Harvest Festival & Allies Skeptical

Disaster / Destruction

The Sapphire Oath competes in Argil's festival competitions, announces the skyport as a civic project, and deals with a conflict they thought they saw coming.

The members of the Sapphire Oath spent the next four days in both relaxation and preparation for the festival. For some of the party, the days were all about recovering from their recent adventures. For others, they had work to do. Most notably, Beatle was working on producing both his own stage show for the festival as well as orchestrating a dozen street performers in a grander scheme. Under Beatle's direction, the city would be dotted with stories, songs, and puppet shows telling a myriad of tails alluding to similar underhanded schemes to the Condesa Akoujan's work. Not only would Beatle be taking her conspiracy and successfully following it through publicly but he would be taunting her failure without the bulk of the populace being the wiser.
  The other notable event was Marduk's insider information on the a new part of the festival this year. Marduk had requested from the Visconde Iarnan that a last minute addition be made to the celebrations with the Crusader's Court. With the goal of making the Sapphire Oath as prominent as possible before the announcement, Marduk thought it best to have some form of combat event. The Crusader's Court agreed and set up a small gauntlet of three stages for hardy combatants to get to fight through. Combat would be ruled on a First Blood rue for elimination with penalties for excessive force (this is meant to be safe fun after all). The gauntlet started with a pair of spear men before the contestants would enter a hallway from from parallel cheval de frise. Within the alleyway would be two heavily armored guards with two more pole arm wielders on the outside to enhance the difficulty substantially. This section also held two rotating post obstacles that needed to be passed through. ON the chance that one or more contestants could get through stage two, a knight stood at the end of the passage with a man-at-arms at either side.
  When the day of the Harvest festival arrived, the four companions had their eyes opened to all they had available to them. Contents of consumption were mixed with skill based tasks such as archery, sheep-sheering, and a giant boar rodeo. Further still, there were contests of storytelling, magic tricks, and event insults. Each event had some means of earning a badge for prize trade-ins with the Arcanist's Guild of Essentialist Philosophy. Coming to appreciate all that was available, the group decided that they should immediately go to the Gauntlet of the Court and get their requested event out of the way so they would be able to move on to all of the other activities. On the way into the court, the Oath saw the Open Orchid Company focusing their recruiting for a winter expedition on those interested in the gauntlet event.
  Inside the court, Marduk's insider information helped the companions plan before realize that Marduk was capable of dealing with stage one completely on his own. Beatle channeled a gust of wind as Ravel and Zith conjured frost and flame. Marduk tried to hold himself back as much as he could not wanting to overpower the more fragile guards but upon beginning to take a beating he realized that he wouldn't be able to dodge too many more blows before first blood would be drawn. In the moment he gave into his rage, that blow pushed just barely too far with the power of his rage and he completed dropped the next guard already weakened by a butt-strike and Ravel's frost. As the cleric rushed to aid the downed guard, a referee eliminated the bugbear for his violation.
  As the rest of the companions realized that they we down their front line fighter, Zith whispered to Marduk fake an injury to delay the guards. The bugbear's acting was less than stellar and he withdrew himself before any worse penalty was called. As the companions finished the second stage, Beatle was eliminated for attempting to enchant and then successfully conjuring obstructions on the third stage guards before they had been unlocked. Despite this, Ravel and Zith fought on, managing to draw blood and on both man-at-arm before Zith launched a fireball directly at the knight and won remaining pair the badge. Outside the arena, the Open Orchid Company hit the group hard with advertising for their winter expedition wanting to have an arena champion on their voyage.
  Continuing on to other events, the companions won some and missed others. In the Sheep Sheering contest, Ravel and Zith's abilities to communicate with small beasts aided them greatly. When Zith saw he wouldn't win, he tried convincing the sheep to hamper the rest of the contestants minus Ravel. With this tactic, they almost won but a pastoralist still took first prize. A trio of the party had their hand at the archery range and through many shots and Zith's magical blessings, the party managed to gather another badge. From here, the companions cornered the market on the Insult contest by being three of the eight contestants. Ravel... refused to watch thinking the social tension would cause people to say things that couldn't be unsaid. Despite that, the three party members each won their own rounds. From there, Beatle and Marduk faced off. Beatle won with Zith lining up into the finals for a guaranteed badge for the party. Beatle ended the contest with the bragging rights.
