Session 2 fin.
Finally, sleep.
Awake, and surprisingly refreshed. I headed down to a full breakfast courtesy of Ameiko Kaijitsu and her attentive staff which included Osirian-style cinnamon griddlecakes, Kyonin pheasant sausages, Mwangi fruits-de-freche, Galtan muddled eggs, and Taldoran breaded squash studded with sweet wild berries. About halfway through our late-morning repast, the double doors of the inn were suddenly kicked in. We sat, half-chewed mouths agape, as a stern, older Tian man strode through the commons toward Ms. Kaijitsu.
He unleashed an arsenal of tense and heated words upon her as he strode across the floor. Though Tian dialects are foreign to me, the bluster was obvious. Bethanna circled toward Vohoi, and provided us with a broken translation. It seemed that Lonjiku, Ameiko’s father, was berating her about something she had done, insulted her ‘wandering ways’ and scoffed at her business ventures. Bethanna gasped after one particularly biting comment- “Mr. Kaijitsu just said, ‘You are as dead to me as your Mother-’ a grave insult to Ms.- ”
Caramour moved to interject, with Vohoi close behind. I moved towards Ameiko as well, but the seasoned adventurer trumped us all, smacking the man on the head with a peppermill. He stormed out, infuriated. Afterwards, we found Ameiko unoccupied, and offered our help, whatever that may be. She politely declined, citing a longstanding feud as the cause of the morning’s interruption. Having been around town for a short while, I knew Lonjiku owned the local glassworks factory, and was absent from the Swallowtail Festival events despite being a long-standing businessman of good repute in Sandpoint.
We tarried long enough to help Bethanna with the linens; before she shooed us away, she told us the gravity of Lonjiku’s epitath: Ameiko’s mother, Atsuii, committed suicide, and her home life was complicated further by an estranged half-elf brother, Tsuto. Her brother lived in Magnimar, and was shunned by Lonjiku. He and Ameiko were once amicable, until he struck her during an argument. This prompted her adventuring career, and Tsuto further complicated matters at their mother’s funeral, when he all but accused their father of pushing Atsuii to turn her hand, leading to a near-brawl. We thanked the halfling and left to meet with Belor and the mayor. Vohoi tarried slightly, and I caught a glimpse of him reaching into his coin purse, pressing his hand into Bethanna’s. Desna’s grace.
Kendra, Balor, and an armed and armored elf sat at a long table in the mayor’s office. The elf stood to greet us. “Heroes of Sandpoint, I thank you. I am Shalelu. Mayor Kendra and Sherriff Hemlock tell me you are responsible for saving the town from the goblins that I track all along the coast.”
Shalelu sat down and we obliged, asking her questions about the local goblins and of any motives she might suspect.
We learned that there are five major goblin tribes, and that goblins are generally sloppy, disorganized, and lazy. But the attack on Sandpoint coincided with raids on the Lost Coast near Nettlewood, and in the Mosswood where a farmhouse was burned to the ground.
“The five tribes are united- as best as goblins can achieve such a state- by some outside source. There are the Mosswood- by far the largest tribe- the Licktoad, the Seven Tooth, the Thistletop, and the Birdcruncher. The Birdcrunchers are the closest to Sandpoint, but the least aggressive. The Seven Tooth often scavenge Junker’s Beach here in town,” she said, standing. “But for now I must go, I myself have yet to rest; I also have some leads to track down.”
We thanked Shalelu for her help and proceeded to meet Aldern Foxglove at the Goblin Squash Stables. I noted that Shaiira and Mundin tarried a bit behind us, and caught more than one pass of the dwarf’s flask.
Aldern was waiting, and was as gracious as ever. “Greetings, Heroes! I’ve taken the liberty of preparing your steeds. Please accept them as my thanks for saving my life yesterday. And for you, m’lady,” he bowed low and presented me with an ornate crossbow. It’s craftsmanship was exceptional. “I hope you strike true today, Sivoulette.”
I was impressed but did my best to hide it. I am a Farateldi, not Sczarni- I do not have a price tag. Still, I was not foolish enough to revoke his offer. I smiled and said, “Your Grace is too kind.”
“M’lady, please, simply call me Aldern,” he returned. “I am not your Lord, nor you my serf; just… a happy acquaintance.” I could live with that.
We traveled to the Mosswood, and soon happened upon a fat wild boar. Aldern, being the expert, declared it Dinner, so we approached it, weapons drawn. Shaiira was the first to make a move, and wildly dismounted and charged the beast. I flashed a hot glowering stare at the dwarf, who pretended to not interpret my ire. I looked back to Sha, drawing up my new crossbow; to my horror the beast gored her straight through the chest. She dropped to the ground, blood leaking from her like water from a broken barrel.
My sister was dead.
My scream may have startled the pig; C brazenly dismounted and quickly moved to Shaiira’s side, using his healing magic to steal her from Pharasma. The pig fell quickly to our efforts. Shaiira and I rode side-by-side on the way home, silent.
It wasn’t until after we’d returned to the Rusty Dragon with our prize, and after Ameiko and her staff turned it into a true feast, accompanied by a radish, watermelon and spinach salad, honey-drowned golden beets, truffled fiddleheads and carrots, and a cask of fine Tian ale that I could approach Sha about the incident. I took two glasses of red wine and found her in the corner, chatting with Vohoi. He excused himself, and I handed her a glass.
