You resist the urge to murder the innocent inhabitants of the house, no matter how annoying you found them, and get to work with the floorboards. It takes a couple of minutes to find the right one, but you wiggle it loose and then pry up the pair either side of it. In a small hollow just beneath the boards is the tightly bound oilskin bag you left there five months before. You haul it up and check the bindings; still secure. The books inside should be dry, but you open the bag and take a quick look anyway.
[Luck: 13] There are four books and a scroll case inside the bag, all of which are fortunately intact. You will be sure to re-read the books thoroughly later, but as this might be your last chance you carefully unscrew the cap on the scroll case and take a look at its contents.
The scroll within is quite long, so you only unfurl a small portion. You squint at the scroll, trying to angle it so that the faint torchlight streaming through the window shutters illuminates the surface. Elegant, cursive silver writing covers nearly every inch of the vellum, the calligraphy so perfect it looks like it might have been formed on the scroll rather than written.
You haven't the slightest idea what any of it says. At first you think it might be a completely unfamiliar language, but then you recognise the characters as being Human script. Upon closer examination the scroll is actually full of shorthand and abbreviations, though what for and what their significance is escapes you. For all you know this is some sort of deep alchemical text, but you simply lack sufficient background knowledge to interpret it. With a heavy heart for such a missed opportunity for gleaning new knowledge you cap the scroll case and put it back in the back.
You duck out of the house and shut the door behind you, then look up into the torchlight. A moment later, you realise that the street is not torch lit. A moment after that, it occurs to you that sunset has already happened and therefore cannot be the warm orange glow you can see rising from the other side of the village. Then you hear the screaming.
[Stealth: 11+3] You scramble through the streets, ducking to shadows to avoid the confused pairs of figures leaving their houses to see the commotion. After about seven to eight minutes of running you reach the hillock where your camp is and get a decent view of the village; the forge, barge and a handful of houses on the river-side edge of the village are all blazing merrily with cheerful orange flames. A crowd of villagers is busy setting up a bucket chain from the river and desperately trying to deal with the fire.
"I admit that could have gone more smoothly."You turn around to find Olon and Bomrek stood at the edge of the camp, smelling strongly of nightsbane. Bomrek smells rather more of alcohol and blood, although you attribute that in part to the crimson mess all over his chest and beard. He hefts a small iron strongbox under one arm, splashed somewhat less liberally in claret as well. Snang is behind them, pulling on a set of grey troll leathers. She gives you a nod as she buckles up the straps.
"Run into trouble?" you ask.
"Nah," says Bomrek, patting the strongbox. You hear the clink of coinage within.
"Town's gonna need a new smith, though.""And a new militia chief, for that matter," says Olon.
"I was considering asking for a bonus for all this trouble, but Bomrek's luckily dealt with that already. Now, the scroll?" You hand it over. Olon uncaps the case and examines the scroll briefly, then slips it back in and seals it again.
"A pleasure doing business, Grazlocke. We're going to skip town for a bit, probably head toward Waterhills to cash this in. If you need a hand again, there's a fellow named Uta Pitchworths in Mudcups who sometimes helps us out. He'll get you in touch with us; but next time pay in cash.""Or whores!" The Victual Brothers cackle at each other and then head off down the hill.
Snang stands to attention in front of you, neatly decked out in her troll leather armour. She has a belt with four fine steel knives at her waist, a quiver and an unstrung composite bow on her back.
"So, boss. What's the plan?"Vitality: 4 (Heavy bruising, bound leg wound. Slowly recovering.)
Full
Status: Alert
Kills: 2 human hunters.
Inventory: traveller's garb & hood
1 Ornal charm (around neck)
1 plain iron hunting knife
1 -iron quill knife-
1 writing kit
crude maps
1 medical kit (+4 to medical checks, 4 uses remaining)
a fire piston
8 days' beef jerky
2 sprigs of nightsbane (in packet)
7 copper coins (Gilded Confederacy - badger / three barrels)
Book - Secrets of the Masons by Thrut Belovedsmokes
Book - The Gilded Confederacy: A History by Usel Morosebleaks
Book - 1293 Summer Trade Tables by the Waterhills Merchant Guild [+2 to Negotiation when used as a reference.]
Book - Ruins of Akmeshnikus (The Tempest of Prides) by Arkoth Pulleywhites
In the Wagon
1 lantern (w/ 3 pints of oil)
8 snares
3 bear/man-traps
ragged, formerly fine black clothing
several jars of pickled swede
Book - Predatory Beasts in the Velvet Jungle by Torn Washworthy
Expert Administrator
Proficient Historian |
Proficient Law Scholar
Skilled Geographer
Competent Negotiator |
Competent Persuader |||
Competent Liar ||||
Competent Judge of Intent |
Adequate Dodger ||||
Adequate Leader
Adequate Knife-Fighter
Adequate Stealther |
Novice Wrestler ||
Novice Athlete |||
Novice Wound Dresser
Novice Animal Handler |
Dabbling Butcher |
Dabbling Forager
Dabbling Pump Operator
Dabbling Biter |
Dabbling Suturer
Languages: Perfect Goblin, Fluent Human, Broken Dwarven, Poor Elven
Contacts
Rist Easespices - A gregarious Dunish trader operating in the Mudcups area.
Bomrek Victualbronze and Olon Victualsteel - The Victual Brothers, a pair of amoral dwarven mercenaries.
Other Figures
Uta Pitchworthy - A man in Mudcups who acts as a go-between for the Victuals.
In the Party
Snang Cutthreaten - A goblin hunter/snatcher you found imprisoned in Pilemurk.
Vitality: 6/6
Armour: 3/3
Inventory: 1 set troll leather armour, 4 -steel hunting knives-, 1 -composite horn bow-, 1 troll leather quiver [20 wooden arrows].
Skilled Stealther
Skilled Archer
Skilled Knife-Fighter
Skilled Mechanic
Competent Dodger
Competent Trapper
Competent Butcher
Competent Athlete
Competent Thrower
Adequate Forager
Adequate Armour User
Adequate Wrestler
Novice Leatherworker
Novice Bowyer/Fletcher
Special (Hunting): While travelling with Snang in natural environments, food is safely and automatically gathered each day.
Author
Topic: Goblin (Read 13512 times)