Chapter 3: the road to ostlen

Our heroes begin the day waking up to an unpleasant cold rain dripping on their faces from the roof above. The room that they awake in is not where they remember falling asleep, however. In the aftermath of the battle with Slaark the Goblin King, the party took to resting in one of the bedchambers within the lower levels of the keep. As opposed to the stone walls and floors, they now find themselves in a room with rotting wood walls, no doorway, a leaky roof, and animal refuse that hasn't been fully cleaned among a floor covered in hay. The air outside is heavy, and a gentle rain can be heard pattering against the rooftop.

Before they can fully take in their surroundings, Barris Godfried walks into the enclosure, "hey you, you're finally awake! Good! I have some news for y'all, but first, welcome to Goblin Slayer Keep! Came up with the name myself!"

Twitch, a goblin himself, grimaces at the thought, and begins to get riled up feeling as though he has not received the recognition he deserves for dispatching Slaark. "We can change the name, right?" he asks.

"Well, I sorta already carved it into the stonework that's here...and even made a sign outside....so...yeah, its Goblin Slayer Keep now"

"WH-" a chord snaps within Twitch, but Cyrell is able to calm him down, telling him they can deal with it later, but remarking that Barris' racism against goblins is noted.

Ignoring this, Barris carries on, his southern accent lacking the comforting reminder of traditional southern hospitality,

"I was goin to let ya know about some possible…issues…we might be havin here. But honestly I got it all under control. There were some noises, ya see, comin' from 'hind the walls and under the floor in the underground rooms below. Made us all a bit jumpy so we packed up some of the stuff we found down there and moved it all up here. Honestly surprised we were able to carry y'all up here without waking ya. Well, most of ya's at least."

Cyrell begins questioning where his other companions are. As he looks across the room, he sees Twitch but no sign of Davina, Seven, or Namira whom he had last traveled with.

"Yeah, about that..." Barris continues, "that robot feller, and the elf lady too. And Dariana? Damica? Whatever her name was…her also. We kinda forgot to bring them up with ya. Honestly they's was so sound asleep, didn't even remember they came in with ya. Thems was always quiet ones the minute we met..."

He trails off and looks at the ground quizzically.

"But I'm sure their all fine! We already got Sister Cousin Ruth and Brother Uncle Marcus workin on getting em out. So don't worry yer noggins about none o' that. And those sounds too...Honestly probably just nerves. Never had anything like yesterday happen to any of us. Folks might be sufferin from some kinda, post-traumatic stress of some kind. Really should make a name for that...Anyways, the folks are likely just still in shock and were likely just hearin things."

Cyrell rubs his eyes in disbelief but accepts Barris' word.

"Also, it might be worth mentionin, we found some kinda Halfling wanderin around outside the keep, said he's been lookin for ya fer days. Didn't know if we could trust em or not but he said something about proving himself by cooking us some good grub, so we chained him up in the kitchen just over yonder."

The party again begins to question Barris' racist inclinations, but Barris tries to argue that it would be unwise to trust anyone who just wanders up to your home and asks to be let inside. Especially from a race that has a history of being tied to criminal organizations. They agree to disagree on the matter.

Barris also bestows to the party a pair of gauntlets they found on Slaark the Slow. He says that even he is able to tell there's some kind of magic going on with them but isn't sure what. Cyrell investigates and is able to determine there is some kind of potential abjuration magic, but inherently something mildly darker as well within. He gives them to Twitch, but neither are willing to wear the gloves proving that they care more about safety then cool magic items.

"Alrighty," Barris chimes up, "well somebody's gotta clean up them goblin corpses! Also, ya hear any strange noises, y'all be sure to let me know - but again, probably nothin! Bye now!" He leaves and begins tearing away at one of the rotted wooden walls. breaking it down to replace it.

Outside, the sun and sky are completely covered by dark cumulonimbus clouds. A light rain falling and a distant fog obscuring the horizon. The once golden and beautiful plains and meadows that surrounded the keep are now dark and gray. They see some of the farmhands as they drag goblin corpses across the ground leaving a trail of blood. As one pulls a particularly large goblin towards a burning pyre, its body splits in half from its torso. The man puts his hands to his mouth and keels over, throwing up across the ground. Bloodstains run across the dirt paths inside the camp blending with the rainwater and rolling off down the hill from which the keep is perched upon leaving a viscous crimson solution of mud, rainwater, and the excrement of entrails. One peasant looks on as his partner, with a broken shovel, scoops up a goblins dismembered hand and a small intestine that has been spilt across the ground. The one doing the shoveling gives Cyrell and Twitch a disheartened look, lamenting over his duty to clean up the aftermath the parties assault while the other whispers to his companion questioning if this place is really where they want to make a new home after all.

