Jekyll
The cups soon pile high on the table as the dwarf and the Shoanti continue to down drink after drink. Some say the contest shall never end, claiming dwarves are immune to the effects of alcohol (an obvious falsehood) and Shoanti tribes have made pacts with their wild gods to remove the alcohol from their stomachs whenever they drink. That gets a laugh, but soon they are both deep in their cups and staring at each other through what are clearly hazy eyes. The Shoanti lifts his glass for the next swallow of one finger. His hand wavers in the air for a moment... and he downs it in one fell swallow! The crowd cheers. The dwarf smashes the table with his fist when he sees the Shoanti succeed, causing the cups to rattle. Cracktooth pours the dwarf another finger of grain alcohol. The dwarf gazes down at it, his head bobbling from side to side, heavy with drink. He shakes his head to try and regain his composure and gives the cup a great swallow. The crowd watches the dwarf carefully as he puts both hands on the table and cries,
"Thas ha wuh do da dwinnin in muh..." but he wavers on the last word. After what seems like the longest second of the contest, the dwarf seems to shift to one side. Soon it becomes a full topple and the dwarf has fallen completely off his stool onto the ground, snoring loudly. The Shoanti stands, his hide-skin mantle of elk and fox tail flourishing behind as he tosses his hands up in triumph. The crowd cheers!
"Looks like your silver is mine," Jaimen winks. It seems impossible. How could this man have known?
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@Morrus;, Jekyll notices a diminutive broken vial on the floor under the Shoanti's chair. It appears to have a skull on the label, but it is too far away to make out more detail. What this odd clue means (if it means anything at all) is completely up to you. I'll let you take Jaimen from here and narrate the rest of the events at Cracktooth's during lunch however you wish. I just thought that would be an interesting little tidbit to add for Jaimen to spice up the scene. If you do not have time, do not sweat it. Jekyll could just excuse himself from the tavern quietly before anything else happens. You have total narrative control for now.
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The Tug of War
The contestants have entered and the teams have been divided up randomly by a gnome who placed a different-colored illusory mark on a 19 identical cards, one representing each team, and placed them into a hat for random draws by Sheriff Hemlock. The Sheriff had local genius and historian Brodert Quink
(Knowledge: local or history) devise a means of ensuring each team had a fair chance of competing since the number of teams was odd. Wherever Brodert goes, his golden-haired cat follows him, always keeping a few feet distant from the man, but never straying too far, and he uses an enormous chalk board and an abacus to calculate and display how the teams will compete. It seems complex, but in the end Brodert can boil it down to lining up the matches and calculating the rules of elimination for Sheriff Hemlock. The Sheriff agrees this is equitable, and since no one is about to question Brodert's mathematical capabilities, the contest begins!
A team of young children, the progeny of a local woman named Risa
(Knowledge: local), are the first to be eliminated, along with a team of twin teenage girls and a young man plus a team consisting of what most whisper are whores from the Pixie's Kitten, the town brothel
(Knowledge: local). Your two primary contenders are Das Korvut's team of relatively old (but apparently strong) men and a team of all dwarves put together by the local Guildmaster of the Carpenter's Guild, Aesrick Battlehorn. In fact, the dwarves make such a fine showing of themselves that after the first round, bookie odds shift entirely in their favor. Your team is given close to even odds and Das' team is considered another fair contender, but "Aesrick's Champions" seem to be drawing the most attention. In the final bracket, it is "The Elders," (as Das' team comes to be called), Aesrick's Champions, the Nobles--a team of two Scarnetti scions and Tsuko Kaijitsu
(Knowledge: nobility)--and your own team. Thus far, your only loss has been to Aesrick's Champions, but it was not in a single elimination round, and you ultimately prevailed in that round to move on.
