Private Eastern Brisshal Heroes Do More Than Kill Goblins and Drink Ale

[Brutus Dahlgren]

The inside was a ruckus. It looked like rain had poured in from the hole in the roof, leaving pools of water soaking into crickety floorboards. Various bits and bobs of furniture lay in various states of ruin. There was no answer to the woman's cries as she peered her head in. Only the gentle creak of an open shutter flapping slightly in the wind.

Brutus, for his part, went to work quickly gathering up as many of the shingles as he could. His feet sunk slightly into the rain sodden earth, making light squelching noises with each plodding step, leaving a trail in his wake. He would carefully gather shingle after shingle, taking care to not break any of the unbroken ones, and noting how many had been damaged beyond reuse in order to have an accurate measurement on how much they would need to get in order to restore the house.

It was as he was doing this, he lifted up a shingle and squinted. Underneath, preserved by the tile, was one singular tiny footprint. He scanned the rest of the clearing around the house, eyes furrowed. There was no other print save for this one, not a single sign of disturbance. His eyes widened.

Not a single sign of disturbance amongst all of the scattered shingles? Not a single errant animal track or shift in the murk? Something was amiss.

"Toko!" He shouted. "Be careful!"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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Silence... the lack of a response unnerved the Lepus, her mind quickly going back to the day she had first found her grandma slumped on the floor after coming home from errands. Nao wasn't sure how long the frail old woman had lied there, but it had certainly been the beginning of her decline as time went onwards. It caused Toko's heart to quicken its beats, and before she had realized it the Lepus was already by the living room area of the tussled home.

"Liam-ojiisan...? Liam-ojiisaaan?!"

A foot stepped on more liquid, water perhaps, but Toko paid it little mind as she began peaking into another room... the door that should have locked it now lying on the ground. "Liam-ojiisan—" It was then she heard it, someone was calling for her... but that voice as coming from outside? Was that Brutus?

She turned back, ears training to try and catch the words being shouted in her general direction...

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Creeeeeeak

A loud groan of wood filled the house, drowning out the ambient warnings from the Giant. A rustle filled the air, the flap of curtains by a shattered window surely? Drip, Drip, Drip. The steady dripping of water into a nearby puddle sounded more ominous by the minute. As the rabbit strained her ears all these things became louder, coming into focus as she tried to pick out the words of her ally.

Shwing.

The sound of metal sliding from a sheathe alerted the Lepus to danger, and a high pitched, blood curdling scream filled the air as three goblins burst from their hiding spots. One burst from the ruins of a waterlogged mattress. One from a ruined closet door. A third from under a bunched up ruined rug.

"HIYA!" The creatures screamed, charging at the woman.

...

"TOKO!" Brutus barked, hustling to the door. "SOMETHING IS-" The screech alerted him to the danger, and he rushed inward.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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Something felt... wrong. The unshakable feeling began to gnaw at the Lepus on the inside and, unable to even properly hear her sole companion outside, she began to gingerly step back and towards the front door. Every muscle on her body had begun to stiffen as a result, the hair along Toko's nape standing on edge, before thos elong ears shifted as a particularly out of place sound barely caught her auditive range.

Shwing...

It was all the alert Toko got before a blood curling scream sounded around her, three small figures darting from their hidding places among the strewn furniture. "Shimatta!!!" There was no tiem to act, only react, and as her eyes caught the glint of metal on the hand of a particular goblin the Lepus turned to face that opponent directly.

"Eee-yah!!!"

A well aimed side kick was swung towards her closest assailant, the instep of her foot managing to hook onto the goblin's waist before it sent them hurling back into what Toko assumed was the kitchen area—unmistakable fromt he universal sounds of pots, pans and hardware getting tossled and destroyed from the unpected visitor.

"B-Brutus, there's goblins—itai!"

