Five Against the Slavers

[Insight]

OOC: The prior skill challenge, "The Road to Safeton", concluded with a success. That will provide our PCs a bonus to skill checks in the next skill challenge, "The Feast at Dame Gold's", starting soon.

Revv Aair and his nephew were bright with smiles as the heroes of Hommlet returned from the ridge across the pond. "I see you drove them off, whomever they were!"

"Yes," Jordi Tonbarrel replied. "I believe we made enough of an impression on those bandits to cause them to leave us alone for the rest of the journey."

"Which shouldn't be long, I am given to understand!" the gnome, Billy Silvertongue, added.

This was true. The journey from the ridgeside pond to Safeton, their destination, was short. The group camped at the spot next to the pond and, after only a few short hours, arrived in the seaside town of Safeton.

The group first came upon a rather large, wooden sign.

"Welcome to Safeton," Billy read. "Use No Magic Here. How rude!"

"Sounds good to me," the half-orc, Keldok the Bludgeoner, remarked.

The heroes entered Safeton, which appeared just like any other seaside town. The place boasted no more than a thousand inhabitants. It was a walled town, probably owing to the continued presence of bandits and evil humanoids in the lands surrounding Safeton.

The guards stood before our heroes, in an attempt to collect a tariff, but the merchant, Revv Aair, would have none of it. The halfling merchant paid the entry fees for everyone and soon, the group as inside Safeton itself.

"As I explained, dear companions," Aair said when they had stopped at the stables. "I bring goods to Dame Gold's affair, the Feast of Edoira. If you're not familiar with Edoira, or her feast, this is a week-long festival that commences... tomorrow! Oh dear! I'd better get some men to transport my goods and wares to Gold Manor! Terribly sorry, but I must be going!" He grabbed his nephew's arm. "Come along, Bellod!"

With that, the heroes of Hommlet were on their own. They had a standing invitation to attend to feast, but with the road dust covering them and a number of wounds to dress, the heroes knew that they had little time to get ready.

The heroes arrived at the Rough 'N Ready, a seaside inn and tavern. From this spot, the heroes could see Gold Manor, on a cliff nearby. That place seemed a world away from the surly and mundane customers of the Rough 'N Ready. Most of our heroes felt more at place in the inn than they would at Dame Gold's place. This certainly included Keldok.

"Look, I appreciate you all wanting to culture me, but I think I'd better stay here." The half-orc looked around at the sailors, longshoremen, grooms, servants, and other laborers inside the tavern. "I want no part of that fussy festival and those fussy guests. I'm sure they don't want no part of a savage like me."

"I'm inclined to agree with Keldok," the dwarf priest, Grimgal Ironhearted, said. "Why force the half-orc into a situation where he'll only embarass himself... and us?"

"Hold on there," Jordi said. "Remember our oath. We travel together. We fight together..."

"Yes, yes," Grimgal interjected. "This is no dungeon and there are no monsters at Dame Gold's manor."

"I dunno about that, dwarf," Keldok said. "Spending more than an hour with those people might drive you mad!"

The gnome smiled. "I rather like that sort of folk. In fact, I may head to the manor right now. I don't particularly care for some of the looks I'm receiving around this tavern."

"Now hold on," Jordi, the diplomat, said. "Billy, the rest of us will need a little coaching on how to handle ourselves amongst the finer folk we'll encounter at Dame Gold's. I suppose you're the only one suited to such a task."

"That is almost certainly the case."

"We will also need proper attire," Jordi explained. "I know for certain that I do not have anything in my pack that I would dare wear to the festival."

"Nor I," the dwarf added.

Billy looked at Zindra, who had remained silent this entire time. "What of you, cousin?"

The elf maiden turned from staring out the window. "The sea is so beautiful. So peaceful. Sorry, I wasn't listening to a word."

"The festival, elf. What know you of proper behavior at such a place?"

"And do you have appropriate clothing for such an event?" Jordi asked.

"I do not have such clothing," the elf admitted. "As for proper behavior, you don't have to worry about me. I've been around elven nobility and I suppose that's little different from the haughty humans we are likely to encounter."

"You can't just show up and sulk, Zindra," Billy said. "We are attending this festival for a reason. Does anyone remember what that reason is?"

"To make nice with the locals," Grimgal said. "I'm not sure why, though."

"This is an adventure! Just a different sort of adventure. Perhaps this will lead us to bigger and better things. Look, you all grew tired of being big fish in a little pond. We are bigger than Hommlet. If we had stayed there, we would have grown old and fat. We would have woken up ten, twenty, thirty years from now and wondered what we might have done with these skills... with this magic... with a heroic tale at our fingertips."