“A toast,” I said, raising my glass. “To tomorrow.” We drank. “You got lucky, there, this morning,” I said.
“I always do,” she said.
“But you might not.”
“Or I might.”
“I need to talk to you about Mum.”
“Of what? She’s at peace now.”
I paused. “Her grave is empty.”
Shaiira’s expression will never leave my soul, it was so wrought with energies too complex for words.
“We need to help Sandpoint, then we can find her,” I said, trying my best to remove my foot from my mouth. Why did I say that? Why now?
“Aye,” she said. “Well, we’ve got good company, so let’s make haste while there’s oil.”
“Aye,” I said, a smile in my eyes.
She used one of Mum’s favorite phrases. It’s a Varisian trope that means when you have the opportunity to make a play, do it. Life is imperfect, so take advantage of the situation as best you can.
Many of Sandpoint’s elite arrived courtesy of Aldern Foxglove for the feast. We sat with Shalelu, who gave us more insight into the goblin ecology of the area. Both Kendra and Belor were present; Hemlock excused himself early because he is travelling to Korvosa or Magnimar to garner support for the local militia. I find him boring. His deputies, Gomer and Guber, are in charge in his stead.
Shalelu gave us a fine introduction to the Sandpoint Goblins. “Something- or more likely someone- got to these little buggers and set them to task. There are several champions- if you will suspend disbelief- in the goblin camps. Perhaps one or several of these leaders is responsible for the raids.
“First is the Mosswood champion, Big Gugmut. Legend holds he’s the offspring of a hobgoblin and a wild boar.
“Next is a Seven Tooth legend, Corivus. He wielded a magic longsword, but disappeared into a cave in the cliffs of Junker’s Beach, and is rumored to be a ghost, or worse.
“Vorka lives in the Brinestump Marsh, duly noted as the haunt of a powerful witch. Vorka is a goblin cannibal, feared by the Licktoad tribe that calls the Marsh home.
“Gutwad, chief of the Licktoads, isn’t afraid of anything that he can send a pile of minions to deal with.
“Ripnugget is the bloodthirsty warchief of the Thistletop clan. He typically leads the charge, and they prefer dogslicers, and I’ve seen examples of their handiwork in Sandpoint.
“Last is a bugbear. Brethazmus is brutal enough to forge such an alliance of goblins, and cunning enough to pull off such attacks. He and I battle regularly along the roads and dens of the Lost Coast.”
I hoped the wine ingested wasn’t too distracting to the elf’s assessment; any errors in my recordings will likely play themselves out.
We lingered after the feast for a nightcap; Aldern bade us goodnight and Bethanna busied herself with our low-key fireside session. Suddenly a woman and her young son burst in- the boy had made claims of a monster in his closet. His dubious parents ignored him, until the father was indeed attacked! We rushed to the residence, and came to a scene of horror. C was the first one to discover the goblin hiding beneath the closet floorboards, and made short work of it. The gnawed, mangled body of the father was beyond our ability to lend aid. The goblin was likely a Seven Tooth, as it bore a necklace of seven teeth. We returned with the sad news, and Father Zantus took the widow and the boy to the temple for the evening.
The next morning sprang us into a din. Vohoi had been awakened by the halfling, Bethanna, bearing news that Ameiko was gone as well as a letter addressed to her from her estranged half-brother, Tsuto. She translated the letter for us, and in it Tsuto implicated Lonjiku as the man behind the goblin raid, and asked Ameiko to meet him at the glassworks this past midnight to “Make sure he faces the punishment he deserves.”
The tone of the letter is smattered with arrogance and a selective distaste for both Lonjiku and Sandpoint. Tsuto apparently finds the local populace to be racist and stupid, and Lonjiku to be tied in so tight that he can escape punishment by the local authorities. I am a bit taken aback that Ameiko would fall for such an obvious trap; but she has. We thank Bethanna and race to the glassworks. It is agreed that the authorities should be notified; Vohoi and C convinced a few itinerant watchmen to follow us to the Kaijitsu compound.
We arrived and broke into two groups, trying both the main entrance to the shop and a back door into the foundry. Shaiira unlocked the foundry entrance, and we proceeded in to find smashed glass everywhere. The pressed-men were sent back to alert Gomer and Guber that something was happening.
We opened a door that led to the glassworks foundry itself and came upon a horrific scene. Shattered glass was strewn about this long room studded with glassmaking kilns on its walls, and long, low crafting tables occupying the center of the room. Butchered bodies lay among the shattered glass, and Lonjiku Kaijitsu sat in a chair in the middle of the room, his visage a twisted horror of unbelievable pain and bloody viscera encased in glass. The low chant of goblins rose from the macabre scene; I counted ten goblins as Mundin’s axe followed his war-cry into the thick of it.
I sang The Way, a chanting type of short melody Filly Wax would sing on long journeys, through the swamps or low mountains especially. It kept us on pace and vigilant. Mundin fell in with his axe, I drew my rapier, Vohoi prepared a spell, C waded into danger with his walking stick, and Shaiira happily jumped into battle, and the bastards obliged our assault.
A terrible evil vexes Sandpoint.