Taklinn walks down the path to the farm to see the damage to the farm in the light of day. He walks by the burnt husks of buildings and covers his nose to fight the stench of the rotting livestock. "Durned goblin kissers! I told em that if ye let the dirty things hang about, yer askin for trouble. How they expect to eat through the winter I've no idea." He walks through the burnt fields looking for Jeb, calling out his name and trying to ascertain where the farmer is located; spewing curses to goblinkind and the lack of wisdom of the short-lived races that trust them.
Taklinn waits a full day looking for Jeb. During this time he asks the fairy to keep a watch out for any returning goblins or trolls, while he does his best to put out any remaining fires and extinguish any hot spots that may re-ignite. After that is accomplished he repairs a fence to use as a corral as he tries to round up any remaining livestock. Then Taklinn works into the night digging a large pit to place all the wasted livestock in before setting up a camp well after the moon has risen. "I don't understand why none of the others have come out to try to save what they could." He sits and contemplates his newfound home and how different the mentality of Jastrey's residents are from that of his clan. In his mountain home growing up people could be seen working round the clock; plying their trade and accomplishing any task without the need to be told what needed doing. When the sun rises Taklinn can still be seen smoking his pipe thinking of home. Finally he gets up and extinguishes their small campfire and rouses the fairy. "Well I think that we're needin' more help out here than we at first thought. I suggest we go back to the town and try to see if any of them goblin-lovers have an interest in eating throughout the winter!" With that he packs his things and sets off at a rumbling pace towards Jastrey.
As Glimmer keeps watch over the fields, she finds her mind wandering off about what Taklinn may be doing. When the night is over and Taklinn begins to pack his belongings to head back to town, Glimmer says "My dear Taki-Sacks, I do believe you've just spent the night with an un-bearded lady. I'm quite smitten with the idea. Do come find me when you need further assitance. Or shall I say I will find you when I wish to follow you again." With a mischevious wink, Glimmer flits off to gather herbs for her various potions and salves.
"Wonder how the progress is goin' at Jeb's" Taklinn says one night as he is walking back from mining. He walks down the path leading to the farm and begins running, intent on something on the side of the road. "Oh yer gonna get it!" he shouts as he reaches maximum speed and kicks a goblin head that is laying next to the path. It arcs up and makes a slight squish sound as it strikes a nearby tree. "Ha! Always did like the sound of a goblin head split by a good hard tree." He continues on his way to the farm to see if Jeb or Abigail are about, and to make sure that no goblins have returned to their encampment.
A high pitched squeaky voice calls out from behind a nearby tree. "Hey! That weren't very nice there mister. They call us ci... citi... citizhuns. Yeah, people that live here!."
A small goblin wearing a wide brimmed black hat and torn red shirt emerges and walks up to the dwarf, bowing up a bit attempting to steady himself and regain his composure. "Dat there Mr. Gobbo you just smashed, he was my brutha. Yous better say your sorry before I go ands tell the sheriff whats you done, and hopes that nuttin' happens to you like that silly Uordeq that I got this here hat from."
Taklinn wheels around and grips his axe handle tightly for a moment before relaxing his grip and staring down the goblin. His ears turn red and he says in a strained voice "Well ye dirty little bugger, I ain't tha one that made ye a citizen. And if the fact that ye let yer brother's bones rot in the sun rather than give him a proper burial should be enough to refute the fact that yer kind shouldn't be citizens. As far as ill will to an Uordeq, I don't have much ta say." Taklinn recognizes the hat and put the puzzle together. He tries to remember the last time that he saw Wryenn and cannot remember when he was last seen or heard from. Taklinn's cheeks shine crimson as he stares the goblin down and he says calmly "But I do have a bit to say about ye thieving from a citizen of Jastrey, no matter what color his skin may be. Now if ye stole that hat from Wreynn ye will be dead soon anyways I suppose, but if ye really got it from him in trade, I will hear the story. I believe that there may even be a bit of if yer tale is true, and there has been no foulplay. Either that, or ye can answer me questions back in town when I take ye before the Sheriff on charges of kidnapping and theft! So tell me snot sucker, which is it gonna be? Oh and I'm sorry about yer brother's head." Taklinn relaxes his grip on his axe and leans it up against a tree before dropping off his pack and pulling a large hunk of jerky out of his pack and offering some to the goblin.
