((Aw, heck, forgot you said hi.))

Realising the dragonborn across the square was speaking to him, the eladrin turns to face her, and calls a brief "Thank you. You fought skilfully as well." across the square with a tight smile before turning back to the task at hand.

Garwan nods briefly when he sees the dagger Tsuujin pulls out.

"Aye," he says, "that's the cause." Another delightful puff on his pipe. "The goblins call it the Horn Totem. At least, according to that damn wizard who brought it to me. He 'acquired' it from the a goblin barrow in the Southwood. Something to do with the Ogre King. You lot can have it. The least I can do."

Turning his attention to Aesamar, the dwarf waves him off. "No need," Garwan says, "I can read it. Give it here." He extends a hand to Ralzik.

((Edit: I forgot!

Horn Totem +1
Lvl 2 magical dagger.
Enhancement: Add the +1 to attack rolls and damage rolls.
Critical: +1d6 damage
Property: Your attacks with this weapon against a creature larger than you have an additional +1 bonus to damage rolls.))

"Ah certainly, yes please translate this for us. Perhaps there is more where these goblins came from. We can help protect the city if you need.", Ralzik says, as he hands the dwarf the note with goblin scratch on it.

Taking the bit of parchment, Garwan examines it for a moment, nodding to himself. He swears softly.

"First the Lady of Shadows," he mutters quietly, "and now goblins." The dwarf sighs.

"Anyway," he continues, "whichever goblin you got it off of is named Kerwig. This note is from some High Shaman of his tribe. It says that through divinations he learned that the totem there was in my shop, and that they should go and retrieve it using an old barrel of alchemist's fire." Garwan waves the note toward the blown out wall. "It says that it is very important, and that without the totem, it will be harder to perform some sort of magic."

Garwan's eyes narrow slightly as he continues reading.

"Plaguechanged bastards," he curses. "They are trying to revive the Ogre King!"

((perhaps we should head towards the barrow? ))

"hmm Garwan, you say that as if it is a bad thing. Perhaps you have some things in your shop that can help us stop that from happening?"

"What?" Garwan shakes his head. "What part of an Ogre King with an army of goblins rising from the dead doesn't sound like a bad thing, you daft gith? Do you think I just have some goblin-repellent tucked away in my store room or something?" The dwarf puffs furiously on his pipe. "I don't know nothing about their magic. All I do know is that that daft wizard, Curuvar, brought the horn in, told me he got it off some goblins, and I stupidly paid him for it."

"Now the Githyanki army, -that- is a bad thing. These goblins didn't appear to be more than your common criminal. But that is not so important right now. Where can we find this Curuvar?"

The eladrin's brow wrinkles. "Now, that does sound familiar. Where have I heard of that before?"

((History checks for Lady of Shadows and Ogre King, respectively. (1d20+11=24, 1d20+11=29)))
((And a question: If one of the group makes a successful knowledge check, are the other characters to act as if they know what the character just learnt, or not until they are told IC?))

"Oh," responds the dwarf, "so if they're so simple to dispatch, why are you trying to shake me down? No better than any of the other thugs in this town. Hrmph." Garwan points to the tavern just across the square. "You can find him in the Green Tankard, I'd imagine."

Garwan then shutters the broken window.

"Zark," you here a moment later, "you could at least--" The front door to Garwan's Curiosities suddenly flies open, and a much younger dwarf in black leather comes running out, heading north as fast as his short legs will carry him.

Having no time to think about what he just heard, Ralzik chases after the dwarf, Zark.

((Not until told IC))

Aesamar doesn't seem to recognize a Lady of Shadows--perhaps it's something distinctly local? As for the Ogre King, the eladrin remembers hearing stories.

A creature--perhaps an ogre, perhaps not--who was later dubed the Ogre King discovered the ruins of the dwarven kingdom of Ammarindar in the Southwood some eighty years ago. He established a lair and subjugated local goblins. The Ogre King lasted just ten years, during which time his goblins raided far and wide. The Ogre King was slain by a group of adventurers who passed through the area, and who the goblins had the misfortune of attempting to kill.

As Ralzik suddenly bolts to chase after Zark, he finds that, once the darkly-clad dwarf got out of the Southern Square, he dropped down into a leisurely walk, taking his time and brushing the dust from his leathers.

"Damn goblins," he grumbles to himself as he goes.

"Hello Zark, are you ok? what caused you to bolt from the store so quickly? Perhaps I can help you."
Walking at a casual walk, Ralzik ponders about the ShadowLady and what matters of undead the dwarf might have been hinting at.
((religion checks, 1d20+8=15, 1d20+8=16 ))

((the undead the dwarf meant was in regards to the note saying they were trying to raise the Ogre King, which he had already told you about, so no need for a check on that. ))

Ralzik, tries, in the back of his mind, to pull out any facts regarding a Lady of Shadows in the religions he has studied, but alas, he can't make any connections.

"Eh?" The dwarf spins around, a hand moving to the hilt of one of his daggers. "Who the hell are you, and how do you know me?" Zark eyes the githyanki suspiciously.

"I am one of the folks who just saved this town from a bunch of marauding goblins. I heard Garwan shout your name as you ran out of his shop. You looked a bit frightened." Ralzik says to the dwarf. "There is no need to get defensive or hostile with me."

((FYI, I found a rule book, and finally looked up my skills and such. It turns out that A- edurance will probabbly be useless for me, and B it isn't a class skill I can train in, so I took up intimidate instead. ))

Zark laughs at Ralzik. "A bit full of yourself, aren't you?" The dwarf shakes his head. "The local patrol might be mostly useless, but old Harrowleaf would have cleaned them out quickly enough." Almost as if on cue, a group of men in the uniforms of the Loudwater Patrol come bustling down the street, running at full speed toward the Southern Square.

"As for me," he shrugs, "I just don't want to help that old codger clean up his shop. I work for gold," he explains, "not familial ties."

"Harowleaf? Is that the wizard Garwan was talking about?" Ralzik asks.

"What? No." Zark chuckles and returns to walking away. "Captain Harrowleaf and that crackpot Curuvar are about as opposite as you can get. Now, if you'll excuse me..." the dwarf slips around a corner and breaks into a sprint again, vanishing down some well-known path that would seem invisible to anyone who didn't know the way.

Ralzik continues back to the south square, to meet up with the rest of the group, and heads towards the tavern to find Curuvar and perhaps learn a bit about Captain Harrowleaf.

Securing the dagger back in the safety of his pack, Tsuujin realizes with a sort of sadness that the battle is over for the day and begins to ponder what to do next.

"Well," he says, as if to himself, "slaughtering goblins and Ogre Kings is a better use of time than meandering about here. Lets go see if I can't... acquire... some information from this wizard." With that, he turns and heads to the tavern.