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Hiker, after being administered by the old man, looked at where his former bite wounds were and smiled a huge smile in both relief and disbelief. Magic was not something he knew about but certainly this was it.

"Well I'll be...aint that a trick, thank you much Mister, I dont have much to offer for your charity but I would like to give you something in return for being so nice ta me." Hiker began searching his things for a gold coin or two to offer the old man and as he did, he heard the old man's question:

"Now, I think you said you were searching for a woman, and the grumpy dwarf mentioned some goblins. Would you like to tell me precisely what your business is in my forest?"

"Yes sir, we is searching for Miss Alma..she was tooken by them woofs and some ugly critters ridin' them woofs, just a couple days ago. We thought that them woofs was gonna get us like they did to Miss Alma. She is real nice - And Mr. Half man says we need to bring her arm back on accounta to prove its her..." Hikers confusion mounted a bit and he looked over at Paladin with his head askance as if to say 'is that right?' ... then he continued, "So we was tracking forward and then the woofs got us and I went asleep for a bit and here we are and we dont have Miss Alma OR her arm." Hiker seemed satisfied enough then as he had located his gold pouch, removed 2 gold and attempted to hand the old man thea gold pieces with an innocent and appreciative smile on his face.

Paladin pokes sulking at the flasks of liquid hoping to see something alcoholic. He nods about the hand. Wierd mating ritual, he replies.

"Thank you, old man." Tannen says upon receiving his share of the healing. Tannen, also, has never received magical healing before and can scarcely believe what has just happened.

Later, when he has regained his composure, he addresses the seemingly benevolent old man.

"We have been commissioned by Mr. Kitchener of Marketstone to track down the wife of a local farmer who was stolen away by goblin wolf-riders 5 nights ago. Her name is Alma - Hiker here knows what she looks like. It seems that the goblins headed into your forest.

We thought that the smoke from your fire out front might have been a goblin encampment, yet it would seem not to be the case now of course.

You wouldn't happen to know tof of any goblins hereabouts would you?"

(To Hiker): “You keep your money lad. It’s no good to me. I’m hardly likely to pop down the local store am I? No, I think you can repay the favour another way ...”

(Turning to the rest of the group, although keeping a close watch on Paladin out of the corner of his eye): “I haven’t seen any women in the forest, but I think I can help you with the goblins. A group of them arrived … oh … a couple of weeks back I would say. Took up residence in some caves not far from here. Don’t know where they came from, or what they’re up to, but I want rid of them. Foul, destructive creatures, upsetting the balance of the forest. If you agree to dispose of them and restore nature’s balance, whilst looking for your woman of course, then I’ll gladly show you where to find them.

(To Tannen, crossly): “And less of the ‘old’ if you don’t mind. I’ve a fair few seasons left in me yet, and judging by the state I found you all in this morning, I’ll outlive the lot of you.”


Nivek: No ‘0’ level spells remaining today
Tannen: HP 6/9
Midday, 27th day of Harvestide

Hiker put away his gold, repacked his belongings and listened as the healer-man spoke about goblins and caves and such and then scratching his chin a bit asked the man, "So, instead of gold, how can I repay the favor? To be true I ain't not never seen nothin' like what you done before...sure Mama says there's folks out there that can do magic an' such but I ain't never seen one, let alone one who could take my hurts away like that, so what can I do fer ya? Can I tidy this place up a bit, perhaps grab some more moss for ya maybe give the bear a bath?" Hiker continues unabated, "Cuz Mama tells me that sometimes them animals they need a cleanin' so them ticks dont stick and make em sick and all - course I cant do any of it now 'cuz we need to find Miss Alma before she cries her eyes out in worry- but after I could come right on back and tend to yer fields or whatever."

Hiker looked at the man, almost like a lost puppy waiting to be tossed a stick to chase.

Nivek calms considerably as the critter-loving human gives aid to his comrades (and self). While it is apparent the forest-human does not value all the same principles as himself, he has shown compassion to life.... a bit misguided to value 'animals' as much as true beings, but compassion is there nonetheless.

Upon hearing about the goblins in caves, Nivek remarks to his comrades, "Caves sound much better than tramping about these trees. I suggest we camp early and get moving to these caves at dawn when the goblins are less active."

Turning to the hermit, "You can lead us there safely, eh?.. and I promise we will leave your critter friends to themselves, so long as they don't get aggressive with us."

Paladin's stomach rumbles audibly.

Karl's brain worked hard to deal with what the old man had said.

"We should go now. It's only mid-day and there are goblins to kill."

Tannen listens to the others while checking on his remaining wounds. After hearing Karl's comments he nods slightly before addressing the group's the strange brown-robed man:

"Can you tell us much about these caves? How big are they? Do you know how many goblins could be holed up inside?

If there are buy a few, we could perhaps enter the caves today. If there is a larger, I'd rather wait for a night's rest to ease my remaining wounds which could perhaps allow us to do some quiet reconnaissance this afternoon."

(To Hiker, somewhat exasperated): “You can repay the favour by getting rid of the goblins. If you and your friends do that, it won’t just be me that will be grateful; it will be the whole forest.”

(To Nivek, matter of factly): “Oh, I won’t be leading you there myself. I’m far too busy for that. Barnaby will show you the way. You won’t run into any trouble with the other forest residents if you’ve got Barnaby with you.”

(To Tannen): “There are many caves scattered throughout The Coastwood. I don’t tend to go in them as a rule. You wouldn’t just walk into a stranger’s house in a town or village would you? It’s the same with the forest’s caves - most of them are inhabited by some animal or other and it’s only right that I respect their privacy. So, I’ve no idea how big the goblin caves might be.”

“As for goblin numbers, I reckon there’s at least a dozen, possibly more. Perhaps as many as twenty. From what I’ve seen, they generally move around the forest in groups of five, pillaging and defiling nature as they go. I’ve seen the odd wolf-rider as well. Not wolves like the ones you were playing with earlier. Big, powerful wolves, the size of small horses.”

Nivek: No ‘0’ level spells remaining today
Tannen: HP 6/9
Midday, 27th day of Harvestide