{"id":228,"date":"2018-05-20T04:02:41","date_gmt":"2018-05-20T04:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/?p=228"},"modified":"2020-03-01T08:52:17","modified_gmt":"2020-03-01T08:52:17","slug":"fairmeadow-fair-session-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/20\/fairmeadow-fair-session-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Fairmeadow Fair, session 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2190 Session 5<\/a> | Campaign Summary<\/a> | Session 7 \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

When we last left our heroes<\/a>, they had to fight a statue that just wouldn’t stay still like a good statue should. Now, on the last day of the fair, they try to attend and enjoy it like normal people.<\/p>\n

Lucia the Paladin and Gleador the Druid (who is concealing his shape-shifting powers) wander the marketplace at the fair. They see Lisa, one of the deputies injured in last night’s battle against the metal statue.\u00a0 They are surprised that she’s back on the job, or even on her feet.\u00a0 She was healed at the temple. Lucia’s not the only spellcaster in town.\u00a0 She does pull her armor and tabard aside to reveal a gnarly scar.\u00a0 Lisa hopes for an uneventful day and bottling ceremony to end the fair.\u00a0 Oh yeah, Hobert bottles his stolen wine at the end of the fair every year.<\/p>\n

Lucia and Gleador head to town hall to check in with Pepe, the sheriff. They go to the evidence room and check on the statue. Since it grabs metal, they no longer have padlocks and chains on it.\u00a0 The cell is bound shut with coils of stout rope. Each limb of the statue is bound with ropes to heavy pallets of bricks.\u00a0 Pepe takes at least a minute unwinding the rope that keeps the cell shut.\u00a0 Lucia warns Pepe about the switch that turns the statue on and off. He gets close to look at the switch and notices some writing stamped on the arm. It’s Dwarven. Lucia recognizes the runes, but doesn’t read the language. There are some numbers and a word in all caps, which is probably a proper name. our heroes want to find out more about the strange coins.\u00a0 Pepe pushes them out of the room, retrieves a coin from his secure storage, and gives them one coin.\u00a0 He writes a receipt for it. He trusts them because they’ve fought for the town several town, but he also files the proper paperwork.<\/p>\n

Our heroes wonder where to go next. Who can translate the Dwarven runes? Who would know about the strange coin? Samantha might know some things. They also need to clear Ferdinand’s name. They head to the Brace of Pigs. There’s a commotion outside. Workers are going around the side with big saws, axes, and so on.\u00a0 Hobert is directing them and holding a steak over a black eye.\u00a0 He complains that the Black Beast has injured him and destroyed his inn.\u00a0 They look go around the side of the inn and see the wooden boards on the second floor bent out, turning into branches, and forming a tunnel that goes into the ground.\u00a0 “Is that Samantha’s room?”\u00a0 They go inside and upstairs. It was Samantha’s room.\u00a0 The back wall curves out and forms a funnel.\u00a0 The bed has been pushed to the back wall, and the covers are sucked partially down the funnel.Some workmen are in the room, preparing to chop up the unnatural wood structures.<\/p>\n

Lucia and Gleador figure that this is Samantha’s escape plan, and tracking them down means going down the tunnel themselves.\u00a0 They ask the workers not to chop up the tunnel before they can head down.\u00a0 The workers in the room call down to the workers on the ground outside.\u00a0 Lucia lights and torch and slides down.\u00a0 It’s mostly dark in the tunnel, but spaces between branches cause lines and cracks of birght light to flash past Lucia as she slides down, past the workers on the ground, until the branches taper off and she’s in a dirt tunnel several feet underground.\u00a0 Gleador slides down and joins her.\u00a0 They instruct the workers on the ground not to chop up the tunnel until they return.\u00a0 They walk along underground for a while until the tunnel curves up and they emerge in the grain fields outside of town.\u00a0 The Brace of Pigs is still visible far behind them.\u00a0 There are tracks leading from the tunnel to the east, so they follow them.\u00a0 Another set of tracks crosses the first set, and they follow that to another set.\u00a0 After a few minutes, they realize that there are many sets of tracks looping around each other, intentionally confusing pursuers.\u00a0 Another trick from Samantha, no doubt.\u00a0 The tunnel headed in the general direction of the swamp where Ferdinand and Samantha live, so Lucia and Gleador head there.<\/p>\n

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A regional map showing the towns of Fairmeadow, Sugar’s Crossing, and Templeton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clearly, Samantha is using magic to avoid pursuit, and the swamp is her home turf, so Lucia and Gleador don’t just barge in, lest they trigger some awful trap.\u00a0 They pause at the border of the swamp and call out, identifying themselves and asking politely for an audience.\u00a0 The call startles a small flock of birds, who fly around in a swarm, except for one bird that breaks away from the flock and flies in a straight line deeper into the swamp.\u00a0 They wait for a few minutes, then call out again.\u00a0 They wait again, and when they are wondering if they should call out again or just go home, Samantha arrives.\u00a0 There’s a moss-covered log nearby, and the moss is tossed aside like a blanket.\u00a0 Samantha is lying there where the log should be.\u00a0 When she stands up, she reveals a hole in the ground, leading who knows where.<\/p>\n

Lucia:<\/strong> “She’s terrifying!”<\/p>\n

Gleador:<\/strong> “Samantha,what do you want right now?”<\/p>\n

A very thoughtful question. Samantha wants revenge on Hobert, but she needs to keep herself and Ferdinand safe.\u00a0 Her potion and alchemy business might suffer if she’s defamed in town, but her customers are already the type to sneak out of town and visit a witch in the swamp, so they aren’t the type to scare easily.\u00a0 She’ll probably be fine.\u00a0 Samantha has ramped up security in the swamp. Anyone who comes in and tries to steal herbs will spring a nasty magical trap.\u00a0 Lucia mentions that Hobert could turn Samantha’s escape tunnel into an attraction and charge extra.\u00a0 Samantha wonders, “Is there anything capitalism can’t ruin?”\u00a0 Gleador says he has a way to clear Ferdinand’s name and get comeuppance for Hobert.\u00a0 Samantha’s interested.\u00a0 Gleador asks if she can make a drink that’s better than Hobert’s wine.\u00a0 She can make a potion called Polypurpose Panacea, which cures hangovers, gives the drinker a nice buzz, etc. but it’s very expensive to produce. That won’t work.<\/p>\n

Samantha recalls Gleador transforming when the two fought several days ago. “Are you the Black Beast?\u00a0 This is partially your fault!”\u00a0 Gleador counters, “You’re not the only one with secrets!\u00a0 What about Dandelion’s sudden voice problems?”\u00a0 Samantha heard about that.\u00a0 Sounds like a Frogmouth potion, which wears off with no lasting effects after a week.\u00a0 She maintains plausible deniability, never confirming or denying that she was involved.\u00a0 Gleador says that they’ll work on clearing Ferdinand’s name, and that Samantha and Ferdinand should stay close to town and rush in when the time is right.\u00a0 Samantha scoops up a foot-long millipede from the swamp, talks to it a little, then offers it to Lucia.\u00a0 Saying a password to this bug will alert Samantha.\u00a0 Lucia accepts, and the millipede crawls up her arm and hides under her cloak.<\/p>\n

Lucia and Gleador walk back to town. The swamp is several hours’ walk away from Fairmeadow.\u00a0 When they get back to the Brace of Pigs, they see the workers did not wait for them and are demolishing the escape tunnel.\u00a0 They go inside to talk to Hobert, and drop several threats on him.<\/p>\n