Flori, lobs yet another glob of acid at a goblin but misses wildly.
The rat takes a bite out of the goblin's shins whilst chittering in excitement.
Vigny's sword starts to shed light again, the same golden yellow color with a hint of delicious and refreshing as before. She peeks around the corner to see how things are going inside and spies another lit firework in the chiefs hand. She withdraws quickly and decides to wait out the coming blast before going in. Lesson learned, Vigny respects fireworks as weapons a bit more now.
Cleo hoots, bites and claws, as Cailyn shouts encouragements. She reloads her crossbow, aims, and then fires at the chief.
Shunsen continues her improbable streak and fails to connect with one of the goblins. Orchid finishes off her opponent with a vicious slash of her claws and moves up to Chief Gutwad. Flori finishes summoning her rat and it nips at the remaining goblin guard. Her blob of acid, however, fails to find a target and sizzles as it drips down the wooden wall. Cailyn's crossbow bolt sinks into the wall behind the chief, but her owl manages to claw him.
Round 4
The sole goblin guard turns his attention to the green rat that's appeared out of nowhere to take a bite of him, slashing wildly with his dogslicer and catching nothing but air.
Chief Gutwad turns at the owl that clawed him, holding up the sparking tube. It sails out of his hands and slams into the ceiling with a loud that echoes off the crude walls and a brilliant flash of light. The chief manages to avoid most of the blast, but his remaining guard succumbs to the retort.
As soon as she hears the boom, Vigny rounds the corner and charges into the room. She literally charges, picking up more speed as she crosses the distance between the open doors and the chief. She comes straight at him, longsword held in both hands over her head snarling out a roar to both work herself up and unnerve the goblin chief.
"RHAAAAHROWWW!"
As she arrives in front of him, she brings her sword down at a slight diagonal from top left to bottom right, hoping to throw him off his game in case he's expecting a straight vertical chop downward at the top of his head.
Shunsen winces as the heat of the exploding firework washes over her. Patting out a few flames that remain on her person, her eyes widen as Vigny makes her opinion of the Chief Goblin known.
Her eye's widen even more at the devastating intent Vigny's attack demonstrates, "Vigny, we want this one alive!" she shouts, before using the flat of her falchion to try to knock the Goblin Chief out.
Vigny is absolutely baffled by what Shunsen says.
"Why?! We only need his head! Much easier to carry back!"
Orchid flinches away from the light and the noise, which protects her somewhat from the blast. Unfortunately she makes the instinctive mistake of watching the missile and her eyes are seared by the bright light.
Still, goblins smell quite distinctive and its enough for her to still be dangerous.
The rat vanishes into a puff of green smoke, leaving a foul smell behind and Flori curses under her breath. Panicking about the situation, Flori does the only thing she can find the energy for.
Cleo gets showered in sparks, bringing the poor bird into non existence again. "Oh" Cailyn exclaims sorrowfully for the death of the echo of her once friend. "Yes, Why alive?"
She should have waited for an answer about Why, before firing but the thud of the wall behind the chief signals it doesn't really matter.
Weapon held in guard position, Shunsen pauses a moment to see if the Goblin Chief had succumbed to their assault, "This one knows where the fireworks and skeletons came from...." she says.
Vigny charges in and sweeps her blade in an impressive display that occupies the goblin chief enough that Shunsen manages to catch him with the flat of her blade. Orchid's claws are much more lethal and even flailing blindly, she manages to inflict a minor wound. Flori and Cailyn missiles go wide.
Round 5
Gutwad steps from his chair to the corner of the room, pulling a potion from his crude belt and downing it. Some of his injuries vanish.
"I tells stinking hoomans nothing! NOTHING!" the nasty little fellow sneers as he readies his spear.
Vigny is unimpressed with Shunsen's rational and continues to go hard at the goblin chief.
And
And
And
Flori hesitates just as she goes to throw another glob of acid. Shunsen is certainly right and questionning him would certainly be more valuable. Just as she opens her mouth to agree she is stunned into silence by Vigny's impressive show of skill.
Chief Gutwad's attempt to preserve his life turns out to be his undoing as Vigny takes the opportunity to slash and then slash again, separating the goblin's head from his body. It falls to the floor with a hollow thunk. His body follows it a moment later.
Combat Ends!
Searching the hut, the door leads to Gutwad's bedroom which is a small closet-like space with animal hides for a bed and with the walls decorated similarly to his "Throne Room". Beyond this room is an even smaller room containing a single chest - decidedly not of goblin workmanship.
While encrusted with mud and filth, the red lacquered chest is a work of art, decorated with delicate etchings of cranes and frogs playing along a beach .
In spite of what the goblin told you, it's obvious that Gutwad didn't give up all of his treasure to the skeletons. Inside the chest are 329 sp and 112 gp. Along with the coinage are six masterwork shuriken, a long hairpin with a red pearl at one end and a gold-and-ivory fan depicting a gecko walking amid cherry blossoms .
