Relisha abandons her ministrations of the plants and comes running to the real halfling's side. "Here, let's get him somewhere more comfortable," she says, concern in her voice. Once they've placed him on the bed, she looks him over carefully before placing her hands on his arm. She closes her eyes and speaks a quiet prayer to Sarenrae.
Walthus slowly comes around when Relisha washes away some of his injuries. It’s evident that had they not intervened when they did, he likely would have succumb to his injuries. The handling wipes away his tears and aka quietly ”Is. Is it gone?”, his eyes darting everywhere searching for trouble.
"The shape-changing creature is ... gone," Relisha answers in a gentle voice. "No one here will hurt you. Can you tell us what happened?"
Shalelu stands by as the others tend to the man. They seem to have things covered so she just waits to see what he has to say. She puts her bow over her shoulder and puts her foot on the wall as she leans back to rest.
”So...again...what the hell is this thing!?!?” Thanara asks again, quite preoccupied with the hideous thing they just killed.
Shalelu rolls her eyes at Thanara as the girl is still on about the now deceased monstrosity that she is still so worried about for some reason. She thinks It is dead, what difference does it make but doesn't say anything not wanting to distract the already shaken up halfling from explaining what he knows.
Still half expecting one of you to shift into the creature, he eyes you all warily. Except Relisha, he seems to scoot a little closer to and trust her, perhaps because she is the one that healed him and looks like the least threatening individual.
Recalling what happened he explains "That... thing came and attacked me last night. It. It just shifted into me right in front of me! I couldn't believe it! Anyway, we fought downstairs and I hurt it, but it hurt me more. I, I was lucky enough to get away and hide in a secret room upstairs, but I was too injured to try to escape. I didn't have a plan, I just. I don't know."
With a heavy sigh he looks at you and says "Thank you for saving me."
He suddenly realizes all these strange people are now in his home. "Uhm. What are you doing here?"
Shalelu responds to his inquiry "We are here looking into the goblin threat in the swamp. We were hoping you could give us some insight into the surrounding area and the goblins. Maybe any maps you might have? Any help you can provide would be appreciated."
Walthus nods and tries to sit up, groaning from the injuries he still has. "Oh, sure. Yes, definitely. I'm so thankful for what you've done, I'll help anyway I can. Why don't I go make you a meal and I can answer any questions you might have? If you're hurt from your fight with the monster, you can stay here the night if you like?"
For the first time he notices the fresh liquids that stain Relisha's body and he asks softly "Did you get hurt too? I'm terribly sorry about all of this."
Walthus insists on rising from his bed and heading to the kitchen to prepare a meal for you.
For the first time he notices the fresh liquids that stain Relisha's body and he asks softly "Did you get hurt too? I'm terribly sorry about all of this."
Walthus insists on rising from his bed and heading to the kitchen to prepare a meal for you.
The tiefling simply shrugs in response to Walthus' question. "I'm fine," is her only answer. She moves to assist him in the kitchen and lets the others ask their questions.
Noticing the state of the halfling, Olaff refuses to let him and Relish to cook for them. "Ye sit therre, little man... I'll do the cookin'." Noting some disbelief, and perhaps even apprehension, on the eyes of the others, Olaff defends himself. "Vhat? I can cook! Ye'll see..."
Olaff leaves the house and after about an our he returns with some eels and blue crabs as well as a handful of wild watercress and a couple herbs and fruits he found behind the house and even some weird orange-tinted eggs. "Ye'll see..." He mumbles as he cooks.
He fries the eels in grease and tosses some garlic and herbs together, while boils the crabs and makes a sauce of cranberries. As a side dish, he makes a simple watercress salad with boiled eggs.
Shalelu follows the others downstairs as Olaff goes to work gathering supplies and then eventually cooking she takes a seat and pointedly asks the halfling "While we wait, what can you tell us about the goblin here? They've been causing trouble, not uncommon for the vile pointy teethed monsters that they are. We are going to take care of them so they no longer pose a threat. However, we aren't just here for the goblins. Sheriff Hemlock requested we map out the swamps so if there are ever issues like this again in the future he will be able to send guards to take care of it rather than having to rely on volunteers like us."
She pauses a moment before continuing "So, like I said the more you can tell us about the swamp the more it will help us out."
Throughout the meal Walthus describes how the Licktoad goblins have been acting a bit braver than normal as of late. "I'm not sure what's really going on here, but they have been shooting off fireworks left and right and it's downright disturbing! Worse yet, they seemingly have this endless supply of the stuff. I'm not sure where they got it from."