"You sure you're not a bard?"

Billy smirked at the dwarf's comment. "My point is that we can do more. We can accomplish much. With a wealthy patron, the good we can do is nearly limitless. Please, can we make an effort? If nothing else, consider this a favor to me."

The heroes, in some cases, reluctantly, agreed to go along with Billy's request. Even the surly half-orc agreed to make some sort of effort, though he was the least committed of the bunch.

Billy's challenge now, indeed, the group's challenge, would be to get ready to attend the festival and make a good impression. They had just 24 hours to prepare.

 

[Dawn]

Loving the storyline and characters. Also like how you hide the details, but make them available should we wish to see how the mechanics played out.

 

[Insight]

Loving the storyline and characters. Also like how you hide the details, but make them available should we wish to see how the mechanics played out.

Thanks! I'm glad someone is reading this

 

[Goonalan]

Thanks! I'm glad someone is reading this

Still reading, and still loving it- I'd XP you but it wont let me...

Goonalan

 

[Insight]

OOC: The skill challenge, "The Feast at Dame Gold's", starts now. This is going to be a little strange, so hang on.

OOC: "The Feast at Dame Gold's" is a "stepped" skill challenge. In the first step, which offers up to three Successes, the heroes must make the proper preparations to attend the feast. Billy is taking the lead on this part of the skill challenge.

The heroes of Hommlet made their way from the Rough 'N Ready into the markets of Safeton. Everywhere the heroes went, people talked of the upcoming feast at Dame Gold's manor.

"Didja hear they're bringing in red pheasant from Verbobonc?"

"There might be a wizard performing magic tricks!"

"I heard there's gonna be a filthy half-orc there!"

This last comment got wry looks from Keldok, but cooler heads prevailed; Jordi convinced the Bludgeoner not to take his rage out on the poor cobbler's wife.

When the heroes made it to the market square, Billy made sure everyone understood what they were going to be doing and that they didn't have a whole lot of time to fool around.

Billy made it his personal mission to do something with Keldok and Grimgal. These two would stand out like a swollen sore thumb if the gnome didn't take matters seriously. Billy let Zindra lead Jordi to the appropriate clothing shops; he knew that the elf maiden would know what to do.

Billy took Keldok and Grimgal to "Blue Threads", a tailor's shop.

"Good morning," Blue Silver, the proprietor said, seeing the trio enter his shop. "Well, I can't say I've ever had a gnome, a dwarf, and... half-orc... in my shop at the same time. Must be a special occasion."

"Yes, well, we are here for the feast," Billy explained.

The tailor looked at Grimgal and then at Keldok. "We've got our work cut out for us, don't we?"

Billy smiled. "I'm glad you understand."

Grimgal and Keldok, wearing rather horrified looks on their faces, clenched teeth as the gnome and the tailor traded well-crafted barbs and stories of high society. The dwarf and the half-orc could not have felt more out of place. But they knew how important all of this was to Billy and possibly to their future as adventurers. They had to come to grips with the fact that they were heroes now, and heroes occasionally had to accept summons to nobles' homes. This was just one of those times.

"Remind me to channel all of this into the next enemy we face," Keldok said quietly to the dwarf.

Soon, Billy, Grimgal, and Keldok emerged from Blue Threads. Each had two new outfits suitable for attending a gala such as the Feast at Dame Gold's. Of the three, Billy was the only one wearing a smile.

OOC: All of this results in a Diplomacy check and a SUCCESS for Billy and the PCs. 1 SUCCESS, 0 FAILURES.

 

[Insight]

OOC: The skill challenge, "The Feast at Dame Gold's", continues, with 1 Success and 0 Failures.

Zindra took seriously Billy's request to lead Jordi into the Safeton market square and advise the warrior on appropriate attire. Zindra walked carefully through the narrow streets and shop warrens, keeping a close eye on Jordi, who had a tendency to wander.

"Have you attended a gala like this before?" Zindra asked as the pair walked through some jewelry shops.

"No, not even anything close," Jordi replied. "You know me, Zindra. I grew up on a farm. Didn't see a lot of people except when Pa and I would take our harvest to town. Attended a few weddings. Maybe a local harvest festival or two. Met my betrothed there, but..." Jordi stopped at a stall where a half-elven woman smiled and watched the human warrior paw her scarves.

Zindra joined Jordi. "I didn't know that you were married."

