It's a pleasant day in Sandpoint as you exit the Rusty Dragon this morning. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and there's not a cloud in sight. In other words, it's the perfect day for the Swallowtail Festival!
The day starts off with a short speech from Mayor Kendra Deverin. She gives a warm welcome to all visitors and promises that this festival will be the best one yet. "You may think you've seen it all before, but this year will be one you'll never forget! We gathered only the most beautiful butterflies, and I do believe that Desna herself couldn't have done better. I promise you, you won't believe your eyes when you see them." With that, the fun begins!
Archery Contest
You have 5 shots at targets placed every 100ft. The farther away a target is, the more points it's worth. Compete against Sheriff Belor Hemlock and members of the Sandpoint militia.
Bronco Busting
See how long you can stay on the back of a wild horse by making three consecutive Handle Animal checks.
Hide and Seek
Make three Stealth checks to avoid being spotted.
Scavenger Hunt
Make 5 Perception checks to see how many items you can find.
Talent Show
Make a Craft or Perform check to show off!
Trivia Contest
Make 10 Knowledge checks - one for each category. These can be made untrained.
Serael wakes up and opens the window to allow Summer and Winter, a red-feathered bird that looks like a tiê-sangue, but much bigger and a white raven, respectively.
"Go." she said, both birds showing their higher intelligence on their eyes but ultimately do not resist the simple pleasure of spreading their wings and leaving the room, waiting for her outside.
She had been staying in Sandpoint for some time now, so she nods to the acquaintances made through the past weeks as she leaves the Rusty Dragon. Previously, it was not hard to call attention in such a town, with her white-ish hair, cold aura and constantly accompanied by two birds. The hair apparently reminded the citizens of a girl who used to live here, according to some that talked to Serael, in hushed tones or after a few drinks.
Regardless, today she was only one of many, with her pendant with Desna's symbol just helping her blend among the crowds in the streets, with her two flying saviours following her from above the buildings.
It's better if they stay a bit away to not scare away the butterflies.
She walks directly to where some games can be found, deciding to go for the Archery ones first. She grabs her shortbow and approaches the organizers and nearby competitors. "Anyone up for a match?"
"Certainly!" says Sheriff Hemlock. "Don't worry; I'll go easy on ya." Also lined up to shoot are harbormaster Jhalevia Stensin and butcher Chod Bevuk.
Serael puts her hand on her forehead to protect her eyes from the sun that is shining on Sandpoint. "Oh wow, these are really far. She picks her shortbow and aims for the closest target, to test out the waters.
...And the shot goes wide, embarrassingly. She shakes off the voices of the witches from the past yelling at her. She tries once more against the first target and, desperate for more points, aims the rest at the 200 ft. target.
She buries her head in her hands in shame but soon enough starts laughing as she hears Summer and Winter loudly making noise in the rooftop next to them Are they really making fun of me?! "Oh well!"
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Regardless of the results and the Sheriff's ribbing, she looks for the Bronco Busting, excited to deal with some more animais
Your two hits give you a respectable second-place finish, as Jhalevia and Chod only manage to hit the closest target once each. Sheriff Hemlock hits the middle target twice, giving him an easy victory - to nobody's surprise. You receive a voucher for one free drink at the Hagfish.
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Over at Goblin Squash Stables, the challenge is to stay atop Stomper (a jet-black heavy warhorse) for fifteen seconds - quite a difficult feat as Stomper was specifically trained to unhorse anyone who doesn't look and smell like Deverin Hosk.
Surprised that she did not do too bad, Serael grabs her voucher intending to redeem it later today.
When she arrives at the Goblin Squash Stables, she is impressed by the steed, "Stomper", not that she knows anything about a horse's breed. She climbs on it to try to stay for 15 seconds.
Cannot be too hard, ri-?
She cannot finish her thought as she is thrown immediately. She dusts herself off without looking at the crowd and climbs for her second try.
She grabs Stomper tight and resists for around a second and a half more than last time. Last try...
Serael holds tight, positioning herself better and hangs on for about 10 seconds before she is finally thrown again. Less embarassing, at least.
Leaving the Stables, she goes to the trivia contest to finish up her day at the festival.
Ten seconds is a pretty respectable time, and you're rewarded with a second drink voucher - this one for the Rusty Dragon.