The goblin greedily reaches out his hand and snatches the piece of jerky from Taklinn. He looks at it briefly, and sniffs the piece of dried meat, unsure if he should actually accept the gift.
"Grishal not a thief!" The goblin says pointedly. "Grishal save the Uordeq that ran from the farm. Bandage him up real good too. I think dark man leave him dead." A low grumbling can be heard from the goblins stomach. He looks to the piece of jerky again, shrugs and stuffs it in his mouth.
Taking a moment to chew on the jerky, Grishal smiles and puts out his hand again. "Meat good, Grishal hungry. Is Sheriff nice, he have food too? Whats snot sucker?"
Taklinn kneels back down over his pack, digging deeper to find another piece of jerky. He pulls a piece of jerky out of reach of the goblin and pulls a gold piece out with his other. While the goblin eats the jerky he offers the goblin the gold for the hat, and tells him there may be one more if the goblin will assist him in another investigation. "If ye dont have yer citizenship papers, we must verify yer standing with the town council. If ye help me out, ye may be able to get a good word in with em, though I never thought I'd be speaking on behalf of one of yer kind. Trust me ye don't want to know what yer other options are."
Grishal bounces back and forth shouting "Options! Options! Options!" until looking back at the expression on the dwarves face and calming back down. "But Grishal like options. Its always Grishal get in the cage, Grishal back to work, Grishal go to sleep, Grishal eat that bug! Why Grishal not pick options?"
Growing increasingly more aggressive attempting to declare his independence, Grishal notices the gold coin in Taklinn's hand. Grabbing it quickly, he bites on the end of it and looks at his hat. He looks at the gold again, and counts on his fingers, "One, Two, Thirteen, Sixy-Three..."
Satisfied with a number in his head, Grishal raises five fingers to Taklinn as his offer to trade.
Taklinn reaches back in his coin purse and pulls out two more coins and puts his hand out for the hat. "I've been more'n patient with ye now Grishal. give me the items ye got from the Urdek and ye can have these coins. Then we will go to town and make sure yer paperwork is in order. Then ye can help me out a bit and everyone will be happy. I'm lookin' ta find more of yer fellows who applied to be citizens, and we will find those that aren't citizens and relocate them. Ye can be a big help to me, or I can take the nice shiny's and the tasty food and be on me way. Or the other OPTION is that I will take ye to the Sheriff and tell him ye didnt want to help the town and we will deal with you with the laws, chargin' ye with mischief and theft." The dwarf's ears begin to become red as his patience begins to wane.
Grishal snickers a bit as Taklinn says the word "patient" and snatches the three gold coins from the dwarf, rubbing them together between his hands. "One, Two, Thirteen," he counts on one hand. "Sixy-Three?" he begins to count on the other. Staring back at the dwarf blankly he holds up 2 fingers and cinches the strap of the hat down around his chin.
"This many more," Grishal continues still holding up two fingers, "and then Grishal take OPTION!" Looking quizzically at the dwarf, he continues, "Option good, right?"
"Bah! I should have known better than to try reasonin' with a durned goblin!". Taklinn reaches in his pouch and pulls two more coins out of his pouch. "Ye said this many fingers an' thats what yer gettin', but if ye still try to buffalo me, I'll take the hat and yer head back to town and leave the rest of ye here ta rot with yer brother! Now hand it over, or make peace with yer maker, ye foul thing!" He keeps the hand with the coins back and clenched in a fist and reaches forward with his open hand for the hat. "Give me the hat an' I will give ye yer coins!"
"Oooh," Grishal exclaims while looking at Taklinn's pouch. "Grishal never see so much shiny treasures. You take hat, maybe you save Uordeq man too. I like him. Much nicer than dark man Uordeq."
