%% date:: [[2023-07-14]] %% # [[004_20210504 Carnival of Coin]] ## Session Summary > [!tldr] [[004_20210504 Carnival of Coin]] > The party told William Hunter that they'd found footprints leading from the lake shrine to the Starosta's house. He promised to investigate it, and also offered to pay them to escort Olyffe to Nogvurot within 10 days with ice, not knowing that the party had already agreed to do so for Orzala and the Myriad. > > Meanwhile, the party also got a job from Starosta Wossathic: he gave them a heavy sealed box with instructions to deliver it to Starosta Emma Zezbok of Hupperdook. While leaving, they saw a familiar fog come over the Starosta's house, commanded by a shadow of a figure. The fountain in front of the Starosta's house also turned into the form of the Spirit of the Lake, Odessela. > > The party began to accompany Olyffe south on the Amber Road, and eventually got to the Amber Crossroads. They met some people at the market there, and Reya stole a necklace from a bored wife. Xenia began to approach the wife and her husband, and when their bodyguard stopped him, Xenia cast sleep on him. Unfortunately, a couple of other merchants saw Xenia do so, grabbed him, and dragged him off. ^summary --- ## Recap ![[003_20210427 Battle at the Farm#^summary]] --- ## Lulu's notes - At breakfast, we discuss our plans and decide how we'll be dealing with the [[spirit of the lake]] situation; we agree to frame the local Starosta. - Then we speak to a man named [[Olyffe]] about helping him take his ice box safely to [[Nogvurot]] via [[Hupperdook]]. He suggests seeing if the [[Righteous Brand]] might contribute some coin to the project, since it is under the Starosta's orders. - He mentions having a son that has gone exploring in [[Eiselcross]]. The last letter that he received from him has come from [[Palebank Village]] (Milla hasn't yet heard about this). - Then we make our way into town, where we see a crowd gathering in the square in front of the Starosta's mansion, and find the [[Righteous Brand]] guard, [[William Hunter]], just down the road at their garrison. - We tell him we found tracks and followed them to two people who were collecting the "offerings" and mention that they spoke about how the Starosta "would like that" but leave it mostly vague. - Not willing to make a scene, William said he would investigate after the upcoming speech, and that these were serious allegations not to be taken lightly. He also mentions that his forces are stretched thin at the moment with the war effort, and asks us if we would be willing to escort Olyffe to Nogvurot since his son has not returned from the [[The Frozen North]] in time. - He offers to pay 30GP/person for the safe delivery of the ice block, but we negotiate them up to 120GP from 100GP for the entire party on safe arrival of the cargo. This is is very important to the Starosta, and it is implied there will be grave penalties (jail time and fines) should it not get done. The ice block melts within 10 days. - The other 5GP for solving the lake shenanigans will be paid once they've managed to verify the information we've provided them with about the Starosta. William gives us a sealed letter promising both the rest of our gold upon finishing his investigation into the Starosta, and the 120GP for delivering the ice box. - [[Starosta Wossathic]] starts giving out a speech about this fish delivery that is supposed to bring about a whole new era. More privately, his servants load the cart with the ice block; we are also given another box intended for [[Emma Zezbok]], the Starosta in [[Hupperdook]] and are told we'll be paid 50GP to deliver this and a sealed letter to her. This box has a faint glow (enchantment), and is also sealed. - As we make our way out of Odessloe, we hear muttering and gasps as a fog cloud appears in front of the Starosta's house, as well as the shape of the spirit of the lake, effectively condemning the man. - On the road with Olyffe, you learn his cart has some levers under the seat and he mentioned his "medicinals". He wasn't very subtle – his deafness generally means he speaks far louder than he thinks. - As we continue traveling south on the [[Amber Roads]] towards the Amber Crossroads, the first day is uneventful other than watching a halfling family be evicted by the [[Crownsguard]], probably for not paying their taxes. Later, we hear loud hoofbeats and a scream of "make way for the Righteous Brand", watch two guards gallop past us at great haste. - At dusk, we start looking for a camping spot. The night watch is uneventful, but Milla does have a talk to [[Reya]] about [[the Moonweaver]] before bed and wakes up with a charcoal drawing of a goblin on her face (no one cops to it, probably a [[Sehanine]] prank?). After breakfast, we head back on the road. - We get to a crossroads, and spot the same guards from the day before riding back North. They mention "urgent Starosta business" and the war. Towards the end of the day, we notice more people on the road than usual headed towards the Amber Crossroads. Olyffe tells us it is because of the semiannual bazzar known as [[The Carnival of Coin]]. We park the cart on the outskirts, and walk in to browse through the various stalls and tents. - There's all sorts of food being served, and it smells delicious. We see a fortune teller booths, tents selling jewellery, armor, winter clothing (Wally and Xenia both buy warm cloaks and boots); [[Olyffe]] waves at a dwarf [[Duergar]] selling meats; there's also a tiefling selling spices. This is in the late afternoon, near dusk. - Milla and [[Promise]] get their fortunes told. > 🗣 Milla's' fortune - **"Beware the men with gills. Speak not to the sea or the southern wind."** > 🗣 Promise's fortune - **"Fools will take great heed of your words. Use this to your advantage."