The Flameborn

Sayl turns to the children, conjuring up a tiny dancing fire and using it as a visual aid as she tells a story about a "fight" with a suspiciously wolf shaped "vicious monster"

The children ooh and aah appropriately, enraptured by the goblins' stories.

Rorsk Axebane, who is near Mateo, notes his confusion. "Oh, no, that's Warble. Have you never met Warble? She's the ambassador from the nearby goblin tribe."

"Nope, never met her," says Mateo. "So what's the butterfly, then? Their tribal symbol?"

"Nah, she is a devotee of Desna," Jorsk shakes his head. "Takes it real seriously too. She just ain't a priestess."

Suddenly the clock strikes noon and the doors open, allowing everyone into the Council Chambers. The crowd eagerly moves in and finds seats on the long rows of benches inside with Warbal taking a seat at the very front row. On a slightly raised platform stands a row of five desks, each bearing an engraved plaque. Behind them sit, from left to right, a middle-aged blonde human in a silk dress; an elderly human man with a bald head and a beard; a tan-skinned human woman in an orange robe and flowing headdress; a stern-looking dwarf with a sword at his hip; and a green-haired gnome beaming out at the crowd.

With a sharp rap from her gavel onto the desk, the woman in the center brings the assembled crowd to a hush.
“Welcome, neighbors and friends...” the dark-haired woman begins, her rich voice washing over the room, “...to the Breachill Town Council’s monthly Call for Heroes. I am Council President Greta Gardania, at your service. On behalf of my colleagues beside me, I promise you all that we will hear and consider today’s petition with the utmost discretion and care. There is no existence without community, as our town charter says.
“Today, our agenda includes one petition. Miss Warbal, our very own ambassador to the Bumblebrashers of Hellknight Hill, requests the help of heroes for a matter of utmost importance. Let’s hear her concerns in her own words, shall we? Miss Warbal?”

At this summons, Warbal stands from her seat and approaches the dais's steps, clearing her throat. “Esteemed councilors,” Warbal says, with a frazzled tone to her voice. “It has been more than a month since I’ve been able to contact the Bumblebrashers. I fear that something terrible has befallen them. What’s more, I have seen my people’s distress signal coming from the top of Citadel Altaerein—”

Before the goblin can continue her petition, the door on the western side of the room flies open, as a young man, his eyes wide with panic, runs in shouting and waving his ink-stained hands. Billowing black smoke and flames follow him into the room: “Fire! There’s a fire! Everyone flee!”

As fire spreads into the room the councilors immediately begin moving down off the dais, shouting for the crowd not to panic, but the 40 spectators are terrified; they scream, jump up from their benches, and try to jostle towards an exit row, falling over themselves as they go, and while about half get out, the other half end up caught under benches, tripped and injured in the rush, or are just plain frozen by fear.

Telv and Sayl immediately start to evacuate the civilians while Mateo tries to smother the fire. Orinda helps evacuate her side of the room. Once the civilians are out, along with the council members, Sayl spots something in the fire and relays it to everyone. Telv and Mateo go and find the fire imp while Orinda helps organize a bucket brigade. Telv gets injured pretty bad and starts to retreat only to be healed by her sister. Mateo gets bit, hard and falls over, clearly dying. That awakens something with Telv, who hops back to the fire slinging creature and cleaves him in twain! Sayl manages to heal Mateo back to consciousness and the team decides that the building is lost, even if the creature is slain. They all leave the building as quick as possible.

Greta Gardania looks around, hugging some of the townspeople next to her as she confirms everyone is out safely while others wearily clap her on the back in thanks for their lives. "What manner of madness just happened? This can be no accident! Did anyone see what happened?"

One of the guards who was stationed outside before the fire began raises his hand, then his voice. "Aye,” says the wearied, uniformed man. “The clerks saw everything—it was Calmont, that cad of a bookseller’s apprentice. He lit the fires in the halls next to the chamber. He also set some kind of fire monster loose on the crowd!”

The second guard shouts in assent. “Indeed!” says the grave but steely woman. “And witnesses outside the building saw him run toward Hellknight Hill!”

A surprised and worried wave ripples through the crowd at this information, including Warbal’s distinct voice: “The citadel! My Bumblebrashers!”

Greta raises her hand authoritatively, and the crowd begins to calm. “Friends, we’ll get to the bottom of this,” she assures them. “But we can’t do it alone. Who are the heroes in attendance today? Heroes, are you willing to investigate Hellknight Hill?”

Sayl nods, smiling; "I was hoping you might say that, sis." Turning to Greta, she steps forward. "I am Sayl, and alongside my sister, Telv, we would answer your call."

Mateo hesitantly says "...Well, I came here to answer the call for heroes... I guess this is it."

"I will answer the call," Orinda says solemnly, standing up a bit straighter as she does.

