Jaed grins at Jimes. "Food, dancing and singing? That sounds good! What do you say Finnrick? It may do us good to chill out for a while."
Soon, much to Carrakas' relief, the ship is docking in the port of the city. Farouq excuses himself to take care of customs, giving you all a chance to pack up all of your belongings. While you wait, you notice that many of the dockworkers are wearing clothes similar to Farouq's, though theirs are splashed with violet, crimson, amber, jade, and all manner of different colors. Though you don't see anyone currently actively throwing dye around. Evidently work still manages to get done during the celebration. Farouq returns shortly, bearing a white robe for each of you. "By chance do any of you speak Vudrani? I am afraid Taldane is not as common in the Kingdom of the Impossible outside of the merchants and such. Though if you wish I can escort you to one of the inns in the commerce district and help you procure lodgings. The Ebony Elephant has a good reputation, and the owner knows enough Taldane well enough."
Jimes claps Jaed heartily on the back. "That's the spirit! Though, you may wish to change in to these clothes first." He pulls two simple, white robes out of his bag and hands one each to you, a huge grin on his face. He gives you both a chance to change, refusing to answer any questions about why exactly you're wearing them. Olmira is no better, merely humming happily in response to all inquiries. Once dressed, Jimes continues while Olmira starts dancing around a nearby tree. "Now, in addition to the food, drink, and dancing, I gather there tends to be competitions you can participate in. Feats of skill and cunning and the ilk. Make sure to join in a few and make us Taldanes look good."
You have just enough time to wonder where exactly they're sending you that you'd be labeled as "Taldanes" when Jimes shoves you both towards the tree Olmira had been prancing about. You reach out your hands to brace yourselves against the bark only to find yourselves stepping through the tree and to a completely differently location, noticeably warmer than when you just were. It's actually a rather pleasant change. You seem to be under a large tree in a city of some sort. The air is a heady cloud of fragrant flavors, and sounds of music and joyous shouts in a foreign tongue are all around. All the inhabitant seem to be wearing white robes similar to yours, but splattered with a myriad of different colors. Vermilion, azure, topaz, viridian, and almost every other bright color you can think of. You actually kind of stick out in comparison. And it seems a small group of maybe half a dozen children between the ages of 5 and 10 have spotted you. They're eagerly pointing in your direction and waving more friends over.
With big grins, the group of now a dozen or so children swarm towards you, whooping and crying out. The reason for Jimes insistence upon changing soon becomes clear as you're pelted with handfuls of colorful dye by the exuberant youths. Not even Millsy is spared from the christening. She sneezes as one handful of powder harmlessly hits her square in the face. Their missions now accomplished, most of the younger children run off giggling. A few of the older ones wait, looking at the two you with expectant grins.
After an awkward pause, an elderly man with a long, wispy, at one time white but currently a mix of violet and pink, beard waddles over to you. "वे चाहते हैं कि आप उन्हें रंगों के साथ भी अनुग्रह दें।" Seeing that you don't understand , he places a bag of brightly colored powder if each of your hands and pantomimes throwing it at the remaining children, who have started to squirm excitedly.
Marzela puts on the white robe.
I think we will take you up on your offer to help us secure lodgings at the Ebony Elephant. I don't speak Vudrani, but I would like to learn. I'm going to cast Comprehend Languages on myself so that I can follow along and try picking it up a little bit.
She casts Comprehend Languages.
Why do they call it the Kingdom of the Impossible? What is Impossible about it?
Jaed is not thrilled about wearing a robe again. It brings back non happy memories. "Some competition. Good. That's always a good way to improve," he replies to Jimes.
"That's an original mean of transportation," the rogue tells Finnrick as they step out of the tree.
Jaed's robe ends up more colorful than he would like because he was more focused on the children hands not getting on his precious belongings than on the dye. When the old man approaches he tries to communicate in all the languages he learned in his childhood: Common, Dwarven, Elven and Gnome. "Do you know where are the food and drinks? And the nice looking dancers, of course?" He waits for a response but not wanting to be seen as an ungrateful foreigner he goes with it and throws the colored powder at the children.