  From letting more come out of their mouth than they should, the whole party continued on to the pie eating contest where everyone put more back in than they should. Beatle performed middling with a bear form Ravel being behind him. A bear may be able to eat a lot but Ravel grew distracted and wanting to savor all of the scents and flavors that her form had given her. Marduk and Zith did fairly well tying for second. Unfortunately, the local champion won the race to finish all three pies with a constant steady pace.
  After letting their stomach's settle, our companions continued on to other ventures. The most immediate one was the Storytelling Competition. All of the Sapphire Oath participated in this competition with stories that ranged wide. Zith told of an ancient time of giants. Ravel spoke of the history of the companions. Marduk told a dazzling tale of an alien being empowered by the sun who would be the most powerful hero to ever walk the plane. However, all was shadowed over by the tale of Beatle which told of a rare pixie birth. With Beatle's victory came another badge.
  From the subtleties of the stories, our companions continued on to the Giant Boar Rodeo. After much contemplation of trying to game the straightforward system of “Stay on the Angry Boar”, Zith eventually pulled the trigger and didn't do too shabby. Ravel went to attempt to persuade the boar with apples and kind words to make it easier for her but she learned of the prodding abuse the creature was under and broken reluctance. She pulled back not wanting to partake in the animal's suffering. Beatle, on the other hand, went for it anyway. Jumping bareback, Beatle road with such skill and ferocity that he not only beat the required time for a 1st grade ranking but he blew the past the record of the day and continued until he was eventually heaved off and trampled by the creature. He would in the end take the normal prizes plus and additional badge.
  Continuing on, the companions hit a number of events in succession. A rag doll “Goblin Tossing” game earned multiple stuffed goblin toys. While Ravel wanted one, Marduk secretly cherished his the most with a stance that he couldn't just give it to any child. He would have to find a worthy one. Now, that might be a quest that he will be on for the rest of his life. Next up was the Magic Tricks competition won by Ravel with her myriad of summons beasts and wild shape out doing Zith illusory circus with only a few small animals. On from that the companions did a little bit of dragon racing, that is a small track with large pet lizards with twigs taped to their backs like wings. Ravel's kindness won out with Marduk's furry coming in second after his lizard had initially turned back to him. Zith had a strong final push but just barely hit third unable to catch up to Marduk in time.
  The final competition the companions would enter this night was the ale drinking competition. Zith stood by watching as the other three put their stomachs on the line once again. Starting with twelve contestants, four dropped after the first round but none were of the trio. Beatle timed out on the second round but both Marduk and Ravel stood strong with two other competitors. Round three had another drinker drop as they competition had to go into a tie-breaker round. Ravel faltered and then blew chunks as the final two struggled to finish their tankards in grueling fashion. It was a slog but Marduk edged out the final rival to take home the winning chalice and a badge.
  As the Ale Drinking competition finished, Zith found an elegant woman standing next to him. She questioned if the competing members of the Sapphire Oath were his companions. She would continue that her employer had heard many delightful tales through the streets. When questioned about them, the performers pointed back to the directorship of Beatle the Bard. Her employer, the Condesa Akoujan, was seeking out new artists to patronize in the coming year and was hosting performances in her festival tents. The courtier before Zith had been sent to invite the bard for an audience but granted the indisposed state, she thought it best to leave the message with Zith to pass along.
  When Beatle heard this, he decided to act on it. However, instead of going to the Condesa's tents, he would instead perform for the public. Inhibitions down, he returned to the stage of the Storytelling Contest and had the judge gather another crowd for an encore. Happily, the judge did so. Soon, Beatle was telling the tale of ruler “Montessa Bakuman”, a foreign ruler who had immigrated to a city called “Stargil”. There, she had a corrupt official named “Simpis Bocodo” apply selective pressure on a portion of the city where she had plans to make a “Car[rigage] Port” despite not having the land rights. Luckily, the “Montessa” was opposed by a group of adventurers called the “Emerald Promise” who had experience exposing and defeating those who “sucked on the life blood of their victims” (note that Ravel had told of the Sapphire Oath's vampiric adventures previously). Beatle would leave this story as a Choose Your Own Ending on whether such a story could end peacefully with the people or with a bloody revolt.
  As the crowd was enamored by another story, Zith once again found himself with a noble's advisor standing next to him. This time it was Menna Talo standing slack-jawed in disbelief. The companions assured him that they would be able to make their announcement at sunset as had been the plan. As Talo returned to the Vizconde Iarnan, the Sapphire Oath realized that they better sober up.
  Ravel used her magic to purge Beatle's system but held back the remainder of her magic hopping that some food and time would help her and Marduk. They had an hour before the big announcements so they hunkered down at a pick-nick table with festival food and did their best. Unfortunately, by the end, the mugs of the third and tiebreaker round hung on to their heads and their stomachs.
