Runelords 01.0 - Welcome to Sandpoint

As part of a routine mission, recently graduated Pandemonium privates Eamon, Virgil Miro and Khyrralien were prepared to be summoned to Materia in order to supervise the reopening of a church of Yoma, a standard procedure when any church of Virtue is rebuilt following its targeted destruction. They were to arrive at the small village of Sandpoint in the country of Calele, in the south of Akroum. Before leaving, Virgil sent word to his Materian acquaintance Luna Estaban, who lived on the island of Columbia not too far from that point. He told her that he was going to Sandpoint, and she should meet him there, since she should leave her house more. Though they had something of a strained friendship, she agreed, because she really couldn’t argue his point, and it was only a relatively short boat ride to the coastal Akrouman town.
When they were summoned, the trio found themselves in a dim, crowded room. It was immediately apparent that the magic that had called them was painfully weak: not only were their abilities hampered to the extreme, causing them to be clumsy and to forget their spells and skills, but apparently it was so weak as to have rejected all of their magical equipment, leaving them bereft of everything but their plain clothes. The circle that had called them was still on the floor, attended by its caster: a very old man who looked at them judgingly. Virgil, being the only one who could speak Akrouman, introduced themselves, much to the man’s disregard. He introduced himself as Brodert Quint, and while he was pleased that the spell had worked, it certainly wasn’t meant to call three, and he was disappointed at the caliber of angels he had apparently summoned. With an air of dismissal, he offered them a single orange potion in exchange for watching over the church as it opened, as was custom. Khyrralien urged Virgil to bargain for some peanut butter on top of the pro-offered potion, which Quint relinquished with a sigh. He was dismissive and preoccupied, more interested in improving his ritual than informing the extraplanars of anything; when they asked questions about their location and mission, they were met with a sighed lament about how he had wanted ‘self-sufficient angels’. Unimpressed with the man's attitude, Virgil used his natural ability to take a human form and told Eamon and Khyrralien to wait there while he went to find Luna and some disguises for them.
Virgil stepped out of Quint’s small house and made his way through the village to the town square, where a festival of sorts had been set up. People milled about through cheery booths selling food and wares, and a stage had been set up in front of a brand new building: a large stone cathedral that must be the new church. Catching the eye of an outlandish Arroyitan woman with died hair and a dragon tattoo on her arm selling food nearby, Virgil greeted her as a tourist and asked her if she had seen a blonde Cafeyetan woman wearing a scarf around. She introduced herself as Ameiko Kaijitsu, proprietor of the Rusty Dragon Inn, and welcomed him to Sandpoint, inviting him to stay at her inn that night if he didn’t already have a place. She told him that they were in the middle of a yearly autumn festival, and he was lucky to have picked the day to arrive. In regards to Luna, she managed to handily pick her out of the crowd; thanking Ameiko, Virgil went to meet her.
Luna had arrived earlier that day and had been wandering somewhat shyly about the festival. She had learned that it was called the Swallowtail Festival: an annual holiday celebrating a myth that Yoma fell to the earth from heaven, was nursed back to health by a young blind girl, and took the form of a swallowtail butterfly. Virgil explained to her how they had arrived, and that because they were so weakened, they couldn’t disguise themselves magically and would have to purchase mundane costumes; he added that, because all of his things were in the Bag of Holding that had gotten left in Pandemonium, he had no money, so he hoped Luna could spot him some gold.
Entering the booth run by the general store, they were met by a man and his daughter, Ven and Katrine Vinder. They said they were in the market for some cloaks and something they could use to cover their friend’s face. Virgil tossed ideas about openly, despite the oddness of his statements and demeanour, but he remained friendly and was received reasonably well. Eventually, he settled on purchasing a ream of fabric that Katrine used to sew a rough burka at Virgil’s description. When she worked, he made open attempts to flirt with her, much to both Luna’s and Ven’s vocal displeasure. Katrine seemed used to her father’s overprotection, however, but muttered about how it was her sister that he should be more worried about. When the face covering was finished, Luna paid and the pair departed, returning to where Virgil had left the other two.
