mips42
Adventurer
The adventure is begun!
DM note: long post ahead.
The rest of the day passes quietly, except for a minor scuffle between two old codgers who are clearly well into their cups. As the sun nears the horizon, you again hear the music, this time a lone violin, coming from the north edge of town. the melody is soft and haunting, almost begging you to come find it. As you peer out the front door of Fishin', you see many of the townsfolk heading that way.
Once you reach the edge of town you can see the one enormous tent that has been erected there as well as at least a dozen smaller ones and a score or more of wagons, both simple for supplies and gear and elaborately decorated ones with roofs for living in.
Inside the large tent, several rows of simple benches have been set up, facing the central pole, which rises at least forty feet up to the top. floating around the space are numerous small, lighted globes. each one is roughly round and looks like nothing so much as a simple soap bubble but glows with a steady yellowish light as they lazily drift through the space inside the tent. As you find seats, you see a small boy actually run up and touch one. It explodes into a riot of colors and dozens of smaller globes with a soft >pop<. this smaller globes swirl like a flock of birds up into the air where they coalesce back into a single sphere.
After several minutes, it appears that everyone who is coming has arrived, besides your group there are around forty or so people sitting on the wood benches as well as several small children seated on the ground in front. Gradually, the globes dim a bit and you hear the violin grow stronger and the performer, a lean and lanky man of indeterminate age strides up the center aisle playing his baleful tune until he arrives next to the central pole. once arriving there, he stops playing and a brief hush falls over the space and he stands completely still, looking like a statue more than a man.
Suddenly he spins facing the assembled group and draws his bow across the strings in a bright, long, note that gives you a feeling of tension, as if something is about to happen. The globes blink out dropping the area into complete darkness for several long seconds before blinking back on right above the head of Darvo, now dressed in a simple grey pant, tunic and face paint. "Greetings one and all and welcome into our humble home! Tonight, we hope to delight you with our talents and skills, delight you with music and, perhaps, frighten you just a bit. You shall see and hear tales of times long gone, Amazing feats of agility and creatures from other parts of the world you've likely not seen before.
Beginning with this:" He gestures and the globes spread out over the interior of the tent once again, only now, there is a lumpy gray and brown mass spread out over the dirt floor. Darvo steps into the shadows and begins to recite, as if he is the most eloquent holy man.
"in the early days of the world, the rocks and earth spun and rolled," as he says this, the mass begins to move and you realize it is many performers all dressed in gray, rolling and tumbling, only in extreme slow motion. "The gods looked down on their creation and proclaimed it good." At the top of the tent, on a small platform, a single figure stands in a multi-hued outfit with a single, bright globe by them, seemingly representing all the gods. "But there was one, the great serpent Yaggroth, who was Not pleased for he wanted a place in the sky with the other gods," A pair of performers dressed in vibrant green appear among the mass of gray, one holding the other and they leap and roll and seem to swim into and out of the mass. "Yaggroth seethed and roiled at his exclusion and cried out 'Why?! Why must I be of the earth and not of the sky?' and the Gods replied 'Because you are not a god, you were created, not creator.' At this, the great Yaggroth began to climb into the sky so that he might join the gods in Their home." The two green clad performers make their way to the central pole and begin rolling and climbing around the pole, over and over they go around, gradually ascending. "Higher and higher Yaggroth climbed until he reached the home of the Gods and cried 'I am ascended!' But the Gods were not kind, and struck Yaggroth from their lofty home." The multi-colored figure gestures as if striking the others and, with a heart wrenching gasp they let go of the pole! However, they fall only the briefest of moments before they begin to circle the central pole by a thin cord tied to an ankle and wrist. "Great Yaggroth, the world serpent, was struck down and returned to his lowly home." The green clad performers finally return to the gray mass where they are deftly caught. "But," Darvo says in a whisper which begs you to listen harder. "Yaggroth did not perish in his fall from Gods home and, even today, writhes and coils under us, waiting for another chance to rise." Suddenly the green performers are among the crowd, running, leaping and shouting, causing several townspeople to jump and laugh. When you return your attention to the central area, the gray mas is gone and, when you go to look for the green clad performers again, they, too cannot be seen.
Darvo steps back into the light, now wearing a brilliant red and orange outfit with a elaborate hat made to look like flames. "A round of applause for the Halmar sisters as our serpent, if you would." The two reappear from the back part of the tent where there is another opening and the assemblage claps and hoots appreciatively.
