After a long day enjoying the food and drink of Sandpoint’s bars and restaurants, you’ve decided to retire to your rooms in the Rusty Dragon, an inn and bar. Sounds of laughter, singing and carousing can still be heard echoing down the alleys and streets. The Long Day festival was a success, with food and drink flowing freely. You danced many dances, heard rumors and tales and legends, some of them concerning Sandpoint. Apparently a group of Pathfinders have arrived in town to examine ruins uncovered during the Siege of Sandpoint. This has caused quite a stir, as the Pathfinders seem to think the ruins uncovered may lead to much older ones. Given the relative quiet since the Siege, most of the people you overheard think it’s better left buried.
Your caravan arrived three days ago, and has been loading their wares on a small barge for the final leg of their journey. However, your services aren’t required for that leg of the journey, so you have a few days in Sandpoint while you secure new employment. You enjoyed the festivities; a bar called the Hagfish even served a passable Dwarven ale. Now that the festival is winding down, with members of the crowd breaking away in small groups or couples, you decided to retire to your room at the Rusty Dragon, an inn run by a woman named Ameiko and what appears to be a tiefling woman named Jonna. They’re both capable hosts and you’ve been hearing talk of a caravan headed to a place called Fort Rannick that might need a capable hand. It sounds a decent job and may get you to your next one.
As you turn a corner down a long narrow alleyway, you hear a muffled cry, high pitched and childlike. Up ahead several shadows move, their long forms echoing from just around a turn in the alley. What do you do?
The journey to Sandpoint from Korvosa was a bumpy one. The ship you booked passage on, The Lady’s Lament, was meant to dock in Magnimar, but an unseasonal storm blew them offcourse and causes the main mast to come crashing down. The ship limped into Sandpoint on oars and a secondary sail, its crew beated, bruised and tired. Given the spate of bad luck, you took this as a sign from the gods and off-loaded in Sandpoint, weighing your options regarding your next steps. However fortune smiled on you: the Long Day Festival was tomorrow and you took the opportunity to join the crowds and relieve some poor passersby of their coin purses. Indeed, you had the opportunity to earn some honest coin when a talent show was held. Your juggling and acrobatics earned you a total of 17 gold pieces from the crowd; not a small sum, but the crowd was generous. (Your pick-pocketing, on the other hand, only earned you 21 silver.) However, eventually the festivities end and you headed off to the only inn in town that was reputed to have open rooms, the Rusty Dragon. You’re picking your way through the alleys of Sandpoint when you hear the unmistakeable sound of steel cutting into flesh, and a strange high-pitched giggle. It chills you, echoing down your spine. The sound came from just ahead, what do you do?
Three days ago Bones woke you with a loud squawk. A single word, repeated over and over. “Sandpoint! Sandpoint!” In your mind you felt his emotions: a mix of anticipation and a strange fear, as if something was moving toward you, inexorably and terribly. Three days later, you find yourself outside the gates of Sandpoint, which are wide open and topped with banners. The Long Day festival is in full swing, and even your somewhat strange appearance and travelling companion make little difference to the partygoers. You spend the day sampling food and wine, hearing songs and seeing jugglers. Children stop and stare openly at you, but for the most part no one takes any notice of your heritage or companion. It is only when the day ends and night begins that you begin to feel a strange feeling in the pit of your stomach: something is beginning. You feel the pull take you down a dark alley, deep into the heart of Sandpoint. You turn a corner to see a strange sight: a man lays in a pool of blood, shining in the moonlight. A quarter of small twisted forms crouch around him as one of the figures carves a long cut of muscle from the dead man’s thigh. The creatures are goblins. What do you do?
The life of a Pharasman priest is not a routine one. Three days ago you awoke from a very strange dream in which a tall, very thin woman pointed at a map of Varisia and spoke a single word: Sandpoint. You suddenly had a vision of a very old grave stirring as something lost and dead stirred. Whatever that thing was, you awoke with the feeling that it was wrong. You booked passage from your chapterhouse in Riddleport to Sandpoint.
