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Post by coaroo on May 12, 2007 8:26:56 GMT -8
Rumors have been carried through town by passing merchants and some army of mutilated goblin bodies in the area around Lochling. Though not unusual to find along side the road, the extent of the damage borne by these goblinoids is, to say the least, excessive. Any healer who comes across the bodies find them to be permanently dead, the deep cuts having been made by blades. Much of the damage done seems to have been dealt from behind. Each of the bodies is missing the right leg, which appears to have been cut off from each of them.
A passing "corpse merchant," as they have been called recently, has even been rumored to have seen one, but said they were "not even worth trying to raise."
The mutilation seems to be bad enough to hinder the corpses nearly useless as raised undead, though there is no magic or physical barrier preventing one from doing so.
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Post by Soranal on May 12, 2007 9:48:03 GMT -8
(plot post)
In the early morning hours, before the sunrise, city guards can just make out a group of beings collecting the remains strewn about the land. They don't come very close to the city itself and do not use light to see in the darkness. Whoever they are, they collect most of the remains in the area, leaving only those that are too close to the walls of Lochling. One guard is later heard to say, "It was creepy. They hardly made any noise and they couldn't a been human. Never did get a good look at em. Not sure if I want to. Hey, least they cleaned the place up! Ha HA!"
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Post by coaroo on May 12, 2007 10:22:20 GMT -8
---NOTE TO PLOT---
This takes place just after the conversation in "A Touch of Madness III, the 'camouflage' of smell mentioned here is described there as well, and the original disheveled look was in large part from failing an attempt at ambush the last time Coaroo tried this.
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Waiting hidden among the brush and trees, Coaroo waits. Hidden under a low tree behind the brush near the outskirts of town, Coaroo waits for a goblin patrol to come through.
"The bodies should have attracted them by now," Coaroo thinks. "I thought I would have gotten some attention last night." Seeing a shadowed figure approach, Coaroo becomes completely still. "Its picking up the body," Coaroo thinks, "but that doesn't look like a goblin from here...
Coaroo opens his mouth slightly, smelling and tasting the air for any hint of what is on the path just ahead of him. (Sarr scenting) He strains to smell through his camouflaged scent of goblin blood, mud, and dirt. The scent was meant to throw off anyone looking for him, since everything around the body smelled the same, but now it was hindering his ability to smell outside of the camaflauge...
Waiting till the figure took the body, Coaroo comes out of his hiding spot cautiously. Looking at the fresh drag marks and scenting the air, Coaroo smiles broadly. "Wanna do something stupid?" Coaroo thinks to himself. He begins to use his scenting to follow the figure...not a hard thing to do considering the scent of death that lingered behind the body. Coaroo crept along, staying far enough behind to keep from being heard.
Pausing a moment, Coaroo thinks to himself that he is getting beyond shouting distance of the walls, shrugs, and decides to keep going anyway...
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Post by Soranal on May 13, 2007 11:52:48 GMT -8
(plot) As Coaroo trails the body collector, he notices that this must have been the last one to come out and collect, for there is evidence of many bodies having been dragged this way. After a few minutes the creature makes it's way behind a low foothill and before the sarr can get to a postion of visibilty he hears it say something in a hushed tone. The language sounds goblinish. The sound was not far from the bend that it went around. Staying hidden might be impossible if the sarr continues. The sound of some type of canine can be heard as well as what appears to be a body hitting a wooden surface...
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Post by coaroo on May 13, 2007 12:07:34 GMT -8
Coaroo hesitates a moment and decides that this may be getting to be too much. He looks around for the pattern of shadows, seeing if there's any place he may hide securely, and then looks down. All his hard work was focused into this one scratch mark... How many bodies had been dragged over this same spot?
Coaroo knew that at a sprint he could outrun most creatures who lived in this area. Coaroo also knew that many could keep him from running as well, though, and that gave him the time enough to hear the slam against the wood. Coaroo had time to think the two rules that mastered most of his life:
"Fortune favors the bold; Curiosity may kill the cat."
Listening to the voice of his father, Coaroo slinks around the bend to see what he may see, ready to run or freeze as he sees necessary, trying desperately to stay in the shadows, muscles tensed to give a quick two hits... the second being his brutal, more tiring swing if whatever it was would need it.
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Post by Soranal on May 13, 2007 12:22:36 GMT -8
(plot)
As the sarr sneaks around the bend, he hears coarse laughter come from that same direction. He continues, perhaps foolishly, to get a look at what it is. He clears the hill and can see in the little sliver of moonlight a gathering of creatures. Most are cloaked or wrapped in fabric, the better to conceal their true nature. What Coaroo can make out is about a dozen hobgoblins and a handful of larger creatures. These creatures are gathered around a large cart that is harnessed to 4 very nasty looking wolves. The cart is piled high with his grisly work.
As soon as the sarr is able to take all of this in, the crowd also notices him. The hobgoblins start reaching for weapons and the larger foes begin picking up big stones. Several hobgoblins have pulled out bows and one is readying several glass vials.
It occurs to Coaroo that these are not the rank and file warriors of the goblin armies. This may be one of the 'strike teams' that was described to him by some of the sarr refugees. If so, he cannot hope to stand alone.
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Post by coaroo on May 13, 2007 12:38:36 GMT -8
Coaroo laughs hysterically as he runs back down the hill, back the way he came around the bend. An unbeatable challenge was right up his ally, since he had been in this situation enough times before. He was almost waiting for something like this. Had he even lost? Well, there was the time he got turned by the vampiress...
Coaroo's thoughts come crashing back as a boulder hits a tree nearby, no doubt from one of the giants he had seen. "That could be the hill giants I've heard of," Coaroo muses. A flash of light reveals that his poison shield was destroyed by a good long shot. Rounding the bend, Coaroo sees the clearing that he knew so well. How many times had he paced this area, waiting for patrols just like this one, but smaller. Now he would use it for the other reason he liked this area.
Over a long distance, Coaroo can often be outpaced by a fast enough monster, but on the slightly downhill terrain that lay before him, few could beat him on the short run, at least not by enough to do enough damage to stop him... hopefully. Ready to start screaming at any moment, Coaroo saves his energy for breathing and running, and then he remembers the wolves. Reaching into his pocket, Coaroo dumps a dozen or more of his extra-strong mints behind him to try to throw off the scent, and takes one very quick glance over his shoulder to see if anything is following still... As his head turns back he breaks into a sprint into the clearing.
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Post by coaroo on May 14, 2007 16:32:09 GMT -8
"Magic armor, Resist, Shield Magic... I can take those first if needed, and my armor should get me enough if those boulders better find the mark when I run. Those boulders may trip me up, though, it may be better to hide," Coaroo thinks. "On the other side of this clearing they should be able to hear me from my hiding spot, especially on edge from all the movement. I bet the patrols know that too. We'll have to see if they dare go round the bend as I did, hmm?"
These are his last thoughts before taking off into a run, knowing where he shouldn't be found, but ready to scream to the guards if needed. First, he needed to cross this clearing... "How many are following now?"
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Post by coaroo on May 15, 2007 15:26:49 GMT -8
As Coaroo finishes crossing the clearing, he sees his magic shield flash and is struck almost instantly by shards of rock breaking off from the boulder that just struck his magic armor. Diving into a grove where he knows he should be heard if he is found, Coaroo quickly crawls to the other side of the bushes and under logs till he is hidden deep in the trees. Some gasses break nearby, but not nearly close enough to take full effect, though the several nauseas make him sick to his stomach anyway. Crouching in the brush, Coaroo hears them still searching, and decides to wait it out for a while...
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Post by coaroo on May 15, 2007 19:06:19 GMT -8
The sun reveals they have finally gone. The night before they did several searches, and even had thrown a few rocks into his hiding spot, hitting him once. Coaroo dared not react, but it was all he could do to not cry out. When he saw no danger left, he crept from his hiding spot and went into town. Now, as he crosses through the gates, the only thought he has is getting healed and finding out more about this thing that's been driving him... Coaroo heads for the guild house.
(Continued in 'Visions')
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Post by coaroo on May 21, 2007 18:48:52 GMT -8
When the goblinoids return and examine the bodies, most of them have nearly identical marks, so much that the healer of the group can tell it may have been done all by the same person based on his motive of operation (M.O.). Upon closer inspection, the same thing can be seen somewhere on each. Normally near the neck, the letters CS can be found branded into the skin of those killed. The goblins can all recall a troll that had similar markings...
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