8. Applemere's Uncasking Festival
13th of Beltane 2343
Sir Lesley tried to dominate the Arm Wrestling venue by drinking a potion of hill giant strength. First he bested the dwarf Myrdeth Grumnechek, she put up a good fight but was no match for the augmented Sir Lesley. He then managed to claim victory over a cadre of dwarves, beating them one by one. However like all good things Sir Lesley's win streak would come to an end. Ute challenged Sir Lesley and after an epic battle of strength Ute was able to claim victory.
Not one to back down, Tim stepped up next to challenge Ute. But even with his magical powers, he was no match for his brother. Sir Lesley, determined to not let Ute walk away with the win, challenged him once again. This time, he was able to defeat Ute and claim victory.
However, their celebrations were cut short when a small dwarf named Elzer challenged Sir Lesley. Despite his small stature, Elzer was wise and sensed that Sir Lesley was exhausted. He took his chance and defeated Sir Lesley, claiming the ultimate victory.
Whilst the final arm wrestling contest was taking place Tim the Enchanter ran into an unsavory character; haggled with him and purchased three vials of Luna Spider Venom.
Feeling a bit defeated, the Brothers decided to try their luck at the pie eating contest. The pies were baked in an enchanted oven, giving them random magical properties. Ute, with his keen senses, was able to devour the more pies than his brothers and the other contestants, emerging as the winner once again.
While the Brothers were redeeming their tickets for prizes Ignatius, happened to meet a fancy lass named Ivy Songsparrow. The two hit it off and left the festival together.
The next morning Ute was the first to rise, noticing the change in atmosphere from a bussling festival to an eerie quiet morning with only the sound of wood being chopped in the distance. Ute slept on Sir Leslie's floor since Ingatius' room was filled to capacity. As Ute entered the hall he noticed the Inn was empty except for the other Brothers, there was also a blood stain outside of Ingatius' door. Ute knocked on and then bardge into the room sending Ivy quickly get dressed. As the gravity of what maybe happening Ignatius being the legless gentleman that he is, thought it would be better to get Ivy out of the Inn and to safety as quickly as possible and forced her out the window.
Tim and Lucian checked the other rooms and the front desk, all of which were empty and, only found Barney the Carney out front. Barney seemed panic and visibly disturb and told Tim and Lucian. "There is something wrong… People are acting very strange, coming from a carny I have seen some strange things so things must be pretty messed up!" Barney blurted out.
The Brothers, set out into the town and observed strange occurrences all around them. Myrdeth the armwrestling dwarven woman was casually chopping wood, while the surrounding townsfolk were action strange and some even violent. In the center of the town square, a person was curled up on the ground surrounded by spilled cider, muttering incomprehensible words. A townsfolk had been sweeping the same spot for over an hour with a noticeable stain on their tunic. Two individuals sat on a bench, transfixed by a mysterious object in the distance. Meanwhile, a child perched on a nearby roof, and another townsfolk was attacking the mayor.
Sir Lesley seeing the attack on the Mayor sprang into action, defending the mayor and knocking out the attacker with a well-placed blow from his axe.
As Ute rushed across the square and scaled the roof to save the child, Tim and then Sir Lesley came to assist. Ute successfully rescued the child, but the struggle caused both of them to fall and sustain injuries, knocking the child unconscious.
All the while Lucian was conversing with Mydeth, he learned that the brewery's second shift did not show up for the festival, and that the strange behavior around town may have something to do with the cider. The Brothers decided to investigate the brewery and get to the bottom of this mystery.
Arriving at the Applemere Brewery and Aleworks the door was locked. However, it no match for Sir Lesley's axe. As the door opened the smell of a rotting stench so foul that stimulated their senses making them all sick to their stomachs.
As they entered, they could hear water dripping from the ceiling and landing into one of the vats and onto the floor. As they investigated the puddles on the ground they were surprised by three fleshy oozes.
The first ooze struck Sir Lesley hard dropping him to his knees. Taking a breather Sir Lesley regained his composure and drank a healing potion. Ute ran to his aid helping to defeat the ooze that vicously attacked Sir Lesley. Lucian and Ignatius joined in casting spells, but the first volley had little effect.
Tim was wandering up the stairs when the oozes lept out from their cover, surpised by the excitement he did not realize the stairs were rotten and they crumbled beneath him. The next thing Tim knew he was flat on the floor.
The next rounds of attacks from Ute and Sir Lesley had a devistating effect on the next ooze and the firebolts and eldritch blasts launched by Ignatius and Lucian were able to weaken the last ooze with Sir Lesley landing the killing blow.
