or five years, the faithful of Sandpoint have attended church in
smaller wooden structures rebuilt after fire destroyed the previous
temple, and while their new pastor Abstalar was helpful, kind, and wise,
church wasn’t the same. Now, the new cathedral is finally done. All that
remains is for the Swallowtail Festival to renew the site’s blessings from
the gods and it will be as if the Sandpoint Fire had never occurred.

PCs are in attendance, for whatever
reason, at the Swallowtail Festival on the first day of autumn in
Sandpoint.

The Swallowtail Festival begins promptly, as scheduled, on
the first day of autumn. The square before the church quickly
becomes crowded as locals and travelers arrive, and several merchant tents featuring food, clothes, local crafts, and souvenirs
are there to meet them.

Welcoming Speeches: The turnout for the opening speeches
is quite respectable, and the four keynote speakers each deliver
short but well-received welcomes to the festival. Mayor Deverin’s
friendly attitude and excitement prove contagious as she welcomes visitors to town and jokes about how even Larz Rovanky,
the local tanner (and notorious workaholic) managed to tear
himself away from the tannery to attend, much to everyone’s but
Larz’s amusement. Sheriff Hemlock brings the crowd down a bit
with his dour mood, his reminder to be safe around the evening’s
bonfire, and his request for a moment of silence to remember
those who lost their lives in the fire that claimed the town’s previous church five years ago. Fortunately, Cyrdak Drokkus is more
than up to the challenge of bringing the crowd’s mood back up
with his rousing anecdotes as he delivers a not-completely-irreverent recap of the long process the town went through to finance
and construct the new cathedral. He throws in a bit of self-promotion at the end, as is his wont, inviting everyone to stop by
the Sandpoint Theater the following evening to check out his
new production of “The Harpy’s Curse,” revealing that the lead
role of Avisera the harpy queen will be played by none other than
the famous Magnimarian diva Allishanda! Finally, Father Zantus
steps up give a short speech thanking everyone for coming before
declaring the Swallowtail Festival underway.

Mishann gets a lot of stares and turned heads, what with her appearance and all. But it is a thankfully friendly town, so Mishann's friendly nature gets her more than a few smiles and calms most suspicions. She is more than happy to do some strength demonstrations, such as wagging her tail up and down while a child sits on it.

Mishann is attentive during the opening speeches and such, but sticks with the friends she had already made before entering Sandpoint. Namely Joe and Insert-GMPC-Here.

  Joe hopes they used more fire resistant materials in the construction this time around.   Still, party time.  Procure snacks for himself and pals before inevitable interruptions is a must.

  He tries to remember if 'the Harpy's Curse' is the one about the lack of hugs.  Probably not, as it wouldn't be melodramatic enough.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:10, Fri 13 Jan 2017.

Mittens, Nathan, and Pyrus are all there.  Why not?  Nathan and Pyrus are both more than happy to take a ride on the Mishan tail.

"Oooh!  Oooh!  Me too!  Me too!" Mittens requests, "And thanks for the snack getting, Joe!"

One of the advantages of her minions being so small... small appetites.

"Yeah!  Thanks, Awesome Guy!"

Mishann smiles and nods to Mittens, scopping the kitty up with her tail and swinging her around in addition to the up-down motions. She knows she can offer more dangerous rides to Mittens, after all.

Mishann stuffs her face with one of the snacks (she likely asked for pulled pork) and says, "The way to a woman's heart is through her stomach! ....or was that the way to a man's heart? Eh. Everyone likes food, right?"

  Joe hasn't asked for a tail ride because he can't think of how to avoid sounding like he's saying a terrible pickup line doing so.

  "I think even some people who don't need to eat like food, Mishann." Other setting Darkthorne's can vouch for this.  "The rest of you get yours once you are not swinging around so much that more ends up on you, than in you."

"Wheeee!" Mittens cheers, enjoying the dragon rodeo.

Only the most adventurous of children aren't intimidated by the idea of the deluxe treatment.

Pyrus is happy with his little nibblet, and Nathan overjoyed with his portion.  When the ride's over Mits dual-wields a hot-dog and ice-cream.

"I find that this helps prevent brain-freeze and numb tongue."

At noon, Father Zantus and his acolytes
wheel a large covered wagon into the square, and after recounting
the short parable of how Desna first fell to earth and was nursed
back to health by a blind child who she transformed into an immortal butterfly as a reward for her aid, they pull aside the wagon’s
cover, releasing the thousand children of Desna—a furious storm
of a thousand swallowtail butterflies that swarm into the air in a
spiraling riot of color to a great cheer from the crowd. Throughout
the rest of the day, children futilely chase butterflies, never quite
quick enough to catch them.

Mishann is pleased with the affirmation that even people who don't need food still like food. She is also very happy to make Mittens happy and is sure to give her an arm-around and fist-drill-into-shoulder among her many buddy-buddy antics. To Pyrus and Nathan, she is sure to give them any ride they want also, but teases all of her allies by asking them to give her rides in return, followed by jumping on their backs.

Mishann does some butterfly chasing of her own, but doesn't put too much effort into it, lest she actually catch (and hurt) a butterfly. :)

  Joe wonders how confused said immortal butterfly was.  Considering there is no mention of curing their actual blindness in the process... He's probably overthinking these things again.

  "Considering the effort getting that many flying bugs into a wagon, it's certainly more of a spectacle than fireworks." Which is saying something, no explosions!

Mits is sure to show off that she can catch butterflies without hurting them using magic, but she releases them immediately after.  And offers a few tiny fireworks.

"Yeah.  You got a point there."

Lunch: Lunch is provided free, at the expense of Sandpoint’s
taverns. Each brings its best dishes—this event is a marketing push
by the taverns as much to win new customers as it is to feed a hungry crowd. It soon becomes apparent that the darling of the lunch
is, once again, Ameiko Kaijitsu, whose remarkable curry-spiced
salmon and early winterdrop mead easily overshadow the other
offerings, such as the Hagfish’s lobster chowder or the White
Deer’s peppercorn venison.

Consecration: Finally, as the sun begins to set, Father Zantus
takes the central podium, uses a thunderstone to attract everyone’s
attention, and clears his throat as he prepares to recite the Prayer
of First Dreaming. Unfortunately, the thunderstone’s detonation is
also the prearranged trigger for the goblins, who have slowly been
infiltrating the town while its citizens are merrily distracted.

A sharp retort, like the crack of distant thunder, slices through the
excited crowd as the sun’s setting rays paint the western sky. A stray
dog that has crawled under a nearby wagon to sleep starts awake, and
the buzz of two dozen conversations quickly hushes as all heads turn
toward the central podium, where a beaming Father Zantus has taken
the stage. He clears his throat, takes a breath to speak, and suddenly a
woman’s scream slices through the air. A few moments later, another
scream rises, then another. Beyond them, a sudden surge of strange new
voices rises—high-pitched, tittering shrieks that sound not quite human.
The crowd parts and something low to the ground races by, giggling with
disturbing glee as the stray dog gives a pained yelp and then collapses
with a gurgle, its throat cut open from ear to ear. As blood pools around
its head, the raucous sound of a strange song begins, chanted from
shrill, scratchy voices.

( There are thirty goblins raiding Sandpoint, but there’s no need
to run combat with all of them. You can focus strictly on the goblins the PCs encounter, using the following three encounters to
introduce players to the kneebiting horror that is the goblin

At this point, ask the PCs to make Spot checks. Those who make
a DC 12 check see that the shape that raced by and killed the dog
now hides at the edge of the wagon—a single goblin, licking the
blood from its dogslicer as it looks excitedly at the crowd, seeking
out a new target. Characters who make the check may act in the
surprise round.
The song is a nameless goblin rhyme, performed by several goblin warchanters and intended to give the goblins a boost of bardic
music to spur them on.

http://i994.photobucket.com/al...GoblinWarchanter.jpg )

One of the last things Mishann wants to do is breath fire in a panicked town that just got over a fire. That said, why waste an AoE on a single goblin. "Try to keep as many of these monsters alive as possible! I intend to find out why these goblins attacked and I don't know goblin ranking structure!"

With the flap of her wings, Mishann charges forward, a tunnel of dust and ash created by her wake as she slams the palm of her hand into the face of the dog-slaying goblin and slams it into the pavement.

  "Keep some jerks alive, got it."  While there is more than one goblin singing, one of them is now (for the moment) face down in the dirt with an arrow through the shin.

"Goblins chew and goblins bite," the chanters sing, "GACK!"

That's one less chanter.  It becomes very apparent that with only 5 hp, these goblins aren't much of a threat.  Two attack Mishan, and their weapons can't get past her rather tough defenses, one of them even breaking his weapon on her!  A goblin throws a torch at Joe who easily dodges the attack, and the torch winds up lighting another goblin's straw "armor" on fire!

The chant continues from the others:

"Goblins cut and goblins fight.
stab the dog and cut the horse,
Goblins eat and take by force!
Goblins race and goblins jump.
Goblins slash and goblins bump.
Burn the skin and mash the head,
Goblins here and you be dead!
chase the baby, catch the pup.
Bonk the head to shut it up.
Bones be cracked, flesh be stewed,
We be goblins! You be food!"

Nathan takes out one of the goblins attacking Mishan with a radiant arrow.  "It could be a catchy tune if they weren't all singing off key and off tempo."

Mittens punts the burning goblin into a barrel that was going to be a bobbing for apples game.  "They hate dogs!  Pyrus!  See if you can lure them to us!"

Pyrus nods.  "Arf!"

He makes himself look like a black dog and runs about barking at the dispersed goblins to try and draw them to the heroes!  Meanwhile, the goblin that was going to attack Mittens gets distracted by some roasted fish on the lunch table and begins stuffing his pockets with it!

Mishann calls out, "Make a catchy tune for us then, Nathan! Centralizing is a good idea, Mittens! Nice shot, Joe!"

A torch hits Mishann on the head. It was a very good, solid throw which is why Mishann actually squeaks. But the fire seems to do nothing as she turns around, her tail accidentally knocking another goblin unconscious before she charges the nearest torch-thrower. "We should probably go for the ones with torches first so they don't set the town on fire as quickly."

  "As little of the town on fire would be preferable."  After all, this isn't Luskan.  So that and the revelation these are little wuss goblins means multi shots are go!  So far as two at a time is multishot.

  He might have shot the one who hit Mishann with a torch while he was down. You cant prove that arrow wasn't already there.

After the PCs defeat the initial three
goblins, give them a few rounds to recover.
As they do, impress upon them the chaos
that has engulfed Sandpoint. Goblins race
everywhere, running amok and singing and
slashing indiscriminately. At the point the
PCs seem about ready to take action, a sudden
bloom of fire should grab their attention.
Creatures: A group of goblins has found
the cart full of fuel for the bonfire just south of
the festival grounds and have lit it on fire. Even
if the PCs don’t rush to investigate the burning
wagons, they are soon confronted with several cackling and shrieking goblins armed with
dogslicers and torches. As soon as the goblins
see the PCs, they shriek in delight and attack!

Pyrus is competing with several other dogs, so the ploy is only partially successful.  Nathan is focused on knocking out goblins with torches, but was unable to prevent the big bonfire.  On the bright side, the townsfolk took precautions and the cart full of fuel is nowhere near other combustibles and is harmless where it is.  Mits begins chanting, "You be stupid!  You be fail!" and focuses on taking out chanters with Magic Missile spam.

Mishann very quickly charges the goblins that are charging her and her group. Mishann yells, "Why have you come to meet your doom, goblins?! Why come here to die?!"

She flies, grabs two goblins by the face with her feet, slams their heads into the ground in order to land and begins grabbing at more goblins with her hands to throw them around at each other!

Mishann flaps her wings a few times to appear larger as her 15-foot wingspan makes her an imposing figure! But she is also sure to only do so for a second so as not to put her wings unnecessarily in the line of projectiles.

  "Reasons will probably be along the lines of 'we hate parties!' or 'we weren't invited to party!'"

  Joe does not suspect it is actually option three, jealousy over party preparations compared to goblin parties.

  "I'm going to have to settle for shooting faster, in a problem that can't entirely be solved by shooting things." Arrows won't replace those stolen snacks.

During the mayhem, the town guard noticed that the heroes were handling a good portion of the goblins, so they've been doing their best to try and make sure the goblins don't fan out.  The town priest keeps them healed up, and even one of the food competition chefs joins in the fighting against the raid!

Development: After tangling with the first two groups of goblins, the PCs are likely to be wounded. Keep them on their toes by
describing goblin antics around them (perhaps a goblin leaps off a
roof in an attempt to land on a victim but misses and breaks his neck,
or maybe a goblin throws a lit torch at a fleeing mother only to have
it land on another goblin and light his armor on fire), but allow them
a few rounds to catch their breath. If they’re particularly wounded,
Father Zantus rushes to their side. He thanks them for what they’re
doing to help fight the goblins and can cast up to three cure light
wounds or three cure minor wounds spells on PCs to heal them.
As soon as the PCs have mostly recovered, its time to spring the
big fight on them.

die, dog, die! (el 3)
This final event during the goblin raid occurs after things at the
festival itself have calmed somewhat. Here and there, the sounds
of battle, clanging swords, calls of support by the town guard, and
shrieking and singing goblins echo through the streets, but at the
festival itself, most of the citizens have fled. One or two goblins
remain behind to scavenge food, and many more lie dead (along
with a few unfortunate citizens). It should be obvious that the fight
has moved on, especially when the sound of a scream and a frantic
barking comes from the north.
Creatures: In front of the White Deer, a goblin commando
mounted on a goblin dog has bravely attacked a noble and his hunting
dog. The man in question is named Aldern Foxglove (CN male
human aristocrat 4/rogue 3), a noble destined to play an important
role in the next adventure, but whom for now is merely another
frightened citizen. Aldern cowers behind a rain barrel where he calls
for help, while his dog fights against the commando. As the PCs arrive
on the scene, they’re just in time to see the goblin commando kill the
dog with his horsechopper. The dog crashes dying to the ground as
the commando’s goblin kin (who were themselves cowering nearby
as the dog was handled) throw up a cheer and emerge from hiding.
The goblins are still distracted by their kill, and as they turn
their attention to Foxglove, the PCs have the opportunity to
attack with surprise.

Goblin Commando CR 1
Goblin ranger 1 (MM 133)
NE small humanoid
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +5, spot +5
DEFENsE
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 12
(+3 armor, +3 Dex, –2 rage, +1 size)
hp 10 (1d8+2)

Goblin Dog CR 1
hp 10 each; see page 87

Goblins (4) CR 1/3

gOBlin WeapOnry
The goblins of the sandpoint hinterlands wield
distinctive weapons called dogslicers and
horsechoppers, after their preferred uses. A dogslicer is a length of junk metal tied to a handle with
holes punched in the blades to lighten it and prevent tired goblin arms. A dogslicer is a light martial
weapon that’s similar to a short sword in most ways,
save that it deals slashing damage rather than piercing
damage. Goblin commandos are instead armed with
halberds—called “horsechoppers” by them, but otherwise identical to small halberds. Goblin weapons that
aren’t magic or masterwork are poorly made—on a natural 1,
they break. Goblins should really carry spare dogslicers, but they
don’t think that far ahead, and occasionally end up standing in front of
a hero without a weapon. stupid little freaks.

http://thecage.wdfiles.com/loc...dogslicer/weapon.jpg

http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/...rnt_Offerings-29.jpg

The goblins that Mishan intimidated are more than happy to focus on Pyrus instead, following his lead.  Mits takes out one of the lackeys, and Nathan takes out another.  The goblins retaliate and manage to get in a pretty good slash against Mits.  The commando charges Mishan!  Meanwhile, Pyrus finally turns toward the group, bringing a half dozen goblins to them!

"Good work, Pyrus!" Mishann comments before turning to face the commando and narrowing her eyes. "Seems they aren't answering, so I appreciate your conjecture, Joe."

This one looks especially dangerous what with the mount, special weapon, and other goblins cheering him on like some hero. She'll hold out her fire breath just a little longer so she can catch the half-dozen that are coming.

Mishann gets in a bracing position, looking like she is going to play chicken with the goblin, but is ready with a side-step in hopes of throwing the goblin off balance! The goblin is a little faster than she was ready for and manages a slash off of Mishann before getting surprise-slapped off his mount with the thwack of Mishann's tail! "Someone keep the mount busy and I'll focus on this guy!"

She tries positioning herself so that both the commando and the half-dozen approaching goblins will soon be in range of her fire breath.

   Thank you so much for bringing a pile of extra enemies towards them Pyrus...  We're pretty sure that wasn't sarcastic.

  "Busy it is." Ker-Prone.  Upgraded At-Will options are so nice.

  Joe is still fine thanks to being more of a wussy baby man class type than Mishann brave lady class. Don't worry Joe, self respect damage doesn't touch your hitpoints.

Nathan transforms his radiant bow into a radiant lance and skewers Joe's prone goblin dog to the ground like an oversized member of an ugly bug collection.  Meanwhile the goblins all oblige Mishan and approach in an arrowhead formation, ripe for a big fire-breath!

Pyrus turns to face the enemy and takes a deep breath, transforming back to itty-bitty dragon form.  Mits' hands begin to glow with magic as she prepares a coordinated attack with Mishan and Pyrus.

"I somehow feel like I should say something dramatic, like, 'By our powers combined!' or something."

She readies her burning hands spell for when the goblins are within range...  KaFWOOM!  Triple roasted goblins!  Only the boss manages to duck out of the way of the attack...  and has sense enough to try and flee!  "Ack!"

