Brambleson falls prone due to Edda's spell just before being hit by Basil's, Gisele's and Niklos' coordinated strikes. He raises a hand to concede before raising to his feet, massaging his bruised feet.
"Ow. A rabbit's legs are sensitive. But very well, oh, very well indeed, yes, I can see that you are worthy of carrying the Dancing Heel."
He fishes the token out of his waistcoat again, presenting it to you with a flourish.
"If courses I recommend you to exercise extreme caution with this, yadda yadda, now go and find a way out of this thrice-accursed place! Oh, are these strawberries? I don't want your piteous- as well as pitiful- gifts, you stupid... servile... thing!"
The last part was apparently shouted towards his house, and a small patch of wild strawberries growing on the grass.
"Are you still here? Go, go find Zassrion, and make a nice barbecue of him! And by all chances, come back to visit! There is ABSOLUTELY nothing to do here!"
Niklos indicates that Basil should take the token. He looks around the peaceful little clearing, and turns to his companions with a stretch and a yawn.
"Well, that was fun," he says with a not-so-subtle tinge of sarcasm in his voice. "You guys wanna take a breather? I could use a little nap, to be honest..."
Brushing back her hair, Edda nods and agrees with Niklos.
"Rest would be welcome. Much of my useful magic has been expended for the day. Where however? Will the Prince allow us to camp here? He doesn't seem stable really..."
"We can rest, but right here seems not the place. I have much to consider now, too." Basil says, taking the token.
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"Well, on only options are here, in the brambles, or back to the circus. Everything else we'd be going in blind." Gisele says looking around.
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Niklos calls to Brambleson, "Oi! Brambles! Mind if we bunk here?"
The rogue props himself under a tree and lights a cigarette, not stopping to wait for an answer.
Brambleson has already hopped on a tree branch when Niklos' words reach him.
"Of course! But beware of the house, it may get strange ideas! And try to keep the patch of grass here, so it'll stop following me!"
Niklos puffs out a ring of smoke, and pats the ground next to him. "See? It's fine! There's no sense in trekking all the way back to Bernie's, and we don't rightly know what we'll find at the playhouse—not to mention the Briar! Better to rest up here, says I. But seriously though, did no one bring any booze...?"
"Basil...I can understand your reluctance. But here is as good a place as any we have seen so far. Better even."
Basil sighs. "Fine. We rest here." he agrees
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Don't worry my furry friend. What could happen...?"
Edda smirks as if she made a joke and let's her Skinwalker's features turn back to a normal human's. Her hairy bear-like nose and climbing claws slowly fading away to smooth skin and a smattering of freckles across her nose.
It's a clear night, and you can see the moon and the stars. It would be very beautiful, if not for the fact that, like the sun, the moon is just a wooden shape on a mechanical arm, and the stars look painted on the ceiling.
When you wake up, you notice that the clearing has disappeared. Where there was grass, and Brambleson's house, now you see undergrowth, briars and trees, apparently grown overnight. However, the magic of the Harrow card you used earlier is still working, and you are standing on a free patch of grass, slightly damp with dew.
After just a handful of minutes, the path opens up to show a two-storied wooden building with a red roof. On the front is a large, dark wood half-open door, and next to it you can see a sign. If you squint you can read the se words.
Balimar and Balio are proud to bring to you
the Masterpiece of legendary writers
Balimar and Balio
in an all new production, starring
and
The lower parts of the sign look like they were violently hacked away with a sharp object.
"Wow! Am I awake or still dreaming? Well, my father always said you shouldn't look a a gift Linnorm in the mouth. Let's check it out!"
"That was quick," Niklos remarks. "Yeah, let's see what this joint is about..."
The rogue swaggers in, striding confidently through the front doors.
Basil will walk in, feeling better about his night's rest and a bit surprised that the Rabbit Prince was gone the next morning.
"That... was convenient." he admits, agreeing with Edda.
As Basil draws the Theater card, your senses seem to sharpen. It's as if some part of your subconscious acquired a grasp on the laws of narrative causality that govern the Harrowed Realm, at least in this area.
Niklos and whoever enters the front doors:
The red velvet covering nearly every surface of this lobby is threadbare and faded. A cracked mural on the ceiling depicts debauched acts between satyrs and all manner of mortal women. Two sets of double doors to the north lead into a massive chamber, and between them golden bars protect a ticket office. Smaller doors occupy the eastern and western walls.
On the floor you can see a tiny creature, no bigger than a housecat, pacing frantically and twisting its hands. It has an elven upper body, two long antennae protruding from his forehead, and the lower body of a cricket, complete with spindly legs and a pair of gossamer wings, and is evidently some sort of fey.
On the other side of the lobby there is a small red fiddle, floating through the air and playing a catchy tune.
"What will I do?" sobs the small fey. "It was not enough that I lost my place, now this fiddle got away from me again! And it thinks it plays better than me! Oh cursed fate! Oh, cruel destiny!"
"Well...what do we have here? A Grig without his fiddle: A conundrum indeed!"
Niklos turns to the others with a sly grin. "Oh! Know this one..."
"Need a little help there, buddy?" he asks the grig.
"See for yourself!" cries out the fey, pointing at his flying violin.
As the fiddle's tune plays on, Niklos and Edda feel a growing need to dance along, and their feet start moving uncontrollably. The played card, however, seems to hit the tiny fey, whose six cricket legs also start jumping in sync with the tune. As the folk melody carries on, the three have harmonized into a frantic jig.
Fury crosses Edda's face!
"I am a...Winterclaw! I...DO...NOT...DANCE!!!"