You arrived on the morning of the Long Day Festival, your voyage choppy as the result of a storm to the south. You are quite happy to be off the heaving ship and on dry land. The town of Sandpoint is relatively new to Dwarven eyes, with mostly stone construction on the first floors and wooden above. You’re drawn to the Sandpoint Cathedral, a large stone structure that towers above the town. It features shrines to several gods, including Pharasma. You pay your respects, then head out to the graveyards behind the Cathedral. Despite your suspicions, the feeling of dread that has been growing since you drew closer to Sandpoint does not seem to originate from here. Leaving the Cathedral you are swept into the festivities of the Long Day. You sample food and drink and see many entertainers. As you wander, the feeling of dread grows until after nightfall you wander south down winding alleys near the rear of the Rusty Dragon, a large inn. All of the sudden you hear a high pitched giggle from a street over. You rush around a corner to see a body lying in shadows, moonlight glinting off a large pool of blood. Several goblins crouch over the body, dogslicers bared and bloody. A half-orc stands between you and the body, facing the body with a raven perched on his shoulder. He seems disturbed by the sight before him. What do you do?
What do you all do?
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Jansen is wound up after an amazingly lucky day, after spending far too much time getting sea sick on that accursed boat. As he jingles the now slightly fuller coin purse on his belt he decides he's going to have to leave a few of the gains as an offering to Gozreh in thanks for putting him back on land where he belongs and in a place that apparently enjoys a good show.
When he hears the cry the merriment quickly fades. Far from being above releaving an oblivious mark of some coins, Jansen still has never approved of the more violent crimes. Mugging was the resort of the unskilled after all and he was a professional.
Quickly bringing a dagger into each hand in case he faces multiple foes he hurries down through the alley towards the noise, trying to creep forward the last short ways to get the drop on whatever he is facing. It seems the gods are giving him a chance to repay their kindness yet.
Stealth Stealth
Perception
Ghorum's thoughts are on a nice comfortable bed to collapse into when he is shaken from his reverie by the shrill cry.
He unclasps his peace-bonded waraxe as quietly as possible, then peers down the alley before quietly moving forward.
Initiative (if needed):
Perception:
Stealth:
Init
Morane's actions:
Initiatives:
Morzane
Jansen 20
Ghorum 8
Goblins
Morzane steps into the alley. Seeing the goblins carving at the corpse, he utters a series of harsh syllables and casts his hands forward. Three of the little buggers slump forward, falling flat on their faces and snoring loudly. The last goblin, seeing the sudden naptime, lets out a harsh exclamation and kicks the nearest one viciously. It awakens with a curse, and begins to blink its eyes. From a nearby mound of refuse, you hear a growling as something digs out of the pile: a lean diseased looking thing that might be a cross between a rat and a dog begins to growl with a hissing tone in its throat.
Jansen and Ghorum, realizing that the foul beasts haven't noticed them, move quickly to the shadows and begin stalking forward, readying weapons.
Round 2!
Morzane swings his spear infront of himself and strikes a defiant pose. "Come to me my little beasts." At that, he forms an odd configuration with his hand and utters, "Oun'sha"
Morzane casts his dazzling spell! The goblin pauses, slack jawed and drooling slightly. You're not sure if he's succumbed to the spell or it's just the way the little buggers look. Your mind is made up when he screams a wild cry and charges straight at you!
Attack:
Damage:
His wild slashing almost misses, until he trips on a rock and his windmilling blade catches Morzane across the chest, opening a deep gash there.
The second goblin stands up, looks down at the cut of thigh muscle in his hand and begins to furiously gnaw on it, his enemies forgotten.
The goblin dog sniffs the air, catching wind of the sneaking dwarf to the north. He snarls and charges!
Attack:
Damage:
The diseased rat-dog charges Ghorum, dodging under his shield to rip viciously at the dwarf's thigh.
Muttering under his breath "The gods certainly know how to call in their favors..." Jansen creeps to the end of the alley. The goblins seem easily distracted, so the dog like creature appears to be the bigger immediate threat.
Being more direct than he normally might, Jansen steps out of the cover of the alley to flank the dog with the dwarf, stabbing at it with his dagger.
Attack(including flanking)
Damage(including sneak attack)
Jansen slips behind the diseased dog-rat and slashes at it, but the beast slips to the side, moving quickly and snapping at the sudden appearance of the rogue.
Ghorum, you're up!
Startled by the ravening beast, Ghorum has no time to be angry at himself for letting the thing sneak up on him, much less bite.
Ignoring the pain, Ghorum snarls and swings at the beast...
Ghorum's immune system shrugs off the beast's irritating dander with little difficulty and his responding attack cuts deep into the rat-beast's shoulder, causing it to yip and froth at the mouth.
Round 2: Morzane, your turn!
Sorry, I have been busy with this holidays.
Can I join the fight now, please?
