Special Event: The Greenleaf Festival - 01 June 2021

[Marullus]

The Greenleaf Festival will occur in-game on June 1st. Any character who is in-town on June 1st can participate on this thread, roleplaying through the festival events with other characters. I will allow expeditions to depart immediately as well, with a date of June 2nd, so that this roleplay festival doesn't impinge on the important expedition work of exploring the gameworld. I will update this initial post with a list of PCs in town on this date as expeditions return.

Feel free to post about your preparations/contributions prior to the festival, then begin roleplaying being at the day of the festival. Note that there is a special "Living the High Life" opportunity available. Any cash contributed to the festival prep for the communal good converts directly into XP for the character. Please note those donations in your initial post on this thread for each PC.

June 1st - The Greenleaf Festival, 6:00am
The sun rises early at 4:36am, a buzz is in the air for those few rising so early, promising a long and enjoyable day of festivities for everyone after a long winter and the hard work of spring. The festival corresponds with the New Moon, which rose at 4:03am and will set with the sun, both at 9:46pm. This is auspicious amongst the superstitious townsfolk and followers of Gwanwen, as the the fully-receeded moon portends the greatest good upon the day.

The morning is brisk at 50 degrees, partial clouds and some hanging rain clouds to the south not dampening the spirits of the early-rising farmers who are busy converting the grassy mall outside the Wooden Keep into a festival ground. The daily drizzle which happens most every afternoon keeps the ground moist, after all, and has produced a bountiful spring harvest to break the monotony of winter. A few farmer's daughters are arranging tablecloths and spring goods - the goats and ewes have all birthed and there is plenty of goat and ewe milk products and cheeses. Asparagus, beetroot, and baby lettuce is bundled for sale, while festival sweets abound with baskets of strawberries, rhubarb custards and pies, fresh honey, black and red currants, and the beginnings of the jostaberries.

Annabelle Farrow, fresh-faced with her pigtails braided, gives out strawberries for free to all townsfolk who wish them, courtesy of the Archduke. Menegilda Frogmorton and her daughter, Berylla, have much early interest in their sumptuous baked goods and tarts (1sp each), while Hyde has closed the tavern for the day, instead tapping barrels of his ale for any who wish a mug-full in the town square at no cost.

Archery butts have been erected near the Keep wall, considerable interest this year, particularly among the ladies and girls, who speak inspirationally of the "flame of the north." Regis the Gray as turned the tavern porch into a stage, where he and his instruments play and sing the Songs of Gaul for those who gather around, happy to take a break and enjoy the frivolity.

A schedule on the town bulletin board announces:

• The Archery contest is planned for 10:00am
• Sir Albecht, Captain of the Guard, will host a tourney of wooden swords at 2:00pm
• A storytelling contest will be judged by Regis the Grey at 4:00pm
• A public dance and revelries will then begin at 6:00pm and continue until past the sunset

A 100 sp purse will be offered for the winner of each competition, along with memorialization in song (50xp). There is room for event sign-up next to the itinerary sheet.

[Spearmint]

Blackjack Amistad

Is seen in the market place helping Ma set up a stall of 'traditional' spicy bushmeat' stew and rice, then he meditates his fluid lion stance devotionals with his totem. He gives thsnks and sign up for the tourney and bets a few gp with Alcide he can outscore him at the archery.

[Dram]

Baxtaw reads the schedule for the festival. Sign up for the Archery tournament. I got this won. Anybody willing to take bets.

[Alethan]

Bandy Sandybanks

Bandy signs up for both the archery contest and the sword bouts.

[onlyme]

Halfpint quickly signs up for the archery contest. She hesitates after seeing the size and strength of some of the contestants, but she eventually marks her name on the sword one as well.

[Alethan]

Halfpint quickly signs up for the archery contest. She hesitates after seeing the size and strength of some of the contestants, but she eventually marks her name on the sword one as well.

Don't go thinking any sort of short person match making is going to happen here if halfpint starts bumping shoulders with Bandy.

[Marullus]

8:00am

Townsfolk begin arriving g and circulating among the both, enjoying the breakfast fruits and pastries from the farmers and sharing gossip of the recent events. (See below)

26 May 2021

The buzz began last night - a huge caravan of wagons arriving from the south, more than twice as many as ever came before. Stories and tales trickling southward were one thing, but the emergence of coin, that was quite another. The coin spent by adventurers among the merchants went south with them, bolstering their tales. Worn coins from before the cataclysm, the closed fist of Jarkul lost hero-king of Dwarven legend, jewelry and objects d'art... the draw of those who wish to be part of titillating discovery and those who wish to profit from it has pushed the town suddenly from its impoverished post-winter state to bursting. New life, new energy, new goods all arriving and swelling the excitement of the Greenleaf Festival.

