Burnt Offerings

GM

“Good morning, and welcome, one and all, to the Swallowtail Festival at Sandpoint!” Kendra Deverin’s cheerful voice rang out across the square in front of the new cathedral. Her smile was practically contagious, rippling through the packed square. Visitors and townsfolk alike find their attention pulled first to one display of fine goods, with more always waiting to catch the eye. “I want to welcome our Ulfen guests, who have brought us some of their wonderful horses, and yes, there are some of our friends from Wartle as well. It looks like they’ve come with some very fine furs for us, so maybe Cyrdak can finally settle down with his lady friend. Grins and no few snickers found their way through the assembled group, while a fur trader whose tent’s set up along the far side of the square nods enthusiastically, waving vigorously at some snow-white wolf pelts and a clutch of gorgeous winter ermine.

“Looking around,” Kendra said, gesturing at the townsfolk who are by far the most of the group gathered in the area, “I can see that most of our Sandpoint crafters are here this morning, and I know that we all have our best works to share with each other—for a price, of course!” Light laughter rose from the group, smothered a little, perhaps, but full of good cheer. “Is that… Yes, I think it is! Attention, please! Everyone, even Larz Rovansky has made himself visible here today! This is clearly a really big day for this town, if our favorite workaholic can take the day off.” Something like “Curse you!” scuttles through the townspeople’s laughter, issuing from the town’s tanner and notorious workaholic.

“We have some games set up for our young people and those of us who are still young at heart! Over near Gorvi’s hideout—err, home, you’ll find a racetrack set up for two teams at a time. He’s promised a big prize for the quickest team today, and the winners of each lap will have three chances to fish up some goblin treasure! Down near the lumbermill,” she continued, “Banny Harker has set up a trick shot competition. I don’t know exactly what’s involved, but he, too, has promised prizes for anyone who’s confident in their archery!

“Savah, Das and Vorvashali were volunteered to set up our Gauntlet obstacle course this year. From what I saw of the course this morning, it looks like a real challenge. If you’re okay with the idea of a few bumps and bruises—and hey, I can’t promise no one will end up having a little nap on the course!—then please find your way down to the armory and take a shot at this collection of prizes! Finally, Mr. Haladan of The Curious Goblin has a riddling competition for those of us who might feel a little more at ease with our minds than our bodies! Answer three riddles, and you win!

“We’ll have our Swallowtail Release at noon, followed by a free lunch for everyone. And yes, I do mean free lunch! Our town’s fantastic taverns have really put their best efforts into the lunch menu today, so I do hope everyone will make certain to have a good meal on us. I want to thank our townspeople who have worked so hard to bring us our collections of games and goodies, as well as our crafters and creators. I saw a lot of fine pieces on my way over here this morning, let me tell you! Sandpoint, this is the day we will celebrate the opening of our new cathedral after its construction during these past five years, as well as our Swallowtail festival. Let’s have a wonderful day together!” Kendra Deverin steps down from the stage to a sea of applause, which slowly dies down as the next speaker ascends the few stairs to the stage set up in front of the cathedral steps.

“Quiet down, everyone, let’s quiet down!” booms a big male voice. “I know, I know,” the town’s sheriff, Balor Hemlock, said, “You don’t really want to hear from me after someone like Kendra. Let’s make it quick then. We’re having a bonfire this evening, so I want to remind everyone to keep a safe distance from the fire, and make sure your kids do as well. After the people we’ve lost recently, I don’t want to have anyone else injured today or tonight. I’d like to ask everyone to be silent for a moment, and remember those people who were recently as much a part of this town as we all are. To our visitors, I’m sure there’s not many of you all who can say you’ve never lost someone, so I ask that you, too, observe a moment of silence.” The sheriff folds his hands in front of him, and spends a long moment of quietude looking down at them. The town square, too, is silent, save for the wail of an infant from a little ways away, and a sudden burst of sound from a youngster. “But MOMMY, I’m THIRSTY NOW! I want some JUICE!”

At this little interjection, the silent moment was passed. Even Hemlock had a small smile on his face as he spoke up once more. “So yeah. Let’s remember the friends and loved ones who are not here today, and keep safe! That means you, Robby!” he added, nodding towards a gentleman who looks a little tipsy even at this early hour. “Keep away from fire this evening! Now we’d planned for Lonjiku to give us a word now, but neither Kendra nor I have seen him this morning. We all know how fond he isn’t of this sort of thing anyway, but let’s wish him a quiet and uneventful festival day. Cyrdak..?”

