The week off was good for me, and the wedding was delightful. But back to RP talk. Our heroes woke up the day after the party and meandered downstairs. They spotted a few gnomes and humans but no one they knew. After a little deliberation they decided to sneak back to the Sky Serpent Inn. Despite their excellent attempts at sneaking they picked up a gnome following them. Several of the group members recognized him from previous following encounters. They got back to the Sky Serpent without the gnome following them.
Once there they talked to Sevn who did not recognize them until they changed out of their disguises. Sevn let them in on rumors about their performance at the Duke's party the night before and tried to help them with their horned lady problem but was unsuccessful. He also warned them about trying to dig up information on the gnomish merchant guild. Then Sevn had to go as he had a meeting of innkeepers to attend. Once they exited the back room the gnome that was following them earlier walked in. Onala and Prosepon went out the door while Nessa, Tin, and Berenwick took a table near the back. The gnome simply walked to the bar and ordered a drink. They all breathed a sigh of relief until the gnome walked over to the table where Nessa, Tin, and Berenwick were sitting. He chitchatted with them for a moment or two and asked them to pass along a message to the Careening Antelopes to meet him at the Kestrel Inn for food and talk about people who wanted to know more about them. Then he left.
Outside Prosepon and Onala discovered that not every shopkeeper was alerted to the gnome riots, just the gnomish ones and human ones on good terms with the guild. They started spreading rumors about the Careening Antelopes. Prosepon intimated that they were the five remaining members of five grand performing groups, that one was a barbarian princess, and one had escaped a werewolf by performing so well as to reduce it to tears. The gnome waved to them cordially when he left the sky serpent inn. Then Onala and Prosepon came back inside and powwowed with Nessa, Tin, and Berenwick. Both sides shared their gnome stories and then we had to break for the night.
Thoughts: No combat this game so not a lot of experience to hand out. The skill encounter with stealth and the very short social encounter went well. The players got the feel I was trying to communicate, especially the talking with the gnome part. Next time we play should be lots of fun. I hope to give them answers, but answers that provoke more questions.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Summary!
Having easily thwarted the door guard our heroes pressed on into Villa Fiera. They quickly found the performers' ready room and the door to the stage in the main hall of Villa Fiera. They decided that performing wasn't the wisest of choices so they looked around for ways to disguise themselves as servants and sneak into the main hall. While they were looking they were told that they should prepare to go on stage by a servant of no authority, but he warned them because the master of ceremonies for the party was expecting a performance after the group that was on already. Our heroes began a frantic search through the servants' quarters for servants outfits but were unable to find ones that matched the ones the servants' were wearing out into the hall. Then the MC found them snooping through the servants' room. She was a loud dwarvish woman with a singular goal: Get a set of performers on stage when the others were done. She took no guff and didn't really care why they were in the servants' quarters but herded them up on stage (sorry guys!). Once on stage they had an amazing performance. They also managed to spot their friend the head of the gnomish merchant guild. I'm using the word friend very loosely here. They had the crowd enraptured that night. Then they heard the yelling from backstage. The MC had discovered that they were not the performing group sent by the performers guild and nobody knew who they were. Wasting no time after their excellent performance they announced their exit and proceeded to perform their way out of Villa Fiera. They almost made it out the door when they were stopped by a woman wearing a tiara. Onala and Nessa noticed that she had small horns hidden beneath the tiara. She thanked them for their performance and handed them a purse. They skedaddled and went looking for a place to sleep. On the way they examined the purse. After much magical inquiry they determined that it was harmless, but only after dumping the substantial golden contents out on the street. They were nearly to an inn when they were accosted by two ruffians who wished to take their gold. The group made short work of the ruffians and again looked for a different inn. Then we broke for the night.
Thoughts: Overall I think it went well but there was a lot of railroading involved this time around. I'm not sure if it was something I could have changed to make the game more fun for the players. However they were in need of a bit of prodding that night so there was a little need. I probably could have railroaded them less.
Thoughts: Overall I think it went well but there was a lot of railroading involved this time around. I'm not sure if it was something I could have changed to make the game more fun for the players. However they were in need of a bit of prodding that night so there was a little need. I probably could have railroaded them less.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I seem to have failed on the writing
The actual writing part of this blog hasn't turned out as well as I had hoped. Fortunately I'm at least keeping up a little bit with the recap part of the blog. Again I missed last week. I don't remember why but I'm sure there was no good reason for missing the writing last week.
A week ago the performing group was again rejoined only to split up again. They all gathered at the Hammer and Pint for a little food while they watched the gnomes. The gnomes eventually left and when they did, Onala and Prosepon were nominated for ninja duty. More on that next session. Tin, Berenwick, and Nessa set out to find the carpenter and his daughter. Thankfully they didn't have to look too far. The carpenter's daughter was waiting outside the Hammer and Pint for them. She lead the three of them to her father's shop and departed from their presence. They spied the carpenter working in the back of the shop. They began to question him about his captivity. He couldn't tell them much but they soon became aware that he wasn't telling them everything. Despite a very blunt explosion by Tin they were unable to extract much information from him other than he was being held in a warehouse near the Temple of the Nine Muses. They headed back to the Sky Serpent Inn to wait for Prosepon and Onala to get back. Since we lacked a Prosepon the session ended there.
In our next session we lead off with Prosepon and Onala tailing the gnomes through the city. They snuck through highway and byway until they found themselves in the warehouse district of Douxfield. Near the Temple of the Nine Muses their pursuit came to a halt at a warehouse with only gnome sized doors. After a short debate they entered through one of the side doors. They were incredible ninjas, not even the workers in the warehouse saw them in their intrusion. In the middle of the warehouse they found the gnome from the Hammer and Pint talking to another gnome. The gnomes conversed about the removal of our heroes performing group from the city. The younger of the two inquired if they should contact a mysterious group known only as "The Owls". The older believed they were unnecessary. At this point they bid each other good bye with the elder making known his plans to attend the ball at Villa Fiera.
Onala and Prosepon quickly escaped after determining they would not discover anything more and returned to the Sky Serpent Inn. They shortly informed their companions of their findings. The group agreed to invade the party as performers to find out more about the older gnome at the warehouse. A goodly amount of time was spent deciding on disguises before they headed to Villa Fiera. Once there they discovered a long line to get into the lavish villa as House Fiera was known for their parties. They looked around until they found a servants entrance and bluffed their way past the dwarven guard at the door and into the party. This is where we left our heroes and where we'll pick up next weekend.
I was quite please with the session although the focus wasn't there as much as I would have liked. That happens with chat games. Next week should be plenty of fun for all involved.
A week ago the performing group was again rejoined only to split up again. They all gathered at the Hammer and Pint for a little food while they watched the gnomes. The gnomes eventually left and when they did, Onala and Prosepon were nominated for ninja duty. More on that next session. Tin, Berenwick, and Nessa set out to find the carpenter and his daughter. Thankfully they didn't have to look too far. The carpenter's daughter was waiting outside the Hammer and Pint for them. She lead the three of them to her father's shop and departed from their presence. They spied the carpenter working in the back of the shop. They began to question him about his captivity. He couldn't tell them much but they soon became aware that he wasn't telling them everything. Despite a very blunt explosion by Tin they were unable to extract much information from him other than he was being held in a warehouse near the Temple of the Nine Muses. They headed back to the Sky Serpent Inn to wait for Prosepon and Onala to get back. Since we lacked a Prosepon the session ended there.
In our next session we lead off with Prosepon and Onala tailing the gnomes through the city. They snuck through highway and byway until they found themselves in the warehouse district of Douxfield. Near the Temple of the Nine Muses their pursuit came to a halt at a warehouse with only gnome sized doors. After a short debate they entered through one of the side doors. They were incredible ninjas, not even the workers in the warehouse saw them in their intrusion. In the middle of the warehouse they found the gnome from the Hammer and Pint talking to another gnome. The gnomes conversed about the removal of our heroes performing group from the city. The younger of the two inquired if they should contact a mysterious group known only as "The Owls". The older believed they were unnecessary. At this point they bid each other good bye with the elder making known his plans to attend the ball at Villa Fiera.
Onala and Prosepon quickly escaped after determining they would not discover anything more and returned to the Sky Serpent Inn. They shortly informed their companions of their findings. The group agreed to invade the party as performers to find out more about the older gnome at the warehouse. A goodly amount of time was spent deciding on disguises before they headed to Villa Fiera. Once there they discovered a long line to get into the lavish villa as House Fiera was known for their parties. They looked around until they found a servants entrance and bluffed their way past the dwarven guard at the door and into the party. This is where we left our heroes and where we'll pick up next weekend.
I was quite please with the session although the focus wasn't there as much as I would have liked. That happens with chat games. Next week should be plenty of fun for all involved.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
More shortness
I missed last week. I'm sure there is a reason but I don't remember it. Thus this week there will be two recaps rolled into one. I'll try to keep them manageable.
After our intrepid performers had a good night's rest they woke to enact their plan of pretending to leave the city. They quickly packed their bags and loaded up their cart. As they hitched up their donkey and left the Sky Serpent Inn they noticed that their performing schedule had been replaced by a blank wooden sign. They made a reasonable show of leaving the town as their cart bumped its way out into the vineyards that surrounded the town of Douxfield. After much debate they decided to hide their cart in a vineyard with a large barn. They hide it very very well. Then the session ended as people had to go. Short session but generally accomplished.
Starting out the next week our players split up to sneak back into the city to attract less attention. Prosepon and Berenwick went in a laborer's gate to bed down Seene, their donkey while Onala, Tin, and Nessa. Prosepon and Berenwick lead off by heading to find a stable for the donkey. They quickly found a place to bed down Seene but Berenwick noticed a gnome watching them. When he looked again the gnome had vanished. They got suspicious but headed on towards the Dancing Bear. They hoped they would find a riot so they could tail the rioters back to their lair. Their plan succeeded somewhat. There was a riot at the Dancing Bear. However the rioters were nearly making progress against the bouncers when Berenwick attempted to even the odds with a color spray. The mob was unaffected but came after Berenwick. Berenwick and Prosepon attempted to split up but the mob nearly caught Berenwick. Prosepon came to his aid and cracked a lot of heads with her brass knuckles. Berewick downed a few with his rapier. They weren't able to follow any of them as they were in a mess at their feet. Prosepon and Berenwick left the scene to avoid suspicion. However they did see the gnome again, watching them.
Onala, Tin, and Nessa headed for the Hammer and Pint to see if the girl's father was released. The staked out the tavern for a few minutes then went inside. Inside they found a standard looking tavern with booths around the edges and tables in the middle. Off in an alcove in an 'L' shape behind the bar a group of gnomes and a lone human male sat. They ordered their food and after a time the fake server girl (they never got her name) showed up. She walked over to the table and talked to the gnomes. Then she left with the human male. They assumed he was her father. Onala, Nessa, and Tin debated following them but decided to enjoy a meal instead.
That was when we had to break and where we'll pick up on Saturday.
After our intrepid performers had a good night's rest they woke to enact their plan of pretending to leave the city. They quickly packed their bags and loaded up their cart. As they hitched up their donkey and left the Sky Serpent Inn they noticed that their performing schedule had been replaced by a blank wooden sign. They made a reasonable show of leaving the town as their cart bumped its way out into the vineyards that surrounded the town of Douxfield. After much debate they decided to hide their cart in a vineyard with a large barn. They hide it very very well. Then the session ended as people had to go. Short session but generally accomplished.
