Faeli used her prestidigitation cantrip to summon a crudely shaped wooden pipe. "Thank you very much Sheriff, would it be inappropriate to ask that we be kept abreast of your investigations?"


Faeli groaned as the brittle construct crumbled when she removed it from her mouth.

"Oh man..."

Talitha wonders "Why in hell would anyone try to steal a corpse from a tomb?I think there is something more with father Ezaklen that just being a piuos man."
She tries to look like the smartest person in the room, with her hand in her chin and roaming around slowly.
"Any more details about the father's death that looked unusual? What about his family? Did you know him well? Was him from Sandpoint or from another city?"
The fighter doesn't have a clue of what's going on, but wants to pretend she has everything under control.

As the others speak Kaddock will look more closely at the tracks around the crypt. "Let me see if I can make any sense of the larger tracks at least.  And I would agree that the chances of this goblin attack being other than a distraction are about zero.  Is any power around here know to be in league with the goblins?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:44, Fri 04 Dec 2020.

The Sheriff tugs at the stubble on his chin as he thinks back.

"Let's see. Father Ezakien died about five years ago but before that he had been the main priest for the town for a long time. He wasn't from here originally but I don't know when he arrived or from where. All of that was before my time.

Five years ago...yeah. You see there were a series of disasters that hit the town right in a row and collectively the folks refer to it as the "Late Unpleasantness". First there was a serial killer, the Chopper. He killed 25 people in about a month, including the last Sheriff. The rest of the guards tracked the killer down, burned his body and buried the killer's hideout.

Then a couple months later a fire broke out on the north side of Sandpoint. A lot of buildings were burned and a lot of people lost their lives including Ezakien and his family. As far as anyone could tell the two things were unrelated. We think the fire was just an accident but so much burned down we never really found out for sure.

I don't know why anyone would want his bones but it probably wasn't for anything good. The guard will conduct a full investigation and if we find anything out we'll let you know.

As for the goblins I'm not exactly an expert on the local tribes. Shalelu ranges the forests most of the time so she would be a good person to talk to but she is hard to get hold of as she doesn't live in town. Keep an eye out for her at the local markets trading pelts or at the Rusty Dragon. Otherwise Daverin Hosk is the local goblin expert. He runs the stables and also acts as a guide around the local wilderness. He hates goblins with a passion so if anyone knows the layout of local tribes it is probably him. Just keep in mind that he really hates goblins and...well...you'll see."

Twenty-five people in a month, how horrible." Faeli said and then was silent as she listened to the rest of the information which was presented by the sheriff.

What a weird little town Faelie thought to herself.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:20, Sat 05 Dec 2020.

Talitha scratches her head. "Too many clues to follow."
She looks at the rest of the gang. "Any proposal? I say we start collecting some info about the serial killer and have a look at the remaining of her hideout, if there is any. Who that person was, what was she doing in Sandpoint and who were her victims. If they had any link in common. Also visiting the area of the fire and knowing who died there might be helpful to."
She thinks it's a place as good an anywhere else to start, by maybe the others think otherwise.
"So... what do you propose we do instead?"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:35, Sun 06 Dec 2020.

Kaddock nodded at Talitha's suggestions.  "I think we should investigate the goblin tribes as well.  They are linked to this latest attack at the very least."

In reply to Kaddock Ingir (msg # 51):

Faeli nodded grimly. "I can speak goblin if we can convince one to speak with us..." Faeli said as the color drained from her face.

Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes darkened as she thought of the prospect of actually speaking with one of those terrifying creatures. Her faith had named goblins to be monsters, spawn of the Mother of Monsters Lamushtu who was primary of Desna's few true enemies.

"...I guess that would be right. Right? Trying to understand them so we could help people?"

She looked back to Kaddock her eyes seeking some indication of what was "proper", "moral" or "ethical" in this case.

"I can help you with that as well Faeli as I can also speak Goblin." She said as she listened to the other's speak. "We need to look into the Father as well. See if there is anything about him that would make someone want his bones. His birth, his bloodline, anything..."

In reply to Arialis Moonrider (msg # 53):

"Yeah-that is smart." Faeli said as she looked over to Aralis. The gnome nodded her head slowly.

"We have a lot of questions, we should break off into smaller groups based on who has the best skills to address the situation?"

