{"id":321,"date":"2018-11-14T20:05:50","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T20:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/?p=321"},"modified":"2020-03-01T09:53:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-01T09:53:47","slug":"fairmeadow-fair-session-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/14\/fairmeadow-fair-session-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Fairmeadow Fair, session 8"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/28\/fairmeadow-fair-session-7\/\">\u2190 Session 7<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/ttrpg-campaign-reports\/fairmeadow-fair\/\">Campaign Summary<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/05\/fairmeadow-fair-session-9\/\">Session 9 \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/28\/fairmeadow-fair-session-7\/\">The Fairmeadow Fair ended last session<\/a>, with Gleador the secret shapeshifter dodging all the consequences of his weekend of deception.\u00a0 He and Lucia the Paladin had to decide where to go next.\u00a0 There were several events that warranted further investigation.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A statue with Dwarven markings came to life and smashed up the fair.\u00a0 Who built it? What is it for?<\/li>\n<li>The statue was carrying strange gold coins, unlike the local currency.\u00a0 Where do they come from?<\/li>\n<li>A Dwarf named Opal and two accomplices attacked our heroes, were driven off, and fled town in an unusual self-propelled cart.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Gleador and Lucia had one of the strange coins, so Pepe, the town sheriff, tracked them down to get it back before they left town.\u00a0 They convinced him that they would continue investigating the statue, so they should hold on to the coin.\u00a0 Pepe revealed that the statue was brought to auction by Hama, a halfling woman who often acts as an agent for rich clients who want to auction items without personally making the trip.\u00a0 Hama said that she was selling the statue on behalf of the Miller family, one of the great families in Sugar&#8217;s Crossing, a town a few days to the west.\u00a0 She had no idea that the statue could move.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_598\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-598\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-598\" src=\"http:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/region.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1035\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-598\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A regional map showing the towns of Fairmeadow, Sugar&#8217;s Crossing, and Templeton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Our heroes decide to head for Templeton, a Dwarven city to the west with a famous college.\u00a0 This means not going to Sugar&#8217;s Crossing to question the owner of the statue, and not pursuing Opal&#8217;s gang south towards the port.\u00a0 Alas, those were the two towns contained the bulk of my preparation.\u00a0 To re-assure Pepe that they were not just running off with his evidence, they told him where they were going.\u00a0 Pepe knows a guy in Templeton. Flint is now a second year metallurgy student, but he took a gap year of sorts in Fairmeadow and volunteered as a deputy.\u00a0 Law enforcement was too intense for him.\u00a0 He&#8217;s happier in a classroom.\u00a0 Gleador and Lucia promise to look him up, and leave word with Flint if their travels take them further from Templeton.<\/p>\n<p>Gleador and Lucia set out on the three-day journey to Templeton.\u00a0 There&#8217;s a lot of traffic leaving Fairmeadow today, but they got an early start, since they don&#8217;t have to pack up booths or wrangle families.\u00a0 When they are out of sight of other travelers, Gleador shifts into a falcon and scouts ahead.\u00a0 There&#8217;s not much to report.\u00a0 Near evening, he sees a clearing on one side of the road.\u00a0 There&#8217;s room for at least a dozen carts around a big stone fire pit. There&#8217;s a stack of charred logs in the pit, and a magical, ever-burning flame in off to the side.\u00a0 An inscription in many languages reads, &#8220;As we all share the everlasting warmth of fellowship, so will this fire always keep travelers warm.&#8221;\u00a0 It&#8217;s a lovely rest stop, with no traps or shady people around.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_585\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-585\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-585\" src=\"http:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rest-stop.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"619\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-585\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A rest stop on the road from Fairmeadow to Templeton, protected by a magical campfire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Gleador reports this to Lucia, and they stop there for the night.\u00a0 As evening falls, several parties on horse-drawn carts, or on foot with handcarts also arrive and set up camp.\u00a0 One group produces logs from their cart, adds them to the pile of firewood, and makes a trail of kindling from the magical flame to the central firepit.\u00a0 A jolly blaze lights and warms the whole campsite.\u00a0 Some starts playing a pipe, and a few people clap and dance along.\u00a0 Gleador looks for the most interesting person to talk to.\u00a0 That&#8217;s Selene, a clean-shaven Dwarf woman.\u00a0 She goes to shake her hand, and she extends a metal prosthesis.\u00a0 With certain movements of her shoulder and upper arm, she adjusts counterweights and rods in the mechanical arm to open its fingers and shake Gleador&#8217;s hand.\u00a0 Gleador is very impressed!\u00a0 She&#8217;s a graduate student at the College of Mines in Templeton.\u00a0 Gleador inquires about the moving statue.\u00a0 She&#8217;s unaware of technology that advanced. The mechanical devices she knows are moved by counterweights (like her arm) or pressurized gas.\u00a0 Gleador mentions the name &#8220;OOLITE&#8221; that was written on the statue, and she thinks the school library would have information about it.\u00a0 She doesn&#8217;t know Flint, but it&#8217;s a big school, so that&#8217;s not strange.\u00a0 Lucia doesn&#8217;t participate in the evening activities.\u00a0 She&#8217;s communing with her god and gaining a level.<\/p>\n<p>In the morning, Lucia tries to cast Detect Alignment, but instead of a shockwave of holy energy, she produces a physical shockwave, making a loud bang and flapping all the tents and shelters.\u00a0 Lucia and Gleador hastily grab their packs and flee the rest stop in embarrassment.