As Balor Hemlock stepped down from the little stage, the next speaker literally leapt up onto the wood, throwing a quick handspring before standing up with the sense of showman’s pride that invited applause. “This cathedral is something we’ve really been missing here in Sandpoint,” he began, gesturing towards the new building that everyone in town has visited at *least* once already as though it were a trick he’d pulled from his full sleeve. “We’ve all worked hard to fund it, but we’re done now, and the building is ready for dedication this afternoon with the Swallowtail release, may Desna and her brother and sister deities look down on us in peace. It’s been five long years, and I know that we’re all ready for a little…release, right men?” he added, waggling his eyebrows salaciously. “Also, I’d like to invite everyone to stop by the Sandpoint Theater tomorrow evening for our opening performance of ‘The Harpy’s Curse’! I’ll tell you *one* of my little secrets too! The leading role of Avisera the harpy queen will be played by none other than the famous Magnimaran diva Allishanda! That’s right, folks, we have her here in Sandpoint for the next ten days for our performances, and I know you all want to see everything you can of this fantastic lady! And I’ll tell you, there’s a lot of good things to see! Right, right,” the jolly man said quickly after glancing to the side of the platform where the leader of the town’s clergy stood. “I’ll leave you in Father Zantus’s hands, but remember! Allishanda at the Sandpoint Theater, ten days only!”

With that, he flipped off the stage, landing neatly on his feet with a flourish before fading back into the crowd. The cleric stepped up onto the platform, smiling broadly at the gathered crowd. “Well, it looks to me like everyone is ready to go enjoy the festival. Thank you, everyone, for your hard work towards the construction of our new cathedral which will be dedicated at noon. Thank you for coming to our festival today, whether you’re a Sandpoint native or one of our visitors. Let the festival begin!”

Emanor, 10/10 HP, 16/14/12 AC, +4 initiative, 1/1 AF (Animal Focus), spells: 2/2 level 1 & Talmah, 11/11 HP, 18/17/12 AC, +6 initiative. Active AF: tiger (+2 dex)

The mood seemed… pleasant. Not that this should be a surprise. She hadn’t heard about the festival until she had arrived yesterday in the afternoon, but they had obviously been looking forward to it for a longer time. According to the various descriptions the villagers had given, both now during the opening and before when she’d first asked about it, it should be a fun day filled with laughter and relaxation. As it should be. Watching the still crowded square from the safer distance of one of the nearby buildings, she knew that part of her hesitation came from not having been around this many people in a few weeks. The best way to become used to it again was probably through careful mingling, and some of the mentioned games seemed interesting.

While she wasn’t nearly as good at it as her father - either of them - she did enjoy shooting some arrows now and then. Especially if it was just for fun and games, instead of some high prestige competition she had heard about in her father’s tales. And perhaps she would even be able to win something, depending on how good the folk around here were. That would be a nice way to start the festival.

She waited a few more minutes for the crowd to disperse a bit, with folk wandering off in this direction or that, and resisted the urge to disturb Talmah from her sunbathing by trying to pet her. It was comforting to have her around, but there was little reason to be nervous when the mood was peaceful and pleasant. There was plenty of time to become tense when the mood dropped and until then she could try to relax and enjoy the day.

Lightly pushing herself away from the wall when she decided the worst crowding should be over, she carefully snatched the small ball away from Talmah and grinned at her when the ocelot looked up with a very displeased expression. “That’s what you get for not keeping a claw in it,” she softly teased her friend as she tucked the ball away. Looking around once more, she started moving in the direction of where she thought the lumbermill was. She didn’t think her friend would cause too much trouble, or be overly nervous in these crowds since she was used to villagers, but tried to avoid the parts of the street that seemed the busiest. Quietly pleased that she had taken the effort to explore the village yesterday, she found her towards way the lumbermill without too many issues. And from there, it wasn’t at all difficult to discover where the archery competition was being held since there was a rather large crowd gathered around it.

Observing them for a few moments from a safe distance, she concluded it was a group of cheerful youngsters who were going to try their skills against each other amongst much teasing and joking. Glaning towards Talmah, she decided against joining their fun and to come back later when the group had gone to some other game. She didn’t mind being near a group, but too much of a crowd - especially with rowdy folk - was perhaps asking for too much after the weeks of mostly solitude they had enjoyed. Turning around, she slowly made her way towards where she thought the armoury had been. Depending on what the gauntlet looked like, it could be a fun challenge and she never minded getting dirty or mild pain. If she’d had a problem with that, she would have joined most of the other young women in searching a nice husband and settling down. Which probably would have resulted in her dying when the giants came, instead of being away from the village in blissful ignorance.  

Pushing away the darker memory, she smiled as she recognised one of the buildings on a street corner. It seemed she had been going in roughly the right direction, even though probably not with the quickest path to get there from where she had been. But she wasn’t in a hurry, so that was all right. Grinning as Talmah dodged her fingers just when she was about to manage to pet the passing ocelot, she decided that they could both pretend to ignore the other for a little while, and just focused on finding the gauntlet and determining if it was something she wanted to try or not. Even if she didn’t, it would likely be entertaining to watch others struggle with it and to just enjoy the good mood in the village.

Valael, 8/8 HP, 11/11/12 AC, +5 initiative, spells: 2/2 level 1*, 3/3 level 1**, Judgement 1/1
Tuomari, 8/8 HP, 15/15/12 AC, +3 initiative.
Why would anybody choose to live in these cramped stone houses? You couldn't feel the wind in your hair, couldn't run the plains, couldn't smell the sweet scent of the wildflowers. Why would anybody live in a village?

