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Trying to take advantage of the chaos brought on by the summoned badgers Quiddling tries to sneak up to the wooden cage and study the lock.
Quiddling stifles a yelp and scurries as back to the entrance as quietly as he can. "They got Shalelu and some other fellow. He says he's a avatar of Torag. We need to hurry!", he says as he emerges, then quickly dives back and moves back to the hole.
Quiddling nods and heads down the hole, trying his best to make as little noise as possible.
"Thank you!" Quiddling says with a wide smile, for a moment forgetting to keep his voice to a whisper. He catches himself shortly thereafter. "I can scout ahead if you want. I'm good at hiding", he whispers.
Quiddling starts to wave enthusiasticly and point to the passage. He doesn't want to yell and attract attention as he doesn't know if there are any goblins nearby. "Look what I found", he whispers and presents the opening as the others gather close. "See here, there's goblin tracks. I think this is some kind of entrance." Excited over his find he clears the entrance and carefully crawls inside.
Quiddling smiles a nervous "I don't get it" type of smiles. "Ha-ha?", he says and gives a thumbs up.
Accustomed to long treks Quiddling keeps a good pace and high spirits thoughout the journey to Nettlewood.
Quiddling relaxes and is seemingly very pleased as father Zantus agrees to keep the items. "See, I knew this was a good idea. Everything is going to be all right!"
Quiddling recoils from the statue with his arms raised in the air. "I'm not going to keep them!" he exclaims. "I took them here because you could probably deal with them!"
Quiddling is to excited to notice but a distant part of him notices the chill running down his spine.
Quiddling's eyes widen in amazement as Serax explainsthe scroll and wand. He takes perticular interest in the wand. "Wow, that is really exiting! I bet that this will come in handy", he says and tucks it into his belt.
"Look, look! Look what I found down there!" Quiddling exclaims enthusiasticly as he emerges from the dungeon. He waves the wand back and forth. "I don't know what this does, but I think it's magical! And I think this is a scroll!" Drunk on his exploratory achivements he continues to blather about the scroll, book, wand and dungeon as Serax identifies the magical items. "What should we do with the book and idol? I think father Zantus should be able to take care of it, right? Yes, father Zantus should know what to do. I'm going to take them to father Zantus", he finishes and runs off towards the temple to find Sandpoint's main priest.
Quiddling retrieves the wand, scroll and book and studies them with great interest. Is there a roll to identify magic items?
Quiddling gasps as he realises what the figure is. "Do you know what this is? It's a symbol of Lamashtu! What is it doing here? Did the corridors strike any of you as a temple?" he babbles in scholarly excitement. The poor halfling is torn between going with Sheriff Hemlock to learn more of the possible origins of the catacombs beneath Sandpoint, and what history is buried behind the Lamashtu symbol, and giving in to his adventurous instincts and tracking down the mysterious Nualia. Eventually he sides on the adventure part and immedietly starts to work up a hype.
Quiddling fiddles with the statue with wide eyes for a moment trying to discern its properties. He quickly comes to the conclusion that the thing is not for wholesome use and searches for some cloth to “seal” the item. The halfling is taken by surprise by the crowds reaction as the group emerges to the surface. ”Oh, is this for us?” he asks not really knowing how to handle the situation. He is relieved has the sheriff approaches to take his mind of the situation. ”Oh, tracking down the master mind behind the attacks? That sounds exciting! But if you don’t mind, I think I saw some more corridors down there. There might be more stuff to explore! I don’t think it will take long. Can we go back there? Please, please, please?”
"Sounds good. Perhaps the sheriff can strike some kind of deal with him to get his cooperation", Quiddling says cheerily then tiptoes up to the unmoving form of the quasit. First he prods Erylium a few times with his rapier to try and get a reaction. Confident that the creature is either dead or unconscious he begins to rifle through its belongings.
Even healed from the physical harm of the quaist’s foul attack, Quiddling still has to work hard at keeping his lunch down. ”What was that?!” he complains and tries to wipe the goo of his face. Once the halfling has somewhat recovered he joins the conversation by whispering to his allies. ”We can’t let him go, can we? He’s killed alot of people, he must be held accountable.”
Quick to react Quiddling spins around with a yelp. He tries to gather his focus to catch the room’s many spiderwebs and gather them on the hideous creature, but sadly the stress of the situation causes the spell to fail.
