Lambor's Hold

"Good woman, Lathander be praised" smiles Belathor, approaching with his hands in the air, "We are friends. I come with healing herbs sent from my church to yours. We also seek shelter, if you will have us."

"As long as they have a warm bath and a place to dry my clothes." Narissa says bitterly. "Oh and a bed, the memory of sleeping in a bed is so far in the past."

She looks about the town as they head towards the large building, "Also, what things? What things would we be with?"

Father Belathor shoulders his backpack, hoping the herbs have remained dry in this poor weather.

Narissa stomps the mud from her hooves before entering and shaking herself off. She wrings water from her hair as she stalks across the inn towards the largest fireplace where she can at least warm up. The chains and ornaments on her horns are tangled together and her tail twitches anxiously as she warms her hands.

Taking quick stock of the situation she puts her pack down, and leans her spear against the fire place before crouching down and warming her hands, sticking them as close to the fire as her demonic resistance to flames lets her. The half devil woman glances about looking for a serving girl, she’s so very very hungry.

"My goodness," Taz whispers to herself, once the party enters the tavern and finds such a dour air. She offers a smile and the occasional, cheery wave to any who meet her gaze as she looks over the room, and ultimately can't resist trying to pull someone into conversation.

"Afternoon!" she chirps to the woman behind the bar, as she slips onto a stool there. "I have to tell you, your tavern here is such a welcome relief. This weather is not fit for anyone to travel in. How's the day find you, friend?"

Seeing some of his companions go inside the tavern, Arphaxad double-checked on the caravan animals, waved at the unfortunate group ordered to stay behind to guard it then strode toward the warmth of the building. Before he set foot on the threshold however he noticed something odd. It was quiet. too quiet. granted it's already in the middle of the night but that didn't stop people from carousing in taverns like this. Where was the noise of mugs, plates, spoons, and forks clinking? where's the music? where's the raucous laughter usually attached to this kind of place? The Dragonborn fighter shrugged thinking they must be having a slow day and entered.

The heat from the room assailed him like a dwarven smith's furnace. But where that was harsh and scalding, this warmth was like a lover's caress after a week-long spat. He closed his eyes and breathed the familiar scent of an establishment shaped by repeated custom: the scent of wood smoke from the fireplace, food cooking in the kitchens, ale spilled inside throats as well as floors, and the remarkable tang of unwashed bodies. Ah, at least some things never change, he mused to himself. Then he opened his eyes.

Everything he imagined what the establishment would look like in his mind was properly in their order. mise en place as his culinary mentor Dorgon Seymar would have said back in Blackstone hold. Everything is in place except for two things:

First, all the eyes of the dozen or so patrons were on him and his companions. That wouldn't be an issue in any other places like this but the people here are pointedly looking at them rather than just taking a glance.

Lastly, all of them were armed. Sure most of those ''weapons'' look more like farming implements or tools for cooking but seeing common folk armed to the teeth was a little weird if not disconcerting.

As he surveyed his surroundings he notices the tiefling mage warming up at one of the fires in the room. The bard is being her usual cheerful self again, already chatting up with the innkeeper who was a large woman for a human. Arphaxad shrugged and decided to sate his thirst with whatever spirits the tavern could offer. besides, the atmosphere was pregnant with violence. like a candle left inside a room of black powder. He wouldn't want to ignite it with him just standing there looking intimidating and all.

''Hullo! a mug of your finest please and what do you have here in means of provender?'', He said all that in a lowered voice so as not to antagonize the locals. It's good to be in a place where you're not bartering for your life or struggling against the elements. He won't do anything to change that for the worse if he could help it.

Narissa chuckled from the fire, "Weather fit for neither fiend nor fowl." She snickers ever so slightly looking at Taz. "As the song bird you’re the fowl and which makes me the fiend." Narissa grins showing just the barest hint of her oversized canines.

She stands, still dripping water from her cloak and tail, picks up her pack and spear and heads across the room toward the bar where Taz and Arphaxad. "Food first, then mead then bath." She thinks a moment, "Maybe bath then mead." She shrugs and begins untangling the decorations in her horns.

Taz flashed a smile towards Narissa in response to her comment. "How clever you are," she said. "You ought to pen some poems, the way you like to turn phrases. Ooh!" She paused to flutter her hands briefly in excitement. "We could set them to music, even. That would be a way to pass time, wouldn't it? We could write our own songs."

Arphaxad took a seat nearby, and Taz shot him a smile as well, though she let him inquire about the available menu uninterrupted.

"Oh, some hot soup sounds like just the thing," she said. "I'll have a bowl of that, and a cup of that wine, too, please, when you have a moment." She folded her arms atop the edge of the bar and leaned over them a bit, fairly happy to just be out of the weather and in a warm and dry place, even if the atmosphere was less-than-welcoming. She looked around at the rest of the room, but didn't comment on the stares or the hesitance she saw in the natives.

"What're you called, friend?" she asked, turning back to the barkeep. "My name's Taz. This is Arphaxad!" she added, with a nod towards the dragonborn at the end.

Belathor avoids the bar itself, instead heading to the fire. He removes his back pack, placing it down the dry and stands drying himself, taking in the smells. He nods and smiles as locals catch his eyes, "Blessings of the Morninglord upon you."

Narissa digs through her pouch and produces 4 silver coins, "Fresh water," she says tapping her hooves on the floor as she leans over the bar, "warm soup sounds amazing, but do you have any meat to go with it?" Narissa smiles showing off just enough of her teeth for the inn keep to see her canines again. "Oh and a mug of whatever he's drinking if you don't mind."

"I've never thought about writing down the stray thoughts that pass through my mind," She says turning to look at Taz, her tail swings back and forth lazily, "never occurred to me that people might like what I have to say." Narissa smirks, "Most folk look at me, clutch their purses and head quickly off down another street."

She glances about the room. "I wonder if they have a smithy, I'd really like to get some jewelry for my tail."

Arphaxad tasted the soup and found it to be very good much to its appearance. granted the ingredients were sparse and he would like some bread or a little meat to go along with it, but he learned a long time ago to never look a gift soup by its recipe. He overheard Taz and Narissa talking about making music together which he found not too bad. This tavern would really use a little merriment. Taking a sip from a glass of that purplish wine (has a nice kick and full-bodied flavor to it) he decided to make inquiries about Lambor's Hold as a whole. He slipped a couple of silvers toward the Inkkeper and asked, ''What can you tell me about this town? and why are the people here armed like they are expecting to fight a dragon? yes, I'm dragonkin but you don't need to worry about me burning the whole village to the ground I'm housebroken! Har!!''

Seeing the dour expression of the innkeeper never changing despite his poor attempt to build rapport, Arphaxad almost turned to a pinkish shade of obsidian. ''Ahem, if you don't mind that is...''

"What things?" Narissa asks tucking into her soup with vigor, "The woman outside with the pig sticker mentioned them as well." She reaches into her pouch and pulls out yet more dried meat and dips it into the soup.

She glances past Darney wondering where exactly the room with the bath might be and then turns to look over at Erheim the smith. Craftsmen have to begin somewhere, she thinks to herself. Could definitely use some more meat on his bones thought. She takes the soup moistened meat and pulls it apart with her teeth.