The warning fell short as another goblin managed to close the distance, Toko's attempt to parrying his blow failing as the Lepus stepped on some slippery substance that coated the floor boards and lost her balance.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus found himself bursting through the door as the Lepus was slipping. With a bolt of speed, he dove forward, catching her with one arm and the nose of the charging goblin with his massive fist. The creature shrieked as he sent it flying back with his crushing weapons. He pivoted slightly, putting his body between the goblin and the Rabbit, it's dagger stabbing into his coat and failing to find purchase in the strangely heavy cloth. The Giant regained his footing and leapt back, setting the rabbit down.

"You okay Toko?" He asked glancing around. This house was MUCH too small for his usual method of fighting. The canon was too big to swing with any ease, not without taking the building down anyways. He couldn't fire a shot for fear of taking out a load bearing wall, and while he might be able to get away with pyromancy, he didn't want to risk a fire that could spread back to the village.

He grit his teeth and plunged his fist downwards into the rickety floorboard and ripped up a singular plant to swing as a club. The goblin from the kitchen managed to stagger back, joining rank with the other goblin in the back, one circling left the other right as the furthest one forward stalked forward brandishing its knife with a hiss.

"Stay close." Brutus growled. "I'll take the left, you take the right, and whichever one the middle goes for has him too, ok?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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She had braced herself, expecting to hit the hard and wet surface of the floor beneath her... but instead she found whatever had her was—although still very much hard—surprisingly warm too. It also gave her a first row view into Brutus' fist connecting with the goblin that had just scratched her arm, the monster's face disfiguring before he was sent careening into another part of the house against his will.

"Uwaaah, sugoi dess..." She was set down just as the third goblin attempted to fight the mountain, a truly losing endeavor on its side as all it managed was to rip some cloth instead. "H-Hai, daijoobu dess...!"

Before the Lpeus new it Brutus had already gathered a new fighting weapon, the floorboard ripped from its original place as it it'd been a Bounty sheet, before Toko nodded at the proposed plan.

"Uun, leave it to me!"

Now that she wasn't caught by surprise, and with a decent chunk of earth exposed after Brutus ripped a chunk of the floor to swing, Toko took a moment to focus on the natural energy that existed within the ground. "Haaah...!" Soon enough the shin and instep of her legs were coated in a thick layer of solid clay, while harder stones attached to her knuckles as the fighter faced her opponent.

A 'come here' hand motion was made at it, causing the creature to screech in offense before it flung itself at the rabbit—no doubt frustrated from its earlier failure. However the goblin's luck didn't fair any better against Toko, the lepus quickly side stepping the incoming goblin before punching down with all her might. Stone covered knuckles found purchase in the creature's skull, causing it to bounce against the floor from the force of the impact before the goblin crawled back while hissing in pain.

"Where's Liam-ojiisan, you little piece of shit?!"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

And then there were two. Brutus was used to much worse odds, though he was also used to a much sterner weapon. The center goblin sprinted at him full tilt, Brutus lunged forward and swung his plank wide.

THWAP, CRACK.

It connected with the creatures face, sending it spinning to the left and smashing into the wall, but unfortunately his plank snapped in half, leaving a large splinter of wood on the end. The other goblin took this opportunity to rush him, but the giant was ready. As the goblin dove forward, he jabbed forward like a spear, catching the creature by the throat. It gushed greenish black blood at he ran the creature through, spearing it to the wall as it gurgled and flailed about.

The still living goblin rolled to its feet and dashed for the giants ankle, brandishing its knife. The giant simply lashed out with a boot, catching it in the face and bringing his weight forward to STOMP the green creatures skull beneath his weight. He felt a crack, as the creature's nose shattered, and then another stomp ending it entirely.

"You doing ok over there Toko?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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By the time Brutus was done massacring his two opponents the Lepus had finished tousling with her own goblin, the monstrous creature pinned down against the revealed earth and essentially hogtied by some magical vines that Toko had conjured. "Haaai!" The creature grunted and screeched, the high pitch shriek earning it a rough smack over the head from the rabbit before the goblin whimpered in response.

