... "I make it five goblins and someone else -- A human, maybe, or a half-elf. ...
Sivan
"Why do you think a human or half-elf? I know you look at the size. Is it the weight? Do we look for a skinny humans, 'normal' half-elves and burly elves?" Sivan asks wondering.
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Elyra looks at the group. "Can anyone make some sense out of this?"
Tac frowns at the new information, looking back and forth from the empty grave to the general direction of the cathedral.
"You don't suppose all of that--" he gestures back to town, indicating the goblin hijinks--"was a distraction to dig up the Father's body, do you?" He shakes his head. "But the festival was going on anyway, so I can't imagine much of anyone was around here... and what could anyone need out of the corpse of a priest who died years ago?
"You know, this is why I'm an engineer. Math all adds up. People and motivations just make my head hurt."
Waiting and watching to make certain that he is unobserved, the collie carefully moves a trinket he'd been carrying to his mouth. Padding over to Tac's side, the dog drops his burden at the engineer's feet before stepping back and offering a brief bark to garner attention. With his wet nose pointing at the trinket, Sandstone growls menacingly for a moment.
Anyone picking up and examining the trinket can see that it is a carved wooden amulet in the shape of a rounded female goblin with a bulging belly hanging from a nattered leather cord.
"Why do you think a human or half-elf? I know you look at the size. Is it the weight? Do we look for a skinny humans, 'normal' half-elves and burly elves?" Sivan asks wondering.
"Um --" Elyra looks up distracted by the look she had exchanged with the "dog." It knew what its tracks meant, she realizes. It thinks like a person.
But, following her gut, she chooses not to try to sort this out with the others in the middle of the current crisis. "I don't know human or half-elf for certain," She explains. "Could be a half-orc or an elf, or anyone else about human-sized."
Padding over to Tac's side, the dog drops his burden at the engineer's feet before stepping back and offering a brief bark to garner attention. With his wet nose pointing at the trinket, Sandstone growls menacingly for a moment.
Anyone picking up and examining the trinket can see that it is a carved wooden amulet in the shape of a rounded female goblin with a bulging belly hanging from a nattered leather cord.
Tac squints at the ground, then stoops to pick up the amulet.
"El, you know more about goblins than me. Does this mean anything specific that you know of?"
Knowledge (religion) 19. Sivan takes a close look at the carved wooden amulet in Tac's hand. The small figurine of a grotesquely misshapen female goblin with a bulging stomach and flat sagging breasts is carved of dense wood and has been fired until hardened. While the form of the amulet suggests some form of Goddess worship, Sivan doesn't recognize which deity this particular amulet might pay homage to.
Growing more agitated as her thoughts whirl around the desecration of a good man's grave, Talashia snaps, "Who cares about some trinket?! We need to track the ones who took him! Follow them back to whatever forsaken little hole they took him to and stop whatever they're planning!"
Growing more agitated as her thoughts whirl around the desecration of a good man's grave, Talashia snaps, "Who cares about some trinket?! We need to track the ones who took him! Follow them back to whatever forsaken little hole they took him to and stop whatever they're planning!"
Tac starts as the sorcerer lashes out. Sheepishly he says, "I'm sorry. I know I sometimes get distracted by stray thoughts, but I promise I just thought, if this came from the goblins, maybe it could tell us something about who they're following, or what clan they are or something, and that could help Elyra figure out where they might be holed up."
A light wind picks up, ruffling hair and setting an autumn chill about the night air. Though cold, the wind has the effect of dispersing patches of fog; within an hour, the air will be clear.
To the west, the town bell tolls ten strokes. The town of Sandpoint has no bell for telling time--the bell only rings for three purposes: danger, a summons, or death.
A light wind picks up, ruffling hair and setting an autumn chill about the night air. Though cold, the wind has the effect of dispersing patches of fog; within an hour, the air will be clear.
To the west, the town bell tolls ten strokes. The town of Sandpoint has no bell for telling time--the bell only rings for three purposes: danger, a summons, or death.
Tac shivers, though it's unclear if that's in response to the chill wind or Talashia's reprimand. He snaps out of it, however, as the bells begin to toll.
"Gods, what now?" he says, dread staining his voice. He looks to the others. "I think we need to go back and find out, and I think the Sherriff needs to hear what we've found, too. What's everyone else think?"
The rough collie's ears perk up as the bell begins to toll in the night. Turning, Sandstone takes off without a pause, loping southwards through the mist-shrouded Boneyard. In short order the dog is rounding the southern wing of the Cathedral as he moves towards the bell tower.
Elyra looks at the departing creature. [color="darkgray"]"You're right, Tac, we should see what's going on. And we may need reinforcements anyway, if we're going to go chasing after goblins at night."[\color] She looks at the others to see if they will follow her and her cousin.
OOC: If the route takes them near Tac's apt, she will stop and get her bow and other weapons.
The bell stops tolling as the group manuevers back to the town hall. There is a sizeable gathering of men milling about the garrison adjacent to the town hall, and torches are both carried in hand here and there as well as set into sconces on the outside of nearby buildings. The shadowy light of the torches, while dim in patches, is enough to see by in the thinning fog. Both Sheriff Hemlock and Mayor Deverin stand on top of the steps lining the front of the Sandpoint Garrison. The group is acknowledged by a few of the menfolk on the outskirts of the gathering, who direct returning search parties to the forefront. "Most everyone's back now. Sheriff's taking reports of trouble up front, if you seen any." A quick look around is enough to bear witness to the fact that most of the search parties sent out encountered no trouble--those with something to report are the object of enviable glances and interested whispers by the crowd.
With Sheriff Hemlock speaking to a tight knot of three squad leaders, it is the mayor who first spots the party's approach. Frowning in confusion at the dog, Mayor Deverin starts to shake her head but stops in favor of calling out to the group, "You there! What news of the Deer?!" A few heads turn to look and the crowd parts way, making a path to the front.
Frowning in confusion at the dog, Mayor Deverin starts to shake her head but stops in favor of calling out to the group, "You there! What news of the Deer?!" A few heads turn to look and the crowd parts way, making a path to the front.
Tac starts at the official notice. He looks around a moment, then swallows hard and begins.
"There were goblins at the Deer, Madam-miss...tre... Mayor Deverin," Tac begins. He's stuttering at first, but very quickly falls back into his faster cadence.
"I'm afraid there was one fatality, but it was from the earlier attack, but it's not your kin, Sherriff. He's all safe and barracaded and almost didn't let us check on him, only we convinced him to, but then Sandstone--he's the dog--figured out that the front gate was open. Which, obviously, was very troubling. But we closed that, so that's all secure now. And also ... um, also we found out something else that I'd really rather not discuss in public?"
The hurried collie slows his running once he catches sight of the gathered crowd in front of the garrison rather than more goblin raiders. Initially stopping near the rear of the crowd, Sandstone takes advantage of the parting crowd to move forward. The canine intently scans those gathered in hope of catching sight of some familiar faces; friends that he hasn't yet had a chance to check up on since the carnage began. Sandstone continues peering all around even once the group reaches the garrison's steps. The tawny colored collie only pauses to bark and wag its long tail enthusiastically when the engineer mentions him in his report to the mayor.
Elyra hangs back. She had been about to blurt out the news about the Father's grave, and her suspicions about the gate, but chooses instead to let her cousin speak. Thank Erastil he took the lead before she made any wild accusations that could incite the town.
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