The Toadlicker Village
The next morning, the group sets off for the goblin village. As they leave, the hobbit thanks them profusely for rescuing them and gives Sirca a special protective cloak that he says will protect them from many dangers. They return to the coastal road as Walthus advised and follow it southwards. The weather is dry, a light wind is blowing and driving a loose blanket of clouds. After about two miles, Nikta discovers another path that branches off from the road to the west and leads back into the swamp. After a while, this path also leads to the cliff edge and then down into the swamp. Nikta notices that this path is much less used than the fish path further north. There are also no traces of goblins. The path winds through the swamp again. A wide, slowly flowing stream can be crossed over a plank bridge and the friends continue on their way. After a while they come to a junction. The path forks and on one side leads west, deeper into the swamp, and on the other side southeast back towards the edge and the cliff. Both paths show clear traces of three-toed feet - goblins. The group follows the western path deeper into the swamp and after half an hour of careful stalking they reach the goblin village.
The village is surrounded by a roughly constructed wooden palisade, about fifteen feet high. At one point the palisade is interrupted by a greenish pool covered in algae, allowing a clear view into the interior of the village. The crooked buildings, mostly only one storey high, were built on stilts. They are connected by plank walkways, also raised on stilts. Three buildings, spread out across the village, are built higher and have a viewing platform on the upper floor, obviously watchtowers. On the eastern edge, a building was recently burned to the ground. Only a few charred beams remain. On the northern side there is another entrance to the village. The gate, however, is broken and lying on the ground in front of the palisade, as if it had been torn off its hinges. Behind the gate, in the middle of an open space in front of the huts, a fire pit is still smoldering. Otherwise, no movement can be seen. The village seems deserted, almost deserted, and there is a deathly silence over the whole thing.
After observing the village for a few minutes, the heroes cautiously venture through the gate. Apparently a battle has taken place here. Arrows are scattered everywhere or stuck to the inside of the palisade. The remains of four human skeletons are found in the square. Judging by the degree of decomposition, they must have been dead for years. The charred remains of a dozen goblins are found in the pit. Fushigi carefully climbs over the edge of the pit and begins to collect burnt goblin ears. Perhaps Steward Hemlock will pay them a price for it. Nikta takes a closer look at the traces and identifies several traces of bone feet and boots. Was an evil necromancer at work here, setting a horde of skeletons on the goblins? Sirca calls her companion Ivar for help and goes between the huts to climb one of the watchtowers. From up there you should have a good overview, but the wooden wall of the buildings is too slippery to climb from the outside. Nikta opens the door to one of the huts and finds himself facing three astonished goblins. One of them is fiddling with a staff, which he lights at one end and then points at Nikta. A small, sparking ball shoots out of the staff towards Nikta, past him out of the door and extinguishes harmlessly outside the hut. The three goblins look very disappointed when Nikta storms into the hut with a scream. He rips his rapier out of its scabbard, stabs and the goblin with the sparking staff falls to the ground, mortally wounded. Lian and Fushigi, alerted by their friend's call, also storm into the hut, Lian through the same door that Nikta opened, while Fushigi tears open a second door on the side wall of the hut. Caught in such a tight spot, the two goblins have little chance of resisting. One of them manages to inflict a minor wound on Lian with his dog reaper, but moments later both are lying dying on the ground.
In the meantime, Sirca continues to search for a way up the observation tower. She opens a door on the side of the building and actually finds a ladder behind it that leads up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Just as she is about to climb up the first rungs, a second door in an adjacent building opens behind her and three more goblins emerge. But Ivar is there. He jumps on the goblin in front and literally tears him to pieces with his claws and sharp teeth. The other two goblins are so shocked that they turn on their heels and flee back into the hut. Sirca still hears words like "dog demon" and "creature from hell". Since Ivar has her back, she finally climbs up the ladder and gets an overview of the goblin village. The settlement was deserted just a few moments ago, but now it comes to life triggered by the sounds of fighting and screams. From the south, more goblins rush to the hut where Fushigi, Nikta and Lian are staying, while another group appears from the west in front of the astonished Hanrin. Sirca sees the two goblins who fled from Ivar leave the hut again via a back exit, climb over the palisade and quickly disappear into the swamp.
