CB's Pathfinder Beta -- Burnt Offerings

[mfloyd3]

Elyra nods at her cousin's request, pausing only to take a long pull from the proffered tankard. "Many thanks," she nods to the innkeeper, making her way to the door.

But there is suspicion in her eyes as she looks through the open doorway, after the dog.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Garridan collects the empty ale tankards with a grunt and a nod. Escorting his guests to the door, the innkeeper tips his fingers to his forehead in a perfunctory salute of thanks. As Tac, Elyra, Talashia and Sivan head out into the damp and fog-strewn night air, Garridan closes and re-bolts the door after everyone's exited.

Sandstone isn't anywhere in sight, but as the group clusters in front of the White Deer, two human men clad in rusty chainmail and armed with a short sword each and a lantern shared between the pair approach along the byway from the direction of the town hall. The gathering fog is thick enough this early in the evening to nearly blot out the lantern ere the men are upon the White Deer. The pair of humans start when they finally spy Tac, Elyra, Talashia, and Sivan. "OI! What's yer business?" The smaller of the pair addresses the group, his challenging tone an indication that he's a deputy-sword guardsman.

 

[jkason]

Tac Abor, human rogue

The pair of humans start when they finally spy Tac, Elyra, Talashia, and Sivan. "OI! What's yer business?" The smaller of the pair addresses the group, his challenging tone an indication that he's a deputy-sword guardsman.

Tac starts himself at the aggressive challenge.

"The sheriff sent us this way to look for trouble," he says, then points to the goblin bodies. "And we did. But the ... hunting dog we were using ran off that way. We're hoping he hasn't found more of these goblins."

 

[Ambrus]

The rough collie sniffs around the gateway, both to determine recent comings and goings and also what may have transpired to leave the portal open and undefended.

OOC: Perception +4, taking 20.

Hearing the conversation going on outside the White Deer, the canine's ears perk up. Facing south, Sanstone tries once more to summon aid with a brief bout of barking.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Tac starts himself at the aggressive challenge.

"The sheriff sent us this way to look for trouble," he says, then points to the goblin bodies. "And we did. But the ... hunting dog we were using ran off that way. We're hoping he hasn't found more of these goblins."

The smaller of the pair of men squints through the fog at Tac and holds the lantern higher aloft to get a better look at Elyra and Sivan. Looking down, the small guardsman kicks at the dead dog carcass left behind by Aldern Foxglove in the byway. "Looks to me like yer dog bite it. Sheriff, eh? Sheriff's back from trekking down ter the beach, you lot's wanted at town hall, or so I heard. OI!!!" The small man yelps as his large companion jumps and elbows him in the ribs when Sandstone starts yet another volley of barking. "Goblin dog! Goblin dog!" the larger of the two men rumbles upon hearing Sandstone's queerly loud bark. Both men are suddenly on point, and brandish their shortswords at a point directed up the byway toward the Gate.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

The rough collie sniffs around the gateway, both to determine recent comings and goings and also what may have transpired to leave the portal open and undefended.

The normal custom of the town is to leave the gates open and unguarded during daytime hours but to close and bar the gates at night. From dusk 'til dawn, a two-man sentry is the norm at any Sandpoint gate. The gate should therefore have been closed and manned right about the time when Father Zantus was giving his speech at the Swallowtail Festival, right when the goblins attacked. Though it's been foggy this fall, it hasn't recently rained in Sandpoint. The area at the Gate consists of packed dirt, and many people have trekked in and out of the Gate in the dust of the day. Despite Taran's keen dragon senses, he requires better light and prowess with tracking to make sense of the many prints in the Gate area.

[sblock=OOC]The "sniffing around the gateway" is basically descriptive fluff, right? Taran's character sheet doesn't include Scent, which really wouldn't be merited anyway since he's using disguise to maintain his dog form.If you've something on his character sheet that merits more detail from me, please let me know.[/sblock]

 

[jkason]

Tac Abor, human rogue

The small man yelps as his large companion jumps and elbows him in the ribs when Sandstone starts yet another volley of barking. "Goblin dog! Goblin dog!" the larger of the two men rumbles upon hearing Sandstone's queerly loud bark. Both men are suddenly on point, and brandish their shortswords at a point directed up the byway toward the Gate.

"No, the dead dog belongs to a minor noble, that bark is ours. And if he's doing that, I'm afraid there's more trouble. Town hall's going to have to wait," Tac says. He looks to the others for agreement as he begins running in the direction of the barking, drawing his rapier as he does.

 

[Ambrus]

Approaching the mist shrouded north gate from whence the barking had come, Tac sees the tawny colored collie standing vigilantly between the two open wooden doors. Seeing Tac with bared rapier in hand, the dog merely barks once in greeting and then lets his tongue dangle sideways from his mouth as he pants. There are no guardsmen to be seen nearby.

 

[Shayuri]

Talashia found the scene in the tavern surprisingly awkward...seeing people from that long ago, people who knew her, who she couldn't pull her usual aloof and mysterious air with...it was deflating somehow. And yet, kind of warming as well. That sense of awkwardness, of these strangers having seen too much of her, led to her keeping unusually quiet. That is, until she saw the gates.

"What the...who's supposed to be on gate duty today?" she demands of the two watchmen. "It wasn't you two, was it?"

 

[CanadienneBacon]

In the commotion of the initial barking and Tac's drawing his blade and skirmishing for the open Gate, the small weasly guardsman hauls off after Tac, yelling something unintelligble. The larger of the pair of guardsmen seems uncertain whether to follow in the footsteps of his comrade. Just when the bulky man, perhaps a bit slow in the head, appears decided to head after his partner, Talashia's comment makes the dufus stop in his tracks and frown. The man replies, a touch confuddled, "Tallie? TALLIE!!! " before reaching out to strap Talashia in a would-be bear hug. Ere the man can grasp her, Talashia recognizes a playmate from her childhood, Ben Olafsson. Pere Olafsson, Ben's father, kept a small cottage outside the city walls and sold firewood for a living. Ben and Talashia, being the same age, played at fort-making in the Pere's woodpile.

Ben will incur an AoO if he attempts to bear hug/"grapple" Talashia. Let me know if Talashia accepts his hug, sidesteps it in some manner, or takes an AoO against him.

At the gate, the smaller weasly guardsman comes to a halt in front of Taran. Huffing for air from even his short burst of speed, the guardsman pants, "This yer dog? That bark'd wake the dead." The weasly man reaches a hand forward to pat Sandstone.

Let me know how Taran reacts to the attempt to be petted. And, yes, one possibility would be to take the AoO that the guardsman incurs.