As told by Imp, Half-Orc Paladin, and recorded by the scribe,Aelric
Arc One
II.
As Dusk once again fell upon the party they continued on their way into Honiesale, finding no issues with any guards or bands of people in matching outfits(5). Damian had been correct in his earlier opinion that it was better to wait until they weren’t in the area to move forward. Now that we were all in town, sans the thirsty Bard and Necro– who had gone their own way for the moment. Now that the party found themselves questionably safe within the town’s quiet streets they decided that before moving on to the Magistrate’s dwelling to hopefully gain more insight about the loss of his child, they should probably find The Bard.
Luckily, he is an easy elf to find so long as you can find the nearest source of hard drinks and mediocre music. The town’s source of both was known as The Fat Dragon Inn, where Cliera was indeed found nursing a headache from either too much ale or from the beating he had been described to have taken from The Flying Boars(6) in a field. This information was passed on to the party via an almost unsettlingly friendly halfling with an incredibly loose tongue. Something incredibly useful for gathering information in a small town, although in the midst of talking about the Flying Boars, he did drop all of his hair– unclear if there is a curse or magical protection with the Flying Boars at the time.
The halfling was a friend of the bartender (and probably everyone else) and therefore ensured that the party received a well-poured drink and a small bit of information, though not as much as one would expect when there is quite literally a poster inquiring for Adventurers to speak with Nick, the Head Bartender. It was observed that while most of this town was quick to talk about the goblin problem, they were largely unconcerned with the Magistrate’s missing child and typically assured that the Magistrate was a strange man(7) and not worth talking to.
On any other day, Imp would say that he did not necessarily care for the crafting of a musical tune, however on this day Cliera proved himself with the assistance of Shawn as the two launched into a lute ballad(8) that enraptured the entire tavern the rest of the party the chance to needle Nick more about the goblin issue and the missing child. Nick proved himself to be an incredibly difficult man to deal with as he refused to give up any information until his basement’s rat problem was promptly dealt with. Once they completed this task he promised information, but nothing else.
As one could expect from a bar needing help from Adventurers for a rat problem, these were not normal rats.
The party, sans Shadow who took the musical showing as an opportunity to sneak from the tavern, descended into the unnaturally dark basement even for those with dark vision, rats with diseased purple gazes began to pick at the party. As the party began to slay the rats, they discovered a bone effigy in the corner, with familiar red sashes tied to outstretched arms. It was imbued with goblin magic bringing malevolent disease to this place.
And it was incredibly difficult to break.
It wasn’t until a third sash from the party’s growing collection was tied to the effigy, and elicited a magical pulse that they recognized that the sashes were likely some kind of magical tether and that removing them may be the solution to their rodent problem.
Unfortunately, while removing the sashes did seem to destroy the effigy, it did manifest a new problem in the form of three monstrous, five-foot-tall were-rats. As the party launched into battle, Shawn proved to be incredibly useful with his arcane abilities(9) though he was still dropped due to his small stature making him an easy target. Cleira, having what may be the best day of his recent life(10) despite being beaten down by the Flying Boars earlier, was promptly able to heal him before Shadow, having rejoined the party, was able to drop the last of the trio of were-rats thus seeming to bring an end to the magical infestation.
The party gathered up the sashes, as they proved themselves useful, and made their way back up to the bar(11) to the apparent shock of the bartender. Suddenly he began offering all types of thanks and payments that he had previously denied. His behavior was incredibly unsettling to the group who was beginning to suspect that he had been responsible for the infestation, but before anyone could question him the Flying Boars once again made an appearance and stabbed the man, claiming him to be a member of The Red Sashes. As what happens with multiple groups of matching outfits, more Red Sashes appeared and the two groups delved into fisticuffs until Imp decided he had enough of this and broke the two groups apart.
As the Flying Boars backed off, the apparent leader of the Crimson Sashes welcomed our party to go and talk to the goblins. And then, because what this town really needs is yet another group in similar outfits, the town guard approached the party to inquire if we were the Adventurers that the Magistrate had sent for. Like many members of small towns they did not have much information or connection but by the gods do they dislike the goblins.
As the night had been long, the party found rest in Shawn’s hayloft to recover their strength and prepare for the next day’s adventure. Beginning with a trip to the Magistrate’s home before finding the Goblin’s cave and hopefully his child in a mostly-alive state.
As with most inhabitants of the town, Shawn was familiar with the man guarding the Magistrate’s gate. This man, Adam, was just about as helpful as everyone else with giving out information other than that with his child missing the Magistrate was a complete wreck and incapable of doing his job(12). The party was unable to gain an audience until they potentially returned with the child, and were also unable to procure horses for the journey so trudging through the woods they went with about as much information as they began this journey with.
