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For five years, the faithful of Sandpoint have attended church in smaller wooden structures rebuilt after fire destroyed the previous temple, and while their new pastor Abstalar was helpful, kind, and wise, church wasn’t the same. Now, the new cathedral is finally done. All that remains is for the Swallowtail Festival to renew the site’s blessings from the gods and it will be as if the Sandpoint Fire had never occurred.
You are all in attendance at the festival, either as residents of Sandpoint or because you are visiting the town for some other reason.
The Swallowtail Festival begins promptly, as scheduled, on the first day of autumn. The square before the church quickly becomes crowded as locals and travelers arrive, and several merchant tents featuring food, clothes, local crafts, and souvenirs are there to meet them.
The turnout for the opening speeches is quite respectable, and the four keynote speakers each deliver short but well-received welcomes to the festival.
Mayor Deverin’s friendly attitude and excitement prove contagious as she welcomes visitors to town and jokes about how even Larz Rovanky, the local tanner (and notorious workaholic) managed to tear himself away from the tannery to attend, much to everyone’s but Larz’s amusement.
Sheriff Hemlock brings the crowd down a bit with his dour mood, his reminder to be safe around the evening’s bonfi re, and his request for a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives in the fire that claimed the town’s previous church five years ago.
Fortunately, Cyrdak Drokkus is more than up to the challenge of bringing the crowd’s mood back up with his rousing anecdotes as he delivers a not-completely-irreverent recap of the long process the town went through to finance and construct the new cathedral. He throws in a bit of self-promotion at the end, as is his wont, inviting everyone to stop by the Sandpoint Theater the following evening to check out his new production of “The Harpy’s Curse,” revealing that the lead role of Avisera the harpy queen will be played by none other than the famous Magnimarian diva Allishanda!
Finally, Father Zantus steps up give a short speech thanking everyone for coming before declaring the Swallowtail Festival underway.
John wanders around the festival grounds, reveling in the general air of good cheer and optimism.
I am ever amazed by the beauty even the simplest of things can provide. he thinks happily to himself, stopping at a face painting booth, where a little girl is practicing her artistic skills with great enthusiasm.
He looks over the lopsided whiskers and squiggly stripes drawn on his face in a mirror and smiles at the girl.
"It's perfect. May Shelyn's grace watch over you." he says, smiling kindly at the young girl, and meaning it sincerely.
Now if only I could figure out why I'm here...not that I'm complaining about being sent to such a nice place for a change, but I'm rarely called to some place that is completely at peace.
Nearby, a bard is singing songs, playing music, and telling stories to whoever would listen.
FWOOOOOSH. The small kobold spat a few curses in draconic as the keros oil spewed fire like a geiser (drawing a few oohs from the passersby). Not because it burned him - mostly because he was running out of the stuff.
Just like everything else... I need a job.
Jacquelin sits near the bard, listening to the music and stories he tells.
Jackie strolls across the pavilion, gnawing on a piece of meat on a stick she'd gotten from a vendor. Man, this place is great! It's like my birthday or something...wait, when is my birthday again? I should make a cake."
Lost in thought, she doesn't notice that she was walking through a crowd of people who were more or less throwing themselves out of her path to avoid knocking into her, with the exception of someone wearing similar armor looking similarly confused, heading directly towards her.
WHAM!
The collision knocks Jackie out of her thoughts. "Oh, sorry Mr. Cat-person, didn't see you there! Wait...John? Is that you? Wow, I didn't recognize you! That's one really good disguise, when'd you get so good at that?!"
"That little girl over there. She's really good, you should get her to draw one for you."
"She only seems to do cats though."
"Darn. I wonder who did that little kid's paint then? He looks like a lizard. You think he should be playing with fire, though? Seems dangerous."
"I think it's a midget in a suit actually."
"I don't know, I always thought midgets had feathers, not scales. This town seems to have some really good painters. Let's ask him, maybe he'll know."
Jackie walks up to the small figure. "Excuse me, I'm having a in-tlek-chal conversation with my friend here. Are you a little kid who's been painted to look like a lizard or a midget in a suit?"
Despite the hot-headedness one would expect from a creature with both glabrezu and red dragon blood, Saltjack can give some frighteningly icy stares.
"I'm a kobold, not some soft-bellied, stupid, squishy human kid."
"Hey now, no need to be hostile. She never implied you were human, or a kid. Just short. Which, you have to admit, you kind of are." he gives his most winning smile.
"So...he's not a midget?"
"Yes, I believe he said he's a ko bowl."
"Kobold, fool. Descended from a line of dragons? Ring a bell? Have you even got a bell to ring?"
"I'm afraid not. Do you know if they're giving any away around here?"
"I think I saw a bell on top of the church over there, should we go ring that one for you?"