On the reverse side of the fan has been painted a crude map.
Orchid detaches the chief's ears and then works her way through the bodyguard before disappearing into the back room. When she emerges she approaches Flori and drops a muddy chest in front of her, before levering it open to reveal a veritable horde of coins. The wolf girl grins at her big sister.
"Money! Flori likes?"
Shunsen , about to more completely explain her thesis on the merits of keeping the Chief alive, watches as Vigny dispatches the Chief with two quick cuts.
"Uh...well then, forget what I said...."
She pats out a few places on her armor that was still smouldering, then looks with interest as Orchid deposits the strange chest.
Shunsen frowns, "That chest is of Minkai design....How did this get here?" she mutters, sifting though the coins, finding something stickin out. She pull out the gold and ivory fan, opening it with a grin, turning it about. It's then that she notices the map on the other side.
"Look! A map has been drawn here!" she says with excitement, laying the fan down to look at the map.
Vigny's curiosity about the chest's contents lasts, for the present at least, only until she notices the red pearl hairpin. She picks it up and stares at it like she's just fallen in love.
"This is sooo beautiful!"
Cailyn bends down next to Shunsen to look at the map "Oh, I saw this in a book... somewhere... Brinestump Marsh, I think" her fingers trace lightly along one of the ridges in the fan. "shipwrecks, here and here, and cave. Those were not in the map I saw."
As Orchid opens the chest, Flori completely ignores it and throws her arms around her sister in relief and squeezes tightly.
After a few moments, she eventually lets go and looks around as everyone else has got to work and looks over Shunsen and Cailyn's shoulders at the map.
"Definitely the marshes. I've looked at a few maps before and this definitely matches. Pretty crude drawing though wouldn't you say? Must have been one of these goblins who drew it as I wouldn't say many others would deface an object like that with a map like this?"
"On another note, has anyone also found any evidence of the other group that was sent out this way but didn't return? Im sure the Sheriff would like to know what happened to them?"
As Flori points out the crudeness, Cailyn nods "It does add interest to the piece though, beauty marred with desperate need... or stunning disregard." Cailyn's mind wonders so hard about the fan, her odd magic touches it.
Orchid returns the hug quite happily, remembering not to squeeze tightly back. Previous experience has taught her that she can squeeze a fair bit tighter than Flori and also that she shouldn't. But she still enjoys hugs from her sister and can be seen grinning widely over Flori's shoulder.
Once attention turns to the chest she found Orchid's own interest wanes and she wanders off to check the rest of the village. She personally isn't too tired but she suspects that there won't be any more adventuring today so instead she makes sure that no goblins are still lurking, just in case the plan is to stay in the village.
Shunsen nods as both Flori and Cailyn reveal the import of the crude map. She runs her fingers over the ornate chest before closing it. "Well, that's that! Let's gather up what we can carry and get back to Walthus' to rest up. "
She'll then move around and gather up anything useful that the goblins may have been using.
---
Taking a last foray through the village, you find nothing - neither goblin nor valuable - that you wish to carry away. Following the path back up to the Lost Coast road is uneventful and neither is the trip back to the halfling's home. He seems genuinely happy to see you and quickly returns Avaligne - who is less than happy to see you based on the fanged hiss she gives off at your appearance - to his garden.
Walthus busies himself at his stove preparing some grilled fish for an impromptu victory dinner as you relay to him your adventure at the goblin village. "So Chief Rendwattle Gutwad is no more," he declares with a sense of awe. "He was a nasty piece of work, make no mistake."
When shown the map on the fan, he nods confirming Flori's observations.
"The shipwrecks would be here and here," he says, indication a point on the shoreline and another point inland along one of the river branches. "This would be where the cave is indicated." He points to a different spot at the southern edge of the marsh. "You could easily get to the first two locations with my raft. The cave would take a bit of walking."
Once the meal is finished and the sun begins to set, he offers you his spare room that in spite of various bags and boxes has enough room for the group to make themselves at home on the wooden floor. Numerous blankets are offered as well as promise of breakfast in the morning and he leaves you to your own company for the night.
Starday, 18th of Desnus (Day 2)
---------------------------------------------
You rise to the smell of bacon frying and Walthus having a heated discussion with Avaligne regarding her behavior towards his guests. Once the group has risen and made their morning preparations, Walthus greets you with a cheery "Good Morning, my friends," as he wipes his hands on a towel. "Have you decided what your plans are for today?"
As Cailyn piles as many blankets as she is allowed into a soft nest, this being her first time sleeping on a Floor, she relays the vision again. "A Minkai angel, not literally, with a deep well of sadness... she looks familiar, I wonder if I saw her in a book?"
