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Jubilation fills the evening air in the normally staid town of Jacksville, for it is the twelfth birthday of the Chief Defender’s youngest daughter, Ruby, and the townsfolk have been
preparing all day for the ceremony and festivities to follow.
In these rare occasions everyone leaves their forges and pumpkin patches behind and joins the town for the celebration. Those of you who have just arrived to town as visitors, you were cajoled by the masses to “come join the best party this town has to offer”.
A throng of spectators has amassed at the town Commons; the buzz of the crowd subsides as the weathered town leader, Halgra of the Blackened Blades, takes the stage and begins to speak.
“Thank you all for joining us this night. I take immense pride in my responsibility as Chief Defender, especially when it comes to the honor of the hopeknife ceremony. It is always a great privilege to bequeath Jack youths their hopeknives as they come of age.” Halgra stops speaking long enough to open an ornamental case and retrieve a slender, ornately decorated dagger hanging from a silver chain. “But tonight is a special occasion, for the recipient of this hopeknife is none other than my youngest daughter.” Once again, Halgra pauses, but this time she turns to talk to the child beside her.
“Ruby, by the traditions of our town, you have come of age. This hopeknife represents your responsibilities as an adult and defender of Jacksville. You must be willing to use it on yourself, your fellow Jacks, and your family—even me, should it come to that. It will be a far quicker death than that which the orcs will offer, and providing it is your duty. Do you swear to guard Jacksville from all comers, and to use your hopeknife only for its intended purpose?”
Ruby—dusky skinned, auburn haired, and painfully shy—nods her head in response to her mother’s question.
“If the orcs come, and there is no other option, this is where you cut—here, here, and here.” Halgra demonstrates which arteries to sever while Ruby watches. When she is finished, Halgra sheathes the hopeknife and places the necklace around Ruby’s neck before turning back to address the crowd.
“Tonight, Ruby becomes a full member of our community! Let us welcome her, and celebrate her passage into adulthood! Jacksville forever!” The crowd echoes Halgra’s last words in unison, signaling the end of the ceremony.
The townsfolk waste no time transitioning to the ceremony’s more lighthearted festivities, including a feast, music, dance and a number of games in which Ruby will be the key player. They crowd rushes in from the stands of the amphitheater to the center stage to partake in the celebrations.
"A rather crude way to celebrate one's coming of age" , Manami affirmed to Hai, "was it the same for you?".
In the background a bunch of kids made a ruckus next to a very frightening and masterfully crafted unlit pumpkin Lantern.
" I guess it doesn't matter much. Shall we go and great the young lady and her family?"
Manami asked her companions while lightly gesturing with her hand toward the group of kids.
The pumpkin lantern suddenly lit in blue light much to the amazement and joy of the kids. Only those close to the young human lady could see the small delighted smile on her face
The tiny halfling kids squealed with a mix of fear and joy, and the nearby adults clapped their hands and laughed.
to the side of the common area, where the innkeeper has set up the kegs designated for the party sits Hugh. He is in a bad mood and well into his second flagon of the day. With him are one or two other ne'er-do-wells.
"How I hate these ceremonies! and this festival, just because Ruby turned 12... So what? Have a birthday party. If you can afford it, have a big one. But why does the entire town need to come to a standstill just because of that, hmmm? Did the town declare a national holiday when you guys turned 12? Well did it? It sure as my name's Jack didn't do it for me... Grandma gave me the knife, showed me where to cut, said, and I quote, "hopefully sooner rather than later", and kicked me out of the house, as I was now an "adult"
Hugh quaffs a mouthful of ale
"Still, I am grateful for the free, watered-down Orc piss! Barkeep,
Pumpkin wasn't fond of large crowds or grand festivities in general, but the knowledge of his brother's return to town encouraged him to leave his pumpkin patches of solitude and join the herd of Halflings (and company). Though the townfolks always greeted him warmly for his Aasimar charm Pumpkin preferred to be left alone to study magic, thus any such social events were nothing but hindrance on his progress to become a powerful sorcerer. With his arms crossed and heart clenched he watched the little girl receiving her ceremonial boon, worryingly wondering if he ever could help bring a time there won't be a need for Hopeknives...
His line of thought was quickly cut by flickering of a blue light- from the inside of the decorations he provided for the event. "Is that.. magic???" he gasped. His ember eyes glint with excitement as he scouts the area to find whoever cast the spell.
Black-Jack was not happy. why am I here… why am I back in Jacksville? he thought completely ignoring the ceremony going on around him and the budding festivities, the same kind of ceremonies and festivities he was never invited to in the past.
He consoled himself with the fact that at least he’ll see his aunt and beloved brother.
Hmm he grumbled to passing towns-folk, now older, he knew before he left.
