As the group wraps up their final arrangements and the last trunks are loaded onto the carriages, Dantrian turns to regard Petros' home of so many years and recalls the day he met the professor the first time. He remembers knocking hastily upon the front the door trying so hard to reign in no small measure of panic and fear.
The professor had helped him preserve his life for at least an extra decade, and now Dantrian was setting out to avenge the shortening of Petros'. The silver-haired alchemist frowns as he considers the dark and bitter irony of it all. He shakes his head, the physical gesture reflecting his mental rejection of that particular train of thought. He double checks the cargo, ensuring that none of Kendra's possession were unintentionally left behind, and once everyone is situated in their respective carriages he signals the drivers to begin the journey to Leipstadt.
The town hall is well under way to being rebuilt by the end of the month, and the citizen's of Ravengro have gathered for an impromptu parade as the coaches ordered from Lepidstadt arrive to pick up Kendra and her house guests. Ms. Lorrimor was able to sell the house to the council, who will resell it when an appropriate buyer appears. In the meantime, it will serve as the temporary Town Hall. The towns citizens wave and cheer as the coaches trundle slowly out of town, weighed down with Kendra and the group's things.
The early part of the journey to Lepidstadt passes without event. They pass fewer and fewer people on the road and more and more ruins, trees and marshes as they go. The first night they stay in the tiny hamlet of Tamrivena, which is even more suspicious and provincial than Ravengro was when they first arrived. There isn't even a proper Inn, though the tavern has three cramped bunk rooms for those too drunk to make it home. The innkeep happily rents them to the group, while their hired drivers sleep in the stables with their draft horses.
The next day they pass through miles of moorland, and the beginning of the dark, dismal foothills of the Tusk Mountains. As dusk is approaching on the second evening, those riding on the coaches can see the flickering light of a few camp fires coming from the side of the road up ahead. As they draw closer, the boxy shapes of nine guadily painted Varisian house wagons resolve themselves out of the gathering gloom. The wagons are circled for the night, providing a sort of common area for their occupants to camp in. Strung between two of the wagons, forming an entrance of sorts to their circle is a tattered cloth banner reading, "The Crooked Kin—Ustalav’s Greatest Traveling Cabinet of Curiosities!"
While not voicing any complaints about the accomodations, there is no doubt that B'yelka is unsettled by the primitiveness of this hamlet. Even the delightful smell of the roasted goat is not enough to bring her around. The Diva picks at her dinner, "Goat. Janos, next time can you hunt down something that doesn't eat garbage for fun?" She does however drink a local beer with the boys, At least it's cleaner than the water...
"Sure, I can go look..." The Ranger trails off and he glances over at her food, then back at his own. "You sure that's goat? Might be some sort of water rat. Seems greasier than goat would be. But water rat is good eating. I bet I can find more around here. Maybe some frogs too." The Ranger seems pleased by their descent into wilderness, but on the odd occasion, you can see a look of frustration cross his face at the lack of amenities.
As they approach the fires, Janos squints into the light, picking out the details sooner than most of the group. "'Traveling Cabinet of Curiosities.' What does that mean? What's a traveling cabinet?"
Its a sideshow! the paladin says delightedly.
The gaudy wagons, despite their scrapes and ostentatious decorations look wonderful to him.
If this isn't a sign I'm on the right path Desna, I don't know what is.
I'm going to say hello.
And it might be safer to join their circle this close to nightfall.
He jumps down from the wagon and approaches the circle with a quick stride.
Hello the camp! he announces himself, heading toward and pockets of light.
Frowning at Janos, B'yelka simply pushes her barely touched plate away. "At least there will be one less water rat sleeping with us in our rooms."
Tibideau only faces mild suffering in the bunkbed accommodations because he has the good sense to calls dibs on a top bunk after seeing the rooms. He sits quietly through most of the journey, staring at nothing and scritching Bonbon's head. He brightens up when they stumble across the whimsical caravan.
"HO! Curiosities! I love curiosities!" he marvels, following Anton to say hello to the people in the camp. Before Anton greets the strangers, Tibideau glances back to the party's carriages and gives Dantrian a concerned look. "Be careful, Gus, you might not want to come over here. There may be... FUN in there..." he warns, eying the circle of wagons suspiciously.
"You mean to suggest they may burn those garrish fabrics you call clothes in a large bonfire? Somehow I doubt that, Mister LeClerc." With his flat tone and perfectly stoic expression, it is difficult to tell if Dantrian meant that as a barb or as a joke.
