Something akin to a whisper and a shadow snakes through Kjurama Field, following the fleeing goblins as close as it may. For their part, the goblins take no notice of it; their intentions lie firmly in escape from the dragonborn blackguard, the mysterious water spirit, the general chaos left in the wake of their chief's daring act of vengeance, and now a ghost haunting one of those stupid statues the surface dwellers keep about the land.
As Kjula passes closer to the runestatue on the heels of the goblins, he notes the wisp vaguely resembles a young mother draped in funereal robes crouching to tend to something; at first it seems like it cares for an invisible child, but he quickly corrects himself, realizing that the spirit is trying to clean the runestatue itself - a smear of goblin blood is streaked across the kitsune's face from the first goblin that leaned against it. For all its work though, the ghost's intangible fingers pass ineffectually through the drying blood.
Ahead, Kjula hears the lead goblin shout for the others to hurry - but his call has a strange echo to it. Slipping over the next ridge, the shadow-like monk catches a glimpse of a goblin slipping over the edge of an old well and dropping out of sight. The two trailing goblins hurry towards the well, scrambling through the ruins of an old longhouse. As they move over the weathered stones, three more goblins slowly creep from hiding spots and converge back towards the well, alertly brandishing crossbows, but failing to see the pursuit.
At the top of Iyofryjkawa Falls, the three figures peering over the edge are shortly joined by Srothgar the Younger, huffing from the uncommon exertions of the last few minutes.
As Olaf studies the ledges below, he begins to realize that the fading crimson pool is not being washed away from the cliff face, but rather, back towards the rock, if not directly behind the waterfall itself. When he begin to turn to tell the others, Srothgar nods and interrupts, "Aye... there is a cave of sorts behind the falls down there. Probably where Tuket fled to, if he survived your assault - it lets some of the water flow back into the caverns beneath the peninsula, but there is a narrow ledge along the underground river; mostly dry even."
The elder man leans forward and coughs, resting his hands on his knees. "Not as fit as I once was." He looks around, and settles back against a nearby rock. "Leave these heroics to young folk in the future."
"Best be careful if your thinking to chase Tuket down that way. Goblin may be hurt, but he's a wily one. Firebeard and I hunted him a few times in our day - before Njall became thegn. Thought we had cleared out Tuket's warren a few times, but never did kill the bugger himself." Srothgar's eyes space out, as he recalls old memories. "Time did to Njall what Tuket never could... the goblins are where Njall got Mirth's End from in the first place. Our first foray down into the Yellow Claw tunnels. A battle on an old rope bridge, Njall was fighting Tuket's father, while I had my hands full with Tuket himself. An errant swing took out one of the ropes, almost dumping us all down into the water below - Tuket escaped to the other side, I held on to what remained of the bridge, but Njall managed to grab the axe as Tuket's father began to fall." Srothgar shakes his head to bring himself out of his reverie. "Swore bloody vengeance on us he did. Seems he may have finally found it."
He looks up the river to the collapsed platform, and slowly traces its path back to the falls with his eyes. "Njall is gone now, but he won't be let into the great hall yet. Damn goblin took something from him - I couldn't see what, but I know it was something important, something..." A slickness begins forming in the corner of Srothgar's eye, but he wipes it away before a tear is shed. "I'm only the Speaker of Laws, not the Thegn. But I'm sure Hayazo would reward you somehow if you were to chase Tuket down, and avenge all of Kjurama on that damnable goblin."
As Kjula passes closer to the runestatue on the heels of the goblins, he notes the wisp vaguely resembles a young mother draped in funereal robes crouching to tend to something; at first it seems like it cares for an invisible child, but he quickly corrects himself, realizing that the spirit is trying to clean the runestatue itself - a smear of goblin blood is streaked across the kitsune's face from the first goblin that leaned against it. For all its work though, the ghost's intangible fingers pass ineffectually through the drying blood.
Ahead, Kjula hears the lead goblin shout for the others to hurry - but his call has a strange echo to it. Slipping over the next ridge, the shadow-like monk catches a glimpse of a goblin slipping over the edge of an old well and dropping out of sight. The two trailing goblins hurry towards the well, scrambling through the ruins of an old longhouse. As they move over the weathered stones, three more goblins slowly creep from hiding spots and converge back towards the well, alertly brandishing crossbows, but failing to see the pursuit.
At the top of Iyofryjkawa Falls, the three figures peering over the edge are shortly joined by Srothgar the Younger, huffing from the uncommon exertions of the last few minutes.
As Olaf studies the ledges below, he begins to realize that the fading crimson pool is not being washed away from the cliff face, but rather, back towards the rock, if not directly behind the waterfall itself. When he begin to turn to tell the others, Srothgar nods and interrupts, "Aye... there is a cave of sorts behind the falls down there. Probably where Tuket fled to, if he survived your assault - it lets some of the water flow back into the caverns beneath the peninsula, but there is a narrow ledge along the underground river; mostly dry even."
The elder man leans forward and coughs, resting his hands on his knees. "Not as fit as I once was." He looks around, and settles back against a nearby rock. "Leave these heroics to young folk in the future."
"Best be careful if your thinking to chase Tuket down that way. Goblin may be hurt, but he's a wily one. Firebeard and I hunted him a few times in our day - before Njall became thegn. Thought we had cleared out Tuket's warren a few times, but never did kill the bugger himself." Srothgar's eyes space out, as he recalls old memories. "Time did to Njall what Tuket never could... the goblins are where Njall got Mirth's End from in the first place. Our first foray down into the Yellow Claw tunnels. A battle on an old rope bridge, Njall was fighting Tuket's father, while I had my hands full with Tuket himself. An errant swing took out one of the ropes, almost dumping us all down into the water below - Tuket escaped to the other side, I held on to what remained of the bridge, but Njall managed to grab the axe as Tuket's father began to fall." Srothgar shakes his head to bring himself out of his reverie. "Swore bloody vengeance on us he did. Seems he may have finally found it."
He looks up the river to the collapsed platform, and slowly traces its path back to the falls with his eyes. "Njall is gone now, but he won't be let into the great hall yet. Damn goblin took something from him - I couldn't see what, but I know it was something important, something..." A slickness begins forming in the corner of Srothgar's eye, but he wipes it away before a tear is shed. "I'm only the Speaker of Laws, not the Thegn. But I'm sure Hayazo would reward you somehow if you were to chase Tuket down, and avenge all of Kjurama on that damnable goblin."