Niklos lets out a mocking laugh, first at Edda's indignation and then at the grig, as its magic is turned against it. He throws himself into the dance without hesitation, hopping and spinning recklessly across the room in the steps of a Varisian folk dance. The purple scarf he wears around his waist flutters hypnotically, and the coins decorating its hem jingle merrily to the rhythm of the jig.
Gisele takes a few moments to ensure Taru is secure before realizing Edda and Niklos have already gone inside.
Gisele is just about to enter when she hears Edda's bellow. Turning to Basil, "Dance?" Gisele pauses, waiting to see what Basil thinks.
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Basil's nose twitches. "We'd better. Edda'd probably maul us if we didn't get 'caught' too." he says with good humor, walking into the room.
"Oh no, not the folk dances! I made it to play the saddest eulogies and the most tearjerking ballads!" yells the grig, tipping and tapping on the ticket booth. "Please, oh, please, stop that obnoxious thing! It keeps believing that it can play itself better than I do!"
Edda's outrage is somehow countered by her pirouetting around Niklos, her furs a haze catching the light reflected by the rogue's jewels and trinkets. Although his mind resists the compulsion, Basil joins the dance, hopping along the high notes. The violin seems to take your dancing, especially Niklos', as a challenge, and starts twirling in the air, while the bow moves gracefully.
Gisele laughs to Basil's retreating form, "Good Point!" She will dance her way into the hall.
"AaaaaggghhhhRRRHhh!"
Edda groans her frustration out at their predicament and skinwalks, her features becoming more bear-like as she grows claws and a bear's muzzle of teeth.
"Destroy the fiddle!...Before I die of embarrassment!"
"Oh, everyone's a critic!" Niklos sneers at the grig.
The rgoue keeps dancing, trying to switch into a more sombre tempo. Noticing that he is having some trouble with slow dancing without a partner, he starts looking for one amongst his companions...
"AGH! You Showboat!"
Basil will use a bit of luck as he dances.
He will keep an eye out to see an opportunity to snatch the fiddle out of the air.
Edda's frustration is renewed when a pirouette has her trip on her own feet and crash on the ground. Much to her dismay, she still can't manage to shake off the violin's magic.
As for the dance, Gisele, Basil and Niklos try to dance a farandole together, but they are outperformed by the flying instrument, which is flying through the air, radiating smug self-satisfaction. Meanwhile, the grig is crying small, pearlescent tears of frustration.
Gisele flails badly at her attempt to grab the fiddle.
Niklos dances around Gisele and Basil as they try to grab the fiddle, trying to coax Edda back into the fray. "Who ever heard of a Varisian that couldn't dance? Up you get!"
With a half-growl, Edda roars back at the Sczarni.
"Half! I'm only Half-Varisian you...!"
As Basil jumps towards the violin, his hands fall just slightly short of it. However, by a strike of luck, a quick arpeggio has the tiny instrument sway a hair to the left, getting in the rabbitfolk's hands. As it's grabbed, it stops playing with a D minor shriek that sounds like an anguished lament, and you are freed from the compulsion to dance, much to Edda's relief.
"Oh, yes!" exclaims the grig, jumping up and down. "Oh, give it back to me, and I'll be able to once again get it to play the Sensationally Sad Song of Stanislaus the Solitary Shoemaker! No more of those silly dances and prances! I'll give you the key to the ticket booth and all it contains!"
You can feel the dread coming from the violin.
Basil holds onto the violin for just a moment before handing it over, looking it over to make sure that the token they're looking for isn't on/in it.
Niklos comes to halt after a few more spins, realising that the magical compulsion is gone. "Hey, I was just getting warmed up!"
Holding up a long bear-like claw, Edda points at Niklos with a pointed stare.
"Don't. Just....don't."
Turning to the Grig, she let's go her shifting heritage and returns to normal.
"OK. Now...where's this key?"
You can just feel the despair coming from the violin as the grig plays a sad, shrieking, horrible chord. He then reaches into his pocket and produces a tiny key, matching a tiny keyhole in the ticket booth.
"Oh, yes, there it is, please help yourself to naything you may find there!"
The fey hops towards what looks like the main hall, squeaking sounds like tortured souls coming from the miserable instrument.
Basil's ears immediately shy away from the grig, his body language almost comedic as his desire to avoid the noise makes it look like his ears are dragging him away from the tortured violin.
"Now I know what regret feels like." Basil mutters, looking over the treasures. "IOU's?"
Slapping herself in the forehead, Edda sighs heavily.
"Ugg...why do I think these IOUs are probably more valuable here in this realm..."
She then waves her hand and speaks in Draconic.
The IOUs look decidedly mundane. Just scraps of parchment where someone scribbled "owe you a kiss", followed by what's either a signature or a rather artful depiction of a roach.
"Is that a drawing of a roach?" Gisele points to the "signature" on a couple of the IOUs.
Niklos scoffs at the meagre amount of currency, nevertheless counting and splitting the coins into four piles on the counter. "Y'know, we could've just snatched the instrument. I know some folks who might fancy buying a fiddle that plays itself..."
Giseleponders a moment as she watched Niklos spit the coins. "I wonder, will they still be coins if we get out of here?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Taking her share of the coins and a couple of the IOUs Edda pockets them and moves to enter the actual theater.
"Shall we?"
This bulging auditorium offers an excellent view of the stage to the north from any of its dozens of seats. Dust and cobwebs cling to everything. On the stage, you can see a strikingly handsome Varisian-looking man holding a very lifelike puppet that looks like a blonde version of himself.
As you move closer, you hear the puppet shouting. "We can't afford to send her away! She's our best and greatest actress, I don't care a bit for her tantrums! Storykin should be honored to work with her- what am I saying, to work with US! So what if they can't manage her... personality? They are just not worth it!"