Alexander, Brother Niar, and Sir Derrick have been in the city of Sandpoint for several days up until the day of the Swallow Tail Festival. Each of them with their own reasons for staying. Alexander, after guiding several of the festival’s guests to the city, provided further assistance by hunting game and selling the meat to the butchers. Brother Niar remained per the request of Father Zantos, who required his blessing on the behalf of Abadar for the deity’s wing in the new church. Derrick, being the noble knight of Dezna that he is, awaited the sanctifying of the church for his own personal reasons.
The three adventurers, still strangers to each other, waited for the sanctification of the church near its front steps. A large crowd of people bustled about the square, purchasing various goods like curried salmon, winter mead, jerky, and various other foods while they waited for the commencements to begin.
After leaving his trusty dog, Redcoat, underneath a carriage, Alexander went to barter with the butcher in the square with clean meat from a fresh kill. While attempting to get the butcher's attention with the large slab of venison on his back, Alexander was approached by well armed individual who introduced himself as Valaros, an escort and guide to various young women. Valaros presented his broken shortbow to Alexander, and explained that the string to his bow had snapped. Without any string of his own, he was unable to repair the bow. Alexander quickly sold his goods to the butcher, and helped Valaros fix his weapon. Tired of babysitting young maidens, Valaros stayed at Alexander's side, and regaled him with stories of adventure from his walks across the plains of Varisia.
With Valaros at his side, Alexander walked over to an impromptu wooden stand, painted with various bright colors and adorned with equally as colorful pieces of cloth, which served as a stage for a puppet show of the church's history. Alexander watched as a paper cutout church waved in the background covered in flames while a motley patched priest puppet gave a rousing speech to the crowd and quickly bounced his way in to the burning church. Amused by the puppet presentation of the church’s history, Alexander looked up the massive new structure and stood impressed. Only five years after the church was burned down, it had been rebuilt on a larger scale with five wings for the various faiths and its main building for the worship of Desna, the goddess of dreams and luck.
Derrick enjoyed the festival's various foods and drink, standing by the food merchants amongst the crowd of people holding up their coin. Wearing his scale armor, his large shield on his back, and his sword on his side, he towered over the people around him. He was approached by a gentleman who introduced himself as Elden Foxglove, who shook Derrick’s hand and quickly asked, "Are you a hero," without missing a beat. A bit at a loss for words, Derrick didn't know how to respond to the man’s question, but Elden quickly assured him that he looked like a hero and heroes were quite a rare commodity. With the same swift stride and quick gestures that Elden used to ntroduced himself, he left Derrick to join the rest of the crowd.
Brother Niar, the sole Dwarf present in the square during the festivities, kept to himself near the front of the new church. He quietly drank the winter mead provided from the Rusty Dragon stand, and watched people walk by. A young girl who smelled pungently of flowers, with long fair blonde hair, and loose clothing, took a spot at his side with a look of guilt on her face. She asked Brother Niar if his god was merciful to those that pronounced their sins. Brother Niar looked the young girl over and gravely told her Abadar judged the sins of his followers with an even hand that dealt out punishment and reward to those who deserved as such. She introduced herself as Shalis Vaigner, and expressed her dislike for judgmental gods before disappearing back in to the crowd. Brother Niar resumed his drinking with her depature.
Alexander, Valaros, Derrick, and Brother Niar all congregated at the Rusty Dragon stand for a mug of winter mead. As they drank to the sanctity of the church, Father Zantos walked up to the dais in the middle of the square, garbed in pristinely white robes and red vestments laced in gold. The crowd quickly quieted and waited for the priest to speak. He took a deep breath, and just as he was about to speak, the sound of a dog screaming filled the air, followed by a high pitched laughter. Alexander looked to the carriage where he had left Redcoat across the square, and saw a retched goblin standing next to his dog's eviscerated corpse.
