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.

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...

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...