"Thank you so much for your help, Father."
With Father Zantus help, Zorlen goes over the gathered book, hoping to find some sort of clue to whatever the thieves might be trying to do. But it seems his mind is not totally focused on the task, and keeps drifting off to memories of moments with Father Tobyn, or Nualia back at the old church.
Focus, Zorlen. They're gone. Right now the best you can do to honor their memory is to ensure their remains are not desecrated in some unholy ritual.
|
Garen and Grod head toward the office where they first met the sheriff (possibly with Zorlen as well).
Assuming they find him, "Sheriff, my order demands that I pursue evil when possible and so I went to look over the site of the theft. Grod found some tracks leading to where we believe they used a ladder. We then walked the perimeter and found no other entry points. I was hoping you could direct me to someone that sells hunting dogs to see if we could get on the trail of these goblins. Plus, I was wondering if we could question the guards who were on duty before and during the raid. I'm hoping they may have seen something even if it didn't seem significant at the time but in hindsight may seem more important."
Ari smiles and replies to Izzy, "Any arm bending needed for sure, as long as you don't accuse me of trying to get you drunk and taking advantage. That could cause real trouble with me and Tot."
He raises the drink when it comes, "To future adventures and plentiful rewards, hopefully without too great of risk!"
She chuckles at his jest, unoffended, and joins his toast "To Future Adventures and plentiful rewards hopefully without too great a risk but still exciting enough that the stories keep em hooked"
"I have my own share of painful secrets," Ameiko replies, "so I understand keeping them, but eventually you'll find someone to share them with. I have Bethana, who you know, and Shalelu, who you might have met. As for dangerous secrets... find people willing and able to face the danger."
If Zorlen had been on his own, he would have missed it. It was Father Zantus who found the relevant passages and pointed them out.
The first section of relevance was a list of undead, sorted by type. Various types of skeletal undead were included. The basic skeletons could be created by a simple animate dead spell, which any necromancer worth their salt would know. More concerning was the stronger undead, which could only be created with the powerful create undead: the skeletal champion, which retained all the skills the body had in life, and the huecuva, the risen corpse of a heretical priest.
"Not that Father Ezakien was heretical in life, of course. Even if Desna didn't approve of how strict he was with Nualia, he was nowhere near bad enough to become a huecuva. But a sufficiently powerful necromancer could force such blasphemy upon his soul anyway."
The second section of relevance was warning of a sequence of blasphemous rituals that progressively transformed their caster into a fiend. In particular, the second stage involved the betrayal of love by burning a family member, alive or dead, as a sacrifice to the caster's fiendish patron.
"But who could come for both of them?" Father Zantus wonders. "Father Ezakien had no family left other than Nualia, and Nualia was a foundling whose birth parents we never found."
"Daviren Hosk would be glad to lend a few hounds to hunt down some goblins," Sheriff Hemlock replies, "but I'm not sure how much good it will do. With the amount of time that's passed since the attack, the scent trail will have gone so cold that even the Wild Hunt couldn't find it. As for questioning my guards, I'm not sure what you could ask that I haven't already thought of, but I suppose I can allow it. What were you thinking of doing first?"
The door slams open, and an elderly man storms in. Ari knows him on sight, and Izzy D can easily deduce from his appearance who this is: this is Ameiko's father, Lonjiku Kaijitsu, owner of the Sandpoint Glassworks and member of the town council. He yells something in the tongue of his ancestors, Minkaian, a language that few in Sandpoint outside the Kaijitsu family know. The other patrons suddenly grow very interested in their meals.
In the kitchen, Ameiko winces. "Why did you have to come now, Father?"
Tot opens her mouth to ask a question only to jump when the door to the tavern slams open and an angry man begins shouting in some language she does not know nor recognize. A look of pure dread crosses her face when she hears Ameiko saying that it is her father, though she thinks that perhaps she wasn't supposed to have heard that part. Memories of her own parents' tirades come back. Her mother's anger was always cold and controlled, but her father was like a roaring inferno when his ire was roused, and it seemed that Ameiko's father was of a similar temperament.
"H-he--He sounds angry," Tot says. "I-I-I should come with you. No, I should see him out. H-h-he's disturbing the customers."
