Back from their latest adventure, the party receives an not-unexpected invitation from Elyin Ursage, an old friend and founding member:
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Elyin Ursage
and
Kailah Windmede
request the pleasure of your company
at their marriage
in Shelyn’s Grove, Bellis Town
on the 7th of Sarenith
at 1:00 o'clock
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The frontier town of Bellis stands within the quiet shade of the Verduran Forest, nestled along the western banks of the slow-moving Sellen River. Flower gardens color every homestead, painting a vibrant scene under the summer sun. Common folk go about their business, tilling the land, tying off keelboats, and hobnobbing over cups of mead.
In this grove of the goddess Shelyn, festivities for the wedding stretch from a stone chapel (A6) and a lovely rosegarden (A7), past a large open-air tent (A2), and down to the sun-drenched, tree-lined banks of Stillwater Creek (A1.) Music and laughter fill the air, with partygoers calling out for attendees to join their games and merrymaking (at the dance area A4 and horseshoe pit A5.)
A well-worn path strewn with fower petals leads between plain wooden benches to a decorative gazebo at the bottom of this amphitheater (A3.) More flowers adorn the structure itself, and a line of well-wishers leads inside to Elyin and his lady-love Kailah, who are resplendent in their wedding finery. When Elyin sees his old companions approach he vaults over the railing and rushes over to embrace them all joyously.
"My friends! My dear, dear friends! I am so glad that you all made it!"
Upon seeing her old friend, Lilia approached him at nearly a run. She was as happy as she had been in quite a long while. Her old friend was getting hitched and she was ecstatic for him. Also, she loved an opportunity to make herself up and put on a nice dress and some of her nicer jewelry, and this wedding was just such a chance. Today's going to be such a fun day," she thought to herself.
Congratulations Elyin! I'm so happy for you!" she squealed, trying to give him an awkward hug. The bottle of fine brandy she had brought as a wedding gift got in the way. "Where should I put this?" She looked around, and saw the rose garden and again let out a yelp. "Oooh, that looks so beautiful. I'll have to go look at that in a bit. And everyone looks like they are having so much fun dancing..." Lilia trailed off, looking around at the spectacle, clearly having trouble keeping herself focused on anything at the moment.
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Approching Eylin with mixed feelings of joy and dread, Janus could´nt help but remember all the grim situations they had survived together.
My friendlocking arms and grabing Eylin´s shoulder in a warriors embrace, Janus can´t suppress a grin You old fox, congratulations! Iomedae knows you have earned this!
Janus pulls a mwk. composit longbow from his pack and hands it to Eylin. May you never need this he says with a smile.
Janus surveys the grounds with the eyes of a man who has seen to much pain and suffering, smiling with contentment at seeing the merriment and apparent safety of the assembled party.
Elyin regards Lilia's gift with great admiration.
"Lilia dear, I know exactly where to put such an expensive drink."
He makes a tipping motion with the bottle and pats his gut.
Eylin seems truly impressed, almost stunned, by Janus' gift.
"Why, it's a thing of beauty. Thank you Janus. You deserve all this and much, much more. If you would only allow it to happen to yourself."
"Elyin, don't you dare drink that yourself! Don't make me go get Kailah on you. She will not put up with such behavior," Lilia retorts, taking a few seconds too long to realize that Elyin was joking.
Quickly changing the subject, she begins talking, to no one in particular, "Wow, it's really beautiful out here. The chapel of Shelyn looks pretty from the outside. And the gazebo--you have outdone yourself this time. Where is the bride?"
Eylin...you are truly blessed today. Beautiful weather on such a beautiful day for you. He clasps Eylin's hand in a warriors greeting.
This, He looks down at the package that he is carrying. I will wait to give to your bride. My mere presence should be enough for you. He says with a grin.
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Ofcouse old friend, you are right Janus says with a genuine smile. Let us make merry! The party is well on and it waits for noone. He says in an atempt to change the subject, grim matters are not for the topic on such a joyfull day.
Janus dumps his gear somwhere and gets himself a cold ale participating in the merry making after greeting the bride.
"Ah, yes, my bride. Speaking of which," Eylin looks to the gazebo, where a very pretty, very upset looking young woman is looking directly back, "I'd better finish greeting all the other guests. You'll get to meet Kailah soon enough. In the meantime, there's food and drink in the tent, dance in the clearing and even a game of horseshoes going on in the back. Enjoy yourselves! It's all been bought with the gold we won together, with sword, spell and fist!"