"A coordinated fire boom? Niiiiice...." When it was triple-fire-breath time, Mishann would have yelled, "How about: Overkill!" She then comments, "Thanks for the assists, guys!"

Upon seeing the hero-unit have a surprising amount of sense compared to the rest of the goblins, Mishann charges the goblin with the intent of tackling it! "You're not going anywhere!"

  Joe decides to wait on further arrow pincushion impressions for goblins if Mishann doesn't manage to catch them herself.

  It would also mean a interrupted mid gloating hit bonus, but he expects Mishann to manage.

Boss goblin is tackled!  Joe finds plenty to do with his arrows besides pin-cushion the boss, such as taking out some of the last goblins, who are fleeing.

Development: Once the goblins are dealt with, Aldern thanks
the PCs profusely. If one of the PCs is an attractive female human,
elf, or half-elf, he focuses his attentions on her, complimenting her
on her skills in the fight and on her beauty. Otherwise, he focuses
his attention on the PC who seemed to do the most damage in
the fight, complimenting him on his skill at arms and bravery.

(He can't figure out who that is, he does his best to spread the compliments to the whole group.)

As he glances about nervously for more goblins, he informs the
PCs that he’ll be in town for a few more days; he’s staying at the
Rusty Dragon to the south, and when they get a chance, he’d
love to talk with them more and perhaps reward them properly
for saving his life.

By this time, the battle has been decided. Surviving goblins flee
north in droves, in some cases preferring to leap to their certain
death off cliffs rather than be captured. Several of the little menaces are in fact caught alive.

Mits offers high-fives to all her friends!  "Woohoo!  Town saved!"

Nathan is quick to try and salvage what villagers were badly wounded.  Pyrus busies himself with tying up those goblins that still breathe.

Mishann nods to the nobleman and says, "Right. We'll meet you there later." before going to aid in the post-combat junk. Her assistance includes aiding in tying up baddies, but if she is asked to help with heavy-lifting such as a heavy injured person, or a person caught under a beam or something, she is more than ready to lend her strong arms to those in need.

She is also sure to thank the guards for herding the goblins. "You demonstrated quick thinking and excellent team work!"

Nevertheless, she tries her best to keep her allies within sight at all times.

  High-Fiveage is had.  "Much less of it burned than I expected." Well maybe if they were flying goblins.  "I'm sorry about your dog, Aldern.  What was their name?" Clearly if it were important to the noble, it would have had a name.  Or maybe it's something the Module never bothered to tell the GM because they died within five seconds.

  Joe opts to stick more with Nathan for the moment for post fight busywork, fellow arrow person that they are.

The guards are flustered and simply nod to Mishan's compliments.  And yes, there's plenty of help needed.  Mits and Pyrus are happy to lend hands with that.

"Spot," Aldern answers.

"Let's get to the bottom of this," Nathan suggests to Joe.

The goblins prove useless when interrogated; none of these goblins know much more than that they were
given orders to kill everyone in town and burn down the place.
None of the captured goblins can even remember their leader’s
name, apart from the fact that he was one of “you longshanks.”
Their leader was on a secret mission to the town’s graveyard—that
much most goblins can say, but none of them know what that mission was. It was secret, after all!

As Sandpoint recovers from the attack and buries its (thankfully
few) dead, the citizens do their best to get on with their lives.

One of the previously undisturbed graves, that of Ezakien Tobyn, the former town priest, is now conspicuously exhumed, no sign of the former occupant.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HCo1...Y/s1600/Foxglove.png
or, if you prefer, http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/...7300/foxglovebig.jpg
the 2nd image was the one they turned into a fig, so i'm guessing that's more cannon?
posted
father zantus: http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/...961/FatherZantus.png
sheriff: https://campaign-72386.obsidia...acters/belor-hemlock
1:59AMChris OOC (GM): or: https://guildberkeley.files.wo.../sheriff-hemlock.jpg
mayor: http://www.imarvintpa.com/Imag...-+Kendra+Deverin.jpg

Mishann looks agitated. "...not that I could have done much about it if I figured out the goblins were a diversion. And even without the attack, not many would be visiting a graveyard during the celebrations. Let's get as good a description as possible from the goblins. Whoever this is will answer dearly."

She also thinks to ask authorities, such as Father Zantus, if there was anyone specifically asking to exhume a corpse in the past year.

  Hmm, the Priest involved with the burning down of the last temple.  Dug up during an attempt to burn down the replacement one (and everything else).  "I'm getting the impression the loss of the last temple wasn't accidental, Nathan."

  "Most would be more concerned with saving living people, instead of long dead one's Mishaan."

Nathan nods his agreement with Joe.  The Priest was in the middle of reporting the grave robbery to the Sheriff, and both look uncomfortable with Joe's theory.  Neither contradict it, though.  No one has been asking to exhume any graves.

"By catching the badguy that took the dead guy, we'll be saving lots of living people," Mittens explains.

She does her best to use prestidigitation to create a police sketch of the perp, but the goblin descriptions are so jumbled, her resulting portrait is rather terrible.  http://images.on-this.website/...8654e32fd2c44755.jpg

But there are a few clues they agree on.  Pointy ears.  Tall.  Dark hair.  Male.  Armed with a bow.

Mishann looks at Joe. "....huh? What? Who said anything about rescuing the dead? I just wanna punish the person responsible for the people who died today."

After hearing the few details that are agreed upon, Mishann says, "So pointy ears, tall, dark hair, male and armed with a bow. That describes a very large portion of the entire elf race. Hopefully, elves are in short supply in this area?"

https://rise-of-the-runelords-....com/wikis/sandpoint

  When weapons proficiency is a racial unlock, how far is it stereotyping to equate pointy eared bow user with Elf?

  "Well it was a butterfly themed party, so there may have been a lot of visitors." No Joe, those were the protestors for unfair treatment of trapped butterflies.

"It's something, at least," the sheriff says, "I'll ask around.  What he was wearing would have been nice, but I seriously doubt he was wearing all those things the goblins described."

"About two dozen elves, I think," the mayor answers, "So that actually narrows it down quite a lot."

Mits salutes.  "We'll be on the lookout!"

"Any idea what use that corpse is to someone?" Nathan asks, already guessing one.

The two authorities haven't a clue.  Pyrus sniffs around the grave to try and pick up the scent of the culprit, perks up, and wags his tail.

"I have his scent!  Smells more half elf than elf.  This way!"

The two authorities are startled that the little familiar talks.  The sheriff frowns and nods, and follows along.

"I'll stick to my job," the mayor says, "Thank you all again for your help.  We can arrange a proper reward another time when things are less hectic."

Mishann wants to say her reward is seeing this guy drawn and quartered, but decides to just nod to the mayor. "We will be back." and begins following Pyrus. She feels a little stupid not thinking about the possibility of half-elf since she herself is a half-breed. But she keeps quiet on that one. "Have I mentioned lately how useful you are, Pyrus?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:58, Tue 17 Jan 2017.

  Joe would prefer rewards you can either spend, or put directly to use in not dying as easily. He's funny that way, but then killing the bad guys is often thrown in as a freebie anyways.

  "Yeah, good luck dealing with all the complaints blaming you for literally everything that has gone wrong, and nothing that went right." Today is not a good day to be mayor.

  He nods to Pyrus and Mishann.  "Big dragon lady is right about little dragon guy."

"Hurray, Pyrus!" Mits cheers!

Pyrus chirps bashfully and hurries his tracking.

Nathan looks over to the sheriff and says, "Digging up bodies is usually what necromancers do.  But most times, any body will do.  That it was the priest, and that there was an attack on the opening of the new cathedral, tells me that there's someone with an extreme vendetta against the church.  Ring any bells?"

The sheriff thinks about it.  "None that I can think of.  Not that that would be something anyone would openly admit to."

"What really happened to the old priest?"

"He really died in a fire."

"There's more to the story, isn't there?"

"His daughter died in the same fire."

Nathan sweatdrops.  "I was expecting some kinda secret the priest was keeping.  Something that you might have known."

"Nope.  They were both well-loved members of the community.  You'd have to be a loony to have disliked either of them."
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:19, Tue 17 Jan 2017.

Mishann says, "It does feel kinda weird to go to all this effort to dig up a body." she secretly thinks it is a good thing she is immune to fire. Ironically wouldn't make her immune to choking on smoke, but even if she were to survive a church fire, her dad wouldn't.... "And this is why Pyrus is amazing. Catch the scent; find the bad guy. No need for chasing clues we can't find."

 "So, awkward follow up question then.  Was the daughter dug up too, or was it a case of never found the remains?"

"Right?!" Mits agrees with Mishann, "Why do you think I keep him around?!"

Pyrus is so bashful, he just points a direction and vanishes.

"The latter," the sheriff answers Joe, "Never found most of the second floor, either.  The fire was severe."

Nathan hmms.  "Well I don't suppose any further speculations will get me anywhere."

Seeing Pyrus point out the correct direction, accomplishing his task even when he is bashful; it fills Mishann with determination!

Mishann begins trotting in the direction Pyrus pointed. "I'm curious where your thoughts are going with that one, Joe..."

  "Because you like Pyrus and want to cuddle him both when people are not looking and when people are looking, Mittens."

  He shrugs to Mishann "There are a whole lot of possibilities, really.  One of the simplest is that she didn't die and wants thematic revenge years later."

The sheriff looks flustered both by Pyrus's directions and Joe's suggestion.

"The culprit walked back into town?!  Wouldn't someone have reported an elf traipsing through town carrying a corpse?!

He sighs and headshakes to Joe.  "She had no reason to hate her father.  He was a good man who protected, sheltered, and raised her as his own.  A better father a girl couldn't ask for.  If not for him, she'd have likely wound up dead or worse at an early age."

Mits shrugs.  "My guess is that she was horribly disfigured and mentally unbalanced after the fire.  Has turned to necromancy in a mad attempt to be with her father again.  How she managed to get a half elf and a pile of goblins to do her dirty work I'm still trying to figure out."

Nathan feigns laughing.  "I see what you did there.  Dirty work."


https://sites.google.com/site/...dpoint/Sandpoint.jpg

Pyrus has to return to guide the group.  The trail takes a round-about track.  Tomb St. to Church St.  Cliff street down to Main St.  Then into Rat Alley.  Finally ending at the northernmost back door of the Glassworks.

http://pre05.deviantart.net/fd..._hero339-d7jwroj.jpg

The Sheriff raises an eyebrow.  "The Glassworks, eh?  Well I think I know who the half elf is now.  What in the world would he want with the old father's body?  Well let's make this official.  You've all been deputized.  Unless any of you have any objections to upholding the law."

Mishann says, "Thank you, sheriff. Now to make sure he doesn't escape, shall we cover all the doorways of this place and then enter?"

 "We don't exactly go out of our way to break the law.  So unless you take up despotic tyranny as a hobby it should be fine."

 ...  "Well, as fine as things ever go when you need to deputize complete strangers after avoiding town wide disaster."

The Sheriff frowns and answers, "Don't let your guard down.  We had a string of brutal murders not too long ago...  My first priority is that we all make it out of this alive."

Pyrus wiggles his nose and turns serious.  "Goblins.  Lots of 'em."


http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/...86195/glassworks.jpg

When the PCs arrive at the Glassworks, they find the building curiously silent. Neighbors have noticed the lack of traffic into and
from the building, but since the furnace chimney still plumes with
smoke, most assume that the building was simply closed to allow
Lonjiku and his workers some privacy while they worked on a big
project. A quick investigation of the building perimeter reveals
that curtains have been drawn over the windows and all the doors
are locked.  The skylights above that look into areas A1 and A17 are
unobscured, and a character who makes a DC 20 Climb check to
get on the roof can look through them (which, in the case of A17,
reveals a gruesome sight indeed). The rumble of the Glassworks’
furnace is plainly audible from within, but a character who listens
at any of the curtained windows along area A17 and makes a DC 12
Listen check can also hear what sounds like high-pitched giggles,
shrieks, and breaking glass.

All of the external doors can be picked with a DC 20 Open Lock
check; battering them down takes a bit more work (Hardness 5,
hp 20, Break DC 23). In either case, such acts are quick to draw
gawkers eager to find out what Sandpoint’s new heroes are doing
trying to break into the Glassworks. A DC 15 Diplomacy check or
a successful Bluff or Intimidate check are more than enough to
calm the locals, especially given the odd fact that the Glassworks
should be open for business anyway. Several locals suggest that the
PCs head up to Kaijitsu Manor to talk to Lonjiku or his servants
rather than breaking into the place, but a trip up Schooner Gulch
Road to the manor reveals that none of the servants there have
seen Lonjiku since yesterday evening. They assume he’s working
down in the Glassworks and point to the smoke pouring out of its
chimney as proof.

Having the Sheriff along means the group doesn't have to deal with the locals.

"My men have their hands full, so it's going to have to just be us."

"That's how I prefer it!" Mits chimes.

Nathan assures, "I'm a healer.  We should be alright."
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:11, Wed 18 Jan 2017.

Mishann doesn't have to deal with climbing either since she can fly. "Half of us can fly up there and take a look before going in." and with that, she flies up to the roof to take a look!

Joe nods, "I'll deal with the lock if a convenient key or other preferred entry does not present itself, when you are ready."

Pyrus goes with Mishann to case the roof.  Nathan posts up half way between the two groups.

What Pyrus and Mishann see:

Glassworking Room: A long furnace burns along the
southeast wall of this equally long room. Marble tables
sit throughout the chamber, used to work raw glass into
usable shapes, with nearby wooden tables cluttered with
various tools of the trade. The building’s furnace rumbles
loudly, causing any Listen checks made in this room to
take a –4 penalty. The main furnace burns at the northeast
end, a large chamber that utilizes alchemically treated
wood that burns with a hot blue light. The workers use
this room to melt glass, but Lonjiku also periodically
“rented” the furnace to Sczarni thugs for the disposal
of evidence, as the fires are hot enough to burn bones
and teeth. A creature pushed into the furnace takes 6d6
fire damage per round; fortunately the opening is narrow
enough to prevent a Medium creature from being pushed
inside too easily. As the furnace’s stone pipes run to the
southwest, they reach smaller and progressively cooler
furnaces used to keep glassworking projects at the
proper temperature; glass shatters if it’s allowed to cool
too quickly.

When the PCs arrive, this room is a gruesome display
of goblin boredom. The bodies of the eight murdered
staffers lie in various stages of dismemberment; the goblins
have been burning legs and arms in the furnace with glee,
and pouring melted glass on the remains in an attempt to
duplicate Tsuto’s masterpiece. This would be his father’s
body, propped up in a chair in the central alcove and encased
in thick runny sheets of hardened glass.

"Lock picking is preferred to battering, yes," the Sheriff agrees.

"Battering may be more dramatic, but you lose the element of surprise," Mittens agrees.

Desire to kill levels.... rising...

Mishann flies down, looking furious and teary-eyed. "Prepare yourselves. The room is filled with dismembered bodies. And goblins." She gives an estimate for how many goblins she saw.

  Joe nods, "You're probably going to be seeing a lot of property damage to the place before we even get involved, so it's moments like this I'm glad I'm the boring one in my little group of friends."  Arrows don't generally cause as much lasting harm to public utilities.  Unless you try hard enough.

  Then Mishann reminds him that he's not nearly cynical enough to keep up with reality, despite his efforts.  The lock meanwhile, involves very little effort with the luxury of take tens.

"I'm fine with property damage so long as it's not endangering any of you or innocent bystanders," the Sheriff answers.

He nods to Mishann.  "Let's see if we can lure the buggers into clumping up so the three of you can do that goblin roast combo."

Pyrus nods and thumbs-ups.

"One goblin roast coming right up!" Mittens chimes.

"Considering our experience with goblins, I'd say there's no need to go out of our way to keep any alive," Nathan says.

The lock is picked!

A16. Loading Room: A wheelbarrow sits against a wall here, and
shelves on the walls contain additional reagents to create
different colors of glass (manganese for clear glass, cobalt
for blue, and tin for white glass; untreated glass is green,
while too much of any reagent makes black glass). A safe
on the floor hangs open after Tsuto used his father’s key to
open it and stole the gold and silver used to make red and
yellow glass.

A door at the far end of the room leads to the room with all the goblins.  It is closed, but unlocked.

"I agree...." Mishann growls deeply, if quietly. Once the group is ready, she takes a deep breath, barges in, and spews fire at the most goblins possible!

  Joe shoots for either the fanciest dressed goblin, or the farthest one that has happens to have the biggest (for a goblin) weapon failing that.

  "Work safety saves lives" It's not lava, but it will do for the moment for whichever goblin that used to be.

Pyrus begins trying to herd goblins with ye olde dog shape trick.  Nathan fires radiant arrows.  The sheriff takes up a defensive position at the front with Mishann, ready to attack any goblins that get in range.  Mits just makes with the magic missile, making it look like a force punch.

"Aiee!" the burned and arrow'd goblins scream!

"Intruders!" the remaining goblins shriek, "Yippee!"

In all, there are eight goblins in the Glassworks. If the PCs follow
the sound of breaking glass and their evil little shrieks, they find
them capering and defiling the bodies of the murdered workers in
area A17. Unless the PCs are particularly noisy, they should be able
to reach area A17 without alerting the goblins. Give the PCs the
advantage of a surprise round against the little monsters, because
once the battle begins, things can get ugly quickly.
Keep in mind that this fight is in a glassworking factory. The goblins are masters of improvisational fighting, and are quick to use the
environs of the room to their advantage in the following ways.
• Somegoblinsusetongsdrippingwithmoltenglassasimprovised
weapons to burn the PCs.
• AgoblinmightattempttotripaPC;ifhefallsprone,threegoblins
pile onto him and attempt to carry him into the furnace. Chances
of this succeeding are nil as long as the PC isn’t helpless, but it
should give the PCs a bit of a hair-raising time nevertheless—
especially if the PC being fed into the furnace is unconscious.
• Goblins who can’t reach a PC in melee throw bottles or sling
panes of glass at them as improvised ranged attacks.
• As the battle progresses, feel free to mark certain squares
as containing broken glass. Treat these squares as if they
contained caltrops.