Everyone watches the next four contests with interest, which will determine the top four teams in order of rank. Aesrick's Champions vs. the Elders are first, and it is a hard-fought contest. At one point, the Elders pull a couple dwarves into the mud, but not all of them. Aesrick rallies them in an amazing comeback to raucous applause. They will face the winner of the next match and the Elders will compete against the loser of your match against the Nobles for third place.Although your team initially has trouble with the Nobles, they turn out to be lacking in stamina, and soon the contest sways in your direction and you pull them into the mud. One of the Scarnettis is hurled face down into the mud and gets up angrily, furling his brow at you before stomping off. The Nobles do not even deign to compete in the third place round, and the honor is bestowed to the Elders by default.
It finally comes down to your team, nicknamed the Outsiders by the townsfolk, and Aesrick's Champions. The dwarves rub their hands in anticipation, warming them to evaporate the sweat, and they plant their feet firmly on the ground. Aesrick leads them from the front. The Guildmaster and his team have mighty grips indeed! You find yourselves pitted in a challenging match of heave and ho. The rope sways in both directions several times. Nuko ends up with one leg in the mud at one point, but Thrindar holds the back tightly while Kelvyn gives a mighty tug. This time it is Aesrick's turn to get muddy, as he finds himself skirting the edge of the shallow pit. Both his boots get splattered with mud, but he manages to avoid falling in. For three whole minutes it then seems neither team will give more than an inch at a time. Aesrick calls to his dwarves in their native tongue, but Thrindar quickly grasps the meaning and whispers their plan to give a concerted pull in two seconds. Your team counters their strategy by giving just a little rope to let them pull themselves off balance and Kelvyn cries for a final massive tug to take advantage. The dwarves fall toppling over themselves into the mud pit and the crowd cheers!
"The Outsiders seem to have surprised us all!" the Sheriff proclaims,
"so congratulations on your exceptional teamwork!"
The Sheriff names your team the Spirit of Unity and many townsfolk come to congratulate your team, Das, Gorvi, and Turch among them.
"Well, done, men," says the wispy-haired fishmonger, who reeks of week-old fish as he approaches,
"if I were in my prime I'd have given you the old Sailor's Haul, but you're the winners today it seems. Ha ha!"
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For the next 24 hours, Nuko, Kelvyn, and Thrindar receive an extra +1 when using the Aid Another action (a total of +3). Because he believed in his friends and bet on them, Jamir has the ability to use the Aid Another action at a range of 30 feet for the next 24 hours, however using this action at range only grants a +1 bonus (instead of the usual +2); he also wins 2 gp.
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Jamir heads over to check on the results of the balance beam contest. After canvasing the crowd, he learns that apparently Jubrayl shysted the entire game. He made an appearance of being much less agile than he actually was, performing just well enough (sometimes simply seeming lucky) to proceed to the next round and driving his odds downward. Meanwhile an unusual number of shady characters continued to place bets on him, mostly folks from out of town. In the final round, Jubrayl faced off against Sabyl, and he utterly shamed her. He performed a series of back-flips, tumbles, and twirls that would put a ballet dancer to shame. Sabyl made a fair showing of herself but could not keep up with Jubrayl, who decimated her in every category. Many grumbled that he was dishonest and a poor sport, but Mayor Deverin was forced to recognize that he never actually violated the rules of the competition and named him the Champion of Acrobatics.
There are several more events planned for late afternoon, but at Three Bells, Father Zantus is planning to perform the Swallowtail Release and official Consecration in the Catherdral square. Everyone is planning to attend. You have a bit of time to prepare yourselves before then.
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Jamir looses his 5 gp bet on Sabyl.
You have about 20 minutes in game time to gather in the Cathedral Square (assuming you wish to attend the Consecration like the other 98% of townsfolk and visitors). Feel free to narrate any interactions you have with NPCs whom you have met so far within the bounds of what you know about their personalities. Or you can simply role-play a bit with each other and take care of anything else you would like to.
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[sblock=Experience so far]
Thrindar: 20/1,300
Nuko: 14/1,300
Kelvyn: 24/1,300
Jamir: 44/1,300
Alternates
Jekyll: 6/1,300
[/sblock]
