Rise of the Runelords

[Azerian Kelimon]

Vellichek

That would be EXCELLENT, Dilekar. No use threatening someone if they can't understand you. I hope you can look scary, though.

[jagadaishio]

Seoni

Seoni looks mildly queasy at the sight of the dangling heads. "I'll just... I'll stay out here with the priest," says Seoni, looking for a place to sit. "I hope that the chanter knows more than the other one did..."

[[Insert Neat Username Here]]

Sheriff Hemlock takes you and the prisoner into a side room, where he ties the goblin to a chair. When it wakes up, he says, Let's start with the easy questions. Do you speak common?

The goblin, clearly confused and slightly frightened, says (in common) Talk little common not good.

Hemlock then turns to the PCs who followed him in and says Well, that's convenient. We've got a lot of questions. What do you think we should start with?

[Azerian Kelimon]

Vellichek

You speak common? Good, good, my pal. Here, let me make things more comfortable, Vellichek says in a conversational tone, as he unties he goblin.

Now, you can speak in goblin if you want. Our friend here, he points to Dilekar, Can translate.

Seating in front of the goblin, he asks him: You remember me, right? I'm the guy who tried to scorch you. I'm sorry about that, buddy, but business is business, he says, as he makes flames appear above his head, with just enough heat to be noticed by the Goblin's senses.

Now, my small friend, we can make things easy, or hard. If you answer some questions truthfully, we'll let you go, and will make sure you are not harmed by the townspeople. Now, the first question is: Who sent you guys here?

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Of course, that, and much more, can be summed up in either a Bluff or Diplomacy roll, as you deem necessary:

Diplo: (1d20+8)[16]
Bluff: (1d20+8)[16]

[purepolarpanzer]

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(sorry I'm late to the party)

Vatai lets a small smile cross his lips when he sees the Shoanti man, and nods to him.
It seems I am not alone among the city folk.
However, the goblin interrogation is too pressing for him to stop and talk. Vatai follows, and stands back, until Vellichek unties the little monster. His eye brows raised, Vatai immediately slides behind the beast in the chair, his hand on his weapon as it remains sheathed across his back. If it makes a move, he fully intends to remove its head from its body.
It is foolish to gather information this way. Why make your enemy comfortable when you can make him tell you what you want so much faster with a broken finger or a broken tooth?
His eyes grow fierce as he glares down at the goblin, watching intently.

[[Insert Neat Username Here]]

The Goblin glances nervously at Vatai, then says One of you longshanks (a goblin term for any human-sized humanoid) ordered attack. Don't remember name. Say he want us for . . . what's word? Kind of trick . . . destruction? No, that wrong word . . . Want us get your attention. He go on secret mission in town graveyard while we raid.

[Azerian Kelimon]

Vellichek

A bluff or gambit? Interesting. Sheriff, guard our friend and treat him well. We'll check it out. If you're telling the truth, you'll be free when we return, buddy.

[purepolarpanzer]

Vatai turns to Hemlock and speaks in Shoanti in a calm, measured voice.
Shoanti

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I expect that, when the time comes, you will know that this mongrel isn't worth releasing. The only thing his kind have ever earned is a swift death.

He then moves away from the goblin.
We should leave now. If his mission was during the raid, he may have already left.

[[Insert Neat Username Here]]

Hemlock, looking thoughtful at Vatai's words, but showing no reaction beyond that, says: We're in luck. This room exits directly to the graveyard. He gestures to a door opposite the one you entered.

Then, looking back at the door you entered, behind which Seoni, Zantus and presumably Volt and Oka remain, adds, But you might want to bring the rest of your group. If anybody's still there, there could be trouble. The priest can come along too, in case anybody needs healing.

((I've added a map of Sandpoint to the OOC thread.))

[NeonBlack]

Dilekar

Slightly disappointed about the lack of need for his linguistic skills, Dilekar seems lost in thought for most of the interrogation, only barely hearing the key part of the goblin's response. Well, that was your first battle. Happy now? You said you wanted new experiences, exciting adventures, and you got 'em. Be happy that you got through it with only a scratch on your arm. And next time, be careful what you wish for. Like, *really* careful.

He snaps back into reality when the word "healing" manages to get through his dulled senses. "Oh, yeah. Healing. I need that. Let me check if Volt or Father Zantus can give me a hand with this cut, and I'm ready to go.". Dilekar exits the room, looking for the others, still thinking. And if I could remember WHERE are we supposed to go... I think the goblin said something about a graveyard? Ick. Put that one on the "new things you really didn't want to experience, honest" list. Sigh.