Along with the retaliating goblins, a half-elf matching the description of the grave robber attacks!

"You should not have come here!  Back off, and I'll tell the goblins to not give chase!"

Seeing the effect Pyrus has on the goblins, he one-shots the little familiar with deadly accuracy!

http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/...4/Tsuto_Kaijitsu.jpg
or
http://vignette2.wikia.nocooki...st?cb=20141207135722

Mishann yells, "You DARE say this?! After what you have done?!"

Her pupils shrink as her eyes almost go blank with a glaze of hatred, her tail whipping behind her as she flaps her wings hard to get herself as suddenly in the guy's face as possible while she yells at the top of her lungs, "Surrender to the law or by the gods NOBODY will stop me from feeding your limbs to the furnaces as I watch you scream and beg for me to kill you!"

She gets slashed by a goblin on her way into the air, but doesn't even seem to notice for her tunnel vision.

  Joe dislikes this guy shooting Pyrus in the face, even more than he dislikes how glad he is it was only Pyrus who got shot in the face (Though it's a close thing).

  "Even if you were trustworthy, really doubt the goblins would pay attention in that case."  That said, if snaps off a shot intending to slow this guy's possible retreat... And somehow debuff the Elf's shooting if he hits their shins.

  Magic bow, you work in strange ways.

Tsuto Kaijitsu CR 3
Male half-elf rogue 1/monk 2
LE Medium humanoid (elf)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Listen +3, spot +3
DEFENsE
AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 13
(+2 Dex, +1 deflection, +2 Wis)

hp 12 (1d6+2d8–3)

Seriously?  12 HP.  Some boss.  Arrow, radiant arrow, magic missile, and half-dragon to the face.  The dude goes down.  The goblins squeal in delight!

"Yay!  You're going to make him scream in the furnace, yes?  Hurray!"

But they continue to attack, swarming Mishann and the Sheriff.  With the injury from before, Mishann winds up bloodied from so many goblins attacking.

Luckily, Mishann's raging was not the barbarian class feature. Why is this a good thing? Because she is bloody and her rage is giving way to survival instincts. Which would have meant losing more hit points in the case of a barbarian. But in her case, she lets loose with another fire breathe and tries her best to hold her own, keeping the attention of the goblins while trusting her allies to get her out of this jam.

At least she isn't blindly raged now?

  "Sorry, we need him alive enough to ask questions." He apologizes to the goblin he then shoots...  Normally, you apologize FOR hurting people, Joe.

  Speaking of rage, Joe doesn't blindly rage.  Burying a carrikal in the back of the head of the last goblin still alive to hurt Mishann is entirely clear visioned.

"Cross Fire" takes on a literal sense in this case when Mishann sprays the enemy with fire from one side of the room while Mittens blasts them with burning hands from the other.  The Sheriff takes out the one goblin that wasn't taken out by the heroes.  Nathan immediately gets to healing Mishann's wounds.

"Sorry.  Limited range on my heals, and I had to catch up."

"Convenient we're in a room designed to be fireproof," Mits comments, re-summoning Pyrus.

Pyrus raspberrys at the half-elf.

Mishann flops against Nathan, watery-eyed and looking kind of pathetic for the fierce warrior who entered the room just seconds ago. "Thanks for the healing, Nathan... Glad you're ok, Pyrus..."

But all she has to do is look in the half-elf's direction and her pathetic look fades. "I have a promise to keep... and answers to get." she says, going to bind the half-elf before waking him. She grabs one of the blades laying around and holds it to the guy's toes. "Why did you steal the corpse and why on Golarion did you send in goblins to kill innocent villagers while you were at it?!"

  "Good to have you back, Pyrus."

  He looks over to the angry dragon lady.  "Mishann, really."  We know where this joke is going, we're not falling for it this time.  "Toes are not limbs. Start at the knees." Yup.

Pyrus smiles and thumbs-ups to Joe and Mishann.  Nathan blushed from the Mishann gushing.

Interrogating tsuto
Although the goblins know close to nothing if captured and interrogated, Tsuto is a different story.  unless the PCs use magical means like charm person to
secure his cooperation, he remains silent in the face of any attempt
to get him to talk.

Mits loots him and finds a journal.  Among other things.

Tsuto’s journal likely proves a better source of information. This
small, leather-bound booklet contains two dozen parchment pages,
most of which Tsuto has filled with maps of Sandpoint or erotic
drawings of Nualia (who can be recognized as the presumed-dead
adopted daughter of Father Tobyn with a DC 15 Knowledge [local]
check).

The Sheriff immediately recognizes her.  "What kind of sicko are you?!"

But then it sinks in.  "So she didn't die in that fire after all.  She's the one behind all this?!  What possible motive could she have?!"

Tsuto remains silent.  Mits flips past pages and pages of goblin attack plans and finds something on the last page she shows to the group.

Most of the drawings of Nualia do not depict her with her demonic
hand, although one on the last pages of the book depicts her with
demonic hands, bat wings, horns, a forked tail, and fangs.

Mits comments, "I guess, 'I'm actually a devil' is motive."

The Sheriff puts on a grim face at the revelation.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:37, Thu 19 Jan 2017.

Mishann answered Joe with, "Pff. Didn't say WHEN I was going to go for the limbs." and raspberries at him with a smile. ( http://i1207.photobucket.com/a...res%202/aec66c3e.jpg )

We're going to pretend Mittens' recovery of the guy's journal was fast enough that Mishann didn't begin cutting yet. "Soooo... he's under some kind of magical mind control. It is the only reasonable explanation for the guy suddenly turning on loyal friends and the village he spent years in."

She looks at the sheriff. "On the chance he IS under mind control and none of this was his fault, would you mind making sure the law doesn't kill him until we catch the devil he was serving?"

Her anger has a new home.

Meanwhile, Mishann goes to give Pyrus a hug or two to show him she is happy he can't die. "By the way, Joe. That was a really nice use of that weapon."

  "Why can't wrong about unpleasant things more often?"  Artistic nudes of the antagonist(?) is a new one, though.

  He looks over to Mishaan, and nods. "Thank you.  I try to stay out of harms way more often than not, but it's more comforting to have something like this than some flimsy tiny sword when 'close combat' I'm so out of practice with happens."

"I'm a big fan of the longsword m'self," Mits says, "Guess I'm traditionalist in that way."

Pyrus is all blushes and returns the hugs with a happy smile!  ^.^

Nathan's been scrutinizing Tsuto, but can't determine one way or another whether he's under mind control.

"We slay the devil, and that should break whatever enchantment she has on him.  Sheriff, please tell his jailor to make note of the exact time that he has any sudden changes in behavior."

The Sheriff nods grimly.

Mits flips back and takes a closer looks at the maps.

The maps each depict different attack plans. The first set
shows the attack plans for a group of thirty goblins—one of these
battle maps is circled, and the PCs should recognize it as the attack
the goblins made on Sandpoint at the start of the adventure. Of
more pressing concern are the next several pages, which illustrate an assault on Sandpoint by a force of what appears to be two
hundred goblins. None of these are circled, and while many are
scratched out as if they’ve been rejected, the implications should
be ominous nonetheless.

"That's a lotta goblins.  But I suppose a devil could motivate a small army."

Mishann says, "Especially if she anticipated the town would make short work of only 30 goblins. She could give a speech about how the 30 goblins only failed because of there being only 30 of them, but 200 goblins are unstoppable. And those idiots will barely care that their victory is assured as they will welcome the excuse for slaughter. I am absolutely amazed these creatures ever make it to adulthood... Regardless, we need to find where all these goblins are coming from. Find them and we find their new devil leader."

  Joe nods, "Yes. Getting that many goblins together without them killing eachother first accidentally on purpose isn't an easy task."  Maybe the reason it took so long, was that's what happened the first time she tried to prepare for this?

"We need to secure the building," the Sheriff says, "Could be more goblins in other rooms.  Any volunteers for staying with the prisoner?"

Nathan headshakes.  "I suggest you stay.  The rest of us are more accustomed to each other's abilities."

Mits touches her nose.  "Not it!  Guard duty's boring."

Pyrus climbs onto Mits' shoulders.

Mishann says, "We aided you with the securing of this building, Sheriff. I'll be happy to scout the rest of the building and eliminate any further threats, but after that, my friends and I really should seek out the real threat."

Mishann almost does something silly, but decides to at least APPEAR professional in front of the sheriff. So she will wait till the team exits town.

Somewhere, Kyle so proud.

"Could throw him in the safe in the other room-wait, those don't tend to have air holes."  Either way, he will follow along as close as needed to provide arrows from a (personally) safe distance.

flavor flavor flavor...  Ah.  Plot.

A21. Storage: The door to this room is locked. Although used as
a secondary storage room, Tsuto Kaijitsu has recently turned
it into an impromptu holding cell. His sister, Ameiko, lies on
her side on the floor in here, bound at the wrists and ankles
with rope and blindfolded and gagged with strips of leather.
For more information about her reaction to being rescued,
see “Rescuing Ameiko.”

Ameiko is conscious but badly wounded, stable at –2 hit
points and in no shape to aid the PCs unless they can heal her.

Nathan isn't quick to believe that the lady who provided yummy curry at the fair is a powerful adventurer, so he simply stabilizes her with an orison rather than use one of his precious heals for the day.

Mits looks surprised.  "Oh hey!  I recognize her!  She was at the fair!  Wonder why she wasn't killed with the others."

looted off baddy:

Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds; Other Gear composite
shortbow (+1 strength), ring of protection +1, masterwork thieves’
tools, masterwork flute, silver earrings (25 gp for the pair), journal,
6 pouches of gold dust worth 50 gp each, 8 pouches of silver dust
worth 5 gp each, 10 pp

Mishann says, "We sure could use some answers. Worth a heal. And I somehow doubt we will be finding the goblin hangout within today."

She looks at Nathan. "Nothing like an angel healing you to help make you happy... I'm sure she'd much rather wake up to you than me." Mishann sits outside the door to be out of sight while someone else does the waking / questioning.

  As Nathan goes to heal them, he comments "We should probably hold off bragging about how easy her brother was to beat up, until we know she's aware how much of a jerk he has been."

  Joe knows Nathan is also cute and all, but 'would rather wake up to NOT Mishann' is such a strange prospect for him to consider.

http://www.shadowsoftware.net/...meiko%20Kaijitsu.jpg

or...

http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/62060/ameiko.jpg

or...

http://www.kinggames.dk/images...ko%20Kaijitsu-p.jpeg

Mittens is no stranger to people reacting poorly to a monster race hovering over them.  Though the reaction is usually plenty amusing enough to be totally worth it.  Pyrus keeps Mishann company.

"Her brother?"

Mits was so not expecting that, that she misses the opportunity to make the half brother pun.

Ameiko wakes and doesn't seem to be at all put off by an angel boy or a cat girl being in the room.  "Thanks for the rescue.  We gotta warn the town!  There's going to be a big attack!"

"You're welcome.  You know any more than, 'There'll be 200 goblins involved?'"

Ameiko looks a bit surprised by the question.  "I know who's behind it.  Nualia.  And where she's hiding."

"Awesome!" Mits cheers.

Mishann peeks and says, "Hiding? Yay! Quick tell us so we can go get her!"

Mishann is holding a Pyrus in her arms like a plushy prize from a carnival.

  Test Your Might is always improved by stuffed toys after.  Scorpion wants the fluffy dog.

  "Where she is is definitely on the list of important details we were missing."  Knowing who's face to punch is only half the battle of punching their face. Well, more like 1/3.

1: Know the face.
2: Know location of face.
3: Punch the face.

Dangly Pyrus tail wags when dragon is cuddled.  Ameiko blink-blinks in some surprise upon seeing a dragon girl and plushy familiar.

"Thistletop.  It's a strange head-shaped island about a day's journey up the coast, surrounded by Nettlewood.  Place is swarming with goblins.  Now more than ever if what my brother told me is true.  You'd be wise to take a small army with you.  Did you...  Encounter a dark haired half-elf archer?  Is he alive?"

"Yes and yes," Mittens answers.

Ameiko looks relieved.

"He's in the Sheriff's custody," Nathan explains, "Why did he kidnap you?"

"Long story short, because he doesn't hate me as much as everyone else, I guess?  I dunno.  He was never this bad before.  But there's no denying that he's a killer now.  So I guess soon dad'll be the only family I'll have left."

Mittens doesn't have the heart to ask if her dad might the guy encased in glass that bears a resemblance to Ameiko and Half-elf jerkface.

Mishann says, "Thank you, Ameiko. That is some valuable information. Let's get you out of here and please keep your eyes down... it is a VERY gruesome sight out here... trust me."

She then looks at the Sheriff. "We have to report all this to the Mayor immediately. A strike on the goblins before they can bring their fight to your homes sounds ideal... if it is possible."

Either way, Mishann opts to help Ameiko to her feet and uses a wing to block Ameiko's line of sight to the glassworks room.

  Joe could actually throw a tarp over the remains, but somehow that seems like it would only make things worse.

  "Yes, my cynical guess turned out to be wildly optimistic compared to reality." Hah! We'll see you're guess, and add in 'is also a devil' on top!

Ameiko looks a little ruffled by Mishann suggesting she can't handle the gruesome sight, but she sighs and simply nods, giving in to the hero's suggestion.  Pyrus tries to give her comforting pets, and the lady seems ambivalent about that as well.

"For what it's worth, we're hoping that when we slay the devil Nualia, it will break whatever enchantment she has on your brother," Nathan offers, "If all goes well, he may be shown some leniency if we can prove he was under mind control."

Ameiko blinks in surprise and looks a little relieved.  "Devil?  Mind control?  Well that would certainly explain a lot.  A whole lot."

"Any idea where the tunnel in that room leads to?" Mits asks, pointing at a door to a room the group checked as the group exits.

"Nope."

http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/...86195/glassworks.jpg

A23. Smuggler’s Entrance: The long tunnel leading north from
this room winds through the bedrock below Sandpoint.
Built decades ago by smugglers, the tunnel remains stable
and serviceable as it winds on a lazy northeasterly route
for just over 1,750 feet before reaching a dead end. A DC
20 Search check reveals a secret door that opens into a
30-foot-diameter cave on the side of the cliff overlooking
the Varisian Bay. The cave mouth slopes down to a narrow
beach; no Survival check is required to note the crude
collection of goblin beds or remnants of their meals
strewn about the cave.

Before long, the group arrives at A16, the room where they entered the building.

Mishann doesn't contradict Nathan for now, but she does look slightly defeated when he mentions the possibility of mind control.

Mishann takes Ameiko out of the building and heads directly for the mayor to report what all has been discovered. She answers any questions Ameiko has unless it is obvious Ameiko is not addressing the half-dragon.

350 tile long tunnels are surprisingly anticlimactic, for once.

"The question if that is the case, will be how upset he is over what he did."  Sometimes a mind controlled jerk is still a jerk after all.

Once safely outside, Ameiko opts to go to her home.  Pyrus fetches the Sheriff who tells the locals to make sure no one goes into the glassworks before the group goes to the Mayor.  Since it's on the way, he has the group accompany him to the barracks so he can lock up Jerkface.  Once a guard is assigned to keep an eye on him, he goes with the group to the mayor.

When the group arrives, the mayor is having a hushed conversation with an elf woman.

http://vignette2.wikia.nocooki...st?cb=20140526002001

or

http://pathfinderwiki.com/medi...pg/250px-Shalelu.jpg

Mits waves and smiles.  The mayor welcomes the heroes.

"Grim news, Mayor," the Sheriff says.

He hesitates, searching for the words, hoping someone else will beat him to giving the report.

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?"

  "Yeah, that seems like an unfortunately realistic representation of events.  Shame too, considering Mishann deserves piggyback rides." Don't worry, we're sure strength check scaling will let you bench press your fellow party members soon enough.

  "As for not splitting up, oh right, duh.  This is what I get for being out of practice working with others." Even if that's still working with them from across the encounter, that's still technically with a group.

Nathan nods.  "Yeah.  Nothing wrong with being cautious.  And I enjoy the company."

Mits gives a thumbs-up.  "We'll figure out a way, Mishann.  Some day.  Piggyback rides for the nice dragon lady."

Mishann looks at Shalelu. "In the meantime... you wanted to tell us stuff about goblins, yes?"

  Oh right, the reason they came here aside from food was Main plot exposition. Joe wonders what they will learn

Shalelu nods to Mishann.  "I'll start with ten fun facts about goblins..."

ten fun facts
about goblins
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.

"Any exceptions to these rules?" Nathan asks.

"I imagine...  But I've never seen any."

Mits sweatdrops.  "Yeesh."

Mishann's reactions:

1) Horse Hate: Mishann laughs.
2) Dog Hate: Mishann says, "I would love to show them wolves are, in fact, dogs. But no amount of evidence can convince a crazy person."
3) Goblins Raid Junkyards: "Fitting."
4) Goblins Love to Sing: "And they are nuts enough that they don't really notice or care when one sings on key and another doesn't."
5) They’re Sneaky: Mishann says, "Luckily, their sneak-attacks don't hurt tough people like adventurers, so that is only an annoying fact... wait, ovens?"
6) They’re A Little Crazy: "Oh. Right."
7) They’re Voracious: "A dozen? I guess depending on what counts as a meal... what do they do when there is nobody they can raid? Turn on each other?"
8) They Like Fire: "I would love to set a goblin burrow on fire."
9) They Get Stuck Easily: "I guess something has to balance their craziness."
10) Goblins Believe Writing Steals Your Soul: "I am almost surprised they care to keep their ability to communicate."

