I'm gonna head out as well, I really enjoyed some of the interactions here, but I'm worried I won't be able to 'freely pick Ileana back up' as it were.
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Ileana is utterly surprised by the creature's speed amidst all the heavy foliage and is foisted straight from her feet and onto her back by the charge, where she lies broken.
As soon as Ileana sees the boar come into view, she brings her bow up horizontal and fires off a quick snapshot, already nocking another arrow within her grip just after she fires, bringing the shortbow back level with the creature, she takes a step back so that if it goes for her, it will wind up - hopefully - between multiple people.
"It's just a pig when we kill it." Ileana says, selecting another nearby tree to attach her horse to. "But until then, it's a threat. Boars are borderline invasive species and basically ruin everything around them pretty often. And they're really volatile. They'll kill things just because they happened to come nearby, ruin crops." she says with a small shrug. "Extremely ill tempered. So... until it dies, assume it's every bit as dangerous as the goblins we fought, or more." she continues as she unhitches her shortbow from her pack and draws a pair of arrows out.
Ileana purses her lips as the others continue looking and pointing out things, but that's the most annoyed she seems to get by the whole ordeal. She certainly doesn't seem to mind helping to teach. She continues to look for different signs of their passage on her own, but surprisingly, Aldern who couldn't take his eyes off of Eloen was the first to find them. She looks to the pit, and begins to say no, but catches herself in time, "Yeah, and the ruts are surprisingly fresh. The next step is to look for a tree that he's wiped himself off on, and then follow the trail. But be careful, such a creature will charge and gore anyone who it perceives as a threat or food. We should tether the horses nearby, so they don't have to meet up with the boar."
"Boar tracks will look like a pair of high heel shoes, with really pointy toes. They're broad and thick, and the heels don't always show up. They can also be long, parallel 'ruts' if they felt threatened.." Ileana responds, "We're also looking for mud puddles where they can 'bathe', and looking for trees nearby to be covered in mud from them cleaning themselves the rest of the way off." As Leona begins to ask about various 'tracks', Ileana shakes her head. "Look for uprooted things, small burrows, and trampled down grass in broad swaths. Broken sticks are likely to be other things entirely. Boars are really big, and tend to wear paths in foliage as well. You can also look for dug up bare patches of ground near thick patches of brush." Ileana offers, keeping her eyes on the surrounding area as she talks, looking passingly at what Leona points out.
Ileana grabbed a horse with a stormy coat, deep gray, but with dapples of white like snowflakes... but then thinks better of it, eyeing the Desnan man. Thinking that perhaps they were more like stars than snowflakes, she offers him the reins before moving to a chestnut mare. It better matched her armor, despite being less inherently beautiful. As they ride, she's quiet, her eyes on their surroundings, but also on the noble. Ileana didn't seem to react much at all to the perceived foolishness that Rigel had, self-doubts and all, it was simply the common thing for Varisians in the area to do exactly what he was suggesting. There were some that would 'grow roots' as it were, but around here, his need to simply move was not unheard of. Ileana, for her part, was certainly Chelish in all the ways that Rigel was Varisian - not that it was any sort of racist connotation - simply that culturally, she was more akin to the former. She was happy to simply be where she was, helping where she could, and dutybound to ensure that everything was as wonderful as she could manage. Thankfully, her idea of 'wonderful' wasn't quite the same as modern day Cheliax, however.
"If it's just an evening trip, I think that should be fine, actually. I can probably work on what I wanted to get done today, tonight... then just wake up a bit early tomorrow to catch back up." She makes the necessary preparations as quickly as she can to send word back to her family before returning a moment later. "I've not ridden much... or at all. Hopefully the horses know what they're doing better than I do." Ileana says a bit sheepishly.
Alrighty, cool. She'll go then, cause I was like, imagining 'days' not 'hours' :P
So, barring 'pcs get kidnapped' or the like, this isn't a 'multiple days foray'? That kind of determines whether Ileana is willing to go or not. If it's just a single day of 'spend time getting to know people', that's not as bad as 'spend three days in the wilds after finding out someone stole the bones of the old priest, and you should probably investigate that.' :P
"Well... it's not as though I -have- to stay. Only that I should. And if you were under the assumption that I would be doing the tracking, then I absolutely should go." Ileana says, giving a small shrug. "I can get a note to my family saying I had to head out... and I think you're right, it could be good for the bakery.." she says, trailing off, looking to the noble for his response.