Greta nods, clapping Orinda-the nearest person-on the shoulder. "I noticed the four of you acting with courage in there, helping the townspeople to escape. I think I speak for the full council when I say we are eternally grateful for your actions, and for stepping up to aid us. I formally authorize two quests for you: one on behalf of Warbal, our goblin ambassador, to head to Hellknight Hill and check on her tribe and aid them if they are in danger, and one on behalf of the town guard, to track down Calmont and whoever else may have been involved in this fire and bring them in, alive."

Despite their swift response to the call, the newly formed group realizes it would be foolhardy to chase Calmont in their current condition, instead taking the time to tend their wounds, gather information, and prepare.

The next morning, Sayl and Telv seek out Warbal.

"Good morning, ambassador. We hoped we could get a chance to speak before we set out today; especially given the interruption yesterday, we'd wondered if there's any more you wished to say? Anything you could tell us that might help?"

Mateo approaches Voz. "Hey, y'know, I didn't talk to Calmont much... but from what I've seen, it seemed you were doing a pretty good job of keeping him on the straight and narrow... and even if he relapsed, do you really think he would've done something this big and this bad?"

Warbal is nursing a glass of what appears to be pickle juice at Cayden's Keg, drinking deeply and insisting Brynne Taithe keep them coming as soon as she finishes the next. "I normally meet Helba, the chieftain of the Bumblebrashers, every two weeks, to discuss the news, the town's interests and any concerns either the town or the tribe have for each other. It's a relationship of the utmost importance, and Helba is always punctual. But she's missed the last two meetings, and last time I was up there I saw plumes of red smoke rising from the Citadel, our traditional distress signal. Something terrible has happened to them, I'm sure of it!" she wails.

Voz left very quickly after the fire, and Mateo finds her scurrying about her bookstore. She scoffs at the question. "Honestly, I wouldn't have expected him capable. The little miscreant is an incompetent fool who wouldn't know a tome of ancient magic from a box of tissues. As far as I'm concerned, he's fired."

Orinda does her own investigation in the meantime, and learns a rumor that Calmont is a secret member of a demon-worshipping cult of assassins.

"We're cousins. She was named for our grandfather, the chieftain before her, who kept us safe from the Goblinblood Wars by adopting peace. She tries to live up to his example and make sure everyone is happy and strong, but safe. When I was struggling to be a hunter, she pulled me aside and asked what I wanted to do, and she- and she- she let me be the ambassador, so I could learn languages and study and live in comfort. She's too good to us," Warble wails once more before chugging down the rest of her pickle juice. "Another!" she shouts. Brynne shakes her head.

"You've had enough, Warble, I'm cutting you off."

"I'll tell you when I've had enough!" Warble protests loudly, before meekly sinking in her chair. "Maybe just a water please?"

Telv gives Warble a reassuring pat on the back. "Don't worry! We'll figure out what happened and help out your tribe! She claims, with a great big smile

Sayl tries to mirror her sister's confidence but she's much less certain than Telv seems, and politely soon after leaves Warbal to her worries, hoping for more information to be found elsewhere before they set out

Sayl learns on asking around that Calmont isn't particularly well-liked in town. He was, for the most part, just a petty criminal, guilty of vandalism and the occasional theft, most of which got him a few days in prison or the stocks, until Voz Lirayne hired him as an apprentice.

Mateo frowns at Voz, but this is nothing unusual for him; he's always been sort of an asshole.

"Why'd you ever hire him anyway?" he wonders aloud.

"I needed help around the store, he was unemployed. I thought I'd give him an opportunity." Voz snorts. "Waste of it if you ask me."

The party regroups the next morning, sharing what they all had learned before embarking to Hellknight Hill. Rising from the hilltop above is a looming structure of crumbling stone and still-imposing battlements, though verdant nature is reclaiming the site. Plumes of red smoke—which ambassador Warbal believes to be distress signals from the Bumblebrasher goblins—rise from the roof of the keep’s central tower. This place can only be Citadel Altaerein, the infamous former home of the Order of the Nail Hellknights, now fallen into ruin. The gate-like doors in the center of the keep hang ajar—not surprising, since no one has maintained this facility in years.

After deciding to scout the perimeter, you find several collapsed sections of wall, one of them along the northern wall leading into a set of alcoves. A pool of water is in its place, where a corpse lies on top of a muddy lump. You approach, Sayl in the lead to investigate the body, when the lump suddenly shudders and rises. The cause of death becomes clear as the corpse is impaled on a spike jutting from a massive, turtle-like creature with razor sharp teeth. Next to it, the mud bubbles and parts to reveal a second turtle, also rising from the muck.

As the turtles rise from the muck, Telv leaps past Sayl and in a flash of fang and axe and blood, both goblin and turtle, the first turtle lies dead, it's shell and skull alike split open with Telv's second swing. The party then turns to the remaining turtle, and while Mateo's rapier finds purchase twice, neither Sayl nor Orinda's attempts to burn the creature do more than fizzle against it's hide, and the turtle snaps at Mateo furiously, injuring him and forcing him back.
Sayl and her wolf, Tunare, then step in alongside Telv to prevent the turtle from chasing Mateo, though it would never get a chance as Telv finishes the wounded creature with a single strike.