The PCs decide to hold their ground and not engage in the grasslands melee between the giant weasels and vipers, but that choice is taken away from them when one of the serpents goes exploring. In the confusion, they are able to pick off some of the vipers while others are still battling the rodents, and fairly easily win the day without taking too much damage, other than Gary who had some of his blood drained by a weasel that attached to him. They realize that the pelts of the creatures might fetch some coin at the local markets, but decide to leave them for later, and get the children back to their home before it becomes too late.
Their 'home', as it turns out, is a comfortable cottage nestled beneath a hill with a vegetable patch atop it, and a sheep pen. Lethys and Blinden tell the PCs they'll speak with their parents first before any further introductions, and it becomes clear why...Marbo and Sennya are goblins, ex-Skull Collars, who have given up their violent life a decade past and live as civilly as possible, hiding out in the Pasture. They took on the human orphans at a young age, and these days send them on errands to Halehusk and surroundings so they won't be discriminated against themselves. The goblins are courteous and warm, offering the PCs a meal and lodging, the least they can do for returning the children and clearing out the dangerous snakes and weasels. Indrid gives them some spices and also some of the honey they procured when rescuing Blinden from the ruined farm. A good nights' rest is had for all.
Martenin the 24th, 888 ID.
The PCs awaken to a breakfast of gruel and stew from Marbo, while Sennya is off 'praying'. She returns and uses curative magic on the wounded PCs, who discover that she was once a shaman for the Skull Collar tribe (Marbo was a warrior). Marbo tells them he has some items he'd like them to have out of both gratitude for their deeds and because they are some of the last attachments he has to that old life. The PCs receive a fancy pot-helmet, an enchanted cleaver and a black-lacquered skull which allows the user to communicate in the Goblin tongue, once used during parlays with other humanoid tribes. Marbo and Sennya thank the PCs again, profusely, and then they head off to speak to the children and travel the short distance to Livenoak.
They arrive south of the tent-village and attend the Roadside Bazaar, where they are unable to sell the pot-helmet. Gary gets himself a pedicure from another half-elf. They inquire at Eidolorn Customs with Captain Kittery about the whereabouts of any travelers from Toul Tabor, but he says they might want to dig up some further details to help him remember. At the Leaping Knuckle Lodge, they learn that there was in fact a gnome magician sort staying until about 3-4 nights ago, when he disappeared. Dumple, the bartender, allows the PCs to stay in Mel's room in case he returns. They investigate but find little of interest, their quarry keeps all his gear on his person. When asking at Tarr's Apothecarium, they are given a surname, Sindersunch, and D'Loss says he had numerous conversations with the fellow gnome, but hasn't seen him in days. They return with this information to Captain Kittery, who remembers there was a gnome, new in the village, who was chumming around with some local con-men named Rosh and Jarles, who are known to squat out at old Sollick's Mill on the west end of Livenoak.
They approach the Mill, calling out for 'Mel', but there is no answer. The door seems stuck from behind, and the windows on both floors covered up, allowing little sunlight into the structure. Gary shifts into a salamander to crawl through a crack in the old waterwheel, and spies that there are indeed two men inside, sitting and laughing quietly at the other PCs futile attempts to get through the front door. He heads back to gather up Indrid, since the halfling is also small enough to crawl in, and then he casts silence on them both. They enter the Mill and sneak up on the two posh looking criminals, and Indrid approaches one with a blade on the shoulder. They don't seem terribly surprised, and react by shifting themselves into grotesque, hybrid bat forms! Gary races to try and move the heavy wooden dresser that blocks the front door, but is pursued by Jarles. Indrid faces off against Rosh, and Finian is forced to break in through a window, cutting himself, to join the fracas!