\u00a0 The next two days are uneventful. The terrain becomes hillier and rockier, so the fields of grain and vegetables give way to land for livestock.\u00a0 They find an old barn, abandoned when a newer one was built at the other end of a field, and stay there for the night.\u00a0 Nothing comes ot disturb them but some rabbits and birds, also seeking shelter for the night.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_588\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-588\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-588\" src=\"http:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/templeton.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"630\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-588\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A map of the city of Templeton, built into a cinder cone volcano.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On the evening of the third day they reach Templeton, the city built into a cinder cone volcano. It rises out of the plain alone, visible for miles!\u00a0 Streets spiral up the cone in both directions, since radial streets would be too steep.\u00a0 The side of town closest to the main road is trade and tourism.\u00a0 The Fortinbras College of Mines has an entire sector of the volcano on the northwest.\u00a0 The rim of the caldera is covered with high towers, and inside the caldera are museums and civic buildings surrounding city hall at the very center.\u00a0 Most of the buildings are built for Dwarves, but there are some taller buildings, especially in the tourist section.<\/p>\n<p>Gleador and Lucia check into a tall youth hostel near the college.\u00a0 Their room has five bunk beds and a washroom with a toilet and shower.\u00a0 There&#8217;s running water in Templeton.\u00a0 Lucia is obviously a Paladin, and the other youths in the room tease her for looking like a strict authority figure.\u00a0 She heads to take a shower and surprises a Dwarf woman coming out of the washroom in a towel.<\/p>\n<p>The next morning they wake up before the other 7 people in the room.\u00a0 Not a hard task to wake up before college students.\u00a0 There&#8217;s cheap but decent food served cafeteria style at the hostel.\u00a0 They head to the campus to look for Flint and the library.\u00a0 The library is not open to the public, only people associated with the school.\u00a0 They ask around and learn that Flint is currently in a lab.\u00a0 The college extends onto the flat ground surrounding the valcano and Flint&#8217;s lab is in a building on this flat ground.\u00a0 The building rises only a couple feet, has skylights and vents for a roof, and storm doors for entrances.\u00a0 As our heroes open one of the doors, they hear a voice assure another voice that the delivery of the alloy will be on schedule.\u00a0 There&#8217;s a sudden pause, then the voices start talking about experimental procedures and titration.\u00a0 Di that seem shady?\u00a0 Did the people at the door notice?\u00a0 Hopefully not. Gleador and Lucia act like they don&#8217;t notice and ask for Flint.\u00a0 He&#8217;s the voice promising delivery on schedule.\u00a0 They pass on Pepe&#8217;s greetings and ask to meet him after his lab.\u00a0 He&#8217;s happy to hear from Pepe and agrees to meet them.\u00a0 Lucia says a quick prayer for guidance and sees that the two dwarfs standing near Flint are evil, but Flint himself is not.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a long, low arc of stone that acts as a sundial, receiving a beam of light from a tower at the rim of the volcano.\u00a0 There are signs warning not to put any item, especially face or eyes, in the beam of light.\u00a0 Near the sundial are some benches and tables with games.\u00a0 The game is somewhat like Stratego, where two players try to defeat each other without knowing the strength of the other&#8217;s pieces.\u00a0 The pieces are identical painted metal cubes, each of a different material and density.\u00a0 Denser pieces beat lighter pieces.\u00a0 Quickly judging the density of an item by holding it is a valuable skill for a miner or crafter.\u00a0 At the appointed time (easily seen from the nearby sundial) the two evil dwarves sit a few benches away and start playing.\u00a0 Flint arrives soon after.\u00a0 Gleador plays to lose (easy when he&#8217;s never played and Flint is an expert) and engages in small talk, trying to sneakily get Flint to reveal information.\u00a0 The evil dwarves keep playing games.\u00a0 They&#8217;re sticking around to overhear.\u00a0 Flint agrees to give our heroes a tour of the campus tomorrow.\u00a0 Maybe he can sneak them into the library.\u00a0 He leaves and the evil dwarves are still playing.\u00a0 Lucia and Gleador leave and ponder their next move.<\/p>\n<p><strong>GM note:<\/strong> <em>I had to scramble because I assumed that the party would go to a different town.\u00a0 On the one hand, I really like the things I improvised: Selene&#8217;s mechanical arm,\u00a0 the rest stop, the city built into a volcano, the sundial. On the other hand, when wrapping up one location and moving to another, I should make the party decide where to go at the end of a session, not the beginning, so I can focus my efforts entirely on what they will see. The drama between the three great mills in Sugar&#8217;s Crossing was wasted effort, and I kept describing the Dwarven college like a 20th century American university, because that&#8217;s what I could think of on the spot.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Also, this is the second time they haven&#8217;t gone in the direction of that one NPC\u00a0 that I&#8217;m really proud of.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/28\/fairmeadow-fair-session-7\/\">\u2190 Session 7<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/ttrpg-campaign-reports\/fairmeadow-fair\/\">Campaign Summary<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/05\/fairmeadow-fair-session-9\/\">Session 9 \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2190 Session 7 | Campaign Summary | Session 9 \u2192 The Fairmeadow Fair ended last session, with Gleador the secret shapeshifter dodging all the consequences of his weekend of deception.\u00a0 He and Lucia the Paladin had to decide where to go next.\u00a0 There were several events that warranted further investigation. A statue with Dwarven markings &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/14\/fairmeadow-fair-session-8\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Fairmeadow Fair, session 8&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campaign-diary","category-fairmeadow-fair","category-rpg","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":631,"href":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions\/631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}