GM Bill - Sheriff Hemlock's page

The sheriff shrugs his shoulders, "Shalelu can be a bit intense at times, but she's been a good ally to the town. I think her words may be worth waiting for, assuming the goblins haven't already done her in. There's a particularly nasty one, Bruthazmus, a bugbear really, who has stalked her more than once. She manages to turn the tables on him, but he's been wily enough to elude her so far."

He hefts the ladder. "I will head back to the garrison. I don't think there's much more do be done out here safely for now. The gate will be secured from dusk to dawn, no exceptions." Then he begins striding back to the gate and the midst of town.

Sheriff Hemlock looks to the skies and the afternoon sun. "You are free to do as you will, friend dwarf. But my guards have already been in some dangerous fights today. I'll not risk taking them into the country with riled up goblins, not without more information. We've got messengers trying to make contact with Shalelu Andosana. She knows the region's goblins better than any."

Outside the Boneyard

There are goblin tracks all around the ladder, but also the track of someone bigger, someone sized more like a human. While the goblins seem to wander about quite a bit, the human footprints are more disciplined and meander about less. There are both incoming and outgoing tracks, the incoming ones seemingly moving cautiously - the steps are closer together and tend to move from patch of undergrowth to patch of undergrowth. The outgoing tracks seem to be more direct and faster with a longer stride.

Most tracks head in a generally easterly direction, though several peel off after about half a mile or so and head more southerly. The bulk seems to continue mainly eastward with no sign of slowing or otherwise letting up.

Meanwhile Sheriff Hemlock responds to Ahdak's musings about the ladder. "It's definitely not goblin-made but that does little to narrow down our choices. I suspect most of the farms in the region have at least one ladder.

Outside the Boneyard

"Well, they were goblins, after all," Sheriff Hemlock says in response to Ahdak's comments about careless evidence. "They managed to steal from the boneyard right in broad daylight. I don't think they were worried about leaving evidence."

Looking about the outside of the wall, quite a bit of the underbrush is disrupted but it is proving devilishly hard to pick out a single set of tracks to analyze much less follow.

"Fair enough, friend dwarf. We will go out through the gate," Hemlock says as he leads the way out of the boneyard and ultimately through the city's front gate. Walking along the exterior of the town's defensive wall, it isn't long before he and the adventurers are opposite the tracks in the boneyard. And there it is, tossed aside in the undergrowth, a ladder tall enough to scale the wall.

Goblin tracks seem to be primarily confined between the Tobyn mausoleum and an area of the wall. In fact, the ground at the wall has some indentations that suggest something like a ladder was leaned up against it.

Sheriff Hemlock stoops to the ground to get a closer look. "That's a recent track alright. We should get a look outside the wall as well. Are you up for a climb, Darnak?"

"I will take what help I can at this point," Sheriff Hemlock says. "But I think it best if you all pledge to keep this quiet. The last thing I need is for the town to panic or stew over this when we know so little."

He steps out of the mausoleum to get a better look at the grounds.

The black cloth object turns out to be a robe, sized for a man-sized humanoid. There are several places on it where there are loose threads like something that was affixed has been torn off.

"Bring it here, Darnak," Father Zantus requests. Giving it a brief review, he shakes his head sadly, "I have heard of such things. In my religious instruction, I was taught a few things about how to deal with necromantic arts, they being such anathema to the healing arts we learn. I believe this to be a robe of bones, a creation usually of necromancers. They enchant weak undead creatures like zombies and skeletons to be stored on the robe as a patch. Tear off the patch and the creature is reactivated by magic. It is probably the source of the skeletons.

Sheriff Hemlock, who has stepped right up to the sarcophagus in the meanwhile, peers into the gloom. The expression on his face darkens, his face reddens a bit. "Gone! Father Tobyn's remains are gone!" he says, his voice shaking with anger.

Sheriff Hemlock almost growls under his breath. "There may be goblins hiding within. Everyone had best be ready." He then steps forward to open the stone portal wider...

Father Zantus and Sheriff Hemlock share a look as the priest shrugs and shakes his head. The sheriff explains, "Goblins are always a potential threat. They're mean, vicious, and destructive. They're also usually disorganized with tribes fighting each other more than us. Today is most definitely out of the ordinary."

Father Zantus elaborates further, "Most of our threats have come from within, what with the 'Late Unpleasantness' and all. The consecration of this new cathedral at the Swallowtail Festival was supposed to clean away the stain of that dreadful time. And here we are under attack by goblins... and perhaps shenanigans in the boneyard, one of our most sacred places."

"We had better get moving," Sheriff Hemlock prods. "We can discuss town history and other threats later." He leads the way out the cathedral's side exit and into the cemetery.

The cemetery grounds are actually fairly substantial, tended enough to be respectful yet not fully cultivated. The grass is a bit trampled, recently and by quite a few small feet. Nothing seems out of the ordinary to a first glance.

Sheriff Hemlock leads the way back to the town cathedral. He finds Father Zantus lighting some blocks of incense in the sanctuary. The woody scent of this particular batch is soothing and tranquil. A few acolytes can still be heard tending to injured townspeople and visitors in an adjacent chamber.

"Belor, what can I do for you... and your company?" he adds as he scans across everybody accompanying the sheriff. A look of deep concern crosses his face, [b]"There isn't more trouble is there?"

"We aren't sure yet, Father." the sheriff says and then explains, "The goblins have given us enough information to believe that they had a human or near-human accomplice. They said one they called "Mopeyman"had a mission in the boneyard. Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary."

"No, I haven't," Father Zantus answers, "but none of us have visited the cemetery since the attack. We haven't done any work to prepare for the burial of the dead yet. There isn't much of value there that would interest a goblin, so we figured the boneyard would be relatively secure."

"Do you mind if we check it out, Father?" the sheriff asks.
"I will come with you." Father Zantus answers. He takes a few moments to retrieve a shield, star knife, and mace from his office.

giving people a chance to jump in with their own questions or plans before heading to the cemetery

The goblin shrugs, "Mopeyman is... mopey man. He is longshanks. Looks lots at Scarbelly. Mopes when she not around. So he is Mopeyman. That his goblin name."

Sheriff Hemlock reacts to Alesta's analysis of the goblin's statement. "I don't like the sound of that. We didn't search the boneyard figuring the goblins would be focusing on the homes and people in their raid. Guards, put these creatures in the holding cell. The rest of you, if you are willing to see to the welfare of Sandpoint further, come with me. I'm going to fetch Father Zantus and get a look at the boneyard grounds."

Sheriff Hemlock, approached by Baldek first, raises an eyebrow at the dwarf's queries. "Are you volunteering to join the guard? If someone has the goblin tribes riled up and working together, I'll need all the soldiers I can get. If you are in earnest, come by the garrison in the morning. Right now, I have to deal with this lot," he says, indicating the goblins.

He follows up, addressing Karl's question. "Goblins cause trouble enough, but usually just to lone travelers or farmsteads. They haven't attacked Sandpoint since shortly after the town was settled. Usually, they just pick through the trash pile under the cliff. But if you think you can make sense of goblin rambling, you may try to question them."

The sheriff is a fairly tightly controlled man - hard to really get a reading on - at least with a check of 12 for sense motive...

The goblin Karl approaches turns out to be fairly pliable, if somewhat defiant. "Yes. Many dogs. Some horses too," he says with a savage glee. "Even some longshanks fall to goblins and homes burn. But not enough, town is still here. Longshanks is still here."