Through the corner of his eye he saw some of the people he travelled here with.
could it be that he’s not here? he stopped in his tracks and looked around.
Chan is looking with great admiration on the ceremony and his face cloud as Manami ask her question and say ''this Is a hard place, lughfter tears and blood…'' but then he cheers with all the others Halflings and ads ''she will be fine, its only the start''
He lahfs as he sees the lights and start doing acrobatic jumping with food jajeling as he snatch food form peoples and after one or two flips throw it back to them
Manami sighs as her companion start juggling the food around "I gather it's a very different society than home" she murmurs to herself. "back at home you will get an earful for mistreating food this way" .
Manami looks around to look at the crowd in their festivities. " I wish one they'll find such joys in more sympathetic occasions" . She thinks while carrying a silent prayer to Daikitsu for the village prosperity.
She takes her scarf off, raps it over her head and turn to Chan "still I think we should go greet her and her family.it's their special day after all.." she says to the halfling.
"anyway, I have some duties to attend to - Old man Jack is paying me a few extra to go man the strongling games...there's an extra bonus if I let Ruby win..."
Hugh discharges a great belch that wouldn't have shamed a dragon and proceeds to walk stumble toward the green and the strongman games
Black-Jack catches sight of the one he was looking for and start walking towards his brother taking care not to stomp anyone on his way.
He reaches Pumpkin and embraces him in a bear hug while lifting him so his feet no longer reach the ground.
He reaches his twin, twists him so he faces him while kneeling down on one knee so their heads are in the same hight and embraces him.
"I missed you brother" he says.
"Black!!" he nearly shouted, hugging him back with all of his might (which isn't much). The mysterious origin of the blue light can wait.
"I missed you so... were you always this tall?" he loosened his arms and took half a step back to take a better look at his twin, a decade older than last he saw him. "So impressive! and broader too. They must've worked you hard in the forges! You must tell me all about it!" one needs not a high perception to notice Pumpkin tries hard to hold himself from dancing in sheer excitement.
The townsfolk are buzzing merrily around, swinging flagons of ale and laughing together, when a hearty, booming voice is carried over the crowd; ”And now, ladies and gentlemen, per tradition our dear Ruby will compete in games against the finest of Jacksville’s defenders.”
The crown settles down and focuses its attention at the center of the stage, where the speaker - Rodrik McJack - brandishes a thick rope and addresses Ruby. ”In this game of tug-of-war you’ll face my brother Kurst and myself, so choose well: Who will your team be?”
Ruby takes a hard look at the audience, and then shyly makes her selection, pointing at her teammates one at a time. She has selected the six of you! The crowd around you blithely ushers you forward to join the game, cheering you as you emerge from the throng (or maybe cheering the team of Jacksville’s finest defenders Rodrik and Kurst are assembling?)
after some jumping and [he hops] some laughter chan come back to Manami
and agree full heartedly with her idea and start walking toward the family . ''I am happy he came in the end'' he say and nods towerd Black-Jack as he see him in the crowd
"alright boys"Hugh mutters to his cronies - real or perceived"time to put the"belch"game face on"
Hugh saunters toward the stage, chest puffed with pride. Once he reaches the stage he nods at Rodrik and Kurst saying "gentlemen" in a low voice. Then he turns and bows theatrically at Ruby. "my lady" he says in a booming voice that carries to the audience "it is both my honor and my pleasure to be on your team this fine evening."
The effect is somewhat spoiled by a hiccup.
"Well I guess that's one way to get acquainted with the girl" said Manami with a slight smirk.
"Well my friend, shall we go and help the young maiden? I think I've got a few tricks up my sleeve that might help " she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Without waiting she marched toward the center stage, offered her hand to the young female halfling and said with a slight courtesy "Young lady, it's an honor to serve under you in these games.I'll put all my might and wit so you could win" said the young human with a warm and welcoming smile .
He go to Ruby as well and bows a monk bow [tow hands in front] while he winks and say with a smile ''its will be my honor as well may league''
black only realized that the last remarks, which he almost didn’t register at all, were directed among the rest at him when people started pushing him towards the stage.
wait, what? Am I actually singled out for a nice reason? In Jacksville?!? Maybe the girl just wasn’t told to avoid me yet… yes, that must be the reason. Could it be that the denizens changed over the years? No that’s not ithe thought.
Yet all he said was "We’ll continue later"
He never the less keeps a hand on his brother’s shoulder as they’re being propelled by the crowd
When he reached the stage he eyed the giant man and the defenders suspiciously. Gave a curt nod to the two he already met on his way. Looked at the honoree of the party and says
"congratulations, on this joyous occasion, I will try to assist" he smiles an apprehensive smile.
