[Game Thread] Whomping Goblins

[Mal Radagast]

Sandpoint is big for such a small town.

The Thassilonian Empire was long ruined by the time that Cheliax crossed the bay north into this once-more wild land, now called Varisia. Cheliax couldn’t carry as much as it could hold, though, and its hold slipped...leaving the once-more wild Varisians to their own devices...

...and the goblins too, of course.

So Varisia began to grow up in its own right, taking to the old roads and building new ones, connecting port cities to caravan routes in a sort of merchant’s paradise of motion and enterprise. More than that, even, Varisia became a traveler’s land...a place of wanderlust, exploration and expedition, with grand sweeping scapes worthy of any errant adventurer’s epic tale. And epic tales it has, aplenty – what with gypsy bands dotting and criss-crossing along the vales, the woods, the moors...a performer’s country, Varisia, and a misfit’s haven as well. Heck, that’s probably why you’re here.

So...Sandpoint. Situated comfortably among the haphazard foothills which make their way over, and up, and eventually become the Fogscar Mountains. Smaller than it looks, but you know, they’re trying to change that. Who knows what the old ruin of a city might have been, or been called even, before it was Sandpoint. For a while, the goblins had it – but if they ever named it, nobody asked. Goblins are a problem around here, if you couldn't tell, though perhaps not so much as they used to be. Sandpoint itself is finally clear of them, at least, and making an attempt at some real civilization. Oh, not in the Chelish way, they joke – but, you know, people and houses and things. Not entirely common in Varisia at large. The notion of amphitheaters has gotten around, though, and that evokes a lot of interest.

None of you are exactly new to Sandpoint, so you don’t need me telling you not to bother with old Cracktooth’s Pub and the like. You already know the best place in town is the Rusty Dragon, and you already know how cool the owner, Ameiko, is. (She’s looking right over my shoulder; what else am I gonna say? Ow!) Seriously though, you’re in this place all the time. Often enough to have noticed when they reinstated the goblin bounty, and Mayor Deverin posted a flyer on the Dragon’s ever-popular bountyboard. Some folks say Ameiko’s likely to go after the bounty herself. Everyone around here seems to have some story or other about her grand adventuring days, and she’s told more than one tale herself...some more improbable than others.

But you happen to know that she’s not going out into Brinestump Marsh. Goblins? Psh – small potatoes, Ameiko says. Let the younger generation whet their weapons out there. Which brings us around to why you’re looking up at Sandpoint from so far away. You’re packed and ready for a few hours hike, already admiring the misty rise of those mossy foothills to your east and the warmglowing sunrisen stretch of the Varisian Gulf to your west. Presumably, you are ready to whomp some goblins.

DM You’re on Lost Coast Road south from Sandpoint, somewhere between the town itself and the Cougar Creek bridge. (I’ve circled the bridge in red, there.) Feel free to RP your entry in any way you like, building onto whomever posted before. Perhaps you’re on the road a little ways ahead of them, or perhaps you have to run to catch up. You probably knew they were coming along, though it’s possible you didn’t. By the time you all reach the little bridge, I’d like an established marching order.

[The Fool]

"Is this really necessary, Sayuri?" Brother Mihai whines as he lugs the heavy moose head along, trudging through the thick mud in his heavy armor. "What did this poor moose ever do to you?"
The tall, pale, broad-shouldered cleric had come out into the swamp with his diminutive partner-in-crime today because she had decided, with considerable determination, that Ameiko's evil-looking moose head had to go in a most permanent fashion. And since Mihai can't ever say no to her, this resulted in him coming too as her pack mule. To be honest, and Mihai is always honest, he doesn't really think it looks all that evil-looking himself, and he's said so. Although perhaps that has a little to do with the fact that he has to repeatedly mutter the Virtue orison as he walks to keep the sun from burning his albino-white skin. Or the fact that he's trudging through a reeking, fly-infested swamp in a hundred pounds of clanking steel.

[Ehlana]

"Yes." Sayuri tells him firmly. Both she and Minx, wound as usual around her shoulders, give him identical determined looks. The dual stare is a little unnerving to most people, but Mihai is well used to it by now. "That moose is -evil-." She asserts. "The look on it's face is the same look that something gives you right before it rips the flesh off it's face and tries to eat you. It gives me nightmares. It gives me indigestion. It gets on my -nerves-. I am going to burn it and dance widdershins around the bonfire before we tie a rock to what's left and dump it in the swamp."

The tiny Tian girl moves closer, taking hold of one of the moose's antlers and tugging impatiently on it. "Let me carry it, like I suggested way back when we started." She urges. Given that the big moose head looks as if it would squash her flat, Mihai had refused to let her carry it before and she's cannily waited to let the sun, heat and flies do some persuading for her before pursuing the subject. "I can take it. It's not that heavy." Minx does -not- give Mihai an identical look this time. The look he gives the priest suggests that if he is displaced on Sayuri's shoulders by a moosehead, there -will- be a reckoning.

[Fragmaster01]

"To be fair, it's not like she'd come looking for it out here. Still... I can think of better places to dump the taxidermy." Skieyl came wandering up behind the cleric-and-moose, not looking overly thrilled. The fox was oddly dressed for the muck, wearing his usual cloak and pants combo, plus an ill-fitting suit of leather armor('It looks nice on you!') for protection from whatever goblinry would be arrayed against them, and a jangling curved shortsword on his hip. His shoulder bag was sinched close, to try to keep it out of the ooze.
"I see no reason why the mosquitoes like this place so much. It's humid, it's splucky, and you can't tell where you're going at all. You do know where we're going, right?" He trudges onward in a harrumph. "Icky icky icky..." At the very least, he's given up on trying to shift and un-shift to get rid of the ooze; it's stuck to his skin tight enough for that trick to not work like with rainwater.

