Roywin is riding Carb by the side of the wagon. When they arrive to the town and the armed men ask about their business she stands back waiting for Lyr and the rest to talk their way into town.
She pets the goat in the meantime.

Gar, ever the hunter and warrior, stayed quiet at the side, holding his bow while Lyryian spoke. "About 6 or 8 of them....and a few demon dogs I've never seen. Not natural, that's for sure."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:47, Sun 04 Oct 2020.

Landor steps forward proud and taking charge of the situation. “I am Landor Halbrek, servant of the Almighty Pelor. We are here on request of another member of the order. We have cleansed the road of villainous creatures on our way here. The guards and townsfolk that were slain by the hobgoblins have been properly and respectfully buried. Who am I speaking with?”

One of the guards that looks like a higher up approaches. He crosses his arms "Bands of those murderous savages have been skulking about near the town for days now. You be lucky you made it through. You seem to be a capable band, useful in a hard spot. Go to the Old Toil House, straight down this path. As for Captain Sorarra. She knows more I bet. There's a old castle as well, Vraath Keep. A few days travel. We believe its a home spot fer the hobgoblins. Best be weary of goblins as well and other critters. Wildwood ain't easy tah travel. Go on now." He moves aside as well as the other guards "I will send word to the Town Speaker as well.'
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:59, Sun 04 Oct 2020.

Landor nods. “Thank you for your permission. We will report to the Captain immediately.” The cleric got back on the wagon and continued down the path to the Toil House to inquire about the Captain.

Roywin winks at Gar as they start moving again.
"Let's see what we can learn from that captain, but they certainly look like they have a problem with those Hobgoblins."
And keeps the pace of the wagon, moving by its side, riding the goat.

Gar simply nods at the guards words. "Maybe dealing with tbe hobgoblins is an idea....their a pest here, and I wouldn't mind swatting some pests."

The half orc walks beside the wagon, longbow in hand. "Maybe while we are here we can see about selling some of the gear."

"If things are as bad as they say, certainly some folks could use it.  I hope we can sort this out.  Hmm... if they're holed up in the castle, this'll be just like dealing with that old dwarven place.  Except with less murderous puddles and rugs, I hope," Lyrian says, walking briskly, her familiar Ingrid draped over her shoulder.

The Old Toll building looms above the group as they approach after they cross the river upon several rafts. When they enter, two guards flank them. Its a small room leading into a larger one. Standing there is a red haired woman, human it seems armed with a longsword, shield and breastplate. Her eyes stay trained on the newcomers "Greetings. I am Captain Soranna Anitah."

Entering from the larger door is a older man, human as well. His well kept beard and hair of brown is cut short. He wears some decent clothes, holding a cane "I am the town speaker, Norra Wiston. I heard you took down some enemies correct? We should speak." He motions for them to enter the courtroom and he sits down. The captain crosses her arms over her chest as she followed him.

"Our town is under attack." The speaker begins "Hobgoblin raiders have been harrying our lands for several days now. They have attacked and killed several people in hte outlying homelands and have been waylaying travelers across the Dawn Way."

Captain Soranna adds "We've had some trouble with them before-a quick raid on homesteads on the west side of the river, usually not that bad-but it is different. It looks like a large, aggressive tribe has moved down out of the Wyrmsmoke Mountains. Frankly I fear that might be numerous enough to sack a town."

"Beyond the immediate threat to our homes, the road is our lifeblood. If the hobgoblins make Dawn Way impossible to the west, trade won't come this way and we will be ruined. Not only do we need to repel the attacks, the raiders from our town but we have to keep the road open. Can you help with that?" The speaker pauses. He notes seeing the Pelorian priest that they have a Shrine to Pelor and several places to shop if needbe.

Tai who has remains silent, leans against the door seeming to take it all in. He moves over to Roy, placing a hand upon her shoulder perhaps to comfort her then moves it.

