluding themselves into believing and manifesting their own propagandic marketing. Rather than properly following the empiric methods they espouse, they begin with a conclusion derived from prejudiced assumptions and gather clues to support themselves. That they're occasionally correct merely bolsters their haughty airs and they carry on unawares of their faults and foibles until their aggregated errors catch them in arrears and they confront they faults or die trying." He grins, chuckling ruefully, aware that he was describing himself as much as anything. He was no detective.
Alden lingers as the group readies to head off. Further inspecting the remains. Intent on finding further explanation while the rest of the party mused over the reasons.
Combing over the details the group already knew, it was a pretty safe bet that the two goblins with their throat cut had been executed. There was no way to know why, so he moved on to the tracks and the goblins slain with alchemist's fire.
As he felt around the scorched ground he couldn't help but notice several patches of earth were still uncomfortably warm to the touch. While the goblins had a head start as the party organized, it seems that they must have lingered here before the execution. They might not be as far behind as one would think.
Finally, he pours over the mess of tracks. The two larger sets of tracks were what drew his attention. They already had a direction and accounting of their numbers, after all. The two larger set of goblin tracks weren't just bigger than normal goblins. They weren't as long as a human's soles, but he could tell by the weight and the size they must have been man-sized. Either grown with magic or alchemy.
*** Onto the trail! ***
Siegfried leads the group into the swamp with care. Picking his way through the firmer terrain, but even doing so the party had to climb over thick roots and carefully step around wet depressions that could be surprisingly deep. Jaxom lingers close by to assist, but if anything the stocky dwarf checks him a few times instead. Keeping him from stumbling on one occasion and grabbing him under the belt on another to keep him form stepping in a deceptively deep puddle.
As the party skirts one muddy pool you spot what looks like thin branches in the water, but a closer inspection reveals sharpened points. There were several thin wooden spikes all lashed to a thick length of log and dropped in the concealing water and mud. It would seem Siegfried had spared the party coming across something nasty. Jaxom, in particular.
Kras'tak has it the easiest among the group. Her feet not sinking as deep due to her size, and matching the pace of Rabbit in the difficult terrain proved untaxing. Not to mention the men in armor forging the path. Unless she got frustrated with the slow pace. As she snorts an indolent puff of frost escaped her nostrils. Perhaps startling the sorcerous kobold as her heritage manifested without intent.
The party continues along in the bog. There was not a heavy carpet of insects here. Many of the trees were long dead. The plant life sparse. It was rather quiet. Even the toads and frogs made not a sound. But then, the Frogstump tribe had to eat something. This all made the party keenly aware of their own noise. Shifting armor, snapping twigs, sucking muck, and even their labored breathing as they trudged along.
Following the tracks as best he could, Siegfried brings the party to something of an island in the swamp. The ground was raised a good foot from the swamp. The heavy, wide roots of a tree serving as a foundation for the raised earth. The tree in question was broken at the trunk about eight feet off the ground. Jagged and ripped from what was probably a lightning strike.
The rest of it's body was absent, likely harvested long ago. Part of it had been burned and carved out to make a hollow, and looking at it the party could see it opened into a small hovel. A stretched out deer hide served as a door. It was not a place for a tribe of goblins to hide, but would make a decent sized abode for one hermit of small stature. This had either been missed when the tribe had been hunted down in the past, or was setup in the time since.
The goblin tracks mill about here, but then move off again. Toward the spring.
"Should we look in the hut before we head on?" Alden asks. "The goblins didn't seem to care about it, but that may be because they suspect we're following them."
"Yes. But with care. The goblins paused here for something. Might have set a trap, or two...."
"Aye, a quick look-see shouldn't be too bad," Siegfried concurs, glad for a moment to not be constantly vigilant about his footfalls.
Rabbit listens in near-silence as 'the men' talk, hanging back near Kras'tak. At first it's not really knowing what to say... but soon enough it's struggling through the muck and the swamp given his lack of physical conditioning and small size. What is only knee deep for Jaxom or Alden is waist-deep for Rabbit-- which means that the satchel at his side is often at risk of submerging, and he has to unstrap it and carry it above his head to keep Mr. Whisper from drowning in swamp water. This, in turn, means his hands are less free to help brace himself or clamber over things.... resulting in a very muddy halfling within short order.
He's relieved when they find the hollowed stump if only for a chance to catch his breath. He sets an angrily-squirming satchel down on the cleanest bit of ground he can find and wipes muck off his hands.
"I can check for magic," he wheezes, and does just that.