Mishann says, "Well, Shalelu... we can tell you the story of the raid over dinner, or I can get up there after dinner and tell it as per the rule about getting discounts on food."

  Joe somehow finds none of this surprising, even if mostly stupid.  "If I had a preference for swords, I might have looted one of those 'horse choppers' to see how they turn out, but I've already got my preferences." Maybe he had a gimmick build that needed a slashing version of a shortsword?

Pyrus comments on the love of fire with a puff of smoke from his nostrils.

Shalelu shrugs.  "I'm sure you'll get the discount for what you did without having to tell the tale.  Most everyone in town must've seen it."

Mits smiles and says, "I'd want the story told anyhow."

"Then after we're done.  Since I've already told you about the tribes, all that's left is to tell you about their 'heroes...'"

Shalelu notes
that goblins generally live short,
violent lives. It’s unusual for a
single goblin to achieve any real
measure of notoriety, but when
one does, it’s well-earned.
Currently, five goblins
enjoy the status of “hero.”
Big Gugmut is an unusually
muscular and tall goblin from
Mosswood who, it is said, had a
hobgoblin for a mother and a wild boar
for a father. Koruvus was a champion
of the Seven Tooth tribe, who was as well
known for his short temper as he was for his prized
possession—a magic longsword sized for a human that the
goblin stubbornly kept as his own (despite the fact that it was
too large for him to properly wield). Koruvus vanished several
months ago after he supposedly discovered a “secret hideout”
in a cave along the cliffs, but the Seven Tooth goblins remain
convinced that he’s out there still, a ghost or worse, waiting
to murder any goblin who tries to discover his hideout. Vorka
is a notorious goblin cannibal who lives in the Brinestump
marsh, a “hero” mostly to goblins other than the Licktoad
tribe. Ripnugget is the current leader of the Thistletop
goblins and controls what the five tribes agree is the best lair.
And then there’s Bruthazmus, an infamous bugbear ranger
who lives in northern Nettlewood and often visits the five
tribes to trade things he’s stolen from caravans for alcohol,
news, or magic arrows. Shalelu notes that Bruthazmus has a
particular hatred of elves, and that they have fought on several
occasions. To date, neither of them has managed to get the
upper hand on the other, but Shalelu bitterly vows that she
won’t be the first to fall in their private war.

Mits judges it too impolite to ask why the special hate for Bruthazmus.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:34, Sat 28 Jan 2017.

Mishann just figures Shalelu hates Bruthazmus for the obvious reason: He's a goblinoid who hates Shalelu's kind. Probably killed a friend or relative.

Mishann says, "Well I can assure you; you have a friend in us. And with first-hand experience of what these little creatures can do, deceptively weak though they may be, this group of adventurers hate the monsters. Probably not as much as you, considering I don't plan to devote myself to the elimination of goblins specifically, but what matters is that we will do what it takes to protect Sandpoint from the coming threat."

When dinner is done, Mishann is happy to get up and tell the tail of the recent raid and how the goblins fell to the heroes. Even an elite, though he got a lick or two in, was far from a match for this group. She does tell about the glassworks, but entirely omits the part about how gruesome the scene was. Her storytelling is about as good as Mittens was hoping for! She ends the tail with "The fight is not over yet. Keep a vigilant eye out for goblins and let the authorities know right away! And if any of you need to talk to my friends or I, don't be afraid to approach us. Just know that we are going to be busy with helping Sandpoint, so if you approach us, try to make sure it is important." That last part was said cheerfully to take the edge off the statement.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:45, Sat 28 Jan 2017.

  Shalelu hates Bruthazmus more because it's an enemy archer, duh.

  "The sooner those extra troops get sorted, the sooner we can deal with this town's more distant problems."  Or at least, even the sooner they find out there won't be any soldiers too.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:52, Sat 28 Jan 2017.

Mittens added special effects to the story-telling using her magic.  Nathan added some music.  The audience loves the performance and applauds.

Shalelu smiles and joins the clapping.  "Well told!  I'm going to go poke about the glassworks to see if I find anything.  Mind if I have a look at that sketchbook?"

Mits shrugs.  "You'll have to ask for it at the barracks.  The Sheriff took it there as evidence."

The elf nods and heads out.  As she does, Aldern Foxglove enters, smiling upon seeing the heroes.  "Well well well!  My heroes!  Good to see you well."

Mishann looks surprised to see Aldern. She then offers a smile and says, "Aldern... please come and have a seat." Her tail pulls out a chair, making it almost seem like the chair pulls itself.

  What? Oh right, the guy who's dog died.  "Hello Aldern, good to see you are holding up better than earlier."

Aldern looks as surprised and amused by Mishann's trick as a kid.  He smiles and nods to Mishann, taking the seat she offered.

"Thank you.  I must admit, I'm a little surprised you remember my name."

He looks rather sheepish to be admitting that.

"Saw your posting on the board o' quests," Mits says, "What'd you want with us?"

"Ah.  Right to business, then.  Very well, then.  I promised you a reward."

He places a sack on the table and opens it.  Several dozen gold coins are inside.  "I uh...  Thank you."

He blushes deeply.  "I had rehearsed a much better thanks...  I apologize.  Words are failing."

Nathan chuckles.  "No worries.  Sometimes only music will do."

He begins singing a "You're welcome" song.

Mishann looks at the money and then looks back at Aldern. She has a look on her face that shows she is thinking about something (Namely that she will only offer condolences for the dog if the topic is brought up, but otherwise will not bring it up). With a smiles, she answers, "I appreciate your gratitude. Not everyone is able to give money, so I can appreciate your use of what you have. Your words, failing though you may think them, say it all. Would you like to stay and be with us for a while? Or do you have pressing matters?"

  Joe nods, "Actually trying to be thankful at all is sadly, not as common a response as you'd like in this business. So I'll gladly take an awkward thanks over complaining that saving someone from being eaten by a Behir has somehow made their lives worse."

Mits giggles that Joe rubbed it in the guy was being so awkward.  Pyrus is tempted to nibble on Joe's ear when mention of Behir nomming is made, but decides he'd rather not risk losing his nice perch.  Nathan switches from lyrics to simple notes and hums so as not to detract from the conversation.

"You're very kind, thank you," Aldern says, tapping his thumbs together and blushing, "No pressing matters, no.  Not yet, anyway.  I'm on vacation here.  Had intended to go hunting.  But I must be making ready to return home to Magnimar within a few days.  I would so very honored if you all would grace me with your company on the hunt."

"Sounds fun and all, but we do have pressing matters," Mits answers.

Aldern seems disappointed but covers it quickly with a shrug.

Mishann says, "Thank you so much for the invite. Believe me, we'd much rather join you on that hunt than be stuck with what we'll be facing soon. But there is a chance we could be free in just a few hours. Where would you like us to find you if so?"

  "Despite cliche appearances, hunting for sport or food is something I don't really have the opportunity to indulge in."  Besides, wildlife is generally much more dangerous than goblin armies, and some devils.  "Though I would be pleasantly surprised if it turned out to be the case for once."

Also wanting to be accommodating, Nathan offers, "We were thinking of setting up traps on the outskirts for goblins.  I'm sure we could combine that with the hunt."

Aldern claps his hands in delight.  "Oh by all means!  I'd be more than happy to plan my schedule around yours.  If you all don't already have mounts, I can supply them to speed along travel time."

Mits looks surprised and a tad impressed.  "Aaallright.  Not going to turn down an offer like that.  Not expecting our business here in town to take long.  But it is after dinner.  Were you planning a night hunt?"

Aldern looks taken aback.  "Oh heavens no.  I haven't the skill nor courage to be out in the wild at night.  Tomorrow morning, perhaps?  At your convenience, of course."

Mits frowns and shrugs.  "Sure?  Whatcha hunting?  Deer?"

"Boar.  I'd intended to donate the kill to the celebration, but uh...  Can still be donated to the town anyhow, I'm sure."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:24, Sun 29 Jan 2017.

Mishann is very happy, it seems. "Tomorrow morning it is... we still have two things to check into before the night is through. So we will see you then, if that is everything you needed to discuss for tonight."

  "I'm sure there are plenty of people in town who would like to have some kind of festivities that don't get interrupted in the process still.  So hopefully that can be put to use like you thought, if not for the same occasion."

Aldern says his goodnights and whatnot and retires to his room at the Rusty Dragon.

"Convenient he's staying here," Mitts comments.

Nathan nod-nods, still humming his tune.

Mishann idly pets Nathan and says, "Shayliss next, right? So let's go see her." Mishann gets up and leads the way to the location of Shayliss!

  Joe's good with whichever destination they go for. So personal matters for taller archers or possible monster closets and encouraging children to keep a blunt object by the bedside, he shall follow along.

Nathan smiles at Mishann.  Pyrus keeps his perch.  Mits leads the way.

"Shayliss is the girl who asked a private audience with Joe.  Aeren is the one with the monster in the closet."

Alergast and Amele Barett are a typical Sandpoint family, with
two children (little Aeren and baby Verah) and a loyal family
dog named Petal. They were present at the Swallowtail Festival,
where Aeren saw a goblin light a cat on fire and then caper
around the burning remains—the poor boy really hasn’t been
the same since. Every night, his howls of terror send Petal into
a barking fit, and when his parents investigate, Aeren claims
a goblin came out of his closet. Alergast checked the closet
dutifully but found nothing, and ever since the kid’s complaints
about the “closet goblin” have grown more and more tiresome
to his parents. Yesterday, Alergast threatened to make Aeren
sleep in the woodshed if he couldn’t learn to “be a man”
and sleep through an entire night without crying and
telling stories.

All of this is told to the PCs by a tearful
Amele Barett 2d4 evenings after the goblin raid; she approaches the PCs in a panic,
clutching baby Verah to her chest with one
hand and clinging to the back of Aeren’s shirt
with the other. She goes on to say that, last
night, Alergast didn’t go to soothe Aeren when
he had his night terrors. But then, a few
moments later, they heard poor Petal cry
out in pain and Aeren’s screams turn shrill.
This time Aeren wasn’t just having nightmares. Amele pauses, takes a breath, and
then shows the PCs Aeren’s arms. They’re
covered with fresh goblin bites.

When Alergast burst into the room,
he found a goblin crouched on his son’s
chest. Petal was dead, a knife deep in
his ear, and the goblin was frantically
trying to chew off Aeren’s arm. Alergast
attacked the goblin and chased it back into
the closet, where it clambered into a hole
it had cleverly hidden under an old fur.
Alergast flew into a rage, and as he started
tearing apart the closet in an attempt to
get at the goblin, Amele panicked and fled
the house with her children to seek out the
PCs for aid.

"Sandpoint Heroes to the rescue!" Mittens proclaims, running to the lady's house!

Mishann wonders if every single problem in sandpoint is going to make her blood boil. She rushes off to the house also. "Yes I KNOW who Shalyss is, Mittens! I suggested her because like the boy's dad, I thought it was just an imagined problem! UGH! I hate me right now!"

  "Well, hate the things biting children and stabbing dogs more thank yourself, Mishann."

  Joe would like to assume angry dad could take one goblin on his own, but suspects there will be more drama for this family before there is less of it.

  "Get your Aeren some medical attention while we rush off to your house."

Creature: The goblin in the Barett
house is a commando named Gresgurt
who snuck into the building after the
raid turned sour. He found a loose floorboard in the closet, frantically hacked
an opening large enough for him to fit
into the enclosed crawlspace under the
house, and pulled a fur over the hole to
hide. He only intended to stay there for
a few hours until things died down outside, then planned on
sneaking out of town, but the exhaustion of the raid caught
up with him and he fell asleep. When he woke the next night
and tried to sneak out, he woke Petal and Aeren. As frightened
by the dog as the kid was of him, Gresgurt fled back into the
crawlspace, visions of the hateful and frightening dog filling
his little goblin mind. It seemed like every time Gresgurt peeked
out, that dog was there, ready to bark. Unable to escape for fear of
the dog, Gresgurt subsisted on spiders and worms plucked from
the dirt floor of the small crawlspace for days, and over those
days, his fear turned to anger. His driving desire shifted from
escape to a burning need to kill the dog. And yet, he had no
real weapons; he’d broken his horsechopper in his efforts to get
into the crawlspace below the house. All he had left were
fragments of the blade, one of which he used to build a crude
knife. Tonight, he emerged, killed Petal, and in his nearly
starved state tried to eat Aeren alive.

When the PCs arrive at the Barett house, they find it disturbingly
silent. Upon reaching Aeren’s room, they find Alergast Barett on
his belly, as if he had crawled into the closet. In truth, he did just
that. In an attempt to kill the goblin, Alergast underestimated
the creature. When he reached down into the hole to try to grab
Gresgurt, the goblin jumped up and cut his throat. Ravenous, the
commando tried to haul Alergast’s body into the crawlspace to
eat it, but the body got stuck once he got the upper torso through
the hole.

Nathan casts a spell on the body while Mits tries to pull it out of the hole.

Mishann is standing ready to grab anything that might jut out of the crawlspace. She appears too angry to talk. (Readied attack grab)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:25, Tue 31 Jan 2017.

  "I know this is incredibly insensitive, but not it for telling the family he didn't make it, if that can't get sorted." He'll try to make it up to them by making sure he's not the one to put the goblin out of it's misery.

If the PCs pull back Alergast’s body, they find him to be
quite dead, the flesh of his face and upper torso eaten away.
An instant later, the insane goblin shrieks in rage at its stolen
dinner and leaps up out of the hole to attack! By this point,
Gresgurt’s long captivity in the crawlspace has left him almost
feral with hunger and fear, and he’s come to view the entire
house as his.

If not for Mishann being ready to grab the Goblin, Mits would have gotten a knife to the face.  With little time to react, Mits blasts the goblin with a magic missile, but it's not enough to stop the goblin who stabs Mishann in the neck!

"You no take dinner!" it screams.

Mishann doesn't notice or feel the stab as she immediately retaliates with fire from her mouth to the goblin's face!

Feel or no, though, Mishann's wound is a nasty one and will need tending to very soon.

  It's that time again, for mixed feelings at being outside of melee harm's way while your friends are the ones getting stabbed (While civilians are even worse off).

  He works out his frustrations with an arrow through the BBQ'd goblin's knife arm.

Blasted, burnt, and shot, the goblin screams its last breath!  Nevertheless, Mits draws her sword and beheads the jerk for good measure.  Nathan removes the knife from Mishann's neck and heals it good as new.

Mits cantrips her sword clean and sheathes it.  "Not the worst case scenario after all, but certainly far from best case."

Pyrus punches the severed head's face.

Nathan stares at the father's body in silence.

Mishann says, "The worst part about it is something like this and the glassworks are horrifying to the point where we can't inform the public or else there will be panic and they will make things worse for themselves than if they were ignorant! And yet, if people could just handle truths like this, then people like this man wouldn't have to die and instead would take the threat seriously, inform the authorities, vacate the house, and let the pros deal with it."

 "His kid was being chewed on.  I don't think being able to handle the truth about goblins in town would have changed his reaction much." I'll evacuate in an orderly manner after I've killed the goblin with my bare hands!... if only.

"That's what mayors are for," Mittens asserts, "Our job is to just deal with the murderous little weeds.  It's up to the town to deal with the rest."

Nathan takes some sheets from the bed to cover the bodies.

"I could resurrect this man right now, but it would cost 5,375 gold.  Scrolls of raise dead aren't cheap.  And I only have one."

Mits stares speechless.  Pyrus facepalms.

Mishann says, "I think you misunderstand me, Joe... the guy's son got bitten today. After several days of warning. Had we been able to share with the town that goblins are *still* in the town, he may have taken his son's warning more seriously and gotten authorities long before his son got bit. But no. Telling the town about such would mean more people would have died because some panicky townsperson killed them by accident just from panicking."

She looks at Mittens. "Being trained up as a princess means I know these kinds of things. But I never had to look it in the face."

Mishann then looks at Nathan with a "what are you waiting for" expression and says, "So raise him. The scroll is expensive, but life is priceless. Especially this case; we either resurrect him or people find out they aren't allowed to sleep and goblins could be under every floorboard waiting to kill them. We can ask the mayor to compensate you for the scroll."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:41, Tue 31 Jan 2017.

  Joe nods to Mishann, "There is that, yeah." As well there is only so much you can do when you get the time accelerated version of a plot to account for a party that would actually take it seriously before 2d4 days pass.

  "Even if they couldn't compensate us for it, it's worth it not just so one less kid has to deal with their dad eaten by goblins.  It's also because if we save if for ourselves when one of us dies protecting the rest of this place, they will still think we're assholes even mid rescue."

Nathan headshakes.  "People will think you're an asshole for spending thousands of gold on magic armor so that you don't get killed rescuing their hungry family, but they'll still be alive to think that and continue begging.  It is precisely because I think life is priceless that I'm not going to waste this scroll on a man that can't handle one goblin and save it for those expected to handle 200.  Besides.  I've only told the people in this room about the scroll.  He was a decent man, so his soul will be going to his eternal reward.  The scroll is for the sake of bringing back one of you when failing to do so means the entire town gets slaughtered."

Mittens rubs her chin.  "We were awarded 50 gold for rescuing one nobleman.  For the sake of argument, assuming the peasant to noble exchange rate is five to one, that means the collective value of this town's population is around 12,400 gold.  Consequently, one of us would only be worth 3,100 gold.  Less than the value of one scroll of resurrection."

