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Tarsius’ Journal, 4-5 Arodus

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4 Arodus

Today we’re going to go Voz hunting.

Oh I know we’re just going to go to Guardian’s Way to learn more about Alseta’s Ring, but I also know that’s the same reason Voz went there and this seems like an unlikely group to say, “Darn it Voz, I guess you got here first so you go ahead.”  Especially Aemi, who seems to have strong convictions about this. And frankly I think the reverse is true as well -Voz is unlikely to graciously concede anything to us. The only way Voz concedes anything is if she’s on her last drop of blood, and given her reputation for necromancy, I’m not even sure she’d concede then.

I’m wearing a breastplate today, and leaving the scale mail at home.  It’s the same weight, but also a bit more sturdy. I’m in favor of that.

As we expected, it took us a bit over two and a half hours to get close, at which point Aemi sent Iskaryn ahead to scout.   Or rather requested that the royal bird deign to, if it were no trouble, please fly a bit ahead and see if death awaits us, to which the bird replied “If I die, I’ll haunt you.”  I realize that Aemi is a performer, but it seems every question to the bird (and reply) is a one act tragedy, these days.  It’s mildly amusing but I’m afraid one day it will flare up when we least need it.

In any case, she reported back that there were platforms ten and twenty feet above the ground and a number of guards stationed on those platforms that were armed with shortbows.  The exact number couldn’t be determined because the trees somewhat blocked the view from overhead.  We were armed with longbows, which gave us a slight advantage in range.

We decided a party of three (Gath, Aemi, and Qantrip) would quietly attempt to get a single guard on one of the platforms.  If that indeed went quietly and without notice, then we had a prisoner to interrogate.  If the effort was detected, then we archers from the south would loose our bows and redirect the guards’ attentions yet again.  It might turn into a swordfight at some point, but if we were lucky, arrows would introduce enough wounds and confusion to make any melee short and easily won.  Moving stealthily closer, we learned there were eight guards or mercenaries on these platforms, but although watchful, they did not seem to be on high alert.

Liberté and Marcus went stealthily to the north edge of the wooded area, and Kyira and I went to the southern edge.  We were to hold our fire until signalled, the signal being, uh, well, being that our party is detected.

And that actually happened fairly quickly.  Gath was trying to quietly ascend the platform but was discovered early.  Trip did some more sleeps, plus a glitterdust to blind some of them.  We started shooting, and as we’d hoped that introduced a bit of confusion.  Aemi did a sleep but then also created dancing lights in a vaguely humanish form at the edge of the woods, and several of their arrows tried to kill the light.  Our arrows from the field started to take their toll.

A couple mercenaries tried running off and we pursued.  The ones we captured, we disarmed but released after determining none of them were magic users and were no longer a danger to us.  Back at the cabin, Gath noticed a figure trying to stealthily leave the cabin and Trip quickly dropped it in sleep.  Only briefly, but it was long enough to manacle the hobgoblin and separate it from its possessions.

In the end, we had a hobgoblin who was apparently their leader Dmiri, and several half-orcs:  one live prisoner, and 5 dead bodies. Two others had been released by Liberté, who was literally looming large for some reason. (He returned to normal size sometime after battle ended.)

Iskaryn commented there may be a bounty on this group that called themselves the Bloody Blades, which meant, if true, letting two go was a financial mistake.  Live and learn I guess.  Technically, they did attack us first, and Kyira reported Dmiri at least, radiated evil, so I’m not feeling especially merciful.

We started inspecting the hobgoblin’s belongings because a few of them radiated magic.  As I identified a cloak of resistance and Kyira identified some magic armor, Dmiri started mouthing off about taking her stuff, saying we were worse mercenaries than her band was, not even waiting until she was dead.  And I was just miffed enough to get mouthy back.  Maybe she could be provoked into revealing more info.

“Your band. I see. I suppose you already know why we’re here then.”

“So you think this is your territory now?” she said disapprovingly.

Territory?  I didn’t realize this was a territorial thing.  Interesting.  “I suppose so.  Tell me, what’s the best way to reach your boss, now that there’s apparently an opening?”

