Cole rubs the back of his head nervously. "Yeah. Him and Richelle. I guess they rigged the election. I voted for Kameer and Kara. I don't know anyone who voted for Tolwin."
The girl in the crowd speaks up again, "I voted for my'thelf and Aurelliax!", which prompts more giggles from the other children.
"Let's go try out the sac race thing!"
To the little girl, ”wow that’s a mouthful of a name, who is Arrelax?”
The girl beams a wide, toothless smile as several other children giggle about "out-of-towners".
"Aurelliax! You know, the gold dragon! Thhe keepth the whooole town thafe! Thhe comth to the fethival effery year! And thhe'th thooo nithe - thhe liketh thpending time with uth all!"
Cole nods as the girl finishes.
"When Aurelliax visits, she looks like one of us. She probably couldn't fit very well if she came looking like a dragon. And this is the 50th festival she's attended! The only ones that've seen her this year so far are Kameer and Kara. Aurelliax always gifts the Bloomgivers with a special pendant that protects them while they're outside of the town."
"Aurelliax always gifts the Bloomgivers with a special pendant that protects them while they're outside of the town."
"So this pendant might be the thing Tolwin actually wanted?"
Meraina suddenly blushes.
"Bri, please tell me I didn't make any of my farting dragon jokes during the puppetshow. I didn't consider there might be one in the audience."
”heehee ok Mera, ‘you didn’t make any dragon farting jokes during the puppet show”
”thanks for the fun kids, we’re gonna go check out the sack races!”
The kids give enthusiastic waves goodbye.
A well-dressed dwarven woman stands at the end of the race wearing a beautifully bedazzled peacock broach. When she sees you approach she holds up a meaty hand and says, "I'd love to chat, but I've a job to do!" When you mention you're interested in racing, she grows a wry grin, "In that case, I could spare a moment to chat for my competitors!"
She ushers you each into place occupying your own lane and gives you a worn burlap sack that smells of hay. "Rules are simple! Hop faster than that one," to which she points to each of you.
Without further explanation, she produces a white and black checkered scarf and waves it wildly up and down, signalling the race to begin!
Ambitious extrovert Meraina jumps off to a headstart and promptly faceplants (but it's soft ground so no harm!)
The crowd begins to cheer the out-of-towners on!
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Garr decides it prudent to give Brialla and Kiliuk a head start as he joins Meraina on the soft-packed race track.
Brialla has a strong lead, but gets overconfident halfway through and takes a tumble.
Can Kiliuk go for gold??
Poor Kiliuk just can't catch a break today! Not only does he immediately enjoy the comforts of the bare earth for a good several seconds, but he gets tangled up in his cloth sack even just trying to stand!
Garr nearly passes Brialla at the last moment before she leaps ahead and crosses the finish line! The crowd cheers and throws bird seed over the three contestants while a very young dwarf holds up a handcrafted peacock broach as a gift to Brialla. Looking around, you see multiple others in the crowd wearing similar broaches.
Meanwhile, the motherly Dwarf in charge of the races extends a hand to Kiliuk.
"Heh, you alright there?" she asks as her warm brown eyes survey the Half-orc for any damage from his tumble. "Saaay... You remind me of someone. You from around these parts?"
The dwarf beams, "I knew my eyes weren't deceivin' me! There's this woman named Gilda who's made a name for herself sewing exquisite outfits in Grayhaven. I don't know that her family name is Korgren, but the two of you have the same nose! My apprentice, Tolwin, might know how to contact her. He keeps the records of all the artisans we do business with. Only dilemma is I won't see him until tomorrows."
Brialla beams with pride as she accepts the broach from the young dwarf,”thank you young sir, I shall wear it with pride!”, she says as she raises it above her head for all to see.
As Kiliuk and the dwarven mother speak about his relatives, Brialla replaces the simple metal ring that was holding her cloak with the new broach and stows the ring.
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"My apprentice, Tolwin, might know how to contact her. He keeps the records of all the artisans we do business with. Only dilemma is I won't see him until tomorrows."
"Banned from the fair. We heard. Would you have any insights into his motive for trying to rig the election?"
"The fool," she huffs. Her demeanor returns to dwarven dourness. "At first I thought it was just humans being young. I've seen a lot of recklessness in my time. I was gonna scold him tomorrow and be done with it! But then this morning I noticed my whole stock of curative potions was missing. He's the only person I trusted with the key. Now I got bigger questions for-"
Murmurs of alarm from the western end of Protectress Square interrupt Yarla. Two people stumble into the square − a young, dark-haired man and a light-haired woman − half walking and half carried on the shoulders of other youths. Winces of pain criss-cross their bruised and bloodied faces. Somewhere, someone shouts, "The Bloomgivers have been attacked! Someone! Get Aurelliax!"