"What now, Finnrick? Should we go for a walk?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As he talks, Farouq leads you all east, out of the docks and towards the commerce district. Once away from the docks, you begin to see more people relaxing, dancing, eating, and generally celebrating. Children laugh as they chase each other. The air is a heady cloud of fragrant flavors, and music can be heard from somewhere. You soon notice, however, that you've started to draw the attention of some of the locals. An exuberant group starts to approach you, but stops short when they get a closer look at Carrakas. They quickly begin conversing with each other while shooting worried looks your way. Farouq steps forward to greet them. "दोस्तों, नाबाद रहो। हम रंगों के त्यौहार का जश्न मनाने के लिए यहां हैं। आओ और हमें अपने रंगों से आशीर्वाद दें।"
The group still seems hesitant, but a young girl, perhaps around 3 or 4, comes waddling up. She smacks Carrakas just below the knee, leaving a tiny, fuschia handprint on his robe. She chortles gleefully at the effect and continues to hit Carrakas a few more times. She grins up at him, her smile missing several teeth. Laughing, Farouq picks the girl up, which she takes as her queue to dump her bag of powder on top of his head. This seems to be all the encouragement the rest of the crowd needs as they quickly begin hurling their own colored powder at you all. Before starting to throw his own teal powder around, Farouq quickly hands you each your bag of bright ammunition -- "In case you wish to retaliate.".
The children scream in glee as their already colorful robes gain another layer to them. They then run off to join their friends, yelling "Zubhaa vizarat!" back at you as they go. Now apparently properly greeted, the two of you begin to wander around. You admire the bright paintings of rainbows and flowers on some of the walls, including a few elaborate illusions of flowing auroras and one wall where throwing colored powder at it seems to cause a small explosion of color that coalesces into a flower before disappearing.
You manage to find several food stalls and order a few snacks to eat on the go by way of pointing. One item seems to be some kind of lightly battered, crispy onion balls while another seems to be some kind of savory mushroom muffin thing. Both are delicious, but the spices are much hotter than you're used to, leading you to quickly buy a few drinks to wash it down with, much to the amusement of the locals.
The two of you eventually come to an open square of sorts. On the far side there appears to be some people shooting arrows at the leaves of a tall tree for some reason. On the nearer side is some kind of wooden dummy dressed in a many-pocketed garment. As you watch, a man approaches the dummy, stopping just under an arm's length from it. A second man yells something, and the first man begins rapidly poking the dummy. After about half a minute of this, there's a soft jingle following by a small explosion of turquoise enveloping both the dummy and the man, accompanied by laughter from the crowd of onlookers.
Just then Jaed is distracted by two sharp tugs by the waist of his robe. Looking down, he sees the widely grinning face of a young boy, perhaps 10 or 11 years old. He looks well fed, but his clothes have clearly seen better days, sporting numerous patches of different material on them. Having gotten your attention, he immediately begins rapidly talking in the same foreign language as the old man. He frowns briefly when he realizes you can't understand him. Then he tries again, in broken Common this time. "You foreigners, yes? Speak Taldane, yes? I have verrrry good offer for you. You want buy bracelet? Very pretty. Verrrry much much good luck. You like boy? You like girl? You give to them. Make very good present. They fall very much in love with you. How much you buy?" He holds up bracelets made of brightly colored string woven into a variety of patterns for your inspection.
Finnrick smiles at the boy and Jaed, "You buy that and you'll have to choose just 1 girl to give it to." the half elf laughs and gives Jaed a pat on the back. This place truly is a place where a man's spirits can be lifted and he can forget his troubles for a while.
Finnrick casts detect magic on the bracelet to see if maybe it does have the power to help someone fall in love with the giver, of if it's just a beautiful piece of wearable art.
Marzela tells Farouq I haven't heard of any of that. How interesting. We will definitely have to look around.
Seeing that the people are afraid of Carrakas, Marzela does her best to repeat what Farouq said:
In Vudrani: No fear. We Yoliarty. Color us.
It doesn't come out quite right, but the people seem to be getting into the spirit. Marzela puts a big green handprint right on Carrakas' chest, showing that he won't get mad or fight her. ... At least with weapons.
While she's at it, she gives Lily a long green stripe down the back of her head. Looking good, Lily. She grins.
She sprays the kids around them with green as well, enjoying the sense of frivolity that seems to be present. It feels good.
"Mmm, only one? I'm still too young to settle down!" Jaed jokes. However, the bracelets catch his eye so he takes one and inspects it.
"How much for one?" The rogue articulates each word clearly.
Carrakas tries to look friendly at the scared children, though his smiles may leave something to be desired. Luckily, between their guide and Marzela, everyone seems to loosen up. The tiefling looks mock-offended, but then grins when given ammunition of his own as he gently splashes some color back onto the young girl who first approached him. "This young one has courage! Well done!" he says with a smile.