Now that got a response.  “The Bloody Blades are mine, human. Say whatever you want to me but spare me your insults. My boss. As if.”

Aha.  So yes they were the Bloody Blades, which means there was likely a price for their capture.  And she was proud enough about that that maybe with another jab or two … I was hoping she’d mention Voz and maybe her intentions.  “Oh, my apologies,” I said. “No boss? Sad. Usually a trainee has a master, or at least some way to learn a skill.” I held up the bow. “A compound shortbow? An unfortunate choice against longbows.”

Liberté gave her a glowering look, but instead of breaking her, it apparently made her shut up.  This taunting stuff is not as easy as it looks I guess.

A quick glance into the cabin had revealed some magic (by both Kyira and myself) so Gath was preparing to retrieve it.  He did not find any traps but retrieved a fair amount of gold, some caving equipment, and some potions Liberté later determined were healing potions.

Dmiri’s rapier appeared magical, but resisted our efforts to identify it.  We’d have to puzzle over that some more later.

Off to one side, a contentious discussion started over what to do with the prisoners.  On the one hand, they did represent cash.  Liberté felt that doing anything other than disarming them and releasing them took too much of our time.  Aemi felt that taking their things meant we were no better than they were (basically robbers) and they might spread stories saying we were the brigands.  And Qantrip went off on a history lesson about how we accepted the Hellknight but now we wanted to kill these mercenaries just for being evil?

My position was They. Attacked. Us.  Much as I’m revising my opinions on goblins, it is still the case there were many in my town who were attacked by invaders and died in the Goblinblood Wars, despite being innocent of any offense against the goblins.  If I (or we) are attacked, then if we win, we have authority over any survivors and their belongings.  Practicality wins over any moral outrage. To the victor goes the spoils.  In my mind, the only question would be do we kill them or turn them in for money?

The money option is definitely Nethys’ way of making this an easy decision.  I’m not sure I could sign up for killing helpless captives, but since they have cash value the decision is obvious – take the money.  It’s something all of us can use and it’s Nethys’ way of balancing out the damage these individuals have caused.  An exchange, if you will.  If any object, they can always give their share to the rest of us.

In the end, the party did decide to take the captives back for the reward money.  From the bodies of the dead ones, we took the tattoo they had all conveniently used to identify themselves as members of the Bloody Blade.

Aemi was quite strident during the discussion.  She’s becoming quite the little spark.

We interviewed Dmiri a bit more and learned yes, Voz was here, had been for a couple of days, and apparently had an entourage of skeletons as an honor guard.  (So everyone knows to get blunt arrows or bludgeoning weapons when we get back to town.)  Under Liberté’s gentle prodding, she drew a crude map of the little bit of the cave she knew about, and mentioned there were other creatures, some poisonous, living in the caves.

Before we left, both Gath and I erased the tracks around the cave entrance.  We wanted to see if Voz or anything came out of the cave, and if they did, by erasing our own tracks, we’d leave them guessing as to how many people defeated her guard.

We arrived back at town close to dinnertime, but a guard at the gate directed us to the leader of the town guard Wilford Lavensomething.  We explained the situation to him, and he pulled out some paperwork, looked it over, and announced that Dmiri was worth 500gp, the other live prisoner was worth 100gp, and the five tattoos were 50gp each.  If you added in the 600gp that Voz had given Dmiri, we already had earned 1450gp before we even considered the items we confiscated (all of which was mind-blowing to Aemi).

Then Aemi revealed Voz’s part in all of this and Wilford just about exploded.  We said we were going back and did he know if the Council would pay for us to retrieve Voz?  He was pretty sure they would since Voz was out of his jurisdiction right now and he couldn’t do it personally, but of course the final say on that would have to come from the Council.  But he was going to reach out to them this very evening if possible, and we should proceed on his authority for now.

Since we were busy tromping back and forth between locations outside the city, we decided to ask Warbal if she might spend some time selling the things we’d been collecting.  She was more than happy to, but I didn’t hear how much that would cost us.  I hope it’s not much.