"Sure.." he mutters to his brother as they're being pushed, "...Little Ruby sure knows how to pick her team..." he mutters even mousier, eyeing the literally half-giant Hugh, his tiefhalfling twin and the two marginally tall women. Unsure why among them were he and little Jack-ie.
He shyly waves hello to his tug-o-war teammates- first directly to Ruby with a smiley "happy birthday" greeting, then a pleasant but somewhat chilly "best of luck to us" to the rest of the group.
"-and this is why kids shouldn't eat mushrooms." Jacqueline finished the tale with wide eyes and a frown , hands high above her head, mimicking the mushrooms upper part.
The town members' interest was lost a while ago, but at the end they started looking at her again, some making rushing gestures.
Shoulders wide, chin high and the frown turned into a cocky smirk, Jacqueline went and stood next to the group, ready for the big show of the day. Or a tug-o-war game, whatever.
Hugh eyes the makeshift group quizzically, lingering a moment on the Elf and the Human , then extends his hand toward African-American Jack and says "Hi there, I'm Hugh. Looks like you and I are going to be doing most of the heavy lifting here, but I think we should manage. I haven't seen you around these parts before. Passing through or coming to stay?" He then looks toward Pumpkin
"Pumpkin"
Black looks towards the giant of a half-ling.
"back to stay" he says in his raspy voice "maybe".
he glimpses around him.
"I'm Black-Jack, you just don't remember because I left when you were young"
He eyes the crowd suspiciously, his eyes warming while he glimpses his aunts just to grow cool again when his gaze finally rests upon the chief defender.
Yup, she remembers me.
Noticing the tiefling reaction manami puts a hand on his shoulder..
"A tiefling in a halfling village? That's a story I would love to hear" Manami smiled warmly at Black,
"I guess we all have one thing in common and that's that we are all different from our lovely surroundings. That and being chosen by our witty commander over here" she gestured at ruby.
"heck we might even show them that different doesn't always mean bad "
" So my commander" she said in a respecting, soldier esque, speech while facing ruby. "Say the word and this lovely bunch will be at your command"
She said while moving to attention stance and saluting to the young halfling.
As each of you make your introduction, Ruby stares wide-eyed up at you (This halfling child is just over 2 feet tall, even Pumpkin and Chan look impressively large next to her) and shyly courtsies. ”Thank you all for joining” she squeaks ”Let’s show my mother our worth.”
Rodrik laughs heartily and hands you one end of the rope. ”The rules are simple,” he explains, eyeing the strange visitors Ruby selected for her team. ”on the count of three, each team tries to pull the other towards this line-” he points at a line drawn in the center of the stage. ”The team who’s members first cross the line loses” He nods at his teammates - stoic and burly defenders of Jacksville - then looks at you. ”Ready?”
Pumpkin chuckles, "Hugh, always the joker, you surely remember my brother..." he pauses briefly, trying to calculate their age differences, "well, if not then you must, you two have lots in common, you even apprenticed with the same Blacksmith" he switches his gaze to Black Jack, wondering whether he caught up with aunt Sarah yet.
The pale human made him chuckle again, awkwardly. Unsure who she meant for when she said "different" and too polite to even ask.
"well well, the prodigal blacksmith returns. I've heard some stories... In any case, let's not keep our lady waiting, shall we?"
Hugh flashes Ruby a smile, and steps up to the rope, grabbing a firm hold
"lets do this!"
"One... Two... Three!" Rodrick announces, and you feel the sudden pull on the rope. Though you are 7, against only 2, the McJack brothers are surprisingly strong. Your pull hard... your hands start to burn... and barely manage to pull them a little closer. It was really close to losing your balance a couple of times, but somehow you were able to pull them in some 5 feet.
Hugh's arrogant smile is replaced by a look of determination as a new-found respect for his adversaries grows in him. he braces and
Your determination pays off. Again you surprise the brothers and yank the rope when they don't expect, and they give! You gain a few more feet. Rodrik and his brother have a surprised/impressed look on their face. All around you, the crowd begins to cheer!
"alright Ruby, we're almost there! we can do this!"
Hugh concentrates and then
Fate smiles upon you yet again. Inch by inch, you pull the struggling brothers towards the line that marks their defeat. They huff and puff, bear their teeth, the veins on their neck are bulging - but they are inevitably dragged to the cusp of their defeat. Their toes are almost touching the line now, and they're trying to pull one last effort...
All around you, the crowd yells and cheers even louder.
"Alright Ruby, ready for a big finish? lets not let these...bullies keep you from winning this on your big day, eh?"
