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You are on Motaku Isle in the port town of Lilywhite, conveniently during their Rum Punch festival.
Serving as a refuge for followers of Cayden Cailean, the town is known for being a bit less cutthroat than most other settlements in the Shackles, and because of this it often attracts those just starting out in their buccaneering careers. Lilywhite has avoided being sacked by ruthless captains who might take the town for an easy mark thanks to a well-known myth: any captain who pillages the town disappears, along with her ship and crew, never to be seen again.
The town of Lilywhite is famed for this elaborate celebration, a local religious holiday honoring Cayden Cailean that also commemorates a successful slave escape in Sargava. Travelers come from throughout the Shackles to enjoy the festival, try their hands at various contests, and drink to the honor of the Lucky Drunk.
You could be in town for any number of reasons: you could be a Shackles native here for the festival, or you might have been stranded in town or trying to join a pirate crew.
The town curves along the shoreline of Motaku Isle, spreading across bridges to a few small islands sitting in the deep-blue bay. Small, well-made wooden buildings ring the harbor. Festive flower and palm-frond garlands hang from various buildings, bridges, and statues. Vessels of varying shapes and sizes jam nearly all the town’s long piers, and the great number of ocean-going ships lying at anchor render the outer harbor nearly impassible. Throngs of revelers, many wearing masks, carouse through the town while singing and drinking from frothing tankards.
You have been told that the local cleric Anyabwile Saabwa likes to greet all visitors to the town and to the festival. Now you'll just need to the find the Mwangi cleric....
A festival honoring my deity, sounds like a fine place to hang around for a little while. Wonder where Saabwa is? I should check in. Oh, and I should find a drink...
Amid the chaos and festivities, Glub Glub meanders through the crowds, asking random individuals questions in his small frog voice. "Does anybody know where to find a ship for work?"
Most people seem to ignore him as Glub Glub continues to wander around. "The Harbor Freight that is docked binds up too much on the weeds around these parts but the Swinger Lineboat will cut through them easier in the lowlands..."
A slender creature slips through the crowd along the docks, its features concealed within a threadbare grey cloak. As he arrives at a local tavern a hand covered in soft white fur reaches out from the folds of the cloak to push the door open. He has had many names, and the hand is responsible for one of three he is currently known by.
Stepping to the bar, the place where most local lore can be purchased for the price of a drink, he orders one that serves as his second name.
"Sasparilla." He requests in a raspy voice, his other hand, the black one, leaving silver on the counter.
Once the drink arrives, he catches the barkeep's eye with its own. Eyes of amber, with vertical slits, set it a feline face also covered in soft fur. The face of a catfolk. He bears asymmetrical markings, tan with white marbling over the left side, black sprawled over the right. He would have been a slave had it not been for the markings, for the pirate captain that captured him the Valashmai Jungle years ago had a missing eye and decided a cat-boy with a similar "patch" was worth placing in a protected position as mascot among his crew. Patches had become his third name, and the one he was most known by.
As he sips his drink, he listens to the crowd and looks for an opportunity to inquire about Anyabwile Saabwa.
As you gather about, a tall Mwangi man with close-cropped graying hair approaches. He wears a large orange mask that depicts a laughing man's face. Clearly this is the cleric of Cayden Cailean in charge of the festivities. "Greetings, greetings!" he says in a cheerful and boisterous voice. "I am Anyabwile Saabwa, welcome to Lilywhite! You must be the newcomers. You find us in the midst of our annual Rum Punch Festival-a truly blessed time for all! If there is any way that I can help you, please let me know."
The large building you have found is clearly marked as both a temple of Cayden Cailean and a functioning tavern. It is well maintained and freshly painted. The doors of its broad doorway are held open with wooden pegs hammered into the ground. There's no sign the doors have closed anytime recently.
Cailean's Keg is packed with revelers. All seem to be in exceedingly good spirits, though as is proper, none are falling-down drunk. The bar is owned and operated by Duwella Morin, who invites you to try one of the god's brews-the first mug of the day is always free.
A rather plainly-dressed, short human makes his way through the press of people, heading for the Lucky Drunk's temple/tavern and reaching it just in time to hear the priest's greeting. He smiles at the offered first round and reaches out a calloused hand to take the cup. "You're confident of its quality, hey?"
So, how is the festival coming along this year? The half-elf then smiles a hello at Ursion and Patches as he takes a measured sip of his first drink.
A slender, lithe women with blue-tinged skin betraying her heritage, wanders among the crowds, smiling, singing, and carousing.
Bowing with a flourish to the Caydenite, she grins. "Just point me in the direction of the festivities!" She says in a bubbly voice.
After her introduction, she makes her way to the Keg, singing softly as she weaves through the crowd. ".....When you move like a jellyfish, rhythm don't mean nothing. You go with the flow, you don't stop...."
Arriving at the Keg, she glides over to the bar, eagerly accepting the free drink.
Patches meets the other newcomers with his cat's eyes, half-lidded and inscrutable. It's hard to tell if he is relaxed, angry, or bored.
To Anyabwile, he rasps a few words. "The festival is most entertaining. When does it end?"
Glub Glub walks around the Cailean's Keg, looking onward at all the revelry. He walks up to the bar for the free drink proffered by the Caydenite. "Uhh... yes. I would like the free Rum Punch please... no salt on the rim, please."
The bartender takes his order and Glub Glub sits down at the bar. His drink is delivered promptly by the other bartender. Salt covers the rim of his drink as he sighs. "The ratio of people to punch is too big..."
He wipes off the rim of his drink as best he can, but he can still taste the salt.
"Just point me in the direction of the festivities!"
"Well now!" Anyabwile says as he steps to the front of the bar. "That's the spirit! I think it's time for a game! Let me see. . . yes! For this one, we'll need groups of three to six gathered about a table. Duwella here will put down a tray with twice as many drinks as people, of all different types. Half are typical, one is potent, the rest are double-strength. Last one standing-or sitting-without bringing up the saintly spirits wins!"
Shaollana smiles and grabs a nearby seat. Scanning the crowd, she says to the bartender. "I've been accused of drinking like a fish. I take that as a compliment!"
Spotting the grippli and the catfolk, she calls out. "Hey you! Frogman and Tigerboy! Come join me. We can be Team Freaks!"
"Only if there is no salt... I had big flecks of salt in my drink and the man behind the bar didn't care." rambles the frog as he moves over to join Shoal.
Patches stares at the undine for a long moment before a lazy blink that turns his gaze elsewhere.
Tigerboy. Heard that before. Won't last. Tiger's have stripes.
"Why not, Fishwench." He rasps.
Shaollana waves the two men over to the table. "Join us, won't you? You both look like you can handle you drink." Not waiting for an answer, the undine studies the drinks, then grabs one, and quaffs it.
Patches looks at the drinks and takes a sniff over a couple.
Patches identifies a normal ale and drinks it down. Shoallana isn't sure what to grab but luckily also grabs a normal-strength drink.
Patches has a knack for choosing the right drinks, and a constitution that can handle a little over his normal limit.
Harold shrugs and starts to drink. After three drinks,
Maybe I had enough....
Ursion looks around briefly for the press gang; not seeing any sign of one, he nods and takes a drink.
Patches makes wise choices but after the seventh drink has trouble keeping any more down!
Harold gets lucky in grabbing random drinks; his first three are normal-strength. His fourth is likewise normal-strength but he starts to feel a rumbling in his gut and after the fifth he turns to the side to deposit the alcohol on the floor.
Ursion grabs a normal ale and takes it down!
----
Patches maxed out at seven drinks.
Harold maxed out at five drinks.
Ursion has had one drink so far.
Shoallana has had one drink so far.
Glub Glub is content to have one drink. He pulls one from the tray that doesn't have salt. "I can get a drink without salt over here. Why not at the bar?"
Shoallana keeps knocking back drinks.
Glub Glub feigns interest in the game to gain another free drink (something without salt this time-he grabs a nice Chelish wine from among the glasses and mugs.
The next drink that Shoallana grabs turns out to be a clear Irriseni vodka, which is quite potent. Her next two drinks are pale ales, followed by a strong Galtan wine. The wine causes Shoallana to slump down in her seat and fall into a slumber....
Patches maxed out at seven drinks.
Harold maxed out at five drinks.
Ursion has had one drink so far.
Shoallana maxed out at seven drinks.
As the drinks start getting to her, Shoallana breaks into a slurred rendition of an old pirate song.
"What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
Early in the morning?"
"Put 'im in th' longboat and make him bail her!
Put 'im in th' longboat and make him bail her!
Put 'im in th' longboat and make him bail her!
Early in the morning!"
"Way-a hay-a, up she rises
Way-a hay-a, up she rises
Way-a hay-a, up she rises
Early in the morning!"
Ursion shakes his head at the hard drinkers around him, but takes a second and a third, one after another.
Ursion downs another two drinks but Shoallana breaks out into song, somehow staving off the effects of the alcohol to put down one more drink!
Duwella cheers as it becomes obvious that the undine is winning handly (fin-ily?) and awards her a beautifully engraved silvern stein worth 250 gp. After Shoallana easily passes the eleven-round record, the stein is upgraded to one encrusted with gems worth 1000 gp. Duwella clarifies, "These aren't holy relics, just relics, if you understand me. No offense if you wish to make a profit."
As most of the party needs a night of sleep to recover from the effects of the alcohol, you all head to bed for the night (or are dragged there by some of the bar attendants/priests of Cayden Cailean).
The next day the Rum Punch Festival concludes in the evening with a parade through town, a reenactment of the escape to freedom the festival commemorates, and finally, fireworks. The lumberyard is abuzz with hundreds of workers, revelers, and actors, all gathered before a small wooden stage.
Suddenly, a gunshot rings across the crowded square, and attention snaps to the sharp-dressed woman standing on the stage, holding a still-smoking pistol.
Now certain she has the attention of all present, she addresses the crowd. "i'm Captain Varossa Lanteri of the Magpie Princess and I have a business proposition. I've recently discovered the secret to finding the lost treasure of Captain Jemma Redclaw, and I'm looking for a few strong hands to help me secure it. The first to reah my bosun's table on the second floor of the God's Revel Inn down by the harbor will have the opportunity to receive an officer's share of old Captain Redclaw's gold. If you've been waiting for your chance at fame and fotrune, it's finally here!" She fires her pistol over the heads of the crowd a second time, and shouts, "Now hop to!"
A moment of shocked silence is followed by a riot of shouts as dozens of people rush out of the lumberyard.
Losing the drinking game bothered Patches at first, but after sleeping off the bender he realizes that the "fishwench" must of had an advantage. When the challenge is thrown down by Captain Varossa, he sees a new opportunity, with much greater rewards at stake.
Spotting a shortcut, Patches hisses at the other pirates in his way and tumbles through the gap.
However, once on the other side he finds himself stymied by the chokepoint.
Glub Glub lets other people bellow and he death stares a few opportunists out of the way.
As soon as he reaches the choke point, he sees a shortcut to the left and leaves the kitty cat behind.
Round #1:
Ursion dances through most of the crowd, but is unable to glare his way past the rest.
The grippli bounces through the crowd, taking an early lead. Ursion is caught in the mass of people but it seems Patches has pushed their way to the front of the group.
Harold ducks thru a gap and moves on!
Shoalla smiles and raises a hand as she wins the contest, though her smile is tight-lipped as she struggles to hold back the torrent of alcohol and bile rising in her throat. Once the celebration ends, she quickly makes her way outside, leaning over a railing and puking in the night air. Having emptied the contents of her stomach, she straightens up and tries to wring out the vomit in her long hair. Stumbling to the beach, she lays down in the surf, letting the waves roll over her, washing away the stains and bits of puke, as she passes out. Waking up as waves begin to break over her, she sits up, squinting in the morning light, to see high tide is coming in. Dunking her head in the surf, she throws up again for good measure then stumbles back to the festival, humming a tune along the way.
After choking down fried bananas and shepherds pie, she washes it down with some grog and moves outside to enjoy the festivities. As night falls, and Shoal begins once more to feel "normal", she grins at the prospect of the race. Cracking her knuckles, she limbers herself and readies for the start.
As the mass of bodies congeals around her, Shoallana throws her voice, imitating the sound of a sea harpy above, as she ducks under the bodies pausing to look up!
Searching for the way to go, she has trouble seeing past the bigger bodied men, stumbling around her.
Shoallana and Harold catch up and leave Ursion behind, although Glub-Glub still keeps the lead over the entire crowd!
Cursing as she loses her way, Shoallana begins hopping up and down, looking for the best way to go. Seeing her course, she smiles and makes her way down a narrow alley.
Patches notices Shoallana dart through a shortcut and quickly follows.
"Ain't leaving me behind, Fishwench."
Glub Glub takes the early lead and continues his quest as he leaps into the water and swims boldly across the river.
However, he doesn't catch that there are brawlers about and he gets ambushed by the evil men.
Ah, yes... here we go.
"As a full-round action, a PC can attempt both obstacles on his card. If the PC successfully overcomes both obstacles, the character can exit to the next card and attempt one of its obstacles immediately (allowing the PC to potentially exit two cards in 1 round). If the PC fails either of the obstacles on the initial card, the character stops moving for that round."[/ooc]
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Shoallana finds an alleyway that lets her cut around a few people in the crowd! Patches follows on the undine's heels with Harold not far behind. Glub Glub shows his true skills as a grippli and easily overcomes the water hazard.