Nobody was particularly keen on going back to Guardian’s Way and encountering skeletons in the dark, so we decided to park in or near the city for the night.  Some took rooms, and some just set up “camp” outside the city walls.  I was happy to take a comfortable room.  Nethys never said we couldn’t be comfortable.

5 Arodus

The sun was rising and the skies were clear when I rose for my morning devotions.  By 7am I was ready to meet the others.  I swung by Wilford’s post and he said that while the Council had not yet drawn up a formal contract, they did agree that Voz needed to be taken into custody and confirmed we were authorized to do so.  I relayed this to the group when we met.

Dmiri’s rapier had resisted our efforts to identify it yesterday, but when we all put our heads together instead of trying separately, we were able to determine it was a particularly enchanted and keen weapon, making it capable of more damage than your ordinary rapier.  I was tempted to trade my scimitar for it, but I’ve grown a bit fond of grandpa’s weapon and I feel a bit of him is with me with every swing.  Besides, it’s what I trained the most with at the abbey, and I feel like Nethys has blessed it.

As it was, we added the rapier to the things we’d entrusted to Warbal.

It was about 9:30 when we arrived at the Way, and we approached stealthily in case of ambush.  There was no ambush, but an inspection at the cave entrance did indicate boots had passed since yesterday.  Made me wonder – do skeletons wear boots?  Have to check.

Gath is set to stealthily check out the area around the entrance of the cave.

From the diary of Anavaru

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22nd of Serenith

It was morning in the Rusty Dragon, much like any other morning.  I was having breakfast with Kali and my baby brother, catching up on the goings-on in town since the last time I had seen them, at Niska’s funeral.  Although it was by no means unexpected, Niska’s death has hit Alarph really hard.  I’m a little worried about him, actually.  He was closer to her than any of us, and it’s no wonder; he was so young when mother died that I’m not even sure he has any memories of her.  Niska had a large part in raising him.  I’ve tried to do what I can to comfort him, but grief has its own timeline.

There were a number of new faces in the tavern that morning, and it seemed like the topic of the day was goblin hunting.  I was surprised to hear that the bounties had been reinstated; last time they were in effect, a couple of kids managed to get themselves completely in over their heads and consequently killed. 10gp per ear is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but there’s no such thing as easy money.  I dearly wish we could have made them aware of the risks before they snuck out of town.

A dwarf stranger tried to show off his new polearm, but Ameiko shut that down pretty quickly.  There’s a time and a place for comparing whose is bigger, and the Rusty Dragon is not it.  The dwarf quickly apologized and bought everyone a round; I raised my mug in a toast and ended up joining the discussion of the group of both newcomers and a few familiar faces.  Long story short, we decided to band together and investigate the quickly escalating goblin situation.

Ameiko informed us of a newcomer to the Brinemarsh whose self-designation is “Warden of the Swamp,” and suggested that he might have information about the goblins.  With the combination of having grown up here, and having roamed quite a ways, I know the area around Sandpoint pretty well.  I’ve often taken odd jobs as a guide (probably the oddest was that time an archaeological expedition was thwarted by an insurmountable army of bunny rabbits.)  Just like everyone else, however, I lack in depth knowledge of the Brinemarsh.  There’s been simply no reason for me to go there; it’s too overgrown for effective hunting, and it’s not exactly a tourist destination.

I gave Sopwith a couple of dates and a pat, and assured him we’d return soon.

22nd of Serenth, evening

Well, the rest of today was….eventful, to say the least.

In the end, we met the Warden of the Swamp, but not in the way we had anticipated. Upon encountering his house, and a tired, wounded halfling that appeared to be the Warden himself, Qatana barged past him inside yelling something incomprehensible about mice. I frantically tried to initiate damage control by apologizing profusely to what we thought was the Warden. While attempting to converse with him, I noticed a weird ripple across his face, almost like his form was unstable. “Oh, shit.” I thought. While I excused myself and began to search the house under the pretense of “taking care of his snake problem,” a bizarre standoff between our party and the “Warden” ensued.

