Near the side of the road lay the charred remains of what looked like it may have once been a wagon, but was now little more than a few bits of scrap metal and wood. A green figure with disheveled clothes and hair picked through the rubble, carelessly tossing bits of wood out of the way and occasionally shoving a piece of scrap metal into a pouch. Her voice was quiet, but high pitched as she talked to herself while working. "Hmm... no good. No, no,... ah!" She exclaimed happily as she brushed dirt from what looked like a large bolt. "Rivka use dis..." the goblin grinned and the bolt disappeared into her sack. Continuing her search, she paused occasionally and looked around, almost nervously.
Rivka squeaks out a frightened sound and spins around, startled. "Haaraan druuc'd mor ghaan!" She holds a piece of charred wood in her hands, positioning it defensively as a weapon. Seeing the empyrean with silver streak in her hair, the goblins eyes grow even wider and she begins to back away over the rubble.
Still frightened, but no longer so startled, the goblin switches to the common tongue. "Rivka sorry. Nice Silver Hair can has da wagon. Rivka did not know Silver Hair owned it. Rivka sorry."
Zanna jumps slightly at the sound or the frightened goblin's shriek. She stays placed in the spot where she stepped on the twig and smiles lightly as the creature apologizes then goes on to say in a calm voice, "This isn't my wagon. I was just curious as to what you were up to." Zanna then smiles kindly toward the creature showing she does not mean any harm. "What is it you are looking for exactly, Rivka, I gather that's your name."
Rivka's expression turned slowly from nervous to suspicious. She certainly wasn't used to this kind of treatment. Was it a trap of some sort? Her eyes scanned the trees near the side of the road for others that might be lurking there. "Rivka looking fer shinys that no one owns," she said defensively by way of explanation.
Her stomach growled. The goblin dug into her pouch and retrieved 2 iron bolts and a bit of metal that may have once acted as part of the shock absorber for the wagon and displayed them in her clawed hand. "Silver Hair trade for food?" she offered.
On her way back to town, Akon spotted the goblin looking somewhat threatening with a stick towards Zanna. She made her way over, wrapped corpse rotting under one arm, and hood drawn. She comes up beside Zanna and her red eyes peer down at the goblin dangerously. "Is everything alright here, Zanna?"
Zanna watches the goblin retreive some bolts from her satchel and hold them out to her. She smiles as she hears her stomach growl and gets ready to speak. She hears footsteps behind her and turns to see Akon. "Hello Akon," She then bows lightly, "Everything is fine here. I think she's really hungry though." Zanna says glancing towards Rivka. "She's looking for shinys." She then chuckles and eyes the corpse under Akons arm questionably.
Katri wanders upon the scene just in time to see an empyrean girl that was standing near a goblin greet Akon. She allows her hood to drop, but her mask remains. She gives a light laugh. "A goblin looking for shinys. There's a surprise. Hello, Lady Nivarian. Empyrean." She nods to both.
Akon adjusts the putrid smelling corpse under her arm again to keep bits of flesh from falling out of the linen wrapped pile, still keeping her eyes on the goblin. "You do not take anything in this town that you do not ask the owner for. So long as you cause no trouble, you will find no harm come to you from my hand, goblin." States Akon before turning to Zanna and Katri, offering them a respectful nod.
"Rivka no steal anything," she said hurriedly, anxious to win the favor of the menacing red eyed Uordeq before her. The goblin glanced at the bits of flesh being carried by Akon, imagining the remains to be what was left of the last one to offend the uordeq. "Rivka be good ... promise."
She looked Zanna, slightly disappointed the empyrean didn't take her up on the offer to trade food for the scrap metal. She dropped the pieces back into her sack.
Zanna notices Rivka put the parts back into the sack and turns to her. Zanna raches into her lunch satchel and pulls out a few pieces of bread from her previous lunch. She bends down to Rivkas level and hands her the bread. "If you want something more just come to me, Okay?" She says smiling kindly. "That's all the food I have with me for now, don't worry about trading your shinys."