[The Fool]

"I'll carry it," Mihai says, resigned. Apparently, the sun and the mosquitoes have not done enough persuading yet...but then, they'd probably have to persuade him to unconsciousness before he'd seriously let Sayuri carry something so heavy. He rearranges the moosehead so he can wave his arm to chase away yet more mosquitoes. "And at least you're not carrying this and a hundred pounds of steel, Skieyl...don't see what's so evil-looking about this guy, anyways. He looks pretty normal to me...."

[Fragmaster01]

"It's a moose. They're supposed to, I dunno, walk around and eat grass. That sort of thing. This guy-" Skieyl bops the moose on the noggin with a resounding *whup* just hangs around the bar giving people dirty looks. Really, we're doing him a favor. Now he can come out here and chat with all the wildlife."

[Ehlana]

"We're not doing him a favor, Skieyl." Sayuri explains impatiently. "That's the point. We're coming out here to incinerate and drown him." She is forced to release her grip on the moose when Mihai rearranges his hold. "We're not far enough away from town yet. It might come back if we did the deed here.. It'd probably lurk under my window, wailing in the middle of the night. A little further and we'll be in the Brinestump Marsh...that should be good. Though.... She regards the kitsune speculatively. "...Mihai has a point. You're not carrying a hundred pounds of steel. -You- could carry the moose. You ought to make yourself useful. You only came along because you heard me say I was making teriyaki chicken skewers afterwards." She folds her arms across her chest imperiously. She would be able to carry off imperious rather better with a few more inches, but she's sadly resigned herself that she's just not going to ever get any taller.

"Give him the moose, Spooky." She urges, turning to the priest. "And stop arguing with me about the moose's morals. I tell you, I -know- that thing is evil."

[The Fool]

"Spooky" pauses, then grins, feeling this to be an acceptable compromise. "Good point," he says cheerfully, and he takes the moose head and drops it in Skieyl's arms. "Here you go. This way, it can get an early start on chatting with the wildlife! Everybody wins."

[Fragmaster01]

"Aaaah!" Skieyl is accosted by the moose head, and falls over into the muck. He slowly hefts himself back up, hoping that fewer people saw that than needed to, and sets about trudging with this horrible ungulate that was fated to be his best friend on this adventure. "I am not wildlife...." A Mage Handghostly yellow gauntlet is seen tugging the moose head upwards, but it doesn't seem to be adding much heft to Skieyl's trudge.

[Ehlana]

Sayuri giggles at Mihai's quip. "Well Skieyl, you're alive and you can be pretty wild." She offers, reaching out to lay a hand on the foxman's arm and muttering something. The muck peels off his fur and clothing and drops back onto the path. Her leopard cat curls a fastidious lip, scooting over to one side of his mistress' shoulders. Sayuri leans involuntarily sideways before she compensates for her familiar's shift in weight.

"Urgh... Minx, behave or I'll make you ride on top of the moose."

[Caput]

Reon staggers out of the murk, his worn coat miraculously clean. He smiles his shiniest smile at the sight of Skieyl sinking into mud. "See, this is what you get for going ahead without me and leaving me to die. I'll carry the moose. And yeah, sorry, but you're pretty definitely wildlife. I've seen you eat chickens. It's...memorable. Hi Sayuri, hi Mihai.

Reon grabs the head by the antlers and takes it off the kitsune. "Oh ye gods! This thing really is heavy! Uh, gimmie a sec and I'll see if I can confirm your suspicions. Ameiko will kill you for this, by the way. Well, us."

Reon focuses his mind on detecting evil, attempting to plumb the depths of the head's inner darkness.

[Ehlana]

"If you try to tell me it's not evil, I will be forced to conclude that it has taken over your mind and push you in the swamp." Sayuri tells the paladin firmly. "And worse, I won't let you have any of my teriyaki chicken skewers." A lock of hair falls free from the messy bun in back of her head and she pushes it out of her face irritably. "Ameiko will thank me, once she recovers from this thing's diabolic influence. Or at least forgive me. Eventually. I've been telling her for years that I hate that thing so she can't claim I didn't warn her."

[The Fool]

Mihai stretches now that he's relieved of the burden of the moose head, and he gives Reon a grin. "Good to see you, Reon," he says gregariously. "You here for the teriyaki skewers, too? By the way, she's not joking, you know. She really will push you in."

[Ehlana]

"And wham you with my frying pan when you try to climb out." Sayuri adds with relish, patting the heavy cast iron pan hanging at her waist. While not a conventional weapon, the little Tian finds it works better for her than any conventional weapon. It even has a pattern of stars in the bottom so that not only do her pancakes end up with pretty designs on them, her enemies end up with pretty designs imprinted on their heads.

[Caput]

Reon laughs as he trudges along. "I don't doubt it. Between you and Ameiko, I'm in trouble either way, but cooking like that is worth a little trouble. Besides, how could I disappoint so lovely a lady?"

He pauses a moment to adjust his grip on the moose and disentangle it from his sword.

"Aside from chasing Skieyl, I'm supposedly here to find out why two suspicious characters were seen dragging a moose's head into the swamp, so I'm pleasantly surprised it's you two. This was looking like a slow day 'till a couple of minutes back."