"Investigating the goblins sounds dangerous, but if we can find Shalelu should definitely help. I believe the people will remember the Father but we do not want to stir up too much panic, these people are trying to heal from the ambush"

Faeli thought for a moment "But...it seems like this place as faced a lot of tragedy, the townsfolk might be more resilient than I suspect."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:24, Sat 05 Dec 2020.

Tristen stood back. He took mental notes of each person as they spoke up. Many to voice ideas of how they could help learn more about various things. A smile came to his face. It was obvious to him. These folks wanted to help the town. He thanked Abadar for his intervention as Sandpoint stood at the crossroads.

"My comrades." Tristen began with a smile. "My companions, friends. We've only meet a week ago but by Abadar's providence. It seems that we're willing to help the good sheriff and the town of Sandpoint. Sheriff Hemlock, I hope you won't mind if we check a few things out on our own."

"The late Father Ezakien had family. His family also died in the fire. Wife and children, were they buried here as well?"

Sheriff Hemlock nods and leads the party out of the tomb and down to a small modest gravestone.

"If I recall correctly he wasn't married or his wife died longer before but his daughter died in the fire."

He points at the gravestone that just says Nualia Tobyn on it with her birth and death date on it. Her death date is the same as that on Father Ezekian's and based on the birthdate would put her at about 19 or 20 when she died.

"I would suggest sticking around town until you can find a guide. The Tickwood isn't a friendly place to go wandering off. We don't even know which goblin tribe raided us and there are several to pick from in the area. I'll keep an eye out fo Shalelu as well and point her in your direction if I see her. Until then rest up and get prepared for an excursion into the wilderness if you really want to see this finished. The Tickwood is only a couple miles away but its a dense tangle of undergrowth and slow going inside."

Kaddock met Faeli's eyes.  "We are going to have to seize information from the goblins I fear Faeli.  They are foes and implacable ones for the most part so our interrogation may be harsh.  But they will only attack again if not stopped."

He nodded to the sheriff.  "We'll talk to Shalelu if you can help us with that Sheriff.  We'll also talk to Daverin Hosk.  Is he a reputable guide?  You mentioned he knows the tribes and the lands outside the town."

The Sheriff gives a shrug.

"He isn't as good as Shalelu but then few are. Are you still staying at the Rusty Dragon? I'll keep that in mind if anything else comes up. Also I'd appreciate it if you swing by and let me know if you're planning on leaving town. We really appreciate you sticking around and understand if you've got business elsewhere but if you help us finish this and drive out the goblin tribe that attacked us I'm sure the Mayor and the rest of town would greatly appreciate it."

Faeli gave the sheriff a salute, "Aye-aye, sir!"

Talitha smiles widely as the sheriff speaks."We'll stay around I think. We've been together in this for a long time, so I think we'll like to see how it continues. Let us know when you need us."

"We will be staying for the long haul. This needs to be resolved." Arialis said with a nod. "Let us go talk to the guide we do know where is, and if the Sheriff can find the other, talk to that one at that point." She then smiled to her companions. "We ready?"

"We'll be ready to protect the town again if needed sheriff.  We should take the offensive when we can though.  There is some plot of deeper evil here."

"So I guess we're going to find Daverin Hosk first. After that I'm thinking of going to speak to the Father Zantus at the Cathedral. Need to ask why someone would be stealing the body." Tristen gave the Sheriff a short bow before heading through the streets of Sandpoint. Daverin, he recalled ran a booth tossing goblin heads...

Kaddock nodded to Tristen his comrade from the caravan.  "Let's go see if Daverin has something useful to say.  At least we can get his take on things." He headed off with Tristen to find Daverin.

"If we are only going to be talking, we could split into two groups. One go talk to Daverin Kosk, the other to Father Zantus." She said with a nod.

Kaddock looked over at Arialis and nodded in agreement.  "Tristen and I plus whoever wants to come will talk to Daverin.  That keeps us at least in pairs for safety."

"I was sent here by Kyonin as our representative to watch over the new cathedral to Desna, so I will go there. Would you like to join me Faeli?" She asked with a smile. "Who else?"

Talitha raises her hand as Arialis speaks."Count me in. let's go to the cathedral and talk to the Father."

Faeli nodded and smiled and followed behind Arialis and Talitha while linking arms with Razyll to "drag" the half-orc along as well.