Mid Summer’s Day, the Road from Magnimar to Sandpoint
The sun has just set and the fireflies are dancing about us on this warm summer’s evening. I have met up with a small caravan and am traveling to Sandpoint with it, having bartered my services as a guard and general laborer for room on one of the wagons and meals. The lanterns have been lit, and the camp fires are glowing red and hot, with the evening meal nearly ready.
What better time to begin writing in the journal that Father Tyrion gave me upon our parting. I no longer doubt his decision to send me to away from the Temple in which I have trained all of these years to better learn about the world, and so better serve Sarenrae and my fellow man.
The day was as warm, almost hot, but still pleasant as my fellow travelers and I made our way up the road as it climbed out from the Yondabakari River Valley. Slowly we left behind the fields and pastures of my youth, and the umber smudge on the horizon that marked the location of Magnimar itself winked out from view.
Funny how leaving the place I have known all of my life has filled me with nothing but excitement and anticipation of what is to come.
Late Summer, Sandpoint
I can see that it takes some discipline to keep a journal… or at least to keep one up to date and relevant. I am afraid with the joys and distractions of the road to the wonder of my new home in Sandpoint, the thought of taking time to write about living when I could actually be living has kept me away from these pages.
I shall endeavor to do better in the future.
Home for now is the clerics’ cells built adjacent to the Sandpoint Cathedral, and while austere and humble, they provide more than enough comfort for my simple needs.
While Father Zantus is the high priest at the cathedral, there is a chapel for Sarenrae, Desna, Abadar, Shelyn, Gozreh, and Erastil. Father Zantus himself is a follower of Desna, and much of the public character of the Cathedral reflects that. A Desna celebration, The Swallow Tail Festival, will be used as part of the Cathedral dedication.
For the most part my tasks have involved helping prepare the Chapel of Sarenrae for the Cathedral’s official dedication ceremony to take place on the first day of autumn.
I have had plenty of free time to wander about the city and to get to know some of the local people and establishments. There is a quaint shop near the Cathedral, The Way North, that sells books and maps, and they also sell a nice little map of Sandpoint (drawn, from what I understand, by the Pathfinder Society) which I purchased for a silver piece.
I have annotated the map with numbers drawn onto some of the more significant points of interest, for which the following key should prove most useful.
- Cathedral complex (or where I call home)
- The Boneyard: the cemetery
- The White Deer: a nice high end inn — good hard cider!
- The Way North: book store and seller of fine maps
- Jewelry Store. The store keeper made me feel nervous
- Junker’s Edge: salvage yard
- The dung sweeper — he’s a half orc: pretty neat!
- Quink: specializes in engineering and Varsian history
- Locksmith (a real dwarf!)
- Garrison
- Town Hall (has a large meeting space)
- Armory
- Risa’s Place. Run by old Risa herself. Locals like it, but I felt like
I wasn’t part of the crowd and so not very welcome - Tannery. Fortunately the wind seldom blows up from the southeast!
- The Red Dog: the smithy
- Pillbug’s Pantry: medicines and potions — remember to stock up here
- Bottled Solutions: alchemical supplies. Smells odd, but kind of fun too
- Cracktooth’s Tavern: the pub for the theater crowd
- House of Blue Stones. This is an awesome monastery with really deep blue
polished stones for the floor - Sandpoint Glassworks. One of the big industries in town. The Kaijitsu
family own and operate it: apparently they are from some far off land
and brought the secret to exotic glass making with them - Sandpoint Savories. Great brioche, but not crazy about the meat pies
- The Curious Goblin: book shop
- Sandpoint Theater. Never been there, but they tell me it’s nice
- Carpenter’s Guild
- Lumber Mill
- General Store. You need it, they got it. Mostly
- Turandarok Academy. Local school for boys
- Madame Mvashti’s House. A seer
- Grocer’s Hall
- Fine Clothing. Too rich for my blood (or money pouch)
- Wheen’s Wagons
- Flour Mill. Owned by the Scarnetti family, who according to rumor
may practise not so ethical business practices with their competition - The Hagfish. Popular inn for gamblers, but serves really good seafood
- Valdemar Fish Market
- Market Place (open air)
- Meat Market & Slaughterhouse. Owner likes to talk a lot. Says he met
“Chopper” and got into an argument. Says chopper sliced off one of his
fingers, but I wonder if he lost in plying his trade - The Rusty Dragon. Main spot for out of towners. Good place to watch
people and listen to tales - The Goblin Squash Stables. Run by Daviren Hosk who really, really hates
goblins. Has a pickled goblin chief inside. How can you not like him? - The Two Knights. Brewery and distillery
- The Sandpoint Mercantile League. Shipping and transport
- The Sandpoint Boutique. General store
- Fat Man’s Feedbag. Attracts a rough crowd. Best to avoid
- The Pixie’s Kitten. Independently owned and operated
- The Feathered Serpent: incense, spices, relics, artifacts
- Hannah’s: Midwife and healer
- The shipyard
South across the river: - Valdemar Manor
- Scarnetti family residence
- Kaijitsu Place (cool looking from the outside)
- Devron Manor (the Mayor’s home)
Last Day of Summer, Sandpoint
Sandpoint is filled to near bursting with visitors who have come to witness or participate in the official dedication of the Cathedral. Most of the inns are full, and people are letting out rooms. The pubs and inns are now always packed at meal times, and crowded at all hours of the day. There is a general air of excitement and anticipation in the town that I find almost intoxicating.