"Urusai na..." She dusted her hands after the blow, the earth and stone now peeling back and crumbling to the ground, before Toko turned to look at the fellow beastfolk. "Figured it might be helpful to keep one of them breathing—for now at least—until we can find Liam-ojiisan..."

She hoped they could find the man before it was too late, but as her red eyes swept over the disaster in the home—now worsened by the scuffle—Toko could feel her hope quickly deflating. They should've never spent so much time in the bakery or stuffing their faces with delicious food... What if, because of their dilly dallying, the old man was already dead and done for? Maybe if they had headed out here first instead of stopping for a bite to eat things would've been different...?

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus could read her face in an instant. He'd been there before, felt the same emotions, had the same guilt run through him. He took a couple steps forward and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll find Old man Liam." He stated calmly. "And that's that. No need to worry about ifs, butts, or coconuts. Besides." He raised an eyebrow. "Whoever led this, was fucking clever." He would manifest a shingle from his inventory and give it a waggle. "They had the foresight to clear all of their tracks besides one they missed from a shingle falling while they came in. Tell me, if they left tracks when they came and left, but one was covered by a falling shingle, when did the attack occur?"

The simple truth was that Liam was long gone, he'd been attacked during the storm. He had no way of knowing if the old man was even still alive, but he wouldn't let Toko know that just yet. She needed a bit of hope right now, and hope he would give her.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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The unexpected pat on her shoulder, surprisingly gentle considering the massive hand it came from, snapped the beastfolk from the darker thoughts her mind had been wandering too. "R-Right... Liam-ojiisan is stubborn, he won't give into them that easy." While she hadn't particularly interacted with the old man much, aside a pleasantry here or there—which usually involved the old man yelling for everyone to get off his lawn, he'd certainly seemed still full of vitality and spirit.

Maybe it was too early to rule him out as dead already...

There was a pause as Brutus presented Toko with a puzzle, and for a moment one could almost see the singular brain cell hard at work as the Lepus tried to piece the meaning behind his words and the single shingle she was being shown. "They missed it because it was covered... ah, the rain! They attacked him during the rain!" But then that meant quite an amount of time had elapsed since, and how could they find the old man quick—her eyes then turned to the trapped goblin, and something in the rabbit's face certainly made the monster nervous all of a sudden as he renewed his struggles to break free... without any success, those vines were very tightly bound it seemed.

"Brutus-niisan... can goblins speak like us?"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Correct. Liam was taken in the night, and chances are they left another group of goblins here to capture his granddaughter who would come to check up on him. They probably need live captives for whatever they have planned." That last bit was more conjecture or fact, but he would let it rock for the moment being.

"The only goblin I have ever met that spoke English like us was very special, I don't think that some random mook they left behind would be like that." How would they find Liam then? Any tracks to or from the farmhouse were probably long gone by now. He rubbed his chin and mulled over all of their options as he hemmed and hawed.

"We might...need to consult an expert on goblins here. For now lets go talk to the huntsmen of the town, they'll want to know what's happened. Maybe they can track down the attackers and find out where they went."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Tch..."

She couldn't help but click her tongue in frustration upon realizing the captured goblin would probably be of little use, though lucky for it the Lepus hadn't still outright decided to finish the monster off... yet. After all perhaps it could prove useful still, time would decide that, though she was none too pleased upon hearing what the remaining goblin party had probably planned on doing.

"Have goblins always been this bold around here?"

She moved over to the hogtied goblin, giving it a quick when it started to screech and squirm once more, before the monster was forced onto its legs before Toko looked at Brutus. "Should we take this one over to the huntsmen?" Depending on where the group might be the Lepus wasn't sure if it was a good idea to visually parade a goblin through the village... even if she was quite confident that it wouldn't get ose from her bindings any time soon.

"At worse I do have Nature and Astramancy magic... maybe it can help us track the rest of his little group?"