"Well their loss, then, I say," Taz said, in response to Narissa's comment about people running at the sight of her. Food was served, and the bard's attention was pulled forward and towards Darney again. She listens, and takes in the names and details the woman offers while dipping into her soup and wine.

"Is Leffint here now?" she asks, brows lifting in interest.

"Did Mayor Durlim happen to mention what's going on in town?" Narissa asks handing a length of jerky to Mork.

She sips her wine as she waits for an answer. The tiefling blinks and then frowns as she tastes the wine, flat and watered down, she quickly enchants the contents of her mug to taste like something a little more to her liking before doing the same with her soup. It doesn't actually look any different but it suddenly smells a whole lot more wholesome.

"I can make yours better too if you'd like." She says with a grin, "Chowder or even a cream of potato." She points at Taz's biscuit, "I can make that taste like cheese or even sourdough if you want. It's really no trouble."

Narissa thinks a moment before clarifying quickly, "I have to have a frame of reference though, don't ask for something I've never eaten because I won't know how it should taste."

"That's pretty amazing," Taz said, with a little laugh when Narissa described the magic she could work on the food. "But. Uhhm. Rain check? I appreciate the offer, but I'm enjoying what I've got, so far," she chirped, with a furtive glance towards Darney. Though the idea of being able to flavor things on demand was appealing, she didn't want to risk offending the barkeep when so many in this place already didn't seem fond of the newcomers.

At the question posed to Mork, Taz turned to regard the caravan leader, eager to hear if he'd learned anything from the mayor about what had befallen the village.

If Mork had nothing to offer, Taz would surely make her way over to the mayor to inquire.

Arphaxad finished his stew and spirits and paid the innkeeper for them. Much as he would concede that magic can make food taste ''better'' there's no substitute for a meal made by one's own hands as Dorgon Saymar would have taught him. He then redirected his thoughts from culinary musings to the less than welcome news that Mork had delivered to them. Now the reason for the armed villagers was more apparent rather than the cryptic words of the innkeeper. Creepy crawlies and such. Out of the cauldron into the fire, it seems for them. What did those ''creatures'' look like? did the Mayor say anything about why they are being attacked and when did it start?, he asked.

The Dragonborn was sore and tired like the rest of the caravan members but getting sleep under the roof of a place where there's a high probability of getting crawled on by nasty buggers isn't in the top of his wishlist.

Finally somewhat dry, Belathor orders some soup and a glass of milk if it’s available.

" A lot of mention of creatures, but no one has put a name to them. I wonder how long they’ve been in the area."

Narissa thinks about it, "Some's stirring the creepy crawlies against the locals." She takes a sip of her wine, "Who does that? Druid? Witch? Someone who doesn't like the townsfolk that's for sure." She shudders, "I hate creepy crawly things, give me nightmares."

The tiefling grabs another piece of jerky and gnaws on it absently as she eats her soup and thinks about a warm bath. "Is there an ode to bathtubs?" She asks raising and eyebrow and glancing towards Taz, "I mean their should be one, it's probably bawdy. About a lusty pirate captain and her cabin boy or girl I'd imagine." She drinks more of her wine and looks towards the door where the bath is again.

"Sounds like an epic in the making," Taz teased with a laugh, in regards to the pirate ballad. She considered what information Mork shared about the town's troubles, though, and was bothered by the fact that no one could describe the problem any better than "ugly bastards". Maybe she'd regret her curiosity later, but for the moment, she couldn't think of anything she wanted to do more than go find the local hunter and see if he had a better idea of what was plaguing the village.

"Darney, where does Leffint live? Do you think he'd talk to us about it, if we went to see him? Maybe this vermin problem can be helped with a few more hands."

Aura was glad to be out of the rain but she noticed the atmosphere was rather depressing. "I have never seen a folk more in need of some fun then you lot." Auras order herself a drink said to her comrades at the bar "this storm is awful we best wait till it clears up before we got hunting for the source of the problems plaguing this town. In the mean time...." auras starts singing "so early in the morning the sailor liked his bottle o"

"Mm, that's probably wise," Taz mused, chewing on her lip while she considered Auras' comment. "But..." she waffled, wincing gently as she considered it. "I'm just gonna drive myself nuts all night, wondering what's at the root of all the trouble. I don't need to go hunt down anything tonight, but I think I am gonna go see if this Leffint guy will share some more information."

She finished the last spoonfuls of her soup, and then tipped back what was left of the wine. It wasn't gourmet, but she'd eaten far worse in her days, and had no complaints.

"Anyone wanna walk with me?" she asked, looking around towards those of the caravan who'd seemed most engaged in helping others.

"Oh for fire elemental’s sakes," Narissa says gesturing towards the back of the inn, "bath."

She groans hauling herself to her feet, "Fine but you owe me a back rub or a hair wash or you can untangle my jewelry from my horns or something, I don’t know." The tiefling gestures towards the door, "Let’s go before common sense overwhelms me and my sanity returns."

"Also if I get eaten by anything that I do not wish to be nibbled on by, I will be very cross with you."

The Dragonborn was musing what to do with all this information when he heard Taz ask her question. He wouldn't be able to sleep anyway without first learning more about the potential threat surrounding them. No time to get tired when there's a potentially evil thug around and he had been spoiling for a fight ever since their first encounter with the bandits in the forest. ''Aye I'll go with ye! If you can't sing or charm information out of him then maybe I'll shake it off of him...either way, we're gonna get some answers and I don't want ye to go out there alone we stick together aye?''

Belathor bolts down the rest of his soup, not wanting to miss out and keen to get away from the bar and smell of ale, "I'll come along. Fair barkeep, would you keep and eye on my pack, there are herbs there I need to take to the local temple," he hands his pack to the woman for safekeeping, only carrying his mace, shield and holy symbol along with his belt pouches.

Auras sighed "fine let me down this and we can go." She says indicating to her drink. Which she chugged and once empty slammed it down and said "alright let go!"

Narissa's grousing only drew a brighter smile to Taz's face, and she reached over to give the woman's forearm a fond squeeze.

"Don't worry, we'll look out for each other," she assured the tiefling. "And now that we've somewhere dry to spend the night, running about in the rain a little won't be so bad!" She turned when Arphaxad drew near, and smiled for him as well. She laughed a little at his exuberance, finding it oddly charming.

"Well I hope it won't come to that. Maybe we can help! And if he sees that we're willing to, maybe it'll coax him to speak with us." Belathor and Auras made moves to go as well, and Taz was excited to see it. One girl asking questions was just a snoop. A troop of people asking how they could help was a horse of a different color. Surely the hunter would talk, in the face of such an offer of help!

As they made their way towards the door and through it, Taz pulled her coat tighter about herself and spoke to the group.

"Perhaps he'd be more likely to answer our questions if he thought us an actual adventuring group," she suggested. "We could call ourselves something fun, and maybe he'd trust us with trying to help! We just have to think of a name that sounds legitimate..." she mused, tapping her lips in thought until they made it outside. She pulled her hood up over her head then, glancing up to the dark sky while waiting for the group to all get outside.