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The trivia contest is held at The Curious Goblin and led by owner Chask Haladan. There are quite a few people participating, but the favorite to win is resident scholar Brodert Quink.
The trivia questions come rapidfire, Serael frantically raising her hands and shouting her answers, even when she was not sure, hoping to be faster than the old man. Winter would chirp as well, but she did not want to cheat checking with her familiar.
"It's called Sin Magic!"
"Hmmm..." she misses the chance to answer completely. What was Isger's capital, anyway?
"It's the Night Monarch, come on now!" she laughs grasping her pendant with Desna's holy symbol.
"It's usually found in the Candlestone Caverns!"
What in the Nine Hells is a semi-detached house?
"-5293 AR!!"
"The Houses of Perfection!"
"Ummm... a shrub?"
"The Joke card from the Tome suit."
"....In the First World?"
After the questions, Serael sits down exhausted, ready to redeem her vouchers and relax for the rest of the festival.
A tie?!? You and Brodert each get seven questions correct but both miss the question about the semi-detached house. In lieu of a tiebreaker round, Brodert graciously concedes. "I've won the last six trivia contests. Time for some fresh blood!" As a reward, you're gifted a minor magical trinket from The Feathered Serpent.
Retrieving Wormband
A dark bronze, segmented bracelet that always feels slick to the touch. The bearer can mentally command the bracelet to slither off of his wrist and crawl up to 30 feet away in order to coil around an object weighing no more than five pounds and drag it back to the bearer. If the bracelet ever travels more than 30 feet from the bearer or is damaged in any way, it immediately snaps back into bracelet form and becomes inert until worn again.
Serael smiles and hugs Brodert, unprompted and puts on her new bracelet. Hm. Heavy.
To not ruin the high of her victory, she decides to not join any more games and stays around the main square, after redeeming the voucher for her drinks, hoping to see the butterflies.
As noon approaches, Father Zantus stands up, and a large covered wagon is wheeled to the center of the town square. "Let me tell you a story...
"Many years ago, Desna was ambushed by some who wished her ill. While their names have been long lost from the records, they succeeded in wounding her dearly and forced her to flee to our humble world. Badly injured, lost, and alone, she was fading fast. But – before her light went entirely out – she was found by a young boy. Blind since birth, he had no way of knowing that he was meeting Desna Herself; he knew only that a lady was injured and needed his help. Over the course of several weeks, he diligently nursed her back to health – sharing what little food he could gather and letting her sleep in his own poor bed. After she was fully recovered, Desna revealed herself to him and asked him what he most desired, as he had indeed saved Her life. He replied, ‘I wish to be able to travel freely over the world and see its beauty.’ ‘Granted,’ replied the Goddess. The next morning when the boy awoke, she was gone. He never saw her again. Instead, he spread his new wings and flew away – a beautiful Swallowtail Butterfly! The story says he exists today: still travelling the vast reaches of Golarion in search of new beauty."
As the Priest’s tale concludes, the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, and the wagon cover is thrown open – revealing one thousand Swallowtail Butterflies. At the stroke of noon, they burst forth in an enormous cloud, filling the sky with colors in a breathtaking display of beauty.
Suddenly, the sky darkens, the temperature drops at least 40 degrees, and a blizzard erupts, blinding everyone for what seems an eternity but is really only a few seconds. The strange storm fades as swiftly as it begun leaving a few inches of snow on the ground and a noticeable chill in the air. The frozen bodies of the butterflies cover the ground. As the townsfolk wander around in shock, their shoes can’t avoid them, and the air is filled with soft *crunch* noises.
The sudden blizzard seems to have come from the direction of the Tickwood: a forest about three kilometers to the east of Sandpoint.
Serael fights back the tears from the story, aware of how that might be an overreaction, even though it is such a beautiful story.
For a brief moment, she sees the spectacle of the thousand butterflies being released in the air, the sunlight reflecting on their wings. But that did not last, as even her cold body felt the sudden drop in temperature. Serael looks to the side and see people passing out from the pure thermal shock.
The sunlight disappears and it looks like it is night except everyone is suddenly blinded by the whiteness of a blizzard. Thankfully, she could notice where it is coming from. I think it was called Tickwood?