The returned to find Eamon and Khyrralien still standing where they had been summoned, the latter mocking the man in Etherian while he ignored them both soundly, focused on his arcana. Virgil introduced Luna to everyone; she took an interest in the circle, seeing that it was a blend of both modern arcana and ancient Valparisan runes. He nodded at her supposition, and asked if she was a scholar; he was a bit disappointed when she said that archaeology wasn’t her field, being more of a biochemist herself, but she offered to put him in touch with others from her institution, and he told her to bring him any ancient artifacts of interest she might find.
Virgil set Luna to work disguising Eamon, which was made slightly difficult by their inability to communicate with each other; meanwhile, he disguised Khyrralien. When they finished, Eamon looked a passing human, though Khyrralien just looked like a looming wraith, draped in fabric with his antlers fully displayed. There wasn’t much to be done about it, so the group set out.
Returning to the festival, Virgil told Luna to take Eamon and go scope out the church, while he and Khyrralien returned to the general store so he could purchase some cigarettes. Luna lended him some money, and the group split. Virgil and Khyrralien stopped to speak to a man running a game for some children, where they had to knock over a block tower in the shape of a lighthouse. The man explained it was based on the ruined old lighthouse over yonder, which predated the town, had never had a light even when it hadn’t been half-destroyed, and now only served to ruin their coastal view. After quickly purchasing some cigarettes and matches, they wandered back to Ameiko to see if there was anywhere they could purchase weapons. She said that the only man who dealt in weapons was the blacksmith Larz Rovanky, but he was closed for the day due to the festival. Thanking her for her assistance anyways, the pair moved to rejoin with the other two.
Meanwhile, Luna and Eamon found all the entrances to the new church locked. Moving to the front once more, a carney called them over to play a game: shoot the cut-out target of a lion-headed horse in the heart twice with a bow, and win a pie. Luna paid and tried to explain to Eamon how the game worked; he won handily, and received a peach pie for his efforts. The carney explained to Luna how the monster the game was centered on was the Sandpoint Devil: a strange creature no one had ever seen, unique to the area, but who local farmers had been attributing lost livestock to for years. It seemed that sheep would go missing, and the only thing found in their place were stray horse hairs. Thanking the man and moving back to the church steps, Luna got Eamon a fork and he both learned what taste was like, and his first two Materian words: peach pie.
Just as Virgil and Khyrralien approached them, they were shooed off of the steps in preparation for the opening of the cathedral. Three people took to the stage, though there was a noticeably empty seat. Speeches were given from the mayor, Kendra Deverin, from the sheriff Belor Hemlock, and from the head of the church, "Father" Astala Zantus. They regretted to inform everyone that the fourth attendee, Lonjiku Kaijitsu, the owner of the local glassworks, was ill and couldn’t attend.
At the end of the speeches, the father announced that it was her honour to officially begin the Swallowtail Festival. A cover was pulled away from a nearby wagon, releasing hundreds of butterflies into the air to the delight of onlookers.
Suddenly, a shriek broke through the crowd; the townsfolk parted suddenly around a limping dog. It’s throat had been slashed, and with a miserable moan, it dropped dead on the street. There was a cackling sort of sound near the butterfly wagon, to where Khyrralien ran to investigate. Virgil, meanwhile, made towards the stage to get a better vantage point of the square, where people had begun running away in a panic. Khyrralien found, cowering under the cart, a goblin. It slashed out at him and shouted, signaling three other goblins to leap out from within the cart. They cheered that they would kill everyone, and began to run amuck, causing even further panic among the gathered people. As the goblins began to ransack the festival, the townsfolk ran screaming. From among them, the sheriff and Ameiko drew their swords and began repelling the invaders alongside the town guard. Khyrralien, unfazed and dreamy, saw the fight going on and remarked the goblin’s distasteful attitude before goring him on his antlers. Luna panicked and threw an explosive at a goblin who was climbing a building, burning it badly and knocking it out; she then immediately proceeded to feel badly and approached it, stabilizing its wounds so that it wouldn’t die. Eamon, unable to communicate and utterly confused, dithered while Virgil, after being denied a sword from the sheriff due to lack of on-hand spares, sarcastically resigned himself to being useless in his current state and began attempting to charm goblins, in an attempt to gain some information.