Appearing more distracted, Grishal removes the hat and kneels over the fallen goblin. Grabbing him by the shoulder, Grishal starts shaking the dead goblin vigorously and says "Wake up! Wake up! Bruddah Wake up!" A small wooden charm falls out of the dead goblins pocket and Grishal stops suddenly and kicks the corpse. "Dat's not bruddah, Grishal not know who this is. He ok dead, just like dark man Uordeq, was bad Mr. Gobbo."
"Me get shiny coins, right?" Grishal says excitedly while putting out his hand expectantly. "Then town so Grishal get OPTIONS?" He waits for Taklinn to hand him the gold pieces, and then starts bouncing down the path toward town singing, "Options, options, options, options.....Grishal no sleep in a cage tonight.... Options, options, options, options.... Grishal can pay for foods!"
Taklinn takes the hat out of Grishal's hand, and inspects it to look for any signs that it is Wreynn's hat and to check it for blood. He places the hat in his backpack as he keeps his eyes on the goblin shaking the corpse. He puts his pack on his back and picks up his greataxe, then walks over to Grishal and hands him the coins. As Grishal begins his singing and hopping about, Taklinn reaches down and picks up the wooden necklace that fell out of the corpse's pocket. he puts it in his pouch and begins the walk back to Town with Grishal. "So tell me what ye know about the missing urdek and this dark bad man that's chasing him. I'd also like ye to tell me of yer goblin tribes around here, and if ye know of any of the other "citizens" that are still about; mind ye I'm only talking of the ones who have come into town and applied fer citizenship. When we get to town I'm going to look for the names of the goblins who have been granted citizenship, and you WILL help me find them and bring em to town. Yer information in this matter could go a long way with helping yer town and yer kin, not to mention keeping yer belly full in the coming weeks. Who puts ye in cages would be a good thing to explain to me as well.". The dwarf keeps a watchful eye on the goblin and a good grip on his axe as they walk back towards the town, listening intently to Grishal and trying to decipher what his next move will be with the new goblin problem.
The hat is relatively undamaged, save for signs of age and wear, and contains a small ornate red "R" embroidered on the inner brim. It is free of any signs of fresh blood, and has been moderately well maintained.
Grishal pauses abruptly for a moment when Taklinn mentions the 'dark bad man' and then continues toward town at a slightly more rapid pace. "Dark man hurt da other Uordeq." Looking over his shoulder and attempting his best thick Uordeq accent "Dark man said, 'Little brother, our father said to take care of you. May the shadow keep you in her loving embrace.'
Grishal continues skipping down the path and begins to pantomime the scene. Excitedly he continues, "...and then ...and then ...and then dark man took a pretty knife from the Uordeq and stabbed him in the belly and walked off. That dere is when I think I should be gud cit... guud citi... I think I need ta be da good guy and save da Uordeq. He was a big baby, said dat small cut hurt him." Pulling up his shirt, Grishal shows Taklinn all manner of scars and lash marks across his back and sides. "Dat Uordeq musta never been a slave-thing, or he a really big baby."
As Jastrey comes into view Grishal gets excited and points toward the town. "Is dat where we find the sheriff and I get options?"
Taklinn listens intently to all that Grishal has to say on their walk. With all the disappearances in town, it seems as if his work will be cut out for him. Upon seeing the scars on the goblin, he grimaces and actually looks sympathetically at the goblin. As they near the town and Grishal asks again about options, Taklinn looks skeptically at Grishal and asks "Well yeah thats the town. Ye have been here before ain't ye? When you signed up fer yer citizenship right? And did the dark man take the dagger with him, or did he leave it in the whiny one?" As they reach the outskirts of town, Taklinn begins asking Grishal about the location of the other citizen goblin, and whether Grishal would be willing to help him track down the renegade goblins who helped to destroy the farms.
Glimmer is on her daily flit through the woods when she hears what sounds like Taklinn yelling for Jeb. She exits the woods into the farmer's fields. Seeing the scorched property in daylight, she says "Oh cursed goblins. Wretched creatures they are. These fields and this soil hurt no one and helped a good plenty. What will we do now?" Eyes glistening at the damage done to such a natural place, she approaches Taklinn and offers to help in the search for Jeb.