Like many before her, Ameiko stares at the goblin, a bit confused by what he told her. She's more reassured by what Izbahn tells her and she smiles in turn. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. The hardest part will be to find and hire some new skilled laborers. We didn't only lose Father." After a pause, she adds: "You speak of catacombs and altars? What did you find down there? I thought it was just a few smuggler tunnels. On second thought, perhaps it's better if I don't know, even with the curiosity I kept from my adventuring years. In any case, I'll make sealing up the basement my first priority."
Izbahn nods at Amekio, "Well, from what we can figure out, those catacombs predate the tunnels by quite a long time. We did clear it out, but there are still several areas I would stay away from, at least not without other adventurers backing you up!"
He turns to leave, "Well, we should check in with the Mayor, and let her know what we found. Plus I need to research further, we found some items down there which may hold further answers."
The group leaves Ameiko and the Glassworks behind and once again head up on Main street to the town hall. Once inside, they brief Mayor Deverin with their latest findings in the underground complex. She seems pleased with their progress. "It's good that we won't be troubled by more strange visitors from down there, thanks to your search and efforts. Sandpoint should be harder to attack once we seal the beach cave and these smuggler tunnels. However, I fear another goblin raid is still a possibility. Without additional soldiers from Magnimar, we can't feel safe just yet. More information on their intentions would be useful but Shalelu still hasn't reported back. I hate to ask more of you but I think it might be time for you to investigate the goblins. Do you have any leads as to where they might be coming from?"
Izbahn thinks, Shalelu has not returned yet...this is not good news. Aloud, he replies "Mayor, all the signs point to these goblins based out of Thistletop. I believe that should be our next destination. I was hoping Shalelu would have returned by now, but her mission must be taking longer than she anticipated. I wanted to check with her before heading to Thistletop, but we may have to leave sooner now."
Darst's eyes dart about as he fidgets with his bagpipes.
"Hang on....who are you people?!"
Venmirl smiles at Darst as he approaches him. Although his demeanor is pleasant, he squeezes Darst's neck tightly and pulls him along as they walk out the door. "We'll be outside..."
Izbahn glances at Venmirl and Darst as they leave the offices. Was it something I said?
"So, Mayor, we can head out in the morning and investigate this Thistletop place if you'd like."
"Thistletop? Isn't this some rock in Nettlewood? Interesting, a pair of Galdurian merchants arrived in town two days ago saying they were jumped by a band of goblins just south of Nettlewood. Apparently, they were taking a prized horse to sell in Magnimar. They managed to escape with their life but had to leave their merchandise—horse included, behind. They might give some reward for the horse's safe return. You should find them at the White Deer."
Izbahn glances at Naomi, "Yeah we can certainly check this out. They should have additional information about the goblins, hopefully."
He rises and helps Naomi to her feet, "Shall we go, dear?"
Venmirl smiles at Darst as he approaches him. Although his demeanor is pleasant, he squeezes Darst's neck tightly and pulls him along as they walk out the door. "We'll be outside..."
"Ow!" Darst yelps as he's yanked outside. "What's I do?"
"Ow!" Darst yelps as he's yanked outside. "What's I do?"
"That's Mayor Deverin, shorty. And we are supposed to have you under control!"
"Ow!" Darst yelps as he's yanked outside. "What's I do?""That's Mayor Deverin, shorty. And we are supposed to have you under control!"
"I know's who she is..." the goblin grumbles.
"I know's who she is..." the goblin grumbles.
"I know's who she is..." the goblin grumbles.
"I know's who she is..." the goblin grumbles.
"I don't see why not. Finally putting an end to these goblins will be a good thing."
Izbahn looks over what they found under Sandpoint. A pair of magical scrolls, a magic iron wand and a non-magical black book.
Izbahn looks over what they found under Sandpoint. A pair of magical scrolls, a magic iron wand and a non-magical black book.
Izbahn successfully identifies the iron wand as being a wand of shocking grasp .
At the White Deer, the adventurers make a few inquiries and are pointed toward a pair of portly but richly dressed merchants. Now in their presence, the 4 adventurers remember seeing them at the town hall two days ago. They look much less bedraggled now that they apparently had time to clean up and buy new clothes. One of them notices the approach of Izbahn, Venmirl and Naomi and asks, with a slightly haughty tone: "Yes? What is it you want?"
"It would seem with have interests that compliment each other nicely. You see, we know about your stolen horse. We know the goblins have it. Since we're going after the goblin anyway, we thought we could help you out by bringing it back with us."
"After all, we need all the friends we can get in town, since a bit of rat-catching went wrong."