Jaxom looks over the doorway of the impressive stump. The fire which had burned down through the base of it and into the roots had been directed. The earth carved neatly. Stepping down toward the door he felt the sensation of earth mixed with stone. The floor within a smooth and seamless rock with an odd texture. It might be difficult for most to gather how it was made, but you are all familiar with the alchemical cement that Tel Beys uses on occasion.
Checking for anything amiss, he did notice a thin tripwire laid just past the hide near the floor. Attached to a hinge and a bell on the wall. Keeping himself perfectly still, he could faintly hear something beyond the door. A soft, melodic tinkling like glass chimes, and soft snoring. A faint ruby light glittered in places under the hanging door of hide, like the low sun through a ruby crystal.
Looking at the hut, Rabbit detects a strong magical aura through the door and beyond. There was certainly powerful magic beyond.
Jaxom motions to get the attention of the others calling for a halt, then mimes sleeping pointing to the door. He moves slowly and carefully to the door and tries to open it....
Hopefully the magic doesn't include some sort of alarm that could wake the dead!
Siegfried nods as Rabbit detects the magic, and he decides to try to join the halfling in the assessment of magic.
Alden draws his sword and stands ready for whatever might come from within when Jaxom opens the door.
As Jaxom carefully pulls the deer hide door to the side he is greeted with a rounded, dug out interior that was reinforced with more concrete. Leftover tree roots poked from the ceiling at around six feet in height. Enough where Alden and Jaxom would have to duck their heads if they pushed inside. The chamber was maybe eight feet in diameter.
To their left they saw a pot bellied iron stove, it's stack going up into the earth above. A small wooden counter there with a door on the front. Atop it were herbs and root vegetables of different kinds piled up. Cast off bits and stems resting on a half-rusted kitchen knife. A steel cup of some brackish liquid bubble atop the stove. Ember glow emitting from inside the iron belly. A foot away from the stove was an old trunk, a ends of cloth hanging out from the closed lid like loose tongues.
To the right was a large, comfortable looking chair. Thickly cushioned with even more blankets and pillow tacked on. Laid back in the chair, chin dipped low in slumber, was a withered and deflated looking female goblin. So deflated and tiny with age she may well seem non-threatening even to Rabbit. The nightstand beside the slumbering goblin was covered in a felt cloth, and atop it rested a small stack of books and a bronze claw stand that held the source of the ruby light flickering across the wall of the chamber.
A fist size Garnet. Uneven and rough cut facets causing the light that pulsed at it's core to cast those uneven star-like patterns of light. As the party looked in the light briefly grew in intensity, but quickly settled.
Trying to read the magic, Rabbit and Siegfriend immediately discern the powerful aura is coming from the gem. However, the nature of the magic eludes them.
Jaxom sets his crossbow down outside of the hut, bends down so his head won't disturb the roots, and quietly enters the hut. Remembering Beys words he considers the creature. Maybe they had missed one female goblin. Could this crone be the source of the alchemist weapons that the goblins had been carrying? And the mutations on their bodies?
He pulls his axe from his belt so the creature will know he is armed, even though he doesn't need it.... He calls out in the goblin language to wake her, "Who are you? And do you lead the local goblins that attacked us?"
Although he wasn't necessarily an expert in magic--not anymore at least--the strength of the item before him was surprising. Siegfried stays back, curious at sights the little hovel. He knew better than to consider age a sign of a lack of strength. But books? In a goblin's home? Now that was surprising. Didn't they have some inane belief that books stole thoughts from their heads and burn them as a matter of principle? It could be that this goblin had abandoned that belief in this post-Sharding world (or even before, to be honest). But that would make her like an outcast among her own people. And yet...
Well, nothing was certain anymore.
For better or worse, even Siegfried's best efforts at following Jaxom in were fraught with loud clanging.
Kras’tak held her tail out for Rabbit to use for balance as her splayed, webbed toes kept her above the muck for the most part. As they reached a solid spot she’d cast a small spell, and with the snap of her fingers small flurries of frost would quickly swirl around the party members, disappearing as quickly as they came and taking the mud with them. The snowy lizardd watched the others peer into the hut,head tilting one way then the other as she thought it over. Finally, she slipped forward, keeping low as she poked her head between the legs of those gathered. Her tail flicked back and forth happily at the sight of the crystal, fingers twitching eagerly as her eyes went wide.
Shiny
The sorceress bit her lip as she held back her urge to scamper for the item, instead pushing past the dwarf and remaining human to slip inside the hut. Her eyes never left the garnet though as she prowled along the edge, letting Jaxom take the lead.