Sara clapped rather loudly after Rossana's dance, giving her friend an enthusiastic squeeze when she returned. "Shelyn would be proud" she compliments heartedly.
Lacking a partner, Sara sits the strategic dance out. Chatting and cheering, nibbling of course as well.
Going up to Sir Caspian, Rossana gives him a formal curtsy before taking his hand. "Shall we begin our triumph?"
R/C - 9
B/C - 10
S/0 - 8
DC/Sep - 5
Ti/X - 2
R/C - 9
B/C - 10
S/0 - 8
DC/Sep - 5
R/C - 9
B/C - 10
S/0 - 8
DC/Sep - 5
R/C - 9
B/C - 10
S/0 - 8
R/C - 9
B/C - 10
S/0 - 8
The first round Titus and one of his sycophants trip over one another and fall flat on their faces.
The next two rounds the four remaining teams keep neck to neck as they dance their hearts out.
The next round Dame Crabbe and Sepsinia mess up and get removed leaving only Rossana and Caspian, Bimble and Capricia, and Sara and Onara left. The next round they all do equally poorly, the fatigue from the continuous dancing setting in. This leads to a final dance off as the groups take a break a moment and then get ready to start again. In the final dance battle, it ends up going to Rossana and Caspian in the end!
Bartelby awards the winners a pair of magnificent silver-and-rosewood masks depicting smiling faces. (Each mask is worth 1250 gp). After some applause people split and talk a bit more before people eventually shuffle off to bed for the evening.
Breakfast the next morning—soft-boiled eggs, toast, and white wine—is delivered to the guests' rooms, and they are expected not to linger. Once you are ready to depart, Bartelby personally sees you off. "It was my honor to host you these past few days. Feel free to return at any time." He bows low and presses his lips to the back of Rossana's hand.
The other guests politely say their goodbyes. Baron Okerra and Baroness Voinum all entreat you to visit their estates in the future for more personal chats. Dame Crabbe, though, is a bit more insistent. "Oh, you simply must visit us in Moost for tea! One week hence, and I won't take no for an answer! Say farewell, Sepsinia dear."
Sepsinia barely looks up at you. "Bye," she mumbles.
As you board your carriage, Onora Piscum rides up on her horse alongside you. "Once you get set up at your estate, come find me at the Wolf's Whisker. We'll get started on fixin' up our town." She spurs her mount and rides off.
Purple Finch helps get all your luggage loaded before waving. "It's been a lark, hasn't it? Whenever you're in Lotheedar, look me up. I do weddings and birthday parties, too! Happy trails!"
"You're a bit better than expected," Rossana comments to Caspian as the dance comes to an end. Her attention is immediately taken by the quite overly ornate masks Lord Bartelby suddenly produces. This thing is worth a fortune! Rossana vainly tries to keep her tail still as she accepts the precious item.
As things soon begin to wind down afterward, Rossana decides to make her exit for the evening. After a great hunt and a better dance, Rossana returns to her room exhausted, but feeling quite satisfied.
Rossana rises early to greet and make promised appointments with the fellow attendants of the ball. With a much more packed schedule for the new future, Rossana returns to the carriage. "All in all, I believe we did quite well the past few days," Rossana comments to the group.
Capricia places her eggs on top of her toast--a creation she calls "All Eggs on Deck!"--and thoroughly enjoys the meal. In the carriage she turns to Caspian and asks quietly, "No bad dreams?"
"Hmph. I think the little creeps will go right back to their nasty tricks once we're back in the manor." The glint in the redhead's eye hints that her thoughts regarding house spirit are along the lines of the extermination of some unwanted pests.
Sara had a blast. But she is ready to get to work making the populace love them while making their lives better.
"I can keep trying to bribe them with food? If you think that would help, Master Bimble." she doesn't love the idea of being tied up again.
"Entirely down to your skill my lady." Caspian disclaims gallantly, as is expected of him.
Capricia places her eggs on top of her toast--a creation she calls "All Eggs on Deck!"--and thoroughly enjoys the meal. In the carriage she turns to Caspian and asks quietly, "No bad dreams?"
"No." Caspian replies, with a relieved smile. "Pleasant ones only last night."
He makes his farewells to the company, his intention to return to Stachys clear. "I hope I can come for a visit or two." He says to his brother. "We have been strangers for too long. And we need to get you married and working on the next generation!"
"How about giving them a taste of the flat of my falcata instead of its edge!" Capricia growls. She's not very much in favor of rewarding the creatures' previous bad behavior but listens to her friends' ideas and potential solutions.