Pyrus rolls his eyes.

Mits continues, "How much time before the corpse is beyond the power of your spell?"

"Five days."

"Great!  Then we can ask the mayor and Aldern to cover the cost before the spell is cast.  Everyone wins!"

Mishann's anger was rising for a bit, but Mittens makes the statement of letting the mayor handle it. "...gotta remind myself Sandpoint isn't my jurisdiction." she mutters. She eyes Nathan briefly. "Thanks for the heal." she comments before turning back to the dead man. "The sooner we inform the Mayor, the better."

She throws a cloth over the guy so he can't be seen and carries him like a sack of potatoes over her shoulder, heading for the mayor's office.

  Adventure economics is always a headache inducing subject, even without the additional prospect of civilians and resurrection magics.  Both financially, and '404 error soul worthy of return not found' wise.

  "I think, I will try to let you guys field the commentary more than usual for this."

Nathan reaches to tug Mishann's tail.  "And what about the people slaughtered in the glassworks?  It's not to late for them.  Are they less worthy than this man?  What about Amiku's dad?  She'll never have a chance for reconciliation with him dead.  It's not just about cost."

Mits hrms.  "We'll hold a lottery!  50 gold a ticket.  Winner gets their dead back.  Proceeds cover the cost if we sell 107 tickets!"

Pyrus falls over.

Nathan sighs.  "I'm sorry I mentioned the emergency scroll.  I only brought it up because I had a moment of weakness and was thinking out loud."

Mishann looks over at the tail-tugger and says, "If concern for others is weakness, I don't ever want to be strong. And the reason why everyone else gets passed up, Nathan, is timing. The other people have died during and close enough to the initial attack. This guy died just when everyone was beginning to catch their breath. "Morale is life; lose it and you lose the kingdom." Mittens' idea works fine and absolves us of any moral obligation. I don't disagree with your assessments, Nathan, but I do feel you disagree with mine."

Mishann looks at Mittens and says, "We don't need to speculate any further. The mayor will decide how to deal with her people and whether they get resurrected or not."

She nods to Joe. "Not to worry, Joe... I've got this. I already feel guilty for doubting the boy, so I feel it my responsibility to give the report."

  "So far as problems go, your fellow adventurers even considering for a second to do such thins is a problem you would likely come to miss among others."

  Like, maybe if they were teamed up with an adventurer who was angry because the goblin started to eat the Dad before they could.

Nathan deadpans, "If this is about morale, then why are we going to be dragging a fresh corpse through the streets to the mayor's office?"

Mits continues to try and work out the math.  "Let's see.  Not much chance of selling over 100 tickets.  Maybe the price should be divided by the number of dead.  Well... those dead who's families are willing to put up the gold for a ticket.  Could be the whole town turns down the resurrection if a ticket costs 1,000 gold.

"Oh!  Yeah.  We should probably leave the body inside."

Pyrus gives Nathan a cheek kiss then flutters up to Mishann to kiss her cheek too.

Mishann says, "That's why I covered the body. Though now that you mention it, any dead body being carried would be a bad idea. If it is assumed a monster, that means the heroes just had to kill another monster inside town. If it is a villager.. well I could pass it off as a drunk I knocked out and covered to keep their identity a secret lest people think less of him for opposing the heroes? Main reason I wanted to take the body was so that when the mom and kids come home to see this mess, they don't have to see daddy's half-eaten face. We'll just tell the family that the house is off limits for now?"

Pyrus' attempt to cheer up Mishann helps a tiny bit and she pets him for it. But her expression is still that of someone very shaken.

  "Yeah I figured Mishann did because of the family reaction reasons as much as anything." The molten glass thing was terrible, but this one was a much more awkward corpse.

 Sorry, your dad died with his face eaten and his butt still sticking halfway out of the floorboards. Very hilarious-I mean, tragic.

http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/...63/goblin_closet.png



"Resurrection won't fix his face, by the way," Nathan points out.

The mom is waiting outside for news of her husband.  Mits is quick to boast that the goblin is slain.

If the PCs kill Gresgurt, Amele is thankful until
she discovers her husband’s fate, whereupon she has a complete
breakdown. The PCs might be at a loss as to what to do with
the situation, but fortunately the commotion quickly summons
Sheriff Hemlock, who takes in the scene with his customary grim
expression. He thanks the PCs for helping and arranges to have
the Barett family stay at the cathedral for a few days.

(Sorry!  He's traveling.)

"Fear not, madam," Mittens assures, "No less than an actual angel has assured me that your husband is safely in paradise!"

Nathan nods.  "He gave his life to cover the escape of his family.  A noble deed."
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:24, Tue 31 Jan 2017.

Mishann does NOT like hearing that the guy's face would remain not-there. "What's the point, then? Wouldn't someone die without a face?" But of COURSE the wife is waiting just outside!

Mishann doesn't have to be the one to tell the mom that the dad is dead? Mishann doesn't know how to feel about this, but takes in a deep breath before she says, "We're going to the mayor. If you want you and your kids to be safe, then come with us."

She growls low on the way to the mayor's, smoke spewing from her nostrils and trailing behind her. If the mom is too grief-stricken to understand "safety of children", Mishann will grab the girl and force her to come.

  Magic is wildly arbitrary.  So while normally that's not what happens with resurrection magic, Joe would not be surprised if we still got a half assed result for reasons of 'just because'.  Though even what passes for his tact knows this is not the best time or place to discuss such things.

  "I'm expecting the other people requesting assistance to go similarly.  I'm getting a feeling about those whole setup, so be careful.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/r/raise-dead



(( Resurrection is a higher level spell that costs twice as much.  I was stretching that Nathan could fake being high enough level with a take-10 to cast raise dead with a scroll, and that he could afford such a scroll, where most GMs would require a use magic device roll for a 1st lvl cleric to try and use a 5th level spell scroll.  It's really only there as an emergency plot device for excusing surviving something normally un-survivable that I didn't expect the module to throw at me.  "When the PCs enter this room, they and the GM discover that the point of no return was 50 posts ago."))

Nathan does not bring up the nitty-gritty that if the group wants the face to be re-attached, they'll have to recover it from the stomach of the goblin.  Instead he sings a song about heaven.  The family accompanies the heroes to the Mayor's place, since she's retired to her home for the evening, and she lets them in.  Once informed of the situation she offers that the family can spend the night in the guest room till the deputies deal with moving bodies.

Nathan whispers in the Mayor's ear.  She sweatdrops.  "We can discuss that once Amele is in guest room."

Nathan's song has finally calmed Mishann down enough to where she allows herself to cry in mourning of the dead rather than be angry. She would likely hug Nathan before getting to the Mayor.

After dropping Amele and her kids off, however, and hearing what the mayor says in response to Nathan, Mishann is sure to pull Nathan onto her lap, cuddling him.

  Joe is so not qualified for comforting the survivors, so he's glad Nathan has Mishann's hug quota covered.

  He looks over to Mittens to see if her smile is more or less enthusiastic than usual.

OOC: Oh that's right, these poor bastards are living in Pathfinder land.  No wonder Joe is the second greatest archer of all time here.

Nathan is surprised by the Mishann cuddle and looks up at her, blinking inquisitively.

Mittens' face is difficult to read since during all the emotional junk, such as telling a lady her hubby is dead, she was wearing a cat-themed full-facial-coverage helmet:  https://s-media-cache-ak0.pini...e58ec49bc42d3fa7.jpg but her tone of voice has been one of "heroine."  So... less enthusiastic than usual.

The mayor looks around at the group expectantly.  Nathan speaks up, "Does this town have some means of raising the recent dead?  You've a cathedral..."

She answers with a headshake.  "No.  Why do you ask?  Do you think questioning the dead goblin is worth that much?  If so, Zantus might be able to help you out with a Speak With Dead spell.  I'm not sure.  He's never mentioned having any such capability."

Some of the funny pictures I found while trying to figure out Mitten's face...

http://cheztheprez.com/wp/wp-c...229x3001-289x300.jpg

https://cdn.meme.am/cache/imag...92/300x/11597492.jpg

http://assets.shitbrix.com/has...shit-brix-77f2a0.jpg  ( Why you no see it? )

https://pics.onsizzle.com/when...-usually-2567537.png

https://thefunnyplace.org/wp-c...5/04/scared-Shaq.jpg

https://www.askideas.com/media...le-Funny-Picture.jpg

http://technabob.com/blog/wp-c...16/02/cat-helm-2.jpg

http://img01.deviantart.net/6b...enixis00-d9m5ycb.jpg

Mishann says, "We ask because we want Alergast raised. The way in which he died is horrible enough to scar anyone, let alone his wife and kids. His face and upper torso were eaten by the goblin we found. His son will blame himself for his father's death. But those aren't even the main reasons I have for raising the guy. My main reasons are the timing of his death. The people of Sandpoint are just now getting over the initial attack and when they hear about this death, there will be panic. Riots. Mass exodus resulting in people getting slaughtered by goblins waiting for easy-pickings in the form of travelers. To top it off, faith in you, the law enforcement, and even the local heroes will be gone. Worst case scenario, there won't be a Sandpoint left to defend before the 200 goblins come. Best case scenario, there will be a Sandpoint with morale crushed enough to lose to 200 goblins even if prepared physically. But since you don't have raise, it sounds to me like your only option is to get the family a vacation and spin the story that Alergast died while out on vacation."

  Joe thinks Mishann underestimates the townsfolks ability to complain only just enough to avoid the town from shutting down.  But that is, admittedly, expectations that it's too soon for a panicked mass exodus from a dramatic standpoint rather than a logical standpoint.

The mayor gives Mishann a tired smile.  "If the town didn't riot or flee after The Late Unpleasantness, I'm sure they can handle the tragic news of one more victim of the goblins."

"But this happened within town," Mits points out, "And the heroes were unable to prevent it.  And right after rumors of the glassworks slaughter.  And the Sheriff's out of town..."

"It's ok.  I understand you feeling bad about this poor family.  Who wouldn't?  But give the people of Sandpoint some credit.  We've weathered tragedy handily enough before.  We can do so again.  Unless you were planning on abandoning the town as a lost cause?  That would be a difficult one for people to take."

Nathan shakes his head.  "No.  There's no way we're giving up.  Especially now."

The mayor smiles.  "I cannot thank you enough."

Mishann says, "Well you know your people, mayor.... my assessments are purely based on a lifelong schooling in politics; not experience. And those same lessons did teach that each town and city is different. And Nathan is right. I, for one, hate our enemy too much to give up." she looks like she was going to say something, but stops herself and instead says, "My friends and I still have something else to check on. And considering we were too late in this latest case, I'd rather not dally on the next one."

  Joe still can't help but feel like that's a 'thank you for saving two out of three people, minus dog'.  Though that's still a better track record than most sudden tragedies.  "We'll leave the rest of this to you, then.  Now to see just how put out the next person is I'm not coming alone."

The mayor nods to Mishann.  "Sandpoint's pretty jaded for a small town, I'd say.  And yet they manage to spring right back rather quickly.  It'll take a lot more than goblins to pry us loose of our home.  If you want to contribute more to morale, perhaps a word at Alergast's funeral from his avengers praising him for his noble sacrifice could help."

She offers the customary pleasantries and farewells before the group departs.  Mits is quiet, and Pyrus sits on her shoulders to take off her helmet and tug on the corners of her mouth.

Nathan ragdolls in Mishann's arms unless she sets him down.  "So uh... That went pretty good, I think."

Mishann says, "I guess. Wish I was as tough as the mayor claims Sandpoint is. But then, I wouldn't wish their luck on anyone, let alone myself." She is walking briskly. And no, she didn't set her Nathan doll down yet.

  "At this point, 'better than expected' is something I'll gladly take.  We'll have to make sure to find out when the funeral is held."

Mits wiggles her tongue some before removing Pyrus's fingers from her mouth.  "As adverse as I am to anything that smacks of flirts, I'm in agreement that 'girl with crush' beats the heck out of the alternatives."

Nathan wiggles his feet and hums a tune.


( Nathan looks like a kid, so this story only works for Joe )

At some point before these idle fancies have a chance to develop
into real relationships, one of Sandpoint’s most brazen citizens
makes her move. Daughter of the owner of the Sandpoint General
Store, Shayliss Vinder (CN female human commoner 1) is certainly an attractive young woman, but it’s her older sister who’s
been in the gossip lately. Rumor holds that Katrine Vinder’s been
“shacking up” with one of the men who works at the lumber mill,
and her overly protective father’s been up in arms about it.

So when Shayliss bashfully answers the door, her claim that
her father has been too distracted with her sister’s private life
to keep up with the store’s pest problem should seem plausible.
Shayliss explains that the store has rats. Why, just yesterday, she’s
sure she saw one the size of a goblin hiding behind a barrel at the
far end of the basement. Her father doesn’t believe her, but she
knows he’s just more distracted by what Katrine might or might
not be up to at the lumber mill. And since there’s this handy new
hero in town, well, Shayliss just thought maybe said hero could
come back with her to kill a few rats in the store’s basement.
She stresses that there’s not many rats, certainly not enough to
warrant having more than Joe to take care of them.

Mishann says, "We work together, no matter the apparent danger. Especially after our last "supposedly easy" quest. We'll be going into that basement, with me up front as usual." She begins heading to the basement without waiting for approval.

  Eligible bachelor by default.  Certainly fit's Joe's highly indecisive self image.

  "The last 'it's probably rats' didn't turn out so well.  So while I believe you, knowing our luck it's not just rats anymore."  Off he goes.  He'd probably want help even for just rats because whatever edition you're in, rat swarms are a headache for a single target martial type.

"Dire rats can be a very dangerous," Mittens says, "They tend to carry filth fever.  As do wererats."

"Many hands makes light work," Nathan agrees.

If other
PCs insist on coming along, she throws her hands up in the air in
disgust and says, “Never mind, I’ll take care of them some other
way” and locks the basement door in a huff.

Mishann gets really miffed and says, "What?! We all came over here to help and your reaction is to get huffy and tell us nevermind?!" her fists clench and teeth grit, her face turning red already. "You listen here: We are not your pawns, woman! We just had to tell a lady that her husband and father of her children is dead because of "rats" and I am NOT joking around, lady! So you better explain why you are upset with us for coming to your help right now or I will kick that door down and find out myself!"

  "Also a dog died, just in case you hate kids.  Though seriously, this is not the best time to be wishy washy about this kind of thing."  Don't worry Shayliss, Joe will save you...r door, by picking the lock if it comes to that rather than having Mishann smash it.

Shayliss gasps from this sudden turn against her, and she backs up, at a loss for words.

Mits' mindset wasn't to be miffed at ingratitude, but rather to be very VERY suspicious of the succubus who wanted to get Joe alone so she could scoop out his brains or whatever.  But she'd kick herself if she wasted a daily on a simple villager, so she's watching for just one more clue...

"That's odd..." Nathan says, eyes glowing white, "I can't read her mind."

"Succubus!" Mittens declares, drawing her sword!

Mishann doesn't even wait and goes for a grapple of some kind, being careful to keep her face away from the girl's lips!

  Joe, not for the first time, is glad for quick draw as a class feature so he can at least pretend to be reasonable despite always being as combat ready as pointing a sword at someone.

  "I'd start offering at least the slightest attempt at an explanation, considering it's kind of well known by now Devil's messing with the residents is to blame for the recent problems."

The girl lets out the kind of scream you'd expect from a woman being assaulted!  She tries to run out the door but is easily overcome by Mishann!

ZAAAAP!  A lightning bolt shoots from Mits' sword, knocking the girl out!

"Well that rules out succubus," Nathan says, "But doesn't rule out 'agent of succubus.'"

"Shayliss!" the young lady's father shouts.

He was returning from scalding his other daughter and heard the screams.  He bursts through the front door, ready to attack whomever it was that hurt her.

(And this picture came to mind:  https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nydRFqfYbnY/maxresdefault.jpg )

Mishann looks over to the dad, manages not to punch him out of reflex and says, "She'll be fine, but if you wait, we will explain what happened. Nathan, anything from him?"

  Joe really hopes it's a typo that dad is coming from, ouch.

  "I'm getting a dejavu feeling."  No, no.  Running and screaming is not surrende-I mean, explaining.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:43, Wed 01 Feb 2017.

Mits turns her sword towards the angry person entering the scene, charging a spell.  The guy near pees himself.

"He's ok," Nathan says, casting glowy magics on the young lady, "His mind is an open book.

"Shayliss is quite alive, so you needn't worry about that."

The man sees that the heroes have things under control... probably.  But he takes cover till Mits lowers her sword.

Mishann says, "We have reason to believe your daughter here is victim to being used by a villain. We will be searching your basement as well because she mentioned rats and the last "rat" we investigated stabbed me in the throat."

At least her anger has severely abated. For now.

  "Right, checking said basement then."  He's got a sunrod handy, because he expects a lack of proper lighting combined surprisingly flammable objects.

Pyrus uses his wing to fan the fainted girl.

"For her safety, you should tie her up," Nathan says to the dad, "And knock her back out if she wakes.  I'm a healer, so she'll be fine."

Mits heads down the basement, also providing light with her glowing sword.

Of course, there are no dire rats in the general store basement.  Instead, there's a convenient cot someone’s set up in the back of the room.  Along with fancy (for a commoner) sheets, pillows, and some romantic candles.

"Detecting any evil, Nathan?" Mits asks, sniffing about for the scent of brimstone.

