Song-of-Air magically soothes Snowball's wounds. She then joins her brother on the south side of the clearing.
Encounter! Round 2. Bold may act.
Leaf-on-Wind
Ephie
Blue Hex Boar (-9 hp)
Clover
> Snowy (24/24 hp)
Rulean
Song-of-Air
Nabi
Red Square Boar (biggest) (-32 hp)
Rulean moves back a bit, then attempts to make the biggest boar a little less dangerous.
Clover opts to maintain focus on the smaller Blue Boar in front of her and calls for Snowy's aid once again as she jabs at the animal with her longspear!
"Again Snowy, again!"
______________
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Snowy offers a happy-sounding purrgrowl as Song mends his wounds and then eagerly dives back into the fray to worry Blue some more!
______________
Rulean strikes the largest boar with a ray of fell energy, sapping some of the beast's strength.
Clover plunges her spear through the younger boar, but the elation or relief of victory is swiftly swept away as it beocmes apparent that the boar is still alive and ready to disembowel her despite its grevious injury . Fortunately, her trusted badger is there and clamps onto the boar's neck, finally bringing it low.
Encounter! Round 2. Bold may act.
Leaf-on-Wind
Ephie
Clover
> Snowy (24/24 hp)
Rulean
Song-of-Air
Nabi
Red Square Boar (biggest) (-32 hp; enfeebled 1)
Dashing out of the wwods Nabi slashes quickly at the beast with her short sword.
She seems surprised at the deepness of the cut from her first strike, and the second attack is less precise
Nabi's blade, enchanted as it is, slides through the boar's hide and deep into her side. Despite likely being a mortal blow, the stubborn boar refuses to die . The Keleshite's second strike catches on bone and fails to put down the beast.
The boar weighs the value of revenge versus fighting another day. Mean to the end--and told lies about townsfolk--the boar chooses revenge. She swings her weighty head and sword-like tusks at Nabi, but her strength has been weakened to the point where she cannot puncture the acrobat's leathers. Astounded that the human has the audacity to not die at the end of her tusks, the large boar runs away across the creek.
“So, is that normal for a boar? I’ve heard they could be grumpy.”
Rulean decides that is typical behavior for a boar: territorial and fierce. The smaller boars might have been offspring, as well, he concludes, which might make a sow even more territorial.
The doll watches the boar flee.
NO FUN!
"Very nicely done. Do you think, Rulean, we've driven this menace away forever? Or will he return?
He looks over his shoulder. The doll's eyes are very close to Epbue's own. "Now now, 'Mr. Splinters,' we don't kill for fun. How many times do I have to tell you?"
"NO. KILL."
“Boar are territorial. The others may have been offspring.”
He pauses to think. “Still leaves the question of how it came to consider this orchard its territory.”
--
Leaf-on-Wind notices something glinting in the early day's sun underneath the log crossing the creek. Closer inspection reveals a steel belt buckle in the mud. Given a bit more visual examination suggests that the belt buckle is attached to a belt and that belt is attached to a body mostly covered by the mud and leaves of the creek bank.
Leaf-On-Wind follows the fleeing boar with his bow but does not fire since it's running away. After ensuring that the porcine foe is over the horizon and out of sight, his returning gaze catches on something and he pauses for a moment.
"Check near the log, think I'm seeing a body by it." he offers tersely as he shifts to a 'general' targeting of the area near the body, in case it decides to get up or something.
"A body? Oh geeze..." Clover sighs as she wipes the blood off of her longspear. "And here I was hoping that they'd managed to not kill anyone. Those sows are territorial as all heck even on a good day...add in babies and maybe a lack of food out in the forest, well...I can't really blame her for attacking."
A frown flickers across the halfling's face.
"Just wish I could've gotten her to back down without having to kill her young..."
Disheartened by her inability to get through to the local wildlife Clover tries to turn her attention to Leaf's discovery, carefully approaching the indicated spot and gingerly nudging at the mud with her longspear.
______________
Clover determines that there is nothing imminently dangerous and moves down to clear the mud and wet leaves from the corpse. Leaf-on-Wind may be relieved that the corpse does not rise. Most of the flesh has decayed, and the smell that is released is musty and only faintly putrid. Despite the age of the corpse--surely over a week old--you gather from the clothing, skeleton, and what flesh remains that it was once a gnome.
