Session 2: The Goblin Plot Report

General Summary

Our tale begins where the previous one left off. It is mid-morning, the day after the goblin attack on Sandpoint. The 24th of Rova in the year of 4707 AR. Mokon, the peculiar half-orc, had just met up with the rest of the party on High Steet south of The Sandpoint Cathedral. He quickly relayed the message from Sheriff Belor Hemlock, that the party was to be officially deputized to help Father Abstalar Zantus with whatever peculiarities he had found in The Boneyard.   With his message delivered, Mokon told the group that he wouldn't be joining them. He had a brilliant idea relating to hunting bears in the woods on his own, so he turned and set off for the town gate, and left. Immediately after he left, a stranger appeared. A Varisian woman who introduced herself as Kezia. Apparently, Kezia had also been present at the previous day's goblin attack and asked to join the party in their quest to hunt down the goblins. They quickly bonded and Kezia joined the group.  

Snooping Around the Boneyard

  With their new party member in tow, the group followed Visijya around the side of the Cathedral, where Moka had been tailing the keeper of The Boneyard. The five of them watched the man go about his work from their hiding spot while they discussed what to do next. Eventually Lawson decided that slinking about was unneccessary and decided to call out to the keeper.   After building a rapport and talking for a time, the party learned that the man's name was Naffer Vosk, and that he had sent word for the town guard after seeing evidence that the goblins had been active in the area surrounding the Head Priest's Vault. When the party went to investigate, they found footprints indicating a group of Goblins as well as a single human-sized person had been going in and out of the vault on the day of the attack. With help from Spur's heightened sense of smell, as well as his own sharp senses, Duh was able to follow the intruders tracks, which he found led back to the town wall at the northern edge of the boneyard. With some investigation, Kezia found a broken ladder hidden away in some nearby bushes. Meanwhile, Visijya sent Moka up to the top of the wall to check if there was anything similar on the other side, to which Moka responded with the snake version of "yes".   As the others were investigating the wall and discussing theories as to what all this meant, Visijya went back to the vault to check inside. There, she found the front door was ajar, and as she pushed it open, two skeletons jumped out to ambush her. After a short scuffle, though, Visijya deftly took down both skeletons with her quarterstaff, sustaining minimal injuries in the process. As the party rushed to her aid, they discovered two things. First, some kind of magical robe was left behind, its powers apparently exhausted. Second, the body of Ezakien Tobyn had been stolen from the vault. His coffin was pried open and his body was long gone, while the rest of the bodies were left untouched. With this grim omen as their newest clue, the party discussed what to do next.  

Chasing Down Leads

  After comparing their options, they eventually decided to head back to The Pillbug's Pantry and investigate Aliver Podicker, seeing as he had an evil aura about him. Not to mention Naffer had mentioned some rumors of backdoor dealings floated around the potion seller. With that in mind, the party concocted a scheme to get him to lower his guard. They sent in Kezia, the shadiest looking member of their group, to subtly ask Aliver for illegal substances. It didn't go well. After Kezia failed to make any headway, Lawson attempted a more direct approach. In the end, they didn't really figure anything out and only succeeded in agitating the potion seller. So they gave up and took a different tact.   The party decided to next investigate the exact nature of the mysterious robe they found in the vault. Their first strategy was to visit Father Abstalar Zantus and ask him for his professional spiritual advice. While the priest was unable to tell them anything about the robe, he did direct them to a house at the base of The Old Light, where they could find Sandpoint's local academic, Brodert Quink. In addition, Father Zantus told them a little more about Ezakien Tobyn, Zantus' predecessor. Apparently, Tobyn had died in the Sandpoint Fire a few years back, along with his daughter Nualia. Tobyn was known as a well-liked man and he was a good head priest, but he had troubles raising his daughter after his wife's untimely death. Father Zantus also shared his concerns that the corpse of a powerful priest like Father Tobyn could be used in all manner of dark and unholy rituals. With this knowledge in hand, the party moved on to visiting Brodert Quink.   Quink lived in a cluttered home covered in books, and he had a bit of a surly attitude, but he did help the party answer some questions. First, he was able to identify their mysterious robe as a Robe of Bones, which could be used to summon undead creatures. Second, Quink shared with them his theory that The Old Light was not an ancient lighthouse, as was commonly believed, but that it was actually a war machine used by the ancient Thassilonians and that it originally fired great beams of fire. The party questioned Quink's sanity somewhat, but thanked him for his time and moved on.  