Eamon picked up a weapon from a fallen goblin as a second group sprang out from a wagon of tinder, meant for a bonfire to take place later that evening. As the goblins lit the cart ablaze, one began singing a chant that riled the others even further. Eamon and Khyrralien continued to attack the marauders, the angel with his borrowed weapon and the fey with his antlers. Virgil successfully charmed a goblin named Ripgut, whose demeanor was still less than friendly, and began having a discussion with him. While he was obviously reluctant to give information, whether due to insolence or stupidity it was hard to say, he learned several useful things: the goblins had been sent to “kill everyone”, though it was fairly obvious to any onlooker that wanton property destruction was likely all they were ever likely to accomplish; that they were to meet at the north gate once they had finished there; that there was another part to this “plan”, that Ripgut didn’t know anything about other than that it had to do with the graveyard behind the church, and; whoever made this plan was no goblin, but someone Ripgut called “leader”: a tall person who wasn’t really their leader, but who the chieftains said that they had to listen to, which was a strange thing considering the goblins’ obvious and vocal derision of all “longshanks”.
Meanwhile Luna, panicked at the chaos and confusion, dropped the unconscious goblin she had been carrying and rushed over to the church, where she had spotted a goblin attacking the father, setting her robes ablaze. Aiming away from Father Zantus, Luna knocked out the assaulter and joined the father, asking if she was alright. The father was scared, but unharmed save for the damage to her clothes. Eamon joined them presently, the goblin menace routed for the second. As the father healed the wounds the angel had sustained, a cry from the north caught their attention. Khyrralien, who had been wandering over to join them due to the lack of available opponents, rushed to where he had heard the sound: a goblin had injured him, and he longed for bloody revenge for his sullied tunic. When Luna pointed out his retreating form, Eamon rushed after; with the confused resignation of one caught up in the moment and a quick assurance from the father that she was alright, Luna followed.
They found at the north gate a well-dressed man under attack, from a brutal-looking goblin wielding a relatively huge sword and riding a rat-like creature like a horse. The feral mount tore at the man’s leg as he cried out for help. Eamon rushed forwards, slaying the beast with one deadly thrust of his borrowed knife. The goblin jumped off the dead creature and attacked, as Luna pulled the man away from the battle. Eamon was not to be swayed, and with equally-deadly skill he slew the rider like his mount, nearly tearing the goblin in two.
The man introduced himself as Aldern Foxglove, a visitor from a nearby city who had only come for the day’s festival. As Luna helped him to the church, he explained that he was staying at the Rusty Dragon, and he insisted that they come see him when this crisis had ended, because he owed them for his life and he would have them repaid. The father quickly healed him with her magic, and he thanked them again as they shooed him away to the safety of the inn. By this point, the goblins had been mostly suppressed; those who had not been slain or knocked unconscious by the guard were being quickly hunted down. Eamon returned to his pie to find that it had survived the melee untouched, and he gratefully began to continue eating it. Ripgut had meanwhile made it quite clear to Virgil that the fun was over, and he had to return home to his mate. Virgil escorted him bodily to the gate, where he let him go. The goblin scarpered away into the night without hesitation.
Rejoining his teammates by the church, Virgil explained that he had learned some interesting things: the party wasn’t over yet, it had just apparently moved to the graveyard. As Virgil lead Khyrralien, Luna, Eamon and the father around the back of the building, he explained what he had learned about the goblin attack and its mysterious leader.
Category:Rise of the Runelords