The only intact items on the corpse are a scroll case and a corked bottle.
At least we have some venison meat for tonight. Maybe we can find some vegetables too?
Nabi keeps her eyes peeled, just in case the big bad boar comes back for a second round
Rulean goes down to help Clover uncover the body.
Once that is done he says “We will need to make sure they get proper rites and contact the mayor, hopefully they can figure out who it was.”
“The miller, a family of farmers, and the Sherrif are all missing. I hadn’t thought to ask what race any of them were.”
Looking around, he asks “Should we try something simple? See if the large X on Nemmia’s map corresponds to an exact location rather than a general one?”
Ephie holds a silk handkerchief over his nose as he leans down and gingerly picks up the corked bottle.
"A lesser antidote." He peers inside the scroll case and tries to decipher the writing on the scroll.
"I'd like to consider what we've learned before we go on, if you'll bear with me…"
Ephie sits down, placing Mr Splinters across from him. He produces a spiral-bound book with wide pages. It contains technical sketches, equations, and drawings of various creatures and devices — some organic, some mechanical in nature. The dummy leans over the book too, seeming to study with rapt attention… perhaps Mr. Splinters is learning magic…
Ten minutes later, Ephie puts the book away. "Yes. Let's see what Nemmia’s mark means."
Rulean climbs down into the creek to squat beside Clover and examine the corpse in more detail. The work is unpleasantly pungent, greasy, but with notably few maggots, which confirms that the corpse has been here over a week. Some of the bones are missing from the hands and feet, and marks on the remaining bones suggest they were eaten away by teeth. The corpse appears to be male. The soft tissue is too far gone to reveal the fatal injury, but digging deeper, the iruxi finds a deep groove along one of the vertebra of the lower back. Something sharp and powerfully driven struck this gnome in the flank. A boar's tusk would not be an outrageous conclusion or a dagger.
"Male, so it isn't the sheriff."
"Bones were gnawed on. Everything seems consistent with boars killing and eating them, although it has been long enough that it is really hard to tell. Could have been a knife rather than a tusk that struck them in the lower back."
"We will have to come back with a blanket or something, carry the remains away."
Rulean does pile the remains together and says a quick prayer over them.
Climbing back up, he says "So, off to where the mark is on the map?"
"Seems like a good idea to me," Clover nods as she wipes some of the mud off her hands. "Next time we check in with the mayor we can ask if there's a male gnome among the people missing."
Rulean speaks prayers over the remains, and then he and Clover climb back out of the creek bed. Together, you determine to make your way to the Hawfton Mill to see what malice Nemmia might have intended there. As you walk down the dirt road from the orchard toward the north side of town, you first hear the sound of music and laughter and then spy a crowd gathering in the street. Have some of your fellow performers come to town to entertain?
Once you are closer, your hearts sink--at least those of you who were originally part of Madame Dusklight's Celestial Menagerie--for you recognize the three performers within the ring of townsfolk, and they most certainly do not belong to the Circus of Wayward Wonders.
The crowd watches three colorfully dressed people shouting and playing tambourines and pipes. “Prepare yourselves and your souls, people of Abberton, for a cavalcade of celestial marvels! For sights so spectacular and so marvelous, that you shall speak of them forever after with awestruck tears in your eyes! Prepare for the show to surpass any you have ever seen, either yesterday or in days before! Prepare for the dawning of... Mistress Dusklight’s Celestial Menagerie!”
The speaker is a tall, broad-shouldered woman carrying a whip and accompanied by a magnificent lion. A shirtless man covered in strange tattoos walks to her left, periodically breathing gouts of fire across metal batons he carries in his hands. To the woman’s right is a brilliantly bedecked clown who leaps, rolls, flips, and cavorts in constant feats of acrobatics.
Danika spies you as soon as you spy her. She makes an exaggerated gasp and mums an expression of shocked surprise. Jellico, the clown, throws an arm across his forehead while simultaneously pointing a shuddering finger toward you. Viktor gives you a bored look and spits a flaming wad onto the street.