After awaking early, Ileana dives into the baking preparation, her mind alive with all of the goings-on. As she working things out, she talks to herself, "They say sleep is the best way to set your head straight... what was I thinking, getting caught up in a hunt. There's so very much work that needs doing around here." she says as she pounds the bread, mixing it more evenly, as she fires an older batch. * * * Near daybreak, she wipes her brow with her apron, as she readies to head out. She grabs her hunting bow despite the fact she doesn't actually expect to go hunting, heading to the stables. Once she arrives, her nose wrinkles with distaste. She never had gotten along with the owner very well. "Ummm, bad timing probably... but I've decided that there's just way too much work to do here in town for me to go on a hunting trip on such short notice. Things are really piling up after the festival... I'd expected them to slow down. If you need me, I'll be around, I think. Do you have anyone to track for you, or were you counting on me for that?"
"I guess that's my cue to leave as well." Ileana says as Leona stands up. "Busy day tomorrow, so I'll have to turn in extra early to get all the prep work done... See you tomorrow... if my family can spare me." the young woman says, as she starts stacking plates at the table, making it easier for the server to collect. "Have a good night, guys." she adds, as she heads for the door as well, intending to do the same as Leona.
"Tomorrow?" Ileana asks of the others, nose crinkled. "I have to get all of the baking prep done first thing in the morning, and usually I let my family know at least a week in advance of any hunting trips I plan to go on so they can work around me..." Ileana shares, shaking her head. "I'll see if I can get off, but that's a bit quick for me."
Ileana gives the small gnome a wave as she leaves. The little gnome was so strange! "We could bring some to Ameiko and to the White Deer, maybe make it a contest, if we do go for the boar. And... boars are every bit as invasive and dangerous as dire rats, and probably much more edible." she continues the discussion, "I don't know anything about faceless stalkers, though. What are those?"
Ileana's happy to help him hunt a boar. It just seems so... odd and out of place. Like... I expected something like 'will you be my guards?' or 'I called you here to have a feast in your honor!' or 'When did you first become adventurers?' 'Help me hunt boars' wasn't on the list. Also, as Eloen said, boars can wreck people. Now, if he wanted us to help him go hunt for more gloves... I'd likely turn him down. That never ends well.
Ileana's grip is firm, but not particularly strong as she returns the handshake, feeling a little... off-put by him shaking their hands. Ileana furrows her brow at the man. They'd all been invited... to go hunting with him? That was so very, very strange. He didn't even know she was a hunter and tracker... or did he..? Was he just inviting them because they could fight? Was there something else he was worried about besides the boar, or did he just realistically want the group to go hunt a large, dangerous creature with him? "I'm... a... somewhat capable tracker. Not good by any means, but I've spent a lot of time with hunters out of the white deer lodge in the last couple of years. What did you plan to do with the hide and the meat once you were finished? You could likely get parts worked into something special, host a feast, or even sell the meat to one of the local taverns, I would think."
"I don't actually know anything about that." Ileana says with a shrug. "I only know vague things... people don't talk about back then all that much, so it's more 'Overheard my sisters talk about it' or 'Overheard low conversations in the book store.' and their ilk." she adds, her shrug exaggerating slightly.
"Over, under, what's the difference." Ileana says with a smile to the guardswoman. "A child of the temple." Ileana explains. "Adopted like I was... but I don't really know the circumstances of her adoption. Probably longer ago than me."
Ileana gives a small smile that is somewhat bereft of mirth at the attempt at humor. "Well, mostly. I've been having difficulty getting the goblins to eat... or trust me at all." she says, offering a tiny shrug. She didn't seem to even notice Eloen until she was taking a seat. "That's all pretty much accurate." she adds, nodding. She was still dressed in her armor, and carrying her scimitar, as she had been for as long as Eloen had known her... short of when she was much younger and didn't have them, and extreme extenuating circumstances.
