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The goblin's behavior, although not unexpected by John, still feels insulting.
"Your headless companion thinks he can slay the Hound in its own territory without information on it and its potential owner or pack, nor allies of his. Pure madness." He asks the Hob in a mocking tone: "When we find your remains in the Hound's lair, should we bury you in the local custom or with your people's faithless rituals?"
He turns back to Rae.
"Anyways, I'm not here to talk to this insult of a goblin spy but the party's leader. What should we do first?"

As Lloré joined Rae and John, Galiena stepped down off the last step into the Wolf Spear's common area. She'd only caught the last little bit of the conversation, but enough to hear what the hobgoblin was laughing about. "Unfortunately, he's probably right about the Jarl," the cleric says. "What's so terrible about checking out the tomb first, Xepil? If that king... Ulfa something..."

"Ulfheonar," Lloré chimes in.

"If Ulfheonar defeated the hound, there might be something to be learned there."

At the talk of the tomb, Josh shifts uncomfortably and glances away from the others. He'd gotten through most of his life so far by keeping his head down and staying out of the way. And simply volunteering information never seemed to lead to anything good. But... what if they went there and then found out later he'd not told them? Would they still let him come with them when they left Hirot?

"I know the way," he says quietly, almost hoping nobody hears him.

Rae might've launched herself out of her seat and at the goblin had John not spoken up first. She simmers down a little as the newcomer retorts to the goblin and a Galiena answers as well.

Finally she replies. "If yeh dinnae have yahr head so puffered out," she grumbles at Xepil before continuing to the rest of the group, "Yeh mighta known that the tomb may still hold the secret t'defeatin' the beast - Ulfheonar's spear. An' 'at's where I've a mind t'gae first."

"This is Galiena; she's another o' the party. An' there was a bitty Fae flittin' 'bout last night... Anybody seen 'er this mornin'? Anyways, that Jarl ain't like t'help us out, and can't say as I'd want it. He and 'is little priest 'parently been forcing the folks round 'ere t'sacrifice 'emselves off like cattle. I might punch 'is ugly little face next time I see it... Yahr welcome t'join us if yah'd like."

"Come, boy," she turns to Josh, "Tell us what ya know. When was ya there, then? 'As it been badly ransacked 't all? 'Ave ya 'ad any breakfast? Cannae go a traipsin' 'bout with a gurgly stomach." She waves down a waiter. "Git yahrself whatchya want - on me." She adds to the waiter, "An' make it snappy, yeah?" while brandishing a silver coin.

Xepil stops laughing real quick as he's insulted- though perhaps not for the reason one might think. "Goblin!? Grrr! Do I look like I'm 3 feet tall and green or are you just blind? Grrr?" He straightens up to his full height which puts him as the tallest person in the room unless someone else exceeds 6 feet. "I'm a Hobgoblin! H-O-...err.." He pauses as he momentarily forgets how to spell. "Hobgoblin! Grrr! If you wanna shorten the name of my species you call me a Hob, or a Hobbo like everybody else! Grrr! Unless you want me to call you a halfling magician, 'cause that's what yer doing! Grrr!"

He rolls his eyes then and looks away from John, putting his hand forward to block the mage's face. "Oh here we go with the cultural insults, grrrr, how original. Joke's on you partner! I renounced my kind entirely, which makes yer sass completely pointless! Grrr!"

Xepil rubs his forehead as John then suggests he's trying to charge the Hound's lair without a plan. "Oh man, if you only knew how stupid yer sounding right now, grrr! We already took down the Hound last night! Grrr! It's weakened! All we have to is find it in it's lair and skewer it good! Grrr!" At least that's what Xepil thinks anyway, he doesn't openly admit that he's not 100% sure that plan was going to work, it was only the only thing he could think of in the absence of a real plan.

Which bring him to the next topic, John asking to speak to the leader of the party. "Graahah! I'm the closest thing you'll find to a party leader here, grrr. Despite what Rae over there might tell ya, grrr. She's a good fighter but I can tell I'm the only one with military experience here."

The Hobgoblin brightens up when Galiena enters the scene and he gives a genuine grin. "Ah! Galiena, grrr, finally someone with a good head on their shoulders, grrrr." Though, of course, Galiena then goes to say that she agrees with the plan of visiting Ulfheonar's tomb which makes him scowl. Xepil's lips tighten in annoyance when Rae finally explains the reasoning behind going to the tomb, but even before he can protest more, she's already bribing Josh with breakfast to lead them there.

"Urgggh, fine! But if we don't find anything someone better come up with a plan B, because that wolf will be making a bee line for me tonight. I saw the look on his face when I shot his arse, grrrr, he remembers my face now."

The goblin's answer comforts John in the thought he had no plan, and his attempt at showing his height off makes it feel unnecessary to further debate with him. John decides to keep an eye on him just in case, as he lacks trust in the creature, and turns around to talk to Rae and the cleric that just entered the tavern.
"Well, we have few to lose in asking the Jarl, since exploring the Tomb will take a lot of time and the Hound will have healed. Even if he doesn't send us soldiers, we can hope a few brave ones will volunteer, and we'd be able to discuss Hirots defenses with him, in case the tomb takes more time to explore than planned and the Hound comes back. We might even split the group - few of us could stay and defend. But then again - your decision."