Janos exits the carriage and helps Kendra down. "Carnival performers, you mean? I've heard of such, but never seen one." He follows Anton towards the fire to greet them.
Drosil enjoys the fresh air and leisurely pace offered by the carriages, and is in good spirits for the entirety of the journey - even the accomodations, while meager, don't phase him. He chuckles at Janos' and B'yelka's comments on the food, and sleeps soundly afterwards.
Upon their approach to the wagon circle, however, he becomes nervous. Curiosities? If they mean to put me in a cage..., but he shakes his head. They won't be able to take us all, and so won't even try...I hope. Still, he decides to hide for a moment, until they determine whether the circle's inhabitants are friend or foe.
Carnival performers, you mean? I've heard of such, but never seen one.
Oh they're great! the paladin replies over his shoulder, genuinely enthusiastic, Janos can see the gleam of his excited grin in the twilight.
My folks were part of a travelling troupe. They were only small but even that caravan had fire eaters, tumblers, contortionists - all sorts. One this size must have some fantastic acts! And they really look after their own, salt of He earth folk, you'll see.
He instinctively fingers the scarf at his throat as he sees some of the same bunting decorating the colourful wagons.
"You mean to suggest they may burn those garrish fabrics you call clothes in a large bonfire? Somehow I doubt that, Mister LeClerc."
"What's that? Burn my clothes? Only if they want to see the family jewels, honey!" Tibideau calls back to Dantrian, winking flirtatiously.
Provincial entertainments. At least it will lighten Anton's heart, and provide some glare to compliment Tibideau. B'yelka smiles at Anton's excitement, "Dear Man, not too salty, I hope! Ruin our palets for tonight's feast if it were." Hearing the exchnage between Dantrian and Tibideau gives B'yelka pause. "Mister Almaeus, how could you disarm our best distraction, bonfire or no?" She winks at Tibideau, encouraging the exchange.
Dantrian shakes his head at Tibideau and brushes aside any thoughts of verbally sparring further with him. "Just be sure to be on your guard, all of you. This is Ustalav, not Varisia or Andoran. While they may well be an innocent troupe of performers, it would be wise to maintain a measure of caution regardless."
Refusing to be cautioned, B'yelka bucks against her teacher, "Besides, who wants to be too close to dirty peasants?" She turns to the last word into a Dantrian-esque sneer. Needle! The Diva looks at Dantrian with a self satisfied smirk, waiting for a reply.
"How does their social status impact the matter, B'yelka? We know nothing of them. That is reason enough to be cautious, is it not?"
Tibideau lays off Dantrian for the time being, and decides to pick on B'yelka a little bit instead. "You don't know any peasants, B'yelka? They're not that dirty. They don't even smell. And these ones are performers, just like you. Well, we hope they're performers. Anyway, the only difference is that they never got to perform in the State Opera House in Egorian. Which could really use new carpeting."
"Maybe you can offer them a song, B'yelka. If they're performers too, then they would probably love to hear you sing."
Mister Almaeus, you know as well as I that social status does matter. Nobility has an entirely different set of crimes than peasants. For example, a wealthy man may steal your home, but leave your person. A vagrant with no wealth will steal your coin as well taking your life. So, yes social status does mean quite a lot."
To Tibideau, "Of course they are that dirty dear Boy."
"Janos, it may be our only way to keep these ruffians at bay, show me in a gilded cage and maybe you all can steal away while they are entranced!" The Diva laughs at the idea and pats Janos' hand in sympathy.
There are nine wagons in the circle, each painted with garish and cartoonish pictures of the troupe's performers. As the group approaches they can hear several voices raised in argument, as well as two children crying and something howling wildly.
There are several people milling about the small camp. The two crying children have small pointed heads, clearly some kind of deformation. Sitting next to them is a ten year old boy, who is covered in hair and howling inconsolably. Crouched down next to them are a seven foot tall woman, with a waist-length beard and an exotic looking Vudrani woman with four arms. They appear to be trying to console the children.
An eight foot tall giant of a man, and a black skinned man with no limbs are facing off with a troupe of three men with extra limbs (one has three legs, the others three arms) and an abnormally short distorted man. They appear to be in the middle of an intense argument, shouting something about fens and someone named Aleece.
As soon as the performers realize that they have guests, they all quiet down, and draw together into a group. They eye the travelers, some with suspicion, others with hope. The bearded woman calls out, "Kaleb, visitors!"
A moment later, an albino man with waist length hair, dressed in a ringmaster's outfit emerges from one of the wagons. He walks up to the group of adventurers. "Greetings, I am Kaleb Hesse and this is my troupe." He studies the group, waiting for them to respond.