** - At the market, we notice lots of people – it's a real melting pot as a major crossroads. Among them is a small old man [[Kalani]] stood next to, taking a very academic interest in some of the wares, only to dismiss them and move on. - Also an elegant couple, the husband of which was avidly collecting bargains, handing them to his very bored wife to place in her bag, and a large, obviously armed bodyguard of theirs who generally put himself in the way of our attempts to get close to them. - Kalani witnesses one merchant selling an ornate silver box very cheaply and, upon trying to question him, finds herself similarly charmed and sells it to the couple. She gives the money back to the merchant afterwards. Neither she nor the merchant can really explain what went on. - Some of the others observe that the merchants seems to be in trance-like states, during which they sell their valuables for next to nothing to a particular couple, but don't seem to remember it afterwards. - [[Xenia]] casts Detect Magic and notices a few magical items among people at the market, including the necklace on the elegant, bored wife of the collector husband. Reya deftly steals it and heads back to the cart. - As Xenia approaches the couple, the big guy inserts himself in-between and forces Xenia to walk backwards. Xenia casts Sleep in the middle of the market. The big guy falls asleep, as do four other bystanders. - A crowd immediately gathers and a burly Dwarf blacksmith, as well as a couple of his merchant friends, grabs Xenia and drags him off behind all the stalls and tents to where their carts, horses and private tents are. WAS THE ODESSLOE STAROSTA ATTEMPTING TO MURDER EMMA ZEBOK OR WAS THIS THE MYRIAD? (Let's be real, definitely the Myriad.) --- ## Sjoerd's notes Blamed Starosta (we heard…, just saying what we heared) Went with ice cart [[Reya]] found mysterious levers on cart Carnival of Coin – [[Xenia]] encouraged Reya to steal an enchanted necklace from a lady, at which she succeeded Chaos. Xenia casts sleep in crowd. More Chaos. Xenia gets arrested. --- ## Andy's notes At breakfast the party discussed their plans. Then you spoke to Olyffe about coming to Hupperdook with him. He suggested seeing if the Righteous Brand might contribute some coin to the project, since it was the Starosta's orders. As you made your way into town, you saw a crowd gathering in the square in front of the Startosta's mansion and encountered the RB guard, William Hunter, just down the road at their garrison. You told him that you saw tracks leading towards the Startosta's house in the night and that you overheard a couple of dodgy fellas gathering up the offerings saying something about the Starosta "would like that". Not willing to make a scene, William said he would investigate after the upcoming speech and that these were serious allegations not to be taken lightly. He promised you the rest of your gold after the investigation and gave you a sealed letter promising this. William also told you his forces are stretched thin at the moment with the war effort asked if you would be willing to escort Olyffe to Nogvurot since Olyffe's son has not returned from the Frozen North in time. He offered 30 gp per adventurer to escort Olyffe up front and you negotiated him up from 100 to 120 gp on safe arrival of the cargo. This is very important to the Starosta, but there will be grave penalties (he hinted at jail time and fines) should you not deliver. The ice block melts within 10 days. You agreed to the task (having already decided to do this in The Clam Hammer - and now you're getting paid for it!). Starosta Wossathic made a big, pompous speech in front of his mansion about gifting the fresh bounty of the Erdeloch to the Starosta of Nogvurot. Slightly more privately, his servants also placed another fairly heavy box on the cart and he gave you instructions to deliver it to the Starosta Emma Zezbok of Hupperdook along with a sealed letter. You later inspect the box and see it also has a seal. As the cart lurched forward and you made your way out of Oddessloe, you heard muttering and gasps from the crowd growing louder behind you. Looking back, you saw a fog cloud appear in front of the Sarosta's house and the fountain forming into the form of the spirit of the lake, Odessela. The house was completely obscured, but knowing the plan, you looked a little closer than the others and saw a brief shadow of a figure dashing behind the house. On the road with Olyffe, you learn his cart has some levers under the seat and he mentioned his "medicinals". He wasn't very subtle – his deafness generally means he speaks far louder than he thinks. As you made your way south on the Amber Road towards the Amber Crossroads, your first day was fairly uneventful, other than noticing a halfling family being evicted by the Crownsguard, probably for not paying their taxes. Later, you were overtaken by two Righteous Brand guards galloping with great haste. You spent the night at a well-known camp spot on the side of the road. The night watches were uneventful apart from an owl in the trees at night making Wally jump. Milla, however, woke up with a drawing of a goblin in charcoal on her cheek. Nobody owned up to it. On the second day of travel, you saw the same guards riding back North. They mentioned "urgent Sarosta business" and the war. Towards the end of the second day, you noticed more people on the road than usual heading towards the Amber Crossroads. Olyffe told you that it was the semiannual bazaar known as the Carnival of Coin. You park the cart towards the outskirts of the main carnival and browsed the various stalls and tents, Wally and Xenia buying some warm cloaks and boots, everyone looking at plenty of trinkets. Milla and Promise had their fortunes told: Milla receives a fortune - "Beware the men with gills. Speak not to the sea or the southern wind." Promise fortune - "Fools will take great heed of your words. Use this to your advantage." At the market, you noticed lots of people – it's a real melting pot as a major crossroads. Among them was a small old man Kalani stood next to, taking a very academic interest in some of the wares, only to dismiss them and move on. Also an elegant couple, the husband of which was avidly collecting bargains, handing him to his very bored wife to place in her bag, and a large, obviously armed bodyguard of theirs who generally put himself in the way of your attempts to get close to them. Kalani witnessed one merchant selling an ornate silver box very cheaply and found herself similarly charmed and sold it to the couple. She gave the money back to the merchant afterwards. Neither she nor the merchant could really explain what went on. You heard a commotion and some of the merchants reported being seemingly enchanted and selling their expensive wares for very little, unable to explain what happened. Xenia cast Detect Magic and noticed a few magical items among people at the market, including the necklace on the elegant, bored wife of the collector husband. Reya deftly stole it and headed back to the cart. As Xenia approached the couple, the big guy inserted himself in-between and forced Xenia to walk backwards. Xenia cast sleep in the middle of the market. The big guy fell asleep, as did four other bystanders. A crowd immediately gathered and a burly Dwarf blacksmith a couple of his merchant friends grabbed Xenia and dragged him off to behind all the stalls and tents to where their carts, horses and private tents are.