Tudan breaks out in a smile. "Thank you, child. Here's a penny, so you're fishing for free today." He hands the little girl a copper, and then gives one to Mister Clansom to rent a standard competition rod, though he has his own hooks and twine.
Setting up on the bridge, Tudan carefully scans the stream, looking for a little white paper fish. Thinking he spotted his target, the experienced fisherman lowers his borrowed hook and tries to pick it up.
Halak hefts three horseshoes in his own huge fist, and throws them at their target with a practiced flick of his wrist. You get the feeling that none of the locals ever want to play against him, and he's relishing skilled opponents. He aims for the middle distance with his first two throws, and goes for broke with his third.
"A tie!" he cries out, "Between myself and Gideon here. We must throw a decider!" There's a murmur of excitement and interest in the crowd.
Tudan, you haul up a beautifully folded red paper carp. When you take it to Mister Clansom he exclaims, "Well done, well done indeed!" and gives you a hard-boiled egg, its shell painted with bright flowers. You're not sure he noticed that you're not a six year old.
"Have another go!" the old man urges enthusiastically.
"Go on Gideon, is a proper contest now!" laughs Surveen as he claps Gideon as he readies to throw.
Tudan laughs. "Very pretty," he says grinning. "And nutritious!! Thank you. Maybe I'll do even better this time!" A well-armed and -armored figure in a well-worn explorer's outfit, with the distinctive metallic golden hair of his kind, the adventurous aasimar stands out clearly among the children and old men on the bridge; but he's always at ease, treating everyone as a friend that he hasn't met yet.
Amused by the innocent fun, and drawn to the challenge, Tudan once again tries to espy the elusive white fish. Whether he sees it or not, the optimistic outdoorsman lowers his hook once more for another paper fish.
The pale wizard stands mute, watching as his companions play this odd game of skill.
"I'll just watch, thank you very much."
Tudan spots a single bright white paper fish, tiny amid its brightly colored companions. With a deft flick of his wrist he hooks the brass ring through its nose and reels it in. The gathered children clap and 'ooh' and 'ahh'.
Mister Clansom exclaims loudly when you show him, "Oh good show, well done indeed! I have something special put aside for that fish... now where did I leave it?" he starts rummaging through bags and boxes of candy and wooden toys and painted jewelry. "Just a moment..."
Tudan gives a gracious bow to the assemblage of youth. "I spent a lot of time fishing to get that good. Practice yourselves, and bring home food to your families, and someday you might do the same."
"Kiss me for luck, Spark."
The tiny Lyrakien plants an equally tiny kiss on Gideon's cheek. "Go for the close one. He just got lucky before, you just need to score."
"Here goes nothing!"
Mister Clansom emerges triumphant from his rummaging, and presents Tudan with a small box of finely carved rosewood. "Keep this safe young 'un. It might save your life! Aha! Now be along the lot of you, the ceremony's about to start. Don't you hear the bells?"
The box rattles slightly when you take it.
***
Halak grimaces commiseration as Gideon's throw falls well wide, and casts his horseshoe.
The half orc throws his hands in the air in an exagerated gesture of dismay. "This cannot be!" Further remonstrating with the fates and gods of fair-stall games are forestalled by the sound of sweet bells ringing from the chapel of Shelyn.
His shoulders slump, "Ah. Is time for ceremony. You come back and we finish this, after marriage." Halak fixes a mock-serious glare on Gideon, to impress on him the importance of concluding their contest. Then he grins and claps one hand on each of Gideon's and Surveen's shoulders. "Come. We still get good seats, maybe."
"Yes, afterwards. Maybe Surveen will even manage to hit a couple now that he's seen how the professionals do it!"
Tudan bows slightly, holding the box with both hands. "Thank you Mister Clansom. I will keep it very safe indeed." But of course, he can't resist looking inside on the way to the ceremony.
Surveen laughs at the good nature taunts, walking with Halak and Gideon to the ceremony. "Ha, Ha Gideon I am honored to be taught to throw shoes by such a professional as you, Ha haha! Lets go see how a professional cleric can handle our friend Elyin in this marriage ceremony, Haha ha!" He merrily tries to force a fast pace, pushing the other two so they can find that seat Halak was mentioning.
The lanky mage simply shook his head and smiled as his companions bickered amongst themselves. This would prove to be a most amusing day.
You make your way to the benches in the amphitheater as the bells of the chapel ring out. There are a few seats left - you could sit near the front in the second row. Or on the far left hand side about halfway back. Or you can remain standing right at the back.
Wherever you decide to sit, , you soon hear the bells give one final silvery peal, and Elyin and Kailah emerge from the chapel, the priestess by their side and preceded by bridesmaids, groomsmen, and musicians. The procession arrives at the amphitheater and the celebrants climb the small podium under the gazebo.
The priestess speaks in a clear ringing tone, "Friends, family, and well-wishes all, welcome on this blessed day. We are gathered here to celebrate the love of two people, and their commitment to life, and to that shared love. We begin, as tradition teaches, with music from the hymnal of Shelyn, Melodies of Inner Beauty." the priestess gestures at the musicians, who strike up a haunting and delicate air on wind and string instruments.