Morzane steps back and places his hand to his chest. As he concentrates, his wound begins to close.
Kromoro's Init:
The goblin attacking Morzane stares at the brief warm flash of healing energy that spreads across Morzane's chest. It backs away from Morzane, a confused look on its face, only to see the goblin dog being flanked by Jansen and Ghorum. It launches itself at Jansen's leg, screeching loudly.
Attack:
Unfortunately the goblin is not as coordinated as it imagines. The goblin dog, on the other hand, is bleeding heavily and desperate to get away from the fray. It lunges at Ghorum.
The goblin dog's teeth crash against the dwarf's shield, and it yelps with pain, its rat tail between its legs.
Meanwhile, the third goblin gnaws on its human flesh. When it sees the goblin run past to launch itself at Jansen, it falls backward into one of the other sleeping goblins, who awakes with a snarl and begins to wrestle with the other goblin over the human haunch.
Jansen pulls his leg back away from the goblin, having no intention of it being fought over like the other unfortunate. Still, he has confidence in his ability to dance around the clumsy creatures attacks so he maintains his focus on bringing them down one at a time and swipes his dagger at the rat-dog. The dwarf looks like he's juggled as many bodies as Jansen has... well juggled, and if he can free him up to wreck a little havoc things will hopefully clear up quickly.
Attack(includes flank)
Damage(includes sneak)
Jansen's attack is swift and sure; the goblin dog doesn't see the attack coming. The dagger stabs the creature in the thigh, cutting open its femoral artery. It turns its head to snarl, but the action merely causes it to lose blood faster. It collapses to the ground, whining as the life flees from its body.
Kromoro!
Okay, skipping Kromoro this round, Ghorum, you're up!
As the goblin dog falls, Ghorum smiles at Jansen. "Thanks, lad!" he says.
He steps to where the arguing goblins are and proceeds to bash the one that gets closest as they wrestle.
Morzane glares at the goblin that attacked him earlier and utters, "Oun'sha."
Round 3!
Morzane once more attempts to daze the goblin who is currently attacking Jansen's leg. The goblin gives a sigh and slides down Jansen's leg, his head spinning strangely. The two goblins wrestling over the leg see the blade spin down at their heads. Both of them spring to their feet, provoking an attack of opportunity from Ghorum! One goblin has the presence of mind to draw his dog slicer; the other snarls and brandishes the hunk of leg.
Ghorum's AoO and Jansen is next!
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Jansen flashes a grin at the dwarf's thanks before he hears the strange words come from the half-orc and sees the goblin reel in response. He gives the witch an appreciative nod before skirting the goblin next to him to duck back into the mouth of the alley. The others are outnumbered and he is supremely (over)confident that his nimbleness will keep him away from the goblin's teeth. He presses back against the corner of the alley to try and duck out of sight of one of the goblins, giving the impression he may have fled before flicking one of his dagger's end over end from the corner's cover.
Attack
Damage
Sneak damage
Stealth
Jansen adeptly spins away from the dazed goblin, but in its stupor, it doesn't seem to notice his exit. He turns and throws from the shadows, throwing his dagger at the back of the head of the goblin wielding the dog slicer! The knife sinks home with a satisfying hollow PLONK! The goblin stumbles forward, confusedly groping at the back of its head with one hand before falling facedown on the cobblestones. The other goblin, the one wielding the leg, spins around and begins to stare with clear fear at the rest of the group!
Kromoro and Ghorum's AoO next!
Ghorum quickly adjusts the grip on his axe after he misses his original target to bring it down on the head of another goblin scrambling to stand up.
Ghorum's swing barely misses the haunch-wielding goblin, but does suceed in scaring him into dropping the leg. He lets out a high pitched scream and begins to hiss like a cornered rat.
Morzane looks at the cornered goblin and utters, "Oun'sha."
Morzane calls upon his dark eldritch words, casting his spell of confusion. The cornered goblin is too crazed with fear to even notice the spell. Hearing Morzane speak, the goblin fixates on him, and getting past him as a means to get out of his situation. He flings himself at the witch, rolling around him to strike at him from behind!
The goblin snarls and slashes with the dog slicer!
Attack:
Damage:
However, the goblin's attack is uncoordinated and goes wildly off!
Jansen, then Ghorum is up!
Pleased with his own success, Jansen presses up against the wall of the alley again, trying to use it as cover from the remaining goblin's view before ducking out to flick his other dagger again. He lets one of the daggers in his wrist sheaths drop down into his hand to keep himself armed.