Roywin smiles at Tai as he makes the movement trying to comfort her. Then she turns to Norra.
"We will be happy to do whatever is in our hand to help you with these creatures. We should start with gathering as much information as we can on where they are settled now, who they are, how many of them are in the settlement and why did they moved here."
She is aware that fighting a whole tribe of hobgoblins by themselves is probably a suicide mission, so they'll need to come with a workaround solution.
"Maybe there is some way of forcing them to move somewhere else or to go back to their lands. We will need every piece of information you could give us."
She says with a nice but firm tone.

Gar nods at the words, but adds to the wizards comments. "We will also need a place to stay, rest our horses and store our cart while we stay."

Pelor nods to the town speaker. “Of course we will help. It does seem as though there is not enough manpower to patrol the borders and the road day and night. Especially not against the size of war tribe you’re talking about. They will use hit and run tactics along with cutting off the roads until you are weak enough to be trampled. It is best we act sooner rather than later. Has anyone tried to ambush or attack their forces?”

The captain is now silent, letting the speaker speak.

"You will be paid 500 a piece once the hobgoblins are dealt with. Also, you can stay at the inn-the Old Bridge Inn for free with stables provided. There's a couple hundred hobgoblins  most likely, at least three different warbands around our lands. At least fifteen to twenty attack at random intervens. We have sent out a dozen guards to the west to seek out where the hobgoblins came from and their lairs but they were defeated somewhere within the Witchwood. They are using fearful monsters and evil magic against us. From what we know it involves fire breathing hounds, dragon men and a band of manicores. To the west is a small keep-Vraath Keep which is where I believe is one of their lairs. It is believed haunted but the hobgoblins don't seem to care. You should find Jorr, his location is within the Witchwood as well. Go to the left and you will find the man." The man speaks out seeming to be very worried "We have a armory as well as various place to shop as well as a small druid circle and a temple of Pelor available."

Lyrian quails when she hears the estimate of their foes.  A couple hundred hobgoblins?  Plus fire-breathing hounds, dragon men, and manticores?  This did not sounds like a job for a handful of adventurers, but a small army!

But what small army would come here?  Not likely one could be found or afforded, not in time.

"We will have to be very clever in how we go about finding these hobgoblins.  Maybe, if we are very smart, we can turn some of these bands against each other, or find a way to intimidate them if we are able to rid them of some of their monsters," she muses out loud, offering up her idea to the others for commentary or refinement.

Roywin agrees.
"The direct approach won't work against the numbers you've mentioned. We need to be smarter that this and find a way to fight these tribes without actually fighting all of them. That's why we need to understand why they moved here. If the reason they moved here changes they might simply leave. Or find the reason they are all fighting together, and turn it so they fight each other... Maybe we should try to capture a couple of these creatures alive and interrogate them. Any information we got from them would be highly valuable in our situation. Any other suggestion?"

Landor bows. “We appreciate your hospitality and generosity. I will certainly speak with my Brothers and Sisters on the matter as well. From what it sounds like, the time that they are not all attacking at once is small raiding parties on the road like what we encountered on the way here. The best we can do is lay a trap that they can’t resist. We need a covered wagon large enough for four or more soldiers to hide in and disguise it as a supply wagon with food. Our group will go back on the road with the wagon as guards. When the wagon is attacked, the soldiers make their appearance, and we all make a combined assault on the raiding squad. This will only work a couple of times before they figure it out. Eventually, we will have to infiltrate the Keep you spoke of.”

Gar smiles at the logic of the priest he had come to trust. "...and, Landor, laying a actual trap for them isn't a bad idea either. if we find a beneficial place, have a simple bait like a wagon or two, and get time, we can set up trip wires and such."

He looks at the captain. "Do you have any bear traps around...perhaps confiscated or found? Also, can you tell me of the wildlife around...I'd rather not injure animals and just focus on the goblinoids."

