Zer-wedula says nothing, but cautiously lets Willi out to raom about.  He watches for reactions from both the weasel and the old woman.

  Cat doesn't know what else to say or ask, so she just thinks for a bit.  Then she says "It sounds like you are speaking of greatness.  I don't really want greatness.  I just want to do my part to make this world a little better place to be.  But if in doing that, greatness finds me, I'll just have to deal with it the best I can."

Willi sniffs around a bit, but finds nothing that he finds interesting in this room.

The old woman stares into Zer-wedula soul (or so it seems).  "No questions do you have mage?  Doubt my power you do?  Crazy old woman with a talent for fast talk think you I am.  Messenger of Fate I am."  Then she addresses everyone it a slightly different manner(like someone reading a script or maybe in a trance), "I tell you this true, a shadow of the past is reaching out to embrace the Now and To Come.  You have yet, a little while before it notices you.  Stand together, or fall apart."  She appears to come out of what ever condition she was in and resumes her normal talking pattern.  "Questions more you have?" indicating a bowl with a few silvers in it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:49, Sat 31 Jan 2009.

[Private to GM: ROlled an 11+5 =16 on knowledge history to try to understand the old biddy]

"I have many questions and few coins, dear lady," Zer-wedula answered. "Do I doubt your power?  I can't say that I doubt or believe, for I am young and the world is wide and while I have never seen the like, that does not mean that it is not chicanery."
He paused to gather his thoughts and his breath.  "If we have time to act before this 'Shadow of the Past' notices our tightly bound group of six, what one or two actionswould you counsel as being the optimal for ourselves and for you?"

HE slowly reached into his pouch and delicately brought forth a silver piece.  Leaning forward, he gently dropped itinto her bowl.

   [Private to Zer-wedula: About 100 years ago a God was killed that no one foresaw.  Up until that time divinations and fortune telling were fairly reliable.  Since that time the future has been dark and murky.]
She gives a creaky little laugh "Never knew a questions who wasn't full of mage" and coughs a couple of times.  The unobtrusive plain young Varisian lady who had been in the background comes forward, "GG, you need your rest."  But the old woman waves her off and continues.  "Perhaps hope there is for you" and the shakes her head sadly "The whispers of the wind, the gentle murmurs of the earth, hard to hear are they to ears this old.  More of this I can not say, except this.  Anger drowns out what should be feared.  Beyond hunger, a shadow of a larger hunger.  An elf with a curse can point the way."  And she slumps weakly, eyes closed.  The young lady rushes forward, "Please, my GG needs to rest."

<Please post what you do now here, in the afternoon in your personal threads.  I will be posting the dinner party with the noble tomorrow or sunday.>
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:49, Sat 31 Jan 2009.

Naomi Armastance, Glum , Zer-wedula and Talis
The taproom of the Rusty Dragon is nearly filled to capacity. Many tankards sit upon the tables, untouched (mostly) as the patrons are far too busy discussing the recent attack.

"Why did those little buggers attack Sandpoint? What was in it for them, other than to cause chaos?"
"I thought they were going to burn down the new church! Thank the gods for those quick-thinking heroes!"
"Yes! If not for them, we probably be burying a lot more of our folk in the morning. Thankfully, very few fell to the goblins blades."

As you enter. "Hey! There they are!"

A cheer erupts through out the taproom, and soon pints are poured and placed in your hands. A table is quickly cleared and chairs are offered.

"Drink up, and cheers for the heroes of Sandpoint! This round's on the Rusty Dragon!  I will let Lord Foxglove know you're here.  Dinner will be ready in a few moments." says Ameiko, sporting yet another hair style. The foreign beauty herself places a pitcher of ale upon the table.  While you're waiting you find yourselves the center of attention with a storm of questions.  Eventually, someone asks "Master elf, are you married?", to which another replies "I thought we wanted to reward them" which sends a ripple of laughter through the crowd.  Then Ameiko is there and leads you to a private room where Aldern Foxglove is there to greet you.

   He welcomes you warmly, starting with Talis "Welcome Talis and friend goblin slayers, come in one and all.  This is just my way of saying thanks.  But where are the other 2, will they be along?"  The room is lavishly set with fine wine and exotic looking appetizers.  There are 7 place settings, six with a small bag next to them. Sitting down you discover that each bag contains 10gp.
<add 10gp to your characters>

"If I recall correctly," Zer-wedula begins, glancing quickly at each of the others.  "The halfling and the large man were off on an errand and sent their regrets."
"As for me, I am the wizard Zer-wedula, and this is Willi," he continued, producing Willi with a practiced deftness.