The Brothers carefully climbed the rotting stair case making it to the second floor. As they reached the top of the stairs the smell of rotting flesh has gotten significantly more intense. They also noticed a slime trail down the hallway entering the second door. The Brothers opened the first door to what appears to be room appears to be a break room. The room is a mess with half eaten food on the table and what appears to be remains of the workers.
They opened the second door which looked to be a storage room with a hole in the wall. Ute and Sir Lesley entered the room to see at the back of the office, a large mass of mucky ooze pulsating in and out, in and out, in and out. Recycled human eyes, teeth, and muscle tissue fill the fleshy figure. It’s obvious the gibbering mouther is the source of that putrid smell, incoherent babbling. Ute rushed in and Sir Lesley followed unleashing a flurry of blows. Tim, Ignatius and Lucian entered the room attacking the gibbering mouther at a distance. The mouther's creepy gibbering did not deter the Brothers as it lunged at Sir Lesley wounding him. The mouther weakened by the flurry of attacks allowed Sir Lesley to strike another killing blow.
Tim using his wildfire spirit teleported Ute and himself to the contaminated vat. Inside the vat an hidden, suddenly lunged at them. Ute landing a crushing blow with his glaive dispatched the last ooze.
The Brothers then emptied the contaminated vats in hopes to stop the villagers from being poisoned again. One by one they broke open each barrel just to be sure that every last drop was disposed of.
The Brothers, then went back to the townsquare and were greeted by the Mayor, Barney and the town priest, Orion. Orion the priest was able to help cure the afflicted townsfolk. Barney relieved that this ordeal was behind them decided to reward the Brothers with a pick from his magical carnival supplies. The Brothers were hailed as heroes in the town of Applemere Glen as they rested up before continuing onto Freyburn.
*Parts of this adventure were adapted from https://runefoundry.com/
Arrival into Applemere Glen
After a rainy week of travel the Brothers were happy to arrive at the town of Applemere Glen. Tired and wet the Brothers were happy to see the weather change and they rode into town. Oddly enough the town was eerily quiet and empty, so the Brothers went to The Snoring Goose Inn. There they were greeted by Jadine the Innkeeper. Tim asked "Where is everyone?" Jadine explained "Everyone is at the festival grounds as the festival just kicked off and it is the place to be, I recommend you guys settle in quickly and head over." The Brothers did exactly that, they picked out their rooms and headed over to the fairgrounds.Enjoying the Festivities
The Brothers, Ingatius, Sir Lesley, Tim the Enchanter, Ute the Many and Lucian, arrived at the fairgrounds at Applemere Glen for the uncasking of Applemere's Famous Golden Cider. The Brothers were greeted by Barney the carney as they entered the fairgrounds. The Brothers explored the festival enjoying the games, rides, food and drinks.Sir Lesley tried to dominate the Arm Wrestling venue by drinking a potion of hill giant strength. First he bested the dwarf Myrdeth Grumnechek, she put up a good fight but was no match for the augmented Sir Lesley. He then managed to claim victory over a cadre of dwarves, beating them one by one. However like all good things Sir Lesley's win streak would come to an end. Ute challenged Sir Lesley and after an epic battle of strength Ute was able to claim victory.
Not one to back down, Tim stepped up next to challenge Ute. But even with his magical powers, he was no match for his brother. Sir Lesley, determined to not let Ute walk away with the win, challenged him once again. This time, he was able to defeat Ute and claim victory.
However, their celebrations were cut short when a small dwarf named Elzer challenged Sir Lesley. Despite his small stature, Elzer was wise and sensed that Sir Lesley was exhausted. He took his chance and defeated Sir Lesley, claiming the ultimate victory.
Whilst the final arm wrestling contest was taking place Tim the Enchanter ran into an unsavory character; haggled with him and purchased three vials of Luna Spider Venom.
Feeling a bit defeated, the Brothers decided to try their luck at the pie eating contest. The pies were baked in an enchanted oven, giving them random magical properties. Ute, with his keen senses, was able to devour the more pies than his brothers and the other contestants, emerging as the winner once again.
While the Brothers were redeeming their tickets for prizes Ignatius, happened to meet a fancy lass named Ivy Songsparrow. The two hit it off and left the festival together.
The Morning After
The next morning Ute was the first to rise, noticing the change in atmosphere from a bussling festival to an eerie quiet morning with only the sound of wood being chopped in the distance. Ute slept on Sir Leslie's floor since Ingatius' room was filled to capacity. As Ute entered the hall he noticed the Inn was empty except for the other Brothers, there was also a blood stain outside of Ingatius' door. Ute knocked on and then bardge into the room sending Ivy quickly get dressed. As the gravity of what maybe happening Ignatius being the legless gentleman that he is, thought it would be better to get Ivy out of the Inn and to safety as quickly as possible and forced her out the window.