Just for good measure, he waits until Lily and Marzela are focused on some of the others, and them hits them in the back with more color, before quickly putting up a look of innocence as they turn around. "Wasn't me, it was a run-by coloring"
Lily seems quite amused by the laughing and prancing children - the festival makes her happier than anyone's seen her in a long time. When Marzela plants a line of green powder down her back she lets out a comical "Eek!" and prances about, trying to reach her back while hopping from foot to foot, before finally deciding that her best option is sweet, sweet revenge in the form of a dusting of yellow powder hurled straight at Marzela's midriff.
Jaed carefully examines the bracelets. He's not sure of an exact price, but he can't imagine they'd be that expensive. They are, after all, little more than colored string woven in to various patterns.
The boy carefully looks Jaed up and down, clearly attempting to figure out exactly how much he could milk the adventurer for. "Four copper. Each! Or...I give you 6 lucky bracelet for two silver. Very good price. Bring much luck. Much pretty boy or handsome girl come to look at." He seems to be carrying about a dozen bracelets with him to sell.
Meanwhile, another man has stepped up to the dummy near you. The man who yelled earlier waves his hands and the dummy is reset to its original, spotless state. The new man waits for the magician to yell again, and then starts to poke it like the first man, though more slowly. This time there's no explosion of color and after a minute, the spellcaster yells again and the poking man holds out his hands to show something. The spellcaster yells something to the crowd, who cheer. There's another cheer from across the square and you see another small crowd of children eagerly dashing about under the tree while the archers seem to be taking a break.
Thoroughly colored up, you resume your trek to the Ebony Elephant. You pass numerous food vendors selling all manner of foods, many of which you don't really recognize but smell delicious. Farouq makes sure to warn you of which ones are especially spicy and how to ask for as close to mild as you're likely to get here. There are numerous walls covered in freshly painted murals depicting a variety of flowers and rainbows. You even see a few illusory art pieces; flowers that change color and rainbows that zip and glide through the air. There are no further coloring wars on the rest of the trip. Evidently you are less tempting targets now that your robes are no longer pure white.
Before long, you reach your destination. The sign out front is in Vudrani, but the place is easy enough to recognize with the stylized elephant painted on its sign. The place seems to be on the nicer-side of inns; not luxurious but definitely a step or two above the average road-side hotel. When you step inside, you notice the myriad of carved elephants decorating the place, though despite the name, they do not seem to be made of ebony.
You're greeted by an elderly woman, who announces in Vudrani that they have visitors. Farouq addresses her in Common, speaking slowly and carefully with a slightly raised voice. "दादी मा*, these three honorable adventurers have come to celebrate Yolarati with us in the Kingdom of the Impossible. They wish to secure lodging."
The woman nods slowly. "I am Shala Gour, owner of this inn. I welcome you here and to the island of Jalmeray. Will you each want your own room? Or will the ladies be sharing?" She responds in careful Common, her voice reminding you of the creaking of a tree as it sways in the wind.
From one of the back rooms, a young adolescent rushes out, almost tripping over his own feet in the process. He catches himself though and quickly offers each of you a cool washcloth. He then quickly begins sweeping the small trail of colored powder that dropped from your clothes, at which point you all notice that despite the colorful chaos outside, everything inside looks completely spotless.
Shala speaks up once again. "This is my grandson Jahnu. If you wish to see Yolarati, he will be able to tell you a little about the activities going on."
[/b]"They do seem to be quite lucky"[/b] Finnrick says and adds "I bet you could get my friend over here to buy from you if you tell us what that is." and he points to the dummy who keeps getting poked.
"I'll give you four copper... for two of them. One for me and one for my friend. And as he requested, you tell us what's going on there."
Greetings, Shala. Private rooms for all, thank you. And, yes, I think it would be nice to know what activities there are. We’ve been enjoying ourselves so far, as you can likely see from our robes. Also, just out of curiosity, why is your place called the ebony elephant? I see many elephants, but no ebony.
Lily nods in agreement. "I hope this coloring comes out with some water," she says quietly.