The bridegroom returns to his bride and their waiting guests.
Janus makes his way to the dance area. Under the shade of massive oak trees musicians perform quickstep tunes for party goers whirling beneath colored streamers and lanterns. A lovely young lady pairs up with the ranger and together they join the dancers.
What to do first? I think I am going to go the rose garden and look at all the flowers. Sarak, make sure Janus doesn't have too many drinks before the wedding. Eylin might think its funny, but Kailah probably won't." Lilia then turns and heads off to the rose garden to take in the scenery.
Lilia :
A wide path leads to a maze of thick, ten-foot-tall hedges with songbirds nesting within. A few wedding guests stand at the entrance, with one or two occasionally venturing into the maze to explore the rose garden and statuary inside.
Inside the maze Lilia overhears a heated conversation:
A high-pitched male voice says: "Lumi, my love, please come with me. I'm a different man now. I serve a great power. And I have great power as well."
An even higher-pitched female voice answers: "but I don't want power. I just want you to leave me alone!"
"It's because I'm a bleachling, isn't it? You miserable wench! You miserable, feckless wench!"
"Stop it, Tenzekil! You're scaring me!"
Just as she was smelling a particularly effervescent pink rose, Lilia heard the commotion nearby. She immeidately headed in the direction of the voices to see if there was going to be an actual problem. She wanted to yell at the two to stop fighting, as they would be upsetting the other guests and ruining Eylin's day, but figured adding another voice to the din would not help the situation.
When she finds the two, she approaches and says quietly, "You two need to stop this immediately. You are ruining the festivities."
Lilia :
Lilia discovers the people to be fellow gnomes, and the man to be indeed a bleachling. Hatred is etched onto his chalk-white face.
"Ruin the festivities? Ha! I'll show you! I'll show you all!"
He runs out of the maze, leaving Lilia with the gnome girl. She is sobbing, obviously in great distress.
Sarek walks over to the gazebo and approaches the young woman.
My lady, are you okay? What is troubling you?, he asks.
Sarek walks over to the gazebo and approaches the young woman.
My lady, are you okay? What is troubling you?, he asks.
The lined up guests look disapprovingly at the paladin. "Don't cut in line, young man" protests an indignant matron. The bride and bridegroom seem to be just fine.
Lilia:
Perception
Savoring the moment, Janus is thrilled to have such a beutifull dance partner.
Rather hesitantly, if a bit embarased he asks her her name and what she does for a living.
Janus learns the petite brunette's name is Anneka and that she works in her family's brewery. She proudly informs him the mead they produce is known throughout Andoran and even in Taldor.
Just then the ranger spots a gnome with bone-white skin stalk away from the grove.
Lilia:
"Why, thank you, I'd like that. Tenzekil frightens me so. I think he's capable of anything."
"I'm sorry I think I have forgotten your name. I am Lilia. I'll introduce you to everyone. I don't mean to pry, but how did you get involved with that Tenzekil guy anyway? He seemed mean and you seem very pleasant. I'm sorry, I tend to talk kind of fast sometimes, and I've been told my stories aren't very good because they are hard to follow." As they walk back to the remainder of the group, Lilia looks around at the scene, "I don't think I would like to try horseshoes. I'm sure I'd get all muddy. The dancing looks fun, have you been there yet?"
Sarek walks over to the gazebo and approaches the young woman.
My lady, are you okay? What is troubling you?, he asks.
The lined up guests look disapprovingly at the paladin. "Don't cut in line, young man" protests an indignant matron. The bride and bridegroom seem to be just fine.
Sarek walks over to the stone chapel. He has heard of the beauty of Shelyn's temples and wants to see for himself.
The paladin heads off to the chapel, which is a new stone structure well shaded by trees and surrounded by rosebushes. A pair of wooden doors carved with chasings of amorous satyrs and nymphs leads inside. On the main altar is a statue of the love goddess Shelyn with a songbird perched upon her outstretched hand.
In the chapel’s adjoining chamber a solarium filters sunlight through a stained-glass ceiling. Attendants are inside, watching over the wedding gifts that have been collected for Elyin and Kailah. Sarek spots the masterwork bow given by Janus. Tellingly, he sees no sign of the expensive brandy gifted by Lilia.
Sarek looks around. Hmmm...so who around here looks like they've had a bit too much brandy...