"Be my guest."
Knowing my luck, I'll end up getting stuck with these losers on some sort of long ordeal...
Your inane conversation is interrupted at around noon as the crowd gathers nearby. Father Zantus and his acolytes wheel a large covered wagon into the square, and after recounting the short parable of how Desna first fell to earth and was nursed back to health by a blind child who she transformed into an immortal butterfly as a reward for her aid, they pull aside the wagon’s cover, releasing the thousand children of Desna—a furious storm of a thousand swallowtail butterflies that swarm into the air in a spiraling riot of color to a great cheer from the crowd. Throughout the rest of the day, children futilely chase butterflies, never quite quick enough to catch them.
"It's times like these I wish there was a way to capture images quickly. Being able to keep special moments like this would be nice."
"Another story to tell to the people Ill see in my travels!"
"AHHH! AHH! AHHHHH! GETITOFFME!"
Jackie flails around, trying to escape from the butterfly that landed on her shoulder.
Jacquelin looks with amusement at the children (and perhaps one specific adult) flailing at the butterflies.
"Sure is beautiful."
"Well, miss, you certainly are too."
"You can call me Jack, by the way."
You continue chatting over lunch, which has been provided free at the expense of Sandpoint's taverns. Each brings its best dishes-this event is as much a marketing push by the taverns to win new customers as it is to feed a hungry crowd. It soon becomes apparent that the darling of the lunch is, once again, Ameiko Kaijitsu, whose remarkable curry-spiced salmon and early winter drop mead easily overshadow the other offerings, such as the Hagfish's lobster chowder or the White Deer's peppercorn venison.
"How does she make such delicious salmon?"
"Well, the trick is to season the salmon with the curry powder and some salt about half an hour or so before you cook it-keep it in a colder place or wrap it up tight and put it into the stream. It's not completely ideal, but the water should be cool enough to let it keep for that long, as long as it's wrapped tightly enough so that the curry doesn't dissolve. It allows the flavorings of the salmon and the curry to really mix, resulting in a blend that doesn't overpower the taste of the salmon, while still allowing for that special something that comes with curry without being too bland. I feel like some greens would be wonderful with this too-I'm thinking maybe slightly wilted spinach and steamed chickpeas, topped with maybe a bit of mint? Not sure, I'd have to try that sometime."
Jackie drains her mug in a single long gulp, then smacks it back down on the table with an enormous belch.
A sharp retort, like the crack of distant thunder, slices through the excited crowd as the sun's setting rays paint the western sky. A stray dog that has crawled under a nearby wagon to sleep starts awake, and the buzz of two dozen conversations quickly hushes as all heads turn toward the central podium, where a beaming Father Zantus has taken the stage. He clears his throat, takes a breath to speak, and suddenly a woman's scream slices through the air. A few moments later, another scream rises, then another. Beyond them, a sudden surge of strange new voices rises - high-
pitched, tittering shrieks that sound not quite human. The crowd parts and something low to the ground races by, giggling with disturbing glee as the stray dog gives a pained yelp and then collapses with a gurgle, its throat cut open from ear to ear. As blood pools around its head, the raucous sound of a strange song begins, chanted from shrill, scratchy voices.
Everyone except Jacquelin notices that the shape that raced by and killed the dog now hides at the edge of the wagon—a single goblin, licking the blood from its dogslicer as it looks excitedly at the crowd, seeking out a new target. Two more goblins jump out of the shadows, and the three of them turn to attack you!
ROLL FOR INITIATIVE SUCKAS!!!
"Goblins!" John screams, unnecessarily.
"Lets see if they like some music....of doom..."
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Suddenly an orc with a metal-plated leg appears and drags the guy known as Ace away.
"This does not bode well."
"Who were those two scary looking fellows? My, my, they looked like pirates!"
Jacquelin is too distracted by the scary pirates to notice the goblins. That is, until everyone else had already noticed them.
"Goblins too? Oh dear... Exterio!"
Exterio quickly jumps up, growling.
"Lets do this!"
"I think they prefer to be called kobolds, guys!"
Exterio (surprised)
Goblin
Goblin
John
Saltjack
Jacquelin (surprised)
Jackie
Jack
The first goblin gets within melee range of John.
The second one climbs on top of the wagon.
The third one throws a chunk of salmon at Jacquelin. It has little effect aside from being kinda messy.
John addresses the goblins.
"I'll give you one chance to surrender and throw yourselves on the mercy of The Eternal Rose."
Assuming they refuse, he draws his hammer.
All three goblins laugh at you.
Saltjack sprints up to the nearest goblin and rips out its throat.
Then, tail a blur, he extracts an extract of True Strike from his pack.
No partial charge, you can just move up to him.