That guy is really determined or really daft to go out in a storm like this Arphaxad thought to himself as the party reached the hunter's hut. Seeing no signs of habitation in the house only made him more impatient. ''Ok now what? do we knock or break the door down? whatever we do, we should do so post haste unless ye want to look like prunes soaked in this here deluge!''. As he was saying this he is already looking for signs or tracks on the ground or anywhere where the hunter left off to.

"I’m not sure traipsing around in a storm, no matter how confident our tracker is,is a good idea."

Narissa stands there her shoulders drooping, her hair plastered to her face and water running off the tip of her nose. "Who goes out in this weather anyway? I mean besides us?" Her tail swishes back and forth irritably beneath her cloak.

Taz stood at the edge of where the forest thickened, and looked out into the darkness. Even with her heritage allowing her to see in darkness better than most, it would've been hard to see much in that tangle of dark woods. With the heavy downpour on top of it, it felt like an impossible thing to try and find Leffint tonight.

"I can't shake this bad feeling," she said to Arphaxad, who was looking for tracks nearby. "What if he's hurt?" But he was a hunter accustomed to these woods, and he had a far better chance of navigating them on a night like tonight than their disparate little party did. Reluctantly, she turned around to face the rest of the dripping, sodden party. She shrugged.

"It was worth a look. I suppose we should head back to the inn. As much as I want to check on Leffint, it doesn't seem wise to go traipsing through unfamiliar woods in a storm like this. Especially if there are bad things about." She looked from one to the other, and if the rest were in agreement about turning back, she'd follow them back to the inn.

"We could be the Travelers," she suggested, trying to cheer herself up by toying with names, as though they were a real adventuring troupe. "Since we've all come from different places, and we met while caravaning. Orrrr... the Beguilers, after how Auras sweet-talked the bandits into working with us," she said, with a playful grin towards the human.

''I don't know...the tracks seem fresh. If we could just take a quick look at the edge of the forest to see the general location he traveled then we can have a better idea where to look for him once this damnable storm clears up!''

Arphaxad didn't want to have a possibility of finding their query to be close dashed because of dampened spirits but he agrees that going deeper into the woods is dangerous. But he just needs to make sure.

Ye can go ahead inside but I can't rest until we've tried everything to search for that guy...I won't be journeying deep inside anyway and if there's a chance we can blunder into him, slim as it is I'd grab it by the horns! Ahem...no offense to you Narissa..

Other than subtle tell-tale signs of the hunter's passage through the woods, any information to be gleaned from the wet surroundings wasn't forthcoming. wet and defeated, the weary Dragonborn huffed and began to walk toward the inn not before cursing the skies: Blasted rain! by Moradin's hammer you haven't seen the last of me!

Narissa huddles up in her cloak and hood as Arphaxad looks about at the tracks and shivers. "It's okay," she replies to the dragonkin with a wink, "been a while since anyone's grabbed me by the horns."

She waits and watches in the eaves of the house as he searches through the muck and heads off into the woods a smidge before returning with a disappointed expression on his face. "This weather's only fit for ducks not dragonkin or demons."

"I will see you as the sun rises, to greet the Morninglord," smiles Belthor.

Taz reached up to put a reassuring hand on the dragonborn's arm, sympathetic to his frustration.

"Don't worry, Arphaxad. We'll find him tomorrow," she told him. She mustered a smile for him despite the cold rain. "It was worth trying, and very brave of you, but Narissa's right. This storm makes it too dangerous to keep going tonight. Come on, let's get dried off and warmed up again."

She was still wringing out the edges of her coat in the doorway when Mork approached, and she looked properly regretful at having taken them all back out into the rain for nothing.

"I thought we might find the local hunter, Leffint. Darney said he might know more about the creatures troubling the village. But we checked his house and he wasn't there." She nodded at the news that there was just one room left, and shrugged with a small smile.

"It'll be no worse than the camping we've been doing. And at least it will be warm and dry," she told the others, hoping their spirits weren't too dashed at the news of close quarters.

Narissa claps her hands together happily when Darney says this and smiles showing off a mouthful of carnivorous teeth, "Yay! Bath bath bath."

She resists the urge to shake like a dog thus splattering water everywhere. She pulls off her cloak and heads to the door squeezing as much of the water out of it as possible. Her top is backless and is clasped together with a metal buckle barely visible behind her head. Narissa has a pair of lumps in her back near her shoulder blades and unusually strong musculature around them. The back of her skirt also does up with another metal clasp in the middle of her back and there's a large hole with a flap over it that allows her tail to poke through from just above her backside.

"How big is the tub? I can heat stones to help you warm it if you want, speed things up." She smiles as she finishes wringing water from her cloak, "That's how I did it back home I had a rain barrel and these big river cobbles, I'd warm them up and toss them in and it got the water all toasty warm really fast." She thinks a moment about the home she'd had and the unnatural purple fires leaping up through the roof of the building the last time she'd seen it and sighs. "Well I used to," she says suddenly looking depressed, "I wonder if my rain barrel is still there."

Hearing Taz's words she looks towards Father Smythe and grins, "I don't know, the Father might have taken a vow of chastity and three young ladies such as ourselves might prove overly tempting." Her tail swings up and she takes it in her hands holding it close as if embracing it.

"I'll allow you your privacy ladies, the temple should have a bed for me. In fact me take these herbs and I'll wonder over there now. Goodnight all." Belathor reclaims his bag , pulls up his hood and makes his way to the local Temple of Lathander, hoping the message that was send ahead of him arrived safely and he will be expected.

At the mention of the room set aside for them, Arphaxad nodded and didn't say a word, and climbed up the stairs into their shared rooms. The room was spacious enough to accommodate four to five persons but there are only two beds inside. That didn't bother the Dragonborn much since he has resolved to sleep on the floor. removing his wet clothes and putting his armor on a chair in the corner of the room he fished out some dry clothes from his pack, clothed himself, unrolled his bedroll in the corner then flopped down to sleep.

As an afterthought, he took his battle axe with him, hugging it like a side pillow. No creepy crawlies are gonna slither up to me unhurt I promise that

"Oh," says Belathor, slightly perturbed, before approaching the woman, Murya.

"Blessings of Lathander upon you. I am Belathor."

Narissa heads into the tub room and quickly doffs her clothes. Standing naked in the room she uses her magics in an attempt to dry them, she can clean them for sure but she's never tried drying them. If that doesn't work she hangs them up as close to a fire as she possibly can before removing the jewelry from her horns and climbing into the tub of warm water. The tiefling lets out a long contented sigh as she relaxes letting the warmth soak into her flesh and bones. Her tail swishes about in the water contentedly and she sinks as deep as she can into the tub.

A thought materializes in her brain as she lays there and she curses herself for not thinking about bringing a flagon of mead in with her. "Darney?" She says loudly as she begins to untangle her hair from her horns, "Is it possible to have something to drink while I'm in here?""

"Pleasure to meet you both," Belathor pulls the large leather pouch from his pack, "You should find everything you require."

Belathor considers for a moment, then speaks his mind, "I expected to find some kind of church or temple here. Does Lambor's Hold not consider a place of worship important?"

Auras sighs at the bar as she drinks her second drink And wonders about the hunter hoping he alright.

Narissa relaxes in the tub for a good long time letting the warmth of the water loosen off the knots in her muscles after so many days of walking. Eventually she scrubs herself clean and climbs out of the tub to dry herself. Using her magic again she cleans her clothes for the second time before putting a knee length loose fitting linen tunic on and not much else. She gathers up her belongings and heads back into the bar and upstairs to the room. She ignores the looks and stares she gets as she passes through the common room, she's a tiefling, she's used to being the odd one out.

Arphaxad is already curled up on the floor asleep and Narissa briefly considers this for a moment before declining and taking one of the two beds. Leaning against the headboard she pulls out a deck of cards and begins to quietly play a game of solitaire to pass the time and allow herself to mentally unwind before falling asleep.

Taz cleaned herself up birdbath-style in whatever bucket of clean water she could get ahold of, and then took herself to bed. It'd been a long and trying day, and she expected to sleep hard in spite of her concerns about the hunter and the creatures plaguing this village. In the morning, when the weather was more agreeable and the sun was up, they'd figure things out. They, the Travelers? The Wagon Brigade? The Unlikely Heroes? She drifted off to sleep while pondering names they could assign their odd little party.

Belathor considers this for a moment, not even considering a town might be too small for a church. He wondered if this was to be his life's purpose, helping build the town's population and found a proper church, but first it will need protection.

Nodding, Belathor smiles, "If there's anything I can do while I'm here, please call on me. Have a pleasant evening."

Heading to the room he sheepishly enters, "Looks like I'll be bedding down with you folks after all."

Ooc: I'm on the floor too I guess

"What the--aaahh!" It takes Taz a second to understand that what she's seeing is neither part of a nightmare nor just a play of the shadows in the room. But when it sinks in, she sits bolt upright and starts hollering for the others to wake. "BUGS! Arphaxad, Auras, Beltathor, get up!"

She thrusts her hand into the component pouch on her belt, and fumbles to find the bit of wychwood there before hurriedly singing out the spell for Dancing Lights. Four globs of magical light manifest right in the faces of the two largest centipedes, hopefully surprising/distracting them long enough for the others to get themselves off of the floor.

Belethor pulls himself up and starts to call on Lathander

"Lathander. bring your light and burn like the Sun!"

Flame-like radiance descends on the centipede (C2).

Auras sees the swarms and see the cleric go down cursing she cause her hands to grow ice to the touch and casts dissonant whispers and the attempts to cause the large centipede in front of her flee

"No! You get away from him!" Taz barks, drawing her rapier and eyeing the centipede attacking the downed cleric. She leaps off of the bed towards it, and slashes at it with her sword. "NARISSA WAKE UP!" she shouts, at the sleeping tiefling over one shoulder. She sends a bit of magic to help put some pep in the horned one's step. "Help me 'rissa! Help, help me 'rissa!" she belts out, trying to make enough noise to rouse the other woman. ((Also, a d6 Bardic Inspiration.))

Narissa grumbles and rolls over her crimson eyes open up and she blinks before sitting bolt upright in bed letting out a little shriek. Her hair is tangled in her horns and tumbles down around her pointed ears. She looks at the centipede nearest her head and it's swarm of creepy crawlers draws some magic in through her shoulders and releases it through her fingers. The room cools noticeably as she does so and then she jumps to her feet grabbing her dagger.

Arphaxad was awakened to a living nightmare. Despite vowing to not get jumped by creepy monstrosities while asleep, he woke up to the same insectoid swarm gnawing at his imagination. But this one was real, and it gnawed at his scales and had mortally wounded Belathor the priest. Shouting a dwarven battle cry, the Dragonborn fighter lunged head on to the remaining giant centipede still engaging Taz who is defending the prone priest. He then swung his battleaxe high and onto the centipede's head.

Auras is absolutely disgusted and not happy about the bugs attacking her. "Get off me you filthy..." and pulls out her hand axe and tries to get swarm off of her and dispersed all the while casting armour of the shadows to protect herself from further attacks.

"Oh! Well done!" Taz cheered, when the dragonborn cleaved the centipede before her. "Now for the rest of you buggers," she said, turning back to the down priest. She swiped at the swarm still assailing him, trying to carefully slap away some of the insects with her blade.

With the swarm of insects moving on top of his scales, Arphaxad was thankful for his draconic ancestry and it helped to mitigate the stinging bites. If he was a normal dwarf or any other person he would be scarred or worse end up like the poor priest on the floor. He batted the remaining crawlers from his body with tooth, nail, tail, and axe with renewed fervor. ''getoff ye filthy buggers! I'll nae be buggered and violated by vermin!''

" I am 110 percent done!" Auras screams as she casts witchbolt "fry you little bugs! fry!"

"Ahhh! Get off of me, you creepy little pests! No one has ever loved a bug, you're all just worthless little pests!" It was unlike Taz to be so negative, but she knew the power of words and intent, and her slender little rapier wasn't having much effect on the swarm. So she went for menacing instead, and hoped to sap some of the bugs' will with a little Mean Girl Magic.

Narissa reaches down and puts a hand on Father Smyth as the power of her celestial ancestry courses through her and heals him.

"Get up, no time for dying, not just yet at least."

With the few insects still clinging to Taz Arphaxad turned his axe upside down with the haft up making it into an ersatz club to beat away at the now fading swarm.

Belathor scans the room to see if anyone else is injured. He shouts a healing word at Auras (Bonus action)

Then grabbing his mace he moves to help with the swarm.

Auras feels the holy energy radiate and heal her body making her feel sick to her stomach despite the healing to her wounds shaking her head to clear and focus on getting rid of the last sward she reachs out her hand and starts to focus and soon unleashes a blast of eldritch energy at the swarm.

Aura breathed heavily. she soon grabbed her things and started out of the room. looking around and hoping she could find someone who tell her was going on and how those damn bugs got into their room. she refused to spend one more day with those bugs possiiaby on her anymore. she was pissed tired and disgusted with the whole situation.

Belathor lowers his mace and calls on Lathander to heal Taz

Auras looks up as the innkeeper throws open the door. Open her mouth then closes it before standing and said "I dont want to talk about it. But I want this problem solved and I want to solve it now." She exclaims still feeling the disgusting bugs on her.

Arphaxad was looking as nonplussed as a dragonborn can look. One minute he was having a dream of presenting a nice lavish meal to the court back in Blackstone, the next minute he was trying to fend off vermin from making a smorgasbord out of him and his companions. With the last thought, and despite the apparent danger they were in, the warrior flashed a toothy grin giving him the visage of a dragon savoring a kill. ''All thing's fine now. Ye can say these bugs bit off more than they can chew Har!!''

"What a night!" Taz exclaimed, once the last of the bugs had fallen. "Thank you, thank you everybody," she said, having lost track in the hubbub of who did what to which bugs. The important thing was that they'd all jumped in to help each other. No one had run away to save their own skin, and instead they had succeeded in vanquishing at least one troupe of insane insects from harrying the town.

Belathor prayed over her, and she watched in quiet awe as her wounds healed.

"Goodness," she breathed. "My thanks, Father."

She had just looked up to say something to Auras, who seemed upset and intent on leaving, when the door burst open and Darney was there. Taz pulled herself to her feet, brushing away the remains of blood and bug bits, and was caught off guard by Arphaxad's comment. She snickered, at first, and put a hand to her mouth to stop herself. This wasn't a laughing matter! But it struck her just so, and the snicker ballooned into a chuckle, and the chuckle forced its way into a laugh.

"Don't ever change, Arphaxad," she told him, reaching out to put a hand to his shoulder. Smiling now and feeling better in spite of what'd happened, she looked to Darney.

"I can see why everyone walks around armed, now. You don't have any idea where these bugs are coming from? I've never seen any like them!"

"You're welcome, child. Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity."

Narissa pulls her hair down from where it's stuck on her horns and blow a handful of hair out of her mouth. "I hate bugs." She declares irritably returning to her bed and sitting back down with a thump, "Hate them hate them hate them!" She looks at Taz, then Auras and finally Father Smythe, "Are the three of you all right?" Her tail swishes back and for furiously.

"Thanks to you folks, I am," Taz replies to Narissa, nodding her head as she straightens herself. "You're okay?" she checkes, looking over Narissa and Belethor as well.

Darney's input causes a curious look to hit the bard's face.

"Murya? Who's that? I don't think I've met them. Anyone who knows more about the source of these things is worth talking to." She paused, and glanced to the window, trying to determine what the weather was currently like and take a guess at the hour.

"She’s the local spiritual advisor. I was speaking to her earlier."

Narissa tries again to straighten her hair but it still looks a fright. "Ya, I just woke up looking at a swarm of bugs which are now smashed all over the place." She looks at Darney, "You wouldn't happen to have a mop?"

"Can we talk to her in the morning? I look much better when I've had a proper sleep." She glances about at the smashed bugs, "Maybe we should rotate watches and double up in the beds. I mean so no one is easy prey."

Taz nodded at Belathor's answer, then looked back to Darney when Narissa asked for a mop.

"You said other guests were attacked tonight, Darney?" she asked. "Is everyone okay? Are the bugs all gone, now, or should we take a lap around the rooms to make sure?"

Once that was answered, she nodded to Narissa's suggestion.

"That sounds like a good idea. I don't mind taking first watch; I doubt I'll sleep easily after a wake-up like that," she said, a little shudder moving through her as she recalled the advance of the bugs.

"Did you want someone to sit up with you?" Narissa asks, "I find it easier to stay awake when I have someone to talk to."

Taz gratefully took Narissa up on her offer of company for the first watch, and though they didn't encounter any more dangers that night, perhaps the women learned a bit more about each other through their idle conversation.

The following morning, Taz rose early to go drop off the delivery that'd brought her to Lambor's Hold in the first place. After, she met the caravan and said her goodbyes to those travelers with whom she'd developed a rapport, and wished them luck on the rest of their journey. Truth be told, she considered going with them, as her delivery was now complete. But the mystery of the insects and their strange aggression had piqued her interest, and she resolved to remain in Lambor's Hold long enough to try and help solve the problem.

She waved one last time as Mork and the others set off, and then turned to look at those who'd remained.

"Since we're all still here, what do you think about getting to the bottom of this whole monster-bug thing? I've a mind to go back to the trapper's house and see if he's home yet. Even if he's not, it should be heaps easier to track where he's gone, now that the sun's out."

Belathor was saddened the parting of Mork, he'd grown rather fond of the strange half-orc, "May the Morning Lord ever be at your back, Mork," he offers a strong hug in return, "Safe travels."

Narissa woke up later than everyone else with a yawn and a stretch, she looked about noting that her companions were gone and dragged herself out of bed. While she didn't exactly know who the demon was in her family tree she had a sneaking suspicion that they were somehow associated with the sin of sloth.

It took her a while to get ready to head out, getting dressed with horns and a tail was considerably more difficult than one might imagine and she felt envious of the humans in her company who didn't have to deal with all the fussy buckles and laces that she did. Then there was her hair and the jewelry for her horns and tail and ugh it just took forever to get ready some mornings. Eventually she made her way downstairs, grabbed some flat bread and eggs for breakfast and made a kind of sandwich she could take outside with her.

Mork was busy climbing on his wagon by the time she made it outside and she waved at him briefly. Going with them did seem like a pretty decent idea right about now. Creepy things crawling out of the forest and into her room did not make for a nice place to spend the night.

"The trapper?" Narissa asks her fanged mouth full of bread and eggs, "Oh right that fellow who's house we wandered off to in a torrential downpour." She shrugs, "Certainly, he probably knows as much if not more about what's going on here than anyone else."

Narissa walks up to the home and knocks on the door licking her lips as she looks at the rabbits.

"Oh, hello!" Taz chirps brightly, pleasantly surprised to find the hunter at home. She'd feared he'd been lost to the woods, and was mightily relieved to find that he seemed just fine. "Are you Leflin?" she asked. "I'm Taz! And this is Auras, Narissa, Arphaxad, and Father Belathor--" She paused to frown thoughtfully towards her associates, and said as an aside: "We really should come up with a name if we're going to go around helping people, you know." But then she seemed to remember she'd been speaking to the hunter, and she faced him again to continue.

"We came in yesterday with Mork's caravan, and heard about the problems the village is having with pests. We met some of them last night, even! Darney thought you might know a bit more about where they're coming from. We'd like to help out, if we can."

Narissa glanced towards Taz as she spoke and smiles ever so slightly, the half elf certainly was enthusiastic.

"Darney seems to think something or someone in the forest is behind this." Narissa says slowly and deliberately trying her best not to expose her teeth to the man. "And as Taz says, we would like to help."

Auras steps and puts her foot down both literally and figuratively blocking from shutting the door. "I am in no mood for this. I had to fight not one but two giant centipedes who were controlling smaller pests in the middle of the night. soo I think this situation is something you are ill equipped to handle. I'm not interested in money but this little problem is in my way and I intend to remove it. permanently. Now are you going to be part of the solution or are you going to be the problem?

Now hold on just a wee minute! Why are you so hostile like? we're just trying to help around here! and you say these bugs come out here now and then but according to the events around here, it looks to me that these critter's 'visitations' are becoming a lot more frequent! And those bugs are nae normal

To make a point, the Dragonborn warrior raised his left arm where a centipede tried to bite it off if not for his tough scaley hide. A bite mark measuring almost a foot long can be seen snaking itself from his bicep to the top of his arm.

I don't know what those vermin eat to grow to get that big and that ornery but me and my fellows here sure as hell want to stop them from trying to eat people trying to get some sleep at night!

"And these were not ordinary critters, they are deadly, by Lathander!"

Auras could tell the hunter was hiding something and pressed on trying to keep her foot firmly planted to block the shutting of the door. "You know what going on dont you tell us what you know before innocent people get hurt."

Sensing something is being hidden, Belathor casts Command, speaking the word to the hunter, "TRUTH"

"Whoa, whoa, okay!" Taz backs up. Her hands raise palms-out, one towards Leffint and one towards the rest of the party. "Let's everybody take a breath, okay? We're all on the same side here right?" she says, smiling nervously, though she makes a point to meet the eyes of Auras and Belethor with a pointed, play along please! look.

To Leffint, she says, "You'll have to excuse our, ah, fervor, friend. We're just concerned about everyone's safety, that's all. We'll leave you to your day. Thanks for your time." She turned back to the others, and extended her arms in an attempt to gently herd them away from the man's door. "Let's leave the man in peace, troop." And then, more quietly, she adds, "There's more than one way to climb a tree."

If the party agrees and moves away with her, Taz will lead them towards the woods they'd begun to explore the night prior. Once there, she'll turn to Arphaxad, who'd had some success following tracks the night before.

"He was in the woods last night, right? Maybe he returned after the rain had stopped this morning. Maybe he left tracks behind that we can follow back to see where he went?" she suggested, brows lifting in interest.

Narissa sighs resisting the urge to smack Father Smythe upside the head, "Why would you do that?" She asks adjusting her cloak, "Controlling people is wrong and a very good way to piss them off." She lets out a long disappointed breath her tail twitching back and forth irritably.

The tiefling looks at Taz and smiles, "Enthusiastic and smart as usual, I think I am beginning to like you." Then she shrugs, "I mean as long as your energy does not get us killed."

Narissa begins to look about for signs of the hunters passing with the others.

Belathor’s face flushed red, "I wasn’t controlling him, just encouraging him to speak the truth. Your methods were clearly not working."

Belathor was not happy to be preached to about morality by a devil.

Taz laughed at Narissa's concern about her energy bringing harm to the group, and dared a quick, one-armed side hug to the tiefling as she passed her. "I like you too, Narissa!"

When the tiefling and the cleric started to get into it a little, she touched a reassuring hand on Belathor's arm for a second and spoke to the both of them.

"We were all just trying to do a good thing, here," she reminded both Belathor and Narissa, with a gentle tone. "This has been frustrating for all of us. Let's not pick at each other just yet. Not when we're still learning one another. Though, for my part, I'm very impressed with what I've seen so far from everyone here," she said, pivoting to a more encouraging bearing. "I think we could do alot of good for the people of Lambor's Hold, if we could just get a proper lead on what's causing all the trouble."

Auras was frustrated the hunter knew something but that road was closed now. She sighed she could charm him but thought better of it after the priest tried and failed.

"Now what? if we dont find the cause people are going to be hurt or worse. I'm honestly surprised no one gotten killed yet After what we fought."

You know, before Father Smythe did that trick on to that guy, I was thinking of just knocking him out then tying him up in a chair (that person, not the priest) then let the beasties come to him at night then he'll see how he likes to be in the receiving end of those crawlers and then get our information...

As Arphaxad and the others moved towards the forest he thought about what they will do next as the potential info they would get from Leffint the hunter is already thrown out of the proverbial glass-fitted opening in the wall. Turning towards the party, he asked them, So what's next? do ye all want to ask more people or try to track down this wee bugger for ourselves? Whatever we do we should do post haste! I'm nae lookin' forward to another game of ''whack-a-bug'' again Har!

"I think we may wish to talk to the locals first." Narissa says grinning a toothy grin at Taz before carefully pushing her hair back behind her ears. "Exhaust the well before heading out in the wrong direction."

She looks at Father Smythe, "I mean no disrespect Father, I just find people are less receptive when you try to force an answer from them."

The tiefling glances over at her dragonkin companion, "Torture rarely works either, despite what the church and crown might say. People tell you what they think you want to hear just to make you stop hurting them." She grins showing a lot of sharp teeth, "I’m part devil, I know rather a lot about pleasure and pain."

"Perhaps we should start our investigations with Murya. She's the spiritual leader here and reason I came here."

Narissa nods, "We can talk to Murya first," she grins a little wrinkling her nose, "I mean I'll likely burst into flames the moment I step across the door sill but she seems like a good place to start."

Or we could ''split the party'' and question both people to save time...the sooner we get to the bottom of this the better...and I don't think that's how temples work...bursting into flames when entering it and whatnot HAAR!

"I think we should stick together honestly as I've learned you never split the party it a recipe for disaster" auras says voicing her opinion on the matter. "I vote for the local priest then the mayor."

"May the Holy Light of the Morninglord be upon this house," Belathor smiles, "Well met again, Murya. My friends and I have found ourselves trying to get to the bottom of the settlement's little insect problem. Last night we were attacked in our chambers. We wondered what you might be able to tell us and if you have some insight."

Standing among the greenery at the edge of the forest, Taz listened while the others in the party debated the matter of what to do next. A butterfly swooped across her line of sight, and promptly stole her attention. It was beautiful, truly, with bright golden wings, laced with delicate little swirls of darker colors. She followed it a few steps just to enjoy it a little more, but was from there distracted by a copse of pretty wildflowers nearby. She didn't wander far from the party, but she was absorbed enough in picking a small bouquet that by the time she looked up, the others had decided and were moving off! She hurried to catch up, and was pleased to find them visiting the Lathanderite's residence.

"Oh, what a lovely place," she observed, smiling at the warmth and interest generated by the workshop and temple. She eyed the herbalist's table, and tried to guess what kind of incense it was that was scenting the air. She held her tongue afterwards, though, thinking it best to let Father Belathor question the woman.

"We spoke to Leffint. He was unwilling to speak to us of what he knows. We only want to help. Who else had contact with them?"

Narissa waits for everyone else to enter the temple before gingerly putting one foot in side, when that does not burst into flames she moves the rest of herself inside slowly and carefully monitoring herself for signs of holy rejection. She's never been a particularly religious person, she doesn't even know the names of half of the gods but best not to make any assumptions about safety given her demonic heritage.

"Do you know where they creatures come from? Even just a cardinal direction would be helpful." Narissa asks looking about the shop, "Do you sell potions? Healing potions perhaps?" She bends over and sniffs a bunch of herbs on the table her tail twitching about uneasily.

"Did anything unusual happen before they showed up?"

Taz listened to the description given, and took a moment to try to recall if she'd ever heard of such a creature.

Auras listens and try's to remember if she's had encountered or heard of these creatures before.

Not wanting to feel left out Narissa wracks her demonic brain to see if anything rings a bell.

Arphaxad waited until all the others have entered the temple. It wouldn't do much good if he went in first and get stuck in the door with his Dragonborn size. As it happens, the door to the temple was large enough for him with a foot or two of headroom to spare. He entered, and his nostrils were assailed by the different scents. Of incense, scented oils, and smells coming from different herbs and spices. The place seemed more like a potion shop rather than a temple of Lathander. He shrugged and listened to the conversation of one of his companions and Murya, the small town's resident holy person. With the mention of the strange creatures controlling the insects accompanied by their description, Arphaxad perked up and gave his own input.

''Har! I might be a dragon but tha' sounds like some kinda goblin! Uhh...they're goblin's aren't they?''

"Oh, how lovely!" Taz chirped in response to the news that Murya could brew healing potions. She looked chagrined immediately after though, with an apologetic glance to Narissa, on whose conversation she'd inserted herself. "Sorry. I've always thought that was its own kind of magic. A really fascinating process. What is it you're working on now, if you don't mind me asking?" she inquired, intrigued by the red potion and the strange ingredients the women was working with.

The group turned the conversation back towards the insects assaulting the village, and Taz considered the matter again.

