"What did the monk say to the food cart guy. I'll have ONE WITH EVERYTHING. One funnel cake with a corn dog on top."
Moose hands over two silver.
Toshi looks at you and is quite happy about your decision!
"Well, I am the proprietor and head chef at the Golden Wings tavern! As you see I have my hands full working the large crowd of customers and
can’t pause for long to talk with you. Next please!" he shouts.
Moose tastes the fried dough and Toshi was not exaggerating about the fried dough’s heartiness!
A PC who eats it gains a +2 morale bonus to all Strength- and
Charisma-based skill checks for the next hour.
Have checked out the impressive dragon statue, Tuuli then heads over to watch the sack races.
A2. Sack races
The cobblestones here are marked with four lanes drawn in chalk.
Two men and two women hop like mad in separate lanes, their legs covered with heavy burlap sacks. The crowd waves scarves and paper flowers in the air as they cheer the competitors toward the finish line.
The onlookers offer a respectful berth to a well dressed dwarven woman standing confidently at the finish, her hands on hips as if she's overseeing the race.
Two youths are laughing, though there’s a bit of fear evident in their eyes.
“We all saw him; he had skin as pale as a sheet and these freaky little horns!” a girl says.
“He was skulking around until the watch came and scared him away. Now people pretend like he was never here—don’t want to scare away visitors, I guess. Oops!”
Moose continues on the the tall box game covered in crumbs.
A1. Youths on crates
Moose arrives at the storage boxes.
Tall wooden storage boxes are haphazardly arranged everywhere here except for a grouping of four, which form a diamond.
Rowdy youths pump their fists and cheer on four kids who each stand atop one of these boxes. The standing youths kick a bean-filled sack back and forth.
Each time a youth kicks the sack, they all shout a word of the following phrase: "The! Devil! Man! Knocks! Don' t! Let! Him! In!"
Two youths are laughing, though there’s a bit of fear evident in their eyes.
“We all saw him; he had skin as pale as a sheet and these freaky little horns!” a girl says.
“He was skulking around until the watch came and scared him away. Now people pretend like he was never here—don’t want to scare away visitors, I guess. Oops!”
When Moose asks them what happened they just look at him shyly.
"Yes, he was really scary! But some people were not afraid of him! Richelle and Tolwin went after that guy!"
The other two kids are a little frightened when you approach but one of them has the feeling that something needs to be done.
”I do not know if we can really talk about it because we actually have no idea but maybe Richelle and Tolwin are in trouble because of this horned guy! And Tolwin is really a bully so ...“
The other youngster jumps in.
”Stop it! Tolwin is not a bad guy! Of course he was really talking to the Tiefling a little longer than I liked! And somehow Tolwin managed to convince Richelle to follow the guy ... but I would not worry that much! Appearances are not important! Tieflings can be kind persons too!“
The boy shrugs.
"We really have no idea where they went!"
Murmurs of alarm from the western end of Protectress Square soon become shrieks of shock. Two people stumble into the square-a young dark-haired man and a light-haired woman, half walking and half relying on the shoulders of friends. Winces of pain cross their bloodied faces.
Somewhere, someone shouts, "The Bloomgivers have been attacked' Someone get Aurelliax!"
The crowd around the Bloomgivers hushes and parts, and the mayor strides purposefully toward the injured youths. A grim look on her face, she reaches a hand lovingly toward the Bloomgivers.
Mayor Qarl addresses the crowd in a commanding voice. "Silence! Aurelliax left minutes ago due to an urgent matter. She did not trust me with the details."
She turns toward the Bloomgivers. "Kameer. Kara. Young ones, what has happened here?"
The Bloomgivers pause to catch their breath before answering. " We' re so sorry, Mayor Qarl ," Kara says.
"We were picking the brightblooms when those bullies set upon us. They took us completely by surprise, and they stole the Golden Pendant right from Kameer's neck! We barely got out with our lives!” Kameer nods. "It was Richelle and Tolwin! They're up on Dendra's Slope, and they've still got Aurelliax's amulet!”
At this news, several individuals, including the proprietors of the jubilee's events- emerge from the crowd.
The town's mayor visibly bristles with anger. "I've had enough of those two! Clearly we should have punished them more harshly!" she says. "We have to retrieve these misbehaving kids? We have to get Aurelliax's amulet back, and those two will get the justice they deserve in our stocks."
A man in the crowed shouts "We have to get Aurelliax to help!"
The mayor looks at the man ruefully. "These bullies are two of our own!"
The people in the crowd give a regretful nod.
"You all know the rules! I'm terribly sorry," Mayor Qarl continues, "but I'm afraid that Aurelliax can't directly help. You see, Aurelliax promised our forebears that she would never interfere in the town's interpersonal matters. She cannot turn her wrath against any of our town-not even if they might deserve it."
She turns to the crowd. "Are there any among you who are willing to be heroes for Highdelve? Could you retrieve these bullies and Aurelliax's amulet? I assure you all that I will award those successful most generously!”
