Part 1: Consecration

At the realization that, once again, there were no more enemies to fight, the rage slowly left the halfling's eyes as he glared down at his bloody foe. He sneered, at the sight of the blood on his sword, and seemed about to continue swinging, until, with an effort, he pushed the anger and hate back inside himself.

It took quite an effort, and allowed the pain to come pouring back in. Sagging visibly, Gozzik wiped his blade off on his fallen foe, snapped the shaft of the arrow in half, and began looking around for a dagger to remove the head, when Sai approached. Holding a rusty dogslicer with so many holes filled with dirty blood and hair that nobody could possibly be cut without being infected horribly, he paused to look up at the maiden. "I know," he replied, mournfully, as he slid the blade into his belt for further, future inspection. "Or, at least, I get that a lot. And you fight well; at least, from what I could see. I was a bit distracted." Although he tried to hide the pain and fatigue covering him, the man really looked more like a child that was on the verge of tears, than a warrior recovering from excessive strain, a malevolent spell, and an arrow-wound.

When the priest offered healing, Gozzik gratefully accepted. "My name is Gozzik," he offered, by way of introduction. "Gozzik..." the word 'Giantsbane' caught in his throat, and he paused, briefly. "Gozzik Goblinslayer, it would appear, at this point," he finished, ruefully. Nobody wants to see the famous halfling that defeated the great goblin threat, he thought, unhappily.

As the last of their foes fell, Aegon exhaled heavily, loosening his grip on his sword. He rapidly checked his surroundings to ensure there wasn't a third cadre of goblins waiting to continue the ambush lurking somewhere else in the square. Once satisfied that the threat had passed, Aegon spoke a single word and ran his hand over his bloodstained blade. The blood that had collected from the furious melee disappeared almost immediately, as did the bloodstains on his clothing and cloak.

The blood on the blade, however, to a close observer, looked almost as though it had been absorbed into the grime and dirt that coated the blade's surface. But that was nonsense, of course. Prestidigitation was a simple magic and infinitely useful in situations like this. Surely the blood had been removed by the spell.

Aegon sheathed his blade and took stock of his surroundings. He'd hardly noticed in the fray, but he was shocked to find that two of his circumstantial allies were what appeared to be a human child and some sort of six-armed abomination. Truly, this was the most unusual Swallowtail Festival he'd attended in quite some time. He folded his arms as the priest spoke, lost in thought. "Indeed... I wonder if the Great Dreamer led me to this place for this specific purpose."

Aegon crossed the square while the others talked, retrieved his dropped whetstone, and brought the three original goblins over to pile the bodies with the others. He went through each goblin with the efficiency of a hunter field-dressing an animal, searching for hidden coins or scraps of paper or cloth that might give an indication as to their affiliation or purpose.

Once he'd finished searching the goblins, he stood and dusted his hands off. He snapped his fingers, and any blood that had gotten on him during the search vanished as it had before. "Aegon Skye."

He glanced quickly at Saitylvaness and his brow furrowed. He could not get a good read on this woman. She was clearly well-trained with a blade, fresh from the former crown jewel of Elven society, and was out seeking gods-know-what... There were too many coincidences for her to have not been sent for him. Perhaps she sought him under a different name? It was best not to jab the hornet's nest and leave it be. After today, he would never see her again. He'd make sure of it.

"It does seem out of character for the goblins to not have a specific objective in mind beyond simple death and destruction. And to have stood and fought even after outnumbered? Something seems amiss. I'd not yet let my guard down."

A short squeal emerged from one of the side alleys that had sprang up around the square where the cathedral was located in, before a headless body of a goblin was sent flying into the square. Emerging behind it, a young woman shouldering a dangerous looking polearm and with a large covered shield slung over her back took a look around. Spotting her target at the foot of the temple dedicated to his Goddess, the woman lightly jogged towards the priest of Desna, nimbly avoiding the littered bodies of goblin lying here and there on the street. Her heavy looking cloak swirled around her when she stopped in front of Father Zantus, giving him an easy smile as she leaned her weight onto the bloodied weapon.

"Heya there, Father." The Cheliax woman spoke to the priest of Desna, "Looks like you have the place under control, Father." She noted the other defenders aside from the clergy of Desna themselves, and offered them each a nod of acknowledgements. Aside from Tom the wandering lutist, who had been in Sandpoint almost as long as she had, the others were probably newcomers or travelers who had come to see the revelries and festival. And though they found another type of excitement instead, she was rather happy to see that they were willing to make their hands dirty to help others.