Starting out the next week our players split up to sneak back into the city to attract less attention. Prosepon and Berenwick went in a laborer's gate to bed down Seene, their donkey while Onala, Tin, and Nessa. Prosepon and Berenwick lead off by heading to find a stable for the donkey. They quickly found a place to bed down Seene but Berenwick noticed a gnome watching them. When he looked again the gnome had vanished. They got suspicious but headed on towards the Dancing Bear. They hoped they would find a riot so they could tail the rioters back to their lair. Their plan succeeded somewhat. There was a riot at the Dancing Bear. However the rioters were nearly making progress against the bouncers when Berenwick attempted to even the odds with a color spray. The mob was unaffected but came after Berenwick. Berenwick and Prosepon attempted to split up but the mob nearly caught Berenwick. Prosepon came to his aid and cracked a lot of heads with her brass knuckles. Berewick downed a few with his rapier. They weren't able to follow any of them as they were in a mess at their feet. Prosepon and Berenwick left the scene to avoid suspicion. However they did see the gnome again, watching them.
Onala, Tin, and Nessa headed for the Hammer and Pint to see if the girl's father was released. The staked out the tavern for a few minutes then went inside. Inside they found a standard looking tavern with booths around the edges and tables in the middle. Off in an alcove in an 'L' shape behind the bar a group of gnomes and a lone human male sat. They ordered their food and after a time the fake server girl (they never got her name) showed up. She walked over to the table and talked to the gnomes. Then she left with the human male. They assumed he was her father. Onala, Nessa, and Tin debated following them but decided to enjoy a meal instead.
That was when we had to break and where we'll pick up on Saturday.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
And then I got sick.
I believe I am sick. I don't feel cold at any other time, especially when it's as warm as it has been. I'm going to stick to a recap this time without the full conversations included.
As our adventurous heroes returned from the riot they prepared to perform the show at the Sky Serpent Inn. They momentarily conversed about what the gnomish merchant guild might do before Sevn gave them the signal that they could perform. They meandered on to the stage and Prosepon announced them. Berenwick told jokes while Nessa and Onala did amazing things with their hands and feet. Tin and Prosepon recited as they usually did. Then a barmaid spilled on the stage. Her tray emptied on to the stage and Onala added a potato into her routine. The performers noted the minor slipperiness and moved on. The performance continued until the back of the stage collapsed onto them. The back of the stage is a set of boards that separated the on stage from the back stage. The performers were moderately bruised but mostly it injured their dignity. The performers successfully convinced the audience that it was all part of the act. They also checked for loose floor boards as Nessa almost fell through one. They eyed the gnomes in the audience, looking for suspicious characters and found none. They found some bad floorboards and managed to avoid them. Then the barmaid came back carrying a candle. All the performers were suspicious at this point that the barmaid was going to drop it on something flammable, like the stage. Onala grabbed for the candle but klutzily knocked it onto the stage. The stage instantly caught fire. It seems the liquid that the barmaid spilled was flammable. The barmaid hit the deck, the front rows scooted back, and the performers attempted to not catch fire. Tin summoned a large amount of water over the stage and promptly doused the fire. After the stage was out Nessa asked for a volunteer from the group. Needless to say she volunteered the barmaid who was trying to sneak away. As she pulled her up on stage, Sevn commented that she didn't work for him at all. Nessa sent fire spinning around the fake barmaid and she was suitably cowed. Then they dragged the barmaid to the back room of the inn as the crowd applauded them. The fake barmaid quickly confessed to everything as the gnomish merchant guild had her father. They had him at the Hammer and Pint tavern last she saw him and there they explained she was to make the performers at the Sky Serpent Inn leave town or else. Then they plotted how to work around the hostage situation that the merchant guild had created. They planned to leave the city to fool the gnomish merchant guild into thinking they were gone and use the distraction to rescue her father. They planned a little longer before it was time for everyone to go.
Overall I think everyone had a goodly amount of fun. Prosepon did comment that she hoped to use her battle dancing abilities at some point. She was held back by the rest of the characters when she was going to fight the mob. While she has plenty of social skills (they all do) she's possibly the best equipped to take on a fight since I added a few feats to bring the class up to par. All in all I hope to continue the fun and continue learning the art of DMing.
As our adventurous heroes returned from the riot they prepared to perform the show at the Sky Serpent Inn. They momentarily conversed about what the gnomish merchant guild might do before Sevn gave them the signal that they could perform. They meandered on to the stage and Prosepon announced them. Berenwick told jokes while Nessa and Onala did amazing things with their hands and feet. Tin and Prosepon recited as they usually did. Then a barmaid spilled on the stage. Her tray emptied on to the stage and Onala added a potato into her routine. The performers noted the minor slipperiness and moved on. The performance continued until the back of the stage collapsed onto them. The back of the stage is a set of boards that separated the on stage from the back stage. The performers were moderately bruised but mostly it injured their dignity. The performers successfully convinced the audience that it was all part of the act. They also checked for loose floor boards as Nessa almost fell through one. They eyed the gnomes in the audience, looking for suspicious characters and found none. They found some bad floorboards and managed to avoid them. Then the barmaid came back carrying a candle. All the performers were suspicious at this point that the barmaid was going to drop it on something flammable, like the stage. Onala grabbed for the candle but klutzily knocked it onto the stage. The stage instantly caught fire. It seems the liquid that the barmaid spilled was flammable. The barmaid hit the deck, the front rows scooted back, and the performers attempted to not catch fire. Tin summoned a large amount of water over the stage and promptly doused the fire. After the stage was out Nessa asked for a volunteer from the group. Needless to say she volunteered the barmaid who was trying to sneak away. As she pulled her up on stage, Sevn commented that she didn't work for him at all. Nessa sent fire spinning around the fake barmaid and she was suitably cowed. Then they dragged the barmaid to the back room of the inn as the crowd applauded them. The fake barmaid quickly confessed to everything as the gnomish merchant guild had her father. They had him at the Hammer and Pint tavern last she saw him and there they explained she was to make the performers at the Sky Serpent Inn leave town or else. Then they plotted how to work around the hostage situation that the merchant guild had created. They planned to leave the city to fool the gnomish merchant guild into thinking they were gone and use the distraction to rescue her father. They planned a little longer before it was time for everyone to go.
Overall I think everyone had a goodly amount of fun. Prosepon did comment that she hoped to use her battle dancing abilities at some point. She was held back by the rest of the characters when she was going to fight the mob. While she has plenty of social skills (they all do) she's possibly the best equipped to take on a fight since I added a few feats to bring the class up to par. All in all I hope to continue the fun and continue learning the art of DMing.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
In which our heroes find things amiss
Our five heroes stood in the street in front of the Dancing Bear debating what to do next. Around them a few gnomes began to gather in front of the Dancing Bear. Their deliberations continued as more gnomes filled the streets. The gnomes all were dressed in laborer's outfits. The crowd grew so thick that it was difficult to move. Without warning the crowd shifted into a mob. Makeshift weapons were produced from packs and belt loops. Broken bottles and cobblestones flew through the air directed at the Dancing Bear. A smattering of cries broke out from the mob. "Smash the Bear!" "Drive out the humans." The performers finally noticed that they were surrounded.
"Let's take a quick vote! Shall we resort to violence to get away? Because I'm having trouble moving here." announced Prosepon. Her question was swept away as the rest of the performers tried to escape the pressing mass of gnomes. Onala and Nessa managed to slip between the gnomes and reached the edge of the mob. Berenwick and Prosepon were not able to move.
"Hey, look, a human marrying an elf!" yelled Berenwick. The mob paused for a moment to look all around them. In the confusion Berenwick ran to the outside of the mob. Prosepon paused for a moment then leapt into the air. She lauched herself free of the crowd by stepping on a few choice gnome heads. The bouncers of the Dancing Bear appeared at the door to keep the crowd from damaging the front of the building too much. While most of the mob directed their frenzy at the Dancing Bear the other edges were beginning to attack humans near them.
"You know . . . if we were to help out, we might be able to get the Bear's Innkeeper to talk to us." suggested Prosepon. "Of course, we might also get killed."
"But how do we handle a mob of gnomes?" asked Nessa. As they tried to converse the crowd let loose a hail of bottles and rocks on the group. A rock caught Onala full in the stomach and a bottle impacted Prosepon's head. Prosepon rubbed her head and slipped on her brass knuckles. She made a move towards the crowd but Nessa and Onala tackled her. They weren't able to bring her down but they were able to bring her to her senses.
"No way you're going out there." said Nessa.
"We need to get out of here, we're a little out numbered." insisted Onala
"Okay okay! Well, what do you propose to do then?" Prosepon asked.
"Let's find the back door to the Dancing Bear and see if we can get through and help the bouncers." said Nessa. The rest of the performers agreed. They sprinted off down an alley near the Dancing Bear. The gnomes nipped at their heels for a little bit but the main group stayed in front of the Dancing Bear. That pulled the stragglers back to the front and kept them from pursuing the performers. As they ran Prosepon's head caught someone's laundry. They soon found themselves at the backs of several buildings, all of them unfamiliar. Nessa noticed a door in the appropriate place to access the back of the Dancing Bear. There was no handle on the outside of the door.
"There's a door here, but no handle..." Nessa pointed. "Shall we force this door open?"
"I've got a spell that should open it, but if you want to flex muscles before I cast, that's fine by me." said Berenwick. Berenwick waved his hand, said the magic words "doorwontfuckingopen" and sent arcane energy through the door. There is a soft click and the door opened outward into the alley. Inside they saw it lead into a small hallway. They stepped inside and could hear the noise of a kitchen not far off.
"Shall we go in?" Onala asked.
"First I'd like to ask . . . what exacly are we hoping to accomplish by this?" inquired Prosepon.
"I thought some people might need help." said Nessa.
"Well, I'd still like to help. And if we're helping from the inside, I suppose we might be able to find a way to do so without being mobbed." commented Prosepon. The performers entered through the back door, making their way past the storerooms that lined the hallway and into the kitchen. The performers poked their heads into the kitchen. Inside there wasn't any panic or terror, just structured efficiency of motion.
"Maybe the bouncers up front are doing fine...?" Onala looked around for a serving girl. There was a single serving girl standing by a swinging door that lead to the main room of the Dancing Bear. "Excuse me, miss!"
"What are you doing in here? You're not part of the kitchen staff." asked the girl.
"You do realize there's a mob of gnomes outside?" asked Nessa.
"Yes. No point in panicking." she said.
"No? what if they destroy the place?" Nessa looked vaguely concerned.
"The bouncers should be able to hold them off until someone can slip through and let the count know."
"So you feel it's all under control?" Onala looked around. "We were caught on the fringe of it and wanted to be sure everything was safe in here."
"It will be under control. If that girl gets through. I sent her out the back a few minutes ago." the serving girl had a worried look on her face.
"How many minutes ago?" Prosepon glanced towards the way they had come in.
"2 or 3." The serving girl fidgeted. "Were there mobs the back way? I assume you came in that way since there's no other way into the storerooms."
"We didn't see any." stated Tin.
"Well, looks like everything is fine then..." said Nessa.
"I can only hope. If the guild planned ahead for once they may have stopped her."
"Do these attacks happen often?" inquired Tin.
"Once or twice a month." the girl came to her senses. "But who are you people? Performers of some sort?"
"Yes, we've been performing at the Skyserpent Inn." answered Onala.
"Is Sevn still up to his usual plans?" asked the girl.
"Usual plans?" Nessa raised an eyebrow.
"If you're referring to the attempts to rally inns against the guild, well, he's trying. But not gettign a lot of response." offered Prosepon.
"Yes, those plans." she made a face. "It pisses off the guild and they try all the harder to put him out of business. He should realize by now that the only way they're going to leave him alone is if he pick up some noble patronage."
"I don't know - it doesn't look too much like the guild is 'leaving you alone'." Prosepon looked to the front of the Dancing Bear.