"Hmmm, a noble from Magnimar, probably. The Foxgloves are out that way. I think they've got a nearby 'summer manor,' though... I'm not even sure where I've heard that. It might have just been someone passing through the bakery after a long trip, or I overheard a caravan." Ileana responds as she gives a small shrug. "Nothing really noteworthy about him, I suppose."
"Well.. that's sort of the point I'm trying to make. How many sets of bones were taken, and how many were left?" Ileana asks, keeping her voice low, "If they took two sets and left two sets, it wouldn't be as surprising... but no one seemed to know about Nualia being there, when we asked.." she continued, trailing off as she took a drink and listened to Rigel speak for a moment.
While the two fuss and argue, Ileana explains quietly to those not privy to the gossip of the town, bringing them into the loop. "That's Longiku, Ameiko's dad. He runs the glassworks, and comes from really old money, so he feels like he's important and entitled. Ameiko ran off to be an adventurer when she was younger, and when she came back she built all of this. So I think he has a vested interest in blaming adventurers for ruining everything. All this new money, her being free of him..." she shakes her head slowly. "There's a lot more, but it'd be weird to talk about all of it. Just know that his wife died around the same time all the other bad stuff was happening, and..." she pauses entirely, as if suddenly remembering something, her voice no longer hushed. "Father Tobyn had a daughter." she hushes back down before continuing, "Do you think she was buried with the Father? It wouldn't make sense to have a vault with one body in it... that would explain them raising two skeletons rather than one from the robes. It would distract from the fact they'd taken two bodies to anyone in the know about that..." It is at this point that the quiet argument results in a mighty thwapping, drawing Ileana from her conspiratorial gossiping, "Heeeey..." she calls as she looks in that direction, but just sees an old man wearing his soup leaving the building. She purses her lips for a moment, as the two separate, then huffs.
Well, maybe not in this game, but definitely in another!
Is it common knowledge that Ameiko is an adventurer?
Ileana seems ready to say something witty, snippy, and scathing in anger, but comes up short, brow furrowing as she looks to the gnome. By the time she's recovered, Rigel has begun to speak upon their behalf, his words serve to ease her, even if they don't affect the man. In the end, she doesn't even rise from her seat. "Trained Professional Baker, perhaps." she says with a small grin. "We didn't use any city resources in the encounters and utilized our own abilities to ensure the safety of others. That doesn't make us heroes. That makes us people. Those who use their abilities and means to enable and brighten the lives of others is exactly what we need more of. Not sure that really needs to be described as heroes, though."
Having made her first delivery of the day, Ileana moves towards making her second, taking the bread first to the local restaurants - other than The Rusty Dragon, and then to the Jailhouse... finally taking what remains to the Rusty Dragon, given that that was where she was already going. As she arrives, she passes off the basket of fresh-baked bread from her cart, but then leaves it parked in the front of the building. She goes inside to have a late lunch, and frowns at the old man yelling across the building.
As Ileana follows the small trails through the graveyard, she finally catches sight of Naffer, and follows until he seems finished with what he's doing, approaching with the robe full of bones in hand. She knew that as the grave tender, he'd likely be as upset as she was over the mishandling of the remains... perhaps even her own. But she didn't have much choice, otherwise.
Mmmm, DC 15 K(Local) is probably a bit high for what Ileana knows there. Something like the Late Unpleasantness should probably be like DC 10 for outsiders (After all, there was likely talk about it outside of Ileana's minor speech prior, after the goblin attack), and probably DC 0 for locals. I feel like you'd have to be very introverted or lack any amount of intelligence to not know about the Late Unpleasantness. As it stands, Ileana is the only person trained in K(Local) and the only person who could roll for it as a result. She also had a 40% chance to fail, despite it being core to her backstory and drive. Though, had I failed the roll, I wouldn't even know not to know about it ;) I do believe that knowing more details should likely be a higher DC, but I don't think it's reasonable for Leona or Eloen to not know anything about the late unpleasantness as a whole.