Valael strode down the streets after listening to the speeches by the mayor and others. She knew Deverin; the sept had spoken at length with the town leader to negotiate their arrival and sales with the village. The others...she didn't know them. It didn't much matter. If they approached Kæmpe for a horse, then it'd be Vae's job to read them and determine their intentions. For now, though, the sept had agreed to partake in the festivities for a while. Enjoy the people and the food and the games, and all that. Asta, Kollikil, and Visäte began pulling Valael in the general direction of the armory; they had been particularly excited at the prospect of running the Gauntlet. Personally, Vae wanted to go back and tend to Ashva, waiting in the horse's company until her services were required.

However, it seemed that her friends had decided otherwise. As she was being towed off in the general direction indicated by Deverin, Valael took a moment to call Tuomari to her mind. While her tribe was relatively accustomed to the strange little bird spirit, Vae knew that the townspeople would not be so accepting of a bird marked with the patterns of the heavens flying around and wreaking havoc. She held the bird's link in her mind, communicating both desire to be elsewhere, and caution. Tuo sent back a sense of affirmation. He'd stay away for now, but would be on hand if and when he was needed.

And with that, she continued onward towards the ominously named "Gauntlet". Should be fun, right?

Kaessi 13/13 hp, 15/11/14 AC, 4/4 AP, 2/2 Level 1 spells, detect magic kept active.

Well well well. Today should be interesting, if nothing else. Well, and fun. Kaessi liked games. She’d even been here for a few days already, and nobody had told her to leave yet. Okay, okay, so Sheriff Hemlock had tracked her down on her first day in the town of Sandpoint and told her that while he didn’t care what her race was, he expected her—and any other visitor to the town—to be on good behavior while visiting Sandpoint. She had been absolutely harmless since, of course. She wasn’t dangerous to people. Well, not to most people. Not most of the time. Sheesh, she hadn’t even been in a good tavern brawl. That would be fun. Maybe tonight, if there were enough drunkards somewhere to play with.

Games were always a good thing, always. She loved competing, loved to be the best. Admittedly, she didn’t like losing quite so much, but she *could* stand it. If she absolutely had to. Much better to just win in the first place and be done with the matter. The gauntlet was definitely on her list of things to do today. She’d scouted the course yesterday, and it had looked easy enough. Okay, maybe not too easy, but probably doable. Probably doable was good enough for her. Jumping, climbing, stuff and things. Definitely probably doable.

Kaessi slid through the crowd easily. Not only did her petite frame make moving between people a little easier, but people also tended to shift away from the demon just a little bit, even if they didn’t notice it. That was okay. It was just a normal bit of life. She paused by a baker’s little stand, purchasing a lovely pastry, and ate the thing in about three bites as she continued on her way. Cinnamon and apples…a delicious combination. She made a note of where this particular stand was. Might be worth another visit sometime.

There was a not-too-large collection of people hovering near the gauntlet’s start, with two young men—why was it always men? Women were perfectly capable too!—lined up at the beginning. One of them all but exuded an aura of nervous excitement, while the other just looked confident. That’s the one that wanted his face punched. Clearly. Kaessi sighed heavily. Why did such lovely opportunities only present themselves when there was no true opportunity?

The course was laid out very well. It began with a big mud puddle to jump. There was a rope hanging over the middle of this obstacle as well, so that a would-be jumper could use it or skip it. Next came a wooden wall that looked to be about double her height, probably ten feet tall. The water simmering on the wall’s smooth surface would probably make that climb a little more difficult. After that was a pond that looked as choppy as a stormy sea. Interesting. It hadn’t been all stormy when she was looking around yesterday. An innocent-looking mirrored hallway came after the pond. It looked way too innocent. There was clearly something wrong there. There was something in the mirrors as they turned to an ending, but Kaessi couldn’t see what it was. Interesting. Finally, outside the mirrored hall stood a tall tower, probably some thirty feet tall. A big bell was nestled atop this tower. She wasn’t sure how one was supposed to reach the bell, but ringing it was probably the last bit of the competition. All in all, it looked like fun.

Kaessi hopped up and down as the current contestant’s body was dragged out of the mirrored hall. Was this truly a lethal competition? That only made things all the more interesting! “No, lassie,” murmured an older man standing near her murmured as he saw the way she looked at the body. “He’ll be sore, but he’ll wake up fine. We don’t want anyone to get seriously injured. Bruises are fine, but killing someone in the name of “fun” certainly isn’t. “Okay,” Kaessi returned, nodding at him. After a moment, she remembered, and added, “Thanks.”

The next competitor, the all too confident man, headed into the gauntlet. He did fine on the climbing and jumping, but Das Korvut, Sandpoint’s blacksmith, had to haul him out of the little sea-pond when he went under. Kaessi smirked. Good. She really hadn’t liked his smug confidence. Grinning, she waited to see if there was anyone else brave enough to try such an amusing little thing.