"This is the best they can manage. How long have you been performing at the Sky Serpent." asked the girl.
"Oh . . . two days now."
"The attacks against you will get worse. This attack will be over soon." mentioned the girl. "Lefin keeps us safe. I doubt Sevn will be able to do that for you."
"Lefin?" Tin looked around.
"Owner of the Dancing Bear here." The girl pointed to the front. "He's out front directing the bouncers."
"If there's nothing we can do to help out, we may as well be on our way. But I'd like to know, if you can tell us - what kind of attacks can we expect from the guild?" Prosepon questioned.
"The usual intimidation tactics. They get worse once they realize you won't fall for the "ghost" act."
"Thanks for the warning, we'll have to be on guard for them." Onala nodded.
"Do you mind going? You're distracting the cooks." The performers gathered by the door and slipped out with nary a word. They headed out the back through the door, around the alley, and snuck past the remains of the gnomish mob. The mob had exhausted their supply of makeshift weapons so they were merely yelling profanities and racial slurs at the Dancing Bear's bouncers. It was a short trip back to the Sky Serpent Inn since they weren't stopping to ask questions of every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the streets. Once our intrepid heroes returned to the Sky Serpent Inn, they plodded up to their room on the third floor to prepare for their show that night. Little did they know the adventures that were in store for them tonight...
"Let's take a quick vote! Shall we resort to violence to get away? Because I'm having trouble moving here." announced Prosepon. Her question was swept away as the rest of the performers tried to escape the pressing mass of gnomes. Onala and Nessa managed to slip between the gnomes and reached the edge of the mob. Berenwick and Prosepon were not able to move.
"Hey, look, a human marrying an elf!" yelled Berenwick. The mob paused for a moment to look all around them. In the confusion Berenwick ran to the outside of the mob. Prosepon paused for a moment then leapt into the air. She lauched herself free of the crowd by stepping on a few choice gnome heads. The bouncers of the Dancing Bear appeared at the door to keep the crowd from damaging the front of the building too much. While most of the mob directed their frenzy at the Dancing Bear the other edges were beginning to attack humans near them.
"You know . . . if we were to help out, we might be able to get the Bear's Innkeeper to talk to us." suggested Prosepon. "Of course, we might also get killed."
"But how do we handle a mob of gnomes?" asked Nessa. As they tried to converse the crowd let loose a hail of bottles and rocks on the group. A rock caught Onala full in the stomach and a bottle impacted Prosepon's head. Prosepon rubbed her head and slipped on her brass knuckles. She made a move towards the crowd but Nessa and Onala tackled her. They weren't able to bring her down but they were able to bring her to her senses.
"No way you're going out there." said Nessa.
"We need to get out of here, we're a little out numbered." insisted Onala
"Okay okay! Well, what do you propose to do then?" Prosepon asked.
"Let's find the back door to the Dancing Bear and see if we can get through and help the bouncers." said Nessa. The rest of the performers agreed. They sprinted off down an alley near the Dancing Bear. The gnomes nipped at their heels for a little bit but the main group stayed in front of the Dancing Bear. That pulled the stragglers back to the front and kept them from pursuing the performers. As they ran Prosepon's head caught someone's laundry. They soon found themselves at the backs of several buildings, all of them unfamiliar. Nessa noticed a door in the appropriate place to access the back of the Dancing Bear. There was no handle on the outside of the door.
"There's a door here, but no handle..." Nessa pointed. "Shall we force this door open?"
"I've got a spell that should open it, but if you want to flex muscles before I cast, that's fine by me." said Berenwick. Berenwick waved his hand, said the magic words "doorwontfuckingopen" and sent arcane energy through the door. There is a soft click and the door opened outward into the alley. Inside they saw it lead into a small hallway. They stepped inside and could hear the noise of a kitchen not far off.
"Shall we go in?" Onala asked.
"First I'd like to ask . . . what exacly are we hoping to accomplish by this?" inquired Prosepon.
"I thought some people might need help." said Nessa.
"Well, I'd still like to help. And if we're helping from the inside, I suppose we might be able to find a way to do so without being mobbed." commented Prosepon. The performers entered through the back door, making their way past the storerooms that lined the hallway and into the kitchen. The performers poked their heads into the kitchen. Inside there wasn't any panic or terror, just structured efficiency of motion.
"Maybe the bouncers up front are doing fine...?" Onala looked around for a serving girl. There was a single serving girl standing by a swinging door that lead to the main room of the Dancing Bear. "Excuse me, miss!"
"What are you doing in here? You're not part of the kitchen staff." asked the girl.
"You do realize there's a mob of gnomes outside?" asked Nessa.
"Yes. No point in panicking." she said.
"No? what if they destroy the place?" Nessa looked vaguely concerned.
"The bouncers should be able to hold them off until someone can slip through and let the count know."
"So you feel it's all under control?" Onala looked around. "We were caught on the fringe of it and wanted to be sure everything was safe in here."
"It will be under control. If that girl gets through. I sent her out the back a few minutes ago." the serving girl had a worried look on her face.
"How many minutes ago?" Prosepon glanced towards the way they had come in.
"2 or 3." The serving girl fidgeted. "Were there mobs the back way? I assume you came in that way since there's no other way into the storerooms."
"We didn't see any." stated Tin.
"Well, looks like everything is fine then..." said Nessa.
"I can only hope. If the guild planned ahead for once they may have stopped her."
"Do these attacks happen often?" inquired Tin.
"Once or twice a month." the girl came to her senses. "But who are you people? Performers of some sort?"
"Yes, we've been performing at the Skyserpent Inn." answered Onala.
"Is Sevn still up to his usual plans?" asked the girl.
"Usual plans?" Nessa raised an eyebrow.
"If you're referring to the attempts to rally inns against the guild, well, he's trying. But not gettign a lot of response." offered Prosepon.
"Yes, those plans." she made a face. "It pisses off the guild and they try all the harder to put him out of business. He should realize by now that the only way they're going to leave him alone is if he pick up some noble patronage."
"I don't know - it doesn't look too much like the guild is 'leaving you alone'." Prosepon looked to the front of the Dancing Bear.
"This is the best they can manage. How long have you been performing at the Sky Serpent." asked the girl.
"Oh . . . two days now."
"The attacks against you will get worse. This attack will be over soon." mentioned the girl. "Lefin keeps us safe. I doubt Sevn will be able to do that for you."
"Lefin?" Tin looked around.
"Owner of the Dancing Bear here." The girl pointed to the front. "He's out front directing the bouncers."
"If there's nothing we can do to help out, we may as well be on our way. But I'd like to know, if you can tell us - what kind of attacks can we expect from the guild?" Prosepon questioned.
"The usual intimidation tactics. They get worse once they realize you won't fall for the "ghost" act."
"Thanks for the warning, we'll have to be on guard for them." Onala nodded.
"Do you mind going? You're distracting the cooks." The performers gathered by the door and slipped out with nary a word. They headed out the back through the door, around the alley, and snuck past the remains of the gnomish mob. The mob had exhausted their supply of makeshift weapons so they were merely yelling profanities and racial slurs at the Dancing Bear's bouncers. It was a short trip back to the Sky Serpent Inn since they weren't stopping to ask questions of every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the streets. Once our intrepid heroes returned to the Sky Serpent Inn, they plodded up to their room on the third floor to prepare for their show that night. Little did they know the adventures that were in store for them tonight...
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
In which our heroes wake up
Dawn broke the next morning and the sun peeked through the cracks in the shutters on the room's window. The bloody wall stood in full view having dried over night. The five performers got out of the cramped wooden beds and stared at the wall. No one spoke for a minute or two. While they were staring Onala noticed that the words were centered above the bed. Berenwick looked closer and pulled some thick bristly hairs out of the blood.
"Well, we should inform the landlord about the condition of this room." said Prosepon.
"I wonder if we should have told him last night, lest he think we were responsible for it..." Onala's voice trailed off.
"Well, you deliberate on that matter, I need to offer up my concerns to a wise old bastard..." Tin turned to face the wall again.
"We're innocent! We have nothing to fear from reporting this harrasment." insisted Prosepon.
"Maybe we should just clean up this blood and figure this out on our own." Nessa said in between yawns. "We dont have to involve Sevn in this."
"What might we clean this with? I didn't pack any thing for cleaning up this kind of mess..." asked Onala.
Their musings were interrupted by a series of knocks on the door.
"Dammit. Who could that be?" exclaimed Tin.
"Who is it?" called out Nessa.
"Anyone awake in there?" came a voice from the other side of the door which none of the performers recognized. "It's Shima."
"Do we know a Shima?" whispered Onala. Prosepon carefully opened the door, positioning herself so the person couldn't see inside the room. Outside the door stood one of the human barmaids.
"Sevn wants to speak with you about schedules and I need to clean the room." said Shima.
"You may have your work cut out for you." said Prosepon. She moved out of the way to let Shima into the room. Shima took one look at the writing on the way and let out a high pitched scream. Onala rushed forward and covered the girl's mouth. "Shush! You'll bring everyone down here yelling like that!"
"It's the curse." Shima's voice was barely above a whisper.
"Curse, you say?" Prosepon raised an eyebrow.
"...swell. Please explain." Tin rolled her eyes.
"The curse on the performers." Shima tried unsuccessfully to keep the worried look from her face. "Not a single performing group has lasted more than a week here."
" 'Lasted'? What do you mean, 'lasted?' What, the performers got bored or something and took off for the next bar on the road?" Tin interrogated the girl.
"Some left willingly on their own two feet. Others didn't."
"...didn't? What happened to the ones who didn't leave?" Nessa looked at Shima questioningly.
"They left. In long wooden boxes."
"How did they die?" Nessa inquired further.
"They died in many ways. All of them supernatural or 'accidental'." Shima started edging towards the door.
"Eh, we can supernatural them back." interjected Berenwick.
"Well . . . that's interesting news." Prosepon kept her face emotionless.
"Oh come on!" Nessa threw her hands up. "What makes you think a wizard didn't do it?"
"Wizards don't kill people around here." said Shima. She looked from side to side nervously.
"Will you be cleaning up in here, Shima?" asked Onala.
"Miss, I am rather sure that curses don't catch." Prosepon tried to console her.
"I'm in no hurry to find out." She bolted down the hallway.
"Does this mean we have to clean it up?" asked Berenwick.
"You're welcome to it." Nessa said to him. "Think we should have a talk with Sven?"
"Yes, let's go get some answers." Onala picked up the bloody bedsheets and headed for the door.
"Let's see if the barmaid said anything to him." added Tin. The group headed out the door. The stairs and hallway were much less foreboding in the morning with the sunlight streaming in the windows. The trip downstairs felt shorter than the trip upstairs. Down stairs they found Sevn waiting for them on the stage.
"Good morning, Sevn!" Prosepon's voice was full of cheer.
"So, you heard from Shima?" Nessa asked.
Onala dropped the bedsheets next to Sevn. "We'll be needing clean bedding, please."
"Good morning. Shima? Last I saw her she was going to clean your room." answered Sevn.
"I think she's changed her mind." commented Tin.
"Changed her mind? What happened and why are these sheets messy?"
"We received some sort of threat. Painted on the wall. In blood." said Prosepon.
"Oh that." Sevn looked crestfallen. "My staff is overly superstitious."
"Superstitious or not, we've got a threat painted in blood in our room." noted Berenwick.
"So you dont believe in this curse business?" asked Nessa.
"Not at all. I do believe that I have enemies who would very much like to see my business fail."
"You obviously do believe in the effects it has had on previous troupes performing here?" asked Tin." Apparently some have left 'in wooden boxes,' as the barmaid so eloquently put it."