The carriage eventually departs the Palace of Birdsong, traveling south from Lotheedar along the Oppara Highway. After three hours or so, it intersects with the South Cassomir Highway, which you take west for another hour until you reach the hardscrabble town of Stachys.
With the group decided, Rosanna requests the driver pull into town. Several of the town's citizens look at you impassively as you make your way to Onora's pub. They don't appear to be particularly impressed.
The Wolf's Whisker is little more than a large home with a dirt floor. Onora serves ale to a handful of people, but she cracks a tight smile when she sees you.
"Glad you all made it back alright. Did you stop by the estate yet? Folks round here swear it's haunted. I hope you don't have any spooks to deal with!"
She pours each of you an ale and sits down at the table across from you. "So, now you've seen for yourself the sorry state our town is in. I told folks you're here to help, and everything you did at the Jubilee, I think they are starting to believe you are actually here to help, but it will be better when they see it for themselves. There's lots to be done..."
STACHYS
N hamlet
Corruption –2; Crime –2; Economy –6; Law –2; Lore +0; Society –2
Qualities gone to seed
Danger –5
DEMOGRAPHICS
Government autocracy (Tribune Piscum)
Population 71 (50 humans, 6 halflings, 8 half-elves, 1 changeling, 1 half-orc, 1 tiefling, 4 other)
NOTABLE NPCS
Honorary Tribune Onora Piscum (NG female half-elf expert 4/warrior 1)
MARKETPLACE
Base Value 100 gp; Purchase Limit 500 gp;
Spellcasting —
Minor Items 1d6 items
SPECIAL QUALITIES
Gone to Seed: The neglect of the settlement has made locals apathetic and the place is run down. (Economy –4; halve Base Value and Purchase Limit; no available spellcasting) Once the PCs implement one civic improvement, one farm improvement, and the mill repairs, they can remove this disadvantage.
After a decade of neglect and heavy taxation, Stachys is a shell of what it could be. The town needs extensive (and expensive) improvements at this point to restore its economy. Listed below are the improvements needed around town, the cost of each, and the number of Loyalty Points the PCs gain by setting an example of competent leadership, as well as any other related benefits. Improvements listed as "advanced" cannot be purchased unless the basic version has been purchased first; Loyalty Point awards for the basic and advanced versions of an improvement are cumulative.
Loyalty Points are a measure of your success in winning the people of Meratt over to your cause.
Civic Improvements, Basic (1,000 gp): Repairing potholes, leveling the streets, repainting buildings, and patching roofs all help improve the quality of life and attract new visitors. The PCs gain 1 Loyalty Point.
Civic Improvements, Advanced (4,000 gp): Investing more money allows Stachys to renovate its waste systems, build new walkways, and construct new buildings. The PCs gain 3 Loyalty Points.
Farms, Basic (1,000 gp): Basic improvements include repairing irrigation, pulling stumps, and marking outlying roads. The PCs gain 1 Loyalty Point.
Farms, Advanced (4,000 gp): With more cash, the community can acquire hardier seed, fertilizer, and even magical renewal for the soil. The PCs gain 3 Loyalty Points.
Festivals (2,000 gp each): Festivals to mark special occasions and holidays are an easy way to win support and impress the neighbors, but PCs can't hold more than one festival every 2 weeks. A festival raises the town's opinion of the PCs to indifferent if it has fallen to unfriendly. Inviting a noble to visit during a festival grants the PCs a +2 circumstance bonus on checks to influence that noble during the visit. If the PCs hold at least three festivals, they gain 1 Loyalty Point.
Gold Canyon Bridge (3,000 gp): Rebuilding the bridge over Gold Canyon allows PCs to travel more quickly to Jabris, Moost, and New Towne, and encourages new trade. The PCs gain 1 Loyalty Point.
Market, Basic (2,000 gp): By paving the village square, coordinating with local artisans and neighboring farms, and hiring a few messengers, the PCs can establish a weekly market to attract more wealth. This improvement helps Stachys become more self-sufficient, reducing the base cost of all future improvements by 10%.
Market, Advanced (2,000 gp): Lending some money to establish a new, permanent store in town helps bring new products and luxuries into the community. Completing this improvement grants Stachys the prosperous settlement quality.
Mill (1,000 gp): The windmill just outside of town broke down in a storm 20 years ago, and no local has the knowledge or money to fix it. With some small investments in repairing the mill, farmers will no longer need to cart their wheat to Pensaris and back. The PCs gain 1 Loyalty Point.