The lion tamer says, "Beware these cheap imposters, good people of Abberton! Soon you will see a real show, not some amateurish parade of feeble animals and struggling charlatans seeking to milk you of every last one of your hard earned coppers."
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The lion tamer says, "Beware these cheap imposters, good people of Abberton! Soon you will see a real show, not some amateurish parade of feeble animals and struggling charlatans seeking to milk you of every last one of your hard earned coppers."
Smiling, Rulean says "Got it backwards, Danika. They already saw the real show."
"As I recall, it was Mistress Dusklight that had people cheating in the games to earn a few more coppers."
Gesturing to his own holy symbol, he says "Something I found deplorable."
"So tell me, have you stopped rigging the games?"
With a nod of respect, he adds "Nice to see you, Victor."
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Jellico slaps his hands to the sides of his face and makes a wide O with his mouth. "He. Did. Not. Just. Say. That!"
Great.
"Hello Danika," Clover waves, wearing a smile that doesn't reach her eyes at all. "Of all the towns in the world, you had to walk into this one. But you know, instead of wasting each other's time with bickering, why don't we just leave it to the folks here to decide which show's the best, hmm?"
Her expression softens a bit as she briefly glances at the lion standing by Danika's side.
"Leandrus, looking majestic as always."
"He. Did. Not. Just. Say. That!"
Trying his best to look innocent, Rulean looks to the clown and asks "Why wouldn't I say hello to Victor?"
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"Look out, Bounce-Bounce, the baby dragon is coming for your job," Viktor says in an Irriseni accented deadpan.
In response to Clover's comment, Danika steps forward and raises her arms in the air. "Noble men and women of Abberton, you have heard these copy-cats issue their baseless charges. So, Clover of the Sadly Derivative Circus, we, paragons of Madame Dusklight's Celestial Menagerie, accept your challenge by the ancient laws of Elysium. We will have... a Clash of Performers!"
Jellico tumbles forward and points at Nabi. "I've got the new girl!"
"I'll take the runaway baby dragon," Viktor says and then blows a plume of fire toward the sky.
Danika smiles predatorily. "Leandrus and I will show up little Clover!"
“I’m sure it will be hot, competing against you Victor.” Rulean cheerfully replies.
Looking towards Danika he asks “What are these ancient rules you speak of?”
Crossing his arms in front of him and looking disapproving, he says “I do hope it isn’t another case of you making them up and changing them any time it benefits you.”
Oh my. Why would it have to be me?
Challenge accepted, just to hear the wails of Jellico crumbling, as he tries to blow his own trumpet.
Ephie looks bemused; he wasn’t a member of Mistress Dusklight’s Celestial Menagerie.
He pats his crafting tools and whispers: Just let me know how to help.
"You see, my good folk of Abberton? How uncouth these pale imitations are?" Danika mocks Rulean. She begins to walk in a circle explaining the rules of the performance duel. "Then let me educate you! We, the smaller troupe, choose one of you, the larger troupe, to compare our individual acts against yours. After this preliminary round, we both perform in our respective groups to demonstrate our comradery and teamwork. The troupe with the most applause is the winner, obviously."
She turns back toward you all, suddenly, and raises a finger, "And I shouldn't need to say it, but with you lot, I suppose I must: no interfering with the other troupe during the performance."
Clover & Snowball vs. Danika & Leandrus
Nabi vs. Jellico Bounce-Bounce
Rulean vs. Viktor Volcano
Lot of insults and insinuations there. Probably best to ignore them.
Smaller troupe? Well, if they say so...
“I had no idea that Madame Dusklight’s show had dwindled so much that ours was now the larger circus. In any case, it seems the challenge has been accepted and I’m not one to back out of a competition.”
“No proper barker, so I guess I should introduce myself.”
Bowing to the audience, he says “I am Rulean, a performer in our Circus of Wayward Wonders. I do hope at least some of you were able to see our show last night. If you did, no doubt you already saw my artistry and feats of strength as I bent a metal rod into a sculpture of a brass dragon.”
“Since some of you have already seen that, perhaps something a little different?”
He then moves over to a stone slab and starts to tap dance on it, clicking his claws against the stone to make a variety of tapping and scraping sounds.
He then takes a bow and steps back so as to allow another to step forward and do their act.
