MOONDAY, 7 ARODUS, 4711 A.R.
The party spends the day recuperating from their trouncing at Gutwad's hands. After expending their allotment of healing spells for the day, the party spends the afternoon hunting and fishing alongside Walthus Proudstump. At dinner, they tuck into a hearty meal, and begin planning their return to the Licktoad village come the morning.TOILDAY, 8 ARODUS, 4711 A.R.
Rested and ready for a rematch, the heroes prepare to face their foe. As they say their goodbyes to Proudstump and turn towards the marsh, they spot a traveler approaching down the New Fish Road. A human of Tian origin, he is clad in the simple garb of a peasant, with a wide-brimmed straw hat, and carries a bow across his back and a long, slightly curved sword at his side.This newcomer introduces himself as Hanzo Hattori, using the Inner Sea's typical order of names. An old acquaintance of Ameiko's, he received word of the group's mission and was asked to check in on them. After introductions and a brief retelling of the story so far, Hanzo agrees to join the group in eliminating the goblins and splitting the bounty.
Cutting across the marshland, avoiding alligators and hidden sinkholes thanks to Molido's expert eye, it only takes an hour or so for the adventurers to arrive at the Licktoads' village. Though the palisade and gate are still splintered and broken, the goblins have begun work on a much more important project: a mass of mud, moss, vines, and branches assembled into what could, if one were to squint, cock their head, and consume a large quantity of alcohol, be charitably interpreted as a statue of Chief Gutwad, standing triumphantly over his victims. It seems that Gutwad's inspiring victory of the heroes has vastly increased his status among the surviving members of his tribe.
Undaunted, Lord Brixton and Molido stride forward through the broken gates, while Zaphkael remains just out of sight behind the wall and Hanzo stealthily climbs to the roof of the nearest goblin hut. Brix calls out a challenge to Gutwad, offering him one final chance to surrender; two nearby goblins, who had been working unnoticed on the statue of their leader, jump out of their boots. One runs to tell the chief of the heroes' arrival; the other, whom they recognize as the goblin Molido had knocked unconscious in the previous battle, waves awkwardly at them and tries to make small talk.
Chief Gutwad soon appears, along with the surviving members of his tribe. But he is no mere goblin chieftan, no; he has proven himself to be Gutwad the Manslayer, Butcher of Humans, the Chosen of Lamashtu, and future ruler of a great goblin empire. In his magnificent benevolence, he offers Brixton and the others a chance to leave, unharmed, and to spread word of his glory. Brixton declines, and steps aside as Mojindo draws his warhammer and charges forward.
The battle is brief and bloody. The first casualty is actually the goblin Molido had bludgeoned nonlethally before; being unarmed, the hapless creature attempted to flee from the oncoming half-orc, only to be knocked unconscious once again by an almost absentminded blow from Molido's hammer.
Gutwad's minions rush to his aid, trying to interfere with the heroes' attacks and distract them for Gutwad's own. The Chosen of Lamashtu does score a few serious hits on Molido, narrowly avoiding the half-orc's counterattacks with the help of his warriors, but Brixton's oracular powers allow him to draw his companion's wounds onto himself, where he faces considerably less threat. (One goblin tried to leap from a hut onto his face, and landed on his sword instead.)
Hanzo peppers the goblins from above, eliminating Gutwad's assistants one by one. Zaphkael wades into the melee, laying about with his own warhammer and dealing death to a pair of foes. Finally, Molido manages to pierce Gutad's defenses, dealing a relatively minor blow that nonetheless rattles the chieftan's confidence in his own divinity and grand destiny. He cries for his goblins to fall back to the "secret weapon," and darts into a hut and along the rickety bridges connecting them.
His escape is covered by one of his last remaining soldiers, who has retrieved one of the skyrockets which proved so deadly in close quarters before. Fortunately, the explosive is not packed so full of black powder as the last one, and though Molido and Zaphkael take minor burns, it isn't enough to put either of them out of the fight. While Hanzo's arrow strike the pyrotechnic goblin down, the others chase after Gutwad.
Gutwad, increasingly frantic as his faith crumbles, scrambles across a bridge and opens a door to find Molido already waiting there, his mighty axe in hand. With a single swing that parts cleanly through the walls and doorjams on either side of the chieftan, the half-orc removes Gutwad's head (and most of his left arm).
The village goes quiet; every single one of the goblins, save the unfortunate soul now bearing two purple lumps on his skull, is dead. After taking a moment to relish their vengeful victory, the adventurers set about the tasks of collecting goblin ears and looting their village of anything valuable.
They find a total of twenty-eight fresh ears, on top of the ten slightly rotten ones they'd dug up before, and not counting the two still attached to Gutwad's head. They also find a massive stash of fireworks, with which they consider burning the village down--until Zaphkael points out that the rockets could be worth a decent sum to the right buyer. Finally, they find a chest, ornate but covered in grime, brine, and barnacles, the lock crudely broken open by some presumably dead goblin. Inside are piles of coins, a fancy hairpin, a small sack of finely-crafted shuriken, and an ornate fan with a map of Brinestump Marsh painted on its back. On the map, three locations are circled, presumably indicating something of importance to be found there.
While they fully intend to investigate these areas, the group decides that the most immediate course of action should be returning to Sandpoint and claiming their reward. After failing to borrow a cart from Proudstump (and instead procuring a rowboat, which is then decided to be less than ideal for transporting the stash of fireworks), the group simply bundles up everything they can onto Molido's shoulders, sets the Licktoad village ablaze (after reviving and releasing Bob the Twice-Thumped) and heads back up the Lost Coast Road.
They arrive late in the afternoon, just in time for Brixton and Hanzo to speak to Sheriff Hemlock and present the bloody evidence of their victory. Hemlock is quite pleased with the adventurers' courage and thoroughness, despite the damage it has now done to his annual budget, and even offers to pay full price for the ears taken from the goblins who had been dead before the party met them. He expresses some mild concern when told that skeletons had been responsible for the initial attack on the Licktoads, and muses that he may have to post a bounty on human skulls next. He thanks Brix and Hanzo again, and the two head to the Rusty Dragon with a large pouch of gold coins in hand.
Meanwhile, Zaphkael and Molido have been looking for a merchant to buy their wares. While neither is particularly good at interacting with folks, Zaphkael has a keen eye for value and knows exactly how much the fireworks should be worth. After shopping around a bit, they're given a fair enough price for the explosives, and rendezvous at the Rusty Dragon with nearly as large a sack of gold as the other team's.
Ameiko is there to greet the returning heroes with food and ale, along with her old friend and companion, Sandru Vhiski. In a show of gallantry, Brix offers her both the fan and, having recognized some of the designs on the chest as a similar to those seen on products of the Kaijutsu Glassworks, the fine chest as well. She graciously accepts, seeing the act as a gesture of kindness--while Sandru dryly observes it to be more of a very expensive act of flirtation.
With bellies full and hearts cheerful, the heroes turn in for the night. Brixton and Molido stay at the inn, while Hanzo returns to his own home and Zaphkael decides to spend the night under the roof of his adopted mother, Koya, who has baked him cookies and is very proud of him.
That night, just south of town, a guard is attacked along his patrol by a pair of skeletons.
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