Session 20: All’s Faire

Game Dates: 12/01, 12/04
In-Game Dates: Disander 9th – Dis 11th, evening

Grumble awakes from a nightmare where he hears his sister calling his name for help to hearing a gruff voice calling his name in real life. Sitting across from his bed is a dwarf in a simple leather shirt and leggings. His face is old and weathered, though his eyes are bright and shining. In his hands he holds Grumble’s axe.
Grumble demands the stranger to identify himself and state his business. The dwarf calls himself a name that sounds like “Auger,” and informs Grumble that he’s here to help him, though he does not say by whose behest.
“You fight well,” states the stranger, “but as we say, there’s more to mining than just hitting the rock with your pick.” Bidding Grumble to come with him, Auger leads the dwarf into a clearing in the woods, where he begins to teach Grumble a series of stances, or positions, for fighting with his dwarven waraxe. This goes on for an hour or so, then the stranger merely states that they will do this every morning from now on. Afterwards he wanders into the woods and is lost in the morning mist. Confused and somewhat winded, Grumble heads back to the common house as the rest of the party is awakening (except Nialia).
Upon rising from bed, the party is served a lavish breakfast by grateful Halfling farmers. The party, healed now that Quirky has awakened, eats with renewed gusto (while magical healing heals wounds and restores the body, it doesn’t necessarily replace all the blood that has spilled out before said healing. That having been said, it’s a miracle my party isn’t suffering from advanced anemia or constantly passing out from low blood pressure).
Quirky excuses himself from the table as the party discusses their options. The most reasonable choice of action is to collect their fee and wash their hands of the whole affair, continuing southward to their audience with the Grand Duke. Badger goes in search of Quirky, only to hear his voice coming from the closed door to their room, as if conversing with someone. Badger listens to Quirkys side of a conversation, as she cannot hear anyone else speaking, though Quirky is obviously responding to something. She does not hear much, but what she does hear chills her anew. Quirky is still hiding something from her and the rest of the party. She leaps across the hall as he exits the room, then hurriedly searches their room once he’s out of sight. She finds nothing amiss but a curious scratch at the top of the mirror that sits atop their dresser. She can’t be sure, but she doesn’t remember it being there the night before.
Quirky returns to the room, seeking Badger, and she confronts him about what she’s heard. After some dissembling, Quirky confesses that he was indeed trying to keep something from her. He tells her that if she were to die, Quirky could magically restore her soul to her body, using their love as a bond to pull her back from the afterlife. However, were he himself to die, things would not be so simple. Part of the price he pays for stealing magic from the gods is that no priest of any holy order would be willing to restore his soul (how they would tell, he does not say). Another Ur-Priest could do it, but Quirky cannot imagine one of them being willing either, as most members of his order are altogether evil, nor would he ever want Badger to seek any of them out. Therefore, Quirky was attempting to put together a contingency plan that would keep his soul from hell (literally) in the event of his death. He planned to keep it a secret because he did not want to worry Badger, but also because old habits die hard. Badger assures him that she won’t let him die, and hugs him close.
Meanwhile, the party is mending their weapons and armor as best they can. Elder Joram has met with several other village elders, and the loose federation of Halfling villages wishes to throw an impromptu celebration in the party’s honor. The party figures that they’ve earned some rest, so they relax for the remainder of the day, until the start of the feast.
The feast is everything the adventurers have heard about wild Halfling parties. Food and drink fill the tables, streamers and ribbons adorn every tree, and even a few local bards sing the Tale of the Heroic Five that Defeated the Skull Tribe to an embarrassingly receptive and appreciative audience.