Hullo Kaleb, I'm Anton. the paladin says aimiably, extending his hand. And these are my friends.
The name made sense to Anton now. He had heard of such travelling caravans in Varisia but never seenough one. Back home they were unlikely labelled "freak shows." Most often they were a collection of folks who had been ddrawn to eachother tthrough their common ailments or difficulties and earned a hard living as a figure of mirth for a paying public.
It relieved Anton somewhat to see that Kaleb was himself an albino, making it that much more unlikely that he was exploiting these people but rather part of the group himself.
You're a long way from Varisia; Mr Hesse. But your wagons look fantastic! Like they were only painted yesterday. Are you touring? he asks whilst casting several concerned and confused glances over at the arguing performers.
Janos approaches, but is visibly shocked by the group of performers. What are they? Freaks! I wonder if they're dangerous. Unconsciously, his hand drifts to the handaxe at his belt in case it is needed. He ensures he is between the group and Kendra.
"Is everything ok? The, uh, children seem upset."
WHHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAT IS GOING ON IN HERE? Tibideau can barely contain his thoughts, but luckily manages to keep his mouth shut. Even I can recognize when I should contribute absolutely nothing to a conversation. Bonbon sends him the telepathic equivalent of a wise, stoic nod. Tibideau's heart leaps in pity for the crying children, but he still lets the others handle it. He studies the two with the cone-shaped deformations on their heads. I think I saw something about that in the Spring issue of Carter H. Crosby's Marvelous Medical Mysteries. And I DEFINITELY saw something about THAT. He turns his gaze toward the seven foot tall bearded woman.
Anton offers a wave and what he hopes is a friendly smile to the weeping children.
<< | | | >>
Looking to Anton, Kaleb says, "Pleasure to meet you Anton. We're not from Varisia, even though the wagons are. We're heading for Lepidstadt, there's a trial that's going to happen there soon. It has a lot of people in the city. People mean audiences, which mean money." When Janos asks his question, Kaleb turns to reply. "No, actually," he states, looking worried. "One of our members has wandered off into the fens and hasn't come back, Aleece, the pinheads' sister," he says motioning to the two wailing children with microcephaly. "We're all quite worried about her, but we're just harmless performers. I can't risk more of my people heading into those dangerous swamps at night, it would just make things worse." Kaleb raises one eyebrow, looking appraisingly over the group's armor and weaponry. "Maybe you can help. You lot look like you can handle yourselves. If you can go into the fens and find Aleece, I'll give you a magical dagger in return. Please, she's just a child..."
Dantrian stands quietly behind the others, hands clasped behind his back. His gaze sweeps over the group, and though his expression remains stoney he is inwardly surprised to see so many dramatic deformations. His eyes fix on the howling ten year old boy, his head tilting slightly as he considers the child.
The boy likely has some kind of a mutation that causes scattered hair growth. The howling, on the other hand, is probably a learned behavior to dramatize his condition. In fact, I suspect he is perfectly healthy despite his current appearance. Curious. If true, then the boy and I are, in one sense, mirror opposites.
B'yelka steps from the carriage and looks over the camp's occupants. The mix of deformity and freakishness leaves her feeling a mix of schadenfreude, revulsion and guilt. They are people, too. Be kind she reminds herself. With that, she steps down from the running board and approaches Kaleb and Anton. Once there, she politely waits for Anton to introduce her, Are you watching Mr Almaeus? Station matters. She keeps her eyes steadily on Kaleb, though not staring. Odd. His eyes are stricken as well. Pink looks so wrong.
Once properly introduced she offers her hand to Kaleb and drops a shallow curtsy before the master of freaks. "It is my pleasure, Mr Hesse. What is this I overheard about a sweet child gone missing?" Without waiting for a reply, the Diva announces, "Have no worries, I am sure we can find the child! Do you have any idea which direction she wandered off? Where was she when she was last seen?"
"You think she wandered into the swamp?! That can be dangerous even in the daytime and even for the strong. At night and for...others...it can be deadly." Janos breaks eye contact, suddenly realizing the implications behind his words.
But I'm not wrong. A swamp is filled with dangers at night. If one of these deformed freaks wandered off... A child no less! She could be dead in minutes.
He stares at B'yelka as she offers to help find the child.
*She's* offering to trudge through the swamp? Light, she'll be just as bad as the child! He shakes his head. Except that she has you, you fool. You can keep them all safe if you pay attention.
