lifesapity

Both the guards look at each other with a confused look, but the goblin starts to shake a little and moves slightly away from you.

@Cool Girl No, i didn't its just going to take a while for you to get there since you have to walk about 1000ft (about a 5 min walk) to get back to the keep. So the rest of the party have 5 mins worth of talking to do before you get to the keep.

"Fine by me, as long as you do it while we walk." replies one of the guards as they continue escorting the prisoner.

"We are taking him to the barracks, we found this sniveling coward hiding among some bushes near the gate we closed last night, must of got saw that and decided to hide." Replies the guard. Taking a look a look at the goblin he seems quite small and weak compared to the others.

The hobgoblin spits in your direction as you approach him "I aint got nothin to say to ya either pink skin, maybe ya pink skins dont know what loyalty is but we hobgoblins do, now get out of ma face." The guards continue to drag a 4th scrawny looking goblin through the town square.

Neither the hobgoblin or the three goblin prisoners seem to acknowledge your deal, you then notice out of the corner of your eye, two guards bringing a 4th scrawnier goblin with shackles around his wrists towards the market square.

"Truth Serum? I don't know what ya talking about lass." replies the guard.

"You aint got nothin I'm interested girl" replies the hobgoblin while sneering.

The hobgoblin starts to laugh while saying "You pink skins really know nothin dontcha." He manages to calm down but still continues smiling "Demonic Pact, Undead Army... All ya pink skins really are da same. What is da point of any of dat." Richard manages to resist Yisan's spell, and as Yautja grab Richard to drag him away he finds him unable to move him at this moment.

The hobgoblin spits blood on the floor at your feet and snarls up at you both, "Sinruth aint want us to destroy da town yet, just make ya all shake in ya little hole. Serve ya all some payback for years past." He snickers, "Plus word of all da blood spilled from ya little pink skins is already spreading, calling more and more will come to join under da flag." "As for da prisoners, sure I'll tell ya but only to see ya squirm." He then loudly says so the townspeople can hear him "Ya see we gonna feed em prisoners to our friends, and when dey get hungry again we gona come get some more fresh meat." A few of the nearby townsfolk stagger back, horror showing on their faces. He follows up by showing you smile with a mouth full of pointed teeth.

He seems to relax a little, "Oh well... sorry I'm a guard not a waiter, and I have been ordered to stay here and watch the prisoners with the others, and here I shall stay."

As you approach the Market Square you were kept in the night before, you see that four sets of stocks have been setup along one side, inside the sets of stocks is one of the goblins you captured, two more goblins you don't recognize and another creature that looks much larger then the rest, where the goblins only reach about 4ft and have yellow skin this other creature if it was standing straight would probably stand over 6ft and has a dark red/brown skin tone, this is a hobgoblin. You see many townsfolk walking around the square, as you watch one walks up to the hobgoblin and spits in its face causing it to snarl. Each set of stocks has a guard on watch within a few feet of it, inspecting the prisoners you see their wounds from last night’s battle have been bandaged, but a number of tomatoes on the ground near them and on the surface of the stocks indicate that their treatment hasn’t been completely kind. Etched into the wood of each of the stocks is a shield emblazoned with the head of a dragon, the symbol of Bahamut. The guard turns to Richard, "We are here to protect the prisoners , after all, we need them to be healthy and reasonably well treated for trial." His eyes narrow as the conversation continues, "Why would you need boiling water?"

He shakes your hand and gestures that you can leave.

As the rest of you turn to leave, Eoffram raises his hand. "Before you go, don't think I will let you do this for free, as I said I'm trying to show the council you can hire adventurers to do good work." "I am offering 15gp for each town member you return safely, 10gp for each treasure from the Great Hall of Valor returned and 60gp if you manage to bring me Sinruth's head." "As well as letting you keep, any other treasure you can take from the cold dead hands of those bastards, of course."

"Your mother is probably fine, unless she lives in this town, then you would have to check yourself. I haven't heard any reports of any attacks on the surrounding towns, beyond the normal bandit raids of course." "I have no idea what their plans are only that they serve someone named Sinruth, and they are calling them selves the Red Hand. If you go to the market square I believe the commander had all the prisoners put in stocks, you could ask them there or you could track the hoard yourself shouldn't be too hard." "Yes I would love Sinruth's Head on a pike so I could show the fate of the one who ordered the attack to those in grief, however rescuing those that were captured is of greater importance to me right now."