Emanor, 10/10 HP, 14/14/10 AC, +4 initiative, 1/1 AF (Animal Focus), spells: 2/2 level 1 & Talmah, 11/11 HP, 18/17/12 AC, +6 initiative. Active AF: tiger (+2 dex)

The gauntlet was less crowded, but also definitely not ignored by the villagers, and seemed… interesting. That her first sight of it was someone dragging someone else out of it indicated that it could result in a bit more than just bruises and scratches, but that wasn’t a reason to not try. Studying the course with curiosity, she noted various points that could become troublesome. It was even likely that the course would become harder the further you came, which likely helped to soften the blow to bruised ego’s since they at least had a decent chance of getting through the first bits. And, of course, it looked like one was very likely to end up wet and muddy.

Fetching a simple string from her pouch, she quickly braided her hair in a loose braid, not so much concerned about how well it looked as the practicality of keeping it from her face while she was trying the obstacles. While she could still pretend she wouldn’t try, she knew she most likely would. As long as no one actually died or ended up seriously injured - and she doubted that given the speech and the relaxed mood - it was just a game. And this time there was no one around to tell her she shouldn’t because she was too young, fragile or female for it.

Looking around, she noticed a spot that seemed acceptable to her. Somewhat to the side of the actual gauntlet, out of the way of anyone doing anything in the gauntlet, but also nearby enough that it could roughly be kept in sight. And, most importantly, not currently crowded with innocent persons who might be too accustomed to living inside a prosperous village. Moving towards it with quiet determination, she easily dodged whoever was in her way and shot a previous contender a quick grin in passing. Just because one was covered in mud didn’t mean you had failed miserably after all.

She removed her leather armour with practised ease, while also softly calling for Talmah. She never just came when called, unless she was very worried, but it was a decent way of getting her attention and curiousity. She made a small pile from her armour and weapons, along with a few mementos she didn’t want to risk losing in stormy water, while politely ignoring that there shouldn’t be stormy weather at this time and place. Lightly rolling a small ball left and right, she crouched near her pile and waited until Talmah had succesfully pouched on the ball and stopped killing it as fiercely.

“Defend this,” she commanded with a clear but also soft voice. Her friend had much better hearing than her, so there was definitely no reason to shout while they were so close to each other. Petting Talmah once, she got up and moved towards the start of the gauntlet, with her only glancing back twice to see if the ocelot was actually staying there. She didn’t think her friend would get hurt if she did follow her around, but someone else might get hurt if they tried to get her out of the gauntlet while she wasn’t aware enough to reassure Talmah that they were friendly. It was better to give her something else to defend, so everyone would be safe. Well, except herself. But she was foolish enough to try this, so she couldn’t complain.

Grinning anew, she focused on the one who seemed to organise the contenders. “I would also like to try,” she said, despite thinking that this was probably obvious by now, “anything I should know about?” And after that it was just a case of patiently listening to the instructions, paying the entrance fee, waiting her turn and then, finally, giving it a try. Having studied her first obstacle as she waited, she just gave it a light shrug and cheerfully increased her speed before attempting to jump across it. She wasn’t sure how well the rope would help her if she couldn’t get a good grasp on it to help swing her to the other side, but knew for certain that trying to catch the rope and failing would be more embarrassing than not making it across in one jump. Besides, it was just mud. Presumably.

Spoiler:

The member 'Silanae' has done the following action : Make Your Rolls!

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#1 'd20' : 11

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#2 'd20' : 13

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#3 'd20' : 16

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#4 'd20' : 7

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#5 'd20' : 19

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#6 'd20' : 15

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#7 'd20' : 17

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#8 'd20' : 11

Emanor, 10/10 HP, 14/14/10 AC, +4 initiative, 1/1 AF (Animal Focus), spells: 2/2 level 1 & Talmah, 11/11 HP, 18/17/12 AC, +6 initiative. Active AF: tiger (+2 dex)

Wringing out some water from her soaking shirt, she cheerfully thanked the one who had gotten her out of the water and walked back towards the other contenders at the start of the gauntlet. She had been quite pleased with herself for managing to get across the pool without falling face first into it, and for defeating the wall without many issues, but that water. Tucking a wayward wet lock behind her ears, she grinned anew. Despite knowing it would be a nasty swim, she hadn’t expected it to be quite so bad. Still, at the very least the water had been refreshing and it wasn’t that cold outside. And she now knew one person a bit better in the village, even though she hoped that next time they met wouldn’t be as he saved her from far too fierce water. Due to her not needing to be rescued that is, Talmah would be most displeased if she managed to drown herself during a simple game.

“That was fun,” she announced to no one in particulair as she pushed more hair back into something that might resemble a braid enough to not bother her the next time. Because she was going to try again, that much was certain. Although she did silently promise herself - and her saviour - that she wouldn’t do it a third time if she failed as badly at swimming as she had this time. That would just be rude towards the poor fellow.