Janos sighs and unpins his sable cloak. He hands it to Kendra. "This will just get dirty and weigh me down, love. You stay here with the carriage." He glances back at the performers. "And these folks. I can't be worried about you too in there." He leans close to her and whispers. "Watch yourself, and stay in the carriage if you need. Scream at the top of your lungs if they try anything. I'll be here in a flash."
The Ranger secures his handaxe on his belt and the magic longsword to his back. He repeats the singer's question. "Ok, where was she last?"
He looks at his friends. "Well, who's coming? You're going to get dirty and wet. A swamp is not a clean place."
"If a child is in danger than I should hazard a guess that we shall all be accompanying you, Janos, regardless of the environs." His words, while meant for Janos, do not tear his attention from the boy, whom he still regards intently.
Drosil, seeing that there is a need for their abilities, steps out of the shadows. "He's right - let's find the child." To Kaleb, he says, "I don't mean to be rude, but how does Aleece...figure into your troupe, exactly? Erm, what does she look like, how is she dressed, and the like."
Kaleb responds to Janos and B'Yelka first. "No one is sure exactly when she wandered off or where. Last place someone saw her was over by the morlock cage," Kaleb says, pointing over to a stack of four cages containing two goblin dogs, a giant frog and a miserable looking morlock. "She likes to sing the evil little bastard for some reason." Then the leader of the troupe turns to answer Dorsil. "She's a pinhead, just like her sisters there," he says, pointing to the still sniffling girls next to the bearded lady. "She's about this tall, and was wearing a little pink dress," he continues making gestures with his hands.
Taking charge, B'yelka asks Janos, "Can you start finding the trail?" To Tibideau she says, "Walking boots, Beautiful Boy, zak zak!" She shooes him away. "Anton, Drosil, can you ask the others if they know anything, or saw, heard anything odd?" Truning her attention back to Kaleb she apolgizes, "Mr Hesse, please forgive us that we are going to need a moment to get ready for overland travel." She turns back to the carriage and enters it. After much rocking, and several minutes, she steps out from the other side. Modesty demands this be done in private, and I can't do it sitting down! She finishes the laces on her corset and steps around the carriage towards the party. Mr Almaeus, are we ready? Anton? Janos, Drosil? Where is Tibideau!"
It is hard work being a hero! But not any harder than getting ready for opening night. B'yelka smiles, her mind running in step with her, And this our troupe's second show!
Anton tries to read the man’s bodylanguage to establish if anything, besides the missing child, is amiss.
But the man’s albino heritage makes him difficult to read.
Nevertheless, a child’s life was at stake and these people were not capable of risking the swamp to rescue her.
Seeing Janos remove his cloak, Anton follows suit and shoulders off his greatcoat, stowing it quickly in the carriage.
We will find her if we can Mr Hesse. Keep everyone here. If they follow with intentions of helping they may become lost themselves.
He approaches the crying children, giving a small reassuring nod to the huge bearded lady.
Hello, you pretty things! Anton says. Come now, no need to cry. Tears won’t wash out of that lovely dress, don’t you know that? his blue eyes glittering in the firelight, his smile bright and honest. Mr Hesse over there says your friend Aleece has gone missing? I was wondering if you could be really, really brave for me and tell me if you saw which way she went? Or anything that might help us find her.
Returning to the ranger he says;
Janos, this is your domain so I will follow in your steps. Drosil, your eyes are keenest at night and will be invaluable here. he checks his arrows and the draw tension of his bow and, satisfied; Everyone ready?
Janos steps over to the morlock cage, sparing a pitiful glance at the creature inside. He glances at the ground, instantly seeing the tracks Aleece had made. He looks back up to the Albino man.
The children are probably harmless and the one with no arms and legs can't do much. But that huge man and the woman could do some damage. The Albino has a sinister look to him as well. And the four armed freak...who knows what he could do. We approached them, but it would be an excellent ruse.
"This way. Tracks are fresh." He looks back at Kendra, then to the Albino. In a low voice he says, "If you touch her, you'll all be like your no-armed friend there."
Tibideau looks at B'yelka like she's lost her mind, but he continues to keep his mouth shut. He goes back to the carriage to get his bag and follows Janos's lead.
OOC* On my phone so you'll have to forgive the lack of formatting. Any attempts to sense the troupe's motives reveal they aren't hiding anything or obviously lying. I'll update the rest when I get home later, or tomorrow after work.
Dantrian watches coldly as members of the group scatter into sudden, clumsy motion. He pinches the bridge of his nose as he waits for B'yelka to finish changing and Anton to stop smiling at crying children. He quietly sighs to himself.