A farfetched idea, sure, but if she had tracked wolves down in a similar fashion before—granted, she hadn't been the one doing the Astramancy, only the Nature magic—then maybe Toko could pull it off again... if the older men didn't have a better solution of course.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

The giant grabbed the hogtied goblin by the bindings and hefted him easily over his shoulder like a sack of flour. The creature wriggled and squirmed, but his hands squeezed down like a vice grip on the creature letting it know there wasn't any wiggling free to be done here. He turned his gaze to Toko and shook his head.

"We need to be careful. They probably used magic to cover their tracks which means they have a magic user, probably the source of their boldness. They don't usually venture this close in to my knowledge. Magical goblins are probably something we need to be real careful about. If we go off half cocked we'll lose our heads for sure."

He ducked out the door and began down the road. "Stankins' house is on the other side of town. We'll take the long way around to not make a spectacle. We're going to need intel before we act, him and his men will help us track him down."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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The Lepus watched as Brutus hoisted the goblin up like an old rug needing to be moved from location, her eyes lingering around the disaster that now was the inside of the house before spotting something useful. In the kitchen was a burlap sack that had once held flour within, the powdered material now strewn all over the place from a gash, but the size looked just about right as far as Toko was concerned.

"Shove 'em in here, Brutus-niisan." It was probably better than carrying a goblin outside in plain daylight, no need to freak out the Landers already trying to put things in order after the storm with this. "If he makes any sounds or movements just squeeze him until he stops."

A particular non-verbal warning was transmitted to the goblin in question by Toko as the Lepus' aura flared momentarily—the threat quite clear and palpable in the wordless threat.

"Uwaaah... there's magical goblins?"

She quickly fell besides Brutus as they began the trek to Stankins' place, doing her best to keep up with the man's longer strides, while showing her surprise at the revelation. Toko had always thought they were simplistic monsters, kind of like wolves and bears just more annoying due to their vast numbers and slightly better intelligence.

"You're right though, that would explain such a coordinated and well carried out attack..."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I've never personally met a magical goblin, but I've heard the tales. Shamans, matriarchs, those blessed by dark gods. It's rare, but usually those gifted with those powers are exceptionally smart and unimaginably cruel."

He stuffed the goblin in the sack and continued walking. This would shorten the gap quite a bit, given they didn't need to circumvent the entirety of town. They could walk right on through.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that this is related to other issues I've been noticing in the forest. The Heroes, AKA us have been gone for four years. Something has been brewing in that time, threats seemingly programmed to be dealt with by us were allowed to grow bigger, get some real fangs on them. Western Brishal is home to large camps of goblins who've been growing in force and sending attacks this way. I've even met a talking goblin who wanted to build a peaceful village. This world is evolving past whatever original parameters constructed it."

The giant scowled. "But stuff all that aside for now, we need to focus on finding Liam." The town was slowly whirring to life. If they didn't work quickly, Stankins wouldn't have time to keep the peace when Liam's granddaughter came sprinting back into town screaming about her grandfather being missing and dead goblins in his living room. He found his gait picking up as he began to hustle. They needed to work faster.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"That's... kowai dess."

The thought of it all caused the Lepus to involuntarily shiver, glad that they had turned up to Old Man Liam's house when they had... at least his granddaughter wouldn't have to go through a terrible experience, especially if these goblins were capable of more cruelty than the usual brand.

"That makes sense... not many Landers are as strong at us, ne? They'd definitely have a hard time keeping stuff in check for the four years and whatnot that players weren't around."

Toko's hand glowed a soft green as she focused on the energy around them while walking, the action taking longer than normal since she had to keep pace with Brutus, before the magic was softly pressed against her forearm. Within moments the previous cut to it had healed.

"Brutus-niisan, did you get hurt back there?"

It hadn't looked like he had, but Toko preferred to be on the safe side—so long as it wasn't fatal wounds or dismembering the Lepus was confident her magic could handle it.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"It would appear that Landers with gifts like ours are few and far between."