He smiles, as the servants pour some fine wine "A wizard, that's odd.  I took you for a master archer from the way you split that goblins head with your crossbow.  Your magic must be powerful to make that shot.  Perhaps you would like to practice your skill against something a little more challenging.  I am of a mind to do a little boar hunting. What say you master Talis, you want to test your blade?  You're all invited."
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:03, Wed 04 Feb 2009.

Glum made a little self-deprecating chuckle.  "I am Glum.  That's a name, not a description".

Naomi sits down comfortably at the table looking around and decides not to comment at first letting Zer-wedula and Glum handle the initial interactions.

It's not that Aldern ignores Glum, it's more like he concentrates on Naomi as he politely helps her to her seat like a gentleman and says in an offhand manner (like he is distracted) "My lady, your beauty doth put the stars to shame."  After sitting down and taking a sip, he continues "A toast, to the heroes of Sandpoint" and drains the glass.  The dinner proceeds pleasantly, with good food and witty conversation.

<Mostly I want to know who wants to go boar hunting and if you have any particular questions for your host.>

Glum did not have the slightest desire to go Boar hunting although he might likely go along were he the only one so disinclined.  He had no objection to killing things for food or safety but he drew the line at fun as a motivation.

Blushing at all the attention, Naomi still declines the boar hunt as well.  But does enjoy the flirtatious affections she is receiving from the crowd.

"I am happy to go on your boar hunt, good sir, as long as I can make it back for a meeting I have tomorrow eve with the learned ones of this town." He pauses asif he wants to shoot a glance aside.  "I do miss the company of the refined and educated."

"So tell us, Lord Foxglove, what business brings you to Sandpoint?"

"Excellent, with your marksmanship and Talis' blade, I'm sure we will have a meal fit for a king in no time.  I will send a manservant around to collect you shortly after breakfast.  Well I heard about the festival, so I stopped on by before I check in on my country estate. My home in Magnimar is so lonely since my wife left to visit friends in Absalom <Absalom is a large port city 1200+ miles away.>.  If you make it to Magnimar, stop on by and say hello."  The rest of the dinner is delicious, the wine and food are top notch.  Lord Foxglove is very informal and insists you call him Aldern.



<Continued in 1.2 Zer-wedula
and 1.2 Naomi  Glum  and Talis>

<Everyone should be posting in this thread for awhile.

   When everyone one arrives, Sheriff Hemlock introduces Mayor Deverin and Shalelu Andosana, an "unofficial member of Sandpoint’s town guard” (an introduction that causes the elven woman to smirk) and the PCs to Shalelu as “Sandpoint’s newest crop of heroes.”  The Mayor rewards you each with 100gp for helping with the raid.

   Hemlock explains that Shalelu has been a thorn in the side of the local goblin tribes for years, and that few in the region know more about them than her. He goes on to recap her report that Sandpoint hasn’t been the only place in the region that’s had goblin troubles. In short, there’s been an increase in goblin-related raids along the Lost Coast Road, particularly in the dale between Nettlewood and Mosswood. Only a couple of days ago, a farm south of Mosswood was burnt to the ground by a group of goblins. Shalelu, Garth and Cat were thankfully nearby, and while the farm couldn’t be saved, they did rescue the family and drive off the goblins; the family is staying at a nearby farm for now, but the goblin problem is obviously not going away.

   At this point, Hemlock cedes the floor to Shalelu, asking her to tell the PCs what she told him. “Belor’s told me of your work against the goblins, well done.  I’ve dedicated the last several years of my life to keeping them from causing too much trouble around these parts, but they’re tenacious and fecund little runts. Like weeds that bite.  Anyway, there’s five major goblin tribes in the region, and, traditionally, they’re pretty good at keeping each other in line with intertribal squabbles and the like. Yet from what I’ve been able to piece together, members of all five tribes were involved in the raid on Sandpoint. A fair amount of the Mosswood tribe goblins we dealt with were already pretty beat up, and there was a lot of chatter about the ‘longshanks’ who killed so many of them. Now that I’ve met you, it seems obvious from their descriptions who they were talking about. Seems like you’ve made an impression.  In any event, the fact that the five tribes are working together disturbs me. Goblin tribes don’t get along unless they’ve got something big planned, and big plans require big bosses. I’m afraid that someone’s moved in on the goblins and organized them. And judging by these recent raids, what they’re organizing seems like bad news for all of us.”