Quiddling comes running down the street as fast as his little legs can carry him. Once again equipped with the tools of his trade he comes to a stop next to the hole. "Did i miss anything? What did I miss? What? Tsuto escaped?! We need to move after him!" he speaks excitedly eventhough he's out of breath.
Quiddlings tries to call out into the hole once more before giving up. "I think they might have been knocked out by the fall", he tells Natalie carefully chosing "knocked out" instead of "dead". "I think we need to go down there and see what we can find." The halfling then looks around for somebody he can send to get the sheriff, but before he can start he is interrupted by summoned working crew. Greatly impressed (to say the least) by the show of arcane might Quiddling stands dumbfounded, just watching the elementals work. But it only takes Serax to mention that there's something unknown down there to trigger the halfling's nature and Quiddling snaps out of his trance. "Of course! I just need to get my gear. Be right back!" he says and runs back to the rusty dragon to collect his adventuring gear.
Quiddling clambers to safety then looks down the hole. "Is everybody OK down there?" he asks cautiously.
Quiddling manages to pry his eyes from the stage as Natalie talks of a raucous outside. "What.." he starts as the floor disappears beneath him. Fortunately the halflings quick reflexes saves him from plunging down.
Quiddling walks up and shakes the nobleman's hand studiously. "My name is Quiddling Cane, at your service!" the halfing says and bows. "It is most generous of you to invite us to the opera. Do you enjoy theatre and operas often? I my self have a sweet tooth for the craft. It is a marvelous way to create and retell a story, don't you think?"
”Oh, the plot thickens!” Quiddling says with excitement. This is far more than he could have hoped for when leaving Absalom. This was a real adventure! With real adventures! Oh, the stories that would be gathered. He could hardly wait! Unfortunately wait was exactly what he had to do. ”I would like to go and explore the Thisletop goblin’s lair, I bet that there’s lots to be learned there! But the good sheriff wanted you to maintain a presence here at the moment as he gathers reinforcements from Magnimar, so that will have to wait. Perhaps the ranger the sheriff spoke of can go exploring? ”
Quiddling approaches the counter and tosses Tsuto’s short bow on it. ”My good man, I will require 20 of your finest arrows fit to fire from this weapon.”
”That sounds like a smashing idea!” Quiddling says enthusiastically. On the way there he looks through the journal once more. ”You know, these are pretty graphical. Perhaps I should draw a copy of her face, incase we’re going to include anyone else in this endeavour. There is no reason to confront the wholesome folk of Sandpoint with this explicit nudity.”
"Oh, I don't think that the good father needs to see that", Quiddling quickly interjects blushing heavily. He reaches for the journal. "If you would just allow me, it is very graphic." The halfling quickly thumbs through the book to one of the less explicit drawings, cowers the body by folding the page and then showing father Zantus Nualia's face. "The rest are similar to this one, with abit more claws, wings and horns."
Quiddling spins around on the spot. "That sounds like an excellent idea! Combine business with a tour of the town. The graveyard is abit of a sombre start, but I'm guessing that it is adjacent to the new temple? I heard that the opening ceremony was supposed to take place yesterday. Do you think we can go inside?"
Quiddling smiles at the man towering over him. "Hi, I'm Quiddling Cane. At your service", he says and bows deeply. Then he shakes the sheriff's hand and continues to talks. "A medal is not necessary. It was Thorgrund, Serax and Natalie that captured Tsuto and slayed the goblins. I happened upon the scene by pure happenstance. I was looking for the glass works to talk with mr Lonjiku Kaijitsu, to talk about a buissness proposal. I'm father is a merchant in Absalom you see. I'm not sure if it was me that took on the task of delivering the message as a chance to travel to your facinating landscape or if my father who saw fit to send me in this direct to strke up the business deal with mister Kaijistu. Probably abit of both. I haven't seen much of your village yet, as I arrived just this morning. Do you have any suggestions of things I must see? I noticed that you have a very facinating ruin on the north west edge of your village. Can you tell me more about it?" Quiddling contines to babble until he is stopped.
