Slowly, but surely the days are shortening... Dawn a bit later, dusk a bit earlier every day and those autumn chills are starting to make people huddle in their cloaks.
Luckily for Kassen, the harvest is going well with the bounty from the grain fields near the river and the village looking firm and plentiful.
And the time for the harvest festival, to celebrate a successful farming season grows near.
The leaves on the trees are changing, from vibrant green, to dull green and some yet to oranges and brown. Winter is upon us and with winter, a time of uncertainty always comes. Did we do enough? Are the stores well filled?
As the season changes though, there is always a highlight before the snows. The harvest festival. A celebration of a good summer, a summer that filled the food stores with enough bounty of the land to make it through. In a simple remote village as Kassen, a good harvest means a good winter. As longs as the Orcs from Belkzen don't get too feisty, it should be a simple winter. The harvest seem to have been plentiful, and the hunters and rangers around the village have managed to bring in fair amounts of deer and boar meat to be salted for the long cold season.
The fishermen had a good summer as well, catching enough pike, and halibut, and trout and even salmon to have built up a reserve of salted and smoked fish to see the village through the cold season.
With no external threats from Orcs or other humans, and with the food stores filled as much as one could hope for, all of Kassen is looking forward to having a great harvest celebration. Who knows maybe there will even be fireworks!
But first traditions must be paid their dues. A remembrance of when the young village of Kassen was threatened to being extinguished by a band of mercenaries lead by a mighty fighter holding a grudge against its founder. Days when the very existence of the village hung on a thread so slim, it was almost invisible.
And they overcame, but not without the sacrifice of the life of their founder.
And so the age old tradition of Kassen comes in.. Five days before the actual celebration of harvest happens, a number of people are sent out to the tomb of Kassen himself to retrieve the light from his crypt, so that it may be suspended in the Greathall and keep the village safe through the cold and snowy days of winter.
A lantern hung up near the roof of the Greathall.
A lantern that signifies... Kassen is still watching us. And defending us.
Three days before the Kassen day, as it is colloquialloy known, the mayor is in doubt...
Are we sure they are all ready? This is a big tradition...
Mayor Jonark and and Guard Captain Gregor Wisslo discuss for a while and finally the mayor decides...
My election is coming up this year. Sending out the youngsters on what is really a fairly harmless trip boosts my votes a lot more than sending out a group of old men. This year we are having a year where we send out the youngsters. Those that haven't been. Four years ago it secured me the election and it will this time as well.
The leader of the town guard shifts uneasily...
Sir yes sir!
Mayor Uptal:
Then have the invitations delivered by your guards in the morning. I want to meet them at noon. You have your orders Guard Captain.
Guard Captain Gregor stares at the mayor for a moment and then simply responds...
[b] Sir yes sir! [b]
And walks out of the greathall...
.
You wake up to an overcast but otherwise gentle late summer, or early fall Starday in the middle of Rova. The sun peeps through the thick clouds here and there as they gently sail northwards overhead.
All looks quiet and peaceful as it often does in a small rural town like Kassen, where the most exciting thing ever to happen as long as you remember is a rare orc incursion every once in a while...
And then... *THUMP*
Someone is knocking at your door.
"Go away," Jilhanna shouts crossly.
"I worked late last night. It's someone else's shift."
The harvest celebrations have already started for some, and they all seemed to have gathered at the Seven Silvers Tavern last night.
Ford had been up early - being part of a farming family will lead to an early rise - feeding the chickens while his father had gone out with the farmhands to see to the cows. While his mom was cleaning food for breakfast, his cat Jasper run out and bounced in place trying to get his master's attention. Waving a hand to the cat, the feline suddenly sprouted a loud, scratchy voice. "Hey, Old Man! Someone's at the door, I heard 'em thumping! Get it! GET IT!"
Ford shook his head, tossing the rest of the feed to the birds, warning Jasper not to got picking a fight with the roosters again, and heading inside, through the kitchen (giving his mom and little sister a hug for the morning) before heading to the front door and opening it. "Morning, stranger! What brings you out here so early?"