Valael, 8/8 HP, 11/11/12 AC, +5 initiative, spells: 2/2 level 1*, 3/3 level 1**, Judgement 1/1
Tuomari, 8/8 HP, 15/15/12 AC, +3 initiative.
Vae watched as the half-elven girl slipped under the water, and emerged a few seconds later grinning as she was aided by the blacksmith. Vae gave the crowd a quick once over, and noticed the half-elf's ocelot sitting calmly guarding her things. Fascinating; it appeared that the woman's pet was quite well trained. She wondered if she could train Tuo to be appropriately menacing.  Valael's friends immediately began moving towards the adjudicator, clearly excited. "Winner gets a round of drinks!" they crowed, pulling in pockets for the required silvers. Vae pulled four silver from her pouch and tossed them to the gameskeeper, nodding to her group of friends.

"I'll be expecting that ale," she grinned. pulling off her weaponry and her pack. "Watch this for me, yeah? And don't you vikeesis go after my coins again, I'll know." Valael brushed her hair out of the way, and called out to Tuomari. Any guidance for me here, friend?  A sense of affirmation filled her, and she felt just a bit more confident in her abilities. She stepped confidently up to the beginning of the course, and gave it a quick look over. She listened to the instructions as they were provided: run, jump, try not to fall on her face. Should be relatively easy.

She noticed the rope that swung over the pit, but seeing as how the prior contestant had done so well without, she decided to jump it as well. Beyond that, lay a set of fun - looking obstacles, which she may have some trouble with. Ah well. At the end lay free ale! Hopefully.

The Gauntlet!:

The member 'Grimalkin' has done the following action : Make Your Rolls!

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'd20' : 15, 9, 19, 5, 4, 18, 18, 20

Valael, 8/8 HP, 11/11/12 AC, +5 initiative, spells: 2/2 level 1*, 3/3 level 1**, Judgement 1/1
Tuomari, 8/8 HP, 15/15/12 AC, +3 initiative.

The confidence, it appeared, was for naught. Vae jumped for the wall, and just barely missed it. She tried one more time, leaping high, her fingers just barely grazing the top edge of the wall. It wasn't going to work. She turned about, grinned at her group of friends and the watching onlookers, and threw herself into the waters. Next time, surely.

As the blacksmith hauled her out, looking a bit gruff at the unnecessary work, she dried herself off as best she could and headed back towards the start of the course, a spring in her step. Gods, but this good mood in the village was infectious. Asta and Kollikil slapped her on the back, laughing raucously. She watched as Asta stepped up net, the red-haired woman almost as cocky and confident as Vae had been.  Asta made it over the wall, but teetered at the top and fell right into the pond. Vae was starting to think that not a one of them would get the promised round of ale, and it would definitely be nice after that nice, chilly dip in the pond. Kollikil and Visäte took their turns, and each fell quite as deftly at one point or another. Laughing, all a bit soaked and worse for wear than when they had ventured out on this endeavour, they trotted away giggling. It had been quite fun. They agreed that - time permitting - they would come back, and surely best the Gauntlet this time. However, duty came first, and all were needed to handle the horses after the lunch hour. Kæmpe and the other elders had graciously allowed the younger members to enjoy the festival first, but they did need to work at some point.

Vae suggested that the four of them, herself and Visäte in particular - as they two were the better archers among them - should check out the archery competition, so they began heading over towards the lumbermill.

Emanor, 10/10 HP, 14/14/10 AC, +4 initiative, 1/1 AF (Animal Focus), spells: 2/2 level 1 & Talmah, 11/11 HP, 18/17/12 AC, +6 initiative. Active AF: tiger (+2 dex)

She watched the attempts of the next group with amusement, but also looked around the ones who were watching to see if someone might be interested in the idea that group had given her. If not, then that would hardly be upsetting and wouldn’t change her plans all that much. But it would be more fun if someone agreed with her. Spotting a potential victim, she grinned and cheerfully headed straight towards the winged and rather red tiefling, not caring one bit if she blocked the sight of the ones who were watching the gauntlet. She was moving, therefore she wasn’t getting in their way that long.

“Want to make it more interesting?” she cheerfully asked once she was relatively nearby. “Free drink for the one of us who manages to win first, with me sadly already having wasted one chance. If neither of us have managed to win after… let’s say three attempts? Then a free drink for whoever managed to get closest to reaching that bell. Or fewer attempts if you want to go elsewhere quicker than that, but I’m absolutely going to go again so less than two won’t work. We can’t allow the males to have all the fun in there, after all.”

Giving the tiefling a cheerful grin, she wondered if the woman was a villager or from elsewhere. Normal villagers didn’t tend to wear armour and weapons, but there were also those who worked as private guards or town militia so it wasn’t too impossible she was from around here. Not that it was any of her business where the other came from, but careful curiosity hadn’t gotten her killed yet so it was all right.

