Fairmeadow Fair, session 5

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When we last left our heroes, they defeated a statue that came alive during the auction and started smashing up the place.

At sunset, Lucia the Paladin and Gleador the Druid go to town hall.  The sheriff, Pepe, has deputized able-bodied individuals to patrol the town this evening, to defend against the Black Beast, which attacked a woman last night and (confusingly) fought a living statue earlier today.  The Black Beast is actually Gleador, who can transform into various animals, but he’s keeping that a secret.  The deputies will patrol major roads and the perimeter in pairs, with a whistle to alert the others in case of trouble.  Lucia and Gleador choose the southern road.

Since Pepe also enforced a curfew, the streets are mostly empty already.  Lucia and Gleador walk up and down the southern road for a while before spotting someone.  His name is Willie, and he was kicked out of Macker’s Tavern when it closed because of the curfew.  He’s drunk, and he’s sure his buddies have gone to the Brace of Pigs to continue drinking without him.  Lucia and Gleador agree to escort him there.

When they arrive they find Hobert, owner of the Brace of Pigs, talking to two deputies.  He claims that Ferdinand (from Session 1) is the Black Beast, since he can transform into a black bull. The bar is closed, so Willie has to go home. Gleador tries to convince the two deputies to take him home, but they won’t leave their posts, so he goes off alone.  Lucia and Gleador do convince the deputies to let them go in and check on Ferdinand.  They know Ferdinand, so it won’t be as scary as some strangers barging in and accusing him of being the Black Beast. Keeping the situation calm is in everyone’s best interests.

Hobert points our heroes to Samantha and Ferdinand’s room. (Remember, Hobert was pressured into acting nice and giving them a room lest they reveal him as a thief back in Session 1)  They knock on the door and Samantha hurries them in.  Lucia and Gleador explain the accusation against Ferdinand.  Samantha is suspicious, eyes darting about looking for answers and a way out.  Being accepted at all in town is very new, and apparently fleeting.  She’s ready to flee back to the swamp right now.  Ferdinand is a bit slow. “I guess I’m kind of a beast, sometimes.”  Gleador encourages Ferdinand to join the watch to prove his trust-worthiness.  Samantha doesn’t like that idea.  Lucia convinces her not to bolt immediately, to wait overnight and let them talk to Pepe and figure something out.  Samantha agrees, but will make preparations in case things go badly.

Lucia and Gleador plan to stay by the Brace of Pigs until their shift is over at midnight. They convince the other two deputies to trade places and go to the southern road. Eventually, they hear a whistle from the north, near town hall.  Probably the end of shift. But it’s only 11:15PM! There’s trouble!

The town hall of Fairmeadow.

They run to town hall and are the first of the patrolling deputies on the scene. The statue is moving again! It’s walking out of town hall with three deputies hanging off of it. One is sitting on its shoulders, futilely bashing it around the head. Two others have a rope around it but are being dragged along by its tremendous strength.  Lucia yells, “Turn it off!” but the deputies don’t know about the switch. Gleador vaults up the stairs and past the melee to get some metal equipment from the armory to distract the statue. (The armory does contain metal breastplates, maces, and swords, but the three deputies are wearing that equipment right now, and the statue is not attempting to collect it.) Other deputies are rushing in along the main roads, but they are a ways off.

Lucia runs to assist the two deputies struggling with the rope and manages to tangle the statue enough to get to the switch. It’s on the right setting, not the center setting like before. She turns it left, to the center setting. The statue stops walking south, grabs the deputy on its shoulders, and tries to jam her and her metal armor into the hopper on its back. She doesn’t fit!  Her shoulders are bashed repeatedly on the edges of the hopper.  Gleador returns from the armory, leaving a trail of armor and weapons back to the holding cell.  Lucia tries to turn the switch again, but the statue drops the deputy and grabs her.  Gleador takes a breastplate in one hand and a shield in the other and crashes them together like cymbals on the statue’s head. The statue releases Lucia and grabs for Gleador’s metal goodies. Lucia scoops up the equipment Gleador dropped behind him and throws it past the statue, down the stairs. The statue snatches a mace out of the air and deposits it in its hopper.  It turns and starts collecting the other metal objects. One of the other deputies has tied one end of the rope to the railing on the stairs.  Lucia grabs the other end of the rope and pulls it taut as the statue passes, tripping it. It falls onto the third deputy! Ignoring the injured deputy’s cries, Lucia goes straight for the switch, turning the statue off. Gleador tries to pry the heavy statue off the deputy, but can’t get the right leverage with his shillelagh. Lucia throws her shoulder into the statue and rolls it off the poor deputy, but she’s over-exerted herself.

The other deputies and Pepe arrive soon after.  Pepe and three other deputies take the two wounded deputies to a healer. They carry them on stretchers: a sheet of canvas stretched between two long wooden poles.  Pepe, a Halfling, holds the poles over his shoulders, while the human deputy on the other end has his arms down by his sides.

Lucia and Gleador clean up, replacing the equipment in the armory and dragging the statue back into the cell. The metal cell door was bashed open, but the pieces weren’t collected.  Gleador has a cool idea for how to chain up the statue, but he can’t make it work.  They empty the statue’s hopper and find a number of strange gold coins in addition to the metal objects they saw the statue grab.\

Strange gold coins

Pepe returns. They show him the 14 large rectangular coins. He doesn’t recognize them, but has a secure place to keep them: more secure than the evidence room, right next to the cell, which is not that secure, based on tonight’s events!  He’s upset. The Fairmeadow Fair is so important to the town, and it’s his job to keep everyone safe and the town running smoothly. But there have been all these attacks. The townsfolk are scared. Now his deputies are injured. He wasn’t able to keep them safe.  Lucia and Gleador decide this is not a good time to mention Ferdinand, so they leave Pepe and go home to the Glazers’ house.

They both have enough experience to reach level 4!  Lucia boosts her healing ability and Gleador is able to mark an animal and see through its eyes. Lucia tries to heal Gleador from his injuries earlier in the day but only transfers the injuries to herself. Before they go to sleep, Gleador suggests letting Ferdinand drive the Black Beast away in a public staged fight. Lucia thinks it’s too risky.

GM notes: I didn’t make it clear that the third position on the statue’s switch made the statue do something other than collect metal. it was hard to tell what the statue was trying to do, since people were all over it trying to prevent it from doing things the whole time our heroes could see it. I almost forgot about the coins in all the excitement. We were about to end the session, and I had to go back and say, “Actually, when you were cleaning up at town hall, you definitely noticed these very obvious and important things!”

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