"Shima was always the dramatic one." sighed Sevn.
"Personally, I'd like to hear more about this superstition. Like, how long it's been kicking around, what the curse's source is supposed to be, etc." insisted Prosepon
"Ghosts, Fey, Hobgoblins, it changes based off which of my staff is telling the story." said Sevn.
"Has anything... unfortunate happened to performers at this tavern before?" asked Onala.
"I've had a few performers meet with "accidents" that were highly suspicious." said Sevn. "Probably not nearly as many as Shima told you." Berenwick began to get a little suspicious that Sevn was not telling all he knew.
"You never tried getting to the bottom of this?" asked Nessa.
"I tried once. It only made things worse." Sevn shrugged. "This town can be difficult if you find yourself on the wrong people's bad sides."
I suppose the logical next question is to ask which enemies of yours we should be looking out for, in case they try to cause trouble again." stated Prosepon.
"I only have one set of enemies. I prefer not to talk about them." Sevn looked around and lowered his voice. "At least not here in the open." Sevn briefly discussed scheduling of performances with them before excusing himself to run his inn. Before he walked away he whispered to them. "If you really want to know about my enemies, we can talk in the back room." The performers conferred briefly with each other and agreed to meet him in the back room in a few minutes. The made small talk for a time while one by one they slipped off to the inn's back room. They found themselves surrounded by food covered shelves sitting around a small wooden table.
"Please shut the door." requested Sevn. "What I'm about to tell you will sound very odd. I'm sure you're well aware of the noble houses and the like. What you may not be aware of is the gnomish merchant guild."
"Merchant guild, you say?" Prosepon's curiosity was piqued.
"They're more than merchants. They're thugs and criminals of the lowest caliber." said Sevn. "It's likely they were responsible for the "fire" last night."
"I proabably should've pointed out that guy yesterday." commented Berenwick. "I detected a gnome casting things last night. I didn't think much of it, but probably should've thought more. I'll keep an eye open for that gnome if there's a repeat performance."
"Why would they want to sabotage a simple performance? Wouldn't criminals have better things to do?" asked Nessa.
"They're the enemies I have. They want to run me out of business so they can control all the inns and taverns in Douxfield." replied Sevn. "I'm working on forming a group of innkeepers and tavern owners to combat them but the going is slow. Other independent owners are stuck between difficult decisions. If they join me they'll be targeted. If they don't join me they might be targeted anyways. There has been one tavern that was placed under the protection of a noble house. It helped them some."
"What tavern?" inquired Tin. "And what noble house."
"The Dancing Bear and Ganut Raum, but you didn't hear that from me."
"Hmm . . . well, this is all good to know. We'll keep an eye out for trouble interfering with our shows. We don't get spooked easily, Mister Sevn. We won't be running out on you just yet." stated Prosepon.
"Thank you." A relieved look spread across Sevn's face. Sevn got up and left the room smiling happily at them as he left.
"Lovely, we've just dropped in the middle of a political struggle." Onala did not sound pleased.
"Talk with the people with the Dancing Bear?" asked Berenwick.
"Yes, I think that would be a good place to start."
"We need to find out more about this Gnome Merchant Guild" said Nessa.
"What about the Dancing Bear?" asked Onala. "Why did Ganut Raum favor them?"
"I heard it's because Ganut Raum is having a feud with the elven house of Aleath. The Dancing Bear is probably owned by a human whom with they have a personal relationship. They seem to be on of the newer noble houses in the city, and they're very supporting of humans who respect them."
"Perhaps we should make their acquaintance, then." suggested Onala.
"But before we do that I'd like the chance to go out into the streets and see what I can pick up just by listening to people." said Prosepon. "You can learn a lot that way, and it'll be handy if we know which way the wind is blowing."
"Yes... it'll be handy if we want to fly kites someday." commented Nessa. "I wonder what does Ganut Raum know about the gnome merchants?" Her question went unanswered as they gathered themselves together to hit the streets for information.
Outside the city appeared to have woken up about the same time they had. People stumbled about their daily business between rows of merchants and a street performer or two. No one looked terribly interested in providing information to anyone at this point. Most of the people on the street just looked like they wanted their hangover to go away. After a brief consultation, Tin decided to head off to the library while the rest of the group tried to find out more about the city in general. With Onala, Berenwick and Nessa in tow, Prosepon talked with several merchants and people walking the streets. Many of the people they talked to stared in disbelief when Prosepon approached them, but became quite friendly once she started talking. Prosepon discovered that opinions of house Ganut Raum are polarized. The humans of the city tended to like them a lot. The other races not nearly as much. In contrast, everyone saw house Aleath as very stuck up. Lastly, house Fiera was deemed the party house by everyone she talked to. In fact they were supposed to have one of their "legendary" parties on the following night. Prosepon also noticed as she walked the streets that most of the populace was either human or gnomish. All races definately agreed that while the noble houses throw great parties, getting mixed up in their politics is not a good idea.
They finally headed for the Dancing Bear. The Dancing Bear was a lavish one story tavern. There was even a small garden out front for people to sit and admire while they get totally sloshed. As they were about to go in, Tin came mincing down the street with a pleased look on her face.
"Hello, Tin, find anything useful at the library?" asked Onala.
"At least one thing; the 'accident' in the room was not humanoid in origin." Tin was nearly giggling at her new found knowledge "Also found a great hangover remedy!"
"That's a relief... about the accident not being human, anyway. We'll see if any one needs the remedy."
"This place is upscale!" Prosepon's voice was filled with joy." Just what I imagined. Do you think we'd even be able to afford the lamb?"
"Let us find out." said Tin. The five performers walked inside. Their eyes were met with no less lavishness than they had been on the outside. There were no cheap seats in the Dancing Bear. The worst seats had small cushions on them and were around round tables similar to the good seating at the Sky Serpent Inn. Scantily clad human barmaids flitted between the few patrons in the Inn. The bar itself was made of finely carved high quality granite.
"Damn, high class shit." commented Berenwick. A barmaid walked up to the performers.
"What are you doing here?" she asked with a sneer. Prosepon held herself back from replying while Tin gazed off into the tavern in disinterest.
"In fact, we came to investigate the prospects of lunch. We were told the lamb here was excellent."
"You're hardly dressed right to eat here."
"I had no idea this place had a dress code" said Nessa.
"All the best inns require the guests to wear something besides rags." The barmaid scanned them from head to toe.
"Give me a sec." Berenwick stepped out the door of the Dancing Bear. He looked aroud surreptitiously then mumbled and waved his fingers. His clothes instantly transformed into the robes of a high class nobleman. He strode back inside as haughtily as he could.
"You all going to stand there or get out into the street where you belong?" the barmaid shooed them with her hand.
"What do you mean. My friends there have just had a few problems with local riff-raff." said Berenwick. "I didn't want to bring them under suspicion." The barmaid took a close look at him and noted his change in clothes. Prosepon leaned in close and whispered.
"We're bodyguards." a look of comprehension spread across the barmaid's face.
"Ah, I see. "Bodyguards". If you'll come this way Mr. Gnome I'll get you and your bodyguards a seat. Will they need some extra oil to help "guard" your body?" She lead them to the front of the tavern and seated them on a set of very nice pillows. The five of them plopped into the pillows.
"What would you like to drink?" asked the now cheerful and friendly barmaid.
"What would you suggest?" asked Berenwick who was mentally sweating.
"The Ifful is the suggested light wine for morning and afternoon drinking. Is this your first visit to our city Mr. Gnome?" the barmaid asked.
"Yes, I have traveled around. Bring around a bottle." Berenwick relaxed a bit after the maid left to fetch the bottle. She returned shortly and set the bottle and five glasses in front of Berenwick. She took extra care to bend over right in front of him.
"Will you be wanting food with your drink, sir?" she inquired.
"Yes, we heard the lamb was good here."
"I'll have the cook start on the lamb right away." She stood up straight and navigated her way through the pillows to the bar and then back to the kitchen.
"Okay, now that we're in here, what now?" asked Nessa.
"Gods, I thought she'd never leave." Onala was exasperated. "And will Mr. Gnome be picking up the tab today?" she said mocking the barmaids tone while smiling sweetly at Berenwick.
"We need to find the barkeeper..." Tin trailed off.
"This was my scheme, I'm in for paying. Also I really want to try that lamb." said Prosepon. The barmaid returned with a friend. Between them they held a large tray with an entire lamb on it, roasted to fine perfection. They set it directly in front of Berenwick.
"Will you be having anything else now sir?" She winked at Berenwick. Berenwick resisted the urge to yell "HOLY CRAP THAT'S A LOT OF LAMB!".
"That'll be it for now, thanks." at his comment the barmaids left. The five performers dug in while keeping an ear out for any juicy tidbits of information. Nothing besides the local gossip of who wore what to the latest part reached their ears. The people who had something to hide sat at the booths along the back wall or at the far tables and talked in low tones. The bar was tended by a man in spiffy black clothes off set by his starch white shirt. He bustled between the few patrons at the bar with splendid efficiency. Before long the barmaid came back wafting a piece of paper in her hands.
"Please give your money to the bartender when you're finished. Tips you can give directly to the waitstaff." She smiled brightly at Berenwick. Berenwick flipped over the piece of paper. It simply read '50 gold'. Berenwick produced 60 gp and gave it to the barmaid.
"Thank you sir." She bowed low before leaving.
"Guys, you can pay your shares later. If I pay the bill, there's less of a chance they'll catch on." whispered Berenwick.
"Perhaps the owner of the inn is going to have a hard time rationalizing coming down to talk to us?" considered Tin.
"You planning something?" asked Nessa. The performers stood up and headed for the door.
"I want to know more about what the guild did to him...they were acts of subterfuge, but I did not ascertain their exact nature." said Tin. "We might be able to preempt the next incident if we know what to look for."
"I could try to get the help to let us thank the owner directly, but I'm not sure that'd work with the Gnome problem." mentioned Berenwick. "Didn't work with the waitress..."
"If anything, the inn owner is liable to be more perceptive than his hired help." said Tin. By silent agreement they all walked out the door of the Dancing Bear and into the street. "Also, I wonder where these Gnomes are based..."
"Maybe Berenwick would have some luck infiltrating the Gnome's base of operations?" suggested Onala.
"Apparently they were public enough for their number 2 to be tracked down." nodded Prosepon.
"Exactly. Either that, or this particular House has a good information network." said Tin. The five of them stood on the plaza of the Dancing Bear pondering what to do next. Their introspection kept them from noticing something very important...
"Well, we should inform the landlord about the condition of this room." said Prosepon.
"I wonder if we should have told him last night, lest he think we were responsible for it..." Onala's voice trailed off.
"Well, you deliberate on that matter, I need to offer up my concerns to a wise old bastard..." Tin turned to face the wall again.
"We're innocent! We have nothing to fear from reporting this harrasment." insisted Prosepon.
"Maybe we should just clean up this blood and figure this out on our own." Nessa said in between yawns. "We dont have to involve Sevn in this."
"What might we clean this with? I didn't pack any thing for cleaning up this kind of mess..." asked Onala.
Their musings were interrupted by a series of knocks on the door.
"Dammit. Who could that be?" exclaimed Tin.
"Who is it?" called out Nessa.
"Anyone awake in there?" came a voice from the other side of the door which none of the performers recognized. "It's Shima."
"Do we know a Shima?" whispered Onala. Prosepon carefully opened the door, positioning herself so the person couldn't see inside the room. Outside the door stood one of the human barmaids.
"Sevn wants to speak with you about schedules and I need to clean the room." said Shima.