Kaessi 13/13 hp, 15/11/14 AC, 4/4 AP, 2/2 Level 1 spells, detect magic kept active.

This gauntlet just kept looking more and more amusing. Maybe it would be a good challenge! Kaessi always did love a challenge, especially a challenge that she could beat! Maybe it was time to try her own luck at this course. She shimmied out of her chain shirt, not wanting to get the metal and its padding wet. For that matter, her leather clothing was going to get soaked, and wet leather was quite a bit less than comfortable. Ah well. Winning was worth some time spent in wet clothes.

Looking around, she found where the half-elf girl was standing, noticing the cute cat by her side. Carrying the chain shirt in her arms, Kaessi strode over to where the half-elf was. “Hi,” she said simply enough. “Would you watch this for me? Thanks!” She laid out the chain shirt neatly enough on the ground, added her detachable weaponry, and made her way to the starting point. “And drinks?” she called back to the half-elven lady. “Drinks are always a good thing! Three tries, then.” She grinned back at the young lady, a whole mouth grin that forgot to hide her slightly too impressive fangs. This would be even more fun than she’d thought! Tossing the game’s master a silver coin, Kaessi lined up at the starting point, all attention focused on the first step of this would-be problem.

The member 'Celissa' has done the following action : Make Your Rolls!

<hr>'d20' : 15, 20, 13, 13, 19, 10, 15, 18

The member 'Celissa' has done the following action : Make Your Rolls!

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#1 'd20' : 8

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#2 'd8' : 2

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#3 'd20' : 8

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#4 'd8' : 4

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#5 'd20' : 2

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#6 'd8' : 3

Kaessi 4/13 hp (non-lethal damage), 15/11/14 AC, 4/4 AP, 2/2 Level 1 spells, detect magic kept active.

Kaessi leapt over the mud puddle, grabbing the rope at the height of her jump to make sure she’d swing clear. It worked very well for her, and she landed neat and clean on the other side. The way she felt at the moment, she could have climbed a fifty foot wall rather than just a ten foot one. She hardly even felt the slick wetness of the wall’s smooth surface. Down on the other side was a little bit harder, but still very easy to accomplish, and she landed neatly on her feet.

Reaching the frenzied sea of the not so big pond, Kaessi dove into it. She’d always enjoyed swimming. She took her time swimming across the narrow pond, faltering a little before she found her pace, then rocketing out the other side of the pond. She dashed into the narrow mirrored hallway, looking for any traps, but not finding anything suspicious. However, it seemed that there were thingees hidden somewhere in the hall. Three blunted darts struck her, dealing quite a bit of damage, though it didn’t feel like anything that would kill her. She’d have to find a cleric somewhere. Hopefully, there’d be one stationed somewhat nearby this bruising tunnel of mirrors.

Around the corner at the end of the hallway stood a large door with a giant eye in the middle of it. A stream of printed words arched above the door: “Gaze into my eye, and you will be judged.” Kaessi had never really liked the idea of judgment, so she took some time to figure out any way she might be able to get around the locked door. There didn’t seem to be any. Squaring her shoulders, she stared defiantly into the door’s eye. Suddenly, she heard magical words swirling around her, but they didn’t seem to stick. Behind the door, a small man, Vorvashali, bowed to her, beckoning her to advance. “You’re doing very well, young one!” he said.

Of course she was! She loved to win competitions. One more obstacle remained, the high tower and its bell. There were no stairs or ramps to climb. Next to the tower’s base, however, stood a small wooden table. Upon it rested a trio of potions, all looking more or less identical. A note beside the potions read “One will get you to your goal, but if instead you drink another, it’s a deep, deep slumber.” Okay. So that would mean something like two sleep potions and one for somehow getting to the bell.

Kaessi could detect the magic that radiated from all three potions. “Can I touch them?” she called back towards the mage standing behind the large door of the last challenge. “Of course, child,” he said. “But you’ll only be drinking the one.” Which was fine, because she didn’t intend to miss festival time asleep. She picked up the first potion, studying its look and visible texture. The second and third potions, too, she studied carefully. “This one. This one is different. It must be the right one,” she said a long moment later, popping the stopper out of the vial and chugging her chosen potion.

Immediately, she felt lighter than air. Without really thinking about it, she flapped her small wings, but instead of her feet remaining on the floor as they always did, she began to rise. She could…she could fly! Leaping gleefully into the air, she spiraled around the tower as she sped to its top, landing on the rail where she could ring the bell loudly. She felt a lot of eyes on her as the bell’s clear note sang out across the area, and people began to clap. She thrust her arms high in a V for victory, then leapt off the tower’s railing and slowly drifted downwards, turning in lazy circles as she went. Kaessi landed next to the man to whom she’d paid her silver to run. “Is there any prize for winning?” she asked excitedly.