Let's see, there's the two elves, male and female, the halfling, probably a relative to that brave fool Ser, and-

At that point, Veritas turned around and stepped out from behind the elves, where their bodies had been covering his two extra pairs of glowing arms out of her view. Jan's smile grew strained and while it remained on her lips, her demeanor changed.

"Please tell me that 'that one' is not hostile." Despite the cool delivery and toneless voice, there was a hint in her tight grip on her weapon and the change on her stance that she probably was hoping for the opposite, and that she was ready to use her weapon to hack and slash at the abomination. Fortunately, Father Zantus's repeated assurances and the others' lack of hostility at the six-armed thing, subdued the woman's aggressive stance though she still remained wary at the sight.

"You'd think a six-armed guy walking into town would have made the news back at the Kitten. Imagine it, he could ask for three times the VIP treatment and the Madame would get paid three times." Despite her joke and the smile on her face, the words seemed to be delivered with no heart. Instead of continuing, Jan turned back to the priest.

"Father, just to get this out first, the Kitten could use some aid from Desna. We were attacked," she waved off the upsurge of movement, and continued "but we managed to drive some of the goblins off and killed the rest." She finished, absently running her left hand onto her belt, where three axes were hung, all slightly bloodied.

"But we had some injuries and one heavily wounded, and though we didn't expect Coleen to be actually adept in some divine magic, she was hard pressed just to keep the guy stable." She glanced to the halfling this time, "Perhaps you know of a Ser Deedee-mousse? Ye high, wears a cobbled-up armor, rides a dog, and acts like some Taldan knight? He is brave man, a fool, but brave." She nodded.

"He charged the goblin line by himself, gave the rest of us some time to be properly kitted up." She didn't mention the goblins she took out with darts when they weren't watching. "But he gave as good as he got, and when we came to his rescue, it was just a proper clean up while he and his ride take a well-earned rest. That is, until we heard Miss Olyssia screams." Jan thought back.

"The goblins had made it into the Kitten, and one was already tearing into the boys and girls. That brave fool Ser moved again. It was awesome to watch. He leaped and took the blade aimed at Miss Olyssia right here," she pointed to her solar plexus, "and it went out the other side, and he still had the time to bash in the goblin's head before going on the business of bleeding to death." Father Zantus started and rose up to move, but again, Jan waved him off.

"Well, that was when we found out Coleen could do some healing magic. Didn't tell if she was a cleric of which god though. Maybe one of the more kinky ones." The woman added, "After the second clean-up, the Madame send me up here to get either you or one of your acolytes, Father. Coleen patched up the worst casualties, but we still need more patching up and we're holing up for the moment, in case the goblins come back. So here I am, trade me for one of you, though of course I'll escort you back there first." She finished her long explanation, still with one of her everpresent smile.

"Well master Gozzik, you fought with such ferocity you'd think the enemies were dragons. Let's see if I can't help you with that arrow wound, shall we?" Veritas took a seat by the halfling and, if the berserker permitted, set about to the task of deftly removing the arrowhead.

When Jan arrived and started speaking, displaying clear uneasiness, the half-elf took a nod of acknowledgement as she spun her story. She wasn't attacking, so neither would he. "This is a temporary state, ma'am. A result of evoking the powers of my chosen monastic path. It just so happens said path was originally created by an entity that needed more arms to do maiming with. But worry not, I make it a point not to harm those who won't harm others in some way. If you'd like, I could use them to give your back a massage later." As if to emphasize the joke, his top pair of arms stretched and soundly snapped their fingers.

He looked back at Aegon. "And yet for all their uncharacteristic behavior they seemed to accomplish little more than their usual fare. A distraction at best. But who or what would stoop so low as to use goblins to do their dirty work, and what would they do that required the attention of an entire city elsewhere?"

Jan bit off the first impulsive reply: 'So your monastery worships a six-armed demon then?'

And her second one: 'I have seen the result of those kind of massages. There were plenty of blood and gore from my parents. No, thanks.'

Instead, Jan only gave the half-elf a smile. There were similarities, the arm, the glow, but there were also differences. But then again, she saw two demon summoners calling their demons differently. Maybe it was specific to the demons they called?