"Really?!" Josh let a smile show for just a second as he slid eagerly into an empty seat at the table. But he quickly wiped it away and asked the waiter for bread and eggs before Rae could change her mind about the offer.

Lloré gives a skeptical look at the youth, then a warning to the rest of the group. "Careful with this one. He's one of Jenks lot. Crusty old loiter-sack. Probably here to figure out if he can con you out of your coin."

Josh scowled. "I ain't here for Jenks," he said, which was only partially true. If Jenks was standing here right now, there was little chance Josh would have had the guts to say that. He fiddled with a loose splinter on the table, reluctant to say what he was about to. Maybe he should've told somebody months ago... but who? Jenks wouldn't have cared. And the Jarl might've used the excuse to hang the whole crew.

"Kej, Stein, & Ilham thought there was treasure there," he said, looking down at the table and mumbling a bit. "Everyone says it's haunted. Sure sounded haunted when we finally found it. But they was gonna go in anyways. Worth it for a king's ransom, Kej kept sayin'. So they were gonna break in, get the treasure, then go south, away from Hirot. I kept askin' to go with 'em, but Stein says I'd just be in the way. Kej though, me and him always got on. He promised they'd come get me 'fore they went south. So one night they got all ready and took their shovels and their packs. And that was it... I ain't ever seen 'em again."

He fiddled some more with the loose splinter, still looking down. "Next night was the first time the hound showed up."

At the boy's revelation, Rae remains silent for a few moments whilst glancing at the others and giving Galiena a meaningful look. "And yah're sure," she asks Josh slowly, "That ya didnae follow 'em at all that night? Do nae a'worry - we shan't give ya 'way t'the Jarl nor anybody. I'll give ya a minute t'think on it."

She turns again to John, "Yeh might nae have anythin' t'lose, but I donnae think the Jarl'll be too 'appy with us. We released the chosen sacrifice last night, and the beast attacked the city. Doubt we'll be hailed as heroes by 'im then. But, yeh've no such tainted reputation; if yeh've a mind to talk 'im some sense, we ain't stoppin' ya."

Then she turns back to the kid just as his meal arrives. She flips the waiter the coin as promised and queries a simple "Well?" to Josh.

The Hobgoblin goes to take a seat with the others and puts his boots up on the table, arms crossed. Though he's aware that John is making an effort of addressing only Rae and asking for her opinion, no one tried to contest his claims for leadership. It's fine for Xepil if no one acknowledges it, he cares less about the glory and more about actually succeeding.

With that being said, Xepil can't help but roll his eyes as John continues to display naivety by insisting on trusting the local government. "Guy, grrrr, did you miss the part where Rae said the Jarl is -sacrificing- townsfolk to the Hound? Grrr! You go talk to that douchebag, he's gonna send you literally to the wolves, grrrr. Heh! See what I did there?" He says to no one in particular. Or maybe the bard, just to show he's not the only one that can make bad puns.

"Splitting the party!? Grrr!" The Hob says suddenly when John suggests some of them stay to defend the town while others explore the tomb. "No way! Grrr! N-O! No!! We're already undermanned as it is! If we spread even more thin the Hound is gonna pick us apart one by one, guaranteed! Grrr!"

"Real talk here for a sec, guy, grrrr... what's exactly yer background again? Grrr." Xepil asks of John.

But the real thing of interest happens when Josh tells his tale and suddenly all starts to make a little more sense. "Well, shit! Grrr!" Xepil throws his hands up in the air. "Now we -have- to go, grrr, for all we know the tomb is the Hound's lair too! Grrr!"

John answers the Hobgoblin: "You're right. I used to know his family but it seems they've changed quite a lot. All you must know about my background is I'm casting spells" hoping to not sound too suspicious, but also not feeling like the Hobgoblin should know more.
"You say the Hound began attacking after Kej, Stein and Ilhelm went in the tomb? Nobody had been there before? And how long did they expect to stay in there?"

Galiena caught Rae's glance and felt the dwarf was subtly asking her something, though uncertain what.

"I think we should go soon then. Perhaps not wait for the Jarl to come find us?" the cleric suggested, worried about the lockbox that had been tampered with and how the Jarl might react when he found out. To her, the destruction of public property, even in the name of a good cause, was the worst of their "crimes".

She also felt a little uncertain of this new member of their party, but was much less vocal about it than Xepil. He seemed to be purposefully vague, she thought. And his timing of showing up was ... suspicious, circling back to their early theory that the beast might be a shapeshifter.

Josh tears into the meal quickly, shoveling it into his mouth and leaning over his dish like someone is going to take it away from him at any moment.

"Ah dinnit go!" he exclaims through a mouthful of bread. "Jenks ha me..." he trailed off, then stuffed his mouth full of egg. No need to admit to further crimes Jenks might have had him involved with. "... doin' sumpfin'"

He looks over to John and shrugs. "Not long. Cuppa hours mebbe?"

"Hmm. Better make sure we have food for two days at least, just in case, and get going before we get covered in dust."
"How much do I owe you?" he asks the bartender, and pays him the said amount.

