Unfortunately, Tom fails to spot the danger before it is too late. The ground gives way beneath his feet as he begins to sink in a patch of quicksand!
Alerted to his presence, the ball of light moves towards him, and a second one appears. They discharge electricity, one managing to zap the rogue. Meanwhile, the quicksand pulls Tom down all the way to his neck!
Tom tries to swim UP!
REROLL!
As he frees himself he keeps swimming while freeing a hand to throw his knife!
"These are will-o-wisps! Magic doesn't work on them unless it's force. And me without my magic missiles!" Grelda laments. She reaches out with her magic to nudge fate in Tom's favor. "Ash! Grab him! But be careful to stay out of the quicksand!"
"Oh no, Tom!" she calls out, seeing the man nearly buried alive in the sand. She quickly goes through her spells for the day, but doesn't find anything that might be helpful here.
Unsure what to do here, she casts Spirit Link on Tom to help make sure she can heal him even if she can't see him if he were to sink.
Tasha moves forward to protect Ashlion as he pulls Tom from the sucking sand.
Ashlion hauls Tom free of the quicksand, and the wisps move in pursuit. Tasha stabs one as it draws near, causing to recoil and go dark, disappearing from sight. The other one tries to zap the tiefling, showing her once.
The tiefling jumps back at the shock of electricity. "So you have a bite after all. Perhaps I bite you back, no?"
Tasha’s final strike pieces deep into the wisp’s ephemeral body. It extinguished its glow and disappears as well. After a few tense moments, it becomes clear that the creatures don’t plan on coming back any time soon.
You are able to recover the chain with its brass housing In the center of the housing is a clear spindle aeon stone, positioned so it resembles an open eye.
[b]”St. Alkitarem’s Eye, I presume?” Grelda muses as she studies its aura.
Grelda seem surprised by Ashlion's gesture. "Oh! Thank you, Ash." She blushes and gives the barbarian a pretty smile.
Grelda leans into the kiss, giving the others a fine showcase of half-orc passion. Afterwards, she leans her head against Ashlion's muscled chest and sighs happily.
***
You cross over another log bridge from the islands to dry and rocky ground to the east, continuing to explore the region. The head of the valley is higher and rockier than the overgrown area at the valley’s mouth, and the stream flowing into the valley is clean and clear here. The stream runs near a set of broad stairs carved into the granite hillside. Badly weathered and quite old, the stairs lead up to an ancient keep atop the hill, its crumbled stones blending with the natural granite.
As they walk, Tasha moves close to Ruinë.
"I was watching Ashlion kissing Grelda," she says with a note of guilt in her voice. "Is that how you would like to be kissed?"
~~~
When they reach the ruined keep, Tasha slides her blade into her belt and begins to mount the steps. "This could be a interesting place to store extra supplies," she says as she climbs.
As Tasha makes her way up the stairs, she barely spots the tripwire strung across them halfway up before she steps into it. Looking closer, she sees that it is tied to half a dozen spherical thunderstones that are rigged to bounce down the stairs and explode when the wire is tripped. Now that you have seen the tripwire, you can bypass it easily enough, though if you want to claim the thunderstones, you'd have to be very careful about disabling the trap.
The tiefling points out the tripwire to the others and marks the step with a couple of loose stones. "Someone is using this place. That was done recently," she says as she moves farther up the stairs.
The south side of the keep bears a weathered wooden door beneath a squat tower of gray stone. The door’s lock is long gone, and it’s now held closed by a loop of leather.
The roof of the keep collapsed long ago, and its interior is one large room open to the sky. The sole exception is the relatively intact northeast tower, which contains sufficient remnants of an upper story 10 feet above to provide a shelter from the elements. Several old campfires and graffiti attest to years of sporadic occupation by squatters. It currently contains three small bedrolls and a pile of alchemical gear.
A trio of female ratfolk with mottled white-and-brown fur sit around the alchemical equipment. All of them bear numerous scorch marks. The little creature squeak in surprise when they see you.
"Eek! Who are you? Are you with those thieves from Escadar? Come to take revenge?" one of them asks, shifting back and forth on her feet.
Tasha holds up her empty hands in what she hopes is a gesture of peace.
"Nay, friend. We're the Circus of Wayward Wonders. We're getting ready to set up nearby and were just exploring the nearby area for dangers. We've already dealt with some wolves and a couple of will-o-the-wisps." Keeping her hand away from her blade, she moves in a little closer. "So tell us more of these thieves?"