He wasn't sure how true that was, but it wasn't like anyone out in Honeyhome was running around swinging a big fuckoff canon or shooting fire out of their eyes. Protecting the people was a strictly starcalled endeavor for the most part. Sure people like Stankins and his men patrolled the forest, but they couldn't handle everything.

"As for being hurt, I'm good. He stabbed my armor." He gave his jacket a light thump. "This baby might not look it, but I'm actually wearing heavy armor."

The goblin in the sack wriggled a bit, and Brutus gave it a thump before taking a left down another road. They were getting close, he could see the Huntsmen and guards growing more and more frequent. A pit began to form in his stomach as he stepped into Stankins' yard and found a small cluster of people already gathered about.

Stankins himself was a tall and well muscled man given his advanced age. He had silver hair and a immaculately maintained mustache. His attire felt like someone couldn't decide between Southern Gothic or Vampire slayer so they'd mashed the two ideas together. He would look up to Brutus from a sobbing woman, eye the sack on his shoulder, and then raise an eyebrow.

"Mr Bruce. It seems like you're already three steps ahead of me."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Uwaaah... that's some pretty impressive armor, Brutus-niisan!" The jacket was certainly not something Toko would've ever thought to have the properties of heavy armor, but then again it made sense some things could work differently in this game considering magic was a thing too. "You must show me where you bought it one day~"

Not that Toko would be able to afford it... not for a while at least, she was still recuperating her funds after the big purchase that her silver amethyst blossom earring focus had been. Totally worth it, however, and she couldn't wait for the day she could show it off to her Lepus friend. A sudden grunt came from the sack that Brutus carried, causing Toko to frown before she took a decent leap—just enough to get within striking distance—before smacking hard against the spot she presumed was the top of the head for the trapped goblin.

Whether the monster finally got the hint, or perhaps it had just passed out from a concussion, was up for anyone to guess as the duo finally arrived to their destination. Already a woman was present, her sobs easily caught by the Lepus before she had come into vision, and a few men had gathered together. Unconsciously a hand reached over to grasp the edge of Brutus' jacket lightly, the Lepus already fearing where this conversation might be heading...

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus took a few steps forward and offered Stankins a hand to shake. The older gentlemen clasped his hand and gave it a firm two pumps.

"Mornin Stankins. I take it there's a little more going on here than just fallout from the storm."

The elderly man grimaced and nodded, motioning to the woman to his left. "This is Laura, her and her pa live on the edge of town. Last night during the storm she says they got attacked by goblins."

Brutus, without saying anything would simply dump the now unconscious goblin out onto the ground. "Let me guess, her Pa got snatched."

Stankins glared at the unconscious seemingly albino goblin, stained white from flour before spitting. "Where'd you find this varmit."

"They grabbed Liam, his house is in shambles right now. They left a trap for his granddaughter."

The crowd began to murmur a bit, two kidnappings in one night? This was big.

"They tried to snatch four people for one night, that's awfully bold of them..."

"They used magic to cover their tracks. I have no idea where they went."

"Well luckily for us, the people who hit Laura's place weren't so careful. We've got men following the tracks into the woods right now."

"Fantastic, lead us to the trailhead and we'll get moving."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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Four people... even Toko, with her limited experience, understood that was four too many. What was peculiar was that, so far, two of the known victims were males. "A-Anooo... who were the other two people the goblins tried to capture?" Was it just a coincidence, or had they purposely taken men first and hoped to come back later for the women?

Another glance was given at the crying woman, and while the fighter wanted to reassure her that everything would be fine Toko found herself unable to do so... after all the Lepus herself wasn't sure if she believed that narrative herself, how could she try and sell it to someone else?

"There's tracks...?" The new knowledge delivered by Stankins had Toko's ears perk high in response, before eager eyes turned to look at the man. "Sumimasen...! I-If there's tracks I can help figure them out!"

Not only did she have a good sense or sound, smell and sight... but Toko had found that her Nature magic could also heighten those skills even further when it came to pursuing targets.

@Brutus Dahlgren