As the others speak, Ileana at least tries to do as Rigel had requested, moving around to the other side of the fence and following the tracks for as far as she as able. Once out of sight of the group, her anger turns more somber as she ponders exactly why everything would turn so... badly just when things were starting to turn around. * * * Ileana once more wakes up early enough to help out with the bread making, before heading into town carrying the makeshift black bag, looking for Mister Vosk, hoping to give him the opportunity to bury the poor souls.
"Oh. Me track." Ileana says, after Leona draws her attention back to the earlier question. "I could try... but following a trail along probably roadways is something far beyond my skill. Especially a day-old trail. It wouldn't take long to lose it, but I'm willing to give it a try."
"Perhaps it has nothing to do with vengeance, if it is a spell. Maybe they simply needed the remains of a pious man..." she trails off for a moment, "Rituals tend to have very strange requirements. Did you know that you have to utilize five pounds of silver to make a single pint of holy water..?"
"It... doesn't seem right to keep something like this hidden." Ileana says, shaking her head, brow furrowed... before her face softens, and she looks to the ground. "But it'd be just one more thing for the town to try to forget." She sighs, before moving over to the robe, and crumpling it to place it on the ground near the skeletons, carefully collecting the bones inside of it, wrapping one set of bones (as best she can) separately from the other. "I'll make sure these get to Mister Vosk. I'm sure we'd all be upset if they weren't handled with the proper care they deserve."
"A necromancer." Ileana says with a frown. "I would think for a ritual, if neither of these bodies were him. If they were... petty revenge for something he did once?" she asks, shaking her head. "They say that a soul becomes trapped and eroded when they're forced to bear a dead body beyond its time... maybe that is the ultimate goal. But even still, there were two skeletons here, and no tracks. Was this a family grave, or did they actually carry skeletons into his resting place to animate?" she asks, face contorting, as she's faced with more why's than she has answers to.
Ileana dips forward as the first skeleton is torn asunder straight down its spinal column, and brings her scimitar arcing around. The attack looks like it has promise, but ultimately stops just short of any particularly vulnerable bones.
Ileana was exceedingly unlikely to land a telling blow, but she moved into the fray regardless, knowing that a second body would at least distract from her companion... who likely could do something if her weapon were brought to bear. Unfortunately, even readying her scimitar had done nothing to enable her to actually use it properly. Worse, it would be nearly impossible for her blows to land any sort of telling effect.
"Maybe." she acknowledges. "Most likely, even. But it could be an elf or even something rare." As Rigel draws his starknife, she remembers herself, carefully drawing her scimitar. Having to draw it when fighting broke out would be disastrous. If it broke out. "I don't think they'd hide here. A home would be significantly easier to break into than a crypt behind a wall. Maybe they came here to cast a spell of some sort that would be noticed?" she pauses at the notion. "If one of you can see magic you might want to prepare for that. It's not something I know how to do."
"The tracks show that the group went both ways. The footprints heading over the wall are fresher than the ones heading into the crypt." she says after a moment, taking in the details. "So this isn't how they came in, but this is something they came here specifically for. They even climbed over the wall both ways."
"Hm. Lots of tracks." Aisha says, dipping low to the ground to examine them. "Goblins, yes... but also a longshank." She pauses, pursing her lips at the goblin slang she'd picked up. She'd spent several short hunting trips heading out into the wilds, using the hunting bow she kept at home. She was going to have to start rethinking whether she left it at home at some point soon, if she were going to keep letting herself get wrapped up in all of this. She rises, focusing her attention on the following the larger creature's footprints over the smaller.
Ileana had worked with the Sheriff quite a bit, and actually had several forms of acquaintance with him. Not-withstanding that he was a family friend - having been the one to discover Alvertin's killer - he was also the man that she worked with regularly to make sure the prisoners had adequate nutrition and care. These were never matched with sermons or the like, simply showing them good, and hoping they would choose good by extension. As a result, Ileana was only surprised about the nature of the favor that was being asked. Adventuring had never really been part of their relationship, though she had always wanted to work with the guard more closely... "Would goblins even be interested in vaults? And even then, what would be the likelihood they'd choose his over some other? Is it the largest vault, or even the best maintained? Were any of the other vaults targeted?" she asks the father before following along with the sheriff.