"Oh well" she heaps herself in her pile, looking content. "So tomorrow, shipwrecks before caves? Shipwrecks do seem so much more interesting." and then she adds "My father taught me the basics of sailing, but never on a raft. Still currents are currents."
Orchid nods. "Maybe treasure!" She adds with a wolfish grin. Then something else Cailyn said seems to sink in. "Min-kay? Like Ameiko?" She asks, suddenly curious.
Shunsen , wrapped in a few blankets herself, nod at Orchid's question, "Treasure? Maybe, that's usually how the story with shipwrecks go."
The a bit more pensively, "Like Ameiko? Yeah....and me. Well....half of me at least."
After explaining your plans to Walthus, he nods sagely. "The shipwrecks do sound like a good place to begin."
Once breakfast is finished, he leads you out to where his raft is pulled up on the bank of the bay. It seems sturdy if not very large. With five of you Walthus recommends remaining as low as possible and it should support you all. You push off and pole along the calm waters of the bay until you reach the river branch indicated on the map. Heading upstream, it's less than an hour from breakfast when you come upon the burnt out remains of a small ship run aground.
Searching through the remains, you determine that while the wreck itself has been here at least a couple of decades, the fire that took place is much more recent. Perhaps only a couple of weeks old. And up until the fire, you can see that it was being used by someone for shelter.
With nothing else to found, you reboard the small raft and make your way back to the shore of the bay.
The water of the bay is growing a little rougher, but you manage to keep everyone on the raft from a rude dunking. It's still hot, but the breeze from the bay keeps most of the insects away and the temperature manageable.
Some time later poling along the shore and you reach the site of the second shipwreck. What appears at first to be a strange tangle of branches is in fact the moss-covered ribs of a wrecked ship. The ruined ship lies on its side, split down the middle and mostly sunken into the mud and murky water. While larger than the first ship, this one is in even worse shape, no doubt due to the exposure to the weather of the bay.
Pulling the raft up onto the shore, you set about exploring the remains of the ship.
As you search around the muck-entrenched remains of the vessel, shapes rise from the swamp around you - four skeletons wielding rusty wakizashi!
Combat Begins!
----------------------------------
Round 1
Shunsen doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary at the first wreck, but opines, "If this is where the goblins found the fireworks, maybe they set them off by mistake...
At the second wreck, she find a verdigris-encrusted nameplate..."Kaijitsu's Blossom!" she exclaims, "That's Ameiko's family's name... that can't be a coincidence." She uses her dagger to remove the nameplate from the rotted wood.
When the undead rise from the muck, she comments "Ah...the 'bones' the goblins were ranting about!"
She draws her falchion and attacks the nearest skeleton...
Vigny hangs on to the hairpin. After all, somebody has to carry it so it might as well be her. And besides, if it thrown in a sack or something with a bunch of other stuff it might get jostled about and damaged.
Yep, best I hang on to it to keep it safe.
It's good news to see Walthus still doing fine. Vigny had worried a little that there might be other things around like the one they caught mimicking him, and another one might make an attempt to get rid of him. Walthus does seem to have the only semi-decent house in the marsh so it could be a prize worth killing for.
Thinking about this brings to mind something Vigny periodically wonders about, but then forgets about again. Flori had also mentioned it. While they eat breakfast, Vigny asks Walthus if he's seen or heard anything at all regarding a different group from Sandpoint who came before them for the same purpose. "It sort of sounded like the Sheriff had expected them back before we even left Sandpoint, but there had been no sign of them. Didn't see a hint of them at the goblins' village either."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Vigny doesn't love using the raft, but in the end it's not so bad, and finding two old ships in the marsh is pretty cool. It would be cooler if it was in good enough condition to explore rather than burned out or rotten, but the very interesting nameplates are good consolation.
"Huh! Is Ameiko rich or something?"
Vigny has never heard of a rich innkeeper, like rich enough to own whole big ships and stuff rather than just rich enough to have nicer clothes and maybe a bigger house.
When the skeleton rouse from the muck, Vigny tells the others to "mind the restless crew."
"Nothing at all the carve off them. Better to bash them."
Vigny draws a club tucked through belt around back. It's not a crude piece of wood, but more like a truncheon, a smooth, thick stick colored almost black from multiple lacquer coatings. She points the club at the skeleton nearest to her. "Time to give you 'The Final Word'".
Keeping her shield at the ready against its little sword, Vigny aims her club to strike the skeleton's shoulder, hopefully to smash on through and ruin the spine.
Orchid notes the names of both ships and silently points them out to Flori. When she notices a pale figure later on she frowns and watches the area carefully for the next few minutes until the group moves away and she is confident that they aren't being followed.
----------------------------
Suddenly surrounded by the undead Orchid pounces on the nearest skeleton, driving her spear into its empty skull with extreme prejudice!