The young man bows. "Of course grandmother." He pauses in his sweeping and turns to you, speaking in lightly accented Common. "If you are interested in just watching, the different monks are giving displays of their martial arts prowess between the commerce district and the Houses of Perfection. There is to be a play tonight in the Grand Chronicler's Circle. It will be in Vudrani, of course, but if I am to understand correctly, there will be much dancing involved. There are various small competitions going on throughout the city as well, to watch or to participate in. I have not seen them all, but they are generally tests of mind or body, either for prestige or small prizes. The only ones I have yet seen though are a test of wit where participants insult each other, a test of strength through arm wrestling, and a test of agility where participants try to race from one point to another while onlookers try to knock a jug off of runners' heads. I gather tomorrow there is to be a number of food eating competitions of various types scattered about. The day after that is a dance festival followed by a day of prayer and giving thanks as the event wraps up."
Marzela laughs. What do you guys think? I'm up for anything. Carrakas, I bet you would be a good arm wrestler. And Lily might be good at a test of insults, not that any of them would be meant, of course... you just have the wit for it. She smiles. I'm up to try any of it. I will probably look silly and fail, but it seems like today should just be about fun, not trying to save face.
I'm going to drop off my extra stuff in my room. Meet you guys down here in 5?
As she turns to leave, Marzela also whispers to Lily You forget your own power. Try Prestidigitation, and our robes will be white in no time. A perfect target for the children again.
Carrakas straightens up a little at Marzela's suggestion and nods. "I would enjoy that. The food competition also sounds interesting. If we have time, I'd also like to see the monks. Many fun activities, it sounds like." The tiefling takes his key, and heads off to his room to deposit his gear. When he comes back, he is still dressed in his colorful robes, and will avoid any effort to have them cleaned with a gentle shake of the head. When the others are ready, he asks "Where to first?"
As you plan, Jahnu speaks up again, "Pardon my presumption, but unless you speak Vudrani, you may be better suited to a strategy game than the test of insults. I did not see the games going on, so I do not know exactly which games may be featured-- such things are not to my taste--but I would be surprised if there isn't at least one competition going on."
Oh, yes, Jahnu. That makes sense, and I'm clueless. I have a spell up that allows me to understand Vudrani, so I am forgetting that we don't speak the language around here. A strategy game sounds fun.
Finnrick pulls out a silver coin and hands it to the boy. "It's a bit more than you asked for, but maybe you can give us a couple of extra tips," the half-elf says with a wink and a smile.
Jaed smiles at the boy. "You're a tough one!"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"A strategy game? I like thinking puzzles," says Lily, her long ears perking up noticeably.
"That is game of choron. Of-" He pauses, tilting his head to one side as he tries to come up with appropriate words in Common. "Game of fast hands." He demonstrates by making several fast, grabbing motions. "Person wait for master's sign. When sign given quick quick grab all bells. Many much much as can before second sign. But not be much much fast. Only much fast. Not careful and jingle jingle and poooowww" He pantomimes an explosion. "But no pain. Just color and laughs. Get much bells, get shiny badge."
The boy then points to the tree further down the square. "That game of bow. Person shoot targets in tree. When hit, target go-" He makes another exploding gesture. "Much goodly prize rain down. Many tasty candy and fruit."
"Not here, but there also games of-" He makes a few poses, flexing his non-existent muscle. "Also game where knock jug off runners head. And game of-" he taps his head. "-either Kaooa with many big birds or Tant Fant, but you play that anytime, or game of hurting words. And..." He pauses, trying to remember what else he has seen. Suddenly his eyes light up, "Tomorrow many many games of much much food. Alla sorts. Eat mostest is winner. Need alla food for big dance tomorrow tomorrow day after. Impress many peoples with big fancy moves!" He gives a few leaps and a rather shaky attempt at a pirouette to demonstrate.
Rooms inspected to your satisfaction, you all head out in the direction Jahnu had indicated. It's a pleasant stroll with various tunes floating through the air mingling both with the sounds of laughter and merriment and with the delicious aromas of various food stalls along the way. There also appear to be several stalls selling a variety of knick-knacks. There are plenty of things to see and enjoy as you end up wandering a little bit, not 100% sure of where exactly the strategy games are. Eventually you find yourselves drawn to what sounds like bird cries punctuated by the occasional cheer. Following that noise puts you in a wide open area. On one side of the area, a number of illusory squares hover in the air, each one with a pair of people sitting below it. On the other side a couple of large, metal, 5 pointed stars stand upright. Each star seems to have some number of birds on it and pair of people standing one on either side. It being the closer of the two, you decide to watch the square game first.