Ileana appears wearing effectively the same thing she'd worn the day prior, no bow on hand, as she somewhat doubted two days of attacks in a row, even though she felt less at ease. The goblins having not opened or warmed to her at all was an unforeseen difficulty. When she arrives at the Cathedral, she'd expected it to be in regards to that particular favor, not having expected to immediately run into several of the others she'd fought alongside. "Do any of you know what's going on?"
Ileana nods to the young man, offering him one of her cookies as he drops off the letter, reading it over and sliding it into a belt pouch, chewing on her lip. She'd have to check if she was the only one invited; she didn't have much interest in going to meet a noble alone, but if it were as a group, she'd be much more interested in doing so. As Ileana sits on the floor across from the cell the goblins were sharing, eating a bit of the bread she'd brought for them, she tries to figure out how to gain their trust and reach them...
Is the meeting with Foxglove and the influence check mutually exclusive? Is it intended to be tomorrow, or intended to be tonight?
After Ileana made sure to get a couple of pieces of festival bread and cookies for the other folks in the cells and the guards, she brought the rest of her baked goods to the goblin cell, holding out the pieces of bread and cookies gingerly, just within reach at first, before working her way slowly closer.
With her overt duties done - ensuring the fires were not allowed to take hold, reuniting with her family, and ensuring pointless blood went unspilled, Ileana did her best to return to the reverie. Not one for heavy drinking, the hours spent at Ameiko's were regretted in the early morning when it came time to refire the oven and get back to work. The jokes about her being a lightweight were neither necessary, nor untrue. Ileana rubbed her temples. The large amount of water had done little for any of her present ills, and she certainly regretted her life choices... though, thankfully, she was less sick than she could have been. With the simplest portions of business complete, she headed out into the town. There was a lot on her mind, issues she'd heard about in the graveyard in passing, the fate of the goblins from the previous night, definitely not breakfast, and possibly helping the others to become a bit more cheery. Regardless, there were the remains of the previous day's baked goods to deliver... which made her decision for her. Ileana loaded up on the day-old bread and cookies and small crumbly cakes from the day prior - mysteriously, all of her sugar stars had been eaten, despite having sold poorly - and headed for sandpoint's Jailhouse, with the hopes of delivering her goods to help nourish what ailed those locked up - people who became too rowdy... and the goblins. Ultimately, it was her goal to persuade Belor to not simply kill the goblins, but instead to try to broach the topic of human-goblin relations in a way that didn't involve eating longshanks. Day old bread likely wouldn't go very far, but a bit of kindness certainly wouldn't hurt.
When Ileana sees that the majority of the fight is over, her frayed nerves begin to calm, focusing on the people that she passes as she goes at first, but then focusing more on the horizon, looking for any signs of smoke. She offers a smile to each person as they thank her, and expresses that what she did was what anyone would have done, and asks where they got the idea that they were heroes. Several of the conversations include nods to the little gnome - "She's the real hero. I'm certain we'd have done significantly worse were it not for her command of magic." After a bit, she begins to look for the goblins that they'd left unconscious, hoping to perhaps save their lives, and more importantly, investigate the why of what had happened. If they aren't anywhere to be seen, she begins to look for the members of her family.
"Bleeding Heart" Ileana intones as she moves closer to the downed and bleeding dog, attempting to stabilize it with a short prayer to her goddess, if they weren't too late. Afterwards, she begins ensuring that all of the ensorcelled goblins don't get up by knocking them out with her scimitar, bringing the merciful blade down to draw the fight from them for the better part of an hour. "You don't need to. Just get to safety. I would suggest the church since that's where we just came from... if my spell took hold, the priest might also be able to work your hound into one of his channels once everyone is gathered." She looks back to Leona, "I'm completely drained, and feel like we only won that by luck... and a substantial amount of magic. I think we should maybe also head back to the church to help guard a central location. If not... then I'll likely focus on putting out fires."
"If you don't stand still and let me knock you out, the lady with the big scary axe is going to kill you. Now, calm down. Ileana says as she desperately swipes at the goblin once more.
Ileana flinches when she hears her ally's axe biting into flesh again, but brings her shimmering blade arcing through the air at the nearest goblin once more... she's so close, she can feel it...
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