1: Dovedale

Maon backs away and heads back to the group. He hears Oren's reluctance.

Friends, it seems we must come to terms that what has happened here can cost many lives. If the people cannot harvest, they will have no stores for the winter. This means starvation in midwinter. I see no point in capturing any wild creature. It will only serve the Goblin's purposes, crude as they are. The question now is, which side will die because of our decision today? The Goblins by a bloody battle, or the villagers by slow starvation? One will surely happen and we at the fulcrum of time. We have till the morning to decide. Gravel bottom is expecting to torture an owl, and may decide to kill the water spirit. We do not know.

"One never knows how hungry a man is or what he is willing to eat."

That is an old saying that proves itself to be true. Whatever you decide, that will be sufficient for me. You have my hands and my scimitar.

Maon sits on a small boulder and lights his pipe all the while keeping his eyes on the group.

The chat goes on, and Malard follows each speaker in turn. "Perhaps we need to find the blockage of the river," he says. "That all appears to be at the center of the problems here. We may be able to fight the goblins, but at what cost? We could try and scout the camp as well. That might help us out, if we think we can be subtle enough."

"I don't condone unnecessary violence, but in this case, it may be unavoidable," Trina offers.

"It is not a blockage but rather the missing magic of the river spirit the goblins hold captive, good sir Mallard. One way or the other we must free her."

Odilo thuds his staff against the ground.

"Let us sneak in and try to do what we can for the water spirit. Anything else is a fool’s errand. If it comes to a fight, well… we didn’t start it outright. Take peace in the fact that we tried first to avoid it."

"I'd hoped to avoid outright battle, but it seems there's a little option beyond a confrontation," Malard says. "Please, let us be on our way without delay."

"We should wait for daylight hours when the goblins are likely to be asleep. Haste will only lead us to a quick end. Scouting the entrance to their lair would also be a good idea."

Jabrano looks lost in thought...
"See, in theory I'm with Maon. It's just logic, common sense. But then my mind goes back to whatshername that hired us, and how she wasn't bothered by the river at all, but deeply concerned about her pies. Practically nobody in town seemed to think the river was all that important. Certainly not important enough for somebody to go have a look at the problem. Nobody even bothered to investigate before we showed up. And then there's the talking animals, the fairy-powered river, the weirdly passive goblins... I mean, Gravelbeak is... exceptionally dense, even for a goblin. But the thing is, I didn't get malice from him. Sure, he stopped the river, but he doesn't seem to think he's harming anybody with that other than the fish he's trying to catch. And his issues with this owl are arguably reasonable. I'd certainly want to have a word or two with an intelligent owl that went out of its way to pester my pets and leave droppings all over my camp.

Everything about this place just feels... wrong, otherworldly, not real. Salvel told us about this druid that apparently messed up this entire area. I don't feel like the normal rules apply. And having a look at the source of the river to see if the natural order of things can be restored and the dependence of the village on the whims of a fairy removed may be worthwhile."

She sighs and looks tired.
"I disagree with Oren that the goblins have proven themselves enemies of the forest. It seems to be just this one goblin, and his grievances seem petty and personal, not born from some malicious hatred of the forest. Getting rid of the chief or changing his mind somehow will likely solve the problem. Grabbo, how do goblin chieftains in your tribe come by their position?"

Again, Jabrano brings logic into our hasty mindset. Or at least mine.

Perhaps the village folk were to frightened of the Goblins - they don't have a stellar reputation - to investigate the source of the problem.

As for Iron Beak, perhaps there is a complication we are unaware of.

And concerning these fantastic creatures, are we certain this is the Druid's doing? As far as we know these creatures could be the result of arcane magics, or even a curse. The gods themselves may be responsible.

These questions should be answered and yet I feel that time is against us. Though I could be wrong.

How long will it take to find the source of the river? How long will it take to find and converse with Iron Beak - if he doesn't try to eat us first! Should we even try to accomplish any these and which comes first?

Maon takes a pull from his pipe and seems deep in thought.

"Perhaps you could challenge the chief to single combat for leadership Jabrano. I have seen goblins follow an orc's rule many times. As for the river, even if we restore the flow naturally I would not wish to leave a nature spirit as their hostage."