Moving closer, you see that the hovering square is divided in to 8 sections via a horizontal line, a vertical line, and two diagonal lines. Placed at various intersections are 3 purple pieces and 3 green pieces, each color belonging to one of the two players. The image appears to be a mirror of the board laying between players as when one of them moves a piece on the board, the image is likewise updated. It seems to be a way for the various onlookers to watch the game without having to huddle too closely around the players. Each player starts off with their pieces on opposite rows and takes turns moving one piece from its intersection to an adjacent one. The game seems to end when a player has all of their pieces lined up somewhere other than in their starting positions. The winner then gets a colored stone to put in a mesh bag at their waist to indicate how many games they have won.
Moving on to the star game, the first thing you notice is that each star has a small ring where the lines intersection. Perched in some of the rings is either a blue parrot or a red toucan, denoting which player they belonged to. The game begins by the blue player pointing to an empty ring, at which point an overseer casts a spell and a blue parrot appears in the ring. The red player then likewise places a red toucan. From that point on, the red player directs their bird to move to adjacent rings, attempting to get next to a blue parrot, so the toucan can fly over it, causing the blue parrot to disappear. The blue player must place a total of 7 parrots before they can start directing their birds to move, at which point the blue parrots attempt to corner the toucan. Similar to the other game, the winner gets a colored stone to put in their mesh bag.
Marzela gets caught up in watching the Parrot-Toucan game, and after a bit she decides she wants to give it a try. She picks out a player that has a few wins, but not many, and asks in her halting Vudrani You play me? I be parrot.
Jaed puts on the bracelet while he talks. "Well, those are a lot of options but it seems we will have to wait til tomorrow for the feast. Well, I have very fast hands so I will give a try to that game of er... choron. What do you say Finnrick, would you join me? You can also come, our little friend. You may learn a thing or two," the rogue says with a smile.
Jaed approaches the wooden dummy and cracks his knuckles. "I will show you all how this is done," he says pointing at himself and the dummy to make clear that he wants to participate.
Marzela walks up to a middle-aged looking man with a neatly trimmed beard and a small pile of yellow rocks. With a few choppy words and much gesturing, she gets her message across. He nods happily in agreement and the game begins.
As the game opens, Marzela places her first five parrots carefully, blocking each of the toucan's moves to capture them with a new parrot and wasting the toucan's first several moves.
The parrots all placed, Marzela begins to have the parrots move in on the toucans, getting in to position while avoiding capture. The parrots in place, Marzela lays a trap and puts a parrot in a vulnerable position. With a cry of triumph, her opponent directs the toucan to take the sacrifice.
His triumph quickly turns to despair as Marzela's net of parrots close in and he sees her trap too late. He laughs, shaking his head at his quick defeat as the overseer hands Marzela a yellow stone and a mesh bag to carry it in.
Your little guide looks rather awed at the display as he pipes up, "He say very very good job. Only two other people thus far do better." He then adds, "Rock let you show off skill to all around. Many many bragging. But also tell them better hide purse while you around, yes?" He laughs at his little joke.
Marzela grins, and ties the bag to her belt, showing it off like the others are.
Much thank she says to her opponent in her broken Vudrani.
Drunk on her success, she picks someone with a lot of rocks, and challenges her. You play me? I be parrots.
She looks at Carrakas and Lily. You guys should totally try this, or one of the other games. She teaches them the basic words for "do you want to play" and "thank you" (they won't be perfect, but should get them through).
"Third on my first try? Not bad." Jaed, clearly proud of himself, attaches the bag to his belt. He then whispers in his little friend ear: "It is more difficult when the dummy moves." A roguish smile is drawn in his face.
"Finnrick, you should give it a try; this is fun. I'm going to throw some arrows over there."
After gesticulating again that he wants to play, the rogue, overconfident, picks the furthest target.
Deciding to try out a slightly different strategy, Marzela places her parrots on the points of the stars this time. It has the desired effect as the first several rounds the toucan moves around, seemingly without purpose.
As the parrots start to move in, the woman directs her toucan purposefully, however, whether by luck or skill, Marzela is able to keep her parrots out of the other bird's reach.
As the parrot begins to close in on the toucan, Marzela's opponent begins to worry her lower lip, desperately looking for a way out. Her companion tries to yell words of encouragement, but they seem to distract her more than help and her defeat is inevitable. The woman looks a little upset until she's wrapped in a tight hug, at which point her frown turns into a sappy grin. The other woman intertwines their fingers and drags Marzela's opponent away with a laugh as the moderator hands over another yellow stone to go in the cleric's pouch.