"To get to the Licktoads? You gotta go back the way you came and hit the Lost Coast Road and follow that another mile or so. The'll be another trail, much older than the one you took to get here, you follow that across a bridge over the river and wind through the marsh. That'll take you there. Or, you can go past that trail and go further and follow the Witch's Walk. Old Megus, she lives in there."
Taking another bite he adds "I've been there once ya know, the Licktoad goblin village? Sneaky I was, it's bigger than I expected. It's a bunch of these wooden houses on legs connected by bridges, all above ground. Back pond nearby. I can definitely draw a map for you of the surrounding area if you like."
Walthus is amazed at the Ulfen's ability to cook a solid meal. Shoveling more food into his mouth than you would have thought possible for the small guy, he stares wide-eyed at Olaff and exclaims "A professional chef! I have never had such a crab dish in my entire life! I am truly blessed!"
Turning to Shalelu he starts counting off on his fingers. "Right. So there's my place here, Licktoad Village, Old Megus' place, the couple of old shipwrecks, some caverns, a bunch of marsh and swamp, numerous bridges, and. Well, I guess all I can think of for now."
Turning back to Olaff, Walthus holds up his empty plate. "Is there more?"
"Shipwrecks?!" Relisha asks loudly before turning red and covering her mouth with her hand. She looks down at the remains of her meal. "Sorry," she adds quietly.
Walthus clarifies "Ok, I am probably overstating it. I do a lot of exploring around here and I came across a couple of frames of some old ships. It's obviously been some time now, they're rotten and long overgrown. It was way to eerie for me to stick around though, I was just waiting for a dead sailor to rise up out of the ground and strike me down."
With a shrug he adds "You never know what you'll find in a swamp!"
Relisha smiles up at the halfling and seems to gather courage at his response. "W-Where are they? It seems like they ... like they'd be fascinating. Sad and mournful, yet .... kind of ..." She blushes again and looks done at her plate. "Nevermind."
Olaff laughs as the warden compliments his food. "I do not know this vorrd 'chef', but aside frrom a 'prrofessinal varriorr', I believe I'm not this thin'. If ye like the crrab, then eat some morre." He says as he places more crabs in Walthus's plate.
"In the norrth, in Sorrtrravnhall, orr Blackrraven Hall in yer language, ve have no cooks orr serrvants... ve have only varriorrs." He eats a mouthful of eels before continuing. "I learrnt how to cook, because those who cook, do not clean s!#%-pots, forr obvious rreasons."
Olaff then casually reaches for Relish and finger-flicks her exposed ear. "Therre... I'll do this everrytime ye apologize forr no rreason... trrust me, I vill be good to ye..."
Ahreni polishes off her plate in double quick time and wordlessly holds out her plate for more. The conversation doesn't seem to interest her much, but anyone paying attention notes that she's watching and listening carefully.
Relisha reaction is probably not what Olaff had intended.
At the sharp pain at her ear, the tiefling pushes away from the table and her chair out from underneath herself. She then falls to her knees and pulls her hands up as if in prayer. "I'm sorry," she says in supplication. "I will seek repentance." She continues in a much quieter voice, speaking prayers to the Dawn Flower, tensing as if waiting for the next strike to fall.
Walthus’s fork hangs midair as he watches Relisha’s antics. He stares quite rudely, fork suspended between his mouth and the bowl, crab dripping back into the bowl. ”Uhhhm....” is all he says.
Shalelu is just about to reply to the man when Rel causes a scene she quirks a brow wondering that that is all about and simply states "What are you doing? Get off the floor..."
"Ye vill seek redemption my ass..." Olaff says, obviously angry but not at Relisha. With care, not to harm her, Olaff grabs her arm and pulls her up, back to the chair. He then spins her chair towards him in a way to force her to look at him. "Who have done this to ye?"
"Frrom vherre I come frrom, ve still have slaves and it is not unhearrd of some crruel masterr to beat, torrturre and humiliate theirr slaves to such an extent that theirr spirit arre completely brroken..." He explains to the others while he awaits for Relisha to answer him. "This is how I see Rrelisha, a broken girrl... so I ask... who did this to ye?"
Lifting the small woman, Olaff can feel her trembling in his arms.
"I'm ... I'm not broken," she finally manages to stammer out. "Please don't hit me. I'm not broken."
"I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid," she whispers to herself as a mantra as she looks down at her feet. "I'm tainted, Olaff. No one has done anything to me that ... that I didn't deserve."
With carefully controlled movements, she rises from her chair and faces their host. "I'm sorry to bring my presence to your home," she says with a tip of her head. "I need some air," she says to the rest of the group. With that, she picks her bag up from the floor and steps out through the front door.
Once outside, she pauses and takes a deep breath of the late morning air. She wishes she could still the thoughts racing around in her head, but there's no where to do what's required with any privacy. She contents herself with watching the flying insects hover over the swamp's plantlife.