Shunsen acts first, but her blade glances off the undead's rusted and torn chain shirt. Vigny smashes one of them with her truncheon and while Orchid's spear isn't the most efficient against bare bones, no one can deny the force behind it as a second skeleton is reduced to its component bones and collapses into the mud.
Of the remaining two skeletons - one facing Shunsen and the other squaring off against Cailyn - neither is able to land a blow.
Figuring Shunsen will manage just fine, Vigny goes to Cailyn's assistance. When she's close enough, Vigny thwacks the skeleton with The Last Word.
Orchid slides in behind the skeleton menacing Shunsen and swings her spear sideways to smack the skeleton with the pole, rather than stabbing it. Vigny said to do it so she gives it a try.
And if it doesn't work there's always biting!
After a not-so-comfortable night sleep, being a little too cold from lack of blankets hoarded by the others, Flori is feeling a little more grouchy that usual. She supposes this isn't too much of a problem as she expected to be apprehensive setting off on the goblin-map-hunt but is a little too tired for that.
*******
"Skeletons! What the bloody hell do we do about that?" Flori exclaims aloud, mostly to herself, as she wracks her brains for anything she might have remembered.
In the meantime she just does what she can.
With quick and efficient use of acid, spear, and truncheon, the remaining two skeletons are quickly dispatched.
Combat Ends!
Searching through the decayed remains of the ship itself produces nothing beyond the mud and verdigris covered nameplate that Shunsen found.
The journey to the marked cave will be a pathless trek through the undergrowth of the swamp. But if the map is accurate, you should have enough time to reach it before nightfall.
After taking a few minutes to catch your breath, you head south through the swamp. You're able to use the small raft for part of the journey, but it's not long before you have to leave it pulled up on one of the muddy banks and continue on foot. The greenery puts up a token fight, but you manage to work your way to the southern edge of the marsh.
A fifty-foot-high cliff rises along the marsh’s southern border, its face a thick tangle of jutting rocks and bright green vines and nettles. A curtain of these thick nettle vines partially conceals a cave opening at the base of the cliff.
"I'll make sure we can see where we're heading throughout; looks like there won't be much light in there. Orchid, how about you head in cautiously, you're always good at spotting things."
Orchid nods at Flori's suggestion and steps into the lead. Oddly as she goes her head changes shape - her nose elongating into a muzzle and her short hair morphing into a covering of fur. From behind her now pointed ears stick up rather obviously from the top of her head, although Orchid herself seems either unaware or unphased by the change.
Orchid leads the way into the caves, pushing aside the vines and nettles that partially conceal the entrance, followed by Shunsen and Vigny. Flori and Cailyn bring up the rear.
About fifteen feet inside the cave the main passage turns off towards the southeast while a smaller tunnel branches off to the west. Orchid catches the scent of blood coming from the smaller branch.
Shunsen follows Orchid, brushing past the vines, then exclaims softly, "Ouch! Ah , that burns!"
Then she's leaning against the nearby wall, retching.
If it's possible her face is even more green as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, "Ugh....I feel horrible...
After seeing Shunsen's reaction, Cailyn covers her head and hands with her expensive (but now muddy) cloak. Like a tent over a lumpy pole.
Thankfully it allowed her through the... whatever it was.
The noble pulls out a black silk bag, embordered with little pink flowers. "Here... in case you need to, well you know." the most expensive vomit sack imaginable.
Vigny somehow manages to get past the vines without touching them. Considering the possibility that things might get too tight for swings in the cave, she opts for buckler and seax.
Although Flori has a some lights up, Vigny casts a light on a coin and palms it. It will be available if there's an emergency requiring it.
Flori is also not quick enough to react as some of the vines swept aside by Shunsen fall back on her too.
"Ow! What the....?!"
She falls in next to Shunsen, face screwed up in displeasure.
Orchid slips through the hanging vines without difficulty and then pulls up sharply at all the exclamations that come behind her. Her fully wolf-formed head is thoroughly disconcerting in the gloom, especially the yellow eyes.
Seeing that the rest of the group isn't going anywhere for a minute she slips away forwards, taking advantage of the quiet - at least for a moment - to follow the scent of blood.
So she pulls back and heads down the other passageway instead while all the ladies behind her fuss and make unpleasant noises. The smell is... well the spider seems like a better option.
Orchid eyes the pools of water with deep suspicion - after the incident at the ships she's become suddenly wary of unexpected water pools she can't see into. With that in mind she doubles back, re-appearing out of the gloom in front of her companions like the worlds most stunted werewolf.
The only problem is that wolf jaws are not good for talking.
"Sssss-er." She says, pointing down the smaller passage. "Oooj ssss-er. N ah-er." She points down the other passage.
"What language is that??" Cailyn asks with interest as she holds Flori's hair back in case breakfast makes a reappearance.