Average, i guess

I Apologize for the wall of text...

Eoffram nods after hearing you speak. "I'm sure, given the chance, most would choose a life of peace over fighting, however someone needs to stand up for those who cant save themselves, and here we are." He breaths a heavy sigh, After making eye contact with each of you one more time he nods to himself once and continues on. "Alright, I believe each of you have good intentions in your heart and are not in this solely for personal gain. First to understand what weight I put on your shoulders I must tell you a little about myself." He motions to the stacks of paperwork piled up on his desk. "Despite how it may look, I am a quite new addition to the Brindol city council. In a recent council meeting I put forth the idea of using adventurers to aid in cutting down on recent bandit attacks in the Elsir Vale. Other members of the council — despite the city’s history and survival thanks to the efforts of adventurers — were dubious, but willing to give my policy a chance — to fail. The other council members seem to believe that the mercurial nature of adventurers makes them eminently unsuitable for the defense of the city. So I have been waiting for an opportunity to remind them that we can place a certain amount of trust in adventurers like yourself, like we did once in the past." He takes a deep breath, "You see, During the last war with the Red Hand, 60 years ago, I lost everything I held dear to me." He pauses a moment before continuing, " It’s time to think outside the box. I will do what I feel is necessary to defeat evil every time it rears it’s ugly head." "Onto the matter at hand, from what information we could put together, during the attack last night the wretched spawn kidnapped seven members of our town; Jalissa an acolyte of Ioun, Sertanian the castellan of the Hall of Great Valor, Kartenix the guard captain and his 8 year old son Thurann, Mirtala a cook, Zerriksa the witch and Adronsius the alchemist. I want you to find and save them before it is too late." He pauses for a moment, "While you are on this rescue mission I have two secondary quests for you. While the beasts were ransacking the town, they broke into the Great Hall of Valor and stole some of our 'Treasures' most of them hold no intrinsic value however they are museum pieces from the Red Hand's invasion many years ago and the sentimental value to the town is immense." He rumages through the papers in front of him before pulling one out. "The stolen treasures include; an Ornate, gilded dragoncrest helm, a Ceremonial platinum longsword; too heavy and blunt to be useful as a weapon, a Set of three shields with the Red Hand insignia, each with a charred hole near the center, a Set of iron gauntlets with extensive filigree, and a Heraldic battle standard depicting two hands clasped in a handshake." He pauses for one more moment, "If Sertanian is still alive he would be able to recognize them on sight, seeing they have been under his responsibility for years." "Finally" he says while making eye contact with each of you one last time "If you get the opportunity to cut the head off the snake and slay this new leader of the Red Hand, Sinruth. Do it." "I'm sorry to put this weight on your shoulders, but we lost many good men last night and injured a score more, we need all the guards we have left to defend the town and keep the peace. We don't have the resources left to accomplish these task ourselves." "Will you accept these quests and do any of you have any questions?"

"RED hand" he interrupts the instant you miss speak. You manage to see a flash of deep hatred pass over his face as he mentions the name. His somber face stares less intently at both Richard and Althea as they speak as if he had already mostly made his mind up about them. You also catch a tiny flash of suprise, when Maris stars speaking in third person. As the three of you finish his eyes run each of you up and down before nodding. His eyes now rest keenly on Rei & Yautja.

Yes and Yes, he has been trained in how to do so during that paladin training and while he didnt understand it then, it clarfies in his mind during the long rest

He nods at Richard's words and moves his eyes off him and onto the rest of the group.

Chatting as you go you arrive at in front of Brindol Keep at the front gate stands two guards, who upon presentation of the letter let you inside and guide you towards a large Dark Wood Door. As it opens, it reveals a dimly lit study, with books lining one wall, and furnished with dark wood. Behind the main desk sits a Male Half-Elf with Dark Brown hair and well kept beard, looking through a stack of papers. As Council Member Eoffram Troyas greets you solemnly, he makes eye contact with each of you in turn. "As my missive said, I am considering something, and I wished to speak to you about it in person, and in private. But first I would like to know some more information about each of you." He runs one of his hands through his think hair, and continues. "I have heard of what you did last night and I must say I am impressed, however I did not want my faith to be misplaced so I organized to meet you myself." He pauses for a long moment. "If you are able to convince me of your good intentions, I may have a bit of work lined up for you, in regards to the attack by that vile hoard last night."