He looked at the elf. "Oh, I wasn't," he replied. "You see, my betrothed... She was from the next town over, Laketon. Her name was Bettia. Her father often purchased grain from our farm. It seemed a good idea, since our families had mutual interests, that Bettia and I should marry."

"What happened?"

Jordi looked down at the scarf he was mindlessly examining. "She... orcs came. Hundreds of them. Laketon was the first target. Then, the orcs crossed the road towards Firth. It didn't take long. We weren't prepared. The Lord's men usually handled these sorts of things, but even the few guards and cavalry we had were pathetically incapable of responding to such an invasion. I took up my dad's old sword and found a shield in the barn. Several of us struck a group of sleeping orcs drunk on Laketon wine. I saw in the possession of one of the orcs a blue scarf Bettia once wore. It had bloodstains on it."

Zindra put her hand on Jordi's. "Were you in love with her?"

Jordi looked down at the elf's slender hand on his. He moved his hand away. "No, I barely knew her." He put down the scarf. "Can we finish this shopping trip and go join the others?"

Taking this as a sign that Jordi wanted to speak of the incident no more, Zindra led Jordi through a dizzying number of clothing shops, haberdasheries, and tailoring shops. It took quite a while; Zindra had been out of practice. Finally, after a few hours, and a lot of asking directions, Jordi and Zindra managed to acquire the clothing they needed.

OOC: Another success, this time with a Streetwise check. 2 SUCCESSES, 0 FAILURES.

 

[Insight]

OOC: The skill challenge, "The Feast at Dame Gold's", continues with 2 Successes and 0 Failures.

By the time the sun went down on Safeton, the five heroes of Hommlet has gathered what clothing and fineries they felt they needed to attend Dame Gold's event that started on the next morning. All that was left to do now was for Billy, the gnome and resident culture expert, to coach the rest of the heroes on proper etiquette at such an event.

Billy knew that he has his work cut out for him. Zindra, the elf, would be no problem, other than possibly being a little aloof at times. Billy knew he could trust Zindra not to make any horrific social faux pas. Jordi was likely going to act the gentleman, though his rustic upbringing did not do much to reassure Billy. But Keldok and Grimgal, the half-orc and dwarf, respectively, they would be Billy's challenge. He wasn't sure he had enough time to make them properly sociable.

The heroes gathered again at the Rough N' Ready. This time, Billy had purchased a loft suite, a room large enough for the heroes to spread out a bit and get comfortable.

Jordi sat next to Zindra on one side of the room, while Keldok and Grimgal were each in their own corners. Billy stood in the middle of the room, pacing.

"The most important thing to remember at these sorts of gatherings is that everything you say AND do tells a lot about you. It is not always the poorly chosen word that sets you in the wrong company. Often, it is your demeanor, the way you stand, the way you eat. There is... it's quite complicated, you see."

Keldok, chewing on a turkey leg, belched. "Don't worry. We'll be the picture of bleedin' decorum!" This drew chuckles from the normally stoic Grimgal.

"Now, look here, half-orc," the gnome shouted. "This is no laughing matter."

"It is sort of funny," Jordi said. "I mean, look at us. We're not the sort of hobnob with the rich and influential. No amount of coaching or shouting is going to make Keldok presentable, or keep Grimgal from being off-putting. Zindra and I should be all right. I don't know that those two aren't a lost cause."

"Now, wait just a minute, Tonbarrel," the dwarf replied. "I've attended a dwarven function or two in my time. And only once was I thrown out for being drunk and disorderly."

"You were thrown out of a dwarven function for being too drunk?"

"And disorderly."

The gnome grimaced. "Look, this isn't helping! I need you to focus on what I'm talking about. We're going to be at Dame Gold's estate for a few days. I need you all to understand that we can ill afford any mistakes. Just, please, for me, try to be polite. Is that too much to ask?"

Billy walked to Grimgal. "Look, what I'm really worried about are you two," he said, looking across at Keldok. "The plan is this. I'm going to run interference with the really snooty types. The ones the rest of you should steer well clear from. Jordi, I want you paired up with Grimgal here. That should mitigate some of the potential damage. Just don't either one of you get too drunk until the event is over. And Zindra, pair up with Keldok. I think you can help him at least avoid some of the major pitfalls."

With that, the plan was set in motion. We would soon find out whether this was all for naught.

OOC: So for this part of the skill challenge, Billy made Diplomacy checks against his own party members. He also made a History check to determine what sorts of behaviors to expect from the nobles. 3 SUCCESSES, 0 FAILURES.