"You may have your work cut out for you." said Prosepon. She moved out of the way to let Shima into the room. Shima took one look at the writing on the way and let out a high pitched scream. Onala rushed forward and covered the girl's mouth. "Shush! You'll bring everyone down here yelling like that!"
"It's the curse." Shima's voice was barely above a whisper.
"Curse, you say?" Prosepon raised an eyebrow.
"...swell. Please explain." Tin rolled her eyes.
"The curse on the performers." Shima tried unsuccessfully to keep the worried look from her face. "Not a single performing group has lasted more than a week here."
" 'Lasted'? What do you mean, 'lasted?' What, the performers got bored or something and took off for the next bar on the road?" Tin interrogated the girl.
"Some left willingly on their own two feet. Others didn't."
"...didn't? What happened to the ones who didn't leave?" Nessa looked at Shima questioningly.
"They left. In long wooden boxes."
"How did they die?" Nessa inquired further.
"They died in many ways. All of them supernatural or 'accidental'." Shima started edging towards the door.
"Eh, we can supernatural them back." interjected Berenwick.
"Well . . . that's interesting news." Prosepon kept her face emotionless.
"Oh come on!" Nessa threw her hands up. "What makes you think a wizard didn't do it?"
"Wizards don't kill people around here." said Shima. She looked from side to side nervously.
"Will you be cleaning up in here, Shima?" asked Onala.
"Miss, I am rather sure that curses don't catch." Prosepon tried to console her.
"I'm in no hurry to find out." She bolted down the hallway.
"Does this mean we have to clean it up?" asked Berenwick.
"You're welcome to it." Nessa said to him. "Think we should have a talk with Sven?"
"Yes, let's go get some answers." Onala picked up the bloody bedsheets and headed for the door.
"Let's see if the barmaid said anything to him." added Tin. The group headed out the door. The stairs and hallway were much less foreboding in the morning with the sunlight streaming in the windows. The trip downstairs felt shorter than the trip upstairs. Down stairs they found Sevn waiting for them on the stage.
"Good morning, Sevn!" Prosepon's voice was full of cheer.
"So, you heard from Shima?" Nessa asked.
Onala dropped the bedsheets next to Sevn. "We'll be needing clean bedding, please."
"Good morning. Shima? Last I saw her she was going to clean your room." answered Sevn.
"I think she's changed her mind." commented Tin.
"Changed her mind? What happened and why are these sheets messy?"
"We received some sort of threat. Painted on the wall. In blood." said Prosepon.
"Oh that." Sevn looked crestfallen. "My staff is overly superstitious."
"Superstitious or not, we've got a threat painted in blood in our room." noted Berenwick.
"So you dont believe in this curse business?" asked Nessa.
"Not at all. I do believe that I have enemies who would very much like to see my business fail."
"You obviously do believe in the effects it has had on previous troupes performing here?" asked Tin." Apparently some have left 'in wooden boxes,' as the barmaid so eloquently put it."
"Shima was always the dramatic one." sighed Sevn.
"Personally, I'd like to hear more about this superstition. Like, how long it's been kicking around, what the curse's source is supposed to be, etc." insisted Prosepon
"Ghosts, Fey, Hobgoblins, it changes based off which of my staff is telling the story." said Sevn.
"Has anything... unfortunate happened to performers at this tavern before?" asked Onala.
"I've had a few performers meet with "accidents" that were highly suspicious." said Sevn. "Probably not nearly as many as Shima told you." Berenwick began to get a little suspicious that Sevn was not telling all he knew.
"You never tried getting to the bottom of this?" asked Nessa.
"I tried once. It only made things worse." Sevn shrugged. "This town can be difficult if you find yourself on the wrong people's bad sides."
I suppose the logical next question is to ask which enemies of yours we should be looking out for, in case they try to cause trouble again." stated Prosepon.
"I only have one set of enemies. I prefer not to talk about them." Sevn looked around and lowered his voice. "At least not here in the open." Sevn briefly discussed scheduling of performances with them before excusing himself to run his inn. Before he walked away he whispered to them. "If you really want to know about my enemies, we can talk in the back room." The performers conferred briefly with each other and agreed to meet him in the back room in a few minutes. The made small talk for a time while one by one they slipped off to the inn's back room. They found themselves surrounded by food covered shelves sitting around a small wooden table.
"Please shut the door." requested Sevn. "What I'm about to tell you will sound very odd. I'm sure you're well aware of the noble houses and the like. What you may not be aware of is the gnomish merchant guild."
"Merchant guild, you say?" Prosepon's curiosity was piqued.
"They're more than merchants. They're thugs and criminals of the lowest caliber." said Sevn. "It's likely they were responsible for the "fire" last night."
"I proabably should've pointed out that guy yesterday." commented Berenwick. "I detected a gnome casting things last night. I didn't think much of it, but probably should've thought more. I'll keep an eye open for that gnome if there's a repeat performance."
"Why would they want to sabotage a simple performance? Wouldn't criminals have better things to do?" asked Nessa.
"They're the enemies I have. They want to run me out of business so they can control all the inns and taverns in Douxfield." replied Sevn. "I'm working on forming a group of innkeepers and tavern owners to combat them but the going is slow. Other independent owners are stuck between difficult decisions. If they join me they'll be targeted. If they don't join me they might be targeted anyways. There has been one tavern that was placed under the protection of a noble house. It helped them some."
"What tavern?" inquired Tin. "And what noble house."
"The Dancing Bear and Ganut Raum, but you didn't hear that from me."
"Hmm . . . well, this is all good to know. We'll keep an eye out for trouble interfering with our shows. We don't get spooked easily, Mister Sevn. We won't be running out on you just yet." stated Prosepon.
"Thank you." A relieved look spread across Sevn's face. Sevn got up and left the room smiling happily at them as he left.
"Lovely, we've just dropped in the middle of a political struggle." Onala did not sound pleased.
"Talk with the people with the Dancing Bear?" asked Berenwick.
"Yes, I think that would be a good place to start."
"We need to find out more about this Gnome Merchant Guild" said Nessa.
"What about the Dancing Bear?" asked Onala. "Why did Ganut Raum favor them?"
"I heard it's because Ganut Raum is having a feud with the elven house of Aleath. The Dancing Bear is probably owned by a human whom with they have a personal relationship. They seem to be on of the newer noble houses in the city, and they're very supporting of humans who respect them."
"Perhaps we should make their acquaintance, then." suggested Onala.
"But before we do that I'd like the chance to go out into the streets and see what I can pick up just by listening to people." said Prosepon. "You can learn a lot that way, and it'll be handy if we know which way the wind is blowing."
"Yes... it'll be handy if we want to fly kites someday." commented Nessa. "I wonder what does Ganut Raum know about the gnome merchants?" Her question went unanswered as they gathered themselves together to hit the streets for information.
Outside the city appeared to have woken up about the same time they had. People stumbled about their daily business between rows of merchants and a street performer or two. No one looked terribly interested in providing information to anyone at this point. Most of the people on the street just looked like they wanted their hangover to go away. After a brief consultation, Tin decided to head off to the library while the rest of the group tried to find out more about the city in general. With Onala, Berenwick and Nessa in tow, Prosepon talked with several merchants and people walking the streets. Many of the people they talked to stared in disbelief when Prosepon approached them, but became quite friendly once she started talking. Prosepon discovered that opinions of house Ganut Raum are polarized. The humans of the city tended to like them a lot. The other races not nearly as much. In contrast, everyone saw house Aleath as very stuck up. Lastly, house Fiera was deemed the party house by everyone she talked to. In fact they were supposed to have one of their "legendary" parties on the following night. Prosepon also noticed as she walked the streets that most of the populace was either human or gnomish. All races definately agreed that while the noble houses throw great parties, getting mixed up in their politics is not a good idea.
They finally headed for the Dancing Bear. The Dancing Bear was a lavish one story tavern. There was even a small garden out front for people to sit and admire while they get totally sloshed. As they were about to go in, Tin came mincing down the street with a pleased look on her face.
"Hello, Tin, find anything useful at the library?" asked Onala.
"At least one thing; the 'accident' in the room was not humanoid in origin." Tin was nearly giggling at her new found knowledge "Also found a great hangover remedy!"
"That's a relief... about the accident not being human, anyway. We'll see if any one needs the remedy."
"This place is upscale!" Prosepon's voice was filled with joy." Just what I imagined. Do you think we'd even be able to afford the lamb?"
"Let us find out." said Tin. The five performers walked inside. Their eyes were met with no less lavishness than they had been on the outside. There were no cheap seats in the Dancing Bear. The worst seats had small cushions on them and were around round tables similar to the good seating at the Sky Serpent Inn. Scantily clad human barmaids flitted between the few patrons in the Inn. The bar itself was made of finely carved high quality granite.
"Damn, high class shit." commented Berenwick. A barmaid walked up to the performers.
"What are you doing here?" she asked with a sneer. Prosepon held herself back from replying while Tin gazed off into the tavern in disinterest.
"In fact, we came to investigate the prospects of lunch. We were told the lamb here was excellent."
"You're hardly dressed right to eat here."
"I had no idea this place had a dress code" said Nessa.
"All the best inns require the guests to wear something besides rags." The barmaid scanned them from head to toe.
"Give me a sec." Berenwick stepped out the door of the Dancing Bear. He looked aroud surreptitiously then mumbled and waved his fingers. His clothes instantly transformed into the robes of a high class nobleman. He strode back inside as haughtily as he could.
"You all going to stand there or get out into the street where you belong?" the barmaid shooed them with her hand.
"What do you mean. My friends there have just had a few problems with local riff-raff." said Berenwick. "I didn't want to bring them under suspicion." The barmaid took a close look at him and noted his change in clothes. Prosepon leaned in close and whispered.
"We're bodyguards." a look of comprehension spread across the barmaid's face.
"Ah, I see. "Bodyguards". If you'll come this way Mr. Gnome I'll get you and your bodyguards a seat. Will they need some extra oil to help "guard" your body?" She lead them to the front of the tavern and seated them on a set of very nice pillows. The five of them plopped into the pillows.
"What would you like to drink?" asked the now cheerful and friendly barmaid.
"What would you suggest?" asked Berenwick who was mentally sweating.
"The Ifful is the suggested light wine for morning and afternoon drinking. Is this your first visit to our city Mr. Gnome?" the barmaid asked.
"Yes, I have traveled around. Bring around a bottle." Berenwick relaxed a bit after the maid left to fetch the bottle. She returned shortly and set the bottle and five glasses in front of Berenwick. She took extra care to bend over right in front of him.
"Will you be wanting food with your drink, sir?" she inquired.
"Yes, we heard the lamb was good here."
"I'll have the cook start on the lamb right away." She stood up straight and navigated her way through the pillows to the bar and then back to the kitchen.
"Okay, now that we're in here, what now?" asked Nessa.
"Gods, I thought she'd never leave." Onala was exasperated. "And will Mr. Gnome be picking up the tab today?" she said mocking the barmaids tone while smiling sweetly at Berenwick.
"We need to find the barkeeper..." Tin trailed off.
"This was my scheme, I'm in for paying. Also I really want to try that lamb." said Prosepon. The barmaid returned with a friend. Between them they held a large tray with an entire lamb on it, roasted to fine perfection. They set it directly in front of Berenwick.
"Will you be having anything else now sir?" She winked at Berenwick. Berenwick resisted the urge to yell "HOLY CRAP THAT'S A LOT OF LAMB!".
"That'll be it for now, thanks." at his comment the barmaids left. The five performers dug in while keeping an ear out for any juicy tidbits of information. Nothing besides the local gossip of who wore what to the latest part reached their ears. The people who had something to hide sat at the booths along the back wall or at the far tables and talked in low tones. The bar was tended by a man in spiffy black clothes off set by his starch white shirt. He bustled between the few patrons at the bar with splendid efficiency. Before long the barmaid came back wafting a piece of paper in her hands.
