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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nebulous" data-source="post: 4745066" data-attributes="member: 31465">Adventure #3: Tallow's DeepPART TWO<img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/burgerfest.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Jolen still has the admiration and devotion of Henchman #1 and Henchman #2, the two men whom he convinced to battle the ogres and giant the day before.  For now, they’re steadfastly devoted to the priest and want to help him.  So Jolen has Henchman #1 watch the Mountain Gate, with orders to leave a message at the shrine of Tempus if either Blackjack, Balthazar, or a wizard with blond hair and red robes comes to Everlund.And then they’re off to Burger’s Palace, Mayor Burger’s home/5-coin restaurant, where a line has already formed.  People are bustling with excitement, jittery and literally salivating at the thought of lunch.  Followed by dinner.  And then a big breakfast the next day. The heroes find this very odd and remind each other to NOT eat any of the burgers!  It sounds suspiciously like a magical compulsion. There’s a band playing outside of Burger’s Palace, and soon Mayor Horace Burger appears at the front doors himself, standing on the dais and spreading his arms wide.<img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/mayor.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />“Greetings, friends! Civilians and neighbors and guests!  Not much longer now, and the doors will officially open for Burgerfest!  I can’t wait, and I know you can’t either!  See you soon!” And Burger returns inside.  Merric, Douvan, Nari-lana and Jolen soon find the delivery entrance to Burger’s Palace, in a busy alley in the back.  White-apron wearing cooks, chefs and busboys with tall white hats are busy unloading food and from wagons…and who should be here but  Blackjack the pig farmer, scars and all. “Hurry it up,” the big man is saying.  “I got business to finish.” It looks to Merric like Blackjack has driven the same wagon where all the spices were kept the night before at his farm.  It also looks like workers are unloading meat from the wagon.  It’s very important that they get some more samples, and sneaking into the busy kitchen looking like a bunch of tough adventurers will be very hard to do.[GM Note:  This also spawned the idea of killing cooks on their cigarette break, wearing their outfits and sneaking into the kitchen that way.  It didn’t happen either (thank goodness)]. However, an idea that does sound plausible comes from Jolen the cleric.  Pushing ahead, he boldly strides up to Blackjack.“Those scars, my friend,” he says in his most machismo voice.  “You have seen as much battle as I have!  Tell me, what did that to you?  A dragon I bet! Last mistake it made, yes? HA!” Merric Littlefoot is hiding nearby, hoping that Jolen can distract Blackjack enough from the wagon so that the Halfling can steal more goods to inspect.  This instigated a quick Skill Challenge where Jolen tried to think of various points of interest and conversation to distract the burly scarred pig farmer, relying mostly on Diplomacy and History. Blackjack is standoffish at first, but Jolen is able to lull him into a story of an encounter Blackjack had years back at the Goblin Marches, describing the dozen of little bastards he butchered that day!  Oh yes, that’s where he got the scars, not from a dragon but from little gobbers.  Jolen is able to convince Blackjack to join him for a beer and a burger later at Burger’s Palace.Oddly, the pig farmer agrees to the beer, but declines the burger. The distraction is sufficient (and the DC lowered) for Merric to swipe another bottle of spices.  He sneaks off with it, and determines that it is just cayenne pepper, and Nari-lana the swordmage does not detect the hint of magic.  Another dead end. Blackjack is done soon afterward and clambers atop his wagon, heading toward the Mountain Gate.  Merric the Halfling rogue decides to follow him at a distance, not that he could keep up anyway. In the alley behind Burger’s Palace, the other party members try one more idea.  They discreetly pull a cook aside and tell him that they’ll pay good gold for a sample of cooked meat and uncooked meat from Blackjack’s farm.  The cook balks at first, but when he sees the ten gold coins jangling in front of him, his concern evaporates. “Wait here.  Ten minutes,” he says, and goes inside.  He returns with a paper sack, exchanges it for the gold, and then tells them to get the hell away before they’re caught.  Inside the sack are two balls of meat in wax paper, one cooked and one raw.And they both radiate a faint aura of magic.  So, now the PCs know that whatever enchantment was probably done to meat was done before it reached Burger’s Palace.  Whatever Blackjack and Balthazar are doing, it most likely happens at the farm.  But Nari-lana is concerned about Merric so she follows him to Blackjack’s farm.  In the meantime, Jolen and Douvan Stahl wait in line at Burger’s Palace, hoping to get a few words in with Mayor Horace Burger himself (who does look suspiciously like Baron Harkonnen).  The big man is there, and he openly and flamboyantly takes a big, messy bite of the first burger to kick off the festival.  Cheers erupt, clapping ensues, and BurgerFest has officially begun.</blockquote>

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