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Inner dialog FTW. Also, too bad I missed the interrogation posts, I wanted Dilekar to play some good cop/bad cop with Vellichek and the goblin. Oh well, next time

[Azerian Kelimon]

Vellichek

Talk about being in luck. Thanks, Sheriff, the binder says as he walks back to inform the other members of the group about the news. Once that's done, he gets healed by Father Zantus, and proceeds to march towards the graveyard, in fron of the rest of the group, flame once again surrounding his body.

[jagadaishio]

Seoni

When she is told about the results of the interrogation, Seoni follows Vellichek out to the graveyard. I've been meaning to visit my parents there anyway. I'll stop in on them if the person has already left.

[[Insert Neat Username Here]]

As you exit the church, it's clear that whoever was in the graveyard has gone. However, it's fairly obvious what they were doing here; near the door into the church is a freshly emptied grave. The tombstone reveals that the grave once held the body of the late Ezakien Tobyn.

Looking down at the grave, Father Zantus seems both confused and worried. Why would anybody want to steal Ezakien's body? And staging a raid just so they could do it in secret . . . confusing. Maybe Hemlock will have an idea.

[purepolarpanzer]

Vatia feels the bare earth, frowining.
Their is some mischief to this... dark magic of some kind. Why this particular body? Why use the goblins to cover your tracks?
He follows the group, staying silent to hsi own thoughts after this, but watches Hemlock with interest when they later ask him.

[Azerian Kelimon]

Vellichek
While I'm as puzzled as everyone else by this, I think I can guess fairly accurrately WHY would somebody steal the corpse.

The first reason would be because this man knew something important and the gravedigger is going to speak with him via a spell.

The second would be that he was buried with something of importance to the gravedigger.

And the third one is that truly foul and uncommon magic is afoot, The binder enumerates.

Is any of those suppositions true, Father?

[purepolarpanzer]

If he was buried with something, the digger would have left the body. No use carrying a corpse around if you take the item you want.
Vatai watches Vellichek carefully. He doesn't want anyone getting any more authority in this little group than they deserve.

[[Insert Neat Username Here]]

Zantus looks thoughtful. No, he definitely wasn't buried with anything . . . no idea about the other two, though. But come to think of it . . . I have an idea. It's just a guess, and still doesn't explain why, but . . . let's go inside. Hemlock can help me explain.

[jagadaishio]

Seoni

Seoni walks back inside, almost immediately after stepping out, regretting that she didn't have the time to stop by her parents' graves.

[purepolarpanzer]

Vatai walks back into the house and turns to Hemlock. Eager to talk to another of his own kind, he smiles as he again slips into his native tongue.
Shoanti

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So, what is your clan name, friend? Where do your ancestors hail? How long have you been here among the city folk? How do you get used to their ways?

[Azerian Kelimon]

Following Father Zantus back, Vellichek waits patently for the explanation.

[Kyroswolf]

Grum

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Sorry for my lack of posting lately. Very busy weekend.

At the mention of the graveyard, the Orc seems to almost cower as he stands. "No! Don't put Grum in the grave. Grum not ready to die. Keep Grum away."

He stands stoically in place, refusing to take a step toward the door to the graveyard as he waits for the others return. As soon as he see Vellichek return, he seems to calm. "What did flamey man find in nasty place?"

[Azerian Kelimon]

Vellichek

*Smile*. Nothing, Grum. They stole a corpse, and now we're back to ask the sheriff about why would someone steal the body.

[NeonBlack]

Dilekar

"I'm curious about who this Ezakien Tobyn was", mutters Dilekar, almost thinking aloud to himself. "That could give us a clue about why someone would want his corpse.". Hoping that Father Zantus' explanation will answer this, he sits down somewhere inside the church, and waits.

[[Insert Neat Username Here]]

Once you return to the church, Zantus says to the sheriff, They took Ezakien Tobyn's body. I think this may have some sort of connection to the late unpleasantness. He turns to your group. You're mostly from out of town, so you wouldn't know much about that. Except for you, of course, he adds, with a nod to Seoni. He then says to Hemlock, You can tell them about the murders. I'll explain the fire.

Hemlock nods, then says something to Vatai in Shoanti.
Shoanti

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It seems my answers to your question are part of the story.

Switching back to common, he proceeds to explain some recent Sandpoint history.

Sandpoint has mostly been a fairly peaceful town, but some recent events have been a high-profile exception which we've come to call the "late unpleasantness." It started when a serial killer called the Chopper started a rather long spree. He killed twenty-six citizens, including the last guard captain. I then managed to take charge of the guards and track him down. The town elected me as his replacement.

That's why I changed my name from Viskalai to its Chelish translation, Hemlock. I thought the town guard needed leadership that Sandpoint's mostly Chelish population would admire.

But I digress. Zantus, I believe you had something to say about the fire?

