A Tragic Accident with a Button

General Summary

Prim could not contain herself when she saw the post for Mademoiselle Hewitt's Festival of Feats. She quickly gathered up a party to join her at pressing as many buttons as she could.
Arriving in Trader's Cusp, the adventurer's were greeted by a brash and bedazzled Mademoiselle Hewitt. Nechthan was disppointed to learn that Mademoiselle Hewitt's jewelry was just fake, gaudy, costume jewelry. He had hoped that he had finally met a respectable merchant trader. Alas, Hewitt was nothing of the sort, as the party would soon discover.
The challenge was simple: endure the succession of feats, loot as much treasure as you can carry, and return home. Malen clarified what counted as loot and Mademoisell Hewitt said, "anything you desire!" When asked if people counted as "anything," Mademoisell Hewitt chuckled and replied, "If you wish."
It would cost each of them only one gold piece to participate in her Festival of Feats. One gold piece and their signature on a release of liability giving her full control of all of their possessions and property should they die while participating, including their corpse. This didn't sit quite right with any of them and they peppered Mademoiselle Hewitt with questions she was not so eager to answer. Eventually, all signed (some with fake names) and they were ushered through a portal to the Festival of Feats!
The portal brought them to an island in the middle of a large lake somewhere in Pandora. Malen was caught unawares as a jet of water was spewed in his face by the seaweed leshy's that played along the coastline. Prim, eager to make friends with plant creatures, offered one of the leshy's a flower. Pleased with his gift, the leshy then plucked a translucent bulb from his head, and offered it to her. Prim recognized this as an air cyst, and thanked her new friend for her gift. Bullgup offered an accorn, Necthan offered a flower carved from stone, and Malen, who perhaps is not accumstomed to giving gifts, offered a scroll of cause fear. Each leshy was excited for their new trinket and the remaining three adventurers were given an air cyst in return.
Leaving the leshys to enjoy their new items, the party continued to explore the island. Almost immediately, Prim took note of the specific types of flowers that she found growing on the island. Five particular types of flowers, each a different color, and each growing in exactly one spot and no others. Thinking them lonely, Prim decided to scatter flower seeds about, careful to select only those that would not disrupt the ecosystem. Necthan did not care for the flowers as much as he did the flashing light embedded in a nearby rock. After a few moments of investigation, the party discovered that the light was trying to communicate with them. Malen reached far into his mind to remember an ancient language known as "Morse code." The flashes from the light were a pattern indicative of the letter Y. Bullgup walked up to the yellow flower and plucked it. This caused the pattern from the light to change, this time, indicating the letter W. After the party had plucked the flowers in the correct order, the mechanism that contained the light rose slightly from the rock, now ready to function as a button. Excitedly, Prim pressed the button! The ground underneath them began to tremble as the water in the lake drained away, revealing a long set of stairs leading down to the lake floor. Prim offered a few more flowers to the leshys in exchange for four more air cysts and the party began the 660 feet long trek down the stairs.
Upon arriving on the lake floor, they discovered a cavern hideout. Stopping to speak with two guards outside, the party asked what they could expect in the cavern. Having been instructed specifically not to give away any secrets, the guards told them, "Think before you speak. And look before you leap." Prim made direct eye contact with Necthan and told him not to say a word.
Inside the cavern, the party was greeted by six men, dressed in leather armor carrying short swords and crossbows. The men did not present an immediate threat but did welcome the party to the next round of the Festival of Feats - riddles! The party would be offered six riddles, each with a time limit to provide an answer. More correct answers than incorrect, and they could procede unhindered. More incorrect answers than correct, and one of them would have to face off against the cavern champion in a dual. A very adorable halfling, wearing only cloth armor and brandishing no weapon, stepped out from behind a rock to strike a pose. The party was not intimidated in the slightest. No dual was had as the party successfully answered five out of six riddles.
While exploring the cavern, Bullgup discovered another button. Unsure of what it did, he put Gribbit in charge of guarding it.
Continuing on, the party faced off against several traps, most of which were deftly avoided. Except for the wall of ice that momentarily trapped Prim and Malen inside the treasure room. Thanks to Prim's potion of burrow, Malen survived and recovered quickly. The party was pleased to collect as much treasure as they did. It was time to head back up to the island.
Remembering Mademoiselle Hewitt's permission to loot "anything," Malen stopped on the way out of the cavern, and offered 100 gp to any man that would work for him instead. All seven of the men, including the halfling, agreed that this was a much better arrangement than they had with Mademoiselle Hewitt. They all gladly accepted. Malen then tried to shimmy out of paying each of them exactly 100gp just yet, at which, the men pressed him to keep his word. Finally, Malen admitted that he only had enough to pay five of them so two of them would need to be gotten rid of. Without a moment's hestitation, and in a flurry of blows, the halfling downed two of the men standing next to him and held out his hand to Malen, who deposited 100 gold pieces in it. The party was suddenly thankful they answered correctly as many riddles as they did.
On the way up the stairs and back to the island, Malen thought to ask the men he just hired what the second button at the bottom of the stairs did. "That fills the lake up again. We were instructed to press it on your way out."
Up on the island, the party proceeded through the portal and back to Mademoiselle Hewitt's tent in Trader's Cusp. She was rather surprised to see them not only returned but returned alive. She was doubly surprised to learn that she had now lost the employ of her staff. She maintained her smile the best she could as she ushered them all out of her tent and on their way. The sounds of angry yelling could be heard as they exited.
On his way out of town, Malen instructed his men to take up at every corner of the city and spew their riddles at passing townsfolk.
Prim thanked her friends for joining her before heading home to seek out a friend for an important conversation.

Rewards Granted

Loot:
[50 gp] potion/oil of magic weapon (CL 1)
[25 gp] arcane scroll of protection from chaos (CL 1)
[25 gp] arcane scroll of true strike (CL 1)
[25 gp] divine scroll of sanctuary (CL 1)
[25 gp] divine scroll of obscuring mist (CL 1)
[13 gp] arcane scroll of light (CL 1)
[13 gp] arcane scroll of spark (CL 1)
[25 gp] divine scroll of inflict light wounds (CL 1)
[16,000 gp] rod of ruin [no external clues]
[4,500 gp] wand of cure moderate wounds (CL 3)
[700 gp] divine scroll of cure critical wounds (CL 7)
[4,500 gp] wand of heat metal (CL 3)
[1,125 gp] divine scroll of pillar of life (CL 9)
[750 gp] potion/oil of remove curse (CL 5)
[1,700 gp] divine scroll of reincarnate (CL 7)
[375 gp] arcane scroll of distracting cacophony (CL 5)
[300 gp] potion/oil of invisibility (CL 3)

Experience:
Bullgup (ECL 14): 1,750 XP = 350 (Flower Puzzle) + 700 (Bandit Riddles) + 700 (Traps!)
Necthan (ECL 12): 3,300 XP = 600 + 1350 + 1350
Prim (ECL 13): 2,438 XP = 488 + 975 + 975
Malen (ECL 8): 9,000 XP = 1800 + 3600 + 3600

Report Date

11 May 2024

Primary Location

The Havens

Secondary Location

Traders Cusp

Related Characters

• Bullgup
• Malen
• Necthan
• Prim

Dungeon Master

Evette (ECL 5): 2,250xp/1,000gp/5dt