Goldi was already up early helping her mom bake cookies for the upcoming travelers to light the lantern.
You think I can go this year mom? Truffles really would love to go and he's been real good. he hasen't run through the market in over a week, and even longer since he got into the trash at the Silvers Inn.
Relax my little "Sugar bowl", You know that Olmira has been very vocal about you going this year, Lilly (her mom) responded, besides I am sure that the time you and truffles are away the town can make more preparations in peace. adding in a little jokingly.
mom! Truffles might be listening Goldi retorts, as she sneaks a cookie.
suddenly there is a thump on the door, I'll get it! Goldi yells with a mouth full of cookie sending crumbs all over, which Truffles snorts his way over to lick up rather quickly.
As Goldi opens the door, Hi Olmira she says expecting her mentor to be at the door, before even looking at who was actually there.
Aisling
A burly town guard named Darren Vargidan is standing there holding a piece of paper.
Miss Aisling, you have a summons from the mayor. You are to be at town hall at noon.
He thrusts the piece of paper at you.
Jilhanna
*THUMP*
Town business madam. I have a letter from the mayor for you.
Ford
One of the younger town guards is at the door. You don't really know his name but you remember seeing him before, maybe when Father Prasst set his shoulder after a training exercise that went wrong?
Good morning! Ford Benett? I've some news for you! Look!
He enthusiastically hands over a piece of rolled up piece of paper to you.
Look! The mayor's seal! And in the middle of Rova, that can only mean one thing right? Right??
The guard stands there beaming like, almost like a child.
Goldilocks
You may have been expecting Olmira, but the person at the door is "Chubby Cheswick", as you know him, the oldest of the town guards. And of course you know him because of the many times he's admonished you whenever you, or Truffles, usually Truffles, were seen doing something untoward...
Like that time when Truffles went and grabbed an apple and munched it up at the farmer's market, and you and Truffles just ran laughing with an irate farmer pointing at you yelling Thief! Get the thief!!
Chubby Cheswick caught you that time, more by luck by being in the right alleyway at the right time, rather than an athletic pursuit. And much as he admonished you at first for the theft of that apple, in the end he went and paid for the apple himself.
Hey Goldilocks. I guess you kind of know already what this is about as Olmira can't possibly have kept this a secret... Should be some fun for you and that beast...
He hands you a rolled up paper with the mayor's seal on it.
Jilhanna gets up, opens the door, and peers out with a grumpy look on her face.
"I didn't do it! Whatever you think I did, it wasn't me!" she says rudely.
"Leave me alone."
She takes the letter and shuts the door. The she opens it again abruptly.
"Why me? What did I ever do to get sent to some old guy's crypt?" she wails, but she knows she can't turn down this 'request' from the mayor.
"Ok, ok. I'll be there at noon."
She shuts the door again, but can be heard muttering angrily as she goes around the room picking up her things and stuffing them into a backpack.
Ford smiled at the door. He recalled this kid... then again, he wasn't that much younger than Ford himself. Taking the rolled up paper, he unfurled it and had a look at the contents. "To be fair, it could mean a lot of things... but I think I know what you're getting at. Seems winter is moving in on us... time for someone to make the trek!"
Ford's eyes scanned over the note, humming a bit and mumbling to himself as he read. "Fondest greetings, Mr. Benett... blah blah blah... yadda yadda... ah! As such, your presence is requested at the Mayor's residence no later than noon today! Welp... better not keep the man waiting!"
Heading back inside, Ford grabbed his armor and bow, told his mom and sister the good news, and slipped on his boots. "No telling when I'll be back!" he called back, before heading for the door. "Well then... let's see what the good mayor has to say!"
Goldilocks
You may have been expecting Olmira, but the person at the door is "Chubby Cheswick", as you know him, the oldest of the town guards. And of course you know him because of the many times he's admonished you whenever you, or Truffles, usually Truffles, were seen doing something untoward...