"What are we waiting for then, grrr. Let's go!" Xepil kicks up from his chair, all his gear already strapped to his back, with weapons freshly sharpened and ready.

"Let's go kill us a wolf, grrr. Daddy needs a new pair of moccasins, grrheheheh!!" He chuckled darkly and grinned showing all his razor sharp fangs.

"Let our guide finish his meal. It's not like he's eating such food everyday." John guesses from the boy's appearance. He takes the bottle of wine from his table and a nearby dice to kill time.
"Anyone wanting to try and win five gold coins?"

The dwarf smiles and nods as each of the others agree to take an immediate trip to the ancient tomb. Her pack is resting on the floor beside her and ready to go at a moment's notice.

She also worries about the broken lockbox in the square and hopes that the boy will finish his breakfast so that they can be out of town before the vandalism is discovered.

Rae grins at John's question and answers, "Nah, mate, I don' know what yah're ginna do t'the dice!"

It doesn't take the boy long at all to finish his meal as he eats like anything he doesn't manage to get his mouth fast enough might disappear without a moment's notice. Practically before John has retrieved the dice, he's washing it down with a mug of milk, and scraping up the last few crumbs.

And soon enough Rae, Xepil, John, Galiena, Lloré, and Josh are headed out the gates and turn almost straight north. They cross a large stream in a shallow spot and then head into the woods to the north.

A cool mist keeps visibility low and the woods are mostly quiet except for an occasional raven protesting the intrusion.

As they walk, the bard tells them again about how the hound came nearly 6 months ago. And in that time the population of Hirot has diminished from 300 to barely 200 souls.

"Some whisper Sylle Ru is connected to the beast. Others say that the Mad Widow Ymae controls it," he says, more free to throw around rumors that verge on accusations now that they are away from the town. "The old crone is a witch... "





The forest breaks at the edge of a steep slope, revealing a narrow vale below. Set in the center of the valley is a large earthen mound topped with tall grasses and shaped like a long serpent.

Two silvery streams cascade down either side of the serpentine hillock, joining to form a shallow, glittering pool at the head of the enormous mound. Across the pool, set into the earthen mound, is a large circular stone, decorated with serpentine spirals worn by time.

"This's far as we come before," Josh says in a loud whisper.

"Thanks for guiding us. You probably should go back to the village now. Here's your payment - don't tell anyone how you got it and spend only a small amount at a time to avoid drawing attention. We'll be back soon." John tells Josh as he hands him twenty gold coins, hoping the boy will go back since he has no further knowledge of the place and would hinder exploration. John asks the cleric (he's not sure if he overheard her name right)
"You think a benediction would be useful? It seems we're facing a curse and even if the place is simply guarded by spirits, the blessing of a god might make them less aggressive. By the way, what deity do you pray to? I'm quite ignorant of benedictions and protection spells, and have no idea what we could do."

The Hobgoblin is quiet for most of the journey, eyes alert and darting about the wilderness looking for potential threats. His gaze is also kept to the ground, checking here and there for tracks to see if perhaps the Hound has passed through here.

As they arrive to the tomb, Xepil chuckles when Josh announces that he and the bard are ready to head back. He doesn't blame them, and in fact Josh kind of reminds him a lot of himself when he was a kid. He gives them a toothy grin. "Stay safe, kid, grrrr. Let's play some darts when I get, eh? Grrheheh.."

While John talks spellcraft with Galiena, Xepil turns to his fellow martial Rae and starts discussing marching order. "Alright, you wanna take point Rae or should I? Grrrr. No lie, I kinna like hiding behind ya, grrr, ya cover all the important bits and yer just the right height to shoot over yer head, grrrheheh."

Josh hesitates. This feels a little too familiar to when Kej, Stein, & Ilham made him stay behind. And then they probably found all the treasure and forgot all about him. But 20 gold coins is more money than the boy's ever even seen at one time, let alone owned, so he takes it and nods. "Don't forget you said you'd take me too when you leave," he mumbles as a reminder to Galiena, Xepil, and Rae.

"We won't forget," the cleric assures him. And as Lloré and Josh begin to turn back, Galiena considers the mage's words. "I am a follower of Ulesh," she answers. "I've not yet been trained in any specific benediction spells. But still... a prayer for his watchful eye would be beneficial, I believe."

And whether the rest of the party seemed receptive or not, Galiena says a short prayer.

"Ulesh, help guide us today with wisdom so that we may restore peace for the people of Hirot who have suffered under terror of the Hound with the loss of their loved ones. And help us to remember that tranquility is upheld through strength so that we can remain strong in the face of chaos. Amen."

((Clerics have a lot less magic in this version of the game. So she's got a whooping 1 healing spell for the day. Just FYI. ))

((oh.))
"Ulesh. A good divinity indeed." The thought of obscure, chaotic gods made John doubt about the clerics intentions, and he is relieved it is no other god than a fair, honest one.
John takes a look at the priests armor, and realizes his questions futility. She seems to be a better melee fighter than mage, which is for the best since that would mean she and Rae would open the march whilst he and the Hobgoblin would close it.