Pump (1,000 gp*): Special. You'll have to venture out to the pump house a few miles away to determine what's wrong with it before you can repair it.
Public House (5,000 gp): Onora's original tavern is little more than an oversized home with a dirt floor. Constructing a true public house provides Stachys with a public gathering space as well as room for brewing. This investment automatically improves Onora Piscum's attitude toward the PCs by one step. This new pub may also attract adventurers. The PCs gain 2 Loyalty Points.
Statue (1,000 gp): Once the PCs have invested at least 10,000 gp into town improvements, they can erect a statue in town square, honoring the local culture, the local nobility, or themselves. If they choose to honor the local culture, they gain 1 Loyalty Point. If they choose to honor the local nobility, they gain a +1 equipment bonus on Diplomacy checks to influence nobles of the county. If they choose to honor themselves, the statue becomes a minor tourist attraction, increasing the town's base value by 10%.
Temple, Basic (4,000 gp): Stachys has a small shrine to Abadar, Erastil, Iomedae, and Shelyn, and with expensive construction this can be transformed into a small temple to any one of these gods. This improvement grants the PCs access to the healing services of a 1st-level cleric while in town, free of charge. The PCs gain 2 Loyalty Points.
Temple, Advanced (10,000 gp): With a sanctified altar, expanded library, and charitable infrastructure, Stachys develops one of the nicest temples in the region, providing free education, food, and shelter for locals. This provides the PCs with free access to the spellcasting abilities of a 3rd-level cleric while in town and increases the community spellcasting level by 1 as more experienced clerics visit from neighboring communities. The PCs gain 2 Loyalty Points.
Rossana gives a curtsy to the woman before sitting. "There does seem to be some spirits or tricksters around the manor, but I'm sure we'll find a way to get along. The town seems to need our attention a bit more."
"Wise priorities. Once we have made the basic improvements I will happily ride out to speak with Baroness Voinum and Baron Okerra. Having their goodwill will be important and they both offered aid as well." Caspian adds, trying to remain circumspect so that his family name doesn't end up tarnishing a good reputation.
"Food is always the most important." Sara says "Not just to me!" she says to make sure they don't think she is just talking about breakfast, again "Most tales about revolution starts with starvation."
Onara looks extremely hopeful as you talk about the city improvements and not just small things but bigger, longer plans to really build the town back up. At one point Onara interjects "You know, I'm sure the people would be happy for the work. The population has dwindled quite a bit as the town has fallen to disarray but I'm sure as we will attract more people back as we work on these improvements you are suggesting. Just let me know where to get them started and I will get it all organized."
When Rossana seems to imply there are indeed ghosts at the Betony estate Onara seems shocked [b]"So the rumors are actually true? The place is really haunted?"
She scratches her head with a bit of a concerned look on her face "Lady Betony was a bit eccentric and aloof but she never seemed to be concerned about the estate or imply it was dangerous. Either it is she who now haunts the place or whatever was there before, she found a way to work with it. My ma always said ghosts aren't necessarily bad, just lost and confused, maybe you're right and you can figure out a way to appease them somehow." she shrugs at the end.
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Capricia is more or less in agreement with the others' assessments and priorities.
"I'd like to check out the pump as well," she adds, her voice lowering at the end. "Might be no big deal, or...it could be something more sinister, like sabotage."
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"Indeed, we should investigate the pump soon." Caspian agrees.
"Alright, sounds like we're in agreement. We'll have the people start on revitalizing the farms and then the mills. Once that is done, we'll get the roads and houses repaired to working condition," Rossana tells Lady Onara. "Hopefully, this place will be bustling once again soon."
"As for us, let's stop by the manor to greet its occupants again before checking the pump to see what's wrong with it," Rossana suggests to the group.
Before you set off to tend to your own things Onara chimes in "In the next couple of days I have something else for you to do. Now that you are officially taking over some of the duties here in town, one of those duties includes holding trial for criminals. Just before the jubilee we had an incident that needs to be resolved. When you are ready let me know and I can give you more details."
Onara nods "Sure. Lucinia Mag has been detained for assault, public drunkenness and theft. She is essentially the local drunk and troublemaker and has been causing problems for years. Most recently she started a brawl here at my pub, punched my husband the sheriff, and ran off with the night’s take, 22 silver, and a bottle of oldlaw whiskey worth 20 gold. Sheriff Piscum found her passed out drunk in Jo Sini’s barn the next morning."