Like that time when Truffles went and grabbed an apple and munched it up at the farmer's market, and you and Truffles just ran laughing with an irate farmer pointing at you yelling Thief! Get the thief!!
Chubby Cheswick caught you that time, more by luck by being in the right alleyway at the right time, rather than an athletic pursuit. And much as he admonished you at first for the theft of that apple, in the end he went and paid for the apple himself.
Hey Goldilocks. I guess you kind of know already what this is about as Olmira can't possibly have kept this a secret... Should be some fun for you and that beast...
He hands you a rolled up paper with the mayor's seal on it.
Goldi's eyes grow wide in excitement. she never even opens the letter, but instead she jumps up to hug Chubby.
eventually letting go she runs back into the kitchen, MA! PA! look, I'm gonna go this year! she yells with excitement.
meanwhile Truffles craws out from under a table almost knocking it over. with several snorts he sniffs around Chubby's feet.
he can almost sense that Truffles under stood that beast comment.
Either way, all of you got the summons. Some met with excitement, some not so much. There is little question what this could be about... The harvest festival is drawing near, and, that means someone will have to go and do the traditional trek towards Kassen's crypt.
Jilhanna stops at the kitchen on her way to the town square.
"These humans do not properly observe mealtimes. I'll bet they're going to limit me to three meals a day. Can I take some snacks to tide me over for Second Breakfast, and Elevenses, and Afternoon Tea, and Supper?"
After filling in all the empty spaces in her backpack, and adding a few tasty bits to the sack at her belt, she leaves the inn and makes her way to the town square just as the noon bells ring from the tower.
Ford makes the march from his family farm to the town square, bow slung over his shoulder. Seeing Jilhanna at the square ahead of him, he smiles and gives a wave. "Jil!" he called out, jogging to close the gap. He recalled meeting her a couple times at the tavern, moreso for delivering foods his family supplied for the Seven Silvers than any sort of real merriment. But she always had a good joke, and was a hard worker, so she was easy to get along with.
"Good to see ya! You happen to get a summon from the mayor?" he asked as he got closer. "It's gettin' to be that time of year. You know what that means... about time to pay Kassen a visit! How's Jimes doing?"
The calm of the town square is broken as a cart is suddenly flipped over as a small boar all decked out in pink and red ribbons and multi-colored painted hooves.
SNORT...SNORT...SNORT the boar snorts charging directly toward Jilhanna.
Truffles! comes the next familiar voice. a halfling girl with her toenails painted to match the hooves of the boar is chasing the boar.
I'm so sorry, I'll pay you back, I promise she calls to the cart owner, now cursing at Truffles as he runs by.
Truffles plows right into Jilhanna knocking her to the ground and licking her like a puppy, and sniffing her all over looking for snacks.
Truffles, stop that! I'm so sorry Goldi tries to pull Truffles off of Jil.
Jilhanna shoves Truffles aside. "Not for you, pig boy."
She stands up and hugs Goldi, whispering as she does, "I brought food to keep our strength up. These humans and their starvation diets. Hours between meals!!
"Hey Ford, good to see you too! Jimes is fine, but I guess the tavern is going to have to function without me for a few days. Looks like I've been included in your little local ghost story."
Goldi returns the hug, and secretly produces a fresh baked cookie she took from Ma's kitchen shhhh, a preview of what Ma made for us before heading out. she whispers offering half the cookie to her friend and shoving the other half in her mouth.
she turns to see Ford Oh, shorry, didn't shee you, you wan a cookie too? she says (mouth full of cookie) as she searches for another cookie in her pockets.
"The hells-!?" Ford blinked, drawing his bow as the cart flipped and nocking an arrow before realizing who the big pig belonged to... Goldilocks. He wasn't surprised. Putting away his bow and arrow, Ford placed his hands on his hips. "Goldi, isn't that about the third tipped bit of property this week?" he asked. Well... at least they wouldn't lose track of either of them!