"And now, a special performance by our friend, DIla, the fire dancer." The globes subtly shift color from white to a yellowish orange and a small female dwarf comes out with several sticks and two pails. She begins by igniting two sticks and each end and proceeds to twirl them expertly around her body as she dances and capers; cartwheels, handstands, front- and back-flips all are included as the fire-sticks whirl and twirl around her almost appearing as a living partner. She then draws out a third, ignites it, and begins to juggle the flaming sticks, tossing them high into the air and catching them deftly. Then, dropping two into one pail, where they fizzle out she sticks her hand into the other and touches the flame to it and you watch as the flames dance and writhe on her hand. She, seemingly unhurt by this, twists and contorts her arm moving the flame as if it were glass. With a flourish, Dila grabs two large fans and blows a great gout of fire from her mouth and fans it higher, the heat that comes wafting over the audience makes it clear that this is no illusion. Twice more the flame erupts and she fans it to great heights. Finally, Dila takes a deep bow as the audience cheers heartily.
Again, Darvo steps back into the light, now wearing a deep green outfit thht looks as if it had scales. "Dila, the fire dancer! She is amazing, yes? Now, i must ask any parents who have brought their children to hold them tight for we bring to you a beast, a creature of terror from far away lands." the rear of the tent opens again and two large men haul out a large reptilian thing that looks like a cross between a frog, a orc and a snake. it is manacled on all four limbs and looks wary as the men drag it out into the tent. "Behold, Arbold. a creature from across the world." the crowd murmers as Arbold is brought to the center.
As the two large men muscle Arbold around, from outside, you can hear a bell suddenly ring out. The townspeople murmur, looking at each other.
Then again. And again. Arbold looks around nervously and begins to drag his handlers towards the rear of the tent. Darvo turns to the audience and says "What is that?"
Someone in the crowd says "The alarm. Something is wrong."The bell begins pealing over and over again and now you can hear shouting and screams from outside the tent as Arbold drags his two handlers out the rear of the tent.
It's difficult, through the throng of people trying to exit the tent all at once, but you manage to make it out and, there, see flames lighting the cool night air as they lick the tops of several roofs and, just to the east, there are two large groups of creatures that do not appear to be human.
As the crowd begins hustling back towards their homes, one of the groups heads into town while the other fires a round of arrows into the crowd. Several people fall amid shouts of pain and anguish.
You are under attack, now would be a good time for initiative rolls.
[MENTION=6776182]JustinCase[/MENTION]
[MENTION=6801311]KahlessNestor[/MENTION]
[MENTION=6855204]tglassy[/MENTION]
[MENTION=6899077]EarlyBird[/MENTION]
[MENTION=5044]Charwoman Gene[/MENTION]
[MENTION=6855545]Archon Basileus[/MENTION]
DM note: long post ahead.
The rest of the day passes quietly, except for a minor scuffle between two old codgers who are clearly well into their cups. As the sun nears the horizon, you again hear the music, this time a lone violin, coming from the north edge of town. the melody is soft and haunting, almost begging you to come find it. As you peer out the front door of Fishin', you see many of the townsfolk heading that way.
Once you reach the edge of town you can see the one enormous tent that has been erected there as well as at least a dozen smaller ones and a score or more of wagons, both simple for supplies and gear and elaborately decorated ones with roofs for living in.
Inside the large tent, several rows of simple benches have been set up, facing the central pole, which rises at least forty feet up to the top. floating around the space are numerous small, lighted globes. each one is roughly round and looks like nothing so much as a simple soap bubble but glows with a steady yellowish light as they lazily drift through the space inside the tent. As you find seats, you see a small boy actually run up and touch one. It explodes into a riot of colors and dozens of smaller globes with a soft >pop<. this smaller globes swirl like a flock of birds up into the air where they coalesce back into a single sphere.
After several minutes, it appears that everyone who is coming has arrived, besides your group there are around forty or so people sitting on the wood benches as well as several small children seated on the ground in front. Gradually, the globes dim a bit and you hear the violin grow stronger and the performer, a lean and lanky man of indeterminate age strides up the center aisle playing his baleful tune until he arrives next to the central pole. once arriving there, he stops playing and a brief hush falls over the space and he stands completely still, looking like a statue more than a man.
Suddenly he spins facing the assembled group and draws his bow across the strings in a bright, long, note that gives you a feeling of tension, as if something is about to happen. The globes blink out dropping the area into complete darkness for several long seconds before blinking back on right above the head of Darvo, now dressed in a simple grey pant, tunic and face paint. "Greetings one and all and welcome into our humble home! Tonight, we hope to delight you with our talents and skills, delight you with music and, perhaps, frighten you just a bit. You shall see and hear tales of times long gone, Amazing feats of agility and creatures from other parts of the world you've likely not seen before.
Beginning with this:" He gestures and the globes spread out over the interior of the tent once again, only now, there is a lumpy gray and brown mass spread out over the dirt floor. Darvo steps into the shadows and begins to recite, as if he is the most eloquent holy man.
