The Goblins Fan Forum

Artho pauses for a moment, then turns to Mehriv:
"Where will you go next? I think I will try and reach the lizardfolk in the south. If I am lucky, perhaps they will have more information for me. If I am not...

How does that messenger bird of yours work? Can it only send messages to you?"

"I see... And how far can it fly? I do not wish to purchase or take the bird from you, but I would very much like to use it to inform my contacts about these recent developments. I dare not risk my life AND the information I have learned, but I fear that time is not on my side in this. Do you know anyone in town who is familiar with these lands who could return the bird to you? House Morley, perhaps?"

"Hrm... I do not particularly trust the families to return something of such value when they could as easily claim it never arrived... What do we think?"

Not entirely confident the bird would come back, and it would take a couple of days, but... Flaws. Artho needs help, Mehr is inclined to help.

((Mehriv would know that honesty amongst nobility is important to them, especially amongst merchants. Reputation is vital!))

((Those same nobility who were trying to claim ownership of a boat for their personal gain? Yeah no.))

"Hmn, true. The effect seems to match the Animal Messenger spell, but while a normal animal would return after one day, the statue reverts after twelve hours, so if the subject isn't at the location by that time it will become a simple statue... Ah, no, I was remembering a detail wrong. The effect can only be activated once every three days. It is not overly efficient for two-way communication. For relaying information it is quite valuable, but retrieval is another matter."

((ah yes...I forgot you'd met them ))

Artho frowns and nods seriously.

"I see. Well, thank you anyway. I had better be moving on. I intend to try and reach the southern tribes if I can. Perhaps they can be of some assistance, or at least she'd some light on all this."

Gentlemen; ladies - it has been a pleasure."

To Artho

"The woman said the lizards to the south were less likely to kill you but weren't much for helping either."

To Mehr,

"So what are we gonna do now? We can try and find Trip's group if we are hopin' to have the numbers to go after the kidnapped Morley's. Otherwise I guess we can follow Syli's cat friend's message? Or just wander around in the jungle like we have been."

"I know there are more than a few who prefer the wilds over civilisation, and there are probably some who favour cats. Many are transient and prefer to keep to themselves, but they sometimes congregate in a place far to the northeast that they hold sacred. Some say that great animal spirits guard it and keep it safe; others believe it to be a campfire ghost story. I have never seen it myself so I cannot say what is there, but I believe it to be a real place."

Artho's ears perk up a little at Varsk's comment.

"Forgive my intrusion, but... infiltration is something of a specialty of mine. Perhaps we should work together?"

((Er, Syli hasn't spoken yet since she got back.))

Syli stands silently, having held her words upon noticing the newcomer. Whereas the others were discussing their plans, Syli seemed more intent on scrutinizing the newcomer, especially as he suddenly switched a stance from wanting to depart to seemingly wanting to help them infiltrate the lizards' camp. The others were far too trusting of this stranger...

--Insight (+3): 20

Varsk looks back at Artho at his offer,

"What's your angle then? We send a messenger bird in a few days and you risk your life?"

Artho looks at the group:
"I think you may have misunderstood. My duty is to gather information and relay it to my people. I can do neither of those things if I am dead, and so I was proposing that perhaps we may assist each other."

Syli: He seems concerned about the options in front of him, like he's uncertain about the best course for him to take.

Varsk: He certainly seems worried.

"You said there was a cat druid? Do we think we can trust them? Artho, you know anything about cat druids in these parts?"

As the others continue to discuss planning, Syli turns her attention to Korrik. "Considering how it went with the last druid we encountered?"

"...I dunno. I mean, he or she didn't attack us while we were camping, but that could just be simple common sense rather than any show of trustworthiness; they didn't necessarily know we were nearly spent, they could've assumed they would've lost, even with the element of surprise. And if they were really offering help, or asking for help, there's no reason they simply couldn't have asked, rather than put an extremely vague set of directions on a piece of hide. And on top of that, we'd have to navigate all the way BACK to our campsite just to get to the starting point for these directions, and then slog through an additional four-to-five miles of mosquito-infested hell... and that's assuming I'm even reading the stupid thing correctly. And to top it all off, it's also assuming the whole thing isn't a trap to bait myself and whoever comes with into a trap where he or she has the upper hand. Or reinforcements. Or, joy of joys, both."

Syli sighs and rubs her hand against her forehead.

"...oh hell, I didn't even think about that one." Syli groans.

To Artho,

"I may have missed some stuff before I showed up, but how in the abyss would sneakin' into, or even towards, a camp full of blood thirsty lizards keep you more alive and sendin' information than sneakin' in the other damned direction? Not sayin' I don't want your help on this but I do want ta be clear on why your doin' it."