Serael does not need to whistle, Summer and Winter have already come to her, also bewildered by the sudden change. She goes back to the Rusty Dragon, grabs her snowgoggles and winter-clothing she has from her brief stint in Irrisen, alongside some food and water - You never know - and heads toward the Tickwood.
The trip takes about 30 minutes. You've been walking through an inch or two of snow, but this deepens the closer you get to the Tickwood. As you approach, a sight of destruction and carnage greets your eyes. Dead humanoids and horses lie sprawled across the ground. A carriage stands in the middle of the road, its team of horses missing or cut free. Another overturned carriage lies broken next to the tree line. To the south, more bodies have fallen around what appears to be a statue of ice. A snowy trail leads deeper into the forest.
You hear muffled sounds inside the carriage in the middle of the road.
Serael's eyes widen at this sudden massacre. She briefly looks at the bodies, what killed them?
She runs toward the sounds in the middle carriage.
"Hello, anyone there?" she says as she does her best to have it open.
The bodies lie pierced with tiny needles and shards of ice. All have been stripped of armor and weapons. As you approach the carriage, you notice a spear has been wedged between the handles of the doors, holding them closed.
Serael whistled for Summer's help. She was never the strongest, no matter the amount of exercise. Ever since the incident, she felt even more fragile, if still healthy. She could probably remove the spear herself, but why not have some help?
Together, they remove the wedged weapon and opened the door.
*WHAM!* The door flies open the instant the spear is removed, immediately followed by a zombified human!
It swings its arms wildly as it stumbles out of the carriage, attempting to smash you to the ground.
Serael is startled and hit, the slam hitting her with a loud thud, her left shoulder now awash with blood. She takes a step back and touches Summer with her hand and the ring that seems to slowly spin on her finger.
Two concentric circles appear on Summer's forehead, glowing with light blue light, almost white. Summer attacks the zombie, while Winter remains on her shoulder, observing the fight. While her companion distracts the monster, she runs through her memories, trying to remember whatever she can about zombies.
Enhanced by your magic, Summer rips the zombie to shreds.
Serael realizes she was tensing mid fight. For all her experience travelling and training, she obviously had gotten in a few scraps, but nothing like that.
The adrenalide dwindling down makes her feel the huge gash she got on her shoulder, so once again she touches her ring and carefully uses her magic to heal herself.
The wound closes and she cleans herself. Summer, now unenhanced, is awaiting for her, so Serael moves close to her bird and pets him, a huge smile on her face.
"You did amazing, Summer!" Winter chirps in agreement. She is pretty sure her birds could speak but choose not to.
Focusing on the situation at hand, it looks like everyone was killed, and ice was involved. Considering the blizzard, it is basically confirmed it started with malicious intent. Serael looks closer to the bodies, carefully to see if any became undead, unaware of how it happened so quickly to the zombie she just defeated. Furthermore, she checks the bodies for any clues regarding why they were killed, unless it was just wrong place, wrong time.
If nothing is found, she is now healed and continues going in the direction of the Tickwood.
Scattered around the clearing, you find several sets of fine clothing, but everything else seems to have been thoroughly ransacked - except for a small jewelry box hidden under a carriage seat. On a more disturbing note, the icy 'statue' is revealed to be a human male upon closer inspection. Chunks of his body have been carved away and now lie in blocks of slowly-melting ice at his feet.
Potential Loot
Courtier's Outfit x3
MW Longsword
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You follow the trail deeper into the Tickwood. After about a mile, the trail passes through a small clearing among the taller trees before continuing uphill and out of sight. A large chest lies half-buried in the snow, apparently dropped or discarded by those who hastily passed this way.
Serael grabbed the clothes, a tinge of guilt permeating through her. She wouldn't disrobe anyone, but if the clothes are just scattered... She also picked up the sword, even if she never actually trained for that.
Reaching the Tickwood, she sees a chest buried in the snow. After the zombie, this is certainly a trap. Is this the work of the Fey?
Before ever approaching the chest, she sends Summer to fly around the clearing, but never far enough that he cannot come back if she is suddenly attacked again and otherwise looks for signs that this is somehow an ambush.
Summer doesn't see any signs of an ambush, but he does notice a rope attached to the chest. It's hidden in the underbrush and leads to a nearby tree ... where a large log is precariously balanced among its branches.