"I don't really know what I think at this point," Malard says. "The talking fish is when things started to change for me. The fact that Grabbo might not even know how to get back to his own kin is a bit of a shock. I agree that something is not what it appears, but I can't tell what yet. I wish we knew more about the history the relationship between the goblins in the area and the farmers that hired us."

Odilo taps the halfling’s foot with his staff, and gives a surreptitious look. It would be her that leads them in, and he hoped to see the group do just that.

"Believe me… not every problem can be fixed, and I make it my business to fix as many as I can. Where a resolution can be found, I look for one. But just as often, there are too many competing interests. Rocks and hard places each way we look."

We could seek out Iron Beak. He may shed light on the situation for it may be he is a noble beast despite his appetites.

"I don't wanna leave the nature spirit in the company of the goblins," Trina says huffily. "From what I've heard, such beings don't survive long in captivity. At the same time, I don't fancy turning this Ironbeak over to the chief either. And the talking fish is right out!" she says, as an afterthought.

It's occured to me to challenge the chief... But then I'd probably have to kill him and I don't feel he's done anything nearly bad enough to merit that. Also, I'd be stuck with responsibility for a tribe of goblins." She sighs and looks pensive. "The thing is, I don't want to mess with the tribe, period. It's risky, and not just because we may get killed if things go badly. They're a relatively peaceful, chill tribe of goblins, and that's not the usual way of things. We don't know how much it would take to undo whatever influence they're under and get them to start forming war parties to raid the farms. But it may be a good distraction for somebody else to sneak in a nd free the fairy..."

She seemed to think it over. "May not even have to be a fight. I could chalenge him to a fishing contest. He seems to care a lot about that."

Adressing "Malard's concerns, she goes on: "We could also visit that inn. Or even go back into town and talk to the mayor or somebody else with some authority. We have some time. And honestly, the longer this goes on, the less comfortable I am with messing with the fate of this town on the say-so of a farmer who didn't seem to be wholy there."

Then she picks up on something Oren and Trini said ."Hang on, are fairies nature spirits? I always was told they're capricious beings from another world entirely, and pretty much the definition of, well, agents of chaos. I admit I never encountered one."

Odilo cleans the gunk out of his eyes, with a thumb and forefinger. He then runs then space between his eyes, pinching the skin with annoyance.

"You certainly hold interesting views on what is and isn’t ‘bad’." he sighs.

"Holding an a faerie hostage. Permissible. Holding an entity hostage when it controls the river, endangering the town… again, permissible. Hunting down two other intelligent, sentient creatures… You get the point."

The wizard rolls his eyes.

"I wish we could all afford to live within such a noble mindset…

The goblin was easily dissuaded from pursing the fish. It’s blood for blood’s sake. The target… well, the chief doesn’t care."

You said:

"The goblin was easily dissuaded from pursing the fish. It’s blood for blood’s sake. The target… well, the chief doesn’t care."

Explain, please. I think I see where you are coming from, but some clarity would in order. For me at least.

Maon continues to blow smoke rings as he waits patiently on Odilo.

"That old tale about the King of Elfland? Our Exile friend here frightened the old Chief, surely!" the man says, sniffling wetly.

"It didn’t seem to me that he doubted the story for a second! Perhaps he’s superstitious, or merely dim."

Oren smiles and buffs his nails against his jerkin,

"Yes, a masterful tale I must admit, as though the king of Farie could be so cursed. Heh, a chuckle to be sure. I had hoped for a better outcome and now I do wish we had drawn steel but what's done is done and I like this idea of a fishing contest Jabrano! If you were to distract the chief with a challenge then we could pursue the spirit. And you are not wrong Jabrano, faries and fairy-kind have a strong propensity for self interest and free thought but if the river sprite has blue skin then that makes her an esper or a nixie, a creature bonded to the element it serves. Either way, every soul deserves to be free."

The small goblin seems excited at the prospect of a fishing contest! "The chief is a very good fisherman, and would show you what's what! I don't care about the blue lady or this fish, king or not, so I'll tell you that you'll be safest if you do something like this! I don't want my new friends to be dead!"