The party also finds out about the history of Brindinsford from Elder Joram. Long ago, Brindinsford was called Pythus, and was the capital city of the dukedom. There was a revolt that cost the lives of most of the nobles in the city nearly two hundred years ago, and the city was nearly razed to the ground in the ensuing battle and siege. Afterwards, while the city was being rebuilt, the capital was moved to the southeast, and a different city became Pythus. When the old Pythus was restored, they renamed it Brindinsford. The Grand Duke did not want to rebuild it at all at first, but soon realized that the old city occupied too good of a strategic location for defense and trade to be left to crumble. In addition, many influential mages and religious orders had temples and towers there, and finally the Grand Duke caved in to the pressure. But as a final insult, he gave rule of the city over to a lowly baron out of favor with his court (baron being the lowest level of nobility that could govern a city of that size by Fallo law). For the current baron, Elder Joram has no unkind words.
Throughout most of the feast Badger has her worried eyes on Quirky. He seems not all there, though he nods graciously to each Halfling who thanks him for his efforts. Obviously something still bothers him, and Badger frets at this distance that still seems to lie forever between them both. Nialia and Rowan have noticed that the halfing outrider Cora Thornapple has had her eyes on Grumble the entire feast. Now that evening has fallen, the two of them barely restrain giggles as Cora drags the hapless dwarf off to talk at an empty table.
Cora sees something in Grumble, a kind of kinship with the outcast dwarf. Not just the fact that she herself has dwarf blood in her (explaining her height and some of her personality). She asks Grumble if he wants to join her for a drink. Grumble, who hasn’t exactly bathed recently, excuses himself to quickly “freshen up”. He tears off to the common house as though a host of dragons were chasing him.
In the main room of the common house, Quirky and Badger are sitting before the fire. They stare with their wide eyes even wider (if that were possible) in shock at Grumble’s demeanor and his request…. For soap.
Badger offers the dwarf her lavender soap, but in the end Grumble takes some rough soap Badger uses for Zook. After sluicing the grime and dirt off himself, Grumble gets dressed and heads back into the common room. With as much dignity as he can muster, he asks the two how he should behave. Quirky, his face radiating serious concern, rattles off a list of things not to be forgotten:
“Tell her she’s beautiful, but don’t insincere. Be courteous, but direct; she’s a fighter herself and will appreciate it. Look into her eyes, but don’t stare. She obviously has a special bond with her wolf, so don’t make any cracks about him. Let her do most of the talking, and pay attention when she does. Don’t start any kind of competition with her, drinking game, arm-wrestling or otherwise: if you beat her she’ll resent you, and if she beats you she’ll suspect you let her win, and she’ll resent you.”
Quirky’s list goes on until Grumble’s eyes begin to glaze over. Finally Quirky ends with, “Well? Don’t keep her waiting! Go, go, go!” Grumble runs out the door, and Quirky and Badger both manage to last several seconds before collapsing into fits of laughter that leave them teary-eyed and gasping.
Grumble returns to Cora, and the two of them talk. They speak of loneliness, of the freedom living on the road offers, and the life of a warrior. She speaks of how she became a wandering protector, and Grumble listens with all appropriate attentiveness.
Finally Cora suggests they retire to her home, a small, simple cabin on the outskirts of the village. She pauses at the door.
“Grumble?” she asks.
“Yeah?”
“We’ve shared a bit about ourselves haven’t we? Gotten to know each other a little bit? Talked about things?”
“Yeah.”
Cora opens the door, spilling red-orange light from the fires and torches on the meadow across the bare wooden floor and a straw pallet covered with sleeping furs.
“Can we maybe not talk for the rest of the night?”
“Yeah,” smiles Grumble as Cora pulls him inside and shuts the door.

