Catessa Fallowfield & Garious  and Garth
The sheriff tells you to see Daviren Hosk at the "Goblin Squash Stables"<area 38>.  You can see the horse and cart so you can confirm if a farmer claims them.  You can also pickup some pointers on goblns, Hosk is a retired goblin hunter.

On the way you stop off at the armory where you battled the goblins.  Savah is hard at work but quickly puts it aside to greet Garth with a warm smile.  She reclaims her chain shirt and unfinished mw bastard sword.<it was a loaner>  She offers to sell it to Garth for 1/2 price, once it's finished (will take about a week).  Anything else can purchased for 20% off (to the whole group).  She also asks about the crossbow she loaned the elf.

When you arrive with a guard (to tell Hosk the sheriff wants you to see the horse), you see a sign of a horse stomping on a goblin and over the barn entrance a large collection of preserved goblin ears with writing burned on them.  Hosk is an older Cheliaxian, who is gruff until he realizes who you are.  Then he welcomes you as comrades and fellow goblin slayers.  He even shows you his latest project, 4 new ears from the goblins he killed yesterday.  This old man (still hardy and hale, but past his prime) sure must have been something.  He is difficult to understand, a scar on his throat is testimony to a close call in the past.
"They hate that.  Them gobs think writen the'r name steals the'r soul.  But if ya ask me, they aint got no soul" and grins a vicious smile. "But you aint come to see my pride, I'll tell you about gob's they is mean vicious brutes who would just a soon eat ya as look at ya.  They's hungry from birth to death and then some.  They's stupid and crazy with no thought of consequences.  I once caught 1 hide'en in a oven were he had fallen a'sleep.  Stupid.  But don't under'estem 'em, they's sneaky bastards.  After seeing the horse, easily identifiable by a druid, you spend the morning talking to the old man about goblins.  By then it's time to see the Niska.



1: Horse Hate: Goblins excel at riding animals, but they don’t quite get horses. In fact, their hatred of all things horse is matched only by their fear of horses, who tend to step on goblins who get too close.
2: Dog Hate: Although goblins raise horrible rat-faced creatures called (creatively enough) goblin dogs to use as mounts (and ride wolves or worgs if they can get them—goblins are quick to explain that wolves are NOT dogs), their hatred of plain old dogs nearly matches their hatred of horses. The feeling is mutual. If your dog’s barking at the woodpile for no reason, chances are he smells a frightened goblin hiding in there somewhere.
3: Goblins Raid Junkyards: Garbage pits, gutters, sewers… anywhere there’s garbage, you can bet goblins are nearby. Goblins are weirdly adept at crafting weapons and armor from refuse, and are fond of killing people with what they throw away.
4: Goblins Love to Sing: Unfortunately, as catchy as their lyrics can be, goblin songs tend to be a bit too creepy and disturbing to catch on in polite society.
5: They’re Sneaky: An excited or angry goblin is a noisy, chattering, toothy menace, but even then, he can drop into an unsettling silence in a heartbeat. This, matched with their diminutive size, makes them unnervingly adept at hiding in places you’d never expect: stacks of firewood, rain barrels, under logs, under chicken coops, in ovens…
6: They’re A Little Crazy: The fact that goblins think of things like ovens as good hiding places reveals much about their inability to think plans through to the most likely outcome. That, and they tend to be easily distracted, particularly by shiny things and animals smaller than them that might make good eating.
7: They’re Voracious: Given enough supplies, a goblin generally takes nearly a dozen meals a day. Most goblin tribes don’t have enough supplies to accommodate such ravenous appetites, which is why the little menaces are so prone to going on raids.
8: They Like Fire: Burning things is one of the great goblin pastimes, although they’re generally pretty careful about lighting fires in their own lairs, especially since goblins tend to live in large tangled thistle patches and sleep in beds of dried leaves and grass. But give a goblin a torch and someone else’s home and you’ve got trouble.
9: They Get Stuck Easily: Goblins have wiry frames but wide heads. They live in cramped warrens. Sometimes too cramped.
10: Goblins Believe Writing Steals Your Soul: The walls of
goblin lairs and the ruins of towns goblins have raided are littered
with pictures of their exploits. They never use writing,
though. That’s not lucky. Writing steals words out of your
head. You can’t get them back.