When Relisha stepped outside, she finds a completely enthralled Thanara still looking the dead thing over. ”Hey Rel,” she says when she finally notices the girl, ”have you checked this thing out? I mean, I know it tried to kill you and all, but, I mean...LOOK at it! I’ve never seen anything like it!”
When Thanara calls out to her, Relisha starts. Reining in the thoughts whirling around in her head, she walks over to where the woman excitedly studies the shape-shifter. "I've seen it as close as I'd like to," she says, attempting to smile. "Thanks."
Completely frustrated, Olaff lets Relisha go without attempting to hold her. He then picks his plate once more. "Someone convinced that poorr thin' that she is as vorrthy as dog s&+@..."
"Perrhaps Thanarra knows somethin' about it... I'll ask herr latterr. And I'll make 'em pay. F*&$."
When he finishes the last morsels in his plate, he rests it on the table and moves towards the door. "I need to piss... oh, and I'm not vashin' the dishes. 'The one that cooks, do not vash'. My rrule." Olaff then leaves the house, paying no attention to neither Thanara nor Relisha and moves towards the water to empty his bladder. Once he is done, he moves towards a stump that has a splitting axe lodged in it and begins to cut timber furiously.
After everyone is gone but Shalelu and Ahreni, she turns her attention back to the halfling, ”My apologies, This is the first time we are all working together. Normaly I would do this kind of thing alone but... well that wasn’t an option right now. Anyway, any sort of map you can provide would be helpful. Just a few more questions then we will be on our way. First, that thing that came after you, do you have any idea what it was or why it was after you? Second, there was rumor of some swamp monster, any thrush behind it that you are aware of? Finally, this ‘Old Megus’ what can you tell me of her?”
”I get it,” Thanara says, somewhat sad that nobody was telling her anything about this really cool thing.
She steps over to Relisha and asks ”So...how’s things inside?”
Ahreni meanwhile collects the plates and sets to washing them, with the surreptitious help of her tongue in a few cases... She listens to Shalelu and the hermit talk behind her and keeps one ear cocked to listen to the conversations outside as best she can.
Walthus doesn't understand what is going on with all of these big humans and elves. He finishes up his meal and thanks the Ulfen before he heads outside. He rises to do the dishes, but Ahreni beats him to it and so he turns to face Shalelu instead. "You have nothing to apologize for, I'd be dead if it wasn't for you!"
He heads to cabinet and draws out a piece of parchment and utilities to start marking it up. He starts to sketch out a map of the swamp to the best of his abilities, pointing out some of the key points he highlighted earlier. "Megus, she's an old witch. Lived around these parts longer than I have. Cranky, but helpful. I trade with her on and off. Been awhile since I've been down there though, she lives forever though, so I'm sure she's still in there. Doesn't like company much, careful."
"Ole Soggy? Careful with that one. He devours a lot of local wildelife. Has three toes, you'll know when you see his prints. I try to stay clear of him and he stays away from these parts. We settled that right quick early on. Scariest damn thing I ever seen, that's for sure! His splits all apart!"
Sitting his drawing instrument down, he turns to face Shalelu. ”I have no idea what that thing was or where it came from. It just came out of nowhere and tried to become me. It was terrifying. I’ve never seen anything like it nor have I heard of anything like that before.”
Shalelu nods "Well we appreciate you sharing your table with us and providing us information. Maybe stay inside for awhile until we can see what is going on around here so you stay safe. I will try and stop by on our way back home to check in on you." She will take the map and nod for Ahreni to come along as she heads for the door toward the others.
”Leaving already?!” Walthus asks as Shalelu heads for the door. ”Please stay safe. I’d live if you came back through!” he adds energetically.
"They're just asking Walthus about stuff," Relisha responds to Thanara. "And washing dishes." She frowns and contemplates something before stepping closer to the woman. "Do ... do you think I'm broken?" she asks tentatively.
”No,” Thanara says as her own tone darkens as she looks at the sky through the trees, as if studying a nonexistent storm cloud. ”Trust me...I would know.”
After a bit Shalelu emerges from the house, she raises the paper she is holding and notes ”Alright let’s get moving. It sounds like our best bet to get to the goblins is back out to the main road and then further south down the coast. He mentioned two options, one straight to the goblins and another past a witch. While I want to deal with these goblins I think we should check in with the witch first since I can’t scout things out myself, she might have useful information.”
Relisha looks up as the the elf announces their next destination. She nods wordlessly.
As Shalelue walks out, she takes a look at the map that Walthus drew for you. He marked your current location as Walthus and you can clearly see the trail you used to get here from the Lost Coast Road. He also marked the shipwreck, Old Megus's place and the goblin's village on the map as well.