Serael does not trust her abilities disabling such things, so she positions herself on the edge of the clearing, at a safe distance to perform an idea she had.
Serael concentrates, focusing on the nearby spirits that ressonate with the magic she possesses, thinking about how she previously enhanced Summer. Her eyes roll back as a spirit responds and shares that knowledge with her. The knowledge on how to enhance objects.
She goes to where the attached rope is and touches it slightly, hoping to not trigger the trap and imbues the rope with intelligence. "Hey! Can you untangle yourself from that log over there? Or..." she backs away from what seems to be the log's line of fire if the trap triggers. "Just come over here?
Amazingly, the rope replies - although how it's speaking without a mouth remains to be seen. "I would if I could, miss, but I am unable to move myself. Even if I could move, I fear that would make the log fall, and it would drag me to the ground with it."
Serael's smile deflates. "Well. I hadn't thought about that. How about I help you untangle yourself from that log, then, so we are all safe? Actually, Summer, could you do that for me?"
Serael orders Summer to fly up to the log and try to untangle it. If the lack of fingers is a hindrance and it is tied with a decent knot, Serael will climb the tree to help.
Serael somehow misses the tree with her feet when she starts climbing, kicking the air and falling down. Harmless, but embarrassing, somehow more than the fight with the zombie.
She spits on her hands, rub them together and tries again.
Finally up the tree, you're easily able to untie the rope, which makes the log drop to the ground with great force. If you'd been near the chest, it likely would have been difficult to avoid suffering a cracked skull. Once back on the ground, you dig up the chest and open it ... to find it empty. There is, however, freshly disturbed dirt under the chest. Once cleared away, you find a large cache of weapons and armor that matches what the 'ice sculpture' was wearing.
Potential Loot
Leather Armor x5
Studded Leather Armor x3
MW Chain Shirt
Light Wooden Shield x2
Longsword x7
Spear x2
MW Dagger
Light Crossbow x3
Crossbow Bolt x25
"There we go, rope!" she says as she untangles the rope she gave intelligence. When approaching the chest, finally after all this time it was empty which made her laugh. Of course!
Thankfully, she noticed something under it.
Wow, this is a treasure trove! Serael thought as she counted and identified everything there. Way too much for her to ever carry outside of several trips, but no time for that. Man, selling this could set me for another trip and one week stay... Maybe I could even splurge a little on some luxury in Magnimar...
She dismisses those thoughts when she remembers the amount of snow beneath her. More important things to do.
She picks up the dagger and the chain shirt, which seems to be of higher quality than the rest, and changes into the chain shirt, leaving her studded leather behind, alongside the last set of courtier's clothing she found. When she is wearing her armor, a thought crosses her mind that she might be stealing from well-meaning folks' but... This is probably from highwaymen or whoever did that massacre behind...
After finishing changing, she continues in the direction of the blizzard's origin.
Continuing deeper into the Tickwood, the snow becomes increasingly deep until you reach a tree-covered ridge where a windswept gully carves a path. A soft cascade of snow falls from an overhead branch, hissing softly as it strikes the ground.
Suddenly, a strange dragon-headed creature pounces out of the snow in front of you and attempts to grab you in its ferocious jaws!
You realize this creature is a tatzlwyrm: Small primeval relatives of true dragons that are ferocious ambush predators. This one is white, indicating that it's native to a snowy environment. In other words, not Varisia.
Even with increased protection from her new armor, Serael is struck by the tatzlwyrm on her belly, blood dripping down her legs. Once again, she moves back and Enhances Summer who, with her mark on his forehead, goes for the attack!
Summer's only able to scratch the tatzlwyrm, but it distracts the beast. It roars and breathes poisonous vapor into your companion's face!
The bird reacts badly to the vapor as he is clearly affected. He tries again to defeat the monster even with the diminished strength.
While Summer fights for his life, Serael helps him position and concentrates on the enhancements on him.
Weakened by the vapor, Summer fails to hit the wyrm - which proceeds to try to eat him!
Summer flaps his wings, raising enough snow to distract and dodge the wyrm and goes in for the attack again, while Serael concentrates.
Summer's talons leave the wyrm bloodied, and it burrows back under the snow and disappears - presumably in search of easier prey.
Summer's enhancement mark disappears as Serael sits on the floor to catch her breath. She starts talking to both her birds, a way for her to think out loud.