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Ooh, Rulean's a tough act to follow! But maybe now's a good time to test out that other thing...
Clover applauds Rulean's performance and then steps forward once the iruxi is finished, bowing to the spectators as well.
"Good people of Abberton, you know me as Clover - or if you didn't before, you certainly do now," she says with a wink towards Danika. "And now you'll learn that Clover goes nowhere without her dear friend and sidekick, Snowy! There's nothing we can't do together!"
She kneels down and gestures for Snowy to climb onto her back and then skips over to one of the larger trees that stands at the edge of town. The halfling flexes her hands for a moment and then begins to climb the tree...
...and once she reaches a reasonable height and a reasonably large branch, she nudges Snowy to take up a balancing position on her shoulders and then begins to walk out onto the branch much like one of the tightrope acts.
______________
"No proper barker? Rulean, I am wounded."
“Do you really want their best barker doing each introduction? Notice that they purposely skipped challenging you.”
Rulean claps for Clover & Snowy’s balancing act.
Rulean gets the crowd inspired and reminds them of his act the night before. His dancing upon the rock garners loud cheers and clapping. He might suspect that his exotic appearance is at least equally entertaining as the dancing itself.
Viktor follows and blows huge plumes of fire, spits fire onto the ends of his batons and then performs a quick juggling routine followed by a bow and dousing the batons with his mouth. This elicits some cheers and claps, but notably less than Rulean earned.
Clover's balancing act proceeds without a hitch and inspires a vigorous round of cheers from the ever growing crowd. Danika demonstrates her command of Leandrus with a series of rather trite routines. The applause is real--it's not every day that you see a lion--but clearly more subdued that what Clover and Snowball earned.
Nabi vs. Jelico Bounce-Bounc
Rulean vs. Viktor Volcano: Rulean
Clover & Snowball vs. Danika & Leandrus: Clover & Snowball
Rulean claps respectfully for Victor, but seems slightly disappointed in the performance.
I didn’t see anything new. Although I suspect they want to save the best for their paid performances, I was hoping for something at least a little more unusual.
His clapping is even more subdued for Danika.
I do worry how she pushes her animals. Leandrus looks to be in fine shape, but it would be easy for Danika to hide many problems. At least it looks like Leondrus is getting properly fed.
Ephie yawns loudly and stretches his arms before giving a polite applause to the rival troupe.
He rubs his chin and mutters to the doll he holds in his hands. That clown looks extraordinarily creepy. I'm sure glad we're not in THAT circus, Mr. Splinters.
Nabi, you can do it! Let's trounce 'em!
The rival circus gets only tepid applause from Song, though she applauds loudly for Rulean and Clover, and then whistles for Nabi!
"Nabi, show them your moves! Go to it!"
Nabiwas trying to remind herself which kind of acrobatics routine was the more susceptible to please the crowd. Where they more into tightrope walking? Juggling? Walk on hands? Contortionnism?
Alas, she couldn't make up her mind, so she decides to give the crowd a little bit of everything
always the opportunist (its not cheating unless you get caught!) she pauses near Rulean, and says to the Iruxi
Nothing wrong with asking for the blessing of your god, true? I could do with his help giving strenght to my limbs, if you catch my meaning...We don't want to look bad in front of the other performers and the crowd, don't we? It's not as if Jelico hasn't probably already done the same on his way...
It's been a while since I last practised in front of a crowd... My skills were mostly used at night, entering places where I shouldn't have been, and with hopefully no bystander to watch.. But that all in the past now. Keep focused, girl. Remind the speech you have given to Axel about the curtain being a frontier between those who dream and those who make other dream, and use it to fuel your skills.
Despite her silent speech, Nabi is nervous. Her show is precise, but lack the fiery passion of a true performer. Its nothing to be totally ashamed of, but somehow, you were expecting better.
Then, she seems to find her pace, and either grew more confident or is just throwing both multiple balls in the air and caution to the wind while craking jokes, displaying her awe-inspiring juggling skills and wits with ease.
She even finishes her spot with a standing double somersault.
Tadaaaa!
Follow THAT, Jelico. I double dare you.