The snakes that I found in a side room looked perfectly normal to me. I had even started to befriend one, when Kali peered into the room and motioned for me to come over. She told me in a low voice that he seemed awfully “together” considering his poison. I opened my mouth to agree when we heard a loud crash and some scuffling upstairs. I reassured my new snake friend that I’d be back, slid my greatsword from its sheath, and bolted towards the staircase, where I skidded to a halt as I noticed the narrow quarters and lack of room.

After the “Warden” was dispatched, we found the real halfling hidden away in a safe room, unconscious and wounded. I shudder when I consider what could have happened if we had waited a few days, or not come at all. He told us a few more details about the monster who took his form, and has generously allowed me to keep my new snake friend (who I have named F16, although I don’t expect anyone in this timeline to get the joke.) I promised that I’d bring her back to visit. Before the evening meal, I dragged the monster’s stinking corpse out of the house and burned it.

On a side note, I’m becoming increasingly concerned about Qatana. I get that she’s been through some trauma, but if this group continues adventuring together, her erratic behavior and affective instability could endanger all of us. Maybe Kali will have some ideas on what we can do.

Anavaru Orion, 21-year-old female human Ranger

Anavaru had lived with her parents and brothers in Sandpoint for as long as she could remember. Her family had always been hard-working, but of little means. Her mother was a devout follower of Desna and spent much of her time working in the church. Her father worked long hours at the lumber mill to provide for his family.

When her mother perished in the same fire that claimed Father Tobyn in the Late Unpleasantness, Anavaru and her family were crushed. Anavaru, just entering her teen years, did her best to care for her young brothers while her father was working. The Mvashti family, close friends of her mother, stepped in to help.

Anavaru had always had an affinity with animals and nature. As a child, she taught the family dog numerous tricks to entertain her baby brothers. With the Mvashti’s help raising her brothers, she was able to start pursuing odd jobs to boost the family income. She could often be found in the stables of the Rusty Dragon, caring for travelers’ horses.

Her father knew how much she dreamed of having a horse of her own someday, and he secretly started setting aside money, although he despaired of ever being able to afford one. Shortly before Anavaru’s 16th birthday, he heard a coworker at the mill complaining about the “ugly, stubborn sack of #@$#@” that his cousin had “temporarily” left in his care and never retrieved. He asked how much his coworker wanted for it, and was told he’d receive a small bag of gold if he could take it away that night.

The horse was truly unlike any other horse he had ever seen. However, the additional funds allowed her father to board the horse for a few days in a stable where Anavaru would not discover it by accident, as well as secure a set of light barding and a (to his surprise, by necessity, custom) saddle for it. He presented the horse to Anavaru on her birthday and she was overjoyed. She immediately began training it. As she bonded with it, she discovered that the horse was extremely intelligent, rather than stubborn.

Life went well for Anavaru and her family for a time. She managed to make a good amount of side income by selling rides on her unusual horse to travelers and small children. Her father was promoted to assistant manager at the lumber mill, and with the the Mvashti’s support and friendship, her brothers began to find their own paths in life. One decided to honor his mother’s legacy by devoting his life to the service of Desna, and the other managed to secure a scholarship at the local wizarding school in Magnimar.

Sadly, peace did not last more than a few years in Sandpoint. Anavaru and her horse escaped without harm from the attack on the Swallowtail Festival, but her father was brutally murdered at the lumber mill not long after. Devastated by the loss of her beloved father, Anavaru began to spend more time in the forests outside of Sandpoint with her horse friend. She has found the peace and solitude there to be healing, and the focus on improving her tracking and hunting skills has been a welcome distraction.

Anavaru has started to get the itch to explore further afield, but she still frequently returns to town to check on her brothers. During a recent visit, her cleric brother mentioned that Niska had requested to speak with her urgently. She went to see Niska, and the elder requested that after her passing, Anavaru watch over Koya in her travels as she had watched over her brothers’ journey to adulthood. Anavaru thought it the request rather unusual, but made an honest promise to Niska that she would do her best. Three days later, Niska passed away.