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Haahqae (Steel Tankard Inn, Herbalist Street)
Haahqae steps outside and considers his options. He remembers that the magic shop is to the north, at the end of Herbalist Street; he had passed it by a couple of times when he first arrived in the city. For a small fellow like himself, it's only about a fifteen minute walk.

The blacksmith was to the south, past the marketplace and somewhere on Blade Street. It was the further away of the two, as well, about twenty minutes of a walk.

Kendra Synclair (Old Keep, Empty Office)
Kendra steps out of the captain's office and heads to a nearby empty room to put on her armor. It takes her a couple of minutes to do it herself.

Just as she's finishing up, she hears snickering coming from the doorway. Should she turn to look, she spots a pair of goblins peeking in at her. "Would rather watch her take it off instead," one mutters to the other in Common, nudging his companion. They both snicker at this.

Gregeddin (Market Street, Dead-End Alley)
Gregeddin and the guard begin looking through the trash. Before they get very far, the young girl suddenly leaps out from behind a can and makes a break for the alley.

"Not so fast, you little thief!" the guard yells, and grabs hold of her wrist before she can escape.

"No, stop!" the girl cries, struggling in vain.

The guard awkwardly sheathes his sword with one hand, so he can grab hold of her with both hands. "Thanks for the help, citizen," he says to Gregeddin. "Let's go, you little brat," he says to the girl.

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Holy Guard grabs at the little girl (1d20): 17, success. He grabs her.

Khush (Road to Haven)
The woman and child turn and run for it, but the child is too slow and the woman is forced to stop lest she leave him in her dust. She turns and readies her knife to buy her child more time.

Khush comes charging out at the goblin who turned to investigate the noise. The goblin is quite alert, ready for danger, but is squinting slightly, despite the fact that it's fairly overcast thanks to the light rain. She still spots Khush coming, though--but isn't fast enough to set her spear against his charge, just fast enough to duck when he swings his staff at her.

The other goblin--the male of the two--charges after the woman and child. Luckily, the woman is able to avoid the goblin's spear. She quickly stabs at him with her knife, but the goblin hops back in time to avoid it, leaving things in a stalemate.

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Goblins' Surprise Roll (+2 for anticipating attack) (1d10): 9, not surprised

Initiative
Khush (1d10+4): 12
Goblin 01 (1d10+4): 14
Goblin 02 (1d10+4): 7
Woman (1d10+2): 9
Child (1d10): 7

Round 1!

Child turns and runs 60 feet.
Goblin 02 moves 15 feet toward the tree that rustled.
Woman turns and runs 60 feet, then holds for an attack.
Khush charges (+2) Goblin 02 with his quarterstaff (1d20+2): 4, miss.
Goblin 01 charges (+2) Woman with his spear in the daylight (-1) (1d20+1): 5, miss.
----Woman attacks with her knife against Goblin 01's leather armor (+2) (1d20+2): 8, miss.
(OOC: Goblins have a movement rate of 6, as do human children. Khush and the woman have a movement rate of 12. Actions and Inititative for Round 2?)

Coroccoco (Haven Arms Inn, Common Area)
The crowd murmurs to themselves in confusion. They clearly have no idea what Coroccoco is talking about. "Who is this Tii'Mhut?" one asks. "What Dark Queen?" asks another. While Takhisis has reached out to the goblins, it's clear the average citizen of Haven has no idea who she is. After 350 years, most humans don't know the names of any of the old gods.

The hooded person, however, reacts visibly to that name. He stares intently at Coroccoco, and when she steps down, he immediately stands up and walks outside at a quickened pace.

Coroccoco pauses, clearly taken aback by the humans' lack of knowledge but makes no answer to them unless they press the issue. She shakes her head, utterly missing the hooded figure's quick departure in her consternation. "Daxia Tch, you now know me. Have you ought to say? If you wish to seek my aid I will hear you out. If not I will bid you good day before word of my sermon reaches the Seekers."

Mulling over the options, Haahqae finally decides his best bet for finding noble companions is at the blacksmiths. Pushing himself off the wall, he does a cartwheel into the road and starts on his way southward. What he didn't realize, is that the drumstick he was eating would touch the ground during his cartwheel, so it is covered in street muck before he knows it.

He was sure a book told him not to eat food covered in street muck that he had read somewhere, so he resolved to throw the drumstick in a dumpster once he got to the market district.

"you're welcome" Gregeddin called, very glad the guard's blade was not an issue anymore.
Rather than trying to squeeze past them in the alleyway, he waits for the guard to start towards the street and will follow behind the pair.
Once outside unless the guard has any more conversation to make, Gregeddin will continue East towards the market.