The ratfolk begins to bounce from paw to paw excitedly. "No way! You're with the circus? I love the circus! Are you recruiting? I make colorful displays of alchemy. I really, really like it, but my sisters say I should restrain myself, but I've always wanted to show off my displays to an audience and I think I'll make an excellent performer if you let me in! Oh, please, say yes! Please please please please please!"
"Sef, colorful displays of alchemy sound like a great addition... maybe we should invite them to audition?"
Tom begins juggling a trio of apples from his pack, then one by one tosses them to the ratfolk.
The other ratfolk shake their heads. "Oh, this one is all her," one says.
"I'm Fidget!" the loquacious ratfolk says. "My sisters are Calim and Lish. We ran afoul of a gang of violent thieves in Escadar, but we took several bags of their alchemical stuff with us."
"You keep our hideout here a secret, and you can keep the loot," Lish says.
Tom smiles down at the excitable ratfolk, "Pleased to meet you, Fidget! I'm Tom, this is Sef Tasha, Ruine, Grelda, and Muscles."
Ruinë takes no offense from Ashlion's comment on pretty ladies.
She avoids eye contact as much as possible, staring at her feet.
When the introductions are made, Ruinë smiles and offers both of her hands forward, palms up. "I am Ruinë, it is a pleasure to meet you! Blessed be this day! New friends are made and there is no hostilities to be had. We would be thrilled to have you among us if you wish to join! We are always looking for new tricks to add to our shows."
"You all would be welcome in our family," Tasha explains. "Not every one of us performs. There are many jobs that need to be done that are not done in front of an audience." She gives a crooked smile. "And those that are swift with their hands are always appreciated in our family."
Ruinë shoots a sidelong glance at Tom when Tasha mentions swift hands.
Fidget cheers and jumps up and down, while her less rowdy sisters nod in agreement. Fidget has joined the circus!
With the plot of land now safe from danger, you return to the circus camp. It will still take several more days to fully clear out all the brambles, but you can begin preparing for your first show in Escadar!
Grelda spends most of the next week in the city promoting the upcoming debut. The rest of her time is with Ashlion, alternately coaching him on performance tips and enjoying her new status as his second wife. And judging by the sounds coming from their wagon at night, she is enjoying it quite a bit.
Tasha assists Grelda's efforts promoting the upcoming event and seems to create quite a stir with her lime-green long-coat and hat.
The week passes relatively quickly as you spread the word of the Circus of Wayward Wonders’ local debut and practice for the performance. Soon, the day of the show arrives and the large crowd of locals from Escadar begins to stream into the tent, eager to witness what you have to offer!
As everybody is going over their last rehearsals, the Amazing Axel comes to the you, looking worried. ”You’re not going to like this. A guy named Delamar had been going around offering higher payments for all of us to come work for Mistress Dusklight. He said if we didn’t accept the offer, we’d be sorry! None of us want to leave, of course, but some of the other performers are pretty rattled. Maybe you should talk to them?”
"Delamar," Tasha repeats with a shake of her head. "Of course."
~~~~
As soon as she's finished with her own preparations, Tasha gathers everyone outside the rear of the main tent. "I wanted to gather everyone together before the show starts to congratulate you all." In spite of the expressions of confusion, she presses on. "We've become good enough that Mistress Dusklight is now feeling threatened enough that she's resorting to petty threats."
Hearing questioning mutters wondering what threats she's referring to, Tasha realizes that not everyone was aware of the catwoman's overtures. Now they were, of course. "What kind of threats?" someone asks.
"It doesn't matter," she says trying to keep the pep-talk on track. "What matters is that it's a demonstration that we're good enough that she feels that ..." The tiefling trails off, realizing that she's not helping matters. "I just wanted to tell everyone that I think you're all really special. Now go break a leg."
As people walk away muttering more than when they arrived, she puts her face in her hands.
Just as the audience is starting to arrive in large numbers, one of the circus hands presents the you with silvery tickets marked with the ornate “CM” logo of the Celestial Menagerie. ”There are people in the crowd selling these for just a few coppers! They’re muscling in on our turf!” the hand grumbles.
Tom slips through the crowd like a knife between ribs. When he gets close, he gets in close while hiding in the crowd.
Once he's close he drops a handful of coppers on the ground causing a distraction enough to steal all of the tickets from the man.