"Sounds like the mayor will have more information for us," she surmised, once she'd given up trying to put a name to the creatures Murya described. "If something has made the local fae aggressive enough to attack the village, we ought to find out what it is and see if we can help resolve it. Miss Murya, do you know how long there's been a village here at Lambdor's Hold? And how long ago did the attacks start?"

Narissa blinks happy to not have ignited upon crossing the threshold. "Did anyone find the source of the earthquake? Or at least the direction it might have come from?"

She looks anxiously towards the door, she didn't like being in a temple, there was something in her demonic heritage that rankled at the idea.

"Of course," Taz replied with a smile, dismissing any offense at the woman's choice to keep her brewing a secret. The half-elf didn't act as much, but it struck her as odd that a member of the clergy would need to be secretive about their doings. Though, she reasoned, maybe it was just a personal matter? A brew to deal with some unsightly boils or a digestion issue from which her friend was suffering. Taz wondered idly if she was using the supplies that Father Belathor had brought to the village. It only made her more curious, not less, so she looked for another topic to distract herself with.

"That's good to know," she said, with a nod in regards to the answer about years. "So it isn't as though this is something that's been going on since the founding of the village. If there were recent earthquakes, maybe something just woke up in the past few weeks and is being cranky. Nothing else you can think of that seemed out of the usual, in the weeks leading up to the first attacks?" she asked, double-checking with the cleric before resolving herself to moving on to speak to the mayor.

Narissa nods, "We should go talk to the mayor and our hostess at the inn next." She says looking at the others. "Figure out what they know and go from there."

Just a second... are any of these herbs for sale and do you have something that can be used for cooking? To be specific sage, thyme and maybe some asparagus?

"Thank you Murya, May the Morninglord shine on you and yours."

Taz thanks Murya with a smile, and at Narissa's prompting, begins moving towards the door. Once outside and out of earshot, she leaned over to the tiefling and conspired in a whisper.

"What do you think she was brewing back there?" she asked, an almost giddy sort of amusement in her bearing as she wondered. "Maybe a loooooove potion?"

Narissa giggles, a whole unearthly sound from the half demon woman, "Father Smythe might want to keep an eye on his mead tonight."

She leans over and whispers in Taz’s ear, "Are priests even allowed to do that sort of thing?" The tiefling glances about, "It is kind of encouraged on my side of the holy aisle."

Looking at Murya Narissa smiles again careful not to show her teeth, "How much for healing potions and how many can you make?" She inquires from the doorway.

"That's a little more than I can afford on my own." Narissa replies running her fingers through her hair and looking at the others.

"We should talk to the mayor and we can discuss if we want to pool our resources not."

Taz's eyes went wide at Narissa's whisper, not having considered that their own Father Belathor might be the target of Murya's theoretical love potion. She laughed, delighted, but was quickly distracted again by the tiefling's ensuing question.

"Hmm. I think it varies by faith," Taz replied. "But I don't think Lathander forbids it." From out of earshot, she studied Murya while the woman interacted with Arphaxad. "I do wonder..." she mused, head tilting to one side some.

When the matter of healing potions came up, Taz was pleased to hear the generous pricing.

"Well that's very kind of you!" she chirped, lifting her voice a little so that it would carry back to Murya as she approached. She didn't have much gold to her name at the moment, but a healing potion was never a wasted resource when one sought adventures! "I'll take one of the lesser ones, at least. But you're right," she said, with a nod to Narissa. "We should speak with the mayor. Maybe we can make a deal with him to sponsor a few more for the sake of us helping the town."

Once Arphaxad made his choices about buying some herbs, Taz looked around to her comrades.

"Ready to find the mayor?" she asked. If no one objected, she'd set out to find Lambor's Hold's elected official.

"The discount is a very kind offer," smiles Belathor, casting a judgemental glance at the devil-spawn, "Yes, perhaps we should speak with the Mayor."

Narissa smiles showing off her teeth, "Do you have wine? I used to live in this village and they had the most amazing wine."

She looks about the village quickly from the mayor's vantage point, "We should talk to the smith as well." The tiefling says absently her tail swishing back and forth absently. "We wondered if we might ask you some questions?" Narissa grins, "I know technically that was a question but we wanted to know about the insect attacks, if you might know where they're coming from and who might be behind them?"

The demon woman checked quickly to ensure that none of her long hair had gotten stuck in her horns and was making her look foolish. It was something of an occupational hazard.

Arphaxad tucked away the cooking herbs he bought from Murya's place. If there's anything good that can be found in this town, at least there are some herbs to flavor his cooking. As the group went back to the Mayor he shuffled from one foot to the next in an overt display of trepidation in still not finding the one responsible for all these insect attacks... Well, they have agreed on asking everyone in the town first before marching off into the woods but at this point, he is finding it too tedious and he doubts that the villagers here would tell anything useful.

''Well at least they have ale...'', he said rather loudly.

"Water please, or milk if you have it."

Belathor was not happy that the group were already imbibing so early, though it was not so long ago that would have been his habit.

"Yes, thank you!" Taz replied, smiling brightly at the mayor's offer hospitality. Following him inside, she chatted lightly as they went. "You don't have to worry about making a bad impression with us, really. But it is a shame that your village has to deal with such a fuss. We're hoping to be able to help you folks out, but we're a little short on information."

She nodded to Narissa's questions for the man while everyone got settled with whatever they did or didn't want to drink. Taz would take a serving of whatever the mayor was offering, more out of a desire to be polite than any real thirst at this hour.

"We heard that someone came to speak to you about the attacks? Someone who wanted you out of the village?"

Narissa followed the mayor inside looking about the inside of the home carefully paying particular attention to the quality of the furnishings as she looks for a stool to sit on, most chairs that were designed for regular people were a literal pain in the tail for her.

"Vodka sounds good." She replies with a smile.

Narissa frowns, "Big heads, sure sounds like goblins but they're green aren't they?" The tiefling woman glances down at her own bluish complexion and smirks, "Of course us half-demon are supposed to be red aren't we?" She sips the vodka and sits up with a smile on her face. "This is good, warms my tummy."

"Did you happen to see which direction they came from and left in?" Narissa asks after taking another sip of the vodka. "We heard about an earthquake just before they showed up. Just the one or have there been more?"

I doubt earthquakes are caused by any weird-looking goblins even if they claim to be fae...

The Dragonborn mused aloud. Well ever since the attack last night and their attempts to coax some information from that man have failed, all he had done was musing. About who the culprit for these bug attacks was. And what does a pie made of garlic taste like?

Shrugging himself with the absurd thought (Seismic blue-skinned goblins. Not the garlic pie) Arphaxad busied himself in finding the nearest keg of ale for ''closer inspection''.

"Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser," Taz hummed, sitting back a moment to think about all the group had learned so far. "I assume you told them that you weren't leaving?" she confirmed, looking back to the mayor. "How did they seem? Very angry or just disappointed? Did they tell you how to find or reach them, or did they say they'd come back?"

Having a direction to start in was more than they'd had a moment ago, but it didn't feel to Taz like a very promising lead. The notion of setting off into an unfamiliar forest with potentially hostile natives about sat poorly with her. But! Adventures were made out of such situations, were they not? She tried to talk herself into a bit of courage while waiting for the mayor's reply.