The first group tries to surprise Fushigi by having one of the goblins dive between her legs and thus get behind her, while the other two charge at her from the front. Fortunately, Fushigi is able to fend off their blows and starts to attack himself. Two short blows from her fists are enough and another goblin falls to the ground unconscious. The goblin who wanted to attack Fushigi from behind now finds himself confronted by Nikta. The latter raises his rapier high in the air before thrusting it down with both hands into the goblin from above, piercing his body and pinning him to the ground. A dark pool of blood spreads beneath the unfortunate creature. Nikta, unable to free his rapier from the wooden planks so quickly, instead draws a spiked chain and lets it circle menacingly above his head. The third goblin now finds himself facing two fearsome opponents, drops his weapon, falls to his knees and begs for mercy.
Meanwhile, Hanrin is in dire straits. Two of the goblins inflict serious wounds on him with their dog reapers. Luckily, Ivar jumps to his side, grabs one of the goblins by the throat and pulls him to the ground. Hanrin uses the goblins' terror to retreat a few steps. Lian, who rushes out of the hut, jumps into the breach and together with Ivar they strike down the two remaining goblins. Everyone takes a deep breath and Hanrin uses his magical abilities to close his wounds.
Fushigi and Nikta grill the goblin who surrendered to them. His name is Iztok and he is only too willing to tell them about the events of the last few days. Unfortunately, Iztok's knowledge of the common language is very poor and since none of the heroes understand goblin, the conversation is very short-spoken. At least the two learn that the goblin village was attacked by a group of skeletons yesterday. The goblins fought, but were unable to do much to stop the skeletons. Chief Gutwad first sacrificed the shaman Snorig before dumping the village's collected treasures at their feet. This seemed to satisfy the skeleton warriors, because they gathered up the valuables and left the village with them. Iztok could not say how many skeletons were involved in the attack due to limited language communication. Chief Gutwad is still holed up in the throne room with his bodyguard.
This makes the next task for the friends clear. The chief's throne room is closed with a double door. Lian's attempt to blow the door open with a push of his shoulder fails and it takes the combined efforts of Lian and Fushigi to open the door. When this is done, the heroes find themselves facing Chief Gutwad and his three-man bodyguard. At the back of the room stands Gutwad's throne, an ugly chair made of sticks and planks, six feet high. The throne is decorated with a row of poorly tanned animal skins. Other skins and trophies decorate the throne room along the walls.
Gutwad is holding a large wooden tube in his hands, which tapers to a point at the front end. When he lights it at the other end, it shoots out of his hands, between the group in front of the door and explodes with a loud bang. Fushigi and Ivar are able to jump forward to safety, but Lian and Nikta suffer serious burns. The goblins cheer and rush forward, swinging their blades. But their triumph is short-lived. Fushigi and Ivar are able to hold off the first attack, while Hanrin, in the rear cover, raises his hands and lets flames lick over Lian and Nikta. To everyone's great surprise, these flames do not burn any more wounds, but instead bring relief and even healing. Strengthened in this way, the two throw themselves into battle again and a few moments later, Chief Gutwad finds himself alone facing the heroes. In a joint effort, Ivar, Fushigi, Lian and Nikta finally manage to break through Gutwad's cover several times and force the goblin to his knees. It is no longer possible to say who ultimately delivered the fatal blow, but Chief Gutwad dies on the floor of his hut in front of his throne.