"in the early days of the world, the rocks and earth spun and rolled," as he says this, the mass begins to move and you realize it is many performers all dressed in gray, rolling and tumbling, only in extreme slow motion. "The gods looked down on their creation and proclaimed it good." At the top of the tent, on a small platform, a single figure stands in a multi-hued outfit with a single, bright globe by them, seemingly representing all the gods. "But there was one, the great serpent Yaggroth, who was Not pleased for he wanted a place in the sky with the other gods," A pair of performers dressed in vibrant green appear among the mass of gray, one holding the other and they leap and roll and seem to swim into and out of the mass. "Yaggroth seethed and roiled at his exclusion and cried out 'Why?! Why must I be of the earth and not of the sky?' and the Gods replied 'Because you are not a god, you were created, not creator.' At this, the great Yaggroth began to climb into the sky so that he might join the gods in Their home." The two green clad performers make their way to the central pole and begin rolling and climbing around the pole, over and over they go around, gradually ascending. "Higher and higher Yaggroth climbed until he reached the home of the Gods and cried 'I am ascended!' But the Gods were not kind, and struck Yaggroth from their lofty home." The multi-colored figure gestures as if striking the others and, with a heart wrenching gasp they let go of the pole! However, they fall only the briefest of moments before they begin to circle the central pole by a thin cord tied to an ankle and wrist. "Great Yaggroth, the world serpent, was struck down and returned to his lowly home." The green clad performers finally return to the gray mass where they are deftly caught. "But," Darvo says in a whisper which begs you to listen harder. "Yaggroth did not perish in his fall from Gods home and, even today, writhes and coils under us, waiting for another chance to rise." Suddenly the green performers are among the crowd, running, leaping and shouting, causing several townspeople to jump and laugh. When you return your attention to the central area, the gray mas is gone and, when you go to look for the green clad performers again, they, too cannot be seen.
Darvo steps back into the light, now wearing a brilliant red and orange outfit with a elaborate hat made to look like flames. "A round of applause for the Halmar sisters as our serpent, if you would." The two reappear from the back part of the tent where there is another opening and the assemblage claps and hoots appreciatively.
"And now, a special performance by our friend, DIla, the fire dancer." The globes subtly shift color from white to a yellowish orange and a small female dwarf comes out with several sticks and two pails. She begins by igniting two sticks and each end and proceeds to twirl them expertly around her body as she dances and capers; cartwheels, handstands, front- and back-flips all are included as the fire-sticks whirl and twirl around her almost appearing as a living partner. She then draws out a third, ignites it, and begins to juggle the flaming sticks, tossing them high into the air and catching them deftly. Then, dropping two into one pail, where they fizzle out she sticks her hand into the other and touches the flame to it and you watch as the flames dance and writhe on her hand. She, seemingly unhurt by this, twists and contorts her arm moving the flame as if it were glass. With a flourish, Dila grabs two large fans and blows a great gout of fire from her mouth and fans it higher, the heat that comes wafting over the audience makes it clear that this is no illusion. Twice more the flame erupts and she fans it to great heights. Finally, Dila takes a deep bow as the audience cheers heartily.
Again, Darvo steps back into the light, now wearing a deep green outfit thht looks as if it had scales. "Dila, the fire dancer! She is amazing, yes? Now, i must ask any parents who have brought their children to hold them tight for we bring to you a beast, a creature of terror from far away lands." the rear of the tent opens again and two large men haul out a large reptilian thing that looks like a cross between a frog, a orc and a snake. it is manacled on all four limbs and looks wary as the men drag it out into the tent. "Behold, Arbold. a creature from across the world." the crowd murmers as Arbold is brought to the center.
As the two large men muscle Arbold around, from outside, you can hear a bell suddenly ring out. The townspeople murmur, looking at each other.
Then again. And again. Arbold looks around nervously and begins to drag his handlers towards the rear of the tent. Darvo turns to the audience and says "What is that?"
Someone in the crowd says "The alarm. Something is wrong."The bell begins pealing over and over again and now you can hear shouting and screams from outside the tent as Arbold drags his two handlers out the rear of the tent.
It's difficult, through the throng of people trying to exit the tent all at once, but you manage to make it out and, there, see flames lighting the cool night air as they lick the tops of several roofs and, just to the east, there are two large groups of creatures that do not appear to be human.
As the crowd begins hustling back towards their homes, one of the groups heads into town while the other fires a round of arrows into the crowd. Several people fall amid shouts of pain and anguish.
You are under attack, now would be a good time for initiative rolls.
[MENTION=6776182]JustinCase[/MENTION]
[MENTION=6801311]KahlessNestor[/MENTION]
[MENTION=6855204]tglassy[/MENTION]
[MENTION=6899077]EarlyBird[/MENTION]
[MENTION=5044]Charwoman Gene[/MENTION]
[MENTION=6855545]Archon Basileus[/MENTION]