The crowd breaks out into a loud applause and hooting cheers as Nabi finishes her routine. Those of you paying attention can see that Jelico's expression is rather dour, but he quickly puts on his happy face as he tumbles out into the middle of the street. There he makes some flips, rolls, and a handful of pratfalls that culminate in such tepid applause that it makes the applause that Danika earned look exuberant.
"Well, clearly, you have the early lead!" Danika says through gritted teeth hidden behind a smile. "So we will go first this time!"
The three performers from the Celestial Menagerie confer for a few moments and then take their places on the street with Viktor in the center and Jelico and Danika at either side. What happens next is a well choreographed fiery ballet. Viktor begins by breathing out a ring of smoke large enough for Leandrus to jump through, which the lion does at the crack of Danika's whip, while Jelico begins to spin and bounce on his feet. Then Viktor breathes a line of fire. Jelico rolls under the flame while Leandrus leaps over the flame. They continue to acrobatically dance around and dodge Viktor's fire and smoke creations until Jelico's hat seemingly catches on fire during one of his tumbles. The clown runs around in mock fear while Leandrus chases after him until he pounces upon the clown in front of Viktor.
The Volcano expels a wide and bright gout of flame, seeming to consume the two. Viktor does something with his mouth that splits the flames into three smaller but still large gouts blowing in three different directions. When the fire breath ceases, Jelico, Leandrus, and Danika each stand where the flames once were, posing and unsinged.
The now significant crowd cheers uproariously. You suspect they had that planned all along and might have been playing at the sympathy of the underdog with their initial performances. Nothing would surprise any of you who escaped the Menagerie.
Nothing wrong with asking for the blessing of your god, true? I could do with his help giving strenght to my limbs, if you catch my meaning...We don't want to look bad in front of the other performers and the crowd, don't we? It's not as if Jelico hasn't probably already done the same on his way...
Rulean pauses for a moment, considering the situation.
Then he shakes his head and says "I fear in this case there would be. This is meant to be a competition between individuals, so the outside aid would not be in keeping with the spirit of the competition."
"Kurgess would certainly approve of a blessing for the whole competition if I had such. Just one person in a one-on-one battle, no."
---
Although he wasn't willing to provide any divine inspiration, Rulean is glad to see Nabi didn't need it. He heartily claps in support of her nearly flawless performance.
He gives a weak, slow clap to Jelico's performance. I know he can do so much better. Guess he is having an off day.
When Danika mentions the group phase, Rulean gives Song a nudge. "Got any ideas?"
He watches the performance of the three, smiling. This is so much better! It will certainly make it challenging for us. I look forward to it!
He does not hesitate in joining in the applause for the other troupe as they take their bows.
Then he turns and confers with the others.
"Their performance was very acrobatic. Shall we try the same, or go in a different direction?"
"We can certainly do Acrobatic. Nabi and Leaf are quite acrobatic, and I'm not that much of a slouch, either. But maybe we could do a flashy musical number that honors our stories as individuals? Would it be bad form to talk of our escape from the Celestial Menagerie? Or perhaps we could show each of our journeys into the circus with brief performances in the overall montage, but link it with special effects in a vibrant musical song by me?" Song starts humming an upbeat song with the chorus of 'Razzle Dazzle them' and then adds "I think I could work in one or two sentences about all of us into the lyrics while you each show off."
Song looks at Ephie. "What sorts of talents do you have? Usually a familiar like Mr. Splinters indicates a magical gift, though not always. Can you do any special effects?"
"I think a contrasting musical number would be good. Let's keep it positive."
He thinks a bit. "A large part of their performance was the coordination between the acts. We really need to incorporate something like that. I think it needs to be something more than just being able to harmonize too..."
"Any ideas?"
"I'll serve as your Musical Narrator, while each of you does a performance that encapsulates your circus story, with the others coordinating in as extras -- maybe changing personae with a hat or costume piece -- and ending with finding family in the circus? I think we could each enhance the other's stories with our own performances and the right transitions. We could be absolutely acting as each other's props and special effects folk."
Song pauses. "They all picked a common element -- fire -- to build a story around. We don't have that, but we do have compelling personalities and diversity. For this, I think that special effects will be key, as well as knowing what parts of your story to tell -- or embellish." She turns to the others. "What truths or lies do you want me to share about each of you? It's okay to have a stage story if your real one is too painful."