Lifting a hand and waving it, he shook his head. "No thanks. My sis Sarsia actually made a pretty good batch of eggs this morning. Still full." he patted his belly. "I know what you mean. My dad was in the fields herding the cows. When he gets back, he'll probably have a different kind of cow once my mom and sis give him the news."
"So that's three... I feel like there should be more than that."
When Aisling speaks up, however, Ford jumps a bit, spinning around and blinking. After a moment, he leans down to get a better look under the hood. "...oh! Aisling! Good to see you! Don't scare me like that."
He recalled hearing the awful news about the Frost-Wing family... poor Aisling. She seemed to just completely withdraw after the fiasco... he couldn't blame her, though he did think it was a bit unhealthy to shut herself in like she had. Maybe he could coax her out of that shell on this trip.
With the sun still rising higher in the sky, promising a hot and dry day, at least for the season.
The town square of Kassen is quite cozy actually, with some of the most important buildings in town on its edges.
The Greathall, a fairly large wooden building to the north, the temple of Erastil, the only stone building in town, to the south.
To the west there is the Seven Silvers Inn, where afterparties tend to occur after any official business in the Greathall, and the Town Watch headquarters to the East.
At what is probably just about around exactly noon, the bells on the temple start tolling twelve times, and at the same time two town guards walk out of their headquarters to the Greathall, open the doors and motion you inside.
Jilhanna looks suspiciously at the guards, and sidles through the door, taking a position toward the back, but where she can climb on a bench and see clearly.
Ford, on the other hand, confidently leads the way inside, nodding politely to the guards as he passed. If he was going to found his own village at some point, he needed to start practicing taking the lead as soon as he could. "Sounds like the mayor is ready to see us.
Inside the Greathall, it's clear that preparations for the Harvest Festival have not yet started, at least not here. The heavy oaken tables and benches that would be spread around the hall for such an occasion are all still neatly stacked in the back corners.
Way up high in the rafters, Ekat Kassen's lamp still hangs as well.
On the side of the hall, two staircases leading up to the second and third floor, and at the side of the bulding there seem to be a number of offices and other side rooms. The door to one of the offices is open, presumably the one you would be looking for.
The guard replies simply: Yes indeed, his office door should be open, you can't miss it.
Jilhanna sighs at the site of the human-sized stairs, and starts making her way up them with some effort.
When she reaches the top, she carefully peers around the open door, not sure what to expect inside
This may just be the most opulent room in all of the village, or would that be the priciest room in the Inn? It would be a close call.
Not that that says much, of course. It just means that that one candelabra is actually made of rather unpolished silver (Trelvar Silvers wouldn't let that happen in the in!), there's a nice leather couch in the back corner and the view out the window is the canopy of a birch tree whose branches are almost touching the slightly greenish tinted windows. On the walls there are two paintings, one of the mayor himself and another of a view over Kassen as seen from a nearby hill.
The masterpiece, if you could call it so, is an ash desk, polished to what one would call an acceptable sheen. On it, loads of papers, an inkwell and behind it mayor Jonark Uptal who's scribbling on one of those many papers.
The mayor finishes writing his sentence as he hears you at the office entrance, signs it off, carefully pushes down with a sponge on the piece of paper to dry the ink and places that piece of paper on one of the stacks.
Those land disputes, one day they will be the end of me... he mumbles under his breath.
Then he finally looks up. All of a sudden it's like someone cast a spell on him. Three seconds ago, tired bureaucrat, and now he greets you with a warm smile.
Aah miss Meadbottom! Welcome welcome! My apologies for not coming round myself to talk to you and the others, but as you see these stacks never seem to shrink....
Jilhanna looks around
Fancy digs for a small-town mayor. Wonder where the money came from to set this up?
"Burn them. Would anyone even know the difference?"
Burn them? But the Darcy family claims that one field including the Bingley Brook is on their land... So does the Bennet family and there is no clear paperwork for either... But I am babbling.
The mayor has another look at that particular piece of paper and puts it on a stack, not the same stack it was on not 5 minutes ago...
The Mayor smiles again, broadly.
Aah but I get carried away sometimes with these smaller, but of course important, issues from time to time.