"An ambush sounds like a grand idea!  Hmm..." Lyrian thinks back to her days growing up in the circus, and puts forth a possible flourish on the idea, "What if we were to disguise ourselves a bit? Some simple masks or scarves or something, or face paint? That way if they have someone spying on the village, it might be a little harder to figure out who is responsible.  Or if we switch up our looks, that could drive them to distraction - one group is ambushed by the Leaf Wardens in green masks, another sabotaged by the Shadow Bandits in black scarves, things like that. Give them something else to worry about.  Is it one group doing this?  Two?  More?  Could make them more reluctant to go out and cause mayhem."

Hearing all the ideas being passes around, the Speaker pipes out "Vraath keep is probably their stronghold. Taking it down would be the highest priority. We can defend the village for now." His attention turns towards the rogue "Leaf Wardens? Shadow bandits? Who are they?" He watches the rogue for a moment, trying to make heads or tails of what she just said "Doing the trap will get you killed. It would be you against the entire horde. That I cannot afford for it seems you wish for death. A unbreakable force." He rubs his chin.

The captain speaks out "Chopped off the head and perhaps it will splinter them and we do have bear traps but very little."

Tai is silent of course but chirps as if agreeing with the Captain.

Lyrian shrugs.  "It's an idea for a ruse - ambush one of their patrols, perhaps, and scare them if we cannot capture or kill the violent ones. Maybe we'll learn something, maybe the hobgoblins will start to chase shadows of some mysterious organization of 'Shadow Bandits' that don't really exist.  If we look like we're part of something bigger or stronger than they are, it might give us an edge.  If we capture one of their scouts, we could learn more about the keep; who's in it or how it's laid out, maybe."

Roywin nods. "I think we need to get some information before heading directly to their main stronghold. I wouldn't like to find too late that there was a secret safe passage into the building, or that we shouldn't go into a specific area because it's where two hundred creatures sleep... I doubt I can do the multiple army thing though... I'm not that stealthy" she smiles.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:03, Wed 14 Oct 2020.

Landor listens to everyone and waits for a moment to interject. “Let’s speak with the priests of Pelor and this Jorr person before deciding upon a plan. Jorr may have the information on the Keep that we want to know. If he is stealthy, he has probably kept an eye on the Keep and it’s inhabitants’ activities. We also need to sell the equipment for things that may help us get closer to the Keep without being detected.”

The speaker gives Lyr a odd look, not really sure what she would accomplish other then angering them even further but its a idea nonetheless "True but it would get you killed as well. Or have the entire horde attack us." The captains speaks up, watching this new group "The six of you against the Horde will not stand a chance. You can travel around, gathering allies and the village may make it through." The speak glances at Soranna, watching her speak and she seems very worried. The speaker lets them know a armorer is nearbye and shows them where it is as well as where the Priest of Pelor reside, and a few other places to check out namely the druids and the basic gear the group will need as well as Joranes Sundries where they can pick up what they need. He points out a location of the village mage as well. Most things are available (see the map which I can post!)

The smithy is a decent area. A dwarf is working, slamming down several odd pieces here and there. He looks up, covered in dirt, soot and ash and wipes his brow "Eh? What can I get fer yah?" He pauses his work. Several pupils move about doing their daily tasks. Armor and weapons line the walls, some of which look like they are higher quality behind the main desk. Morelin takes off his gloves "Name be Morelin. I own this here smith. Yah need it I can provide it that is iffn yah got that there money fer it?" The dwarf speaks out.

Landor motions to the wagon of goods, weapons, and armor outside. “We got some weapons and such to see ya we took off some hobgoblins we put down on our way here. Might get some custom gear here depending on what ya got.”

Roywin thanks Morelin for his offer (which is not as he's trying to make some business)
"All this items here look very well manufactured, but I'm afraid they are not fit for a lady with my skills... Do you know if there is any other shop where where I could get items that complement the ones you have here in display? I'm talking about potions, scrolls, etc."
She's not very confident a village this size will have anything like this, but she asks anyway.