Zantus nods. Yes. This is the part I think may have a connection to the goblin raid. A few days later, a fire started in the old cathedral, burning the entire building down and killing both Ezakien Tobyn, the town's priest, and his daughter, Nualia.

Then today, on the day we've just finished rebuilding it, goblins attack, steal Ezakien's body and try to burn the town. And they're apparently led by a humanlike humanoid. There must be some connection, but I can't figure out what it is.

[jagadaishio]

Seomi

A dark look crosses Seoni's face when Hemlock talks about Chopper, but the look passes as he moves on to other topics. When Hemlock talks about the theft of Tobyn's body, she asks, "Did it look like anyone tried to get at Nualia's body too?"

[[Insert Neat Username Here]]

No, says Zantus, but then, there wasn't much of it left in the first place.

[Kyroswolf]

Grum

Grum claps his hands excitedly, "Oh boy storytime!" He plops down cross legged on the ground, staring intently at whomever is speaking. When he realizes the brief history is over, "Is that all? I wanted a longer story. I know, flamey man will have a good story."

[NeonBlack]

Dilekar

The halfling listens intently to both men, trying to put the pieces together, before talking. "I see only two connections between the fire at the old cathedral on today's attack. First is the fire itself. Maybe someone wants to burn down the city for some reason. But, if we have to believe our goblin friend back there, today's fire was only a destruc... I mean, distraction, so I don't know. Goblins just happen to like burning things down, that's their idea of a wild party...".

Slowly, Dilekar stands up and starts pacing around the room. He speaks slowly, as if he's thinking carefully about every word. "The second link is the late Ezakien Tobyn himself. He died in the fire, and for all we know, he could be the main target of that attack. And now, someone stole his body. Why? Father Zantus, I guess you knew him well, did he ever talk about, I don't know, anything that could have broght this upon himself and his town? This looks a bit too much just to get rid of a cleric...".

"About that serial killer, no idea. I can't see how he fits with the current events. If he has to fit, anyway. Maybe he has nothing at all to do with the fires, the goblins and everything else...". Confused, Dilekar sits down again, staring down at his feet.

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Polly wants a cookie

[Azerian Kelimon]

Vellichek

Well, I do see a connection, however unlikely and tenuous. I assume he was killed, right? If so, It calls back a piece of lore I remember from my childhood, Vellichek says as he assumes a meditative pose, sitting against a wall.

Most people, when they die, go to whatever plane they are supposed to go based on their actions in this life.

However, some people of extraordinarily strong will...do not have that fate, Their souls, fortified by the resolve of having an unfinished business left here, go instead to, I believe, the astral plane.

There, they become...ghosts.

Let's assume the Chopper became a ghost, something not so unlikely. Let's also assume he was a disturbed, sick wretch of a man. He probably had a way of targetting his victims, of deciding who to fell. And before he could finish his grisly job, he was caught and killed. To someone like him, it must have been... unbearable.

However, that Tobyn died might have been an obstacle in his plans after he reformed as a ghost. Maybe Tobyn was to be one of his future victims, and he feels a need to complete his job. Thus, he steals the body and...

But then, we run out of ideas. Why would he steal a corpse? To revive it? It seems doubtful. No, we must, for now, assume the Chopper is not involved in this, having reached a dead end on a motive.

This means that Tobyn himself is the connection. Which makes me think, WHY would he be connected to the fire in the church? From there, I have two ideas.

Idea number one: There is SOMETHING BELOW the church. The gravedigger absconded Tobyn's corpse to confirm that and to see if there was any easy way to enter.

Idea Two: Tobyn had done something important that was not related to the church. Maybe, while travelling while he was younger, he stumbled upon something, and someone took the corpse to learn more information about that.

If you, Father, believe there can be nothing under the church, I believe we have a single course of action that seems plausible to follow, a single strong, clear lead. We need to free our Goblin prisoner and come with him to the place where his tribe lives, to ask their leader if he can provide us with any information on the man. Who, now that I think of it, might not be a man, but a doppelganger, succubus or incubus, or even a dragon.

But enough speculation for now. Now, what we have to do is get the goblin to lead us to his leader.

[[Insert Neat Username Here]]

Zantus responds to Dilekar's question by thinking for a moment, then saying, No, not that I know of, but I suppose it's possible.

Hemlock, Zantus and the captured goblin in the chair listen to Vellichek's theories, the humans occasionally nodding. Upon hearing Vellichek's ideas, Hemlock says I doubt there would be something under the church. We'd have probably noticed after the old one burnt down. The second idea seems more likely.

Finally, when the goblin hears that you want to take it to its leader, its face grows frightened and it jumps out of its chair (you untied it during the interrogation, remember?) and runs to the door.

((Roll initiative if you want to chase it.))