Mishann doesn't hesitate and sums it as best she can, "Ameiko and her brother seem to be the only survivors from the Glassworks... and the brother was behind the goblin attack. We know of another coming attack: 200 goblins. Led by a devil who was giving Tsuto the orders to dig up the priest. Thanks to Ameiko, however, we now know where to find this devil: She is on Thistletop island, along with the many many goblins that are set to attack soon. We will need to attack her before she attacks Sandpoint."

  "Now, since you're normally a nice quiet town we will probably have to find transport and deal with this the hard way.  Unless you happened to have some siege weapons laying around for some reason we could soften up them up with."

The Mayor looks nervous and falls silent.

Sheriff Hemlock introduces Shalelu to the PCs as 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.” 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.

The Mayor then recaps Shalelu's 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 day ago, a farm south of Mosswood was burnt to the ground by
a group of goblins. Shalelu was thankfully nearby, and while the
farm couldn’t be saved, she 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, she 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 i dealt with yesterday 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 disturbed
me. Goblin tribes don’t get along unless they’ve got something big
planned, and big plans require big bosses. i was afraid that someone had moved
in on the goblins and organized them.  Your devil.”

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.

"Sounds smart!" Mits encourages.

"Unless they attack the town while he's gone," Nathan counters.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:29, Mon 23 Jan 2017.

Mishann says, "If it does, Sandpoint will have to be ready for them one way or another, with or without the Sheriff. Shalelu, is there any weakness to goblins besides their size and stupidity? And is there a way you have found to be the best methods to use their weaknesses against them?"

  "He's got to get them sooner or later, and is slightly less likely to get the political brush of if the Sherriff shows up in person."

 He looks back over to Shaleu, "Do the five tribes have particular names, or is it basically one tribe is the same as the others beyond being more likely to stab each other normally?"

  They probably don't have a Legends of the Hidden Temple™ based color and naming scheme, Joe.

Shalelu answers, "No consistent weaknesses.  They hate dogs and love fire.  So for one goblin that means he avoids a dog and leaps into a bonfire, while the other might attack every dog in sight or tie torches to their tails.  I suppose if you take out the devil uniting the tribes, they'll soon return to fighting one another again.  But more than likely you'd have to carve your way through most of them just to get to her.

"The tribes are Birdcruncher, the least aggressive of the bunch, Licktoad, the best swimmers, Seven Tooth, who like to raid Sandpoint's junkyard, Mosswood, the largest of the tribes, but usually also the most disorganized, and Thistletop, who have the most defensible lair."

"I should be getting ready to go," the Sheriff interrupts.

He would also like the PCs 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.”

Mits gives a thumbs-up.  "You got it!"

Nathan pipes in saying, "I think we should set up traps for goblin scouts along the outskirts of town.  Maybe that will delay their plans long enough for the Sheriff to get the needed reinforcements."

"I can ask for volunteers from the town," the Mayor offers.

It is like dogs exist to let you know alignments. People who don't like dogs: Evil. People who don't mind dogs: Neutral. People who love dogs: Good.

Mishann nods. "Traps sound good. I'm worried about if Tsuto was supposed to report back to the devil or not. And of course, the guy just refuses to talk no matter what."

  "Empty match boxes are good goblin bait, got it." That must have been a DC on par with 'bears live in caves' for him to have not known this already.  Thanks, in character learning experiences!

  At the Sheriffs request, he nods.  "I can continue to do the things I was already doing for a couple of days, yeah."  There, better wording than of course I'll keep doing nothing useful for a few days.

Mits chuckles from Tark's bait comment.

Nathan shrugs to Mishann.  "Looked like he was the one with all the maps.  So maybe his not showing up will actually slow things down for them."

"Thanks."

The Sheriff heads out.  The Mayor goes to the door and calls after him, "Be sure to come back here to pick up a letter I'll be drafting for you to take to Magnimar.  It should help with getting the troops we'll need."

Once the meeting is over, Shalelu asks to join the PCs for dinner
at the Rusty Dragon (or wherever else they may be staying); 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 the PCs.

Mits shrugs.  "Goblin lore over dinner.  Sounds charming."

Mishann feels just downright terrible for the oriental girl from earlier. She personally can not fathom what it would be like to be blindfolded, tied, gagged, and tossed in a closet by her own kin. Then the more current female acquaintance makes her offer. "Oh! Sure!" she suddenly answers, snapping out of her reverie as if the idea honored her.

She moves for the inn, waiting for the others to move with.

  Joe nods, once more being able to do things he would already be doing to the benefit of others.  "I'm sure everything but the conversation subject will be pleasant."

"I get a free room there," Shalelu explains, "Since I do more than anyone else to keep the goblins in check.  Before you all arrived, that is."