The lair of the Goblins was all spiked rocks, bone statues and metal braziers burning with an unearthly red fire. The red carpet leading the way into potential doom and despair was, however, a rather nice touch. Six sentries stood watch nervous with their crude spears and ostentatious helmets but with a firm resolve. With the stolen red sashes tied around their arms, the party was about to lie their way into the realm of the Goblin King. They had apparently been working with these “Red Sashes'' for quite some time.
The cave was home to a thriving Goblin community. Their cave system was a twisted echo of the many great banquet halls of man, full of stolen tapestries, treasures, and furnishings. An interesting scent filled the air of rotting flesh and baking bread. And finally, at the end of the worn velvet carpet, on a throne of stone and bone sat the Goblin King himself. His silks were worn, much like everything else in his hold, the powdered wig seemed of something from another time and the gold crown upon his head held the misshapen and novice marks of Goblin craftsmanship.
Much like the banquet at the start of this adventure, the party was introduced to their host with a list of titles– though these were much shorter and easier to remember than those of Galathor. The King was proud of what men lacked but that goblin-kind had much of: cooperation. Financed by the Red Sash it allowed them to build their hidden kingdom.
Hoping to not have to fight an unknown number of Goblins, Imp knelt before the Goblin King and tried to play into his game. Imploring his sensibilities, not that he really had any, and asking for the Magistrate’s child so the party could leave without any need for pain or death. The King was as talkative as he was proud. Looking down and laughing at “you humans”(13) and their inability to get their priorities straight. He laughed as he brought out the Magistrate’s child– an infant axebeak– and boasted about how they were paid to steal the young creature.
Cleira and Shawn, sensing yet another chance to captivate an audience, broke out into another rousing musical number bringing much merriment to the band of goblin-folk and their King. They are, somehow, much easier to deal with socially than human folk. With amusement in the air, Imp took the opportunity to ask to hold the young axebeak while Toorgin and Shadow slipped into darkness, waiting for the opportunity to either fight or flee unseen. Imp was then able to toss the creature to his hidden allies and allow them to slip away back into the forest to safety with their query.
As the song came to its close the goblin king, not noticing that the “Magistrate’s Child” had disappeared made it known that their welcome was over and it was time for them to depart, which they did with ease until returning to the sentries at the mouth of the cave.
Here they learned a valuable lesson that I now impart to you: never give a goblin gold lest they ask for more.
After being initially swindled the party was threatened to give up the gold they didn’t have or face death. Small creatures often forget how small they are until faced with the monstrous. Imp was able to utilize his natural menacing nature to intimidate the band of sentries to abandon their resolve and allow the party to meet up with Toorgin and Shadow off in the safety of the forest.
There, while speaking on their life as (relatively new) adventurers to Shawn, the halfling was so utterly flabbergasted by the fact that they had all received schooling that he split into two(14). It was also decided by the party that the axebeak was going to stay with them, even if they had to steal it back from the Magistrate after completing their initial quest.
As the party continued their return to town Damian found them on horseback, obviously flustered and explaining that he had no idea what he was leading the party truly into. It was paramount that the party return to Necro and the wagon immediately so they could make their return to Athkatla and the safety of the Adventurer’s Guild.
As they did turn from Honiesale they did once again run into the locals, headed by Adam, who demanded the return of the Magistrate’s child, but they were easy to convince and thus the party was able to keep the Axebeak, (which seems to now be bonded with Toorgin) and Shawn with them as they made to return to their guild.
5 . Imp would also like it to be recognized that as a rule matching outfits are generally a bad sign.
6. The Guards in Black and White the party had come across twice on their way to Honiesale
7. At this point, Imp was under the impression that if he was not mentally unwell, he may be dead.
8. An “early classic” known as Do U Want 2 Hurt Me?
9. Wondrously illegal arcane abilities
10. Assuming what Vadania has said is true and he really was once an incredibly famous musician
11. With a brief trip to the lauder to fill up on dried meats and cheese since we were previously denied payment for their services.
12. Imp is quite insistent of the fact that one should be completely inconsolable with the sudden stealing of one’s child despite what the rest of the town may think.
13. There is not a single human in this party.
14.It seems that the halfling’s natural arcane abilities are incredibly volatile. He does not seem bothered by the mysterious happenings at all. The earlier loss and then overnight regrowth of his hair also seems to be connected to this.