"Nope.  And as evil as succubus are, I'm pretty sure I'd feel it if one was here recently and fled to the ethereal plane to escape us.  Starting to look like it was a much more down-to-earth attempt at seduction.  From a girl with an especially rock solid mind."

Mishann says, "Well just 'cause she isn't a succubus doesn't mean she isn't controlled by her. Please tell me we didn't just attack and knock out some innocent girl for nothing more than her being huffy with us for coming to help her."

  "I'll leave that to the two better at saying that with it sounding less horrible then, Mishann."  When there is no angry/scared dad's in earshot, Joe will let her know she can consider it his fault considering the lady asked after him in the first place.

Mits headshakes.  "Let's look at this rationally.  Who in their right mind would antagonize the closest friends of the person they're attracted to, set up a 'romantic encounter' in a basement on the pretense that it's infested with dire rats, and attempt to flee rather than simply beg the pardon of the heroes who saved their entire town from being set on fire?  No one, that's who.  There is clearly something very wrong going on.  The question is, is it normal madness, or was it induced by something diabolical?"

"I can't really say without being able to probe her mind," Nathan answers, "Unless you all are willing to use more traditional interrogation."

"False alarms are a serious crime.  Maybe we should just have the town's acting Sheriff handle the interrogation.  Well... him and the town priest, just to be safe."

Mishann sighs in relief from Mittens' long-winded way of saying "No, Mishann. SHE was in the wrong."

Still feels guilty, but at least she isn't "arg I am evil incarnate!" like she was beginning to feel just a few seconds ago. "Alright. Yeah. Let's take her to the constabulary and call it a day. I still feel like I should say sorry to her... but we'll see if she is willing to say such on her own first."

She goes to the dad and informs him of what happened from start to finish.

  "Considering how many people need actual help or things try to eat them, knowingly listing fake jobs on the job board is one of those 'worse than it sounds' situations, yeah."

  Hmm, has anyone tried asking her three times in a row?  Without interruption for other asides, Asking twice, saying something else, and then asking again clearly won't work.

The father is aghast at what he hears.

Mittens adds, "Now you may or may not have heard yet, but we have been able to determine that the glassworks massacre was perpetrated by a man under the spell of a succubus - a demoness of seduction.  The clues here point to your daughter either being under the influence of something with mind-control, or simple mental illness.  Either way, we're bound by law to take her to the barracks to be officially arrested for her crime.

"She was complaining about you spending too much time chasing down her sister, whom she had no hesitation in slandering if that tells you anything, so I strongly suggest that you find some help for handling all that's on your plate.  Someone to temporarily mind the store while you deal with family matters shouldn't be too hard to get your hands on.  This is the kind of thing that can really make or break a family."

Perhaps if Amiku's dad had talked things out with her?...

Nathan nods.  "If you find anything that is even remotely suspicious, strange sounds, smells, or missing food, anything...  Be sure to inform the authorities.  Do not attempt to confront or investigate something potentially dangerous on your own.  A family man lost his life tonight trying to handle a goblin commando on his own."

The man is in tears and nods.  "Thank you.  I understand.  I'll go with you."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:15, Thu 02 Feb 2017.

Mishann walks the bunch to the constabulary and explains to the guard there about the girl using the quest board to catch Joe and the events that followed. "She probably genuinely had no idea just how serious stuff like this is, so please.. just let her know we don't mean to be mean or harsh."

Mishann still has a Nathan plushy in her arms.

  Joe thinks at this rate Mishann may need... Hmm.  "Hey Mittens, can you conjure up Nathan Plushie so Mishann can hold two nathans."

  Oh right, family drama.  "We're not mad, just disappointed." There.

Nathan nods in agreement with Mishann and Joe.



Mits is mad, but not at Shayliss at least.  More at the situation.  Didn't get to fix anything with explosions.

"Whoever said, 'more explosives solves everything,' was clearly naive," she asserts.

The requested Nathan plushie is provided.  http://img09.deviantart.net/5c...sh_by_ikeikegogo.jpg

Mishann gets water-eyed. "It's so CYOOOT!" she squeaks and hugs it, makes it nuzzle Nathan and gets girly about it.

She then looks at Mittens and says, "Wellll... either naive or would have blown people up and not cared. Then blown up anyone trying to arrest them. Thanks for sticking together, everyone."

  "People who say it and mean it also mean metaphorical explosions.  Like a burst of enthusiasm, in which case Mittens you are always exploding, forever."

  Oh good, Joe occasionally has good ideas to go with his stupid ones. As demonstrated by learning dragons (even half ones) can squeak.

Nathan blushes from having to nuzzle a plushie Nathan.  But he can't help but sing something related.

"I need you always beside me
'Cause without you I'm beside myself.
Now without you I'm beside myself... "

Mittens grins proudly.  "Glad you like!  And thank you, Joe!"

Pyrus makes and explosion gesture at Mittens along with an explosion sound effect.  Then flutters over to nuzzle the Nathans.

Mishann yawns. "Well... we took care of all the quest-board stuff. Let's go get some sleep so we can be ready for Aldern tomorrow."

She leads the way to the inn unless stopped. And is SO going to cuddle the Nathan plushy when she sleeps tonight. :)

  "Good. Now, for my next insane demand-oh you've already covered the fact most sentient species need sleep."  But he hasn't even used his daily yet, and is therefore an eternal night vigilante like batman until-Nah he's totally going to sleep.  In an actual bed, what a world.

  "Remember to mind the beartraps by the window if you go out for night flying."  The notches scratched into the beartrap metal are for crushed ninja kobold legs.

The night passes without any ninja kobold ambushes.  The following morning, Aldern buys the group breakfast.  During breakfast, Shalelu learns of the PC plan to combine laying traps with the hunting trip and she offers to gather up donated traps from the locals and meet the group at the stables.

Aldern gladly buys each PC his own mount from Goblin
Squash Stables, then eagerly leads the PCs and his three manservants
west over Tanner’s Bridge and along the southern banks of the
Turandarok River.

https://sites.google.com/site/...nt%20Hinterlands.png

It’s a two mile ride to the Tickwood Ford, just north of the
upthrust limestone escarpment known as the Devil’s Platter.
Despite its ominous name, Tickwood is actually a relatively safe
woodland, one well known to be the home of wild boars, deer, and
perhaps one or two firepelt cougars—no goblin tribes dwell within
its boundaries.

The ride to Tickwood takes about a half hour.
Aldern is a
charming conversationalist, well-read
and with a seemingly endless cache of
stories about the high life in Magnimar.
He’s more interested in the PCs,
though.

"So how did your night go?"

Mits counts on her fingers, "One goblin commando slain, one grieving family comforted and cared for, one crazy person incarcerated, one plushie conjured.  Pretty busy."

Nathan chuckles that a plushie made her list.  He didn't bother getting a mount.  Pyrus discovers that not one of the horses wants to let him use their head as a seat.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:19, Thu 02 Feb 2017.

Mishann giggles from Joe calling sleep an insane demand. She asides to Joe, "Good thing you have insane friends, eh Joe?"

Everyone in the team gets goodnight hugs from the half-dragon because that's just how she feels about them. NEXT DAY HAPPENS!

Mishann DID mount a horse and asked Nathan why he didn't. "It's fun, Nathan!" Her inner princess is showing as she is clearly squee over having a horse again. Apparently, she isn't offputting to animals, so not only have dogs in town treated her the same as anyone, it seems the horses also treat her like they would anyone else. It isn't dragon blood that worries animals so much as evil. Horses, like dogs, are a good test of one's alignment.

Mishann isn't a reader so much as she had been forced to learn a bunch of stuff. So when it comes to non-fiction, at least (and only the most popular fiction), it seems Mishann is keeping up with Aldern. "I felt bad for the crazy girl since it looked like all she wanted was to flirt with a good man. Buuuut the guys at the constabulary assured me she is a trouble-maker and a bit spoiled. And Mittens conjured a Nathan plushy for me. One of the cutest plushies I've ever seen, but not as cute as the real thing."

Mishann looks at Mittens, "And don't forget that all was the same day as the glassworks."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:42, Thu 02 Feb 2017.

  Joe is very glad his friends have similar standards to his own, yes.

  One fast forward later, Joe is commenting "Hopefully, the coming days are only as busy, rather than as mixed."  He turns to their horse providing host, and asks "Do you frequently hunt board in these parts, or was it a spur of the moment decision?"

  Also, why is it boar hunts seem to be the ones most known for tragic injuries and/or betrayals?

"It was indeed," Mittens agrees with Mishann before pushing up her fake glasses and affecting a mock nerd tone, "But he asked how our night went.  The glassworks was during the day."

Aldern chuckles at the exchange.  "Wow!  You all are so amazing to accomplish so much in just one day!"

He considers Joe's question, "No, not frequently.  I don't leave the city very often.  Always so much going on in Magnimar!  But when I heard there was going to be a big festival for the dedication of their new cathedral, I figured it would make for a fun change of pace to come up and contribute to the festivities."

Nathan shrugs to Mishann's question.  "Fun for a bit, sure.  But the bumpiness makes it difficult to sing or play music.  And I'm so lightweight, a horse is overkill.  I could easily hitch a ride with one of you all if needed."

Aldern asks, "So how long have you all been adventuring and fighting goblins?  You must have quite a few tales to tell."

Mishann says, "Not long. A month maybe. But just like our time here in Sandpoint, there is *always* something to do. Though this is the first time in our adventures together that danger encroached on a town in this way, where innocent people are being attacked all over town. And so... ruthlessly. And a demon being involved too! So far, it has been kobolds, bandits, and goblins... all out in the wilderness or on the road, but in-town problems have been bar fights and troublemakers up till now."

  Luskan specifically probably doesn't exist at the moment, so Joe is hazy on where to grade his 'in town problems in backstory' credentials.

  "I'm sure the problem staying outside of town borders is preferable to all involved, even if it's not always possible."  Note to self, try slightly harder than usual to keep the random noble alive during hunting.

Aldern does have "victim" written all over him, doesn't he?  But no.  He's an NPC fan-boy that was supposed to act as a sort of love interest for any human or elf females in the team.  Apparently he doesn't go for half-orcs, halflings, dwarves, etc....  So instead he fan-boys over the whole group.



Mittens doesn't play along with the module writer's wishes and gladly regales Aldern with detailed accounts of her adventures.  Which at this level tend to be mostly harmless things like, "exploring the off-limits places of Hometown," or "how I learned the familiar summoning spell and wound up with Pyrus."  Nathan doesn't talk about his backstory and focuses instead on providing music for the rest of the group.

Mishann doesn't talk much about her backstory either unless asked very specifically. Examples include:

"Where are you from?"
"Brevoy"

"Half dragons are rare; how did you come about?"
"Mommy fell in love with daddy and soon he fell in love back."

Stuff like that. But while she is short with her answers about her origins, she is open about anything adventure related and oft has high praises for her allies and makes sure to mention a shining moment for EACH one: Mittens, Joe, Nathan, Pyrus... she is sure to recall particular moments where each of them shined.

Mishann is actually used to people groveling to her, but only due to fear... she isn't used to admiration or fanboys. So she completely misses the fact Aldern is an obsessed stalker in disguise.

  Joe's backstory this time around is... incredibly boring (what a shocker).

  "Tried to be a normal woodsman, got constantly interrupted by adventurer type problems.  So I decided if it was going to happen anyways, might as well get paid for it."  Joe does catch on, but gets the feeling they reaction will be about the same as if he explained something like a childhood dealing with floating necromancer islands that drip acid rain down onto a pirate and zombie infested slum of a coastal city.

...Ok so he DOES have "victim" written all over him.  Oh well.  Since Mits is a female, and isn't conservative about her backstory, she becomes the focus of his friendly flirts.  Sorry, Mits.  For now, at least, she doesn't take them as flirts and is simply happy to have a fan.  She's appreciative of Mishann's praise, and is quick to also boast about her awesome friends!

Nathan smiles and thanks the girls for the praise.

Meanwhile, Pyrus pretends to flirt with Mishann.  Blowing a heart-shaped smoke ring at her.  Batting his eyes.  So forth.  But when praised, he gets bashful and hides.

Dwynn sympathizes with Joe...? Sort of?

Mishann sure wishes she could read narrative doom prophecies. Oh well!

She does cuddle the baby dragon for his baby flirts. Mishann is also sure to compliment his ability to make smoke hearts: That isn't easy, you know! She isn't one to flirt with people she just met, especially if they seem like someone who won't be staying with her and her friends. So Aldern gets no such attention from Mishann.

When the team returns from the hunt, Mishann is in a GREAT mood! Not only did the team actually have a relaxing day off and make a new friend, she got to experience boar hunting! And to end the day with Ameiko? Bonus! Mishann goes to Ameiko and says, "Hey, Ameiko! Tiff chatted with us the other day and we gave her the story of our latest adventures. But since you already know part of our story, if you like, I can tell you about the adventures my friends and I have been on leading up to Sandpoint. Didn't want you of all people to miss out..."

  Oh hi doppelganger reference.

  "Dropping things out of the air so my friends can hit them is, so far, still always funny."

Pyrus is all blushy, but likes the cuddles.  Shalelu joins the group for he feast and reports that she'll have info for the group once she can have a private audience.  Not urgent.

Ameiko isn't very cheery.  "Huh?  Yeah.  Sure.  Maybe it'll help me take my mind off things."

Mits is sure to provide visuals to Mishann's narration.  And Nathan provides music.  Aldern does his best to lift Ameiko's spirits, but his charm doesn't really alter her mood for the better.

Mishann does her best to amaze Ameiko and remind her why she enjoys adventure. Especially with the kinds of descriptions Mishann tends to give. When she is done, Mishann sits with the others and gives Ameiko a hopeful smile.

  Joe finds Ameiko's mopeyness at least understandable.  Though he hopes for her sake she doesn't go into full time brooding (she doesn't have a hairstyle or fashion sense suitable for it anyways, given the artwork).

  "I don't suppose you've had time for more conventional hunting for quite some time, Shalelu?"

Ameiko's mood doesn't improve, but doesn't worsen at least.  Shalelu shrugs and answers, "Small game from time to time, sure.  Nothing like this big boar you all brought in."

Aldern beams from the compliment and is quick to praise the heroes' part in hunting the boar.

Nathan approaches Ameiko and asks, "Were you able to get your brother to talk?"

Mits cringes from the brashness.  Ameiko sighs.  "Yeah.  Nothing useful, I'm afraid.  Just his version of why dad and everyone else got what was comin' to 'em.  And his version of why Nualia believes the town deserves to burn.  Supposedly she worships Lamashtu, goddess of monsters, and wants to offer the town as a sacrifice to her god.  I really hope you all are right that she's actually a devil who put a spell on him.  I'd join you all in the fight but...  I just can't right now."

Nathan's question surprises Mishann mostly because Mishann would not have expected Ameiko to be able to talk to her brother. Or that anyone could get him to say a word.

Mishann nods to Ameiko. "Don't worry, Ameiko. We'll get to the bottom of it."

She then looks to Shalelu. "I assume you'll be joining us, though?"

  "Yeah, can't blame you for not wanting to rush out and deal with more violence in these circumstances Ameiko."  He looks over to Mishann, and comments "At the very least, she'll be coming along to the conversation she wanted to have with us."

Pyrus glomps Ameiko, who seems uncomfortable with the gesture.  Nathan just plays soothing music on his lyre.

Shalelu nods.  "Right.  On both points."

Mits hrms.  "May be more useful than you might think, Ameiko.  Such as using what he knows as 'proof' that her powers are waning; a useful psych.  Or might have some clue in there for what plan of attack she'll choose."

"I'll recount the story as best I can if you want."

Mishann nods. "We do want. We can use every little bit we can get."

She pulls Pyrus away from Ameiko and whispers to the little dragon in a soothing tone, "That was kind of you, but I don't think she wants that right now."

  "Every bit will help in this situation, but don't force yourself if it's that uncomfortable for you."  Joe hopes it's not 'that-one-plot-hint-you-need' missing if she takes them up on that, though.

Pyrus pouts and hides behind Mittens.

Ameiko expounds:

The primary villain of “Burnt Offerings” is a bitter aasimar woman
named Nualia. A foundling raised by Sandpoint’s previous religious
leader, a man named Ezakien Tobyn, Nualia’s childhood was lonely
and sad. Her unearthly beauty made the other children either
jealous or shy, and many of them took to playing cruel jokes on her.
The adults in town weren’t much better—many of the superstitious
Varisians viewed Nualia as blessed by Desna, a sort of “reverse
deformity.” Rumors that her touch or proximity could cure warts
and rashes, that locks of her hair brewed into tea could increase
fertility, and that her voice could drive out evil spirits led to endless
awkward and humiliating requests over the years. Poor Nualia felt
more like a freak than a young girl by the time she came of age, so
when Delek Viskanta, a local Varisian youth, began to court her,
she practically fell into his arms in gratitdue.

Knowing that her father wouldn’t approve of a relationship
with a Varisian (he wanted her to remain pure so that she could
join one of the prestigious Windsong Abbey convents), they kept
the affair secret. They met many times in hidden places, a favorite
being an abandoned smuggler’s tunnel under town that Delek
had discovered as a child. Before long, Nualia realized she was
pregnant. When she told Delek, he revealed his true colors and,
after calling her a slut and a harlot, fled Sandpoint rather than
face her father’s wrath. Nualia’s shock quickly turned to rage, yet
she had nowhere to vent her anger. She bottled it up, and when
her father discovered her delicate condition, his reaction to her
indescretions only furthered her shame and anger. He forbade
her to leave the church, lectured her nightly, and made her pray
to Desna for forigeness. In so doing, he unknowingly nurtured
her growing hate.