Jaed aims at one of the highest targets and manages to break it with his first shot. Small toys, candy, and fruit rain down in the area right below it and the children spectators give a cheer. Slightly drunk on his success, Jaed aims another two shots at similarly difficult targets, but misjudges their position and the shots go wide. His three shots now done and the area safe, the children eagerly run from the sidelines to try to gather the spoils. One small girl runs up to Jaed after grabbing a few things and shyly offers him the small green and gold stone she had picked up along with some kind of coconut taffy candy wrapped in a banana leaf. She then immediately runs off, a carved wooden horse figurine clutched tightly to her chest.
Marzela says Thanks for game trying to get the words and accent right, and is glad when the woman's companion seems to soften the blow of losing.
Marzela likes this game and could play all day, but she glances at her companions and decides to move on to something they would enjoy more.
Before they go, she talks to the guy running the game and tries to ask if she can buy a copy of the Kaooa game to take with her, since she enjoys it so much. Possible to buy parrot game? How much?
If it isn't too much, Marzela will buy a copy.
She then pulls Lily over to the people playing Tant Fant, and plays two games against other opponents (+1 then +2), and then one against Lily herself (if she agrees).
Then she asks someone where the arm wrestling is, so they can get Carrakas excited about something.
Jaed thanks the little girl and attaches the stone to his belt. "So, what do I win when I have my belt full of stones?" he jokingly asks their guide.
"Where are the other games? I want to get a stone in all of them!"
Finnrick smiles and laughs at Jaed's success. "You are doing quite well for yourself here. This seems to be exactly what we needed, some time to just have fun. So my friend, what game will you master next?"
Carrakas just smiles and politely shakes his head when Marzela tries to get him into the game. He laughs and congratulates her on her victories, then continues to follow along with them to the other games. Mostly, he spends his time people-watching. The people here were very different than he was used to, but also in many ways not that different at all. They were fascinating to watch.
Lily has mostly been watching the games, but when Marzela asks her to play Tant Fant she finally relents.
It's clear that strategy is not her forte, but her quick mind does serve her well in learning the game.
Moving over to the Tant Fant game boards, Marzela first picks a young girl as an opponent. The girl seems quite excited at the prospect of playing a foreigner, a sentiment that only seems to grow when she discovers Marzela knows a few words of Vudrani. She spends the game alternating between extremely rapid fire talking that Marzela has no hopes of actually following and very slow attempts at teaching the foreigner new words.
vs 8
Marzela, more accustomed to the relative silence she had played people in Kaooa, was slightly taken aback by this chatty girl, who didn't really seem to mind that her audience didn't really understand her. The chatter was rather distracting, causing Marzela to moves her pieces around without a clear strategy.
vs 21
Getting somewhat accustomed to the girl's enthusiasm, Marzela decides to fight fire with fire (ish, since it's unlikely this is a conscious strategy by her opponent), doing her best to repeat back difficult sounding words. The girl seems thrilled every time Marzela comes remotely close, immediately trying to get her to say other new words or phrases. This distracts her enough for Marzela to recover from her earlier missed turns.
vs 3
The distraction tactic is short-lived however as the girl demonstrates a child's uncanny ability to adapt and begins quite efficiently multitasking.
vs 12
The game concludes shortly thereafter with the girl neatly moving her third piece in to a line that you had somehow missed. She seems almost too engaged in her one-sided conversation to notice that she had won until an older man, possibly her father?, nudges her gently towards one of the moderators to claim a purple stone. She seems about ready to continue chatting when the man shakes his head, laughing. The girls yells a happy "Zubhaa vizarat" at you before dragging the man towards some snack stall.
Hoping to have better luck with someone a bit less distracting, Marzela then picks out a somewhat sullen looking teen boy with long hair. He nods his agreement to play, moving his first stone and then looking expectantly at the cleric.
vs 4
Unfortunately, Marzela still hadn't quite gotten the hang of this game; she had been too caught up with attempting to talk to the girl to have formed a real strategy. The boy on the other hand, makes his first several moves with no apparent thought. Either he's a quick thinker or he starts off all his games the same way.
vs 3
Now that she has only 3 pieces and needs to both block her opponent from getting 3 in a row while also trying to align her pieces herself, Marzela seems to be struggling. It wasn't like Kaooa where she had had what seemed like a vast army of parrots at her control. As she tries to carefully plan out each move, the boy starts to impatiently tap one finger on his leg as he continues his lightning-paced move playing.
vs 12
Flustered by her opponents obvious growing annoyance, Marzela tries to pick up the pace of her own playing. Unfortunately, this means she doesn't think through her moves thoroughly enough, and soon her opponent is claiming victory and another purple stone.