The half-elf didn't have the exotic look of a Tian-descent, just his elf half. His features mostly looked Avistan. So perhaps her enemies were closer at hand than she expected..

At Veritas's help, the halfling gritted his teeth, his big brown eyes moistening with the pain, although he did not whimper or cry out. "Thank you, I was looking for a knife to cut it out myself... But that was easier," he said, panting slightly with the pain.

Later, when Jan arrived, Gozzik raised his eyebrow at the woman with the axes. Although the look was intended to be quizzical, it looked more confused, a child making faces at an adult. "I don't know your deedee mouse. Contrary to popular belief, there are quite a few halflings in the world, and we don't all know each other," he stated, patiently, although his big brown eyes and solemn look made him appear more the precocious youngster than anything else.

Tom o' the Six Strings

"Though they do see eye to eye with eachother" said Brego with a look of amusement "The goblins were likely to come over the wall to the north, any other entrance would've taken too long and earned an early warning..." he paused, surveying the carnage and the slowly organizing town guard. The chaos seemed a good enough cover to leave he thought, he hadn't planned on staying in Sandpoint for much longer if he could help it

"Well... it seems you all have the situation well in hand. I think I shall check the room I rented for the night still exists" he said tipping his hat to the group

Father Zantus greeted each of you with a firm handshake, except for Veritas, who he awkwardly approached with both hands extended, not sure which of the monstrous arms to take hold of. "Well it is my distinct pleasure to make your acquaintance, and it is truly a fortuitous turn of fate that hath brought you all here on this day," said the clergyman, searching for suitable words to express his gratitude.

"I'm no expert on goblin battle tactics..." he added, addressing the ongoing conversation regarding the reasons behind the invasion "...but there sure did seem to be a lot of them! You'd be best to speak with Sheriff Hemlock about such things."

When Jan approached and recounted the tragedies that had occurred at the Pixie's Kitten, the cleric listened with great care. "Yes, I'm sure scenes like that which you describe have been repeated all over town. It is fortunate that the carnal desire within the loins of this brave knight brought him to your side in the time of need." Father Zantus took the opportunity to offer some veiled admonishment of the goings on at the notorious cathouse, as self-righteous religious types often tend to do. "Yes, of course, help will be sent. If you give me a few minutes to gather some scrolls, I'll send one of my acolytes with you..."

Before the priest could finish what he was saying, he was interrupted by the disturbing sounds of conflict cutting through the evening air. With the battle having been quieted in the immediate area, there was no escaping the now familiar, high-pitched cackle of goblins coming from somewhere north of the square, which were then followed by loud growling noises as if two animals were in confrontation, and a male human voice calling out loudly for help!

"Oh dear, it sounds as if the trouble has not yet passed... seems to be coming from the direction of the White Deer," said Father Zantus as his head snapped reflexively in the direction of the noise. "On second thought, maybe you won't be on your way just yet?" he wondered aloud, turning back toward Jan. Then, addressing the entire group, he pleaded, "I won't blame any one of you if you decide to leave us now, but the town of Sandpoint will be forever in your debt if you would find the source of this desperate appeal and rid us of this goblin scourge once and for all?!"

Saitylvaness Sylvari The Knight of Stars

Looking over the newcomer, she gave the woman a nod of respect. "Will you join us in finishing off the Goblins? You seem as though you're quite capable." She stepped up to the woman and extended a hand. "Saitylvaness Sylvari, a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh Tom dear, won't you sing me one more tune to dance to?" Sai drew her rapier with a smile. She hadn't known the minstrel long, but it seemed he had greatly underplayed his skills at the talent show, and he had fair skills with a blade. Saitylvaness found herself wondering who this mysterious minstrel really was.

Turning to Aegon she gave him a cold look as she spoke. "I suppose you'll come as well? Being a ranger and all, your skills might be useful if we need to track any that escape." She didn't give him time to respond. Turning to the priest, she gave him a slight bow.

"As a Knight of Stars, it is my duty to protect those in need, where ever or who ever they might be. I'll see to it these Goblin's pay dearly for their attack on your village."

Saitylvaness looked around at the rest of the group, she was unsure if they would come, but she gave them a slight smile before turning to seek out the rest of the Goblin threat.

Aegon smirked as Saitylvaness requested his aid. "'fraid tracking goblins isn't too difficult... Just follow the stench."

He drew his sword once more, and set off at a jog towards the source of the screaming. "What are you all still standing around for? People are in danger!"