"Please give your money to the bartender when you're finished. Tips you can give directly to the waitstaff." She smiled brightly at Berenwick. Berenwick flipped over the piece of paper. It simply read '50 gold'. Berenwick produced 60 gp and gave it to the barmaid.
"Thank you sir." She bowed low before leaving.
"Guys, you can pay your shares later. If I pay the bill, there's less of a chance they'll catch on." whispered Berenwick.
"Perhaps the owner of the inn is going to have a hard time rationalizing coming down to talk to us?" considered Tin.
"You planning something?" asked Nessa. The performers stood up and headed for the door.
"I want to know more about what the guild did to him...they were acts of subterfuge, but I did not ascertain their exact nature." said Tin. "We might be able to preempt the next incident if we know what to look for."
"I could try to get the help to let us thank the owner directly, but I'm not sure that'd work with the Gnome problem." mentioned Berenwick. "Didn't work with the waitress..."
"If anything, the inn owner is liable to be more perceptive than his hired help." said Tin. By silent agreement they all walked out the door of the Dancing Bear and into the street. "Also, I wonder where these Gnomes are based..."
"Maybe Berenwick would have some luck infiltrating the Gnome's base of operations?" suggested Onala.
"Apparently they were public enough for their number 2 to be tracked down." nodded Prosepon.
"Exactly. Either that, or this particular House has a good information network." said Tin. The five of them stood on the plaza of the Dancing Bear pondering what to do next. Their introspection kept them from noticing something very important...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
In which our heroes run into difficulties.
The five performers sat on the stage talking in low tones an hour after all but the drunkest of patrons had left the inn. The barmaids cleaned up the tables as the lamps burned low.
"I don't believe it...any of you got an idea who made that illusion in the middle of the production?" asked Tin.
"You mean it wasnt me who set that table on fire?" Nessa responded.
"Only if you were casting illusions, Nessa." commented Onala.
"No, silly, it was magic, foul play! A plot was afoot, and it's cutting into our profit margins!" Tin stood up and scowled.
"Illusion? It looked pretty real to me." replied Nessa.
"I saw some magic on the rich people. There was one gnome in the cheap seats that had some magic on 'em, but all I could see was disguise self." said Berenwick in an effort to diffuse the situation.
"Hah, yet another illusion! It was probably him..." Tin redirected her anger.
"Did he already leave?" asked Onala.
"He left with the group of gnomish drunks from the cheap seats." answered Berenwick.
"Terribly unsporting way to do business, I should think. If another troupe has to resort to petty tricks to keep out competition, they obviously need better talent." Prosepon commented. Tin clenched her fists while plotting revenge on the gnome. Their conversation came to a natural pause and they noticed that the barmaids were glancing over at them and whispering in hushed tones.
"Oh dear . . . that doesn't sound like positive advertising they're whispering." said Prosepon in a worried tone of voice. Tin turned her attention to the barmaids for a moment to shoot them a withering glare.
"Any reason I shouldn't go over there and give them a piece of my mind?"
"Yes. We need to keep a good impression. We sell our acts on our reputations, after all." noted Prosepon.
"It would APPEAR those are already RUINED..."
"Hopefully we can salvage something - we held the crowd, after all, and no amount of fire-juggling can set an illusory fire."
"I think we did rather well, seeing as we convinced most of the audience to come back to their seats." added Onala.
"Hopefully we can salvage something - we held the crowd, after all, and no amount of fire-juggling can set an illusory fire." commented Prosepon.
"What does the bottom line say?" asked Tin.
"We've collected a reasonable amount for having a near stampede." Berenwick looked up from counting the money he had gathered from the front of the stage.
"This probably doesn't match our patronage's overall stature, but I do believe it's enough to keep me from...dealing with the help around here." said Tin.
"I'm still unhappy it was fire that disrupted our act." said Nessa. "Since I work exclusively with fire." Nessa's melancholy. Her self pity was interrupted by the bartender and owner of the Sky Serpent Inn, Sevn Haggerstad, walking over to the stage.
"Greetings." He addressed the entire group of performers. Sevn was a well dressed fellow for a bartender. His frame was large and his girth matched.
"Good evening, sir. We apologize for the waterworks, but as performers we take theaters fires - or at least what appear to be theater fires- seriously." Prosepon said. Tin blushed slightly at the mention of waterworks.
"I understand your concern about the fire. I wouldn't have blamed you if you took off running like everyone else."
"We do not scare easily." stated Tin forcefully.
"It's not a pretty sight to see people running and screaming when a little fire goes out of control." mentioned Nessa.
"I must apologize for my barmaids indiscretions. They have a bad habit of spreading unsavory rumors." Sevn clasped his hands in front of him.
"That...is quite alright." said Tin through clenched teeth.
"Sadly, one can no more stop the rumor mill than one can stop the tide. We quite understand." Prosepon said with a smooth voice.
"I gather you had a reasonable first performance aside from the fire." Sevn half asked.
"I think we did well, given the circumstances." Onala smiled. Tin stared at their pile of money while Nessa shifted her feet nervously.
"Then I shall assume you are not considering engagements at other inns or taverns?" Sevn quirked an eyebrow at the performers.
"Yes, I think an extended engagement here is an excellent opportunity." Prosepon smiled at Sevn.
"I hope there are no drunken illusionists next time." Tin scrunched her face up into a frown.
"Perhaps we can catch this person Berenwick saw, as well, since he was chasing away both ours and your patrons." commented Onala
"We can't get to the bottom of what happened here if we hit the road." said Berenwick. Sevn pulled a key out of his pocket.
"In return for your commitment you may stay here at the inn free of charge." Tin smiled warmly in response and the others verbalized their thanks. "Your room is up on the third floor. There should be room for all of you there." Sevn nodded at all of them and walked back to the bar to finish cleaning up for the night.
"Why don't we turn in for the night, and start searching for this gnome when there's plenty of light." suggested Onala.
"It's likely he'll turn up again, if he really has something against our group. I'm well in favor of getting some rest." Prosepon stepped off the stage. Tin sulked.
"I want to find him before his trail goes cold. Oh, I suppose rest is the wiser option. Bah!"
"I'm tired, I'm in no mood to go sleuthing." Nessa's eyes were nearly closed.
"I'm thinking I'd have a cooler head after some rest." Berenwick put a hand to his head. The performers slowly dragged themselves up the two flights of stairs to the third floor. Around them the shadows closed in on the five figures until they could barely see the noses in front of their faces. The corridor was dark and the floorboards creaked loudly as they walked over them. They found their room at the end of the hallway on the third floor. The five performers stumbled into the dark room and made their way to beds. Except for Tin who stood in the corner to sleep standing up. Onala and Prosepon sank into the bed on the furthest wall. Nessa collapsed on the nearest bed and Berenwick took the middle bed.
All was well for about two minutes. Then Onala felt something wet drip on her. She ran her fingers through it. Then she felt on the wall and felt more wet liquid. Prosepon rolled out of bed.
"We need a light, please?"
"Morning, already?" Tin looked around with a start.
"UGH! What IS that?!" Onala grimaced as she sniffed the liquid on her fingers. It had a coppery smell to it.
"I've got a lantern somewhere." said Prosepon. Prosepon pulled a lantern out of her gear and lit it. Prosepon shined her lantern at the wall and illuminated the words "Get Out" scrawled in what appeared to be blood.
"Hell . . . the walls are bleeding?" asked Tin.
"Someone was here before we came in, I don't think walls usually spell out words like that..." said Onala. Nessa just snored.
"Well, that's just delightful. Do you think the gnome from earlier might be involved in this, as well?" asked Prosepon.
"Perhaps magic is responsible?" suggested Tin. Tin stared at the wall and mumbled a short prayer. Tin's eyes glowed briefly and in her view the room was silhouetted with magical auras. None of the auras surrounded the writing.
"OH MY GODS!" Berenwick sat upright like something pricked his bum.
"Which ones?" inquired Prosepon. Nessa blinked and squinted as she woke up.
"Arg! What's with the screaming?"
"All of them, and then some" commented Berenwick.
"Olidammara, if you want me to actually find anything! Shush!" Tin glared at Berenwick.
"Sorry."
Nessa looked at the wall. "Has that always been there?"
"That was already there when we came in, I'm sure of it." insisted Tin.
"But was it dripping on the bed when we got in? I only noticed when it started dripping on me." asked Onala.
"It was probably too dark to tell." replied Tin. "Either way, they're piss poor at scaring people. Let's investigate further in the morning."
"And much better at pissing them off. I think we can rule out the 'stupid drunk' hypothesis." added Prosepon. Onala peeked under the bed looking for bodies but didn't find any.
"Wonder where the body that donated the blood to the wall art got off to."
"I don't know. Poor sucker." Prosepon stood at the edge of the bed.
"Anyone have an empty vial on them?" asked Tin. Onala produced an empty container from her gear, gathered a sampling of the blood, and gave it to Tin. Tin pocketed it and returned to the corner to sleep. Onala crawled into bed with Nessa, leaving Prosepon to share a bed with Berenwick. Prosepon doused her lantern and the five performers drifted off to sleep. Little did they know their troubles were just beginning.
"I don't believe it...any of you got an idea who made that illusion in the middle of the production?" asked Tin.
"You mean it wasnt me who set that table on fire?" Nessa responded.
"Only if you were casting illusions, Nessa." commented Onala.
"No, silly, it was magic, foul play! A plot was afoot, and it's cutting into our profit margins!" Tin stood up and scowled.
"Illusion? It looked pretty real to me." replied Nessa.
"I saw some magic on the rich people. There was one gnome in the cheap seats that had some magic on 'em, but all I could see was disguise self." said Berenwick in an effort to diffuse the situation.
"Hah, yet another illusion! It was probably him..." Tin redirected her anger.
"Did he already leave?" asked Onala.
"He left with the group of gnomish drunks from the cheap seats." answered Berenwick.
"Terribly unsporting way to do business, I should think. If another troupe has to resort to petty tricks to keep out competition, they obviously need better talent." Prosepon commented. Tin clenched her fists while plotting revenge on the gnome. Their conversation came to a natural pause and they noticed that the barmaids were glancing over at them and whispering in hushed tones.
"Oh dear . . . that doesn't sound like positive advertising they're whispering." said Prosepon in a worried tone of voice. Tin turned her attention to the barmaids for a moment to shoot them a withering glare.
"Any reason I shouldn't go over there and give them a piece of my mind?"
"Yes. We need to keep a good impression. We sell our acts on our reputations, after all." noted Prosepon.
"It would APPEAR those are already RUINED..."
"Hopefully we can salvage something - we held the crowd, after all, and no amount of fire-juggling can set an illusory fire."
"I think we did rather well, seeing as we convinced most of the audience to come back to their seats." added Onala.
"Hopefully we can salvage something - we held the crowd, after all, and no amount of fire-juggling can set an illusory fire." commented Prosepon.
"What does the bottom line say?" asked Tin.
"We've collected a reasonable amount for having a near stampede." Berenwick looked up from counting the money he had gathered from the front of the stage.
"This probably doesn't match our patronage's overall stature, but I do believe it's enough to keep me from...dealing with the help around here." said Tin.
"I'm still unhappy it was fire that disrupted our act." said Nessa. "Since I work exclusively with fire." Nessa's melancholy. Her self pity was interrupted by the bartender and owner of the Sky Serpent Inn, Sevn Haggerstad, walking over to the stage.
"Greetings." He addressed the entire group of performers. Sevn was a well dressed fellow for a bartender. His frame was large and his girth matched.