Wrapping up the Day

  The party's final course of action was to report to Sheriff Belor Hemlock and tell him of their findings. Among other things, Sheriff Hemlock said a local ranger that knew a lot about the goblins would be showing up the following day.   ((This is your DM speaking. I can't really remember anything else that happened in this conversation so uhhhhhh. Whoops. Send help.))   After reporting to the Sheriff, it was getting late, so the party went back to The Rusty Dragon. Before bed, they met up with Aldern Foxglove, who gave them 50 gold pieces as thanks for saving him the previous day. The nobleman also offerred them an additional 25 gold pieces if they were to go out and hunt boars with him the next morning. Considering they would have free time before the arrival of the hunter that the Sheriff told them about, they agreed.  

The Hunted Boar and the Goblin Hunter

Rova 25, 4707

  The next morning, the party set out with Aldern Foxglove to The Tickwood. After traveling for some time, they arrived at the edge of the forest, where Visijya Vishki separated from the group, expressing no interest in hunting animals. Aldern was dissappointed at this turn of events, but took the rest of the group on the hunt without protesting. A boar was found and shot easily enough, and the group went back to Sandpoint.   Once they returned, the party split ways with Aldern, who headed back to the tavern while the group went to visit Sheriff Hemlock and see if the hunter he had been speaking of had returned, as it was already mid-afternoon. The Sheriff told them that yes, the hunter was back, and that they had agreed to meet up at The Rusty Dragon. So the group returned their horses and went back to the tavern.   At The Rusty Dragon, the party met with Sheriff Belor Hemlock, Mayor Deverinn, Father Abstalar Zantus, and finally the hunter Shalelu Andosana. During the conversation, the party learned from Shalelu that the local goblin tribes were getting more united and aggressive in their actions, indicating that someone had brought them together, likely through force, and that surely some larger plot was in-progress. With this ominous fact in mind, Sheriff Hemlock told the party that he intended to take some of his men and travel to Magnimar to request additional troops and supplies. In the meantime, the Sheriff told them, he needed somebody to watch over the town and be there for the townsfolk if anything were to happen. He asked the party that they take on this responsibility, since they had been developing a bit of a reputation around the town since they battled against the goblins. The party agreed, of course, and with that, the meeting ended. The Sheriff, Mayor and Priest went their separate ways and Shalelu retired to her room.  

Unsavory Patronage

  After the meeting, the party was left alone in the The Rusty Dragon as Ameiko Kaijitsu prepared the boar they had killed earlier with Aldern Foxglove. All was well for a time, as the people of the tavern engaged in merrymaking and general drunken tomfoolery, though Aldern was nowhere to be seen. All of that changed, however, when the front door of the tavern slammed open. A middle-aged man with a permanent scowl and worn features stood in the doorway. He shouted something in Minkaian, and while nobody understood his meaning, everyone in tavern seemed to know to keep their heads down. As the intruder stalked through the tavern, scanning the tables, the place had gone silent as suddenly everyone became especially interested in their meals. Finally, the man's gaze landed on the party, and the man approached their table with anger in his eyes.   "So these are the filthy vagrants who I've been hearing so much about." he began, "You should go find real jobs instead of traipsing about like a bunch of ruffians. The town would've been better off if you left the defense against those goblins up to the authorities."   The man, who the party learned was Lonjiku Kaijitsu, continued along these lines. For some vague reason or another, he seemed to find the party quite distasteful. Eventually, Duh and Lawson Raktallow stood up for the party's honor and began arguing with the man. As insults were volleyed back and forth Ameiko was drawn from the kitchen by the commotion. She had clearly been interrupted, as in her hand was a ladle still dripping with stew.   At the sight of his daughter, Lonjiku's attention turned away from the party, and the two began arguing in Minkaian. While the contents of their discussion was not clear, it was obviously not polite, as the two were nearly shouting at eachother in no time. Finally, Lonjiku went to forcefully grab hold of his daughter's arm, but Ameiko dodged out of the way and smacked him across the head with her ladle. With bits of stew dripping down his face and clothes, Lonjiku was astonished, embarrassed, and still fuming with rage. He turned and made for the doorway, but not before calling out to Ameiko one last time.   "You're as dead to me as your mother." he spat, and slammed the door behind him.
  Ameiko was obviously shocked and hurt by the harsh words. Lawson went to comfort the woman, and she picked herself back up quickly enough, but an uncomfortable atmosphere hung over the tavern for the rest of the night. Finally, the party all went to their respective rooms and went to bed.

Rewards Granted

Experience Points   Defeating the Skeletons in the Vault: 50xp Going Boar Hunting and Hanging out with Aldern: 150 xp (Sort of) Helping Ameiko when her dad was being mean: 50 xp <- This could've been higher if you had made different choices.   TOTAL: 250xp   Treasure   Received your reward for rescuing Aldern Foxglove from Goblins: 50 GP