<The distance you need to travel isn't great.  Maybe 20 miles for the whole trip.  You can get a horse if you want speed, but that would attract goblin attention.  They are more likely to overlook 2 people (and a dog).  Your choice, speed or stealth.
Goals - ask about the horse and cart
      - ask about/look for goblin activity
      - find the elven ranger Shalelu Andosana>
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:24, Tue 27 Jan 2009.

Catessa Fallowfield & Garious  and Garth
As you head toward Niskas, you pass <area 36>the Sandpoint Meat Market and who should be coming out of the market with a basket in hand is Garths old flame, Mara.  She gasps as she sees Garth and drops her basket, spilling it's contents onto the ground.  Ignoring the spill she says "Garth, I heard you were back in town.  How are you?" as she stares into Garth's eyes.

Mara is an average looking Varisian young woman.

<I am assuming you never actually saw her, but heard from unimpeachable sources (your cousin or her parents) that she was married and perhaps saw her from a distance/inside her home with her husband>
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:01, Wed 28 Jan 2009.

   When Catessa sees by Garth's reaction that this is Garth's old girlfriend, she gets a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.  She doesn't mask her feeling well enough from Garious, because he begins to growl at the girl.  Cat doesn't like where this might go, but she hesitates to act right now because Garth might need to get things off his chest.  But finally, she recognizes that he might be blindsided by this, and thus not ready to face this.  She gently, but firmly pulls at Garth's clothes and says "Hey Garth.  I don't think this is the right time for a reunion.  We have a mission, remember?"

Regarding his lost love through angry and hurt eyes, Garth looks over at Catessa and speaks quietly, "I wont cause no scene."  Then looking back to Mara, he merely nods curtly to the woman, "Mara, I hear you are to be married.  I am sure you will lead a happy life.  I reckon I dont have time to sit here jawing, the sheriff gave me an important job to complete.  Good day."  He turns to move stiffly past Mara.

   Cat pats Garth on the back of the leg in a gesture of comfort.  She waits to speak though at this time, waiting to see how the situation will resolve itself.  Cat does not know what sort of woman Mara is, but she won't meddle more than is necessary to keep her from ripping out Garth's heart a second time.

Mara silently watches as Garth goes by, shooting Cat a "if-looks-could-kill" look before looking away and saying wistfully "bye... Garth".

   Mara's reaction is strange to Garth.  Something doesn't quite ring right about her actions.  Was that jealousy?  Regret?  What was going on.  Painful as it might be to Garth, Cat can't restrain her halfling curiousity any longer.  Not to mention that Garth needs to know as much as Cat wants too.  Cat stops and turns to Mara and asks loudly "Why, Mara?  Do you still love Garth?  What went wrong?"

Mara seems a little confused and surprised by Cats question.  She pauses as she bends over to pick up her basket.  She says quietly, "What does it matter now, I'm married and Garth has you" and she turns to walk away.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:07, Thu 29 Jan 2009.

   Cat shows a surprising amount of wisdom, for a halfling "Everything we do matters, for better or for worse.  All actions have consequences.  And Garth is not my lover, he's my traveling companion."  She looks at the huge human and wonders how the girl could think the two of them could possibly ever mate.  The size difference would prove almost insurmountable.  Without the aid of magic at least.

<I don't know, there are halfdragons and such....boggles the mind doesn't it>

She pauses and looks at Garth, "I'm sorry, I saw you together and I just assumed... I'm sorry".

  Cat backs up now.  This is a private moment between Garth and Mara.  She feels like an intruder at this point, and so waits with Garious out of ear range.

Garth seems to pause as he hears the sorrow in Mara's voice but then he remembers that it was she who did not wait for him and speaking in clipped tones, "We all make our own choices, apparently you made yours."  He then turns a final cold shoulder to the girl and moves on.  He does not speak again for some time.  Finally, he turns to Catessa, "We must be careful outside the village, there are things other then goblins that call the wilds home."  It is apparent he does not plan to speak further regarding Mara.

   Cat watches as Garth resolves the situation for himself.   Cat nods as Garth speaks about other creatures.  She says "Yeah, I'm familiar with some of them.  If we run into creatures, follow my lead.  I can try to convince animals not to attack us.  As for others, it might be best to avoid them.  I think we should get you a horse so we can possible outrun such foes when necessary."