"Good evening, sir. We apologize for the waterworks, but as performers we take theaters fires - or at least what appear to be theater fires- seriously." Prosepon said. Tin blushed slightly at the mention of waterworks.
"I understand your concern about the fire. I wouldn't have blamed you if you took off running like everyone else."
"We do not scare easily." stated Tin forcefully.
"It's not a pretty sight to see people running and screaming when a little fire goes out of control." mentioned Nessa.
"I must apologize for my barmaids indiscretions. They have a bad habit of spreading unsavory rumors." Sevn clasped his hands in front of him.
"That...is quite alright." said Tin through clenched teeth.
"Sadly, one can no more stop the rumor mill than one can stop the tide. We quite understand." Prosepon said with a smooth voice.
"I gather you had a reasonable first performance aside from the fire." Sevn half asked.
"I think we did well, given the circumstances." Onala smiled. Tin stared at their pile of money while Nessa shifted her feet nervously.
"Then I shall assume you are not considering engagements at other inns or taverns?" Sevn quirked an eyebrow at the performers.
"Yes, I think an extended engagement here is an excellent opportunity." Prosepon smiled at Sevn.
"I hope there are no drunken illusionists next time." Tin scrunched her face up into a frown.
"Perhaps we can catch this person Berenwick saw, as well, since he was chasing away both ours and your patrons." commented Onala
"We can't get to the bottom of what happened here if we hit the road." said Berenwick. Sevn pulled a key out of his pocket.
"In return for your commitment you may stay here at the inn free of charge." Tin smiled warmly in response and the others verbalized their thanks. "Your room is up on the third floor. There should be room for all of you there." Sevn nodded at all of them and walked back to the bar to finish cleaning up for the night.
"Why don't we turn in for the night, and start searching for this gnome when there's plenty of light." suggested Onala.
"It's likely he'll turn up again, if he really has something against our group. I'm well in favor of getting some rest." Prosepon stepped off the stage. Tin sulked.
"I want to find him before his trail goes cold. Oh, I suppose rest is the wiser option. Bah!"
"I'm tired, I'm in no mood to go sleuthing." Nessa's eyes were nearly closed.
"I'm thinking I'd have a cooler head after some rest." Berenwick put a hand to his head. The performers slowly dragged themselves up the two flights of stairs to the third floor. Around them the shadows closed in on the five figures until they could barely see the noses in front of their faces. The corridor was dark and the floorboards creaked loudly as they walked over them. They found their room at the end of the hallway on the third floor. The five performers stumbled into the dark room and made their way to beds. Except for Tin who stood in the corner to sleep standing up. Onala and Prosepon sank into the bed on the furthest wall. Nessa collapsed on the nearest bed and Berenwick took the middle bed.
All was well for about two minutes. Then Onala felt something wet drip on her. She ran her fingers through it. Then she felt on the wall and felt more wet liquid. Prosepon rolled out of bed.
"We need a light, please?"
"Morning, already?" Tin looked around with a start.
"UGH! What IS that?!" Onala grimaced as she sniffed the liquid on her fingers. It had a coppery smell to it.
"I've got a lantern somewhere." said Prosepon. Prosepon pulled a lantern out of her gear and lit it. Prosepon shined her lantern at the wall and illuminated the words "Get Out" scrawled in what appeared to be blood.
"Hell . . . the walls are bleeding?" asked Tin.
"Someone was here before we came in, I don't think walls usually spell out words like that..." said Onala. Nessa just snored.
"Well, that's just delightful. Do you think the gnome from earlier might be involved in this, as well?" asked Prosepon.
"Perhaps magic is responsible?" suggested Tin. Tin stared at the wall and mumbled a short prayer. Tin's eyes glowed briefly and in her view the room was silhouetted with magical auras. None of the auras surrounded the writing.
"OH MY GODS!" Berenwick sat upright like something pricked his bum.
"Which ones?" inquired Prosepon. Nessa blinked and squinted as she woke up.
"Arg! What's with the screaming?"
"All of them, and then some" commented Berenwick.
"Olidammara, if you want me to actually find anything! Shush!" Tin glared at Berenwick.
"Sorry."
Nessa looked at the wall. "Has that always been there?"
"That was already there when we came in, I'm sure of it." insisted Tin.
"But was it dripping on the bed when we got in? I only noticed when it started dripping on me." asked Onala.
"It was probably too dark to tell." replied Tin. "Either way, they're piss poor at scaring people. Let's investigate further in the morning."
"And much better at pissing them off. I think we can rule out the 'stupid drunk' hypothesis." added Prosepon. Onala peeked under the bed looking for bodies but didn't find any.
"Wonder where the body that donated the blood to the wall art got off to."
"I don't know. Poor sucker." Prosepon stood at the edge of the bed.
"Anyone have an empty vial on them?" asked Tin. Onala produced an empty container from her gear, gathered a sampling of the blood, and gave it to Tin. Tin pocketed it and returned to the corner to sleep. Onala crawled into bed with Nessa, leaving Prosepon to share a bed with Berenwick. Prosepon doused her lantern and the five performers drifted off to sleep. Little did they know their troubles were just beginning.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
In which the characters are introduced.
The five members of Professor Calamity's Strolling Quintet took the stage with nary a soul noticing their presence. This was about to change, but first we must have introductions. First on stage is the lanky Onala. Her short blonde hair sits atop her head like a miniature haystack that sways back and forth as she walks around the stage setting up her juggling equipment. Next is the dark, alluring, and soot covered Nessa. She glides around the stage setting up small vials of sulphuric smelling liquids. Following Nessa is Tin. Not her real name of course, but she becomes very cross if we mention her real name. Tin is the sort of blond woman that people refer to as statuesque. Much to the disappointment of the male audience she sings instead of dancing. Tin quietly runs through her vocal warm ups while the Onala and Nessa work around her. Then comes the mysterious Prosepon. She slips on stage, her tatoo covered body adorned with a tumbler's outfit bestudded with costume jewelry. The audience is always surprised when she starts reciting poetry instead of dancing. Lastly, and leastly as well is Berenwick. I say leastly because he's a gnome you see. What a dark haired gnome with twinkling blue eyes is doing in a troupe of four human ladies I leave up to your imagination.
A gout of fire erupted from Nessa's mouth spreading over the crowd towards the ceiling in bright red tendrils. A rippling murmur spread through the crowd as they all stopped what they were doing and gave the performers their full attention. Nessa grabbed the fire right out of her mouth and trailed it in a lazy arc behind her fingers. Onala stepped from behind her and lit a pair of torches on the arc as it passed near her. Onala produced a pair of juggling balls and sent the torches and balls in dizzying trajectories between her hands. Mid juggling she dropped a ball down to her foot and kicked it back into the rotation. The crowd gasped with awe at the startling display of nature's most fickle element.
Onala and Nessa took a few steps back to the corners of the stage as Prosepon and Tin appeared from backstage. Their voices sprang forth from their lips and carried to the back of the room with rhythmic clarity. Prosepon recited a poem of epic grandeur while Tin sang a chanting melody that matched the pattern of the poem. Between them Berenwick walked out on stage carrying a full wine glass.
"So what's this I hear about it raining wine in this town?" A few people at the front tables chuckled. "That can't possibly be true." He continued walking until he ran out of stage. As the gnome fell off the stage he upended the entire glass of wine onto himself. The crowd erupted in laughter. He crawled back onstage as Onala and Nessa swapped places with Prosepon and Tin. He intentional stood up right as Nessa brought a spinning ball of flame near his head. Smoke curled upwards from a barely smoldering fire on the top of his head. The crowd laughed harder as he fake panicked over his burning hair. He patted it out as the laughter subsided.
Their performance was so spectacular that no one even noticed that one of the round tables in the middle of the room was on fire. At least not immediately. Slowly the people sitting at the other round tables began to notice the spreading fire. They began to hurriedly stand and gather their lavish robes as quickly as they could. Towards the back the two long rectangular tables that seated the poorer attendees were quickly clearing out. Upturned stools were left in the wake of the near stampeding patrons.
Nessa was the first to react to the fire. She doused her own flames with a quick gesture.
"Someone put out that fire!" The barmaids looked over at Nessa then over at the table and ran for the water bucket. A patron or two tried to brush it out but most were intent on heading for the exit.
Onala's face was the perfect picture of concentration as she juggled. "Fire? Where?"
"The middle table!" Nessa bounded off the stage headed for the fire.
"Oh, I see."
"Um, ladies and gentlemen, the fire in the center is not part of the act. If anyone wants to help put it out, it'd be much appreciated." Berenwick announced to the crowd. The barmaids returned with water but the press of the crowd was too close for them to reach the table. Tin approached the edge of the stage whispering a prayer under her breath and holding a symbol of her deity before her. The air above the flaming table was suddenly occupied by a large volume of water that came splashing down on the fire with an audible sploosh. The fire blazed as brightly as ever without so much as a flicker, but the poor souls standing too close to the table were soaked.
"Bah! It's illusionary!" Tin sat down on the edge of the stage and pounded the wooden boards with her fists in frustration.
"Not real? How is that fire not real?" Shouted Nessa from among the crowd. "Arg! Get out of the way!" She tried to move closer but the crowd pushed her towards the door.
"How rude... someone took most of our audience away." commented Onala.
"Now now, ladies and gentlemen, it appears the danger is past and in fact, never existed!" Prosepon's voice carried all the way to the back of the inn.
"Please calm down!" Tin's voice could be heard over all the talking people.
"Could everyone please calm down. The fire isn't real." Onala added her voice to the plea for people to not panic.
Prosepon continued ""It appears some unkind soul has tried to ruin all of our evening with a silly prank." Berenwick tumbled off the stage towards the fire in attempt to show the crowd the truth. He wasn't able to make it through the crowd and he disappeared from sight.
"Damn you all!" His voice floated up from somewhere in front of the stage. The burning table extinguished itself with a sniffle. Due to the exhortions of Prosepon, Onala, and Tin the mass of people ceased moving and turned to listen to the performers on the stage. Nessa pulled herself out of the crowd and onto the stage.
"What's happening?" she asked of no one in particular.
"Sorry about the weather in here, we thought it would be a little nicer tonight." Onala apologized.
"There, all better. And though such tricks are frustrating indeed, long experience has taught us that it is better not to let it ruin your night. So, shall we continue with the show?" asked Prosepon. The crowd did not answer her rhetorical question. Onala started into a enthusiastic juggling routine while Prosepon gave a stunning rendition of Herenon's 4th sonnet. Nessa and Tin appeared a bit rattled by the ordeal with the fire. Tin stuttered through the first verse of Sylantos's Dark Night before trailing off weakly. Nessa attempted to restart her routine but she stumbled over her feet and narrowly avoided setting the stage on fire.
"I think I'll take a break." Nessa walked down the stairs at the back of the stage and slipped behind the upright boards that served as the makeshift dividers between on stage and off stage. Tin followed her shortly afterwards. Back stage they conversed in low tones about their annoyance at the disruption of the performance.
Meanwhile out front Berenwick passed his hands over his eyes. The glowed briefly green before they returned to normal. However his sight was anything but normal. He scanned the room's inhabitants for magical auras. A sizable helping of the richer patrons seated at the round tables closer to the stage were emanating magic. He dismissed this as the usual glamor magics that the wealthy employed to stay looking their best. His eyes turned to the two long rectangular tables at the back of the Inn.
A singular gnome at the furthest table glowed with the aura of one under a magical effect. He sat with a group of other gnomes who were engrossed in their imbibing of alcoholic beverages. Berenwick regarded him closer and noted that the other gnome was disguising his appearance with magic. He considered this for a moment before deciding to leave well enough alone. He rejoined the performance to close out the evening. This was not to be the last of the adventures for the night...
