"Yes, I will. Good night," Hikari said with a yawn as she laid back and pulled the sheets up to her chin. She smiled and closed her eyes while Siri ruffled her hair, apparently liking it.<br/><br/>There was little else to be done in the middle of the night, so Siri's investigation began properly the following morning...<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Rumours were blazing through Sandpoint; the Bounty Board was up again for the first time in years. It hadn't been used ever since Sandpoint was threatened a few years back by an incident involving runes and lords that had been all hushed up and not really mentioned, discussed, or referred to anymore. Now the board was put up again in the town square, just in front of the cherry tree.<br/><br/>Ameiko was out of the Rusty Dragon to take a look at the Bounty Board when Siri arrived. "I would have gone for this a couple years back," she reminisced, sounding wistful. "But the inn's not going to take care of itself now, eh?" She clapped Siri on the back. "Maybe you can do something about it. Somebody's got to show these gobs who's boss."<br/><br/>There were a number of bounty letters nailed to the board, all of them reading:<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote"><div align="center">BOUNTY<br/><br/>The GOBLINS of BRINESTUMP MARSH are a Threat to the Safety, Peace and Wellbeing of the honorable Town of Sandpoint.<br/>To deal with the GOBLIN Menace, a BOUNTY of TEN GOLD PIECES shall be paid for each Pair of GOBLIN EARS. No BOUNTY shall be paid for Single EARS without a Match.<br/>Furthermore, THREE HUNDRED GOLD PIECES shall be paid upon the delivery of the HEAD of the GOBLIN Leader, CHIEF GUTWAD in addition to all BOUNTIES paid for GOBLIN EARS.<br/>Seek out the GOBLINS in BRINESTUMP MARSH and bring Law and Justice to them!<br/><br/>By order of SHERIFF BELOR HEMLOCK</div></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Being a druidess, Siri had been to Brinestump Marsh before, though not recently, so she had an idea of what the place was like (a dense and tangled swamp) and what it contained (nothing of value except fish). Because of these reasons no one had bothered to make a detailed map of the place. Even though it was relatively small, two miles wide at its widest, the wetland was a tangle of nettles and reeds which made travel difficult, overshadowed by crooked and stunted trees.<br/><br/>Siri recalled that there were two fishing trails leading into Brinestump Marsh, made and used by the fishermen who were the only people who had reason to set foot within such a place. They were creatively named the Old Fish Trail and the New Fish Trail. The Old Fish Trail was once used decades ago, but reports of goblins and swamp monsters had long ago scared even the bravest fisherman off this trail. Nowadays, the fishermen used the New Fish Trail to access the marsh's best fishing holes.<br/><br/>The known inhabitants of Brinestump Marsh, other than the goblins of the Licktoad tribe who lived somewhere inside the marsh, were Walthus Proudstump and Old Megus. Walthus was a halfling hermit and self-proclaimed warden of the swamp who lived in a shack at the end of the New Fish Trail and probably knew the most about what was going on in the marsh. Old Megus was a Swamp Witch, a mysterious figure who stayed in her swamp except for the handful of times she visited Sandpoint to procure glass flasks and alchemical reagents she couldn't get from the wild. Few details were known about her, most of which were probably wild tales anyway, the most credible one being a rumour that the path to her home started somewhere near the cliffs that formed the southern border of the marsh. Lastly, in the past couple of years there were rumours and sightings of a mysterious creature haunting the Marsh, a pale monster with legs that bended like a dog's and dressed in rags, nicknamed the "Soggy River Monster".<br/><br/>"Excuse me, you're Siri, right?" The voice of the girl from yesterday evening interrupted the druidess's thoughts. Hikari looked fully recovered from the previous day's ordeals and sharp in her uniform. She had on a set of leather armor in the style of the continent of Tian Xia, tied together with a red sash at the middle of the torso, above the waist but below the chest. Her long black hair was tied up with a scarlet silk ribbon. Two slightly curved scabbards hung at her side, the longer one conspicuously empty, the other one holding a short curved sword. She was also carrying a wooden shield of distinctively Varisian make with less familiarity than the rest of the gear she wore.<br/><br/>"If you are going to hunt goblins for the bounty, perhaps we can work together," Hikari suggested. "All I seek is the<em>katana</em>that I lost. You can have the whole of the bounty if you wish; the gold is nothing to the recovery of my family's sword."