Chapter 1: Burnt Offerings

Five years ago in a village named Sandpoint, the local cathedral of Desna was burned to the ground, taking Father Toblyn and his aasimar daughter Nualia with it. Today, the first day of autumn, marks the opening of the new cathedral and the Swallowtail Festival to commemorate the grand opening. The square before the church quickly becomes crowded as locals and travelers arrive, and several merchant tents featuring food, clothes, local crafts, and souvenirs are there to meet them.

The service begins promptly in the morning after the crowds are gathered. The turnout for the opening speeches is quite respectable, and the four keynote speakers each deliver short but well-received welcomes to the festival. Mayor Deverin’s friendly attitude and excitement prove contagious as she welcomes visitors to town and jokes about how even Larz Rovanky, the local tanner (and notorious workaholic) managed to tear himself away from the tannery to attend, much to everyone’s but Larz’s amusement. Sheriff Hemlock brings the crowd down a bit with his dour mood, his reminder to be safe around the evening’s bonfire, and his request for a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives in the fire that claimed the town’s previous church five years ago. Fortunately, Cyrdak Drokkus is more than up to the challenge of bringing the crowd’s mood back up with his rousing anecdotes as he delivers a not-completely-irreverent recap of the long process the town went through to finance and construct the new cathedral. He throws in a bit of self-promotion at the end, as is his wont, inviting everyone to stop by the Sandpoint Theater the following evening to check out his new production of "The Harpy’s Curse," revealing that the lead role of Avisera the harpy queen will be played by none other than the famous Magnimarian diva Allishanda! Finally, Father Zantus steps up give a short speech thanking everyone for coming before declaring the Swallowtail Festival underway.

At noon, Father Zantus and his acolytes wheel a large covered wagon into the square, and after recounting the short parable of how Desna first fell to earth and was nursed back to health by a blind child who she transformed into an immortal butterfly as a reward for her aid, they pull aside the wagon’s cover, releasing the thousand children of Desna — a furious storm of a thousand swallowtail butterflies that swarm into the air in a spiraling riot of color to a great cheer from the crowd. Throughout the rest of the day, children futilely chase butterflies, never quite quick enough to catch them.

Lunch is provided free, at the expense of Sandpoint’s taverns. Each brings its best dishes—this event is a marketing push by the taverns as much to win new customers as it is to feed a hungry crowd. It soon becomes apparent that the darling of the lunch is, once again, Ameiko Kaijitsu, whose remarkable curry-spiced salmon and early winterdrop mead easily overshadow the other offerings, such as the Hagfish’s lobster chowder or the White Deer’s peppercorn venison.

A sharp retort, like the crack of distant thunder, slices through the excited crowd as the sun’s setting rays paint the western sky. A stray dog that has crawled under a nearby wagon to sleep starts awake, and the buzz of two dozen conversations quickly hushes as all heads turn toward the central podium, where a beaming Father Zantus has taken the stage. He clears his throat, takes a breath to speak, and suddenly a woman’s scream slices through the air. A few moments later, another scream rises, then another. Beyond them, a sudden surge of strange new voices rises—high-pitched, tittering shrieks that sound not quite human.

The crowd parts and something low to the ground races by, giggling with disturbing glee as the stray dog gives a pained yelp and then collapses with a gurgle, its throat cut open from ear to ear. As blood pools around its head, the raucous sound of a strange song begins, chanted from shrill, scratchy voices.

Those of you who understand Goblin can understand the words of the song:
You are all near the front of the crowd and people are beginning to panic and are running into each other in their haste to get away from the chaos.

Searching for the source of the commotion you see a group of 3 goblins just a short distance away from you. They are ransacking a nearby cart, stuffing their faces with food. As you see them, they turn to look at you, smile maliciously, and charge!

Forgot I've got one more action... If the goblin dies after his attack, Xandak will move to the square north of Goblin 3. If the goblin does not die, he will make one more attack at Goblin 2.

As Gongar rushes forward he lashes out with his whip, catching the leg of G3 and pulling his legs out from under him. He lands with a crash just as Gongar lands a solid blow on G1's chest with his hammer (4 damage).

Xandak charges to the opposite side, toward G2. His first blow connects solidly with the goblin's gut (9 damage), and as the thing begins to double over in pain his other palm rushes upward. The blow connects with the underside of the creature's nose (5 damage) and, with a loud crack, the creature falls over dead.

As Gongar's whip lashes out again it catches nothing but air as G2 is lifted upward off the ground by the force of Xandak's blow.

So since the Goblin died, Xandak used the rest of his turn to move to the square north of Goblin 3

G3 shakes the stars out of his eyes just in time to see Daire's flail-head slam descend on his face (11 damage). Daire then swings out toward G1 but narrowly misses.

Urthask looks around for anyone to help, but it appears that no one the he can see has been severely injured. Most people are just scraped up from running away from the chaos and are avoiding the great, growling bear as much as possible.

Malik rushes up, swinging his staff at the goblin's head. The crafty creature easily pushes aside the blow with its nasty blade and leaps in to attack the vulnerable staff-wielder. He hits once, drawing a line of blood on Malik's side (2 damage) before spinning to attack Gongar wildly, missing terribly.



G1 has taken 4 damage
G2 and G3 are dead

Back to player turns! (I'm sure you'll kill him on this round!)

The goblin manages to step back out of the way of the first swing, but steps forward into the path of the backswing, and the hammer slams into his skull, knocking him down where he lays very still. He is obviously dead.