Khush attacks the goblin again.

INIT 8, hits AC 8 for 5 dmg.

Wet, annoyed and a still nowhere near his destination, Kynaston Trench could not resist a little slice of home. He hoped it wouldn't be more jarring than his experiences had already been; he hoped the smithy held memories he had not since outgrown. There were painful things to remember, certainly, but it where he came to know his father.

He slowly opened the door, expecting the "ding-a-ling" of a bell, the great heat of the flame, and the spit of a gruff smith.

"And I would rather chop off your heads and watch vultures pick at your dead corpses," Kendra stated as she turned to face the goblins. Oh, how she hated working with these scum, and she couldn't for the life of her understand how they managed to be employed with the Seekers. It didn't make sense. "But, sadly, we can't always have what we want," she added with a disappointed sigh.

Kynaston Trench (Karn's Blacksmith, Blade Street)
Stepping inside, the temperature change is immediate. It's cold and wet outside, but warm and dry inside. As expected, a small bell rings as he enters, the door hitting it as it opens.

A man's voice from the back calls out, "One moment!" A soft red glow emits from the backroom from the fires of the forge.

Looking around, Kynaston sees plenty of examples of the man's work. There are cups filled with nails and hinges, horseshoes hanging off the wall, and a number of other objects on display, including plows, crowbars, and a few knives, as well.

The whole place smells of iron and sweat, and reminds Kynaston of his father's forge. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

Haahqae (Marketplace Square)
Haahqae heads down to the marketplace, avoiding the deeper puddles in the road and holding a half-eaten drumstick covered in muck. He looks for a trash receptacle on the way, but oddly enough has great difficulty finding one empty enough to put the leg in. After wasting about five minutes, he finds one, dumps the leg, and finishes his walk toward the marketplace.

When he arrives at the marketplace, he finds the place is started to get crowded, but not only from merchants and customers. There's a man standing on a crate in the middle of the square. A growing crowd of refugees surround him, listening to him speak of miracles, a true god, and other such things.

Kendra Synclair (Marketplace Square)
The goblins titter and run off. Disgusted, Kendra steps back outside into the rain and begins the walk back down to the marketplace square. It takes less time to get there, as it's all downhill. She arrives to find that the preacher is still there, and his crowd has almost doubled in size.

Gregeddin (Market Street)
The guard drags the girl out of the alley and into the street, the bard right behind them. The guard doesn't say anything more to Gregeddin, but the little girl begins to cry. "Cry all you like," the guard tells her. "You know the penalty for stealing."

"Please, please don't take my hand!" the girl begs, but the holy guard won't hear of it, and continues to drag her off.

Khush (Road to Haven)
Khush lashes out with his staff, smacking the goblin female across the face. She spats out some blood, and maybe a tooth, but snarls viciously and stabs with her spear. Khush attempts to dodge, but doesn't act fast enough. The spear jabs his left leg, and moments after the flash of pain, he feels warm and sticky blood running down his leg.

Meanwhile, the woman fights for her life to protect the child. "Run, my son, run!" she screams, and stabs again at the goblin. The child turns and pumps his legs, putting more distance between him and the battle--but the goblin ducks the knife and stabs her right in the chest with his spear. She cries out, dropping the knife, then collapses onto the ground, clutching at her chest.

The male goblin hoots in triumph and looks to run after the boy, but the female shouts out something to him in goblin, and reluctantly, he turns back toward her.

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Initiative
Khush (1d10+4): 8
Goblin 01 (1d10+6): 9
Goblin 02 (1d10+6): 16
Woman (1d10+2): 6
Child (1d10): 10

Round 2!

Woman attacks Goblin 01 with her knife against his leather armor (+2) (1d20+2): 9, miss.
Khush attacks Goblin 02 with his quarterstaff (1d20): 12, bare hit for (1d6): 5 damage.
Goblin 01 attacks the woman with his spear in daylight (-1) (1d20-1): 11, bare hit for (1d6): 6 damage. Woman falls.
Child runs 60 feet away. (He leaves the map.)
Goblin 02 attacks Khush with her spear in daylight (-1) (1d20-1): 15, hit for (1d6): 3 damage.
(OOC: Actions and Initiative for Round 3?)

Coroccoco (Haven Arms Inn, Common Area)
Nobody presses Coroccoco further, but they continue murmuring to themselves, some sounding worried, others more hopeful.

Daxia smiles. "Why offer to help me at all?" she asks, curious. "We've only just met, and you've no idea the trouble I'm in. Surely there are others more worthy of assistance."