With part of his frustration cleared by the quick labor, Olaff moves towards the others. "I have learrnt frrom countless tales to neverr trrust a vitch... I see no purrpose in us seekin' herr shack aside frrom puttin' an end to herr life."
Shalelu rolls her eyes at Olaff "Perhaps that is prejudice from where you come from, I hear the witches in your part of the world are a nasty lot. In any case Walthus said she is cranky but helpful, and I believe we could use the help, all things considered."
You bid Walthus farewell and head back up the fishing trail that takes you to the Lost Coast Road again. Once back on the road, you turn south and continue moving away from Sandpoint in search of another entrance into the swamp. After a half mile you cross the Soggy River and keep an eye out for the trail that halfling said would be further down the road a bit. Eventually you spot what looks like a trail, but it is definitely not as clear cut as the first path you took into the swamp.
The trail winds back and forth again and again as you wind your way slowly northwest back into the swamp. You pass over one small sunken bridge before winding your way west again for a short while. Throughout your trip the eeriness of the swamp continues to present itself with mysterious noises like cracking branches and animals scurrying away in the distance. While you have a job to do here, it's clear you wouldn't want to stay here any longer than you have to.
Eventually a sagging one-story shack sits appears in a clearing on the west, its walls dingy with age and encrusted with lichen and fungus. A partially collapsed shed sits just to the northeast, while small pouches, twisted knots of feathers, and dangling wind chimes made of bones hang from branches and roof edge alike
Shalelu is a little surprised at the state of the trail, though it can barely even be called that. She hopes the halfling had his directions right, but once the shack comes into view she nods to herself acknowledging the halfling had indeed helped them out. As they close in she stops the group and notes "Olaff, maybe you should stay back and keep your mouth shut, at least initially we don't need you pissing off the witch and getting us all cursed." Turning to Thanara she continues "Why don't you use that honey-tongue of yours to get on her good side she if she would be willing to talk with us and share information about the swamp. If you have to offer our aid in return for her helping us, being out here alone she is bound to need help with something..."
"Um ... I don't know if she's here," Relisha offers up nervously. "No one's been down this trail in a long time."
The girl looks around at the decrepit buildings, twisting a tendril of grass in her fingers.
Thanara puts her hand side in her hips as she looks over the shack. When Shalelu gives her instruction, she turns to her and says ”You wish you knew how honeyed my tongue was,” as she gives her upper lip a lick then walks past the elf, sticking her tongue out at her mockingly.
She walks right up to the door and knocks. ”Ma’am? Sorry to bother you! We don’t mean any harm! My name is Thanara Scarnetti, and my friends and I are here to see if you would be willing to help us deal with these goblins out here!”
Thanara waits for a response from her polite request, but nothing happens. After a few more minutes of knocks and requests for assistance, the group gets the general impression that either no one is home or no one wants to be disturbed.
A quick study the front door finds that it is locked, but it appears to be swollen shut and will take a good kick or shove to get open.
Twenty feet away is a storage shed of some kind, it's doors similarly stuck closed.
Ahreni doesn't care much about the groups direction and follows without comment, preferring to sniff around and take in the sights and sounds of the swamp. At the cottage she waits, with just a hint of pink tongue flicking out when Thanara makes the crack about her 'honey'.
Once the politeness fails the shifter makes for the storage shed and sniffs carefully before applying herself to opening the door.
Thanara puts her hand side in her hips as she looks over the shack. When Shalelu gives her instruction, she turns to her and says ”You wish you knew how honeyed my tongue was,” as she gives her upper lip a lick then walks past the elf, sticking her tongue out at her mockingly.
Relisha looks confused for a moment, but then her eyes open wide and she turns attempting to find anything to look at that's not either of the two women. Reaching up, she pulls her hair down more to cover the red blotches covering her face.
When there's no response to Thanara's knock, she shuffles uncomfortably. "It doesn't sound like anyone's home. Perhaps we should just check out the goblins ourselves?"
Her voice grows quieter.
"And maybe the shipwreck."
When Thanara doesn't get a response and Ahreni goes to try and force the storage shed door open Shalelu calls out "Wait! I don't know about the rest of you but I don't want to piss off a witch. She either isn't home or doesn't want to be bothered right now. Either way, breaking into her stuff isn't a great idea. I agree with Relisha. Maybe we should just head to toward the goblin camp and we can check on the witch later. We came for her help, if she isn't here to give it now, no need to make an enemy."
The tiefling nods as she attempts to conceal her embarrassment.
Unless Ahreni notices something significant in the shed she shrugs and returns to the group.
Ahreni's shoulder slams into the shed, but it's going to take more than a casual nudge to open it up.