The man chuckled softly, and pointed towards a sign that *really* hadn’t been there a few minutes before. It seemed that there were indeed prizes. A potion of Cure Light Wounds and a coupon for 20% off one item from Savah’s Armory if you passed three obstacles, a wand of Cure Light Wounds with 50 charges if you passed 5 obstacles, and for anyone who completed the course, a cloak or resistance or a suit of enchanted armor. “I’d suggest you step to the side and talk to Savah over there before you go anywhere else,” the man said. “If it’s armor you want, she’ll need to make some customizations for you, I imagine.” She nodded quickly, making note of where he’d pointed out Savah, then flew towards the half-elf with whom she’d had a nice bet.

“Hi!” she said, landing neatly very close to where the girl stood. “So that’s a free drink for me, you say? I’ll buy you one as well if you get past that crazy sea. Drinks are always better with other people around to drink ‘em with. By the way, be sure you look around closely at that mirror hall. It really hurts. C’mon, you should go again before this potion wears off, because it is about the best thing ever right now!” She scooped up her belongings and jumped high into the sky again, diving down to land by the armorer. “Is there any way…erms, I’m sorry. Could you please make me some…Curse it! I’d really like some chainmail, if you’ve a mostly done suit that you could fit for me.” She shuffled anxiously from one foot to another until the armorer smiled and beckoned to her.

“I’ve some that I can probably make work for you, as long as you’re sure you can carry the armor.”

“Oh, that’s no problem,” Kaessi said with confidence. “Can I go watch my…my friend run the gauntlet before we get too into things?”

Savah laughed, lightly pushing Kaessi backwards. “Go and watch. Just come to me sometime this morning, preferably, so we can get a good fit.” When Kaessi hesitated, stricken eyes looking back towards the gauntlet, the armorer added, “Go on, child. Enjoy yourself. This is a day for Desna’s joy. Take it into yourself. Meet me back here at the shop later.”

And that, of course, was just too good of a line for Kaessi *not* to go do exactly as she wanted to do.

Emanor, 10/10 HP, 14/14/10 AC, +4 initiative, 1/1 AF, spells: 2/2 level 1 & Talmah, 11/11 HP, 18/17/12 AC, +6 initiative. Active AF: tiger (+2 dex)

The short tiefling made it seem effortless! Cheering her on, she couldn’t help but laugh at the slightly sour faces of some of the male contenders. Their ego’s were probably a bit bruised after their own failure of getting through the gauntlet, but at least they weren’t spoiling the mood of everyone else. Emanor grinned when she returned down to earth near her and called back a “sounds good!” as the tiefling once more happily jumped into the air and flew down elsewhere. Shaking her head with some amusement, she cheerfully made certain Talmah wasn’t going to sneak away and then made her way to the start of the gauntlet again. She didn’t think it was too likely that she would manage to win, and definitely not as easily as the other had, but getting past the water might be doable! If not, she at least wouldn’t be completely covered in mud. That would be far worse.

The member 'Silanae' has done the following action : Make Your Rolls!

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#1 'd20' : 3, 16, 14, 8, 1, 14, 6, 4, 19, 1, 6

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#2 'd8' : 2, 1, 2

Kaessi 4/13 hp (non-lethal damage), 15/11/14 AC, 4/4 AP, 2/2 Level 1 spells, detect magic kept active.

Kaessi bounced on the tips of her toes, watching the half-elven girl get ready to begin the course again. She was so excited, with her win and with the fun of festival day aura, and, too, the presence of someone else who would actually talk to her. That was always nice, until it wasn’t.

The half-elf just didn’t get a good start. To Kaessi, it looked like she tripped over something as she ran towards the mud puddle, getting off a jump that just didn’t go anywhere. Kaessi was impressed that the girl managed to twist enough to hit the mud with her shoulders first instead of her face. By the time the girl came back to where they’d been standing, Kaessi had already wet down a couple of cloths, and handed one to the other girl. “Mud. What a mess! Sorry that you missed the jump. What happened?” With another cloth, she started dabbing at the muddy face, trying to get some of the muck off.

Emanor, 10/10 HP, 14/14/10 AC, +4 initiative, 1/1 AF, spells: 2/2 level 1 & Talmah, 11/11 HP, 18/17/12 AC, +6 initiative. Active AF: tiger (+2 dex)

She supposed she should feel bad. Truly, she should. But the fact that the one thing she had deemed worse than failing at swimming had actually happened, after being so easy the first time… it was pretty hilarious. Shaking her head with a grin, and somewhat regretting that as it meant more hair got covered in mud, she gratefully accepted the wet cloth. “I tripped over the breeze. That’s the excuse I used to give whenever I fell as a child, and as far as I’m concerned it’s still a perfectly valid excuse.”