She doesn't wait for Ameiko's response before picking herself up off the floor and heading out into the common room of the tavern.
A pale-faced Tot comes out of the kitchen shortly after Lord Kaijitsu comes in and starts making a scene. The others can see her trembling and paling as she walks towards the looming confrontation instead of away from it, but walk towards it she does.
"E-excuse m-me," Tot stammers in voice just loud enough to cut across the man's ranting. Her tail writhes and curls around her left leg more than anyone here in Sandpoint has seen, a clear tell of her nervousness as she continues. "Y-y-y-you're d-d-disturbing th-th-the other g-g-guests. Y-Y-You'll h-h-have to leave. I-I-I i-insist, s-sir."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Erridon hears the yelling in whatever that strange language was and gets interested with Ameiko's response. When Tot moves toward him challenging the man Ari stands to back her up. He smiles remembering her actions in the recent battles which clearly would be hard to believe considering her size. Standing slightly more than a foot taller than Tot he glares over her at the man, but stays silent.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The Rusty Dragon (Izzy, Ari, Ameiko, and Tot)
"Sir?" izzy moves to the elder human who seems to be screaming "Oh my goodness, I've heard of this, it can affect the very elderly. He probably thinks he's in a war, or maybe he wants to pick a fight with a cloud. We have to be understanding." She tells the others
Lonjiku glares at Tot and Izzy. "Out of my way, little... adventurers, and stop interfering in the jobs meant for your betters." He doesn't even bother to hide the contempt in his voice.
Erridon hasn't dealt directly with Lord Kaijitsu before. But every non-noble in the town had heard of him....
Ari carefully places a hand on Tot's shoulder as he quietly speaks to her and Izzy. "We should let Ameiko speak with her Father before we get involved? We will back her up if needed, but let her decide.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"I-I-I t-told her I'd s-s-see h-him out," she whispers back to Ari, not so sure of her actions now. After a heartbeat or two, she decides that maybe she should figure out what Ameiko want before frogmarching the lout out. "G-go ask her, p-p-please."
Turning her attention back to Lonjiku Kaijitsu, something about his tone irks her. Emotions long bottled up begin to roil and bubble as the nobleman becomes the focus of years of anger and resentment as she remembers every other time someone had put her beneath themselves for one reason or another. In that moment, her uncertainty vanishes as the wit she learned to keep hidden comes out.
"My apologies, Lord Kaijitsu," she says in a cold, razor-sharp tone devoid of her customary stuttering and stammering as she gives Lonjiku a low, mocking bow. "I did not realize you had come to help Ameiko here at the Dragon. Pray tell, are you here to escort louts such as yourself, too deep in their cups to know foolishness from sense, out the door, or are you here to help in the kitchen and curdle the soup with your foul demeanor."
Her heart races as she looks him in the eyes, her red orbs sparkling with a glimmer of wicked humor. For the moment, she forgets her anxieties and insecurities, reveling in the moment as she lets loose and gives her keen wit free reign of her tongue and actions.
|
|
With no objections, Garen gets directions from the sheriff and then heads out for the stables and Daviren Hosk to get dogs. Once in hand, hopefully with a dog handler, they can head up to the north side of the wall opposite the crossing and see if the dogs pick up a scent. Once that lead is run to ground, one way or the other, he'll check with his two companions to see what they wish to do next; track down the guards or tell the others what they have found.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Izzy D memorizes Lonjiku's features, his mannerisms. Got to have fuel if one is to make a satirical ballad that really burns.
She IS surprised as skittish Tot mouths off
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Erridon chuckles quietly, then turns and goes to Ameiko. "Should I ask Tot to back off? I haven't seen her this angry since she was facing the goblins."
"Thank you for your help, Father. I don't think I'd have figured it out without it. It's troubling, but hopefully we'll be able to put this information to good use and stop whoever it is from defiling Father Tobyn's corpse in such a way..."
Zorlen sadly looks down at his hands for a moment as he considers Father Zantus questions. "I don't know who could be behind this, either. I... It just feels like I just failed them a second time. I could do nothing the night of the fire, and now this?" He shakes his head, trying to focus on ghe present. "I should be going now, Father. Tell the others what we learnt. Thank you again for your help."