"We already tried talkin to him," Narissa says with a shrug her tail twitching about, "Didn't go so well."

She shrugs and looks at the mayor, "Can you think of anyone else who might know something? I mean before we strike out into the howling wilderness in search of big headed blue goblins."

Harumph! all we have done is talking and asking! and that has nae gotten us anywhere with this folks! either their too scared of the vermin or are protecting them...just ask the mayor where these blue skinned buggers live and let us have a ''talk'' with them!

Arphaxad was becoming agitated by each moment they spend in the village and no information is forthcoming. He has taken to sharpening his battleaxe rather than making recipes for garlic pie (which he is starting to agree is a weird idea)

"Well, that saves us some time," Taz observed, with a little laugh. "How perfectly serendipitous! Let's go and see them," she says to the rest of the troupe. "Maybe we can help get this mess sorted out."

Unless someone objected, she'd head out the door and look for the "fae" in question.

Narissa nods following Taz out the door, "Funny how that works isn't it? I mean I was about to suggest heading off to the Northwest but this does save us a lot of time and walking." She shrugs ducking to make sure her horns don't get stuck on the door frame which would look bad, "Not that I mind walking with you, you're funny and interesting and taller than the people I used to live with. Halflings, very short people."

Belathor tries to identify the strange creatures.

"Aw, how sweet you are!" Taz laughed, and reached over to give the tiefling an appreciative hug while they made their way outside. "I've enjoyed learning about you, too! After we're done, you'll have to tell me more about living with halflings."

But for the moment, her attention was quickly arrested by the gathering in the village's center, and the foul-looking creatures there.

She reminded herself that looks could be deceiving, and that this situation was more complicated than just bloodthirsty savages attacking the village. That the trio had come and weren't lashing out meant there might be room for some diplomacy here, she thought. In any case, it was worth a try.

"Hello!" Taz said, smiling as she stepped up to a spot where she could address the trio. "I'm Taz. Who're you folks?"

Narissa's tail wraps around Taz as they embrace.

"The little ones liked my tail and horns," the tiefling says with a smile, "I suppose because they didn't have horns or tails."

She raises an eyebrow looking at the creatures but waits politely to hear what they have to say. She looks closely at their hands and feet, particularly the mounted one, for anything unusual. Colored mud, unusual discolorations on their hands or particular plants that might point to a specific area of the forest the locals might know.

Arphaxad tries to recall anything from his knowledge of handling animals what kind of giant beetle the ugly not-goblin is riding on.

"Well, we don't really have a leader," Taz said, though she paused there and looked to Narissa, Arphaxad, Belathor, and Auras. "But we really *should* come up with a name, for situations like this," she tells them, in a lowered voice. She looks back to the newcomers, and goes on.

"I'll be glad to hear your message, and to pass it on to the people who might need to know it. But forgive me, I'm unfamiliar with your Prince, or 'the Lady'. Who are they, and what have they sent you to tell us?"

Narissa raises an eyebrow and looks at the three monstrous creatures. "I am confused, we just got here an yet you say this is our final warning?" She looks at Taz, "Should we not receive a first warning before our final warning?"

"Also, these people have been here for a very long time," Narissa looks at the Mayor, "more than one-hundred years no? Why has things changed? Why did you not come here and air your grievances a hundred years ago?"

She smiles at the hideous creatures her tail flicking back and forth irritably.

Ye know I know a shakedown when I see one... Arphaxad walked towards the front of the messenger trying to look intimidating by cracking his knuckles and flexing his muscles.

Now, I've had a bad day and not much to sleep and eat around here ever since you're creepy crawlies tried to take a bite of me which they found out is tough eating. I fancy myself a stew made of blue-skinned goblins like you and maybe that beetle as well right now...unless you tell us why you are doing this and who is your leader?

Caves, thinks Belathor making a mental note of the possible lead to the origin of these creatures. He keeps quiet, watching the conversation.

"Well, hold on, now," Taz interjected, a hand landing lightly on Arphaxad's forearm. She looked back towards the creatures, and donned her most sympathetic expression.

"I understand you're just the messengers, but the more you tell us, and the better we understand your situation, the higher the chances that we'll find a resolution that everyone can live with. I'm sure your Prince and his magical lady friend are fearsome, but the people of this village would be fighting for their homes. It would be a terrible fight, and there would be much harm done on both sides, I'm afraid. Wouldn't we all like to avoid that?" She let her hand drop away from the Dragonborn and instead clasped her hands in front of herself, looking from the spokesman of the goblins to the one who'd been shushed, but seemed prone to speaking.

"Won't you please tell us more of how this has come to be? Where have you all been, that you weren't here to defend your land when the villagers first showed up?"

The creature's claims were troubling, and Taz turned a concerned glance towards the mayor.

"Do you know anything about this? Was there a community already living here when Lambor's Hold was established?"

Narissa grins showing off a mouth full of razer sharp teeth, "You of course have paperwork to back up your claims? A contract or a deed?" The blue skinned tiefling looks about as people stare at her, "What? I'm part demon, we love contracts and paperwork."

The Dragonborn warrior huffed a frustrated breath after the exchange with the fey creatures. Nothing was advanced and many threats had just been slung. It's back to questioning the locals then. More specifically, those who were around when the ''forced exodus'' of these creatures was enacted. If only those people are still alive.

Mayor, do you know anyone who is still alive that can corbate--collarbait--verofy--CONFIRM what these lil buggers are saying? failing that, I guess there are some library here or old account books in your office that records such occurrence?

"Wait!" Taz interjected, hoping to get another few words in with the fey before they left. "Will your Prince talk with us?" she asked, understanding that these were mere messengers, not wielding the power in themselves to orchestrate any kind of compromise.

Father Belathor smiles and nods at Tas' question, "smart," he mutters quietly.

"We should probably follow them." Narissa says with a quiet shrug, "They had white pebbles on their feet, that ring a bell to anyone?"

She looks about at the village, "Might want to start preparing your defences." The tiefling smirks, "Just in case."

"Well, that's less than ideal," Taz mutters to herself as the creatures decline and move off. She folded her arms and watched them go, her mouth twisting to one side while she mulled over options. Narissa's suggestion caused her to look over towards the tiefling, and she nodded.

"Probably for the best. If we wait for them to come here, people in the village will get hurt. If we follow them to where they're staying, maybe we can use surprise as an advantage. I'm not unsympathetic if they really did live here once, but we can't let them just mow through the people here." At the mention of the white pebbles, Taz tries to think of where she's seen such a thing before.

"We should head out," she suggests. "See if we can get to them before they prepare whatever assault is coming."

If the party's in agreement, she'll head out with them, attempting to move as stealthily as she can.

Narissa sighs, "I have the feeling that this is going to end in a blood bath." She shrugs looking at Taz, "What you got there?"

Looking at where Taz is looking, Arphaxad noticed the white lumps on the feet of the retreating fae-creatures. It looked to be salt and having spent many hours in the kitchens of the Blackstone halls as an assistant cook he knew what salt looks like. Whether it be sprinkled in dishes or being trodden on the feet of blue-skinned not-goblins.

Sooo...something tells me they live in a salt mine? or do they regularly season their feet for impromptu eating?

"I can't say I'm particularly stealthy but I agree to following."