Along the way to the inn, she tells the group about it.

the Rusty Dragon

This large structure is Sandpoint’s oldest inn, notable for the impressive (and quite rusty) iron dragon that looms on the building’s roof,
doubling as a lightning rod and decoration. Owned and operated
for the past six years by the lovely and popular Ameiko Kaijitsu
(CG female human aristocrat 1/bard 3/rogue 1), the Rusty Dragon is
not only one of the town’s most popular eateries (made so, in large
part, by the spicy and exotic food served here), but also a great
place to meet visitors from out of town, since most newcomers
to Sandpoint come upon this inn first, the north Lost Coast Road
being less traveled. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Ameiko’s exotic
beauty is more than matched by her skill at music, and few are the
evenings that pass without at least two or three songs by the talented woman. Some bad blood exists between Ameiko and Cyrdak,
and one never seems to miss a chance to badmouth the other, but
no one in town really understands the reason behind their rivalry.
Of greater concern to Ameiko is the long-running feud with her
family—leaving town to become an adventurer scandalized her
family enough, but when she returned, rich and successful (and
with a seemingly endless supply of eccentric hairstyles), with a
desire to purchase and renovate Sandpoint’s oldest tavern, her
family officially took to shunning her. Ameiko claims not to care,
but becomes evasive when anyone asks her why she returned to
Sandpoint when she was obviously doing well as an adventurer.
Some believe she has a secret lover in town, while others theorize
that something happened on her last adventure that took the bravery out of her.
In any event, the Rusty Dragon is probably the most
adventurer-friendly establishment in town, with its ubiquitous
“Help Wanted” board near the bar and Ameiko’s “discount rooms
for anyone who tells an exciting adventure story” policy.

Mits sighs at the bit about being shunned for being an adventurer.  "Ye olde!  Well hopefully that'll mean the loss of her dad will be less of a blow.  In all irony, maybe losing her jerk bro woulda been more upsetting."

"Probably best not to speculate on such things once we get there," Nathan advises.

To Joe's comment she nods. "Yeah. It is nice to be with friends..." why did Joe have to be SO right that merely the topic of the location of the topic was enough to make Mishann's blood boil with rage?

Mishann looks furious as she says, "Shunning her for being successful, brave and heroic?! What is WRONG with people?! Oooooo!" FIRE BREATH HAPPENS along with the stomping of a foot! Though obviously not aimed at her friends. "I agree with Nathan... the girl has suffered quite a bit and we don't need to add to her troubles. We shouldn't assume we know her feelings anyway."

  "Well, the attack would have likely been sooner and bigger without you Shalelu.  So I doubt our arrival would have made much of a difference if the place was already burnt down when we got here." Your rambling attempts of at least trying to make people feel better occasionally, probably go towards why ass kicking ladies (and the odd angelic boy) are so quick to call you a friend Joe.

  "It's the fact the rich people shunned their daughter after she came back rich that makes it extra petty sounding, compared to the usual family drama over taking up a working lifestyle."

  As they approach entry distance of the Inn, Joe comments "I am so never getting those discount rooms.  I'm no good at making 'So I shot them with arrows, again' sound exciting'"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:59, Fri 27 Jan 2017.

Shalelu smirked at Joe's diplomacy and gave him an agreeing nod.

Mittens' sock puppet appears!

"This is why we're going to be very nice to the pretty singing hairdo lady!"

Nathan laughs.  "Singing hairdo?!"

"Not what I meant!  Fear not, Joe.  You can allow me to recount your awesomeness."

Mishann is secretly grateful nobody made a deal of her mini tantrum, but sometimes you just have to breath fire out of frustration.

Mishann then looks at Joe and says, "As the arrow flew from my bow, ripping through the air like an eagle diving for its prey, I knew it would hit its mark and I felt the arrow was an extension of my will for the goblin to fall!"

The half-dragon hurries to the door and enters, looking around for Ameiko.

  Well, Mishann missed him anything important.  So what's a little harmless pyrotechnics?

  "I'll try to be on what passes for good behavior with me, Mittens"  Then Mishann elaborately narrates an At-Will attack.  "That was the one arrow of mine that missed, right?" he jokes.  Joe may be thinking of another thread, considering he hasn't missed yet here.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Sat 28 Jan 2017.

Nathan took for granted that of course a person should be fire-breathing angry at Amiko's treatment.  Pyrus and Mittens were more focused on comforting her than any thoughts of making a deal of public displays of outrage.

Mittens stares slack-jawed at Mishann.  "Wow!  Better yet, let Mishann do the storytelling!"

Nathan smiles at Mishann and nods.  "That was very poetic, yes."

He gestures like he's aiming a bow and winks at Joe.  "See?  Bows are cool!"