Seeing Garen and Grod come back from their search outside the city's walls, Zorlen joins them.
"I think it would be best if we go back to the others, for now, and share what we learned. I believe Father Zantus figured out what our mystery attackers might be trying to do with the bodies. As someone who was close to them, it's... troubling, but knowing might just let us be better prepared."
"Very well." Grod rumbles, with a nod.
Daviren Hosk gladly loans a riding dog from his Goblin Squash Stables to help hunt down the goblins. "Unfortunately, I can't come with you myself. I'd love to hunt down some goblins, but I have to take care of my other animals. If you bring me the ears of any goblins you find, I'll give you 5 gold per pair.
Dog in tow, the three adventurers go back to the perimeter, looking for traces of goblin presence.
Only Zorlen misses the initial signs of the tracks, but the tracks are hard for Garen and the dog to follow. Grod keeps them all on track, even when the trail crosses the Lost Coast Road. Ultimately, they follow the trail along a winding path down the cliff to the Lost Coast, where this small band of goblins and their taller ally separated from a larger group of goblins that continued further west along the Lost Coast and did not return.
Before Lonjiku can react to Tot's surprisingly harsh words, Ameiko comes out, still holding a ladle of soup from when she and Tot were cooking. "Thank you," she says to Tot, "but this is my burden to bear." She then begins arguing with her father in Minkaian.
Tot turns to Ameiko and feels her cheeks heating as her employer--or was Ameiko her friend now--thanks her and takes over. Despite not knowing what the argument was about or what was being said, Tot stays close to Ameiko. Her curiosity, unfortunately isn't enough to distract her from the growing realization of what she'd done. She'd not only mouthed off to someone in front of a crowd of people who had heard every word, but she'd mouthed off to a nobleman. True, he was petty noble--the emphasis on petty the part of her that had been reveling in being let loose tells her--but he was still a noble, and that meant he had power and influence an itinerate caravan guard and cook like her could never have. In a way that made him far more frightening than the much more wellborn nobles she's met and dealt with in the past. For one thing, he was here to make her life miserable if he put his mind to it, and they weren't.
What was I thinking?! I should never have spoken to him that way, no matter how aggravating he was being! The thought, however, isn't able to banish that flicker of enjoyment from seeing Lonjiku Kaijitsu's face as her words landed, however.
That is dangerous, though. That part of her is the part that had so often gotten her in trouble as a child and an adolescent, at least until she'd been beaten down enough to learn silence is far better for staying unnoticed. True she can barely talk to strangers now without panicking, but so long as she can get across her skill as a cook, she figures she can get by.
What has changed, then? Before she'd never have thought to speak to anyone that way. Is it knowing that Ari, Ameiko, and Bethana all care about her? Is it now having a place that can become her home? Is it just the way Lonjiku had sneered at her, like so many of the smug and arrogant men and women that were supposedly her relations, one of whom had been her own brother?
Tot doesn't have the answers to those questions, and likely won't for a long time. She pushes the thoughts away, hoping that they will disappear and she will never have to examine them too closely. Better to keep her head down and focus on building a place for herself here in Sandpoint.
She grabs her arms and her tail hugs her legs as she watches the argument rage between Ameiko and her father. Better that she not stand out any more. Tot the cook, that is good enough for her. Best not to do anything to stand out.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Pretty language though" The bard comments to no one in particular
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ari watches as Ameiko takes over the conversation with 'Lord Kaijitsu'. Actually he is more interested.... concerned, as he watches Tot. He notices that she takes position close to, but slightly behind Ameiko. Backing her up? Or cowering behind? As her head lowers and her tail wraps around her she looks diminished.
Ari very quietly steps behind Tot again and this time rests a hand gently on her shoulder. He knows she could put the loud mouth down with a casual backhand. But Tot seems worried. Scared? Has she had trouble with nobility before? He puts the question aside for now. He just wants her to know that her friends are there for her. He is there for her.
Lonjiku and Ameiko are getting more heated in their argument. One of Lonjiku's statements makes Ameiko outright angry, and she gestures toward the door. Instead, Lonjiku grabs at Ameiko, but she ducks and strikes him with her soup-filled ladle, getting soup all over his outfit.