Hugh concentrates, the veins on the back of his neck seem to pulse, and he seems to look a little larger initiate controllable rage for one round
The brothers yell "Not that fast, kids" as they coordinate a well formed heave that catches Hugh offguard (he was too preoccupied focusing on keeping his temper in check), and he stumbles and your whole team loses a few feet.
"I guess they aren't Jacksville's finest defenders for nothing, eh? Still, not to worry, we got this!"
Hugh grits his teeth and
"You got that right. I admire your spirt, m'boy, but we're not through yet." The brothers suddenly jerk the rope back but with sheer strength you manage to hold on. You spend a few moments struggling in stalemate.
"When this is over, and we'd have won, you two will have a drink with us and tell us who taught you how to pull such good rope..."
Hugh is clearly getting irritated at how much trouble 2 little defenders are giving him. Sweat is beading off his forehead and he is breathing heavily
"I'm going to need to sit down for a bit once this is done" he mutters right before he
"I heard yo' mama pulled some mighty rope and lived to tell the ta- OUMPHHH" Rodrik's comment was cut short as you pulled the rope with a sudden burst of strength that sent the brothers flying to the ground, and you immediately drag them both over the line.
The spectators cheer and clap their hands at the grand finale, and the throng swoops in and pick up Ruby on their shoulders for further celebration. If you look fast enough, you can see her mouthing a quiet "Thank you" before she disappears in the crowd.
The brothers get up and brush the dust off their clothes. Rodrik steps closer, offers his hand sportsmanlike, and beams at you. "That was spectacular! One of the best games I played, and we've done quite a few of these the last couple of years" He smiles happily at all of you, and nods at the visiting girls "The name's Rodrik. Rodrik McJack. And this here's my brother Kurst". The burly halfling standing behind Rodrik nods solemnly.
"Well, I guess I should have expected nothing less from Sara's apprentices. But you lot worked really well as a team!" He looks curiously at the ladies "May I ask where you ladies hail from? And where have you all acquired such excellent teamwork skills??
chan cheers and laughs at the end of it all
Black-Jack is breathing a little heavier than usual.
That was thougher then I anticipated, what did Pumpkin and Roderick say? Hugh apprenticed under Sarah? That’s nice, He must have been sort of an outcast too, being of giant blood and all.
he looks at Roderick and says ”Teamwork is acquired when people don’t put themselves in front of the team”
"To be frank I think we had the luck of the draw" Manami said slightly embarrassed "A good team takes time to build, and to be frank I just met most of these people..."
"As for my origin: well lets just say that I'm from a place so far away it could be considered a different plain."She said with a bit of an appraising weary glance
”Teamwork is acquired when people don’t put themselves in front of the team”
Kurst nods in agreement. ”True, for all members of the team and especially for its leader” he adds, and winks at Rodrik.
"To be frank I think we had the luck of the draw" Manami said slightly embarrassed "A good team takes time to build, and to be frank I just met most of these people..."
"As for my origin: well lets just say that I'm from a place so far away it could be considered a different plain."She said with a bit of an appraising weary glance
”You got lucky allright!” laughs Rodrik. ”And now that you intrigued me with such a premise, you have to tell me about such far away land! Another night, perhaps? Over a nice Jacksville mead? I’ll buy.”
chan say to Kurst ''it was an honor'' with a smile and a small bow and then smile at Manami and say ''its will be ok, if you wish we can make tee ceremonies or calligraphy anytime you wish to remember home and meantime we will house you as one of aware owne'' with a friendly pat and *thinks* ''home is were your hart is but its doesnt have to be a place'' as his eyes pass over the city walls.
Manami smiles to Rodick and says " mead would be fine, but I think that one wouldn't last through the entire story. let me introduce myself properly"
Manami extends her hand to the halfling "Manami Kimoto, bard, adventurer and author extraordinaire... Well I'm working on the last one" she smiles even wider.
"Still if you want someone to spice up a tale or make a legend that will make people follow you to the mouth of hell" she says while pointing to "I'm your girl. And that's true to all you guys" she looks around at the group around her
Jacqueline's palms throbbed. Looking at them, there were some angry red marks from the rope being pulled and a few splinters stuck in her skin. Funny, you'd think my hands will get used to this kind of things, right?
She heard them all talking, the word "home" being mentioned.
Home.
"I came from here," A hand gesture to the left, "and there." Another to the right.
After the game, Hugh seems to sort of collapse on too the platform. after a few minutes he mutters "I'll be right back" and wanders off toward the well, where he proceeds to pour an entire bucket of water over his head and shoulders. He return to the group much wetter and in better cheer.
"Nice to meet all of you! I know this spot of mud is nice, but there is actually a very nice drinking tent down yonder, and I happen to know the man in charge, so I can get us some slightly less watered down swill to wash down all this talking"