"After all, we need all the friends we can get in town, since a bit of rat-catching went wrong."
Izbahn for once says nothing, although he flinches noticeably at the last part of Naomi's comment.
"Wonderful! So you've heard of our sad tale?" The merchant responds with a friendlier tone. "We paid good money for that stallion. Shadowmist, the rancher in Galduria called him. We were taking him to Magnimar to sell to Lord-Mayor Grobaras."
"A proud animal,..." the other merchant interjects. "... he defended himself as fiercely as our two guards but I saw that him fall as we were fleeing. We carefully returned to the scene a few hours later to see if we could recover anything. We found little beside the remains of our guards and some broken merchandise. There wasn't any horse corpse around nor any signs of our cart."
"It's our best guess that the goblins used the latter to move the horse to their lair." The first merchant explains. "Don't ask me why they would do such a thing ... In any case, we've petitioned the mayor for reparation but we can pay you instead if you can find Shadowmist and bring him back to us. We know there's little chance he's still alive but since you seem to be hunting goblins anyway..."
Suddenly and perhaps ironically, the second merchant notices Darst who, as usual, was standing inconspicuously behind the rest of the party. He yells out, almost in panic. "Here?!? Who? Watch out! A go...go...goblin behind you!"
Darst stands still, startled. Slowly, he edges away....
Izbahn glances at Darst, and waves him to stay put. ”Don’t worry about Darst here, he is under our protective custody. As for your situation…if you could either tell us, or better yet guide us to the place where the ambush took place?”
"Gods! No! I'm not going anywhere with a goblin. You go right ahead and go hunt goblins with your 'captive'. He'll turn on you for sure, but that's your problem. You should find the ambush site easily enough if you just follow the lost coast road east of town for about 4 miles. Now, if you would be so kind, remove that little filthy creature from my sight."
Izbahn says, "Ok thanks for your help, we will check it out."
Izbahn walks outside with his companions, "Well, I think we should head down there now, the longer we wait, the colder the trail will get." He glances at Venmirl, "What is your advice here?"
He glances at Venmirl, "What is your advice here?"
"You're correct Izbahn. We have a much better chance of tracking the beasts the fresher their tracks are. I suggest we leave as soon as we can. I need to grab a few things from my living quarters. Shall we meet at the town gate in half an hour?"
"Works for me, Venmirl."
Venmirl goes to his rented room to fetch his bedroll, trail rations, and other items that may be useful for an extended stay outside of town. He stops by the front of the house on his way out and tells his landlords where he is going before walking to the meeting place at the gate.
Eager to get to Nettlewood and the ambush site before sundown, the group of adventurers soon gathers up at the eastern gate and set out. The sun shines in the sky and the Lost Coast road is in decent condition, with the exception of a few muddy potholes, so they are able to move at a decent pace. The road follows the coast for about half an hour before it turns inland and starts to weave between wooded hills. The group walks pass very few habitations for, this close to the coast, the land is hilly and rocky, ill-suited for agriculture. Better lands lies further inland, on the other side of Devil's Platter and most farming is done there. Thus, the adventurers don't meet anyone on their way. A bit less then one hour after leaving the coast, they arrive at what appears to be the south-western end of the wood. The Nettlewood is a dense forest, with lots of undergrowth. The wood does indeed get its name from this abundant undergrowth: it's full of nettle, thistle and other thorny plants. The main road continues eastward along the southern edge of the wood but there's also a small trail that goes north, toward some rocky summits. A wooden sign with fading paint is planted next to the trail. It reads: "Pauper's Graves, 1/2 mile" with an arrow pointing north. Below that, someone also carved "KEEP OUT", probably with a knife.
"Ok Venmirl, looks like this is it. Can you fins any signs of that horse?"
Without speaking, Venmirl starts to carefully examine the ground, moving in round circles venturing further and further out.
Venmirl finds several horse tracks on the road both none of them deviate from it nor is there any signs of an ambush happening here. It doesn't look like this is the place the merchants were attacked.
After a few moments, Venmirl looks up at the rest of the group. "Other than a few horse tracks there are no signs of an ambush here. I suggest we move on."
Izbahn pauses and strokes his chin, ”Hmmm, why would those merchants lie to us? As long as we are here, it might be worth it to check out this Pauper’s Cemetery for any signs of the goblins.”
"Hmmm...it has been two days though. Finding tracks may be difficult. As long as we're here, we should check it out."
Izbahn pauses and strokes his chin, ”Hmmm, why would those merchants lie to us? As long as we are here, it might be worth it to check out this Pauper’s Cemetery for any signs of the goblins.”
Darst frowns. "So...you not happy there no ambush?"