Ari chokes off a possible chuckle, changing it to a cough to try and not be taken as an insult. The 'Lord' is already upset so he absolutely doesn't want to be seen as laughing at him....
"Tot? Maybe we should go back to the table. I've got a cough and need to wash it down"
Where the trail forks, Grod stands, looking between the two, his hands on his hips. "Well, What do you think? Follow the group with the taller creature, or the bigger one? Or head back and tell the others what we've found?" He looks to Zorlen "You're from around here, any idea where these two trails might be heading?"
"Hmmm. I'd lean towards the one with the taller creature. Since they're probably the one leading all these goblins, I think they should be our priority. That said, how many goblins would you say are with them? Think we can handle all of them on our own?"
Zorlen ponders on Grod's question for a moment. "Well, I never explored much outside of town, so I'm not too sure where they might be going. But if I remember anything that might help, I'll let you know."
The group with the big leader and six goblins were retracing their steps back east, the way they came. The other group, which continued west along the beach, was about twenty-four goblins, matching up roughly with the group that got into Sandpoint and perished.
When Ari puts his hand on Tot's shoulder, she stiffens for a moment before sliding closer to him while still staying near Ameiko. She appreciates the gesture and that Ari is there with her. His presence helps her relax a little, though she tenses as Lonjiku makes a grab for his daughter. Ameiko's dodge and counter with the soup ladle has Tot covering her mouth to keep from laughing as Ari suggests finding a table. The tiefling looks from Ameiko to Ari, and wonders if she should stay or go with Ari.
"Sh-shouldn't I stay in case things get worse," she asks, unsure of what she should do, but trusting Ari enough to want his advice.
Izzy is rooted on the spot, this is going to make a hilarious moment in a story "you go on if you want, Tot. I am gonna take notes."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ari barely hears Tots words with the struggle in front of them. At least she'd kept herself from jumping in and beheading the arrogant.... He stops that line of thought.
"Don't turn. Just step backwards, a little at a time. I'll try to stay out of your way so you don't step on my feet. It'll almost be like dancing.... It looks like Ameiko has control. Her father is just.... Never mind. Let's just back up a little more."
Hearing Izzy's comment he groans. "Please change the names to protect the.... innocent and the guilty."
Tot nods her head and tries to do as Ari says. She manages to move back gracefully, her feet sliding smoothly over the floor. A part of her wants Ari to hold her and guide her, but she has to admit that it's not strictly necessary. Besides, she still wants to be able to come to Ameiko's aid if the tavernkeeper needs it.
Izzy's and Ari's comments cause Tot to raise an eyebrow. She isn't sure if changing the names would do much to protect anyone. It's been years since she's let herself be so free with her words, and anyone in town can easily tell someone who the song is really about. Perhaps it's prudent, if only to keep Lonjiku Kaijitsu from trying to take some sort of petty revenge, but changing a name isn't likely to dissuade a man like him from doing that anyway. He seems to be the worst kind of petty noble, at least to her. The longer the arguing continues, the more Tot thinks that maybe she should have hauled him out instead of asking him to leave.
"Ari, does anyone like that man? It seems like most of the town hates him from what happened when he didn't show up at the Swallowtail Festival."
Lonjiku looks down at the potato soup on his clothes, sputtering in shock. He finally manages to find his voice and yells out, in Taldane Common this time, "You're as dead to me as your mother!" He then turns around and storms out of the Rusty Dragon.
Ameiko blinks back the tears that well in her eyes. She reaches down and plucks a stray thread out of her soup ladle. "I'll need to clean this thoroughly. Jackass stew wasn't on the menu tonight, after all."
Amid the resulting cheers and laughter from the other patrons, Ameiko turns to approach Tot, Izzy, and Ari. "Thank you again for standing up to my father. I know it couldn't have been easy."
Tot winces as Lonjiku hurls his final, poisonous barb at Ameiko. She knows all too well how it must sting. She herself is as good as dead to her own family, quite literally if they ever find her. As Ameiko comes over, she sees the tears in Ameiko's eyes and before she knows what she's doing, she steps up and wraps Ameiko in a hug.
"N-not so hard," she says softly. "I got annoyed at him. That made it easy."