  During this time, though, they were approached by a young man in old armor with a war hammer. Introducing himself as Raimon, the boy said that he had seen their performance in the Gauntlet of the Court and figured he would give it a shot too. Solo, he managed to get into but not through the third round. Afterwards, he had been approached by the Open Orchid Company for a job. He had always wanted to be an adventurer but wanted the Sapphire Oath's advice. Marduk originally warned him away from the mercenary work since they probably just wanted pawns to throw at dangers. Seeing the boy crestfallen, Marduk then told him to at least go to the man listed on the pamphlet tomorrow and ask more questions to make an informed decision. Raimon, eager for approval, got Marduk to agree to help him make that decision tomorrow after the meeting to talk things through. Whether that meeting will actually happen or not is unknown.
  After the companions finished their short rest, Menna Talo approached once more. It was time for the announcement...
  The Sapphire Oath met up with Vizconde Iarnan to the side of the event stage as the Master of Ceremonies made announcements from festival sponsors and reminders of public affairs in the coming weeks. The Vizconde showed clear exasperation of Beatle's story meant to stir up trouble and asked the Sapphire Oath to not only take the lead with this announcement but to refrain from any action more than celebrity endorsement when the time came. As the Master of Ceremonies announced the Vizconde's surprise announcement, the companions agreed to his request and then promptly disregarded it.
  Zith glamoured his clothing to sparkle and shine while Beatle sent small gusts around the party to sent capes and cloaks blowing. Zith had a Floating Disk conjured for Beatle to stand upon trailing behind the gnome while the bard ripped out a sick lute solo. Marduk came out like a slightly tipsy, hulked up bodybuilder (taking care to clean up the chili cheese fries from his fur). Ravel put on the charm with small accents of her druidcraft but comparative stayed behind on the show enjoying the praise but not working against the Vizconde. The crowd went absolutely wild for the winners of many of the events and, for some, the heroes they had been hearing about for the last fortnight. The Vizconde was forced to play into the Sapphire Oath's strong arm to even gain back the crowd's attention.
  When Iarnan did regain control of the stage, he began a diplomatic speech on the growth of the city and a future together. In time, he made his intentions known of converting the poor neighborhood of Aisalda into the foundations of a skyport. The current residents would have partial ownership of the endeavor and he welcomed other members of the community to join him on this project. The more good will towards it, the more likely the community economic enterprise would succeed. Despite the invitations to join, he maintained that he would take on the whole investment himself if necessary to spark the growth of the community.
  When the floor was open for those of influence to speak, the first to do so was the Harborlord Sebastion Alemeda. The Harborlord was against the construction of the skyport arguing that it would split the economy and send mixed message to foreign states on how best to deal with Argil when they were already home to an elite class of sailing vessels. Whispered scattered in the crowds that his opposition was no mystery due to it being direct competition for him. Despite the Harborlord's outspoken opposition, Zith replied that all points of view were welcome and they wished to hear from all.
  The next to speak was Barón Iker Durán, a partially gnomish man who was for the skyport. He argued that Argil has only had the success that they've had by leading the Storm Broken Lands. If Airships are the future, they should not shy away from them. They will be the next podium to see the world from. To this, the Sapphire Oath was cheering on. They may politically welcome the opposition but they more than built up those in favor of their goal.
  Another individual against the construction of the Skyports spoke up but acknowledged that they had no direct say in the matter. Syvis Shaphyra was a trade representative of the elven woodlands of Anrand Glad. They shared unfavorable views of the airships and would be returning to their people to report in that Argil was in the process of possibly becoming a hub. Shaphyra explained that their people feared an invasion of airspace and pollution above their wood as has happened with the forest of Thylenfer in Hiskalon. Zith congratulated the wise words of the elf but implored them that the best way to prevent such a tragedy would be to have a hand on the wheel to ensure it would not happen.
  Taking up the gnomes words, another voice rose from the crowd. It belonged to a dark skinned woman with an elegant gown and scarf over her head: the Condesa Iman Akoujan. She continued that politics were no reason to shy away from the future. (Here she was already going to make the analogy “If you embraced it, you at lease have a hand on the rudder” before Zith said it so I skipped it). If Anrand Glad had issue, let them make it known and we could find a way forward in union. As for her part, Akoujan's peoples were already in the airship economy. She would be in favor of such an addition to their city and would love to ensure that their markets were immediately recognized by the global community.