"What was that? I mean, I know what it was, but like... Why is it here? How did it get here?" she claned the blood on her as she healed herself kept speaking.
"It's pretty clear it came along the blizzard, however that happened. Was it summoned here? Would that mean the blizzard was summoned and not someone or something changing the weather? Or, like, some kind of portal opened up? Well, there is no plane of ice, is there, Winter?" Winter chirped "In conclusion, it was probably magic, but that does not require a genius to see, does it?" She fell on her back frustrated, made an 'angel' on the snow and got back up.
"Come here, Summer." Summer approached. "My sweet Summer, who does not complain, but really should, you were poisoned!" She touched the red avian, summoning her magic to heal it.
Fully recovered, but running low on her avaiable magic, Serael decided to push a bit further into the forest.
Continuing further into the forest, you begin to notice feathered bundles and strange fetishes hanging from the lowest branches of the trees, swaying and shifting in the wind. All are stuck through with small pins holding pieces of leather bound around them. As you move to examine them, several lights shine from the trees. A moment later, tiny icicles fly towards you from that direction before the lights disappear.
Serael is hit and feels her whole body slow down. She sees the lights, but decides not to follow, afraid to leave the tracks, not because she was not confident in finding them again, but mostly because she had the nagging feeling she did not have much time.
Slightly deeper into the woods, you find narrow game trail that winds its way through the trees and undergrowth. Hoofprints mark the underlying snow, leading in both directions. A white stag approaches, and as it majestically strides closer, speaks! "Greetings, stranger. What brings you to my wood?"
Serael could barely stammer out a response, so bizarre the situation. "H-hello? Your wood? The Tickwood? I was..." she never was good at lying under pressure, so decided to just tell the truth "...coming to investigate where the sudden blizzard came from."
"Blizzard!" the stag gives a surprisingly high-pitched chuckle. "This is barely a flurry. Practically nothing at all!"
"Okay... Then, I'm clearly lost." Serael looks around "Where are we, then? Is the Tickwood really your domain? Since when?"
"I don't know this 'Trickwood,' but it sounds amusing. I enjoy such things on occasion." The stag chuckles again. "Well, it seems that your quest is at an end! I have told you that there is no blizzard, so I now give you leave to return to your home."
You're beginning to notice that the stag hasn't opened its mouth this entire time. In fact, it looks like it's chewing on some grass.
Oh. He's mocking me. So it is a trick, but what kind of trick?
Serael just walks around the stag, who is just eating, and looks for whoever was talking to her and... doing whatever it was - an illusion? - to her.
You hear another high-pitched laugh and spot a tiny fey creature wiggle its fingers at you mockingly before vanishing. As it does, you feel the world begin to grow larger ... or maybe you're shrinking?
You recognize the creature as an atomie: mischievous fey who enjoy humiliating those larger than themselves. They can communicate with animals, turn invisible, and conjure moving orbs of light. This one's blue skin is unusual, though, indicating it's from the frigid north.
The trees star growing larger and, more pressingly, the snow has been getting really high... Until Serael realized she was shrunk by the atomie.
Urgh, Fey!! Memories flooded back from her time in Irisen and generally of her magic. After improving her skills a little bit, she managed to grant Summer fey-like features.
She did not have anything against their kind, but a lot of times they were too much to handle, due to their capriciousness. Serael knew she had to tread lightly to not get into a fight.
Probably the one that used the weird lights earlier.
She called Summer to be near in case, she needed to order him to fly with her riding him for a little while. The atomie for sure was still observing them, but she decided to keep walking in the direction she was going anyway, cautious because for sure she was going to get attacked or pranked again.
It's another kilometer before you come across a human-sized snowman standing in the middle of the trail before a frozen stream. A crude wooden sign leans against it, bearing the words, "Trespassers Turn Back."
Serael couldn't help but go towards the snowman. I've been walking for a while, but who could make this snowman? The blizzard just appeared and you would saunter in the snow a- her thoughts are interrupted when it starts talking.
"Oh. I had not noticed the sign actually." she wasn't lying, she completely missed it lost in her thoughts about the fact that a snowman was there. "But I'm just a traveler, I did not know this was private property. Who rules here?" she said, hoping she wasn't being incredibly obvious at fishing for information.