Quiddling tries to point Natalie's quill away from Tsuto's face. "I don't think that is necessary. I am sure that the sheriff has a suitable cel... medal for Tsuto when we get there", he says then slips into other topics. "I've never really met and talked with a representativ of the law before. Sounds exciting, I can't wait to meet him. What is he like? Just and valorous no doubt, with the people's best interest always in mind. A champion of his own people. Oh, oh, oh! Is he a paladin? I always wanted to meet a paladin. Wonder who serves as his patron. I'm partial to Desna myself. Don't know if Desna has paladin's though. I've never seen one. Then again I haven't seen all of the devotees of The Great Dreamer. By the way, that's what brought me here. The Swallowtail festival. Have you enjoyed the festival?"
"Oh?", Quiddling says and draws his eyes away from the drawings. "Ah, of course, of course." He approaches Tsuto and starts to gather the equipment to store in his back pack. "If you could just let me.. thank you"
The young halfling is not much use during the interrigation. His participation mostly consists of “Ah”:s and surprised gasps after each chocking answer.
Haggered by the goblin Quiddling decides to take matters into his own hands. He draws his rapier to attack but his inexperience shows itself immedietly. Instead of unsheathing his weapon and thrusting the blade through the goblin, the unfortunate halfling looses his grip and the sword is sent flying. A few moments into its flight the weapon hits the nearby wall and is stuck, possibly above Quiddling's reach.
Occupied with his spellcasting Quiddling fails to notice the goblin and its blade before it’s to late. Thankfully the creatures aim is off and the end result is a torn shirt sleeve, a nick and a concern for his own health.
Quiddling scrambles away from the aggressive goblin, and retries his incantation. This time the halfling gets it right and the air from all corners of the room starts to stir and gather into a strong gust of wind, centered on the half elf next to the furnace. The strong winds rapidly alternates direction, causing the man great difficulty when moving around . Eventhough the spell is successfull, Quiddling can feel that it is not stable. "Get to him! The winds won't hold him for long!"
Quiddling is able to come to his senses and quickling starts to chant an incantation he learned some years ago. Sadly the immediate stress of the situation and the fact that he'd never been much of a magician the spell to fail and his words to ring out empty in the air.
Quiddling is almost unable to believe his eyes. His stomach however has no trouble and immedietly starts to threaten revolt. This was not what he expected when followed the odd bunch into the glass works. Even after seeing the pools of blood could he have dreamed up this scenario. The nauseous halfling does nothing but stand in the doorway with his mouth slightly ajar.
"You can't leave now!", Quiddling insists. "We need to find out where the goblins came from. And where they went." The halfling quickly joins up behind Thorgrund and delves deeper into the glass works. "Goblins.. Here, in town. I've read that they sometimes live in sewers, perhaps that where these came from. Does Sandpoint have sewers?"
Quiddling tries to peer over Thorgund's shoulder but eventually have to settle with waiting until the dwarf moves into another room. "Is... is that blood?", he blurts out and runs up to one of the beds, trying to look for some clues to what happened. "It is blood!"
"What happened here? Who did this?"
"Oh", Quiddling says in surprise and looks around. "I feel quite safe. Is there a reason I shouldn't?" he asks cheerily and follows Thorgrund. The halflings eyes widen in awe at the quality of the glass wares. "Such craftmanship. They're really quite superb."
Quiddling draws a deep breath. Good, they’re not evil. ”Actually I am new here. Just arrived. From Magnimar. And Absalom before that. With some stops along the way.” Quiddling takes his hat off and looks at it. ”Would it be OK if I just kept it in my backpack until...” he says and pauses wondering what kind of group he’s run into, ”until Natalie can confirm that it is safe?” With introductions and safety precautions out of they way, Quiddling produces a set of lockpicks from his backpack. ”Now, if you just let me...”, he says and walks around Serax and up to the door. ”So, you’re here on official business. Directly from the local law, no less. What kind of investigation are you conducting against mr Kaijistu? He’s quite famous you know. For his glass wares. That’s why I’m here. Or why I’m here at the glass works. Once that business is concluded I’m thinking about travelling along the coast. See Varsia, you know ”, Quiddling continues to try and make small talk as he works the lock. ”Saviours of Sandpoint. That sounds impressive. I’m sure you got plenty of stories to share.”
The halfing takes a few careful steps into the room. ”Hello?”
Sandpoint was indeed not what Quiddling expected. He tries to be coherent during the interrigation, a task made difficult by Natalie's tests. Fortunetly the little halfing manages, up to the end. "I can assure you tha.... what?! Lonjiku's blood? What... what?... Why?" he starts to blabber, but then stands aside. "I may be able to assist you with the lock", he offers. "Although not with mister Kaijitsu's health on the line. I can assure you that neither me or my hat is evil", he saysthen wonders if that was the wrong thing to say. Perhaps they where evil and he should really go and try and find the village guard.