When the runewell in the Catacombs of Wrath flared to life,
Nualia’s own anger was a magnet to its magic. Seven months pregnant, the wrathful energies suffused her mind and she flew into
a frenzy. She miscarried her child later that night, a child whose
monstrously deformed shape she only glimpsed before blanching
midwives stole it away to burn it in secret. As the child had been
concieved in the smuggler’s tunnels below town, in close proximity
to a hidden shrine to Lamashtu (the goddess of monstrous births),
the child itself was deformed and horrific. The double shock of
losing a child and the realization she had been carrying a fiend in
her belly for seven months was too much. Nualia fell into a coma.

As Nualia slept, she dreamed unhealthy dreams. Fueled by the
wrath from below and the taint of Lamashtu, Nualia became further
obsessed with the cruel demon goddess and the conviction that her
wretched life was inflicted on her by those around her. She came
to see her angelic heritage as a curse, and the demon-sent dreams
showed her how to expunge this taint from her body and soul,
replacing it with chaos and cruelty. When she finally woke, Nualia
was someone new, someone who didn’t flinch at what Lamashtu
asked of her. She jammed her father’s door shut as he slept, lit the
church on fire, and fled Sandpoint.

The locals assumed Nualia had burned in the fire, a tragedy made
all the worse by the death of Father Tobyn as well. Yet Nualia lived.
She fled to Magnimar, where she enlisted the aid of a group of killers
known as the Skinsaw Men. With their aid, she tracked down Delek
and murdered him. Yet his death did not fill her need for revenge.
Sandpoint and its hated citizens still lived.

Seeing a kindred spirit in the tortured woman, the mysterious
leader of the Skinsaw Men gave Nualia a medallion bearing a carving of a seven-pointed star called a “Sihedron medallion.” Nualia
learned that she had a larger role to play, and that her dreams were
a map to her destiny. Taking the advice to heart, Nualia returned to
Sandpoint, and found herself drawn to the brick wall in the smuggler’s tunnels where she and Delek had conceived her deformed
child. Nualia bashed down the wall, and in so doing, discovered
the Catacombs of Wrath and the quasit Erylium, also a follower
of Lamashtu. For many months, Nualia studied under Erylium’s
tutelage. During this time, Nualia received another vision from
Lamashtu—a vision of a monstrous goblin wolf imprisoned in a tiny
room. In Nualia’s dreams, she learned that this creature, a barghest
named Malfeshnekor, was also one of Lamashtu’s chosen. If she
could find him and free him, he would not only help her achieve her
vengeance against the town of Sandpoint, but he would be the key
in cleansing her body of what she had come to see as her “celestial
taint.” Nualia wanted to be one of Lamashtu’s children now. She
wanted to become a monster herself.

(The following infodump never happened because we bypassed getting the quest to find Ameiko)

Tsuto was something of a scandal when he
was born 21 years ago, since he’s a half-elf. Bethana sagely notes,
with big eyes, that neither of Ameiko’s parents are elves. It was
obvious that old Lonjiku wasn’t the boy’s father, and his rage at
the discovery of his wife’s indiscretion was the talk of the town for
months. Lonjiku’s wife Atsuii never revealed who the father was,
and it’s a testament to Lonjiku’s stubbornness that they remained
married. Tsuto was handed over to the Turandarok Academy to
be raised outside of the Kaijitsu family, ignored by his father and
forbidden visits from his mother. His older sister Ameiko visited
him in secret a few times a month to keep him company, bring him
some food, and promise him that someday things would get all
sorted out. That all changed six years ago, when they had a terrible
argument in which Tsuto struck Ameiko. Bethana doesn’t know
what the argument was about, but whatever it was is what sent
Ameiko away from Sandpoint for a year, during which time she
made a living as an adventurer. She returned to Sandpoint five years
ago to attend her mother’s funeral. Tsuto was quite public in his
opinions that his father had pushed Atsuii off the cliff to her death,
and during the funeral there was a confrontation. Lonjiku nearly
broke Tsuto’s jaw with his cane, after which Tsuto cursed him and
left Sandpoint. Ameiko’s tried to reestablish contact with him ever
since, but was never able to track him down.

When Tsuto Kaijitsu joined Nualia’s
group in Magnimar a year ago, he was already in love with her.
He’d seen her on the streets of Sandpoint many times, but never
had the courage to approach the mysterious beauty. So when she
approached him with an offer of a job, he felt as if fate had finally
dealt him a good hand. When he learned that her plans involved
burning his hometown as an offering to her goddess, Lamashtu,
Tsuto was even more thrilled—not at the opportunity to serve the
goddess of monsters (Tsuto doesn’t have much interest in religion)
but as an opportunity to get revenge on the town he blamed for his
bitter and joyless childhood.

Tsuto’s primary job was to serve as the link between Sandpoint and Thistletop, since not only did he know the town the
best, but he had links to one of its most important citizens—his
father. After blackmailing Lonjiku into aiding the preparation
of Sandpoint for the goblin raid, Tsuto had his father right
where he wanted him. A few days after the raid, he sent his
father a note demanding a payment of 2,000 gp or Tsuto would
reveal his role in the raid. Infuriated, Lonjiku decided it was
time to take care of his son. He agreed to the payment, and
when he arrived at the Glassworks late one night several days
after the raid, he attempted to murder Tsuto. Unfortunately for
Lonjiku, Tsuto had come up with the same plan. Before Lonjiku
arrived, the goblins killed all of the workers who lived on site.
Tsuto and a half-dozen goblins ambushed Lonjiku as he entered
the Glassworks, murdered him, and put his body on display
in area A17.

Nathan looks serious faced.  "We need to destroy this Lamashtu shrine."

"That's what I was going to talk to you about in private," Shalelu sighs, "I found the tunnel."

"Gives us something to do while we wait for the troops to arrive," Mits comments.

Ameiko looks a little surprised and embarrassed.  "Oh...  I thought you already knew all this.  Sorry."

Mishann just gets angrier and angrier as she hears the tale. She can see now why Tsuto spared Ameiko and yet was cruel enough to tie her up and stuff her in a closet. Her growl sounds like a dragon as she stands up slowly. And although she is the same height as always, she seems a lot taller somehow as her eyes blaze with rage. She says nothing, but heads for the door.

  "Seems we can only learn or stumble upon so many plots at a time, so thank you for filling us in." He glances back at Mishann's departure, and decides to giver her at least 60 seconds before checking up on her.

  Well, unless Aldern decides to go faster.  Then he'll have to go and keep him from getting his face torn off, by being so ashamed of bothering Mishann he tears off his own face.

Pyrus follows Mishann out.  Nathan takes a deep breath and begins playing a soothing tune on his lyre.  Mits glance-glances at Mishann but doesn't attempt to stop her.  Ameiko just gazes out the window with a thousand yard stare.

Aldern just gulps from the growl and stays put.

"Yes.  The heroes will destroy the evil altar and defeat this quasit nasty as well," Mits asserts.

"Is she going to be alright?" Aldern asks, "Should I go try and cheer her up?"

Shalelu seems to be lost in thought.

Mishann leads the way! Wherever this entrance is, she is headed straight for it. In a gravelly, growling voice, Mishann grumbles, "They want to steal souls? I will devour theirs."

Nathan's music, as usual, is pleasant to listen to. Mishann appears to be slowly calming from it as she begins glancing around at her teammates with a more stern look rather than "killer instinct" look. She gives each of her team a solemn nod as if to let them know Nathan helped her focus and get her head back into the game.

   Oh look, Aldern does have half a brain when not scripted to be an idiot.  Good on you Aldern, we'll miss you when you're gone-oh, well A for effort.

  "I think at this point, she would prefer those she's known for more than a few days at most."

The way to the next dungeon is through the glassworks.

Pyrus was quick to return inside and let the group know that Mishann wasn't just going outside to cool off, so Nathan and Mits exited and hurried to catch up to her.

"I dunno, Mishann," Mits answers, "Demon souls might give you indigestion.  But then, fire breath.  So they'll at least be cooked."

Nathan stifles a chuckle.  "If you kill an outsider in this world, their soul is returned to Pharasma's Boneyard in the Outer Sphere.  From there, she sends them to where they belong, just like she does for mortals.  To devour a soul in this world involves some very rare and powerful magic."

Mits sighs.  "Fascinating.  Let's stick to cheering up Mishann rather than getting technical."

Nathan ohs.  "Sorry."

Mishann says, "It's fine. I appreciate having inside info on how the afterlife works. But for as often as people rip each others' souls to shreds, Nathan, it sure seems awfully common magic. It's just... punching bad guys will help calm me down, sure. But it won't restore Ameiko or her family. Or the Barett family. Or anyone else evil touches. They are scarred for life and no amount of good will help them. And what justice is there when all evil gets is a time-out? "Oh you've been a bad boy. We'll just put you back in Hell which you'll find your way out of again to do harm." But by the gods, if all I'm good for is destruction, it may as well be to avenge those who have been hurt. And since Evil gets a free pass when killed, I will make sure they suffer so bad they will prefer Hell to the Prime Material!"

Mishann glances at Mittens. "I'll add ketchup. Supposedly that makes everything taste good to dragons."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:07, Fri 17 Feb 2017.

  The Good/Neutral pantheon's concern for their licensing rights does often end up worse for the innocent despite claims.  Now now, souls are our sacred domain that only we're allowed the royalties-I mean, responsibility of...  What? Do something about it instead of nitpicking the goodguys?  uuuuh, mysterious ways no takebacks.

  "A practical outlet for a natural talent for violence is surprisingly beneficial.  If only for ourselves and a local populace, rather than the opinions of those passing judgments."

Nathan's still playing his soothing lyre music.  "Expecting to be judged guilty, Joe?"

He nods to Mishann.  "I hate that destroying an incarnate fiend is only step one, too.  _{One...as well?}  But on the other side of that coin is the frustration that Evil feels knowing that killing good people in this world only sends them on to bolster the ranks of Heaven's armies.  And that all the torment they cause serves to motivate heroes such as yourself.

"In the next life you'll get to play for keeps.  But in this one... suffice to say this is where the balance of power is really decided.  Heroism inspires others to strive for good rather than evil.  We've made a lot of progress since Earthfall."

"That was like, 10,000 years ago!" Mittens objects.

"10,000 years worth of Evil finding their grip on this world and the next slipping.  We're winning this war."

Pyrus puts some ketchup on his tail and offers it to Mishann with a hopeful smile.

Mishann looks at Pyrus. "I... where did you get catsup?" she noms the tail, enjoying the ketchup and taste of lava... she then cooks the tail in her mouth to rid Pyrus' tail of any excess saliva or catsup remnants.

Then looks at Nathan. "Thanks for the encouragement. I guess I'm also pretty mad about how right my social studies teacher was about the behavior of commoners. But whatever. We'll kick butt like we always do."

  "I was thinking more along the lines of the kind of person who will complain that saving their life means now someone else will kill them later.  Though I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere down the line a god throws a tantrum over something"  You know, like if the Raven Queen went into a tizzy over some random blacksmith just not dying because they didn't feel like it.

  But wow, that's going to be a short fight for the long wait.  If the 'upshot' is the souls of innocent civilians that can't even survive now, are expected to fight the souls of hardened demons and warlords... Give or take the souls eaten before that, of course.

  Poor Nathan, stuck having to try and do PR damage control for a flawed cosmos.

Nathan smiles to Mishann.  "You're welcome!  And looking forward to kicking butt with you, you amazing person, you."

He ohs to Joe.  "Yeah, whiny ungrateful mortals and tantrum-throwing gods are indeed annoying."

He's good company when it comes to people who prefer, "A practical outlet for a natural talent for violence."  He knows enough about the afterlife to prefer punching Evil in the face in the real world, but has to tell himself it's going somewhere in the long run or he'd likely go nuts.  So his outlook is for his own sake as much as for others.

Pyrus giggles from the nomming and tail-roast.

"Prestidigitation," Mittens answers for Pyrus, before asking Nathan, "Specific tantrum examples?"

Nathan thinks about it.  "Uh...  I guess one of the more amusing examples is just how many enemies Lamashtu makes for herself among the powers of evil.  Pazuzu, Urgathoa, Rovagug, Nocticula...  She just does not get along well with others.  Not that her evil enemies are any more mature.  Tantrum throwers, the lot of 'em."
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:44, Sat 18 Feb 2017.

Mishann lightly blushes from the "amazing person" comment.

Mishann says, "Kind of expect tantrums from evildoers. Speaking of people who throw tantrums, when we have destroyed this place and its keeper, let's be sure to check up on Shayliss."

When she is at the tunnel, she makes sure to take point for the group as usual.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:51, Sat 18 Feb 2017.

  If Joe has a half serious half joking worry about the afterlife, it's 'hanging back to shoot arrows while beautiful women (This means you too, Mittens) do the hard work' will get him put at the children's table of Pathfinder Valhalla or whatever it is they do to sort Ranged DPS souls.

  Clearly Nathan gets a free pass, because Angel.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:59, Sat 18 Feb 2017.

Mittens appreciates the narrative compliment, and will not argue that being a silly pigtail girl precludes being a pretty one:  http://jodiarego.com/blog/wp-c.../Untitled-1-copy.jpg

A22. Secret Office: Once used by smugglers to track their illicit
businesses, this room has served Tsuto Kaijitsu for the past few
days as a place to orchestrate his actions in Sandpoint. After
murdering his father and imprisoning his sister, Tsuto drank
himself to sleep in this room. He likely wakes when a goblin
fleeing from the PCs races down here to warn him of trouble
(see “Against the Goblins”).
A23. Smuggler’s Entrance: The long tunnel leading north from
this room winds through the bedrock below Sandpoint.
Built decades ago by smugglers, the tunnel remains stable
and serviceable as it winds on a lazy northeasterly route
for just over 1,750 feet before reaching a dead end. A DC
20 Search check reveals a secret door that opens into a
30-foot-diameter cave on the side of the cliff overlooking
the Varisian Bay. The cave mouth slopes down to a narrow
beach; no Survival check is required to note the crude
collection of goblin beds or remnants of their meals
strewn about the cave.
Along the tunnel’s southern half, two side tunnels branch off.
One of these leads east to a collapse after 400 feet (it once led all
the way to the Turandarok River), but the one to the west seems
to have once been bricked over at the point where it diverges
from the main tunnel. This westerly passageway winds for 50
feet before turning north for another 100 feet. This tunnel was
an attempt to break into what the smugglers assumed would be
the garrison basement, so that they could smuggle prisoners out
for great profit. Yet what they discovered were the Catacombs of
Wrath, and what the smugglers found there convinced them to
brick up the tunnel and never speak of it again. The brick wall was
torn down recently on Nualia’s return to the area, after which she
established contact with the quasit queen of the catacombs.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pini...0a798772c8c7d412.jpg

Down the tunnel and to the right is a side chamber (B1).  Inside the chamber is a horrible monster that immediately attacks!  http://vignette1.wikia.nocooki...st?cb=20100411212037

"GAH!" Mits exclaims, zapping at it!

Nathan fires his energy bow.  "What in blazes?!"

Having taken point, Mishann is the first to get face-to-face with this thing and she short-screams from being startled by this horrific thing. Out of reflex, she kicks it in the crotch to find that it does no more to this thing than if she kicked it anywhere else.

Mishann wrestles with the thing to try and keep it from advancing to the others.

  Joe is glad at the very least, the enemy has prominent kneecaps for his shots.  Skyrim joke goes here.

  "If only, Nathan.  It doesn't look like it would take being on fire very well."

sinspAwn
A horribly deformed humanoid, hairless and emaciated, lurches
out of the shadows. Its unnaturally long arms end in three-fingered
talons, and its legs bend like those of a dog. A writhing network of
bulging veins form dark blue patterns across its pallid skin. But
worst of all is its face—its nose is little more than a pair of slits,
and its eyes are bulging and red. The lower jaw splits in half at the
chin into two wretched arms that end in tiny three-fingered hands
to either side an open gullet with a lolling tongue.

Sinspawn CR 2
Always NE Medium aberration
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent sin; Listen +1, Spot +1
DEfENSE
AC 13, touch 10, flat-footed 13
(+1 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 19 (3d8+6); fast healing 1
Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +4
Immune mind-affecting effects; SR 11
OffENSE
Spd 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +2 (1d4+1) and
bite +0 (1d6 plus wrathful bite)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
TACTiCS
During Combat A sinspawn that faces a single foe generally attempts
to capture its enemy alive, making untrained Heal checks to stop
bleeding if necessary, so the victim can be returned to the nearest
runewell before he is murdered. Against multiple foes, the sinspawn
focuses its attacks on the weakest-looking foes first.
Morale Sinspawn fight to the death.
STATiSTiCS
Str 13, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 12
Base Atk +1; Grp +2
Feats improved initiative, Multiattack
Skills Hide +11, Move Silently +11
Languages Thassilonian
SQ martial proficiency
ECOLOGy
Environment Any (near runewells of wrath)
Organization Solitary, pair (2), or cult (3–9)
Treasure No coins, no goods, standard items (weapons
and armor only)
Alignment Always chaotic evil
Advancement By character class; Favored Class barbarian
Level Adjustment +3
SPECiAL ABiLiTiES
Martial Proficiency (Ex) A sinspawn is proficient in all
simple and all martial weapons, and in all forms of armor and shields
except tower shields.
Scent Sin (Su) A sinspawn has the scent ability, but only against
extraordinarily wrathful creatures. This includes any creature under
the effects of a barbarian rage or similar effect, a creature with the
evil subtype, a creature under the effects of the sinspawn’s wrathful
bite, or a creature (GM’s discretion) that is excessively wrathful.
Wrathful Bite (Su) A creature bitten by a sinspawn must make a DC
12 Will save or become overwhelmed by feelings of wrath, anger,
and rage. These emotions are so powerful that the affected creature
finds it hard to do anything but rage impotently. for 1d6 minutes after
succumbing to a sinspawn’s wrathful bite, the victim is effectively
sickened, and takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls, weapon damage
rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. A victim suffering
from this effect who is bitten again by a sinspawn must make a DC 12
Will save or the wrath increases, leaving him staggered and thus able to
take only a single move action or standard action each round (but not
both, nor can he take full-round actions). further bites increase the
duration of the effect, but not the magnitude.
Skills Sinspawn have a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks.
Sinspawn are a mockery of the flesh, the shape of humanity warped
and twisted by an all-encompassing wrath, transforming their
familiar shape into one of horror and ruin.