Attack
Damage
Sneak Attack
Stealth
Morzane is barely able to gather his strength to swipe at the goblin before a dagger flies from the shadows and sinks into the goblin's throat. It dies in a wheezy gurgle, dropping to the cobblestones!
Morzane looks over the others, "Greetings. Perhaps we should tie up this sleeping goblin. They came from somewhere. We should find out where they came from." Waiting for responses, "Also, if your wounds need attending to, then I can assist. The least I can do for assisting."
Jansen steps out from his place in the alley, taking a moment to return the dagger to his wrist sheath and move to gather his other two thrown blades. He nods to the half-orc's words, wrinkling his nose a bit and wiping the blades off on the goblins before returning them to his belt. "I have some rope in my pack. I can tie them if you wish, though I must admit that most of my experience would be either making climbing knots or trick knots for a performance. If either of you are more skilled with prisoners, you can feel free to use my rope."
Straightening up, he gives a bit of a bow towards the other two. "I should introduce myself. I am Jansen, performer extrodinaire and blossoming adventurer. Do either of you have any idea why these creatures would be in the city?" He glances at the body among the refuse, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Aside from hunger I suppose. I don't think I've ever said this before, but I imagine we should fetch the sheriff."
The goblin is easily bound, not even waking as you tie him up. The body nearby lies facedown, its leg butchered, but some features can be discerned. The body is male, light brown skinned and bald. He's heavily muscled and wears a sword scabbard, but there's no sword in sight. Further information requires rolling the body over.
Morzane looks at the body. Not being able to identify anything about it, he turns it over with the butt of his spear.
Jansen pulls up the cloth of his outfit beneath the chain he wears over his nose to ward off the smell while he tries to look down at the body Morzane turns over. His brow furrows as he takes it in and his voice is muffled as he rambles on to cover his discomfort. "I haven't spent much time with bodies. Seen one or two passing through some of the rougher alleys back home, but its generally outside of my line of work. A corpse don't tip so well. With that axe, I'd wager our friend dwarf here has seen his share of bodies, though I doubt he often had to wonder how they got that way, eh?"
Perception
The smell isn't so bad yet, leading you to believe the body is not old. A gaping neck wound, cutting the body from ear to ear seems to be the cause of death, although his eyes are clearly missing as well. Blood pours from his mouth and his clothes appear ruffled, as if they were hastily put on. He's wearing leather armor and as you roll over the body, a silver medal in the shape of a shield falls out of the pocket and clatters loudly to the cobblestones.
It reads a single word, with the crest of Sandpoint on it.
"SHERIFF"
Looking at the medal Morzane adds, "Hugh. Guess the local law will be very interested in this and our little green friend. Shall we alert them?" Morzane is more than a little nervous now.
"by the way, I'm Morzane and this is my friend Bones. We have recently arrived in this city. Are any of you familiar with the locals?"
Jansen winces a bit as he sees the metal, its certainly not a good way to make friends with the local law enforcement by bringing a body of one of their own back to them. His life is always much easier when the law isn't looking at him. Still he tries to make light of it with a jest.
"I suppose we don't need to go so far to fetch the sheriff after all, eh? A pleasure to meet you, Morzane, and uh, you too bones. I'm afraid I don't know anyone by name, I'm pretty fresh off the boat myself. All I know about the locals is that they seem much more generous than those back home, judging from my tips."
Morzane smiles briefly and stands up, "Well, I will have Bones stand watch and we can go get what's left of the law."
Bones hops down to the body and stands guard over it. The sleeping goblin wakes up, struggles briefly and makes choking noises.
You each remember seeing the town sherrif's office as you wandered the town earlier, and head off in that direction. A lamp is lit outside and the door is open, allowing a breeze to flow through on a warm night. When you enter, a tired looking man with a rough face looks up.
"Can I help you? Has there been an incident?" He looks slightly askance at the blood on your clothing.
"My name is Morzane. What would your position be?"
"Orik Vandercaskin, deputy Sheriff. I'm in charge over nights here. What happened to you, Mr Morzane?"
Nodding at the deputy, "Grab your things and come with us. Your boss was killed by a group of goblins. We have a survivor."
Orik stares at you for a brief moment, then shakes his head, stands and grabs a bastard sword from behind the desk and rushes after you. He whistles as he goes and you hear several people jump to their feet from the room beyond. Three guardsmen come running. Orik nods at one and then at the desk. The other two hurry to follow Orik.