Sara whistles at the price of the whiskey, then says "We should talk to her, since I always remember the guard doing so in the capital, no matter how guilty the person was." She thinks about the laws and normal punishments for the charges. "Did you get your take back at least?"
Onara nods "I did. I can take you to her if you like, but wasn't sure if you all had other matters to attend to first."
Rossana nods. "We can do it now."
Onara nods once again "Ok, let me talk to my husband then and he will bring her here." Onara goes into the other room for a moment and then comes back out. After a few minutes Sherrif Piscum comes out with a rough looking woman in shackles and sits her down before you all. Onara recounts what she just told you all and explains that you will be the ones deciding her fate. Onara looks to you as she notes "You are welcome to carry out any sorts of investigations you like before making your decision, but since you are new to these parts let me tell you about the most commonly accepted punishments."
The acceptable punishments are generally a time in the pillory, a fine, dismemberment (especially for theft), or death; Stachys isn’t equipped to imprison anyone long term, and with only one sheriff, the town can’t oversee anyone performing community service unless the group deputize and pay someone for the task. Of course the group can always dismiss the charges or come up with their own alternatives as well.
"Miss Lucinia Meg, I am Lady Rossana of house Thorn and the new overseer of these lands. Do you know why you were arrested for?" Rossana asks.
Sara leans back against the wall and listens, trying to get a read on the suspect.
Capricia joins Sara in the audience, trying to judge the woman's reactions as she's questioned.
The woman to Rossana and Bimble with a scowl and shrugs "Yeah, they locked me up fer stealin', fightin' and bein' drunk. Not the first time an' pro'lly not the last."
Caspian fades to the back of the room with the others and watches the conversation dispassionately.
"Sounds like an open-and-shut case," Capricia comments to Sara and Caspian. "She even confessed to the crimes."
"It seems you realize that your actions have caused issues for the town, then," Rossana points out. "Maybe some time fixing the town instead will help your outlook. Lady Onara, let's have her assist in our new projects alongside the others. Sober, of course. This will serve the community while keeping her under a group watch."
"She didn't though." Sara whispers to Capricia "She admitted to doing it before and said they locked her up for it this time. Could be just a fumbling of words but..." the baker speaks up "Are you admitting to it, Lucinia?"
Caspian steps up to Rossana and speaks quietly in her ear. "It is a just punishment, but it doesn't solve the problem. She may remain sober for a week or so while she works, but what after that? You would be well within the law to expel her from the town entirely. It may be the better course for Stachys as a whole."
He then retreats, keeping his head bowed throughout the conversation.
Onara is about to speak up but then others start asking questions of Lucinia, she blatantly ignores the call from Sara and looks to Bimble instead "Was jus' 'avin' meself a good time. Ya hoity-toity rich folk don't know nuthin' 'bout what it's been like 'ere over the years. I've 'ad ta make me own way in life an' it is what it is..."
She shows no signs of remorse for what she did as if it is just what she has to do to get by. Onara just rolls her eyes at the woman's words and then looks to you all, not wanting to speak out of turn.
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Rossana nods at Sir Caspian's advice. "You might be right there. However," Rossana adds, turning to the woman, "I do not wish the first ruling to be so harsh, nor to fail to offer her one last chance. Lady Lucinia, we are planning to revitalize this town; to give it a second chance to be a better home for the people here. In lieu of that, I wish to extend you a second chance as well. Should you decide to change and prove yourself in the helping of bettering this town, I'm sure you'll find a much better and more comfortable way of life as a citizen. However, if you so wish to continue to act in such a degrading manner, then you will be forced to leave this place.
"The town may not change overnight, but with a bit of time, we'll have this place bustling once again. And right now, you may be able to be part of the turning point of this place; to carry the same story of redemption this town will soon have. So what do you say? Will you lend us your assistance in creating a better life?"
Before Lucinia has an opportunity reply Onara speaks up hesitantly "Lady Thorn, to clarify do you plan to enlist her into work of her own volition? I fear whether this would actually make a difference or not. Perhaps if we had someone to ensure she complied with your order? However, as of now we don't have any deputies or the like to do such a thing. You would need to hire someone for the job. Of course, if that isn't you intent then I apologize for speaking out of turn."
"I will serve in that capacity if required." Caspian offers. He leaves unspoken that his being visibly involved in rejuvenating the town will likely also be a good thing.