After treating their own wounds, the friends find the remains of the goblin's hoard in an adjacent chamber. A large red-lacquered wooden box with fine decorations showing cranes and frogs on a distant beach, and lined with fine velvet on the inside, contains a number of valuables. In addition to loose gold and silver coins, there is a long hairpin with a red pearl and a gold-decorated ivory fan. On one side of the fan there is a gecko crawling along a cherry blossom branch. On the back, someone has scratched a kind of map with rough lines. This seems to show part of the Saltstalk Swamp. The positions of two ships, a hut and a cave are also marked. However, the heroes are unable to decipher the strange symbol in the middle of the fan. The finds look exotic and do not appear to come from Varisia. The friends discuss indecisively what to do next.
The village is surrounded by a roughly constructed wooden palisade, about fifteen feet high. At one point the palisade is interrupted by a greenish pool covered in algae, allowing a clear view into the interior of the village. The crooked buildings, mostly only one storey high, were built on stilts. They are connected by plank walkways, also raised on stilts. Three buildings, spread out across the village, are built higher and have a viewing platform on the upper floor, obviously watchtowers. On the eastern edge, a building was recently burned to the ground. Only a few charred beams remain. On the northern side there is another entrance to the village. The gate, however, is broken and lying on the ground in front of the palisade, as if it had been torn off its hinges. Behind the gate, in the middle of an open space in front of the huts, a fire pit is still smoldering. Otherwise, no movement can be seen. The village seems deserted, almost deserted, and there is a deathly silence over the whole thing.
After observing the village for a few minutes, the heroes cautiously venture through the gate. Apparently a battle has taken place here. Arrows are scattered everywhere or stuck to the inside of the palisade. The remains of four human skeletons are found in the square. Judging by the degree of decomposition, they must have been dead for years. The charred remains of a dozen goblins are found in the pit. Fushigi carefully climbs over the edge of the pit and begins to collect burnt goblin ears. Perhaps Steward Hemlock will pay them a price for it. Nikta takes a closer look at the traces and identifies several traces of bone feet and boots. Was an evil necromancer at work here, setting a horde of skeletons on the goblins? Sirca calls her companion Ivar for help and goes between the huts to climb one of the watchtowers. From up there you should have a good overview, but the wooden wall of the buildings is too slippery to climb from the outside. Nikta opens the door to one of the huts and finds himself facing three astonished goblins. One of them is fiddling with a staff, which he lights at one end and then points at Nikta. A small, sparking ball shoots out of the staff towards Nikta, past him out of the door and extinguishes harmlessly outside the hut. The three goblins look very disappointed when Nikta storms into the hut with a scream. He rips his rapier out of its scabbard, stabs and the goblin with the sparking staff falls to the ground, mortally wounded. Lian and Fushigi, alerted by their friend's call, also storm into the hut, Lian through the same door that Nikta opened, while Fushigi tears open a second door on the side wall of the hut. Caught in such a tight spot, the two goblins have little chance of resisting. One of them manages to inflict a minor wound on Lian with his dog reaper, but moments later both are lying dying on the ground.
In the meantime, Sirca continues to search for a way up the observation tower. She opens a door on the side of the building and actually finds a ladder behind it that leads up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Just as she is about to climb up the first rungs, a second door in an adjacent building opens behind her and three more goblins emerge. But Ivar is there. He jumps on the goblin in front and literally tears him to pieces with his claws and sharp teeth. The other two goblins are so shocked that they turn on their heels and flee back into the hut. Sirca still hears words like "dog demon" and "creature from hell". Since Ivar has her back, she finally climbs up the ladder and gets an overview of the goblin village. The settlement was deserted just a few moments ago, but now it comes to life triggered by the sounds of fighting and screams. From the south, more goblins rush to the hut where Fushigi, Nikta and Lian are staying, while another group appears from the west in front of the astonished Hanrin. Sirca sees the two goblins who fled from Ivar leave the hut again via a back exit, climb over the palisade and quickly disappear into the swamp.