From his position in the gathering of Eylin's friends, the undine is transported by the music and start of the ceremony. He almost wishes the leaves of the trees to fall and flutter down like confetti. The normally alert Surveen is less than concentrated on his surroundings, except the bride, groom, the priest and the music.
Gideon sits with the others in the second row.
The music swells to a crescendo, as the priestess sings of love, the many splendored thing that lifts us up where we belong.
The aasimar looks in the box and ooohs. Then he puts it away, bring his attention back to the present, and pays attention to the love song.
Surveen sees a little girl get stung, he tuens to Halak and Gideon, "Did you see and hear that! There appears to be a hive of bees or wasps present at the funeral. And they ain't very friendly either, see they stung that little girl. Excuse me, I'll go over and comfort her." Sureen rises and moves to help the young girl.
Surveen sees a little girl get stung, he tuens to Halak and Gideon, "Did you see and hear that! There appears to be a hive of bees or wasps present at the funeral. And they ain't very friendly either, see they stung that little girl. Excuse me, I'll go over and comfort her." Sureen rises and moves to help the young girl.
.... wasps present at the wedding.
To be honest, Tudan isn't paying the best attention... but it's hard not not to notice his big, blue friend stepping forward during a formal ceremony. A wedding, to be precise -- though every beginning is an ending to something else (and vice-versa), and so it could also be considered a funeral for Elyin's singleness.
As Surveen stands to help the stung bridesmaid, the singing is interrupted in mid song. The priestess gasps and swats at her arm. A low booming buzz erupts from the tree-line behind the ceremony and thousands upon thousands of bees rise in a black and gold swarm behind the celebrants. The roiling mass of insects heads straight for Elyin and Kaileh, eliciting screams of terror from among the gathered well-wishers.
Surveen slaps, jumps and crushes the bees with his hands and feet.
The mage sways unsteadily on his feet, unsure of what to really do. Muttering to himself, he weaves his hands in an arcane gesture, placing them upon his chest.
"If I attempt difficult magics I could hurt someone!"
First things first. Tudan takes a deep breath and shouts resonantly, to be heard over the buzzing and screaming.
Surveen swallows a vial of anti-toxin as he swoops in to grab the young girl from under the approaching swarm. His fists prove ineffective against the diminutive creatures, and he starts to feel pin-prick stings.
You see Elyin being stung as he tries to protect Kailah, and several of the wedding party collapse in pain.
Sharadon successfully casts a protective spell as he moves with the crowd, away from the swarms.
Gideon says, loudly, "Start moving, people! Head to shelter, maybe the chapel or the feast tent." the crowd starts to look a bit more organized, like less of a panicked mob
Seeing how ineffectual his blows have been to stop the swarm, Surveen moves in the opposite direction to the crowd and out of the swarms reach, before turning and waving vigorously and shouting at the swarm, trying to attract the bees towards him. Surveen picks up a handful of dirt ready to throw into the swarm, once the ceremonial area is clear of people.
Tudan feels gratified as the guests begin moving out of the way of harm. Yes, between him and Gideon, they'd save many innocents today.
Once the guests clear the way, Gideon pulls his veil from his shirt and, eyes glowing with eldritch power, releases a stream of crackling lightning through the main mass of insects.
Gritting his teeth, Sharadon began preparing for one of his most mighty incantations. Pulling some components from a side pouch hidden under his robes, he tried best to time it perfectly.
The crowd begins funneling away - some towards the shelter of the stone chapel, others towards the heavy canvas tent of the feast marquee. You see Elyin carrying the priestess, stung into insensibility; and Kailah has a bridesmaid under each arm. You see Halak, the blacksmith, sprinting away in the direction of his horseshoe throwing stall.
Tudan, this is not normal swarming behavior for the bees. It's the wrong season, and they're too aggressive. There seems to be some sort of malign intelligence guiding them to attack the villagers and wedding guests.
The bees, perhaps attracted by his bright blue coloring, swarm towards Surveen. This time he takes the full brunt of the bees' unnatural rage.
Seeing Surveen in trouble, Tudan struggles against the tide of people flowing away from the gazebo, shouting a warning to his comrades as he goes. "The bees' behavior is unnatural! Something's making them swarm and attack!" Though he guesses that he's still too far away to help the brave monk, Tudan can see that he isn't making much headway, so he stops and releases a pulse of healing energy that ripples out through the wedding guests in a wave of gentle light and quiet chimes.
Tudan gets a little closer to the struggling blue monk. A wave of positive healing energy washes out from him, healin not only his wounded companion, but several of the stung and poisoned civilian casualties. They start moving faster, losing a certain confused jerkiness from their movements.
Surveen continues to be the but of the bees attack, making himself a nuisance to the the creatures he shouts "get ready to blast these little creatures, I'm running in a couple of seconds."
You have adventured together for a long time, and your timing and team work are honed by years of encounters that would have killed lesser heroes. In the same instant as the last civilian reaches safety, Surveen dives and rolls. Actinic power pours from Gideon's outstretched hand, crossing and briefly outshining the dull red whumph of Sharadon's conflagration.
Bees crisp and die, and the pitch of the swarm rises to an outraged shriek.
As the fireball explodes, Surveen dives for cover behind an upturned bench, but his foot slips on a patch of wet grass, causing his to loose purchase and stumble, instead he ploughs into the bench itself.