Torgen leaves the moping puppeteer on his own, tired of his sulking, and responds to the mayor.
"We can help. Can't we, Pathfinders?"
Torgen waves his axe in the general direction of the other pathfinders as he spots them.
Sounds like the two charges were sent to help are involved anyway. Getting a generous reward to do what we are already being asked to do sounds serendipitous.
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Moose walks directly up to the mayor.
"Hi! I'm Moose but you can call me directive Knuckle. I'm one of the pathfinders and I have been on this case since I invented your town newest delicacy the double fired corn dog. More about that in my report. I have a suspect a horned man and their was a conspiracy to keep his presence hidden. So we will be taking it from here. The do you have maps search parties need maps."
The mayor looks at Moose, Torgen and Jarrish and nods.
”Thank you, visitors! You seem to have information we lack! Of course we have maps. Please, travel up Dendra’s slope, directly west of town about 3 miles," the mayor says gently.
"It sounds like the bullies, Richelle and Tolwin, are still there. The brightbloom patch is just past an old abandoned shack-that's where you'll want to start looking."
”Find these wayward youths, and return them along with Aurelliax's amulet to the people. We'll bring back the brightblooms to the square, and Kameer and Kara here can hand them out as planned. We'll commence the Brightbloom Ball and put all of this unpleasantness behind us!"
Turning to the assembled townsfolk, the mayor asks "Do any of you have things you might loan to this group?"
Yarla steps forward with a smile. "I just so happen to have a crate of items in my inventory right now, bound for a bodyguard firm in Port Ice. I'm sure they wouldn't mind a little quality control testing on one or two."
Looking at Brialla's bow, she adds "I might even have some blunt arrows, too."
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Jarrish steps forward and selects a sap, thanking Yarla for her generosity and solving a potential pitfall of bringing in the kids safely if they truly were the ner'do'els the town was making them out to be.
I am hoping the solution isn't to have to travel back to Absalom with two kids hog tied in the wagon, that will be inconvenient
Checking over his gear and prepared spells, he inquires of his group. "We ready to get moving?"
Torgen is not interested in the odd assortment of weaponry and waits for the others to finish their selections before moving out.
You are starting your journey to Dendra's Slope
After a quick trip to Yarla's warehouse, you head toward Dendra's Slope, about three miles away.
As you approach the slope, you see a wagon full of already-picked brightblooms, and remember the mayor saying they would come pick it up once you've dealt with the bullies.
If you made the DC 20 Knowledge (nature): You also see the brightblooms in more detail and know these flowers under a different name. But you know that crushed brightblooms confer a +2 bonus when used as part of any Heal check.
You can see a dilapidated hut, a nearby slope covered in flowers, and a cave entrance a little ways away.
Where to?
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Jarrish looks over the slope with some interest, noticing the cart.
"I say we check that campsight first, then the hot. I mislike the looks of that cave, I'd like to get the rest cleared before we head into it."
Drawing his longsword and recalling the words of power for his prepared spells, the elf moves towards the campsite.
"Good, because I'm not."
Torgen does, however, join in the investigation in spite of his modesty. Like Jarrish, he approaches the site with his weapon and shield ready, mostly out of habbit. Two thrill hunting misbehaving teens do not put him on high alert.
Makeshift Campsite
A rusty metal pot sits over an extinguished campfire in this hastily prepared resting stop. Three logs are pulled near the fire, and in between are several marks scrawled in the dirt.
The marks scrawled in the dirt are crude drawings of a two-headed stick figure that’s shown emerging from a cave and running toward some houses.
The rock formations surrounding the cave are identical to the rock at the west end of the map (area C4).
The drawing’s meaning: This drawing is part of some sort of plan involving a monster in the cave to the west and Highdelve.
"Fighting a dragon. You mean old goldie from town? That would be stupid. Why only a... was I ever that dumb when I was a kid?"
"Well, if they have run into a two headed monster I doubt things went as planned for them. I do hope they are not already dead. We need to catch up with them before they put their stupid plan into action. But, I agree, we should check the shack first."
As you approach the hut, you begin to get your bearings.
You quickly scan the surroundings for potential threats or things that seem out of place.
They look like they were made within the last 24 hours.
You see no other movement around the valley.
The outside of this dilapidated shack is moldy and has walls full of holes. Its rotted doors hang open on broken hinges. You cannot hear any movement from within.
You enter to find it unoccupied, a dirty bedroll in one corner along with three daggers and 6 days' worth of trail rations.
"Well, I guess it was a bit much to expect they were still here. I see some footprints around suggesting they have not been gone all that long. Time to visit the cave if we can find it."
You spot some movement behind the big rock across the valley from the flowers, in front of the cave entrance.
Initiative
You see that two hooded figures are about to move out with longbows ready to attack.
Round 1
1. Tuuli, Torgen, Jarrish -> GO!
2. Enemies
3. Moose
#Tolwin: 0 Damage
#Richelle: 0 Damage
#Unknown: 0 DamageTuuli:
Torgen:
Jarrish:
Moose:
