Date: 7/27/08

XP Awarded: 565 (Deivon, Gob, Signore), 320 (Kiria)

Start: The town of Sandpoint, a week after the raid.

As the party is having dinner in the Rusty Dragon one evening, a worried-looking townsperson enters the inn and talks to his companions. Signore is able to overhear his conversation - it seems a ragged-looking ranger has come into town. Not long after, Sheriff Hemlock arrives and asks the party to join him at the town hall - he's got some news that might interest them.

After dinner the adventurers go to the town hall to find Mayor Deverin, Sheriff Hemlock, and an elven ranger named Shalelu Andosana talking. Sheriff Hemlock explains that there has been an increase in goblin raiding activity in the area, particularly in the dale between Nettlewood and Mosswood. The other day Shalelu rescued a farming family from a band of goblins, but wasn't able to prevent their farm from being burnt down. Shalelu explains that there are five major goblin tribes in the region, but the raid on Sandpoint involved goblins from each of the five tribes. She thinks someone is organizing the goblins for some reason, and she is heading back out into the wilderness to find more information on what. Sheriff Hemlock is taking some of his men down to Magnimar to bring back some soldier reinforcements until the trouble is over, and asks the party to stay in town to maintain a public presence while he's gone, to reassure the nervous townspeople. After some discussion, the party agrees in return for free room and board while they are in town. Shalelu also asks to meet the party for dinner the next evening to find out more about the raid.

The next evening the party meets with Shalelu at the Rusty Dragon, and she gives them more information about the local goblin tribes. After dinner, Kiria sings an elven love song to Shalelu, until Gob joins in with a rowdy dwarven drinking song, and soon the whole tavern is singing along. Shalelu and Kiria go upstairs where it is quieter. The next morning, Shalelu bids Kiria goodbye as she leaves Sandpoint to gather more information on what the goblins are up to.

Two evenings after, Gob, Signore, and Kiria are walking around Sandpoint when a panicky and tearful woman runs up to them, a baby in her hands and a young child behind her. The woman - Amele Barett - explains that on the day of the goblin raid, Aeren (her oldest son) saw a goblin light a cat on fire and then caper around the burning remains - the poor boy really hasn't been the same since. Every night his howls of terror send Petal (their dog) into a barking fit, and when she investigates, he claims he saw a goblin come out of his closet. Alergast (her husband) checked out the closet but found nothing, and ever since Aeren's complaints about "the closet goblin" have become more and more tiresome. Yesterday, Alergast threatened to make Aeren sleep in the woodshed if he couldn't learn to be a man and sleep through an entire night without crying and telling stories.

This evening, Alergast didn't go to soothe Aeren when he had his night terrors. But then, a few moments later, they heard poor Petal cry out in pain and Aeren's screams turn shrill. Amele shows Aeren's arms to the party - covered in fresh red bite marks. She begs the adventurers to help, and shows them the way to her tiny house.

Inside, all is silent. Signore sneaks into the boy's bedroom while Gob and Kiria go around the side to peer in the bedroom window. Signore finds Alergast on the floor, face-down, partway into the closet. As he moves up to check if Alergast is alright, an enraged goblin shrieks and jumps out from under the body. A fierce combat begins, but with support from Kiria and Gob, Signore is able to defeat the goblin. Working quickly to bandage Alergast's deadly wounds - his face has been partly chewed off by the goblin - Gob and Signore stabilize him long enough for Kiria to run and bring Father Zantus, who uses his healing magic to rescue Alergast.

Two days later, the party is once again walking near the docks when a timid, elderly halfling woman approaches Signore. Signore recognizes her from the Rusty Dragon - she is a maid who works for Ameiko. Bethana is her name, and she explains that this morning she woke to find that Ameiko hadn't started breakfast for the first time she can remember. Worried, she knocked on Ameiko's door but didn't get a response. Against her better judgement, she entered Ameiko's room to find it empty and the bed un-slept in. Worse, she found a crumpled piece of parchment near the bed, covered in a foreign script. Ameiko had been teaching Bethana this script, and on the back Bethana wrote the translation.

Bethana explains that Tsuto was something of a scandal when he was born 21 years ago, since he's a half-elf. Bethana sagely notes, with wide eyes, that neither of Ameiko's parents are elves. It was obvious that old Lonjiku wasn't the boy's father, and his rage at the discovery of his wife's indiscretion was the talk of the town for months. Lonjiku's wife never revealed who the father was, and it's a testament to Lonjiku's stubbornness that they remained married. Tsuto was handed over to the Turandorak Academy to be raised outside the Kaijitsu family, ignored by his father and forbidden visits by his mother. Ameiko used to visit him in secret and they got on well.

That all changed about six years ago, when they had a terrible argument in which Tsuto struck Ameiko. Bethana doesn't know what the argument was about, but whatever it was sent Ameiko away from Sandpoint for a year, during which time she made her living as an adventurer. She returned to Sandpoint five years ago to attend her mother's funeral. Tsuto was quite public in his opinion that Lonjiku had pushed his mother off the cliff to her death, and during the funeral there was a confrontation. Lonjiku nearly broke Tsuto's jaw with his cane, after which Tsuto cursed him and left Sandpoint and hasn't been seen since. Bethana is certain Tsuto's up to no good, and begs Signore to visit the glassworks to find out what happened to Ameiko as soon as possible.

Unable to locate Deivon, the other party members head to the glassworks after picking up their adventuring gear. There they find the doors locked and curtains drawn, though thick black smoke pours out of the chimneys. Locals haven't seen anyone coming or going all day, but figure that Lonjiku has sealed up the glassworks for a little privacy while they work on a big order. The fact that the party is there seems to worry the gathering crowd, but Kiria calms their fears with some public speaking. Signore finds a set of lockpicks, and after some work on one of the doors, opens it to find a supply room. Behind one of the doors leading from the room, the party can hear the rumble of the furnaces, as well as the sounds of breaking glass and high-pitched giggles.

Throwing the door open, Signore sneaks into the room unnoticed. Kiria sees a group of goblins capering around the workroom with panes of glass and puts one down with a well-aimed arrow. Gob also fires his crossbow but misses. The fight quickly turns ugly - several of the goblins hang back to throw panes of glass at Kiria and Gob, while a few others rush at them with tongs full of melted glass. Signore tries to backstab one of the goblins as it runs past, but fails, and ends up in hand-to-hand combat with the goblin. After a desperate fight, the party gets the upper hand, and the few remaining goblins try to flee down a set of stairs. Signore and Kiria cut them down as they try to run, and the party investigates the workroom.

In the centre they find a chair holding the body of Lonjiku Kaijitsu, encased in thick runny sheets of hardened glass, surrounded by body parts that have been scorched and covered in melted glass. Since the adventurers are badly wounded, Kiria runs off to the cathedral to find Father Zantus for healing before they venture down the stairwell the goblins were headed into.