Tom is successful in stealing the Celestial Menagerie's tickets, foiling their plot to undermine your attendance numbers.
As you look out from backstage, you can see the crowd is literally overflowing the bleachers! It seems as if nearly half of the population of Escadar has arrived, chowing down on popped corn and cotton candy, cramming into every available space to witness what the Circus of Wayward Wonders has to offer. You'd better not let them down--on with the show!
The one place that Tasha really feels at home, in front of the audience. Seeing the crowd's excitement gets her blood pumping and there's a bounce in her step as she takes her place, bowing in the center ring to introduce the first act.
"Bring your hands together for Axel's Amazing Aviary!"
Axel’s uneasiness shows as he sends his birds out to perform tricks over the audience and deliver candy to the children among them. The crowd applauds politely, but it’s clear the act doesn’t truly excite them.
While Tasha performs as ringmaster, the rest of you wait backstage for your turn in the spotlight. Ashlion, Ruine, and Tom notice somebody who doesn’t belong lurking about—a tiefling with long horns and facial tattoos that make him resemble a reptile. He is getting close to the animal pens...
Ruinë points out the tiefling and grabs Tom and Ashlion "Something's not right. I don't think he is supposed to be there? Should I stop him with fire?"
She shoots a warning shot of flame in front of the tiefling and says "Stop! Do not move or the next one will not miss."
The tiefling instinctively hops back, but Ruine's attempt at intimidation only results in a sly smile. "Oh, dear! And here I thought you lot might be a peaceable bunch... Delamar! Ruanna!"
The tent flap opens as the pompous Delamar Gianvin steps through, followed by a half-elf woman with spiky red hair and a cunning smile. "I saw the whole thing," Delamar says. "These cretins tried to attack you!"
"Well, nobody would blame us now for fighting back after being provoked," Ruanna says. "Self-defense and all that!"
Grelda calls upon dark magic to try to rob the half-elf Ruanna of her sight. She then grants Ruine some guidance.
While Ruanna gropes around blindly, Tom {A} Strides up behind her with a {A} poisoned knife, like a shadow and whispers in her ear "it's cute that you think it would be safe for you here...
Ruinë frowns at the assertion her warning shot was thought of as an attack. "That's not what happened." she starts to explain, but decided it doesn't matter anymore and joins the attacks instead.
Grelda blinds Ruanna, then Ruine strikes her with a ray of flame. The half-elf screams in pain! Meanwhile, Ashlion batters Delamar to the floor with his maul, but the agitator manages to roll away from his follow-up strike.
Ruanna stumbles away, casting a spell to protect herself with mirror images. Delamar stands up and attacks Ashlion with his rapier, scoring a critical hit!
The tiefling hangs back, looking uncertain. "Get in here, Smoke Dragon, and help me!" Delamar snarls. The tiefling sighs, exhaling a cloud of noxious vapors that conceal him and cling to his dagger as he moves to flank Ash. He scores a critical hit as well!
Delamar takes advantage of the opening and stabs Ashlion again.
Ruinë hurries to Ashlion's side and uses a healing spell on him to fix his horrible injuries.
"Still fat and slow, I see, Delamar," Tasha call out as she stabs at the man.
Tom slips on behind Ruanna and attacks her, but he ends up destroying one of her three mirror images. Tasha scores a telling blow on Delamar and demoralizes him. Grelda blasts him with magic missiles, then Ashlion brings his maul down on the man’s head, cracking his skull and laying him low!
Hearing the thud of the body, Ruanna curses and casts another spell, disappearing. The tent flap opens as she blindly stumbles out. The smoke-shrouded tiefling drops his knife and raises his hands in surrender. ”Well, that was a lousy plan, wasn’t it? I apologize for my part in it.”
Tom tries to look serious, "He was messing around with the animal cages... should we let the lions take care of him?"
"Hello, Aives," Tasha says, wiping her blade off on Delamar's clothing. "There's no need to return to Dusklight's abuse," she says. "You'll only be punished for his failure." She gestures to the cooling body.
"We run things differently here. Everyone gets a say. Everyone gets a share. No one is forced to do anything that they don't wish. We're a better class of 'Family' than what she offers."
She turns slightly, hearing what sounds like the finishing of the act. "Otherwise, you're free to go. You can tell Dusklight that that's what will do to anyone that tries to sabotage us. We protect our own."
She looks over Delamar's body again. "Check him for anything of value and then, yes, give the lions a treat."