Still grinning, she reached down to get her waterskin and used the remaining water to wash the cloth so she could use it to get even more mud from her upper body. “I’m almost tempted to go again, just so I can nearly drown in the water and get it all washed off.” Creating new water to completely fill her waterskin without much thought, she focused on getting the worst of the mud off her with the help of the tiefling. “But I probably should see it as a sign and avoid any more breezes that suddenly show up before my feet, right? At least I’m not normally this bad at jumping, as my first attempt demonstrated.” Drinking a sip of the waterskin before refilling it and cheerfully continuing with partly washing the mud off her body and partly wiping it off, she resisted the urge to flick some water to Talmah. Just because the ocelot has suspiciously created some distance between herself and this new source of potentially spreading muddiness and wetness, didn’t mean she should tease her. “I’m just pleased that one of us made it. I couldn’t quite see how you got up that tower, beyond you being able to fly and fall slowly, instead of plunging back to the ground. It looked like fun, however you did it.”

Valael, 8/8 HP, 11/11/12 AC, +5 initiative, spells: 2/2 level 1*, 3/3 level 1**, Judgement 1/1
Tuomari, 8/8 HP, 15/15/12 AC, +3 initiative.

As the group of Ulfen friends were walking down the crowded street, Valael found herself lagging a bit behind. There was just so much to look at. So many smells and sights and sounds and .... goodness. They passed through a street lined with different carts and stalls all peddling one kind of trinket or another. She passed one stall that offered beautiful, delicate sculptures of blown glass and colored prisms and the like. The next cart offered... were those candied apples? She called to her friends ahead of her, and stepped up to the cart. The peddler, an older gnomish man, beamed at her over the piles of goody red delights.

"Would the lady like a sweet?" he asked. "Only a silver for a delectable candied apple!" Vae handed the requisite coin over and was given her prize. She turned around, confection in hand, and...her friends were gone. Curses! Where did they go? She looked over the heads of the crowd around her, her height giving her a wonderful advantage in this situation. To her dismay, she saw...absolutely nothing. Her friends had wandered out of sight, seemingly unaware of her absence.

Damnation. She thanked the shopkeeper, and walked to the nearest building. The sign hanging from the door advertised it as "Savah's Armoury", and a variety of armour and weapons were displayed in the windows. Vae leaned against the corner of the store, and called Tuomari to her mind, intending to send him out to search for her other friends. She noted his faint annoyance,however, most likely directed at being told to stay away from her so long. They were both stronger when they were together. She summoned him to her, and as he alighted on her arm, he did indeed draw a few stares from the crowd. However, there were a variety of strange people in the town, herself included. Apparently, her presence wasn't too concerning. She scratched the bird underneath his wings for a little while, ruffling his feathers and eating bits of her apple.

What to do now? It was good to take a rest for a moment or two, but she did need to be doing something. She could resume heading over towards the archery competition at the lumber mill, and hope that she found her friends there. She wasn't certain of the way over, however; she hadn't really taken note of the whereabouts of the various locations around the town. Her mistake. She could always ask for directions, she supposed. For now, she had a candied apple to devour and an annoyed eagle to placate.

Kaessi 4/13 hp (non-lethal damage), 15/11/14 AC, 4/4 AP, 2/2 Level 1 spells, detect magic kept active.

“There were three potions,” Kaessi began. “At the end, I mean. Two of them were probably sleep and the third was definitely a potion of the fly spell. I mean, yes, I have wings”—she paused for a second, adding in a flutter of the aforementioned appendages—”but they’re way too small to support me. You’d be flying up and down too! It’s completely wonderful. I’ve always wished that I could fly, so getting to try it is really something of a dream come true.” She jumped into the air, trying for the smooth, sweet feeling of flight, but there was no lift answering her call now. Kaessi landed easily and shrugged her shoulders. “Guess it’s gone.”

She wiped away the last of the mud adhering to the half-elf’s face and borrowed the girl’s never-empty canteen to rinse out the cloth. After wringing out most of the water, she folded it neatly and tucked it back into her belt pouch. Kaessi was no neat-freak, but there was so very often something that just needed a spot of cleanliness. A child’s scraped knee, a dog’s scratched snout, a face full of mud.

“So was that a yes or a no on going again?” she asked the other girl. “It’d definitely clean your clothes a bit better—okay, a lot better—if you went through the pond. Hey look!” she added, noticing a very tall woman standing near the armory. “Didn’t she go through just a little before I did? Look at that bird she’s carrying! It looks kinda like some kind of raptor, but its…feathers. Body. Whatever. Looks almost like the stars at night. I wonder what it is? C’mon, let’s go see!”

She poked her way through the assembled people until she and the half-elf reached where the tall girl stood. “Hi,” Kaessi said. “What *is* your bird? It’s beautiful! Did you come back to try the gauntlet again? I think she wanted to try it again too, but you’d have to ask her,” she finished, gesturing to the half-elf. “Where did they drag that guy that went before you off to?” she asked the half-elf. “I should probably see if I can bribe some priest into a little healing, and there’s bound to be one wherever that guy ended up. I’ll be bruised from head to toe else-wise. Oh right. My name is Kaessi, if it matters. Do you need someone to hold your bird while you try the course? Animals don’t usually dislike me too much, just people.” She looked all around the bustling area. “I love festivals! Such fun!”