Hoping for a perhaps more sympathetic partner, Marzela then challenges Lily. But it seems as though this simply isn't her game as Lily seemed to have quickly picked up the strategy watching a few of the more skilled players causing Marzela to face her third defeat in a row as Lily is handed a purple stone and her own mesh bag in which to hold it.
With some asking around Marzela is able to eventually get clear enough directions to where the arm wrestling is taking place. This time instead of an open square, the competition seems to be taking place on a wide street. There seem to be a number of muscled bound people lounging in front of what looks like an outdoors bar of some sort. Many around engaging in friendly matches followed with a shared drink, though a few seem to simply be posing and showing off their bodies in various states of undress to any who care to admire them (or simply cover them in more brightly colored dye).
On the other side of the street, opposite the bar seems to be a race of sorts going on. It looks like one person puts on some kind of helmet and then a clay jug of water is placed on top of the helmet. The helmet seems designed to allow the wearer to balance the jug easily on their head, but it doesn't completely prevent it from falling off. The person must then run about a hundred yards without touching the jug and without it falling off while bystanders toss dye bags in an attempt to tip the jug over.
When they get to the arm wrestling, Carrakas gets a big grin on his face. "Now we're talking; let's see that these foreigners are made of." To start with, he approaches a fairly average-looking opponent . No words are needed between the two opponents, as Carrakas is quickly able to make plain his desires. They sit down, and begin their match.
Though winded, Carrakas looks very pleased with himself, as his opponent falls to his strength. Grinning like a maniac, Carrakas looks around for the strongest opponent he can find, feeling quite full of himself.
Carrakas lets out a grunt of dismay, as this foreigner somehow manages to overcome him. The tiefling will give his opponent a respectful nod and a smile, then turn to look around for a slightly weaker opponent. He was determined to secure at least one victory.
"You mentioned a game of hurting words, right? That sounds intriguing. Where's that one?"
Marzela thanks her first opponent for helping her learn some new words in Vudrani, and she congratulates all of her opponents when they win, good enough with the language to say Good job now. She is especially happy for Lily, although she does wish she had been able to win a purple stone for herself as well.
On the way to arm wrestling, Marzela finds someone selling nonmagical Kaooa boards with carved figurines, and buys the nicest one she can find (2 gold).
Since she is having fun even when she loses, Marzela decides to try arm wrestling as well.
She warms up by choosing people she might be able to take (+2 both times):
Then she decides to challenge Carrakas, pretty much knowing she will lose, but going for it anyway:
vs 10
vs 22
vs 12
vs 21
After a polite amount of time, Carrakas begins cruising for a new opponent. This time he focuses on a younger man with a shaved head. Judging by his robes, possibly one of the more junior monks from a local monastery. He nods gravely at the warrior's challenge before taking up a ready position. When the judge gives the signal to start, there's initially a lot of wide swings back and forth. First it looks as if Carrakas is certain to win. Then the monk. Then Carrakas again. Back and forth, each time one or the other coming closer and closer to pinning their opponent's arm to the table. Finally, with one concerted effort, the monk manages to slam all his weight behind his fist, finally defeating the tiefling. He takes a deep breath before nodding solemnly at his opponent and claiming his blue stone.
vs 11
vs 7
vs 12
vs 26
vs 9
As Carrakas struggles with his opponents, Marzela finds ones of her own to face. She starts off with a middle-aged gentleman who seems to be trying to teach his young daughter how to arm wrestle. He nods at the challenge, placing his girl in a position where she could easily watch the match. When the judge tells you both to start, the man executes his assault with flawless technique, slowly but surely forcing Marzela's arm back against the wood. His daughter excitedly claims a stone for him as he begins explaining to her how he won.
vs 5
vs 11
vs 4
For her second opponent, Marzela singles out a brightly garbed, energetic sailor woman. She eagerly agrees to face Marzela, saying something that the cleric doesn't quite understand, but that has the father from before grimacing and moving his now giggling daughter out of earshot. As the two begin, the woman begins contorting her face into various weird expressions as she pushes with all her might. Every time things start to go Marzela's way, she begins yelling more incomprehensible things at no one in particular. When she finally succeeds at pinning her opponents arm, she gives a whoop and says a few more things that have some of the people sitting closer to her either rolling their eyes or laughing.
vs 14
vs 16
vs 9
vs 6
The boy attempts to explain. "First man say, 'you smelly'. Then other man say, 'but you much much uglier'. Then first man say, 'your wife don't think so,' and then 'you need glasses. that no wife. that dog.' So then he end by 'I say that too if I were you.' Crowd like that one, so he win. People choose who much much entertaining winner." Though he's probably doing his best, you strongly suspect his translations are less impressive than what was actually said.