Inside a small shack, they find Zeetus! He is chained by the ankle and cooking up some delicious soup that he's been working on all morning. They unlock his ankle shackle and try to catch him up on the past adventures that have taken place in his absence over a nice warm bowl of soup. All caught up, Twitch and Zeetus step outside the fort. Twitch scratches out a wooden sign that says "Goblin Slayer Keep" while Zeetus throws a bowl of soup at the engraving in the stone featuring the same title.

Cyrell lags behind a bit to tell Barris that he should consider how he treats other races seeing as how one just helped him secure a home. Barris ponders it, but this is a goblin they are talking about. One who literally just killed his own kind without remorse proving his disposition to be reasonable. At least in his eyes.

Eventually, Cyrell meets up with his companions and they start on the road to resume their journey. This time clearly with no distractions. Only pleasant singing, warm food, and cheerful tales as they hike the road to Ostlen. Or so a fool would think.

The party continues on for another two hours of walking. As they continue on West the rain begins to get a little more intense and the fog just a bit thicker. Their clothes have now become damp and heavy, weighing down each steps. Their boots are flooded with water sloshing with each step and their ankles caked in mud. Nonetheless, the party continues forward! Ostlen awaits after all.

They pass by the remains of a dismantled goblin toll booth which they had a previous encounter at before making it to Goldmaw Farms once again. Some of the party members look through the ruins but find not much of value. They are able to find an unburnt child's drawing. Zeetus tries to investigate where the turtle came from. He stares incredibly hard at the muddy road, gets down on all fours, tastes the dirt and smells the air, but can't find anything. Then, Twitch looks over his shoulder, and provides some help. With Twitch's help, Zeetus is able to activate his eagle vision. Zeetus is not only able to spot the gargantuan and readily apparent (and entirely fresh) tracks left in the mud from the beast leading towards Ostlen but is also able to see them even beyond what the foggy visibility conditions would normally allow. His critical perception allows him to track the smell of muddy oil that the beast left behind for miles.

At the farm ruins, the party hears muffled sound of an off tune rhythmic tone coming from the southwest. Zeetus, Cyrell, and Twitch debate whether or not to investigate but Twitch's curiosity gets the better of him. Cyrell explains that he should go out for no more than a few minutes and come right back. Twitch agrees before going out way longer than the agreed upon time where the sound starts to get louder. Zeetus and Cyrell agree that he must have died, but are kind enough to go scout out for his body. Zeetus heads off first before Cyrell follows.

Twitch is first to notice a large troll that is...singing?

"Hair is sweet,

Trolololo smell er..lady good

Face like mud

Yes, Trololo love mud! Singie ladie love mud too.

Torololo see

Ugly knows you…err….lady lovely "

Twitch determines that the troll must be harmless and tries striking up a conversation. Turns out that this troll calls himself ugly and is in love with a human woman who freed him from a cage! He doesn't know her name, but remembers she has red hair and was roughly in the direction of Ostlen when he last saw her.

Perhaps it was because Ugly, like Twitch, was an outcast, but Twitch had a softspot for the troll. In an attempt to make him feel better, he pointed out a rock and told Ugly it was all his. Ugly stores the rock in his hidden pockets he has alongside his beefy thighs.

It is unknown to the party, but Ugly would later use this rock to throw at a bee that was buzzing in his ears. He didn't hit the bee, but did get stung by it, and immediately after forgot he had a rock to begin with.

At this point, Cyrell and Zeetus had long since caught up. They debate for a while how to proceed. Ugly tells the party that "baddie mans" were in the direct route to Ostlen, but there was a longer yet safer way by going around. Our heroes debated which route to take, and whether or not to bring Ugly along. Ultimately they decide to go the quicker way and leave Ugly where he is. Cyrell argues that clearly Ugly is trying to avoid people and it would be foolish to bring him towards the people he wants to stay away from even if he could potentially provide some extra muscle.

Twitch promises to bring the "pretty lady" to Ugly, and the party continues on their way.