Inside the Rusty Dragon is only a very few quiet patrons, rumoring grimly among themselves.  Ameiko is nowhere to be seen.  The patrons and hostess on duty brighten up when they see the heroes enter.

"Welcome!  Welcome!  Please make yourselves comfortable."

She gestures to a table in a prominent place.

"Inasec," Mits answers, rushing over to the "Help wanted" board with an eager wag in her tail.

Nathan chuckles and finds himself a spot to be seated.  Pyrus decides to try and use Joe's shoulders as his seat.  The hostess asks the group, "What drinks would you like?"

"Cider, please," Shalelu requests.

"Ambrosia," Nathan answers with an impish smile.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:04, Sat 28 Jan 2017.

Mishann smirks at Joe and gives him a light nudge to the ribs. "Because you missing happens so rarely it's epic news when it does happen?"

From her travels, Mishann has come to enjoy learning what places have to offer. "Thank you. I will take what you personally recommend, please. I am Mishann. What may I call you, ma'am?"

Mishann's tail swishes, looking like it will bump a chair or two. And her wings seem cumbersome also, but Mishann folds them closer to herself in order to "squeeze" past people to get to the table. When she finally sits, she leans back and relaxes a bit.

  "Whatever the barkeep drinks when the shift starts to feel too long." It may be a terrible idea, but not one terrible enough to keep from working.

  Pyrus is qualified by professional parrots to play the part of shoulder dragon, so Joe now has they tiny dragon hitching a ride.

"I have the best seat in the house!" Pyrus boasts happily, giving Joe's cranium a cuddle.

Mits returns to the group.  "Mittens likes milk.  It's a cat thing."
The hostess mouths the word 'Ambrosia' as if trying to recall the meaning of the word.  Nathan giggles.  "Water's fine, thanks.  Unless you have mead."

The lady blushes and smiles at Mishann.  "Tiffany.  Or Tiff if you like.  Be right back."

Mits looks at the paper copy she made of the quest list.

"Aldern Foxglove requests an audience with the town heroes.  Aeren Barett has a monster in his closet.  Shayliss Vinder would like a private audience with the archer of the town heroes in regards to a personal matter.  The adult one.  And Bethana Corwin wants someone to look into the disappearance of Ameiko."

When the hostess returns, everyone gets what they asked for.  Mishann gets a sweet wine, Joe gets saké.  Menus are passed around.  "Oh.  Beth was worried for Ameiko when she didn't show up for work.  We heard that you've already rescued her.  Thank you so much!  She means more to us than just a boss.  She's like family."

To Pyrus, Mishann smiles and says, "Yeah... I'd sit there, but I don't think Joe would like that."

Mishann keeps her mouth shut about Ameiko's family... "I would imagine. She seems a very good and reasonable woman who surrounds herself with good people like yourself." She sips the wine. "This wine is sweet like our hostess Tiff." She looks over the menu in case something really jumps out at her, but also keeps an eye peeled for "house special" or whatnot.

Whenever Tiff heads off to serve others while the group decides on what to eat, Mishann turns her attention to Mittens. She has a mix of confusion and annoyance / offense taken in her expression as she says, "Personal matter? Private audience? What? Why exclude the rest of us? Are we chopped liv-" but her sentence gets cut short as her expression melts to a coy smile. "Oh... "the adult one" ....OK. Joe, I think you just got yourself a girlfriend." she smooches in his direction in a teasing manner.

  Joe thanks Tiffany for the drink, "Well, she's probably going to need the help from you that random strangers can't provide given the circumstances Tiffany.  So it's nice to see she's in good hands."

  He wishes he was an upper body strength type ranger for a moment, so he could give Mishann that ride without falling over.  "I'm sure you'll figure out if I have one or not faster than I can.  Just make sure one of you checks in on that supposed monster closet while I'm dealing with that."

Tiff blushes from all the nice words.  "Th-thanks!"

Nathan giggles at the idea of Mishann sitting on Joe's shoulders.  Mits conjures a sock puppet with a much larger plushy dragon on it's back and has it flail about, collapsed under the "weight."

"Monster in the closet could be something as simple as a mouse or as serious as a portal to the realm of shadows," Mits asserts, "I'd say we should probably all be together for that one.  And considering how well having a girlfriend went over for a certain half-elf, I'm thinking maybe we'd be wise not to split up for that either.  Yeah...  'Never split the party' is looking more and more to be words to survive by."

Mishann says, "Yeah. No splitting the party. I agree. Well Shayliss has me super duper curious, so I want to visit her first... buuuut the monster in the closet sounds the most urgent if it is a real thing and not just a scared child. So we'll do the monster first, then visit Aldern, then check on Shayliss. And each time, we will let people from around town know where we are going so if we wind up not showing up somewhere on time, people will immediately look for us. Sound good?"