The crowd around the Bloomgivers hushes and parts as a tall, authoritative woman strides purposefully toward the injured youths. A grim look occupies her golden-eyed face, and she reaches a hand lovingly toward the pair. She addresses the Bloomgivers in a commanding voice that carries across the square.
"Kameer. Kara. Young ones, what has happened here?"
The Bloomgivers pause to catch their breath before answering. "We're so sorry, Aurelliax," Kara says. "We were picking the brightblooms when those bullies set upon us! They took us completely by surprise, and they stole the Golden Pendant right from Kameer's neck! We barely got out with our lives!"
Kameer nods. "It was Richelle and Tolwin! They're up on Dendra's Slope, and they've still got your amulet!"
At this news the white-haired woman from earlier bristles with anger, "I've had enough of those two! Aurelliax, would you be so kind as to retrieve these... villains?"
The golden-eyed woman looks at her ruefully. "Mayor Winette, these 'bullies' are two of your own, yes?" The mayor gives a regretful nod. "Then I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid I can't directly help. You see, I promised your forebears that I would never interfere in the town's interpersonal matters. I cannot turn my wrath against any of your own."
The mayor sniffles, and nods understandingly. She then turns to the crowd. "Are there any among you who are willing to be heroes for Highdelve? Could you retrieve these bullies and Aurelliax's amulet? I assure you all that I will reward those successful most generously!"
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I could speak out, but I'm sure Brialla is going to volunteer us...
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Brialla looks to Mara with a distressed look on her face. Mara, say something! We can help these kind people!
The crowd murmurs amongst themselves.
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“We’ll do it!”
Kids in the crowd gasp! The mayor blushes. Aurelliax smiles!
Carth Garenth steps forward from the crowd and addresses Meraina and Brialla, "That's quite superb of you fine ladies to offer, but I would wager two against two isn't great odds in your favor. Got any more, 'tricks', up your sleeve?"
”hey!! I’m the best archer in our village!”, Brialla stammers out as she draws her bow and lets a shaft loose.
Mathilde, the barrel ride operator, steps forward from the crowd.
"I remember spinnin' those two when they was little. I just know somethin's not right in their heads. If you gotta rough 'em up, try not to be too harsh with them," she pleads.
Mathilde, the barrel ride operator, steps forward from the crowd.
"I remember spinnin' those two when they was little. I just know somethin's not right in their heads. If you gotta rough 'em up, try not to be too harsh with them," she pleads.
We'll make sure they'll be able to explain themselves when we return them to the village!
The little girl from the stadium of crates steps forward from the crowd.
"Motht important! Don't fuhget tha Brightbloomth!" the crowd chuckles.
Mayor Winette claps her palms together and does a little bounce. "Thank you SO much! The three of you bring me hope we can get to the bottom of this mystery!"
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Kameer draws you a rough map of where the attack happened. "Just follow the road out of town and up that mountain," he says as he points to a slope warmed by the afternoon sun. "It's only three miles. When you see a run down shack, the brightbloom patch we found is right behind it."
Kara adds, "There used to be lots of mines up there. When they were shut down all the rails were pulled up, but the caves weren't sealed. I bet they were hiding in one of them!"
The mayor wishes you a heartfelt farewell and thanks you again for being "Heroes for Highdelve".
Aurelliax beams with pride.
Kameer and Kara support each other and shed a couple tears.
The little girl offers you each a paper flower, saying she won't need them anymore when you bring back the brightloomth.
And you're off!
Your trek up the mountainside road is uneventful, if not foreboding. Eventually, you think you've reached the scene of the attack.
The outside of this dilapidated shack is moldy and has walls full of holes. Its rotted doors hang open on broken hinges. A cursory glance from the outside reveals a dirty bedroll and a pile of trail rations in a corner.
This patch of white and gold flowers presents a lovely scene recently marred by two jarring elements. Beside the flowers is a lopsided wooden cart with one wheel broken and no cargo. Near the cart are deep scuffle marks where the soil has been stained red.
A rusty metal pot sits over an extinguished campfire in this hastily prepared resting stop. Three logs are pulled near the fire, and in between are several marks scrawled in the dirt.
You spot a rather large rock face towering nearly 30 feet which appears almost “punctured” in the middle by dark cave mouth.
"Let's check out the campfire spot first!" Meraina says as she strides towards the extinguished fire.
Brialla has her bow in her hand as she walks towards to the campfire. ”keep your eyes peeled... this smells like an ambush....” she trails off as she looks around for clues or tracks.
”well there’s 3 separate tracks here, could be our two bullies and maybe an accomplice?, brialla muses.
Meriana looks at the scrawlings in the dirt.
"Big person with two heads. What is that supposed to depict?"