Back in the common house, Quirky finally tells Badger what’s been troubling him. His name, Quirky Timbers, was just an invention, part of a persona that he adopted for his… assignment. With a tremor in his voice, he asks Badger to choose two names for him, one that he can be known by to the rest of the party (and the world, for that matter), and the other to be a private name, one to mark his passage from living as a shadowy figure to walking in the light.
Badger is obviously not comfortable with such a burden, but Quirky insists, and she agrees. By the time Rowan and Nialia return to the common room, the two gnomes have gone to bed, though it is a long time before Badger can fall asleep.

When Grumble awakes it takes him a moment to recall everything that’s happened. With an uncharacteristic smile of his mustached face, he rolls over to gave into the eyes of –
The same dwarf from yesterday morning. “She left just before false dawn,” says Auger. “Let’s go.”
Again the two dwarves journey to the same clearing, where they practice this axe kata-esque series of exercises. Grumble plies the dwarf with questions, but Auger will only say that he is here to train him.
Afterwards, Grumble walks back into the village and spies a note tacked to the door of Cora’s cabin. It reads simply:

Grumble-

You really are a warrior!

Wolves never look back.

-C.

When everyone is gathered around the breakfast table in the common house, Quirky stands up and makes an announcement to the group. He tells them that Badger has given him a new name, and so asks that he now be known as Audric. He does not tell them the more personal name that Badger gave him. This name she gave was Lunavenn, meaning “beloved companion,” using the same name fragment as her own personal name, Lunhedia.
Feeling much rested, the party sets out towards Brindinsford. Nialia sits uneasily in her saddle, a feeling of wrongness growing in her mind as they get closer to the city. Soon it becomes apparent that they will not reach the city by nightfall, so they make camp off the road.
During the night, Rowan’s watch is interrupted by a patrol of two rangers who are keeping an eye on travelers on the road. The three rangers converse briefly, then the patrol fades back into the night.
In the morning Grumble’s personal trainer comes to him once more and drags him away from their campsite. Rowan sees none of this, only looks around a second later to find Grumble’s bedroll empty.
Today Grumble is finding it difficult to perform up to the exacting standards of Auger. Auger sighs and concedes that perhaps a demonstration is in order to show what good the exercises are doing. Auger leaps at Grumble, who automatically finds his body assuming the positions he’s been learning. Grumble parries blow after blow, moving from stroke to stroke in a combat that is more dance than anything else. The tempo increases until Grumble trips over a root and goes sprawling. Auger does not follow, merely stands there. Grumble sees that this may well be beneficial to him. Returning to camp, a confused Rowan asks him where the hell he was. He looks at her and produces a few fat pheasants that he’d caught on the way back to camp. Rowan is confused, but puts it aside as rest of the party awakes.
They reach the city walls well before mid-day, yet already a line has formed outside the Northwestern gate of the city. Three bored but competent guards are checking the wagons that are entering the city for the annual Halfling Street Faire, as well as “peace-bonding” all weapons being brought into the city. This process involves securing a weapon to it’s sheath, or throwing a hood over quivers or axeheads. Also, clerics are asked to secure their holy symbol so it may not easily be brought to bear. Lastly, spellcasters are asked to bind their middle and ring fingers together with a thin leather thong. This is a common pratice throughout many cities, and is meant as a pledge of good faith that weapon-bearers will not cause trouble.
But there are always those who balk at such restrictions. Such are the two half-orc barbarians that wait in line perhaps 30 feet in front of the party. When the guards ask them to bind their weapons, they begin arguing loudly with the guards. The situation turns ugly when one of the barbarians punches one guard and draws his weapon and cuts the leg of another.
The party rushes to the aid of the guards, who are quickly being overpowered by the brutal savagery of the two half-orcs. All three guards are down by the time Grumble attacks the first of the barbarians. Audric rushes to heal the guards, for two of them are dying from their wounds. Nialia stands back, casting while Rowan snipes their foes with her bow as terrified faire-goers run for cover. Grumble and Badger work as an impressive duo, flanking the half-orcs. The guards, before falling, cried that the party not kill the barbarians, but in the heat of battle, Grumble slices one nearly in half. Nialia’s spells manage to drop the other without killing him just as Audric finishes restoring the guards.
The guards, grateful beyond measure to be alive, assure the party that no penalty will be assigned them for the “accidental” death of the one barbarian. One of the guards, to express his gratitude, tells the adventurers that his brother runs an inn, and will put them up free of charge.