Then, realizing what she's doing, she lets go and takes a step back as her cheeks heat furiously with embarrassment at herself.
When Ameiko turns to him and Tot Ari moves beside her. He wraps an arm around her if she allows it.... "Always. We understand about family. They're one of the things in life that we can't choose. Maybe Tot should act as a bouncer for you? She's deceptively strong for her size and could easily have thrown him out...." His smile shows not he's, not really, serious about the suggestion....
"I was about to," Tot says when Ari jokes about having her be the Rusty Dragon's bouncer and tossing Lord Kaijitsu out on his butt.
Amid the resulting cheers and laughter from the other patrons, Ameiko turns to approach Tot, Izzy, and Ari. "Thank you again for standing up to my father. I know it couldn't have been easy."
"That was your father? I didn't see the resemblance. You're nice and fun, he's not." She truly looks perplexed then shrugs "Well, your father seems to be the sort of person who goes to performances just to tell folks 'stop having fun'. You're good at what you do and if you're happy, a father should cheer you on, not make you miserable."
"So, if I'm understanding this correctly" Zorlen says thoughtfully as he looks to the more experienced trackers for confirmation. "this taller leader and his smaller group of goblins came here with the bigger group that attacked the town. I'm guessing they broke of from the main force to sneak into town and steal Father Tobyn's and Nualia's remains, and then retraced their steps back here."
"I guess if we keep following their trail, we might find out where they're striking from."
"Hmm. Well, I do like a challenge. But they say sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. We may as well gather the others, just in case." Grod says.
The searchers return to the Rusty Dragon and fill the others in on what they've found so far.
A pained expression crosses Tot's face. Ameiko is right, she probably would have tossed Lonjiku out if she'd understood anything he'd said. Her experience, for better or for worse, is more like Ameiko's than Izzy's. Did most fathers act like Izzy's? Maybe there is something about being born noble that breaks something in people.
"I--I'll do it, if asked, b-b-but I d-d-don't want to draw attention. I'm s-stronger than I look, a lot stronger," Tot tells Ameiko and Ari. "A-are you a-a-alright? I--I c-can listen if--if you need me to."
Tot frowns as she hears about what the others found.
"There has to be a way into town from the beach," she mutters as she thinks through what's going. "Why didn't they use it before the raid, though? Did whoever was leading them know about it?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Erridon listens to the update from the rest of the group that had just arrived. "There's too much going on to figure it all out. Goblins aren't exactly smart, but they were so spread out that they couldn't use proper tactics even if they knew what tactics were. And the different tribes working together? And the one tribe is usually non-violent. If they were actually organizing all of the tribes, why were there so few goblins? The combined tribes would have been a lot more. Were they just a distraction? But just to steal a couple of bodies from our grave yard? Seems to me that they could have sneaked in at night and quietly dug up a whole bunch of bodies.... Why those two?"
He ribs Tot's shoulders while he thinks. "I know the sheriff is busy, but I wonder if he knows anything to help clear this up?"
Tot's pale, ash-gray skin does a poor job of hiding the blush that comes when Ari begins rubbing her shoulder. After the initial surprise, she relaxes, leaning into him as her tail tentatively starts to snake around his legs before she realizes what she's doing.
What is wrong with me?! I--I should be paying attention. It--it is nice, though. Ari's nice. No! Not the time! Focus!
Reluctantly, Tot stands a little straighter as her tail retreats and wraps around her legs.
"W-wouldn't the sheriff have told them if there was anything more? Besides, it may be something specific about those bodies."
Erridon nods, then grins when he realizes that Tot couldn't see his nod since he was behind her. The movement of her tail had caught his attention.... "Right. but he might know something and not realize it."
"Hey Zorlen. Say again what you learned about the bodies. Any clue for why they stole those two and nothing else?"
"Me and Father Zantus went over the possible uses for the bodies, and the ones that seemed more likely... Were the possibility of creating a huevuva from Father Tobyn's body - an undead abomination, typically created from the corpse of a heretical priest, although Father Zantus believed a powerful enough necromancer could force such a thing jpon Father Tobyn's soul." Zorlen tries to not betray his own feelings on the matter, but there's a hint of anger in his voice at the thought.