The people in the square panicked and ran towards the exits of the square. A sudden loud beating of tribal drums mixed with a cacophonous goblin song instilled further fear in the crowd. Alexander quickly notched an arrow, pulled his bow taut, and sent the arrow flying towards the goblin that killed his dog. The arrow struck, but the goblin lived. The creature gave a gleeful squeal, grabbed Redcoat's corpse, and charged Alexander with the corpse as a battering ram. The goblin pinned Redcoat on to Alexander's armor, and followed his victory with a vulgar goblin dance. Valaros drew his twin shortswords and swung at the goblin, but it deftly skipped around the blades. Derrick drew his own sword and cut the goblin down where it stood, putting an end to its mockery. More goblins poured in from various entrances, which invigorated Brother Niar to join the fight. Calling upon Abadar's blessing to Derrick's blade, Brother Niar then drew a mace and waited for the goblins to approach him. Without breaking a sweat, the party quickly dispatched the goblins foolish enough to enter the square.
Once the band of goblins in the square were dispatched, the adventurers’ senses returned to the beating drums in concert with a horrid song and people’s screams. Alexander, Derrick, Valaros, and Brother Niar quickly formed a war party and searched the city to find the source of the singing. They followed it to a large bonfire that was meant for the celebration. A hideous goblin female in a leather bikini laughed upon adventurers’ arrival and changed her song to a dirge. The goblins around her rushed the party, but each of which were pelted with arrows, smashed their skulls with a mace, and sliced to ribbons by sure blades. Derrick quickly cut the female goblin's throat and put an end to her song. Not having enough time to search the corpses for anything of value, Brother Niar grabbed the female goblin's corpse and dragged it behind him for further inspection when the situation settled.
The group followed the sounds of a woman's scream to the front of the Hag Gish pub, where they saw Elden Foxglove cowering for his life in front of a goblin riding a furless dog creature alongside a pack of goblins. Elden fled behind a barrel while the group rushed up to meet the threat. Derrick quickly felled the dog riding goblin by decapitating it in one swing, which was then followed by another slash that cut the goblin's mount in two. The remaining goblins were dispatched by the group.
While the party stood over the corpses of their enemies, the sound of drums were replaced by the footsteps and yells of the city's militia. It appeared the goblin siege was coming to an end. Elden slipped out from behind his cover and rushed up to Derrick, singing the paladin's praise to the world. Derrick took the man's rambling's in stride while sheathing his sword. Father Zantos , stumbled past the group in blood smeared tattered robes with a gaze that saw nothing. Brother Niar attempted to speak with him, but the priest only bemoaned the loss of an unknown object. When pressed as to what the object was, the priest shook his head and staggered away.
With the city no longer under siege, the group entered the Hag Fish Pub. Brother Niar still carried the female goblin's corpse behind him, and was quickly met by the pub's owner, Yargy Quinn. The man's battle worn body could not be mistaken for anything other than that of a former adventurer. His left leg was missing and his face was covered with various scars that nearly left him blind or without a nose. He yelled at Brother Niar for dragging in the goblin's filthy corpse in to his pub, which was filled with people mending their wounds from the battle. Brother Niar stood his ground, stating the corpse and its possessions were his bounty. Yargy looked the dwarf once over, grabbed a knife from the pub’s dart board, and proceeding to stab the goblin's corpse. Once the corpse resembled more an unrecognizable tatter of flesh, the pub owner's rage subsided and he welcomed his new guests.
Yargy gave his usual introduction to his establishment by bringing the adventurers' eyes to a hag fish the size of a dog in a fish tank filled with dank water. Yargy introduced her as, Nora, the pub's hag fish, and explained that any person capable of drinking a mug of her tank water would win a pouch of coins that hung over her tank. Brother Niar, no stranger to drinking brews that would curl a man’s toes, stepped up to the challenge. He quickly gulped down the water and just as quickly expelled it from his body. The wounded crowd gave the best cheer it could muster for the dwarf's attempt.