Sandpoint is not quite what Quiddling expected. His boat had arrived late and the trip from Magnimar had taken longer than planned so he had just missed the Swallow tail festival, but from the looks of it so had everyone else. The cautious and sullen demenor of the populace he’d met so far was not that of someone who’s just celebrated Desna’s holiday. Unless everyone had “celebrated” abit to much that is. It was indeed a curious demenor and he would have to investigate that further, but it would have to wait for now. The first order of business, Lonjiku Kaijitsu. Kaijitsu glassware is widely known and it was one of reasons Quiddling had come to Sandpoint. His father, Billwit Cane, had agreed to finance the first leg of his journey in return that Quiddling dropped by the Kaijitsu glass works with a business proposal. The family was good acquaintances with the Kaijitsu’s of Absalom, a niece of Lonjiku or something like that. Billwit, ever the opportunist, had hoped to build on that relationship by striking a deal of importing Kaijistu glassware and selling them in Absalom. It was Quiddling’s job to deliver the proposal and handle the initial process. He hadn’t gotten much out of the first villager he met, but he did get directions to the glass works. Hoping that it was open despite the holiday Quiddling happliy skipped along the streets towards the building. Once he get’s there Quiddling is delighted to see smoke rising from the chimney, they must be open! The second thing his eyes are drawn to is the odd group consisting of an elf, dwarf, gnome and... some kind of machine. Those look like adventurers! Honest to god adventurers! Perhaps in the employ of Mr Kaijitsu. Giddy with excitement Quiddling walks forth with a wide smile. ”Good day, fellow travellers! My name is Quiddling Cane”, he says and bows deeply. ”I’m looking for Lonjiku Kaijitsu. Do you know where I might find him?” he asks. The young halfling tries to keep eye contact but his gaze keeps slipping back to the odd contraption next to the gnome. Description of Quiddling: With his 3 feet and 5 inches Quiddling towers over most other halflings, yet he is no match for other races. With his boyish looks and thick brown hair he could be mistaken for a human child where it not for his pointy ears and rich mutton chops. His clothes also draws his appearence from that of a human child, or a average halfling for that matter. Quiddling dresses in a fine long coat which he wears over his leather jack and light brown cloth trousers. A white silk shirt is visible beneath his leather harnesk. The halflings attire is crowned by a dark brown wide brimmed hat. Slung over his shoulder is a cloth sack in which he keeps his writing equipment, pipe, flute and other miscellaneous items. He does not wear any shoes since his leathery soles has removed the need for foot wear. At his side hangs a rapier in a finely crafted scabbard with the Cane family insignia carved at the top.
Quiddling's eyes dart between Stannis, Sarrah and Kendra hoping that either the paladin or the oracle knows some way of putting the professor to rest. The only way he could think of right now is to tie the limbs tight and nail the coffin shut but doubts that the suggestion would be a popular one. Or that it would be sufficient.
Quiddling shrinks visibly in his chair as Sarrah pits his words against Stannis well being. The feeling of shame still lingers after the paladin has spoken. "Speaking with father Grimburrow and councilman Hearthmount sounds like good idea. Perhaps the good father can get us more haunt sihpons?" Quiddling says, then quickly adds to Stannis: "If you don't mind, of course"
Quiddling brightens as Kendra suggests that the party spend some time in the village, but it diminishes as quickly as Sarrah dismisses the notion. "Maybe we can find someone to make more of those Haunt Siphons? To equip us for dealing with the prision. They proved quite useful yesterday. Or perhaps talk to the town marshall about the cat killing yesterday... Never hurts to be prepared", the halfing tries and gives the room as brave of a smile as he can muster.
Quiddling tries his best to follow the tracks but he has to give it up after a few minutes.
"Some evil left? Can't you see the cat?!", Quiddling exclaims. "It must mean something! Normally i could consider it the act of some sick mind with no reprocussions, but not here. You opened the gates back at the prision. You must be able to do something!"
"Are we going to leave the square like this?" Quiddling protests. "Sarrah, can't you at least sanctify the ground? If this was some kind of ritual, we can't leave it to work its magic."
Quiddling starts to investigate the scene looking for tracks or clues that might lead him to the perpetrator.
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