Tim and Lucian checked the other rooms and the front desk, all of which were empty and, only found Barney the Carney out front. Barney seemed panic and visibly disturb and told Tim and Lucian. "There is something wrong… People are acting very strange, coming from a carny I have seen some strange things so things must be pretty messed up!" Barney blurted out.
In the Townsquare
The Brothers, set out into the town and observed strange occurrences all around them. Myrdeth the armwrestling dwarven woman was casually chopping wood, while the surrounding townsfolk were action strange and some even violent. In the center of the town square, a person was curled up on the ground surrounded by spilled cider, muttering incomprehensible words. A townsfolk had been sweeping the same spot for over an hour with a noticeable stain on their tunic. Two individuals sat on a bench, transfixed by a mysterious object in the distance. Meanwhile, a child perched on a nearby roof, and another townsfolk was attacking the mayor.
Sir Lesley seeing the attack on the Mayor sprang into action, defending the mayor and knocking out the attacker with a well-placed blow from his axe.
As Ute rushed across the square and scaled the roof to save the child, Tim and then Sir Lesley came to assist. Ute successfully rescued the child, but the struggle caused both of them to fall and sustain injuries, knocking the child unconscious.
All the while Lucian was conversing with Mydeth, he learned that the brewery's second shift did not show up for the festival, and that the strange behavior around town may have something to do with the cider. The Brothers decided to investigate the brewery and get to the bottom of this mystery.
Into the Brewery
Arriving at the Applemere Brewery and Aleworks the door was locked. However, it no match for Sir Lesley's axe. As the door opened the smell of a rotting stench so foul that stimulated their senses making them all sick to their stomachs.
As they entered, they could hear water dripping from the ceiling and landing into one of the vats and onto the floor. As they investigated the puddles on the ground they were surprised by three fleshy oozes.
The first ooze struck Sir Lesley hard dropping him to his knees. Taking a breather Sir Lesley regained his composure and drank a healing potion. Ute ran to his aid helping to defeat the ooze that vicously attacked Sir Lesley. Lucian and Ignatius joined in casting spells, but the first volley had little effect.
Tim was wandering up the stairs when the oozes lept out from their cover, surpised by the excitement he did not realize the stairs were rotten and they crumbled beneath him. The next thing Tim knew he was flat on the floor.
The next rounds of attacks from Ute and Sir Lesley had a devistating effect on the next ooze and the firebolts and eldritch blasts launched by Ignatius and Lucian were able to weaken the last ooze with Sir Lesley landing the killing blow.
The Brothers carefully climbed the rotting stair case making it to the second floor. As they reached the top of the stairs the smell of rotting flesh has gotten significantly more intense. They also noticed a slime trail down the hallway entering the second door. The Brothers opened the first door to what appears to be room appears to be a break room. The room is a mess with half eaten food on the table and what appears to be remains of the workers.
They opened the second door which looked to be a storage room with a hole in the wall. Ute and Sir Lesley entered the room to see at the back of the office, a large mass of mucky ooze pulsating in and out, in and out, in and out. Recycled human eyes, teeth, and muscle tissue fill the fleshy figure. It’s obvious the gibbering mouther is the source of that putrid smell, incoherent babbling. Ute rushed in and Sir Lesley followed unleashing a flurry of blows. Tim, Ignatius and Lucian entered the room attacking the gibbering mouther at a distance. The mouther's creepy gibbering did not deter the Brothers as it lunged at Sir Lesley wounding him. The mouther weakened by the flurry of attacks allowed Sir Lesley to strike another killing blow.
Tim using his wildfire spirit teleported Ute and himself to the contaminated vat. Inside the vat an hidden, suddenly lunged at them. Ute landing a crushing blow with his glaive dispatched the last ooze.
The Brothers then emptied the contaminated vats in hopes to stop the villagers from being poisoned again. One by one they broke open each barrel just to be sure that every last drop was disposed of.
The Brothers, then went back to the townsquare and were greeted by the Mayor, Barney and the town priest, Orion. Orion the priest was able to help cure the afflicted townsfolk. Barney relieved that this ordeal was behind them decided to reward the Brothers with a pick from his magical carnival supplies. The Brothers were hailed as heroes in the town of Applemere Glen as they rested up before continuing onto Freyburn.
*Parts of this adventure were adapted from https://runefoundry.com/
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