'smart man' Ratel nods his head, "Yes Father Noelan is a very busy man, but if you go help him everyday, Maybe he can teach you how to speak with the animals and when your my age you could talk to them yourself."
Ratel shrugs at bear, "Well I will take your word for it."
Following Bear out into the woods, Ratel finds Coco curled up in the crevasses, reaching in he whispers, "Come on girl, let's get you back to Vane."
After he gently picks up the ferret, he returns to the store, declaring, "I don't know, I think for some of us, it's easier to find a wonderful woodland creature instead of some plant."
Hedran continues following along with the others, witnessing the archery competition with an approving nod, then moving off with Ratel for the ferret hunt.
"No need to tell Bear not to eat the ferret?" - Hedran asks Ratel.
"I have my answer then" - he nods, when the ferret is returned safe and sound by Ratel.
”Really?” Ben asks Ratel. ”Ok! I’ll help him everyday!”
Kethry shakes a warning finger, ”Remember to finish your household chores first.”
Coco seems a little sulky about being caught so soon, but comes willingly enough with Ratel as he picks her up from her hidey hole.
”Oh congratulations!” Oreld pumps Ratel’s hand enthusiastically ”You’ve beaten Tara’s record of 15 minutes to find Coco, being back in 12 minutes. If no one beats your record, check back with us before Jet's goat cart races and I'll pass you your prize - a potion of hide from animals!"
”Well if you do find any Lingzhi in the forest, I’m in the market. 1 silver piece per pound.”Oreld adds.
Geran and Victor also try their hand at finding Coco, but Geran comes out of the forest 18 minutes later with Coco on his shoulder and a sheepish Victor on another elbow. ”Some people shouldn’t be allowed to go into the forest. Victor, if I hadn’t spotted you in time, you’d have just run straight into a hive of bees!” He scolds his partner.
”Not too bad, Tara and Ratel did better, but check with us before Jet’s goat races for the final results.” Oreld tells Geran.
Azmythe declines the tea. "I'm, like, already on a high, ya'know? And I don't want to, like, contaminate the results."
In his enlightened state, Azmythe wanders throughout the festival.
"I have my answer then" - he nods, when the ferret is returned safe and sound by Ratel.Hedran continues following along with the others, witnessing the archery competition with an approving nod, then moving off with Ratel for the ferret hunt.
"No need to tell Bear not to eat the ferret?" - Hedran asks Ratel.
Hearing Hedran's question, Ratel just smiles.
Shaking Oreld's hand Ratel agrees. "I will be back later, to see if I still win, I'm sure Geran and Victor will be stiff competition." He winks at his new friends then asks Oreld "if I do find any Lingzhi in the forest, I will bring it. Before Bear and I leave tomorrow may we return so he can smell it? That way he will know what we are looking for."
Holdergast looks at Azmythe and sighs, ”Yes, I can see that. How early in the day do you start?”
In his enlightened state, Azmythe thinks that Jet’s goat cart race might be the best thing ever invented. It's so fast, so exciting! While walking along the busy carnival he hears someone tell another on why the tomato turned out last for the race, the answer being, ”The tomato had to ketchup.”, finding it enormously funny and bursts into spontaneous laughter drawing the puzzled looks from everyone around him.
"Sure, come to my shop tomorrow morning and I'll get you a sample for Bear to sniff. I've heard some people use pigs to sniff out truffles. " Oreld mentions.
Nodding, "We will be back in the morning," stopping for a moment the thinks, then asks, "So this Lingzhi is it something I can harvest and store to bring back later or is it something that has to be harvested and used immediately?" Looking from Oreld to Bear, "That may determine how much we collect, I don't know when we'll be back this way."
"You can harvest, then dry it, and bring it back. I'll pay you a gold piece per pound for dried lingzhi. " Oreld answers.
Azmythe winds his way through the festival. He isn't afraid to fail or look silly. He spends freely and often purchases things just to give them to children. He won't be happy until he gets the hoop over the bottle and wins a goldfish.
Ferret Tracking,
Board Smacking,
Robert tries his hand at tracking Coco, but is unable to find that sneaky little ferret despite an hour of searching and comes back empty handed.
On the mallet smash, however Robert indeed does show Kinning who's boss. He smacks the board so hard that the bell speeds all the way to the top, and breaks off!
He is treated to thunderous applause by the watching Phaendarians, happy to see Kinning taken down a peg. Th' goal is tae rin' th' beel, nae break th' beel!" Kinning curses, her dwarven accent becoming pronounced in her rather irritated state, but presents Robert with the reward for a "truly exceptional performance", an oil of lead blades.
Azmythe eventually does manage to get the hoop over the bottle and wins a goldfish, then makes a present of it to Ajobe’s daughter, Ada.
The party checks back at Riverwood Shrine and Orelds Fine Goods, and Oreld declares Ratel as the winner of the ferret hunt, passing him a potion of hide from animals. Geran and Victor give a blue ribbon, a green shawl and 10 gold pieces, and two doses of Desna’s star to Azmythe for paying for their funfair games.
Azmythe also notices that Holdergast has packed up his operations, as Connie, Roger and Adrian are moving the mattresses out, and the sign has been removed.
Geran and his family and Victor head towards the Taproot for Jet’s goat cart race. Among the racers, are Aubrin, Patrick, Sandra, Wallace. The track has been cleared for them to sit on a goat cart and ride a circuit around town at top speed.
Sandra urges her goats with surprising skill coming in first, with Geran coming right at her heels, much to the surprise of Victor, who is clearly an experienced Goat carter, but his goats are acting up today. Victor and Patrick are tied for third. Sandra wins an oil of wartrain mount, while Geran wins a familiar satchel, Victor and Patrick win a riding saddle. Geran and Victor pass their prizes to Azmythe, as earlier promised.
Geran and his family head home as does Victor, leaving the party chilling out at the inn. Ratel manages to go to Oreld’s Fine Goods and borrows his laboratory to fix up his mutagen before going to the inn for dinner. The inn is full of Phaendarians and traders. Billy the fisherman, his breath smelling of alcohol is trying to negotiate a supply contract with Jet, Kaelan the lumberjack is speaking to a Vishkanyan trader, Ettoran over a possible contract for their lumber, Leo, a mercenary is slaking his thirsty after a long day. Aubrin sees that everyone is served, brings the party dinner of roast duck, grilled pech, stuffed bellpeppers, mutton skewers, cream of corn soup, before taking a swig out of her tankard and entertaining the crowd with one of her adventuring tales…
When Aubrin gets done. Azmythe stands up full of good drink and good food. "I have here a blue ribbon and 3 gold for any who can best that tale." He stands there holding up his offered prize for a few moments until someone takes the challenge or not.