The first group tries to surprise Fushigi by having one of the goblins dive between her legs and thus get behind her, while the other two charge at her from the front. Fortunately, Fushigi is able to fend off their blows and starts to attack himself. Two short blows from her fists are enough and another goblin falls to the ground unconscious. The goblin who wanted to attack Fushigi from behind now finds himself confronted by Nikta. The latter raises his rapier high in the air before thrusting it down with both hands into the goblin from above, piercing his body and pinning him to the ground. A dark pool of blood spreads beneath the unfortunate creature. Nikta, unable to free his rapier from the wooden planks so quickly, instead draws a spiked chain and lets it circle menacingly above his head. The third goblin now finds himself facing two fearsome opponents, drops his weapon, falls to his knees and begs for mercy.
Meanwhile, Hanrin is in dire straits. Two of the goblins inflict serious wounds on him with their dog reapers. Luckily, Ivar jumps to his side, grabs one of the goblins by the throat and pulls him to the ground. Hanrin uses the goblins' terror to retreat a few steps. Lian, who rushes out of the hut, jumps into the breach and together with Ivar they strike down the two remaining goblins. Everyone takes a deep breath and Hanrin uses his magical abilities to close his wounds.
Fushigi and Nikta grill the goblin who surrendered to them. His name is Iztok and he is only too willing to tell them about the events of the last few days. Unfortunately, Iztok's knowledge of the common language is very poor and since none of the heroes understand goblin, the conversation is very short-spoken. At least the two learn that the goblin village was attacked by a group of skeletons yesterday. The goblins fought, but were unable to do much to stop the skeletons. Chief Gutwad first sacrificed the shaman Snorig before dumping the village's collected treasures at their feet. This seemed to satisfy the skeleton warriors, because they gathered up the valuables and left the village with them. Iztok could not say how many skeletons were involved in the attack due to limited language communication. Chief Gutwad is still holed up in the throne room with his bodyguard.
This makes the next task for the friends clear. The chief's throne room is closed with a double door. Lian's attempt to blow the door open with a push of his shoulder fails and it takes the combined efforts of Lian and Fushigi to open the door. When this is done, the heroes find themselves facing Chief Gutwad and his three-man bodyguard. At the back of the room stands Gutwad's throne, an ugly chair made of sticks and planks, six feet high. The throne is decorated with a row of poorly tanned animal skins. Other skins and trophies decorate the throne room along the walls.
Gutwad is holding a large wooden tube in his hands, which tapers to a point at the front end. When he lights it at the other end, it shoots out of his hands, between the group in front of the door and explodes with a loud bang. Fushigi and Ivar are able to jump forward to safety, but Lian and Nikta suffer serious burns. The goblins cheer and rush forward, swinging their blades. But their triumph is short-lived. Fushigi and Ivar are able to hold off the first attack, while Hanrin, in the rear cover, raises his hands and lets flames lick over Lian and Nikta. To everyone's great surprise, these flames do not burn any more wounds, but instead bring relief and even healing. Strengthened in this way, the two throw themselves into battle again and a few moments later, Chief Gutwad finds himself alone facing the heroes. In a joint effort, Ivar, Fushigi, Lian and Nikta finally manage to break through Gutwad's cover several times and force the goblin to his knees. It is no longer possible to say who ultimately delivered the fatal blow, but Chief Gutwad dies on the floor of his hut in front of his throne.
After treating their own wounds, the friends find the remains of the goblin's hoard in an adjacent chamber. A large red-lacquered wooden box with fine decorations showing cranes and frogs on a distant beach, and lined with fine velvet on the inside, contains a number of valuables. In addition to loose gold and silver coins, there is a long hairpin with a red pearl and a gold-decorated ivory fan. On one side of the fan there is a gecko crawling along a cherry blossom branch. On the back, someone has scratched a kind of map with rough lines. This seems to show part of the Saltstalk Swamp. The positions of two ships, a hut and a cave are also marked. However, the heroes are unable to decipher the strange symbol in the middle of the fan. The finds look exotic and do not appear to come from Varisia. The friends discuss indecisively what to do next.
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