It has been a busy past few weeks as we at the Cathedral prepared for this big event.
Avia, a paladin of Sarenrae, has arrived and has been helping out as well. Like most of the other paladins I have met, she seems to be reserved and a bit unapproachable, but maybe she’s been too busy to socialize.
Tomorrow the dedication ceremonies will run all day, with the mayor, sheriff, Father Zantus and other dignitaries all giving speeches. Food and beverages will be provided by the local inns, and at the end of the festivities Father Zantus will conduct the Swallow Tail Festival itself. There is a covered wagon filled with thousand upon thousands of butterflies awaiting release as part of the festival.
I hope I can sleep with all the excitement!
First Day of Autumn, Sandpoint — early afternoon
It has been a most dramatic day so far, with the enthusiastic crowd gathered in the square before the Cathedral.
On a side note, local hunter Kyras, who provides much of the game to the local public houses and inns, is gathering a party to take on a large hunting expedition for the next few days. He has asked Avia and I to come along, and we have agreed. Kyras knows of a large family of wild boar in the woods to the northwest, and we are planning on bringing back as many as we can catch.
While Kyras’ incentive is mainly profit, the local eateries have nearly exhausted the town’s food supplies for the dedication events, and so bringing in additional meat will be welcomed gladly.
We are to meet at the White Deer tomorrow afternoon and head out for a few days until we fill two carts with our catch. I look forward to testing my hunting skills, and exploring the area around Sandpoint.
Kyras has gathered an eclectic group of people to join him on this little expedition, and I had a chance to talk with them today.
Sabien is a half-orc (again, how cool is that) who wields a hefty double bladed ax.
Nolin is a human from Magnimar who wields a sword.
Rigel is an archer, and so she shares that skill with Kyras’ himself.
Avia is skilled with the sword.
I use the scimitar, of course.
I believe a local bard named Sedjewick was interested in coming along, but more so to hear (or witness) tales of daring do which he can immortalize in song.
Food and drink are now being served, and at sunset the official dedication will take place.
First Day of Autumn, Sandpoint — early evening
Sandpoint is in an uproar, the Festival of the Swallow Tails in tatters, and the Cathedral dedication incomplete.
Just as the Festival was beginning we were invaded by a host of goblins.
At first we only heard screams coming from the outskirts of the crowd gathered in the square, but soon we saw hordes of these skittering, gibbering vermin racing about the place, slaying whatever was small and in their path.
Quickly we “hunters” launched a counter attack, joined by Sedjewick and one of his friends, Trask.
A wagon burst into flames as even more goblins charged in as the panicked crowd surged away from the main thrust of the goblin attack.
We engaged perhaps a half a dozen of the little beasts and managed to slay them one by one when perhaps a dozen more charged in from either side. While the little bastards are small, they are fierce, fast, hard to hit, and like to gang up on their opponents.
We managed to slay this lot as well and take stock of our group and the surrounding area.
Trask lay dying on the cobbled stones. Smoke, screams and the sound of battle wafted up from the south. The Cathedral itself was protected by a squad of clergy, including Father Zantus, and the bulk of the town guard had charged south into the heart of the town.
I managed to stabilize Trask just as Father Zantus ran up and healed most of our seriously injured. Nolan suggested we head south into the main fray when we heard more screams for help from the north.
Leaving a seriously injured Kyras at the Cathedral, the rest of us ran to the north, where we saw a rather large goblin mounted on a hideous dog-like creature (I thought it looked more rodent than canine) being held at bay by a large hunting dog, its master hiding nearby behind a rain barrel.
The poor dog was killed just as we arrived, and a troupe of goblins ran out and began feasting on the dog’s corpse.
We immediately attacked, slaying both the dog like creature and the chief goblin the rode it. The other goblins were also slain, and so after receiving the thanks from the frightened villager, we returned to the Cathedral to see where else we might be needed.
While most of the fighting had subsided, many buildings were in flames, and my new found friends and I helped to extinguish them.
By this point in time the rest of the goblins had either been slain or driven off, and so we went back out with Kyras to see if we could discover from whence the goblins had come.
Oddly enough, although it was apparent that the main force of goblins started attacking in the southern part of the town, there were no signs that they had used any of the bridges to the south or even the east to gain access to the core districts of Sandpoint.
Even more odd were the prints of a few dozen goblins that had entered the northern gate and made its way directly to the cemetery. There the fiends had broken open a tomb and robbed it of all its remains and its possessions. The name on the tomb was Tobyn.
Even I recognized that name: Father Tobyn was the high priest of the old Sandpoint Chapel, which had been burned to the ground during the “late unpleasantness”. Father Tobyn had burned with it.
We then wondered about why the northern gate was unlocked and unguarded, and so we tracked down the sheriff, Hemlock, and told him what we had found. Hemlock was most distressed to hear that the gate, which should have been both guarded and locked, was neither. He checked the work sheet for the day and found that nobody was listed for gate duty!
We pointed out that the attack was obviously an inside job, and was most probably intended as a distraction so Father Tobyn’s tomb could be plundered.
But why?
And from where did the bulk of the goblins appear from?
To help answer the latter question I asked Kyras to find some trained bloodhounds in the area and use them to back track the path of the marauding goblins to its source.
I am now waiting for Kyras to return with the dogs.
