Session 4 (part 2): Enter Shalelu

[Read Part 1 first]

Game Date: Tue 06 Sept. 4711 A.R.

The next morning was warm and rainy. While ordering breakfast at the Dragon, Ameiko Kaijitsu (the owner) mentioned to the party that Aldern had left just before dawn, and that he didn't leave a message for them. During breakfast, a couple of travelers came into the barroom, and told Ameiko that they had seen the elf Shalelu crossing the South Bridge into town. At this, Ameiko brightened, and the group saw her give a bunch of orders to Bethany, her head of staff.

A few minutes later, a tall Elven woman strode into the bar. She was very beautiful in that otherworldly Elven manner: she stood about six feet tall, with very long pointed ears that stuck through her shoulder-length forest-green hair. Her eyes were the deep blue-black of a clear sky an hour past sunset, and like the eyes of all elves, had no whites. She wore hide armor, had a longbow and quiver on her back, and an Elven curveblade at her side. She also wore a headband which sported brightly-colored feathers.

"Ameiko, it looks like you can't get rid of me just yet," she declared when she entered the room, a wry smile on her face. She strode over to the bar, and gave Ameiko a brief embrace.

"You know you're always welcome here, Shalelu, even if we weren't expecting you back until March." replied Ameiko, "Bethany is getting your regular room ready as we speak. Ale?"

"Of course. And some eggs and bread if you have any, thanks." She sat at the bar, looking around the room. Ameiko poured her an ale then stepped into the kitchen. Shalelu raised he glass toward the party then took a long swig.

Declan stood and approached. "Good morning, m'lady! They seem to know you around here, but I don't believe we've met. My name's Declan." She shook his hand.

"I am Shalelu of Mierani," she replied. Declan introduced the rest of the party.

"You are correct that they do know me around here," Shalelu said, "I've made it my business to patrol the nearby woods for the past several years and to help keep the goblins in check. Nasty creatures, but they mostly keep to themselves. I was on my way back to Mierani for the winter when I heard of the attack on this town, so I decided to check on the various tribes to see what the little terrors were up to. I haven't seen any of you here before-- were you here during the attack?"

The group told Shalelu what they saw during the attack on the Swallowtail Festival and their role in repelling it. She seemed impressed. The party asked her about the goblins.

"Well, I've been working to keep those goblins away from civilized folk for years. It's actually not all that hard-- goblins are clever, but also stupid and lazy. It's usually pretty easy to keep them fighting among themselves to the extent that they don't much bother anyone else. Something has changed recently, though. The five tribes seem to be working together, and they're stirring up trouble all over the region.

"Ten things you need to know about goblins if you plan to tangle with them:

1. Goblins hate horses. While they ride their disgusting rat-like goblin dogs, and will ride a worg if they can convince it to take a rider, their hatred of horses is matched by their fear of them.
2. They hate dogs even more. It's about the only creature they hate more than horses, and in this case, the feeling is mutual-- dogs seem to hate them right back.
   
3. Goblins raid junkyards. To goblins, the trash piles of larger and more civilized creatures are a treasure trove of raw materials to make tools, weapons, and armor.
4. Goblins love to sing. The scary part is how catchy their melodies are, although their lyrics are distasteful at best and horrific at worst.
5. Goblins are sneaky. An angry goblin is a noisy menace, chattering away in its guttural tongue, but any goblin can become silent as a mouse and slip away into the shadows at a moment's notice.
6. Goblins do crazy things. They are extremely clever in coming up with new and interesting ways to be cruel, vicious, and sadistic, but are hard to predict. Goblins seem generally incapable of thinking their actions through to their logical outcomes: like hiding in a lit oven, or stopping to steal valuables (or food) in the middle of a fight.
7. Goblins will eat just about anything, including people, or in a pinch, each other. They are also voracious, and given enough supplies, will eat a dozen full meals a day. Goblin camps rarely have that quantity of supplies on hand, which is one reason they go raiding so often.
8. Goblins like fire. Burning things is one of their favorite forms of entertainment, especially if what they light up is alive and can flail around for a while. Like I said earlier, they're sadistic little creeps.
   
9. Goblins are lazy, and prefer to bully other, weaker creatures into doing their dirty work. Unfortunately for the goblins, they are usually the weakest creatures around. This also means that goblins seldom finish what they start.
10. Goblins believe that writing steals your soul. Really. They think that writing steals the words out of your head, and that you can't get them back. While they don't have a written language, they do draw elaborate narrative pictures of their exploits."

After Shalelu finished the short lecture about goblins, Sheriff Hemlock walked in. "Thanks for coming back, Shalelu. I was hoping that you could tell the mayor and me what you found out. It looks like you found our new town heroes. I came over to ask if you would all please come to a meeting in my office at the garrison in one hour. Would that work for you?"

Everyone agreed, and the sheriff said that he'd see everyone there.

[Continued...]