A gout of fire erupted from Nessa's mouth spreading over the crowd towards the ceiling in bright red tendrils. A rippling murmur spread through the crowd as they all stopped what they were doing and gave the performers their full attention. Nessa grabbed the fire right out of her mouth and trailed it in a lazy arc behind her fingers. Onala stepped from behind her and lit a pair of torches on the arc as it passed near her. Onala produced a pair of juggling balls and sent the torches and balls in dizzying trajectories between her hands. Mid juggling she dropped a ball down to her foot and kicked it back into the rotation. The crowd gasped with awe at the startling display of nature's most fickle element.
Onala and Nessa took a few steps back to the corners of the stage as Prosepon and Tin appeared from backstage. Their voices sprang forth from their lips and carried to the back of the room with rhythmic clarity. Prosepon recited a poem of epic grandeur while Tin sang a chanting melody that matched the pattern of the poem. Between them Berenwick walked out on stage carrying a full wine glass.
"So what's this I hear about it raining wine in this town?" A few people at the front tables chuckled. "That can't possibly be true." He continued walking until he ran out of stage. As the gnome fell off the stage he upended the entire glass of wine onto himself. The crowd erupted in laughter. He crawled back onstage as Onala and Nessa swapped places with Prosepon and Tin. He intentional stood up right as Nessa brought a spinning ball of flame near his head. Smoke curled upwards from a barely smoldering fire on the top of his head. The crowd laughed harder as he fake panicked over his burning hair. He patted it out as the laughter subsided.
Their performance was so spectacular that no one even noticed that one of the round tables in the middle of the room was on fire. At least not immediately. Slowly the people sitting at the other round tables began to notice the spreading fire. They began to hurriedly stand and gather their lavish robes as quickly as they could. Towards the back the two long rectangular tables that seated the poorer attendees were quickly clearing out. Upturned stools were left in the wake of the near stampeding patrons.
Nessa was the first to react to the fire. She doused her own flames with a quick gesture.
"Someone put out that fire!" The barmaids looked over at Nessa then over at the table and ran for the water bucket. A patron or two tried to brush it out but most were intent on heading for the exit.
Onala's face was the perfect picture of concentration as she juggled. "Fire? Where?"
"The middle table!" Nessa bounded off the stage headed for the fire.
"Oh, I see."
"Um, ladies and gentlemen, the fire in the center is not part of the act. If anyone wants to help put it out, it'd be much appreciated." Berenwick announced to the crowd. The barmaids returned with water but the press of the crowd was too close for them to reach the table. Tin approached the edge of the stage whispering a prayer under her breath and holding a symbol of her deity before her. The air above the flaming table was suddenly occupied by a large volume of water that came splashing down on the fire with an audible sploosh. The fire blazed as brightly as ever without so much as a flicker, but the poor souls standing too close to the table were soaked.
"Bah! It's illusionary!" Tin sat down on the edge of the stage and pounded the wooden boards with her fists in frustration.
"Not real? How is that fire not real?" Shouted Nessa from among the crowd. "Arg! Get out of the way!" She tried to move closer but the crowd pushed her towards the door.
"How rude... someone took most of our audience away." commented Onala.
"Now now, ladies and gentlemen, it appears the danger is past and in fact, never existed!" Prosepon's voice carried all the way to the back of the inn.
"Please calm down!" Tin's voice could be heard over all the talking people.
"Could everyone please calm down. The fire isn't real." Onala added her voice to the plea for people to not panic.
Prosepon continued ""It appears some unkind soul has tried to ruin all of our evening with a silly prank." Berenwick tumbled off the stage towards the fire in attempt to show the crowd the truth. He wasn't able to make it through the crowd and he disappeared from sight.
"Damn you all!" His voice floated up from somewhere in front of the stage. The burning table extinguished itself with a sniffle. Due to the exhortions of Prosepon, Onala, and Tin the mass of people ceased moving and turned to listen to the performers on the stage. Nessa pulled herself out of the crowd and onto the stage.
"What's happening?" she asked of no one in particular.
"Sorry about the weather in here, we thought it would be a little nicer tonight." Onala apologized.
"There, all better. And though such tricks are frustrating indeed, long experience has taught us that it is better not to let it ruin your night. So, shall we continue with the show?" asked Prosepon. The crowd did not answer her rhetorical question. Onala started into a enthusiastic juggling routine while Prosepon gave a stunning rendition of Herenon's 4th sonnet. Nessa and Tin appeared a bit rattled by the ordeal with the fire. Tin stuttered through the first verse of Sylantos's Dark Night before trailing off weakly. Nessa attempted to restart her routine but she stumbled over her feet and narrowly avoided setting the stage on fire.
"I think I'll take a break." Nessa walked down the stairs at the back of the stage and slipped behind the upright boards that served as the makeshift dividers between on stage and off stage. Tin followed her shortly afterwards. Back stage they conversed in low tones about their annoyance at the disruption of the performance.
Meanwhile out front Berenwick passed his hands over his eyes. The glowed briefly green before they returned to normal. However his sight was anything but normal. He scanned the room's inhabitants for magical auras. A sizable helping of the richer patrons seated at the round tables closer to the stage were emanating magic. He dismissed this as the usual glamor magics that the wealthy employed to stay looking their best. His eyes turned to the two long rectangular tables at the back of the Inn.
A singular gnome at the furthest table glowed with the aura of one under a magical effect. He sat with a group of other gnomes who were engrossed in their imbibing of alcoholic beverages. Berenwick regarded him closer and noted that the other gnome was disguising his appearance with magic. He considered this for a moment before deciding to leave well enough alone. He rejoined the performance to close out the evening. This was not to be the last of the adventures for the night...
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Introducing the background and the narrator
"So you want a story? I have a story for you. This story is set in the wild party town of Douxfield. Now you might think that a wild party town would have a lax ruler who let things get out of hand. In fact it's quite the opposite. Baron Wryfore was a strong believer in the power of law and the right of the nobility to uphold the law. However he was not the most foresighted of men. Upon his initial arrival in Douxfield he found his wife and children bored to tears by the then sleepy farming town. He decided to leverage his control over wine production of the region to bring more noble families to Douxfield. He succeeded. Three noble houses, Aleath an ancient nobility of elves dating back into the far reaches of history, Ganut Raum a relatively new house formed as a reward for a well know human military commander, and Fiera a house of bards and poets, set up permanent residence in the city with a good handful of titled nobles. Gaston Fiera, Duke of Fiera, even moved his entire household to a specially built house in the city."
"It was the rest of the people that were attracted to the city that Baron Wryfore did not anticipate. The retinues of the nobles he expected. The myriad swarm of commoners that followed in the wake of such large movement of wealth and nobility completely took him by surprise. At first the city was as lawless as one would expect from a town where legend has it that it rains wine when the heavens open. Then the Baron came to his senses and ordered Chertar, the captain of the city guard, to recruit guardsmen from the very influx that caused the uncontrolled revelry in the first place.
"This brought the wild partying under control. While you can always find someone drinking or partying at all times of the day or night in Douxfield, the serious partying mostly stays indoors as the guardsmen are quick to pick drunks off the street. Coupled with the steady stream of visiting foreign nobles arriving daily to partake in the lavish parties put on by the houses of Aleath, Ganut Raum, and Fiera a culture of moderate and high class partying arouse. The parties put on by the nobles were incredibly formal and their example lead the inns and taverns of Douxfield to emulate their styles so that even the lowliest peasant could experience a taste of the noble lifestyle. Thus the lowbrow extreme drunkenness went out of style in Douxfield."
"Other problems arose besides public drunkenness after public drunkenness lost its vouge. The three houses competed for foreign dignitaries with various forms of entertainment and the inns and taverns compete with each other for the largest share of the population's gold. You can almost smell the tension as you walk down the streets of Douxfield and see the colorful ribbons and fliers advertising the newest balls, galas, and parties."
"Now that we've finished the exposition of this amusing tale, we drop into the city proper. There on this delightful starlit night we find the Sky Serpent inn where the stars of our tale, Professor Calamity's Strolling Quintet, are about to stage their first performance."
"It was the rest of the people that were attracted to the city that Baron Wryfore did not anticipate. The retinues of the nobles he expected. The myriad swarm of commoners that followed in the wake of such large movement of wealth and nobility completely took him by surprise. At first the city was as lawless as one would expect from a town where legend has it that it rains wine when the heavens open. Then the Baron came to his senses and ordered Chertar, the captain of the city guard, to recruit guardsmen from the very influx that caused the uncontrolled revelry in the first place.
"This brought the wild partying under control. While you can always find someone drinking or partying at all times of the day or night in Douxfield, the serious partying mostly stays indoors as the guardsmen are quick to pick drunks off the street. Coupled with the steady stream of visiting foreign nobles arriving daily to partake in the lavish parties put on by the houses of Aleath, Ganut Raum, and Fiera a culture of moderate and high class partying arouse. The parties put on by the nobles were incredibly formal and their example lead the inns and taverns of Douxfield to emulate their styles so that even the lowliest peasant could experience a taste of the noble lifestyle. Thus the lowbrow extreme drunkenness went out of style in Douxfield."
"Other problems arose besides public drunkenness after public drunkenness lost its vouge. The three houses competed for foreign dignitaries with various forms of entertainment and the inns and taverns compete with each other for the largest share of the population's gold. You can almost smell the tension as you walk down the streets of Douxfield and see the colorful ribbons and fliers advertising the newest balls, galas, and parties."
"Now that we've finished the exposition of this amusing tale, we drop into the city proper. There on this delightful starlit night we find the Sky Serpent inn where the stars of our tale, Professor Calamity's Strolling Quintet, are about to stage their first performance."
Saturday, August 9, 2008
In the beginning...
I'm starting up this campaign blog in conjunction with my Douxfield campaign. While I was initially coming up for ideas for the campaign it was merely titled "city campaign" in my head. Now that the city has a name I'll be referring to it as the Douxfield campaign. I intend for this blog to keep a steady purpose through out the whole campaign. I'm going to use it to write up what happened in our game for tracking purposes and to keep me writing week to week. However I'm not simply going to write in: "This week they fought a couple of assassins. They won".
I intend to give the write up a more storyish feel. I will elaborate on actions taken by the players and will flesh out details of encounters more than I can while I'm DMing. I hope that this weekly practice improves my descriptions while I'm DMing and the speed of my writing. Right now I write very slowly even though the words go through my head quickly. It should also flesh out the backstories NPCs that I'm running so they have more depth when they interact with the players. I won't be putting words into the PCs mouths or describing their thoughts unless the players give me express permission to do so.
I'm going to use cuts to describe the actual mechanics behind the situation when I feel it is necessary or notes on what is going on. So if you see a cut and don't want to ruin your immersion in the story part of the blog post just skip over them. I will put some initial notes before the story part of the blog post if I feel it is necessary.
---Vortling
I intend to give the write up a more storyish feel. I will elaborate on actions taken by the players and will flesh out details of encounters more than I can while I'm DMing. I hope that this weekly practice improves my descriptions while I'm DMing and the speed of my writing. Right now I write very slowly even though the words go through my head quickly. It should also flesh out the backstories NPCs that I'm running so they have more depth when they interact with the players. I won't be putting words into the PCs mouths or describing their thoughts unless the players give me express permission to do so.
I'm going to use cuts to describe the actual mechanics behind the situation when I feel it is necessary or notes on what is going on. So if you see a cut and don't want to ruin your immersion in the story part of the blog post just skip over them. I will put some initial notes before the story part of the blog post if I feel it is necessary.
---Vortling
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