   After Shalelu’s speech, Sheriff Hemlock announces that he’s taking a few of his men south to Magnimar to see about securing additional soldiers to station at Sandpoint for a few weeks, at least until the extent of the goblin threat can be determined. While he’s out of town, he’s asked Shalelu to sniff around Shank’s Wood, Devil’s Platter, and other places where goblins live to see if she can discover anything else about what’s going on. He would also like the party to maintain a public presence in Sandpoint over the next few days, if they don’t mind. “The locals seem to have taken to you,” he says, “And seeing you around town will do a lot for keeping worries down over the next few days.”  He will announce that you will be special members of the town guard for a couple of weeks and will even pay you for 2 weeks total time (14gp each).

   Once the meeting is over, Shalelu asks to join the group for dinner at the Rusty Dragon; she’d like to hear more from them about the Sandpoint raid, and in return she’s got a fair amount of goblin lore she can impart to them.  At the Rusty Dragon she greets Ameiko like an old friend.

   Goblin Tribes: As she mentioned earlier, there are five major goblin tribes in the region. The closest to Sandpoint are the Birdcruncher goblins that live in caves along the western edge of the Devil’s Platter, although traditionally these goblins are the least aggressive of the five. To the south are the Licktoad goblins of the Brinestump Marsh, pests that are excellent swimmers. East are the Seven Tooth goblins of Shank’s Wood, goblins who’ve secured a place for themselves by raiding Sandpoint’s junkyard and rebuilding the stolen refuse into armor and weapons. Further east are the Mosswood goblins, likely the largest tribe but one traditionally held back by feuding families within their own ranks.  And finally, there are the Thistletop goblins, who live on the Nettlewood coast atop a small island that some say holds a passing resemblance to a decapitated head.

<Please post your desription of the raid and any specific questions you have for her>

Garth, having traveled with the ranger is in awe of her abilities though by the time they reach town, his interests are back in the direction of his stomach.  Seating himself at the table that eve, he listens to the rumors of goblin tribes with but one ear as he guzzles beer and food with equal abandon.  To him, the details of strategy will be settled by those smarter then himself.  The only pause he gives in his own indulgence is to look about for Naomi, whom he feels a certain obvious fondness.

"The raid is best described as a running series of chaotic melees.  The goblins we met, we destroyed.  One or two still may be in the local jail, though."

Zer-wedula paused, trying to think of a question.  Finally he asked, "So what kind of 'big leader' do goblins usually tend to follow?"

Shalelu replies, "It has to be an outsider of some sort, I would know if any goblin had gained enough power to do this and the raid had ungoblinlike characteristics.  Particularly the body snatching.  If I was to guess, I would say a spellcaster of some sort.  They would need the fewest numbers to control the runts, and fewer numbers are harder to detect."

<I will let this scene run till wed night (unless people want to ask more questions)before I advance to the next scene.>

"Indeed.  And are goblins more likely to follow an arcane leader or a divine one?"

Garth offers to the discussion, "Likely as not it be a dark sorceror who commands em.  Them gobbos have their own gods and few outside their kind can hope to understand their nest of superstitions."

Shalelu looks from Zer-wedula to Garth "Well you are right, it would have to be someone twisted and evil, as most goblins worship Lamashtu, mother of monsters.  I don't know much about religion in general, but I do know the rites of this religion are foul indeed."  Looking back at Zer-wedula "Either could do it, but I imagine a cleric of Lamashtu would have an easier time because of common religious ground."  It could be Zer-wedula imagination, but she seems to be looking at him more than she looks at the others.

[Private to Zer-wedula: In fact she is, after the dinner and Q/A session she will invite you back to her room and rather bluntly ask you if you want to have some fun.  She has heard of your exploits(punching a goblin in the face and fighting the boar) and is impressed, not to mention you're handsome and smart.  She doesn't get many opportunities like this and she really isn't adept at flirting and such.]

Naomi comes into the room and runs over to stand next to Garth "Have fun out there?" She asks quietly as she inserts herself into the group once more she then waits to hear more of what is said before getting into the middle of the discussion.

Zer-wedula barely acknowledges the little one's interruption.  "So what do you expect the goblins to do next?" he asks.

[Private to DM: Zer-wedula will follow up with the lady after dinner to enjoy the pleasure of her company.  In a discreet and gentlemanly fashion, of course.]

Shalelu thinks for a moment, "I don't know.  We're dealing with an unknown person with an unknown plan.  Tomorrow I will start snooping around the goblin tribes in the area trying to see what I can find out.  If I find anything I'll let you know."  She typically works better alone.

[Private to Zer-wedula: A good time is had by both of you.  In the morning she is gone and you find a nice note that says she hopes to see you again when she gets back.]

<If you want to buy anything or interact with anyone specifically, let me know in this thread, otherwise you can post in the new one.>
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:48, Thu 19 Feb 2009.