The mayor stands up and walks around his desk, and extends his hand to the both of you.
Miss Frostwing,, Miss Meadbottom.. Surely you must have guessed what this would be about...
He twirls his mustache before he speaks again...
You see the next pilgrimage to Kassen's Tomb is mere days away and obviously we need... people to go and retrieve the everburning flame of our founder for the harvest festival.
I think, I really think the lot of you are ready to have this adventure. And don't worry, you walk over to the crypt, light the lantern walk back. Sure it's a 2 day journey on foot but.. The Belkzen Orcs are quiet, after the last time Captain Gregor showed them what's what.
The mayor chuckles...
I did this a long time ago and it was great, spend a few days with your peers out in the wilderness and with the others your age, or thereabouts.
The mayor looks pensive...
He mumbles... And nobody broke a leg on my outing...
Mayor Uptal looks distracted for a second and moves a few papers from one stack to another and probably caused himself another headache..
But here it is... The X are invited to be the guests of honour at this year's festival, and bring us the light of Kassen
The mayor is beaming again, a golden smile, and clearly expecting you all to accept.
"You can burn the papers, but the dispute remains, Jil." Ford replied, chuckling as he followed in after the others and catching wind of her suggestion. "The price of leadership, I'm afraid. But not without rewards." As the mayor gives them a handshake, Ford returns it proudly, nodding.
"Which is us!" he said, trying to come across as enthusiastic without being... obnoxious about it. "And I for one would be honored. I look forward to the chance to test my skills in the wilderness... and it shouldn't be too hard to complete it." he said, looking at the others.
Godi had been spending several minutes trying to tie up Truffles, knowing the last time they let him in the great hall. now you be good, and i'll bring you a real good treat. ok? she says trying to teach Truffles to stay put.
By the time everything is in order, she realizes everyone has left without her.
Hey, where did everyone go? she looks about worried that someone was pulling a prank on her.
She rushes inside the Great hall looking about frantically for the others.
HELLO? you guys in here? Ford? Jil? Creepy girl? she yells looking all about checking doors and hallways.
Jilhanna steps out of the doorway at the top of the stairs
"Up here Goldi. Ford Prefect... umm Ford Benett, I mean, is cheerfully agreeing to a test of our skills in the wilderness."
[Marvellous marvellous. I knew you would not disappoint me, or the rest of the populace.[/b]
The mayor glances at his paperwork again, notices he did put that last piece on the wrong stack and moves it to another one. Possibly even the one where he will really want it.
The mayor continues... As for practical matters, the village will provide backpacks, tents, rations and some other miscellaneous dungeoneering equipment.
The waving of ceremony will be at noontime in three days time, we'll hand out those backpacks, and of course the lantern then.
Jilhanna scolds Goldi
"Aisling isn't creepy, she's just sad!"
Jilhanna starts toward Aisling with her arms open to give her a big hug, but then drops them to her side.
She doesn't look like she's ready for a hug. Maybe a cookie would be better
"Goldi, a cookie might help here."
Jilhanna digs through her belt sack.
"I have a bit of bread. Oh, and some honey!"
Her face brightens as she produces her treasures.
"It's been a long time since Elevenses. Maybe it's even time for lunch," she says hopefully
Goldi smiles and rushes upstairs joining the others.
listening to the information, she also feels a little bad about her creepy girl comment. I guess your right. I still have one last cookie.
Goldi pulls out a cookie, a little smushed but still edible. going over to Aisling, Sorry bout that creepy girl thing, you can have my last cookie, and if you want, Pa is gonna make some of his famous pattoned out of this world moon waffles with honey. you can come over if you want.
Jilhanna perks up.
"Honey!? Waffles?!"
She turns to Aisling.
"Food won't change anything, but it might make it better, eh? You can be sad, but you can still eat good food, right?"
She eyes Aisling speculatively.
"Hugs from your mates make things better too. You want a hug?"
Then she remembers that she is too cool for all this and steps back.
"or maybe not."