The other groups seem to be watching a variety of martial arts demonstrations. They seem to range from a single person fending off multiple attackers to sparring matches to acts of great balance or precision.
"Hahaha, that's a funny game!" Jaed exclaims when he understand what is going on. "Too bad we won't understand each other. Although, I could probably beat them just making gestures with my hands," he jokes.
"Let's try something else. Any of you two wants to try a game of Kaooa with that many big birds?" Jaed asks Finnrick and their little guide.
Marzela is frustrated at not winning any stones, but she is happy to be learning so much Vudrani. She isn't sure that she should use the words she learned from the Sailor woman in polite company though.
She waits to see if Carrakas will accept her challenge.
"Sorry, Marzela," says Lily with a slight blush as she concludes their game. "I didn't mean to frustrate... you..." She trails off as one of the locals hands her the small stone and the mesh bag. "Ooh, I don't even... um... I wonder how the other boys are doing?" she finally says, dipping her head and looking a bit awkward.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Carrakas smiles good-naturedly at his second loss, though a slight look of frustration does cross his face. Planning to give up on arm-wrestling, he changes his mind at Marzela's offer. "Sure, we'll give it a go." He sits across from her, and begins the challenge.
It was a lot closer than he would have liked, but ultimately the victory comes down on Carrakas' side. "A good match, Marzela" he says with a grin.
Oh, Lily. You aren't frustrating me at all. I am glad you got a stone, really. :) I just wish my luck were better with my other games. I actually love playing with you, because that way, no matter who wins, it is awesome. That one kid who was sneering at me the whole time, that was embarrassing.
She grins.
Want to play something else together? That way, no matter what, one of us wins. You pick.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Yes! Absolutely!" says Lily. Her head comes up with a grin. "What are the other games here... I don't think I could really do the arm wrestling. Maybe Parrots and Toucans? I didn't try that one yet. It seems... it looks like it has a different kind of complexity."
"This is a great time. I'm having fun like I haven't had since I was a little girl." The elf is all smiles and sunshine, a stark contrast to her drab black-and-gray garb and gear.
The guide starts off with a strong opening, managing to place each of his parrots in such a way that Jaed is unable to capture any of them immediately.
Unfortunately, he is a little less coordinated when it comes to trying to move the parrots around, accidentally giving Jaed several openings to capture the parrots not chasing him.
Hoping to regroup his losses, the parrots start flocking together, however, Jaed's wily toucan follows the fleeing fowl, harrying and harrasing them at every step.
Down to only 4 parrots, he tries to make them work in pairs to guard each others' backs. But the toucan has too many possible moves and is eventually able to find an opening to take the final parrot and claim victory. The boy laughs. "You much much too good for me. Even big bird army falls to fast hands." The moderator hands over a yellow stone to go in Jaed's growing collection as the rogue gets one step closer to completing his set.
By now it's starting to get a bit dark, though soon-to-be-lit torches will provide plenty of light to play by. While still crowded, you notice some people head off to get dinner and others simply to rest after the long day. The boy turns to you. "Hey, you have place to go nappy nap? I know good place. Cheap but warm. Family much nice. Very very good people. Play with son sometime."
Sure Lily, let's play that. I love playing the Parrots if you don't mind.
She'll play Kaooa several more times, with opponents equal in skill to herself (+3).
_______
While playing her third bout, she looks across the square and sees Jaed and Finnrick. She speaks to her companions:
Um, you guys... look over there.
<She points.>
It is Jaed and Finnrick!
She finishes up her bout quickly, and heads over to see what they are up to.
Lily finds the fluid, intuitive nature of Kaooa difficult to grasp. She keeps trying to bring analytical principles in, only to find herself upended with each and every move.
"That was definitely a change of pace, Marzela," she says as the board is swept.
"Ohh! The other boys! Let's see what they've been up to."