"This has better be someone's idea of a really, really bad joke."
Morzane smiles briefly and stands up, "Well, I will have Bones stand watch and we can go get what's left of the law."
"I'll stay here too and watch over this little runt..." Ghorum says, jabbing the sleeping goblin with the haft of his axe.
"The name's Ghorum, by the way. Pleasure's mine, friends. Thanks for the help". He smiles at the group.
Jansen shakes his head to Orik as they make their way. "Unfortunately I think my sense of humor is a bit more refined than that. I heard a struggle and came to an alley with the Sheriff's body. I am assuming it was the Sheriff anyway, he had the badge of office on his chest. Large, tanned bald man. There were a pack of goblins around him and one of those rodents they keep with them. Us and the dwarf who is still with him took care of them, tied up one of them to question him. I... um, am not so used to bodies, especially one in that shape so I don't know if they killed him or if they were just taking advantage of the situation, but it seemed like you would want to be able to question a witness."
Orik's jaw sets hard. His steps double and it's only when you stop to tell him to turn down the alley that he seems to remember that you're leading him.
When you reach the crime scene, you find Ghorum and Bones waiting for you. Bones flies off the body to land on Morzane's shoulder. Orik glances around the scene before kneeling at the body's shoulder. He stares at it for a moment before placing his hand over his mouth.
"Horsespit. I hoped you were wrong." He tells the two guards to secure the scene, then looks back down at the body. He murmurs quietly, almost to himself, "He gave me a chance when no one else would. He was a good man. He didn't deserve this." He seems to struggle with himself, then stands. He directs one of the guards to run to the Cathedral and get Father Zantus. He directs the other to fetch Mayor Deverin. He turns back to the party.
"Tell me everything that happened. Leave nothing out. Show me where you were, where the goblins were, any details. I need it all."
He listens to your testimony, walking the alley with you, nodding as he absorbs it all. A few minutes later, there's a clatter as a guardsman and an older man in simple clothes runs up. Out of breath, he introduces himself as Father Zantus. He then kneels next to the body and examines it, shaking his head. He begins to murmur prayers as he begins to examine the body.
Morzane nods to his familiar, "Bones here." After listening, MOrzane looks at the body.
Perception
Jansen looks to the body and wrinkles his nose again, pulling up the cloth of his shirt over his face again even though there isn't a stench from it yet.
"I'm afraid I didn't see the actual attack. I don't believe the others did either. I was passing through the alley on my way to my room and I heard a scuffle. I believed it was a mugging so I came to help and found a group of goblins. They were surrounding the body on my arrival but quickly moved to attack the other two. I assisted, trying to draw attention from the dwarf and dispatched two with my daggers. I was a performer in my previous home and throwing daggers was one of my tricks. Anyway, my half-orc friend here managed to bespell the goblins, allowing us to capture one alive. As we realized just who the victim was, we came to you immediately."
Father Zantus's prayers are interrupted by a gasp as he falls backward onto his rump. He was opening the shirt to examine the chest when the corpse begins to speak in a strange, harsh voice.
"The last time was just a warm-up. This time the whole town will pay in blood."
Having spoken, the mouth disappears, leaving only the mouth of the corpse. On the chest of the body of Belor Hemlock, sheriff of Sandpoint, a message has been cut into the flesh: I LIVE. -CHOPPER
What do you do?
Jansen gags a bit when the message is revealed, quickly pulling the shirt down off his nose and locking his jaw to try and feign not being so bothered by what he sees, though his normally dusky skin is quite pale at the moment.
"So... Um, Orik, was it? You don't happen to know who this Chopper fellow is, do you? He certainly seems to know you anyway, and it might be best if you knew who to watch for. I'm afraid I'm not local, none of us are, from what I can tell, and I for one am pretty unaware of any sort of debts of blood the townsfolk might have that apparently someone is intent to collect upon."
As he continues to speak, or more accurately babble, his voice raises as he goes on, showing his nervousness. "I thought, hey, I'll come to Sandpoint, there are ruins near there, right? Adventures to be had, legends to be spun, all that. Plus, I could be off finding treasure in the morning and back in a nice cozy bed by dark, what could be better? Not fighting goblins over a bloody leg on your way home would be better!"
With that last bit said he takes a deep breath and smooths his hands over his studded leather. "Ok, that had to be said but I'm better now. This night has been full of some firsts for me and it seems to have gotten me a little edgy."