Pyrus discovers that the monster is indeed flammable.  The group is able tear through this lone sentry's 19hp within a round or two, but not before it manages to claw bite Mishann.  (Up to Tim if he wants to play up Mishann shrugging off the wrathful bite or not.)

Mits pokes the body with a mage hand.  "Ew."

Mishann's reaction to the bite is to continue beating on the defeated corpse while spewing angry words in draconic. She shivers a bit, falls to her knees and hyperventilates as if trying not to throw up.

After a minute, she says, "That thing's bite... forced me to be angry. I know I haven't exactly been the nicest girl lately, but I'm serious; it was a compulsion. Be careful you don't let these things bite you if one slips past me."

  Joe appreciates Pyrus, have we mentioned that?

  "Frustrated is distinct from freak out, trust us on that Mishann." his concern for Mishann takes priority over any urge to scavenge Vs Will toxins.

  "I'd suggest chugging back some anti-toxins before we move on, but I get the feeling this is magical BS poison rather than Natural BS poison."

Mits blinks in stunned surprise at Mishann's outburst but ohs at the explanation.

Pyrus gives Mishann a thumbs-up and blows her a kiss with a wink, then flies up to be out of reach of any sinspawn.

Nathan looks troubled.  "This must be one of Lamashtu's creations.  So yeah.  Nothing natural about it."

He offers Mishann some healing.

Mishann hugs Nathan for the healing and nods. She is also sure to give Joe thanks for showing concern for her. "Wouldn't hurt to drink anti-toxins anyway, just in case. You happen to have any?"

Once the team has sufficiently recovered from the odd encounter, Mishann continues on, leading as usual. Her tail sways slowly as she gets more cautious about approaching corners and whatnot.

  Joe's narration services charge an extra premium for avoiding explicit keywords like 'stunned in surprise', does that make it better or worse than Mitten's narrator?

  "I've got a couple, at least it can't hurt for you to try it." He offers the medical beverages to the dragony lady.  Since she will be the one getting bit more than his ranged DPS self, and he's /WIS build anyways.

Mittens' narration challenges Joe's to an epic rap battle to decide.

B2. old storeroom
The original purpose of this chamber is unclear, but large mounds of rubble
lie strewn on its floor. The wall to the west has been torn down to reveal
a tunnel leading to the west.

An investigation of the rubble reveals that most of it seems to
have consisted of broken urns and other pottery containers that
once held food stores, long since crumbled to dust.

Mittens chuckles.  "One of the downsides of being an evil goddess of monsters.  Your followers tend to be prone to violent fits of breaking valuables."

Nathan furrows his brows.  "This just isn't adding up.  Why would a sleepy town like this have something so terrible as a Lamashtu temple beneath it for so long?  One that was apparently well tended once.  Which is uncommon for sites of worship for Lamashtu.  Most are just haphazard."

Mishann says, "Maybe we can ask the imp that lives down here."

She heads for the door just north of the room.

  Joe's narrator is disqualified because they got confused and brought a Mario Paint remix.

  "Given how many entirely vacant temples to gods and spirits of all moral persuasion remain in perfect working order, discovering one that was staffed had standards is shocking me for altogether different reasons."

Mittens' narrator is so busy rocking out to the Mario Paint remix, they forget to rap.

The door leads to a hallway that turns west then north again.  The hall then has a branch to the east that extends into darkness.  To the north looks like a foyer of some kind with a statue.

B3. Welcoming Chamber
A red marble statue of a strikingly beautiful but, at the same
time, monstrously enraged human woman stands in the middle
of this room, her stony expression twisted in fury. The woman
wears flowing robes, and her long hair is held back from her
face by an intricate headdress of hooks and blades. in her left
hand she carries a large book, the face of which is inscribed
with a seven-pointed star. Her right hand holds a glittering metal
and ivory ranseur.

Nathan stares at the statue.  "Don't recognize her.  She doesn't look at all like a Lamashtu priestess.  Not monstrous enough.  Strange."


Mittens shrugs.  "Could be the evil girl was lying to her 'boyfriend' all along.  Nah.  Couldn't be.  Devils are always so honest."

Nathan rolls his eyes.  Pyrus likes the weapon and tries to loot it.

The statue depicts Runelord Alaznist, identifiable as such with
a DC 35 Knowledge (history) check.
Treasure: The masterwork ranseur can be removed with a little
tugging. As a replica of Runelord Alaznist’s signature weapon, the
ranseur is a work of art as much as a weapon. It’s worth 400 gp

MAP HAZ: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pini...0a798772c8c7d412.jpg

Mishann admires the weapon. It's pretty sweet, after all. But she still prefers using her natural weapons.

She examines the statue for any labels. "You'd think if someone went to the trouble of making a statue of someone, they would have the person's name written somewhere, like a plaque or something. But nooOOOooo.. oh well. Just another question for the imp. Along with the question of how Nualia walked around here with her boyfriend without being attacked."

  "They likely assumed they were so famous, they didn't need a name plate to be known"

Mittens makes a silly puppet of the statue girl.  "Grr!  I'm so angry!  Because someone took my nameplate!"

Pyrus straps the weapon to Mittens' backpack.

Nathan points down the stairs, "This looks like the main corridor.  So let's try it."

B4. Washing pool (el 2)
Water ripples quietly in a circular stone pool lined with skulls here. smears
of what looks like blood mar the pool’s rim in places.
This pool was once used as a place to wash the grime of the world
above from the feet of visitors to the Catacombs of Wrath. Once an
hour, the waters of the pool magically replenish and are purified.
The blood on the pool’s rim was left by several of the sinspawn that
have taken to using the pool as a watering hole.
Creature: This approach to the Catacombs of Wrath is still
guarded by an ancient creature, a hideous vargouille that generally
rests in the shadows near the wall. The monster was placed here by
the Scribbler, and over the centuries has remained, patiently waiting
for a release from its duties and eager to attack anything that enters
the room that doesn’t bear the stink of Lamashtu on its skin.
Vargouille CR 2
hp 5; (MM 254)

http://vignette1.wikia.nocooki...st?cb=20081120143049

"Back to hell with you, foul spawn!"

Nathan, Mits, and Pyrus all attack!

Mishann giggled from Mitts' puppet-show. "Well... History shows that you are only remembered if you are written down in historical archives. A plaque would count. Probably best this lady wasn't remembered if her demeanor is symbolic of how she was in life."

Upon seeing the terrifying creature, Mishann also does not hesitate to attack, charge-flying at it and spewing fire once in its face! Which seems to compose most of this odd thing. "What ARE you?!"

She can only hope the thing talks. Or maybe it is best of it doesn't talk.

  Joe shall see if this thing bothers to give useful exposition or not, before taking advantage of Hit=Prone to put it in proper Mishann punching distance.

  It's more a matter of when he shoots, rather than if.  He can be a bit of a jerk like that.

With her wings, proper Mishann punching distance is anywhere!

SCREEECH!  The monster lets out a paralyzing shriek!  <infernal>"Man the company in this place sucks.  Thanks for providing some heads for me to make children from!"</infernal>

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestia...utsiders/vargouille/

Nathan and Mittens are Paralyzed!  Pyrus tries and fails to slap them out of it!  The monster noms Mishann with a poisonous bite!

Mishann says, "I have NO idea what you just said, but I'm sure it wasn't nice." and uses the face it is biting her to wrap her wings and tail around it for a piledrive. "Final Headache!" is yelled as she corkscrews her way to the ground with the Vargouille.

  Oh right, sudden understanding of wing jealousy.

  He'll make himself feel better by shooting the enemy when they are down... Provided they survive-nah, shoot them while they are down even if they don't.

  Joe doesn't have a /WIS build to thank this time, he's got 'I hung back at a cowardly distance' to thank.

The monster is defeated!  Mits and Nathan are snapped out of their paralysis.

"Well that was jarring," Mits grumbles.

Nathan takes a close look at Mishann's wound and does his best to treat it.  "Kinda surprised that thing wasn't unleashed on the world long ago.  Maybe it was summoned after this place was sealed up.  But what was keeping it here with the wall demolished?"

Pyrus shrugs.

"Musta been the well," Mits guesses, "Water so yummy it simply couldn't leave."

Mishann leans against Nathan, her toes slowly clawing at the ground as she enjoys the healing. "Thanks."

She then stands up and looks around. "I guess that's it for this room. Add that question to our list for that imp."

  Mishann.  Making deadly talons look adorable.

  "If it was unleashed long ago, it wouldn't be here to bother us today. Petty logic, but it tends to work when it comes to these circumstances where less civilians die."

"You're welcome.  And thank you, you brave person, you."

Nathan doesn't get Joe's logic, but Mits does.

She snickers and agrees, "Right?"

Mits pokes the corpse with her mage hand and taunts, "Here that?  You were an idiot to hang around here to hassle the inevitable adventurer group when you were free to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting populace."

Pyrus smiles at Mishann's cuteness and rubs his cheek against her hair.

The group soon learns that this is a dead end...

B5. stairs
A flight of spiral stairs winds up around a circular pillar into darkness above.
These stairs once led up to a small vault on the surface, but
when Thassilon fell, that structure collapsed. If the PCs somehow
manage to dig their way up through the 30 feet of rock between
the top of the stairs and the surface, they find themselves
emerging in an alley in the cluster of buildings between Tower
Street and Junker’s Way.

Mittens is NOT interested in digging through rock at this time.

Mishann pets Pyrus and smiles from Nathan's reply. Mishann, like Nathan, doesn't get Joe's comment. Mittens' comment to the corpse makes it even more confusing, but she does find the taunt satisfying nonetheless.

Upon seeing the dead end, Mishann shrugs. "May as well backtrack to that other hallway we saw." and again leads the way. (I think the map says B12 for that room south of B4?)

  "Given the distances, we can probably make a rough guess about where under the city this is once we get back anyways."

awesome module pic:  http://imgur.com/a/SwII0

Mits nods and follows Mishann's lead.  She shrugs to Joe.  "You've got a much better inner map than mine if you can pull that off."

B12. shrine to lamashtu
The tunnel widens here into what appears to have once been a small shrine,
for to the northeast steps lead up to a platform of gray stone. sitting atop
the platform is an ancient altar, little more than a jagged block of black
marble with a shallow concavity on top of it. This basin is filled with what
appears to be filthy water.

The liquid pooled atop the altar is an unholy manifestation that
appears on altars sacred to Lamashtu under the right conditions.
Known as the Waters of Lamashtu, this liquid can be bottled and
used as unholy water. If a creature drinks directly from the altar, he
must make a DC 14 Fortitude save. Success indicates the creature
becomes violently ill, vomits the fluid, and is sickened for 2d4
hours. Failure indicates the water takes root and drives the victim mad, inflicting 2d6 points of Intelligence damage. A creature
reduced to 0 Intelligence undergoes a horrific transformation as
the Waters of Lamashtu unmake him and then reform him into a
monstrous, deformed parody of his previous form. His Intelligence
score heals normally, but his new maximum Intelligence is 3. Each
of these deformities is unique, representing the victim’s “inner
monster;” an example of what the waters have wrought on a particularly violent goblin are presented above in Koruvus’s stat block.
This condition can be removed with a remove curse or break enchantment spell against CL 14th. In any event, a creature transformed by
this remains a feral puppet of Lamashtu until cured or slain.
There’s enough water to affect one drinker or to bottle 4 vials of
unholy water. As long as a thaumaturge of Lamashtu performs the
correct daily rituals at the altar, the fluid replenishes at the rate of
one vial’s worth per 2d6 months.

Mits pays the altar little mind.  Pyrus searches it for any secret compartments.  Nathan curls his lip in disgust at the shrine.

"Mind you don't touch that thing," he warns, "It screams 'evil.'  I'd wager there's more than just disease in the water too."

Mishann looks at the water. "Don't touch... got it. It looked kinda gross, so I wasn't going to, but now I feel we will need to get someone to remove it sometime soon."

If she knew of its effects, Mishann would have gotten an awful idea to force-feed it to  a particularly hated enemy, watch them suffer, and then tell off Lamashtu through her new host before killing the creep. All while wearing a shroud, of course. Don't want a goddess hunting you down. Or better yet! Have the person who is telling her off be disguised as another villain organization so she will kill your enemies for you!

Alas, Mishann only knows to trust Nathan on things holy or unholy.

It's unholy and sacred at the same time.  Such is the way of Keywords.

"If an aboleth jumps out of the water, I will blame the aboleth and not you."

Pyrus nods to Mishann.

Mittens conjures a strange figurine in the water and sings, "Part of Your World."

http://img05.deviantart.net/82...ph_1t_up-d46b7f0.png

Nathan sweatdrops.  "I'll never hear that song the same way again."

B13. Cathedral of Wrath (el 5)
This huge room looks like nothing more than an immense underground cathedral. stone doors stand to either side of the main entrance, but beyond this,
the walls are carved with strange, spiky runes. in the center of the room is a
large pool, a ring of polished human skulls balanced on stone spikes arranged
in a circle around the deeper midsection. At the far end of the room, a pair
of stone stairways leads up to a pulpit on which sits a second pool, this one
triangular and filled with churning, bubbling water that looks almost like
translucent lava. Yet while wisps of what look like heat and steam rise from
the strange orange liquid, the room itself is deathly cold.

Every time a creature with a wrathful soul (including
most goblins and quite a few of the victims murdered years ago by
Stoot) dies within a mile of the runewell, it gains one “wrath point.”
There’s no limit to the number of wrath points the well can store,
but it currently contains only 20.

The lesser runewell of wrath itself is only 3 feet deep, yet any
living creature that enters its freezing orange waters immediately
takes 2d6 points of cold damage and must make a DC 15 Will save
or be overcome with wrath. Failure indicates the creature becomes
enraged (identical to the barbarian rage ability) and immediately
attacks the nearest living creature. If no living creatures are in sight,
the enraged creature is compelled to seek out a victim, moving at
full speed in his search. This rage persists for 2d6 minutes, after
which point the character becomes fatigued. Each use of the
runewell in this manner costs 3 wrath points.

The runewell can also be commanded to disgorge a sinspawn. To
manifest a sinspawn, a creature need only allow a few drops of its
blood to fall into the pool—one round later, a sinspawn emerges
from the well and immediately attacks the closest creature in
which it cannot scent wrath (as defined in the sinspawn’s monster
entry on page 90). Each use of the runewell in this manner costs 6
wrath points.

Creature: Although the Catacombs of Wrath are now open, and
technically Erylium is free to leave at any time, her thousands of
years spent as the catacombs’ queen have left her with a bit of ago
raphobia and the senseless worry that if she leaves her catacombs,
someone could move in and steal her crown. As a result, she still
spends nearly all of her time here.
When the PCs enter the room, the quasit flies into a rage. She
shrieks, accuses the PCs of “Daring to intrude upon the Mother’s
sanctum,” and slashes her own wrist with her dagger, allowing some of
her blood to drip into the runewell and form a sinspawn. As she does, the
runewell’s glow diminishes noticeably. A DC 20 Sense Motive allows a
character to note the sudden look of worry that Erylium gets when she
sees this. She does not create any more sinspawn after the first one.

Erylium CR 4
Female quasit thaumaturge of Lamashtu 3 (MM 46; Book of Fiends, 11)
cE Tiny outsider (chaotic, extraplanar, evil)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +6, spot +6
DEFENsE
AC 22, touch 17, flat-footed 17
(+5 Dex, +5 natural, +2 size)
hp 30 (3d8+3d6+6); fast healing 2
Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +6
DR 5/cold iron or good; Immune poison; Resist fire 10
OFFENsE
Spd 20 ft., fly 50 ft. (perfect)
Melee 2 claws +11 (1d3–1 plus poison) and
bite +6 (1d4–1)
Ranged +1 returning dagger +12 (1d2/19–20)
Space 2–1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Atk hideous spittle
Spell-Like Abilities (cL 6th)
At will—detect good, detect magic, invisibility (self only)
1/day—cause fear (30-foot radius, Dc 14)
1/week—commune (6 questions, cL 12)
Spells Prepared (cL 3rd)
2nd—inflict moderate wounds (Dc 15), shatterD (Dc 15), summon
monster II
1st—bane (Dc 14) disguise selfD (Dc 14), shield of faith, summon
monster I
0—guidance, inflict minor wounds (Dc 13), mending, resistance
D domain spell; Domains chaos, Trickery
TAcTics
Before Combat Erylium becomes invisible and casts shield of faith as
soon as she hears enemies approaching.
http://criticalanklebites.com/.../2008/02/erylium.jpg
or http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg....b81b351a51963dbb.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_74Nr...00/1278362859517.png

"'Mother?'" Mits asks, "Do you mean Lamashtu?  Or the angry lady who's statue nobody bothered to grace with a nameplate?"

Nathan starts to sing a triumphant hymn and opens fire.