  Beatle concluded the greater discourse by welcoming everyone. He gave the analogies that progressing from boats to ships did not harm the former. Carts push roads further without dissuading the grass. Hiskalon may have had problems but this was their opportunity to do it better. Once more, Dissenting. Opinions were welcomed to find the shared future of all. This would not be a lawful Argil nor a chaotic Argil, not evil or good, this would be a neutral Argil.
  As the crowd cheered and slowly began to breaking following this announcement, the Condesa Akoujan approached the party as the got off the stage. Despite plans to open up a community hearing on the event in the near future, the Condesa wanted to speak with the Iarnan in private it tonight. Following Beatle's muckraking, Vizconde Iarnan knew that there would be some level of blow back. It seemed this was it. The pair of nobles would take the Iarnan carriage back to an estate for business. The Sapphire Oath was invited to escort the carriage along with two of the Condesa's guards if they wished. The Sapphire Oath accepted.
  Leaving the festival grounds, the Vizconde and the Condesa climbed into the carriage as Menna Talo took the driver's bench. As the Condesa's advisor began to to climb into the carriage, tragedy struck. From two different rooftops, the snap of crossbows sounded. From the right hand buildings, the bolt went through the carriage window and caused a gurgle from within. The building out front of the front of the carriage, that bolt sank into the chest of Menna Talo. In horror and surprise, the companions jumped into action.
  Climbing up the wall the carriage's left side was parked next to, Ravel looked into the carriage to see the Vizconde gurgling blood with an arrow in his neck. The Condesa screamed something about the temple of the Mighty Light. She began attempts at healing but the bolt was still in his neck and a black corruption spread through his veins having poisoned him.
  A dark voice from the front building brought with it a rumble of thunder. As another missile was fired, a lightning bolt struck the crossbow bolt and shattered it into a complete conjured barrage. Temporary bolts scatter the battlefield wounding the party, the guards, nearly killing the Condesa's advisor, and bringing Talo closer towards death. The only ones spared from the magical volley were the two nobles in the carriage though they were dealing with their own problems.
  Beatle saw that the only two people initially attacked had been the Sapphire' Oath's charges. Beatle felt confident that the Condesa was responsible for this attack. Her guards and advisor, while damaged, weren't dead yet and either could be saved or were disposable pawns. Wanting to force the condesa to call off the attack, Beatle moved between her guards, pushed the gravely wounded advisor out of the way, and threw the carriage door open. The bard pulled the screaming woman from the carriage and into the street attempting to use her as a shield to force her hand. Instead, though, she wriggled free of him and cowered near the horses.
  Despite the assassins overhead, the two private guards immediately turned their attention to Beatle that had pulled their charge out into further danger. As Beatle was beaten by the guards, the spooked horses began to pull the carriage and loop around tightly in the battlefield to get away. Zith, focusing on defense, conjured a dense fog cloud to give his companions cover to hid in and attempting to calm the horses. The horses did slow their movement long enough for Marduk and Ravel to get into the carriage to help the Vizconde.
  The pair of Bugbear and eladrin then focused their attention on helping the panicked man. They removed the bolt from his neck and purged the poison before healing once again. He rasped about seeking the Mighty Light as well. In the shadows of the fog, the private guards gathered the two woman behind a wall while calling for the aid of city guards who were already getting their bearings.
  Outside, Zith and Beatle took the fight to assassins. Zith flung a fireball up at the magical assassin after they had created a lightning crowd around themselves. The incoming guards aided this artillery with a volley of stones that final broke the wounded caster's concentration. Seeing the attacks failure, he pulled out a potion, drank it, and disappeared from sight.
  On the opposite side of the battlefield, Beatle managed to ensnare the sharpshooter assassin's crossbow with a heat enchantment but took a shot for doing so. Despite that, he held the searing heat and eventually got the sharpshooter to drop the weapon. With it tumbling down the roof closer to the casters in the fog, they too drank a potion and fled.
  With guards coming to the commotion on all sides, the companions only had a short moment to try to smooth things over with the Condesa offering to protect her and bring her with them to the temple. She hollered from being her guards that she would be seeing them in court. Any further advances from other party members were met with aggression from the guards.
  Remembering the gravely wounded Menna Talo, the companions managed to bring him back to consciousness through sheer fate before guiding the carriage towards the Temple of the Mighty Light and the Sanctuary it provided. Upon the way, the companions considered the situation fate and their (understandably) chosen actions had built for them. Only after getting to the temple could they break away from the Vizconde to speak in private.