After Brother’s Niar’s noble attempt of stomaching the vile water, the group was approached by Shalis Vaigner. Brother Niar quickly recognized her smell of flowers before he could even see her. She told the group about her father, Venn Vaigner, who is the owner of one of the common goods stores in the city. With a feigned attempt of distress, she explained to the group that she needed an adventurer to clear out the store’s basement of an infestation of large rats. Her eyes locked on Alexander while she told her story. She asked him to help her slay the rats, and insisted that he alone should do it for her. Alexander, indifferent to Shalis, agreed to help her for a cost. Shalis clapped her hands in excitement and directed Alexander to arrive to her family store in the morning. Alexander shrugged.
The group noticed The Hag Fish Pub’s resting quarters were either covered in bandages and blood or dwarf vomit. They left the pub and went to the Rusty Dragon to look for lodgings. When they arrived at the inn, they were met at the front by a large iron statue of a dragon above the door. Amiko Hajitsu, the inn’s hostess with a beautiful smile and long pigtails that never appeared the same color twice, greeted the group once they walked in. She looked distracted while she spoke to the group. As she explained to the group that they could stay at the inn for without cost due to their assistance in protecting the city, Alexander noticed a splash of dry blood on her blouse sleeve. He asked her if she was fine or if anyone was injured inside the inn, but Amiko brushed off his questioning by looking away from him and bussing a counter. Derrick attempted to speak with Amiko to find out what troubled her, but even his charm was unable to make her speak.
Tired from the day’s fight, the group ate and went to their rooms. Brother Niar grabbed two bottles to help aid his sleep. Prior to drinking the second bottle and falling in to bed, he checked his spoils from the goblin bard, and to his annoyance found that none of her equipment was enchanted. Not even the leather bikini.
The next morning, Derrick wakes to a knocking at his door. Upon opening the door, Derrick was mildly confused as a man in red tights and pointy shoes walked in, jingling with each step. With a grandiose low bow, the stranger introduced himself as the manager of the Sandpoint Theater. He asked Derrick if he had ever been a part of a production, and explained that Derrick’s good looks were meant for the stage. He mentioned his partnership with the famous Sandpoint actress, Alishanda, and explained that Derrick would look stunning next to her on a stage. Derrick, at a loss for words with the man’s red wardrobe and outrageous demeanor, told him he had never worked on stage and such a thought had never crossed his mind. The man, refusing to be let down, told Derrick that if he changed his mind he could head to the Sandpoint Theater and get a taste of being an actor. The man bowed again, with his head nearly touching the ground, and left Derrick’s room.
While the group ate downstairs in the morning, Elden Foxglove joined them. He repeated his gratitude for being saved from the goblins and invited the group to a boar hunt. He spoke of an area he knew of where the largest boars near in the region roamed. The group took it in to consideration and left to Shalis’ family store.
Although Alexander had been instructed to arrive alone to clear the rats, he brought the group along. Shalis opened the door to her store with a smile that melted in to a frown when she saw Brother Niar, Derrick, and Valaros behind Alexander. Again she insisted Alexander follow her down to the basement alone. After negotiating a payment and obtaining some vials of alchemist fire from Shalis, Alexander agreed to head downstairs alone. Believing that if anything went wrong, the group would still be nearby, he followed Shalis downstairs. At the bottom of the steps, Alexander found a room filled with boxed goods and a straw bed in the back of the room. Shalis turned on him attempted to seduce him. Alexander, with no use for such a scrawny city girl, rebuked her and pushed her away. He turned to leave when he heard the sound of loud footsteps coming from the top of the stairs. Cursing his lack of insight on the ambush, Alexander drew a weapon and attempted to intimidate Shalis in not revealing him. Shalis glared at him, and ran up the stairs, crying for her father. Alexader quickly put away his weapon and met the mountain of a man that was Venn Vaigner. He attempted to explain Shalis’ trickery, but Venn refused to listen and punched Alexander in his face. Venn ordered Alexander to leave his store, which Alexander gladly agreed to.
Once outside of the store with the group, Derrick asked Alexander about the swelling around his eye. Too angry to speak, Alexander only grunted in reply and kept walking back to the Rusty Dragon. The party looked at each other and followed.