After a brief melee they manage to take out Rosh without killing him, and Jarles, also wounded, surrenders, transforming back into his dwarf form. He gives up that the pair eventually robbed Mel, knocked the gnome unconscious and then disposed of him at the old Hanging Tree several miles west of Livenoak. Indrid loots their belongings, finding a bag of coin and another sack of equipment that were labeled and belonged to Mel. He also finds some bottles of brandy, a non-functional golden timepiece, and a small cherrywood case containing a deep-orange-tinted monocle with a silver frame. They pack it all up and take the bound werebats over to Kittery, for another, hopefully more permanent trip to a locked cell. The Captain confirms there's an old cottonwood tree where early settlers used to cage up criminals, off on the grasslands, but it's been abandoned forever.
The PCs head off and find the place with little trouble, and notice that one of the cages is occupied by a bushy-haired gnome. It's also guarded by a manticore that flits about the fields near the trees, and it spots them easily and fires off a volley of tail-spikes at them. They engage the beast, attempting to switch between melee and ranged as it lands and takes off again. A lot of missed shots and swings later, the creature's 'keeper', a half-giant with a massive, gnarled axe steps out of a door on the southern side of the massive tree's trunk, and the creature seems disturbed that they've set upon it's pet 'Yooki'. Gary faces off against the new threat. Meanwhile, Mel, seeing some hope of escape, speaks with a fleeing squirrel and bribes it to try and chew through the old rope that suspends his cage from the tree. It takes some time, but due to the age of the hemp, it's eventually successful, and the cage crashes to the ground, the gnome tumbling to safety.
PCs: Finian Redfoot, Gary Greasewax, Indrid Hosspotch, Mel
Sindersunch
NPCs:
Captain Kittery (human male): A handsome
middle-aged man clad in scale mail and a Last Eidolorn tunic, his long hair and
braided moustaches are a rare shade of strawberry blonde and his eyes are a
bright green. His left hand is severed at the wrist, but he wears a special
hook that allows him to draw and fire the gorgeous ash bow that he carries. A
longsword hangs by his waist, with a pommel in the shape of a golden gull.
D'Loss Tarr (gnome male): A tiny man with a frilly, half-buttoned
crimson shirt over black silk breeches and a leather top hand adorned in brass
belts. His hair and moustache are a stark white and he wears circular glasses
with silver frames, that cover his strangely pink-tinted eyes. He smells
of cloves and berries, and when he smiles, his teeth are stained as if with too
many glasses of wine. He leans on a black iron walking stick crested with a
dog’s head, and there’s a series of loops on his belt which can each store one
of about a dozen vials.
Dumple
Ogre-Son (half-ogre male): This broad, hulking man has to bow his
head just to fit within the tents of the Leaping Knuckle Lodge where he works.
He wears a white apron over his a functional, loose set of clothes that seem to
fit him. He must stand at least 7 feet tall. His face is slightly disfigured,
as if he had some stroke that remained permanent, and the thick yellow teeth in
his mouth are comically sparse. Still, his thick brown-gray brows, light blue
eyes and smile give him an affable demeanor, and he mixes drinks with a force that
shows he takes his barkeeping seriously.
Jarles (dwarf/werebat male): An unnaturally tall, hunched dwarf with a
massive, droopy grave moustache that covers his mouth. His hair is perfectly
parted and greasy beneath a leather cap, and he wears a checkered coat over a
stained white tunic and pants.
Marbo (goblin male): A stocky goblin with skin of brown and orange, he
wears a stained hemp apron and little else to cover his hairy and muscular
little arms. His yellow eyes are misshapen and wide, with the left seeming to
squint due to a disfigured brow, and he ties his chalky hair into a topknot. A
pair of shears and a carving knife are tucked into his belt.
Rosh
(human/werebat male): A swarthy, short gentleman with an upturned nose
and thick black sideburns, he wears a fanciful but filthy frock coat and
breeches of matching burgundy, both covered in patches from many rips and
tears. His black-gray hair is balding in the center but long on the songs,
flopping about as if he had wings on his temples.
Sennya (goblin female): A plump goblin woman who walks with the
assistance of an old oak cudgel since her right foot is missing below her
ankle. She has a colorful shawl strewn from various colored corn-stalks and her
chestnut hair is elaborately braided with beads of orange, brown and green. Her
catlike green eyes glint with wisdom and she has a severe underbite which gives
her a prideful appearance.