Glimmer approaches the group from the edge of the woodline, looking a bit disheveled and carrying a full apron of nuts. Upon seeing Zanna and the female Goblin, she rushes to them in a huff. "ZANNA WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! Who's the gobbo?" Not waiting for an answer, Glimmer sticks her hand out to the Goblin and says "HI! I'm Glimmer and I'll be your new best friend for the day. What would you like to do? I need to go put my nuts away, but after that, I'm free." Glimmer sucks in a deep breath a stoops to pick up a few of her dropped nuts.
Akon nods to the goblin. "Be well, and be warned there are many in this town that do not look kindly towards those of your kin. Should they cause you trouble though, please seek me out. As town Sheriff it is my duty to see that you are protected, regardless of what race of citizen you are. I'll be on my way. Zanna, we should talk when you are free some time." She nods and then looks to Katri, locking eyes with her a moment, before continuing on her way towards town.
"Thank you, nice Silver Hair." The goblin moved slightly closer to Zanna, taking care not to get closer than need be to the two uordeq. She took the pieces of bread tentatively, as if still waiting for a trap to spring any second.
Sniffing the bread, the carnivore scowled slightly at the smell, but her stomach rumbled again and she shoved it into her mouth, trying to look like she enjoyed it for the sake of Zanna.
The goblin was trying to pick the sticky bits of bread from her pointed teeth when Glimmer appeared suddenly. "Rivka's best friend?" She grinned, feeling slightly less nervous. "Could help Rivka find shiny sword of Val-Tor?"
Katri nodded to glimmer at her entrance and briefly allowed her eyes to connect with the sheriff's. She laughed at Rivka, wondering only for a moment why a goblin was looking for a sword. She reached into her bag and also pulled out a bit of left over lunch- a small piece of ham- and offered it to the pointy-toothed creature. She turned back to the silver-haired girl and smiled ever so slightly behind her mask, "No, I do not believe we have met before."
'What's the sword of Val-Tor Rivka? As long as it won't take a terribly long time, I suppose I can help you. We should probably take more than just ourselves however. Zanna, Katri, feel like having a girl's day? Let's help her find her sword. Safety in numbers I say."
Rivka looked momentarily dumbstruck. "You don't know Val-Tor? The great, legendary sword Val-Tor?! It was lost here in Kardul... Jastrey. So it must be around here somewhere."
She had assumed that recovering the sword would have been a simple matter of getting around whatever defenses Jastrey had to protect the sword. It had never occured to her that the residents of Jastrey had never even heard of the goblin weapon...
"I've also never heard of it. Of course, I am also from else where. Please, tell us about this sword of Val-Tor" Katri resisted the urge to grit her teeth around the word please, particularly when directed to a goblin. Not her favorite creatures, but this one interested her.
The goblin talked fast, moving her hands, passionate about the tale. "When Rivka's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was a small goblin, Val-Tor was lost here in Kardul. Bas Stonelurker, bearing Val-Tor lead his army against a much larger force of gnolls. Stonelurker slaughtered hundreds of gnolls singlehandedly," Rivka skewered an imaginary foe with her piece of wood. "Val-Tor spilled much blood before Stonelurker was finally brought down."
"And then..." she sighed. "The sword was lost..."
"Rivka will find it," she said, resolutely.
"Vell, little green one, you have my attention. This is a fascinating story. I vill help, if to do nothing more than pass the time." Katri nodded to Rivka, sliding her hood up to just sit on top of her head, an old habit derived from being scolded for fidgeting too much before trips or missions in the Shadelands.
Glimmer follows closely in step with Rivka into town. Upon passing the town post, she retreives a note and steps away to speak with Wyndfere. She then returns to them and says "My apologies ladies. Dear Wyndfere is in need of aid as well it seems. I'm going to help him with his cause. If you two will continue to assist Rivka, that would be glorius. If anything happens and the three of you need anything, please see me upon your return."
Zanna wonders off the path to the forest and stands in the opposite of the broken down wagon. She peeks over the wagon and see's a female goblin scavaging through the dirt. Zanna watches the goblin with a curious eye. Wondering what she's up to. She begins to step closer to the creature and steps on a twig with a loud crack.
"Damn..." She curses under her breath.