Better to act the part and begin following the child's trail immediately than to waste time dressing the part. Better also to actually find the girl than waste time placating her wailing sisters at the risk of being too late. These delays may well cost this child her life.
His gaze drifts over to Janos and the trail that wends into the boggy fens beyond and a wave of sorrow briefly washes over his face for a moment before he is able to summon up his mask of stoicism once more. Janos may be well acclimated to these environs, but even he may find it difficult to follow the girl's trail before too long. Should that happen, will they ask me to use my curse? I can only hope Janos has the skills necessary to discern the child's trail.
Dantrian gathers himself then, as B'yelka still rocks about within one of the carriages, and walks over to Janos, his every step measured and deliberate as he keeps his hands still clasped behind his back. Amidst the chaos, he appears calm and controlled. He regards the ranger, "Am I right in assuming that the danger to the child increases with every minute she remains lost in the bog? If so, we should not tarry any longer than is absolutely necessary."
HP: 31/31
AC: 15 (11 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 17
F/R/W: +5/+5/+1
Spontaneous Healing used: 0/10hp
Hero Points used: 1/4
Prepared Mutagen: Strength (scent) [ ]
Prepared 1st Level Extracts (3+1): cure light wounds [ ], shield [ ], open [ ], open [ ]
Prepared 2nd Level Extracts (1+1): ablative barrier [ ], false life [ ]
-Ongoing Effects-
"Possibly, Dantrian. If she's still out there running around, then yes. Every minute increases the chance she wanders into danger or simply falls and hurts herself. However, at this point, she may have found some refuge. If so, then she may be ok for most of the night. Longer than that, and infection, swamp rot, and dehydration become worries. In this cold, hypothermia is a possibility too." He looks at the others preparing.
"But if you're saying sooner is better than later to begin searching, then yes. We may need all the time we have."
He asks Kaleb. "Do you have any idea why she might have gone off on her own? Was she interested in something or looking for something?"
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The troupe assures the adventurers again that they don't know where or when she wandered off. Aleece's two sisters are the only ones who may have seen something, and they are unable to provide any information due to being hysterical and mentally handicapped. Too many minutes were already wasted talking to the freaks, they needed to go now or the girl will certainly have frozen to death.
Janos leads the way, following the tiny footprints in the mud. The tracks run for about half a mile as they head down into a boggy river valley, and then into a densely vegetated, midge-infested marsh. The marsh is a shallow bog with high reeds between 6 and 8 feet tall. Aleece’s tracks soon all but vanish under the water.
Heavy undergrowth costs 4 squares of movement to move into and provides concealment with a 30% miss chance (instead of the usual 20%). It increases the DC of Acrobatics checks by 5. Heavy undergrowth is easy to hide in, granting a +5 circumstance bonus on Stealth checks.
Very cold water deals 1d6 points of nonlethal damage from hypothermia per minute of exposure.
Shallow bogs have deep mud or standing water of about 1 foot in depth. It costs 2 squares of movement to move into a square with a shallow bog, and the DC of Acrobatics checks in such a square increases by 2. Both shallow and deep bogs increase the DC of Stealth checks by 2.
B'yelka looks at the tangled morass in front of her and shudders inwardly. Maybe this is the hard part of being a hero... She looks to Janos and gains comfort in his confidence. The swamp rat knows ground like this! She looks to Tibideau and jokes, "This definitely means the boys are buying us new shoes in Lepidstadt!" The Diva pulls her scarf over her hair and then follows Janos as he continues to pursue Aleece into the filthy quagmire ahead.
This water is freezing! What could have caused her to run off into this mire? Did she have an arguement with somene, feel threatened? Questions for when we find her. If we find her..
Janos, can you still follow this? B'yelka, could you give us some more light please?
Janos steps through the mud, seeming always to know where to step to find solid ground. "Take care. What looks like ground may be nothing more than floating reeds and mud. Step where I step." He purposely creates harder impressions than normal to allow the rest to see where he's putting his feet.
When the trail goes underwater, the Ranger stops for a moment, but finds the signs of disturbance easily enough. Now away from the troupe, he voices his concerns. "If she's still alive, she's wet and very cold. She might be suffering from hypothermia by now. She could be delusional too."
He continues following the trail.
All the more reason for us to make haste. You can read this terrain like it's telling you a story, my friend - we'll find her. I just hope it's in time.
Anton continues to carefully place his feet where Janos tells him to. The last thing they need is to get injured themselves in this swamp.