"Ah yes, Belzor. Here's one of his miracle workers" Haahqae mutters too quietly for even someone beside him to hear, then weaves through the crowd to get a better view. "Come Belzor, grant me your knowledge." Again, said too quietly for anyone not actively trying to listen to him.

Coroccoco retrieves her maul to by herself time to answer, focusing on strapping it to her back as if that were her world's only task. She lifts her haversack from the ground as well, placing it on the chair in front of her as she finally raises her eyes to Daxia's. "I have not yet promised my aid, Daxia Tch, only to listen." She holds her woven hat in her hands in front of her, looking small in her large clawed hands but she grips it gently.

"Why you? Because I have learned of your problems and know nothing of any other's, or perhaps because I know what it is to be hunted and alone. Because when you first saw me you had no malice in your eyes, and Weerschaal teaches equality. Because I never said I would expect no remuneration for my services." She shrugs, expressing her willingness to walk away if Daxia finds her answers insufficient though her eyes remain intently on the woman before her.

"My people have a saying that I still find wisdom in though there is something lost in the translation, 'The claw may catch a throat as well as the sword.' Bloody, as are my people, but the gist is that there are many ways to solve a problem and that sometimes the humble option will do when nothing else is available."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Kendra said with a groan as she took in the size of the crowd. With a sigh, she starts to push her way through the crowd. "Excuse me, Holy Guard coming through," she says to the people in her way.

Once she makes her way closer to the man preaching about his so called call, she calls out to him. "Excuse me, good sir!" she says. "What is the name of this miracle God of yours?" she asks.

Khush strikes at the goblin again with his staff, but hampered by his injury, he misses.

1d10+4=9, 1d20=5

Haahqae (Marketplace Square)
As nobody is actively trying to listen to the gnome, nobody hears his mutterings. He keeps a sharp eye on the prophet, hoping to see some miracles, but at the moment, the man is just preaching, nothing more.

Kendra Synclair (Marketplace Square)
At the sight of Kendra, wearing the telltale red and white of a Holy Guard, people quickly make room for her, the crowd parting like a sea. A few even turn and run, worried about getting in trouble. The rest eye her warily, with fear or suspicion, looking ready to either flee or pounce.

The prophet looks down at Kendra. His eyes bore into hers, as if peering into her soul and judging its worth. He smiles, showing no worry about her presence. "Only those ordained may speak his name, so I cannot say it in mixed company," he explains. "For simplicity's sake, let us call him...the Master."

Khush (Road to Haven)
Khush swings his staff at the female goblin again, but hampered by his injury, he misses her entirely. Luckily, her counterattack is equally impotent--the sun in her eyes prevents her from stabbing him again.

But whatever luck Khush might possess seems to have turned. The male goblin begins to approach, ready to aid his companion. He's far enough away that Khush figures he has about a minute to finish off the female before he's forced to face both at once.

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Initiative
Khush (1d10+4): 9
Goblin 01 (1d10+6): 15
Goblin 02 (1d10+6): 9

Round 3!

Khush attacks Goblin 02 with his quarterstaff (1d20): 5, miss.
Goblin 02 attacks Khush with her spear in daylight (-1) (1d20-1): 6, miss.
Goblin 01 moves 60 feet to the east.
(OOC: Actions and Initiative for Round 4?)

Coroccoco (Haven Arms Inn, Common Area)
Daxia's gaze drops down to her hands as she carefully considers the hobgoblin's words. "Maybe I can trust you..," she finally says, looking back up; her blue eyes meeting the hobgoblin's own. "But I can't talk here. Too many ears about. You never know who might be listening here."

Coroccoco makes a curt nod, planting her hat upon her head and hefting her sack to her shoulder. "It is my custom to spend my day in observation and exploration. I have not yet seen all there is of this place. You may join me as you please or perhaps your friend will turn up here. In any event, I will be at Clover Park when the sun is two fingers from the horizon."

She holds two of her fingers out in front of her, sideways, to indicate what she means. With another quick nod she turns, heading off slowly in search of her waitress. Coco presses enough coin for the meal in the woman's hand, murmuring for her to keep the change and to think on the morning's sermon.

She heads for the door, intending to take the western road from the Inn.

EDIT: spelling

"The Master," Kendra repeats, though there is a slight sarcastic tone to her voice. "I don't know about the rest of these people, but I, for one, would have a problem following a God that wouldn't tell his followers his name. For that matter, I would have a problem following a God that has his followers refer to him as the Master. It seems a little more like slavery rather than worship, no matter what miracles your God can perform," she explained as she glanced at the people around her.

"So, if the name is restricted to those that are ordain to speak it, what of these miracles that he can perform? Are those free to all?" she asked curiously.