Lilia:
"Oh, my name is Lumi." She gives Lilia a grateful hug. "I've been dancing all morning and I'm a bit tired. I'll sit on the benches on the front lawn and wait for the wedding to start. It shouldn't be long now."
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Sencing his moment of respite is at an end, Janus sighs. He bows to Anneka and says "Thank you for the dance Anneka, please pardon me for I must see to somthing. I hope to see you again before the day is through."
With that he hurrys to the groove to check up on Lilia, thinking I hope she hasn´t gotten herself into trouble again, and picking up his gear on the way.
Well then, Lumi, it is a pleasure to meet you," Lilia says as they continue walking back toward the majority of the well-wishers.
After a few moments of walking, Lilia sees her friend Janus walking in their direction. "Hey Janus, how is everything going? The rose garden is really pretty. After the wedding, you should go check it out. This is Lumi--I met her a few minutes ago. She wants to watch the wedding with us. And I am going to introduce her to Thediar. They might hit it off," Lilia says rapidly, scarcely pausing to take a breath.
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Janus, knowing Lilia starts chattering when she is nervous or has somthing on her mind, says smiling "Hey yourself Lilia! Making friends alredy I see." Turning to Lumi he says as kindly as he can "Hello friend Lumi, you are most welcome to sit with us through the wedding. Our fellowship is always glad to make new friends, and I´m sure Thediar will be thrilled. Being a cleric of Gozre, I am sure he will be facinated by your tales of this forested realm."
Wondering to himself what could make Lilia nervous he tries to guess the gnomes mood -sence motive + another 4 if gnomes count as fey.
Oh dear, ....
JZ, how many other gnomes are there here, besides Thediar and the bleachling?
As the bride and groom step away to prepare for the wedding ceremony, the heroes find themselves the new center of attention. The folk of Bellis are eager to find out about Elyin's adventurous past, to separate truth from fiction. Fast friends are made, for the folk of Bellis are a kind and trusting sort.
A sudden swell of music announces the bride and groom’s approach. Kailah and Elyin emerge from the chapel of Shelyn with the priestess Viviana by their side. Bridesmaids and musicians follow behind. Everyone immediately gathers in the amphitheater at the center of the grove. Once the procession reaches the gazebo, Viviana announces a song about unexpected love from Shelyn’s Melodies of Inner Beauty. She nods briefy to the musicians for accompaniment and starts to sing.
Then in mid-song, Viviana suddenly stops and gasps in pain, swatting a bee on her forearm. A low, booming buzz then erupts from the treeline behind her as thousands more bees rise into the air. The roiling mass of insects heads straight into the gathered crowd, eliciting screams of terror.
OOC:
The large red "B" represents the center of a bee swarm. In fact, hundreds of other bees are attacking all the guests, but there is a 10' X 10' center you can attack.
Here's the Pathfinder definition of a swarm. Please note that it cannot be flanked.
"T","L","J","S" represent your characters based on the first letter of your name.
For now the terrain between you and the swarm is considered difficult because of the panicking crowd.
Please roll initiative and declare your actions.
If you are moving, please tell me how many squares in a certain direction.
Sarak draws his flail and runs to the eastern side of the temple, trying to draw the bees away from the guests.
Over here!, he yells as he swings his flail around over his head.
"Bees?!" Lilia thinks to herself, and recalls that Lumi's crazy boyfriend was a beekeeper. "Lumi, stay with me. Let's get you to Shelyn's temple. I have a bad feeling about this," she yells to her new friend, wanting to keep her safe, especially if the bleached gnome was behind this attack.
Initiative
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This could get ugly Janus thinks to himself as he graps a pint of oil from his sack while moving for a better angle. He grabs his scarf and tears a strip of it, soaks it in oil, and rams it down the flask hoping to make an imprvised splash weapon. Cursing to himself in the prosess and shouting GET INTO THE TEMPLE PEOPLE! GET INSIDE!
initiative
Edit: not sure actually how many squares I can move? but I will move as far as I can in that general direction.
OOC:
Janus, convincing the crowd to move in a particular direction requires a full-round action using Diplomacy (DC 15) or a swift action if relying on Intimidate (DC 20).
About movement, from the PFSRD:
Difficult Terrain: Difficult terrain, such as heavy undergrowth, broken ground, or steep stairs, hampers movement. Each square of difficult terrain counts as 2 squares of movement. Each diagonal move into a difficult terrain square counts as 3 squares. You can't run or charge across difficult terrain.