"As for Nualia's remains... The best we could come up with as a series of rituals that would end up changing the caster into a fiend, and it would require burning a family member as a sacrifice. If that is indeed their goal... It would mean we would be dealing some unknown relation of hers, I suppose. No one knew who her birth parents could be, so that doesn't bring us much closer to finding out who is behind this."
Erridon considers Zorlen’s response. Something seemed off. ”No. That’s too complicated. They just stole those two bodies. It doesn’t make sense to have two different uses. Of the two, the second makes more sense. Family? How close would the relationship need to be? Maybe a distant cousin of either? But would relationship by adoption be enough? Or maybe they didn’t know? The bodies were in the same crypt. A distant relative might not have known about the adoption and thought they were blood relation, father and daughter.”
”Just my thoughts….”
As the conversation moves to the dark purposes that the stolen corpses could be used for, Tot's blood runs cold. She curls around herself and backs into Ari, needing to feel his warmth and comfort. A part of her wonders at how much she has grown to trust him in just a few days, no a few hours. Is it his earnestness? Maybe. The rest of her is too filled with dread and fear to think clearly.
"C-c-could c-cultists b-b-b-be w-working with th-the g-g-g-goblins," she timidly asks the others. "Th-the trail, the one th-that lead w-w-west, c-couldn't that h-h-have b-b-been the g-g-goblins that attacked th-the f-f-festival?"
Ari nods at Tot's words. With her leaning against him he rubs both shoulders. He can't help but notice how strong her shoulders are.... but hunched a bit. She really should stand straight and.... tall? Well, as tall as she was at least. She should be proud of who she was. His parents had always told him that whenever he hunched over.
"Probably right. The goblins in that group were simple labor for whoever organized them. They probably carried the bodies to wherever the ceremony will happen. That's why there weren't more goblins. They were a distraction. The real attack will come later, after they complete the ceremony!"
He doesn't know if he's right, but he sounded right to himself!
|
|
"Quite likely Tot but then how did they get in unless they all just decided to climb that daunting cliff. And, did they all come in. I'm fine with following the other trail as well but I feel it more pressing to ensure there is no more immediate threat to the town." Garen says. "Perhaps we could get a good night's rest and head back out there tomorrow and follow up on one or both trails."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Dia, bolical" The dimunative bard declares when she hears the talk of souls and necromancy. and fiendish transformation, of intrigues using goblin raids.
"Whenever family enters a story, the stakes are always fierce or at least the emotions involved are. " Izzy D ponders "I don't think we achieved much at the Inn. I'm sorry to say. Though we met Ameiko's father, who clearly needs more fiber in his diet."
"I--I d-don't know," Tot admits to Garren. Unlike other times when she's felt out of her depth, she doesn't squirm and her tail doesn't twist and writhe around her. She'd never had anyone rub her shoulders before and it feels nice.
"Demonic, more likely," Tot says when Izzy pipes up. "Diabolists tend to be orderly, and goblins are about as chaotic as it gets. Demoniacs favor chaos, though--"
Her mouth closes with a click as she realizes that she replied without thinking. To most people there was no difference between devils and demons. They were all fiends, and she could hardly blame them for not caring.
Ari can feel her tense before she pulls away from him. Her tail twitches as she moves towards the kitchen.
"S-s-s-sorry! I-I-I n-n-need t-t-to h-h-help in the kitchen," she stammers before hurrying towards her refuge.
She spends several minutes busying herself with the preparations for the coming rush for supper. Even though she is clearly out of sorts, she manages to do a decent job with helping Ameiko out. When a break in the activity gives Tot a moment to catch her breath and think, the tiny woman goes back over the conversation after Ameiko's father was sent running, and the thing that stuck out the most to her wasn't the topic of conversation nor the revelations that Grod, Garren, and Zorlen had delivered. It was the way Ari had rubbed her shoulders.
Her face turns bright-red as she realizes that and groans as she buries her head in her hands.
"What is wrong with me," she asks at a normal speaking volume, which may as well been a loud cry given how soft she normally speaks.
Maybe a good night's sleep would do her some good for some other reasons she hopes, likely in vain, the others aren't aware of.