Seeing the crowds that throng the streets of the faire, the party decides that this invitation is quite the windfall. Securing their lodgings at the Shield and Shingle Inn (a place that looks much more refined than it’s name would imply), they travel the crowded streets to the barracks to collect their pay.
They wait for a while to see Lieutenant Shella, but when she arrives, it is with the Baron’s sister, Baroness Eriana Euphemes. The baroness apologizes that her brother could not reward them in person, but that they have the gratitude of the house of Euphemes. She doubles the reward money promised to the party, thanks them again, and leaves. Shella, seeing that the party has gathered the head of the orc chieftain and over thirty ears besides, grudgingly cuts the party some slack. She even salutes them as she leaves, though she does collect the tabards and badges given the party now that they are no longer representing the city. The party leaves the barracks with peace-bonded weapons and heavy pockets.
Splitting up, the party decides to spend a day or two enjoying the faire. Audric and Badger run off to find how many things on sticks they can find to eat. Grumble goes in search of a blacksmith, and Rowan and Nialia look at magic items and weapons.
Rowan, hoping perhaps that Potter is here at the fair, checks stall after stall, but does not see him. Someone else sees her, however, and Rowan finds herself being embraced by a strange older man who claims not to have seen her since she was very little. She remembers him after some thought as a bard who was a good friend of her father. The bard, named Bruge Corbett, invites Rowan and her companions to dinner at his estate later that evening, and Rowan agrees.
Grumble, meanwhile, finds himself off the path of the faire, at a large dwarven weapons shop and smithy. Everyone in town has recommended this place as being not only the best in the city, but possibly the best in the kingdom of Fall. It is a place known only as “the smithy” run by an ancient dwarven lady named Shooma and her son.
Grumble asks Shooma, who is sitting in a sturdy wooden rocking chair smoking her pipe, if she knows anything about his axe. Taking it, she is silent for many moments. Then, in the clear, strange cadence of Court Dwarfish, she tells the tale of creation, the making of the first dwarf, and the first Goldenaxe. After that, she hands the axe back to a confused Grumble, saying that this is all she can say about his weapon.
Other than a few purchases, and a pickpocket attempt on Badger that Audric deftly foils, the party has an enjoyable day. Meeting back at the Shield and Shingle, Rowan informs the party of the offer for supper. She phrses it in a way that makes Gurmble uninterested in attending until Audric unwittingly makes Rowan inform everyone that this is a man who knew her as a wee elfling. At this point Grumble gets a huge grin on his face and states that nothing would please him more than to attend the dinner.
Badger, with some help from Rowan, finally gets the chance to wear the kirtle she’s kept at the bottom of her pack. Given as a going-away present from a close friend, it looks stunning on her. Rowan assists with tying the gnome’s hair in ribbons and the two head back downstairs. Badger is pleased at Audric’s reaction (fortunately the boy was not holding anything he could have dropped on his foot), and the group heads off to Bruge’s house.
Bruge and his wife Chlyra (also a bard retired from adventuring) have settled here and run a successful theatre in one of the better districts in town. They prepare a lovely feast for the party. When asked about the Baron, Bruge says that the man is a stern but competent ruler; much more attentive to the aristocracy than to the merchants, but he’s a proud man. The city has prospered under his rule, and that’s pretty much the best one can hope for.
Before the party leaves, Bruge gives a gift to Rowan. Once, Bruge and Chlyra had a daughter, born around the same time as Rowan. The two girls played together as toddlers and young children. But when their daughter was eight, she contracted a fatal illness and died. Rowan’s father Larredon had given the Corbett’s a present for their daughter when she became of age: an exquisite elven rapier. Bruge now gives the sword to Rowan with his blessing. Rowan is stunned, and graciously accepts the finely crafted enchanted elven blade.
Walking back towards their inn, the faire is about to end for the night, as the sun has just finished setting in the west. Suddenly they realize that the shouts of revelry have turned to screams of terror. Nialia looks over the heads of the crowd and sees, in the flickering torchlight, two stringy-haired men turning into wererats in their hybrid form. She watches in horror as they rip the throat out of one hapless city guard, and set upon another. The party struggles forward against the surging mass of faire-goers stampeding in the other directions. Most of the party has left their primary weapons and armor back at the inn. But they cannot just stand idly by, so they begin shouldering their way to the center of the carnage…