An entire clan of dwarves, dispossessed from their smallhold by the endless dwarven grudge wars, followed the wagons north. The Blackhelm Clan turned to the lakeside when the caravans came to the Mountain Camp. Finding the rich limestone, slate, and quartz beds ready to be quarried they have already broken ground on a Clan Hall there, receiving contracts with the ArchDuke to supply stone for his ambitious plans.

Whispers of both excitement and trepidation come with Pierpont the Magus, a professor from the southern schools of some repute. With the discomfort that comes with wizardry in such rural climes, he commissioned a tower east by the river and outside the city boundaries. He posted no notices, assuming name recognition will suffice.

There is other excitement along the river, as Blackjack Amistad has begun construction of a lumber mill along the river and commissioned custom leathers and axes as a signing bonus for any willing to join-on. Well paid work always is well received and men are clambering for positions.

There is trepidation among those who arrived as well, coupled with relief at reaching Gaul safely. It seems that goblin raiders destroyed an entire segment of the caravan after it came through the pass, right on Gaul's doorstep. Rather than their normal hit-and-run tactics, they mounted an ambush with 30 skeletal goblin undead as a shock force, goblin forces then peppering with arrows from the rear. The entire of supply of wizard components and smithing ignots was taken; the rest were glad to escape with their lives. No metal armors will be made. Only 250gp in spell-like remain, first available.

[Stirling]

Foxy O'Hare

when she hears news of the goblin skeletal warriors attacking the camp, she will go to the remaining camp and try to investigate the attack. talk to survivors, gather information. Her gut feeling is that the skeletons came from the goblin HQ and that the 'power of Zhint' enabled the goblin king to animate the undead. Only speculation but Foxy would like to do a bit of ground work before she goes to the sage and Duke with any information.






copied from town thread

[Dram]

Baxtaw- Will follow Foxy Foxy I shall go with you. Thefestival shall survive without me.

[Stirling]

Foxy O'Hare

Welcomes Baxtaw interest in following up the news.
The attack survivors are in Gaul, Foxy will try to gather information from them.

"Baxtaw, you are more familiar with arcane studies and mages than I. Perhaps you would be able to locate and discuss this raid with those involved. Skeleton warriors carrying off mage materials is not a normal random attack."

[Zhym]

Fingers peers at the schedule on the town bulletin board. Swords don't interest him, and his momma always said not to tell stories, but he figures he can shoot a bow as well as most. He signs up for the archery competition.

[Dram]

Baxtaw- Foxy I shall to speak to that survived the raid. I shall ask what they saw.




If the group is not leaving till after the festival. Baxtaw is going to reenter the archery competition.

[Marullus]

9:00am

The square begins to bustle with life, the whole town seeming to be packed into the fairground square, enjoying the fruits and foods and getting excited about the imminent archery contest.

Foxy and Baxtaw find some of the newly-arrived merchants, easily identifiable as they work their booths and sell wares to the townsfolks. They ask them about the attacks on the caravans. Their mood clouds at the memory. "Aye, it haunts my nightmares," offers a dark-haired leather merchant. "Goblins are sneaky but fearful - our mercenaries deal with them well enough. But these were no fearful goblins. First... there were skeletons... little ones, goblin ones, dozens of them. They swarmed
us... slaughtered our men-at-arms. I lost a dozen friends, merchants I've known for years." A blond butcher chimes in. "There was a huge goblin was on the hillside. Had a massive dog, twice as big as he was, and he was twice as big as a goblin."

A last call is made for sign-ups, the townsfolk gathering around the board to check the names. "What about Foxy, the Flame of the North? She ain't shooting?" asks a disappointed young girl. "I want to see that Irving in the sword... he's dreamy... did you hear about the ogre he faced in a duel?" swoons a pair of maidens in excited chatter. "My money for the sword is on Mr. Sandybanks. He's a cousin, you know," says Menegilda Frogmorton with self-assurance, passing by with a tray of tarts.

Signups: Archery Contest
- Baxtaw the Elf
- Bandy Sandybanks
- Halfpint the Hobbit
- Fingers McGraw
- Berylla Frogmorton (npc)
- Alcide the River Ranger (npc)

Sign-ups: Sword Tourney
- Bandy Sandybanks
- Halfpint the Hobbit
- Zirina, of the Mercenary Company (npc)
- Mormont, of the Mercenary Company (npc)

Sign-ups: Storytelling Contest
- None

[Rusty Tincanne]

Clay Weatherwax has no interest in making a fool of himself im the martial arts, but sees the story telling competition as an option for teaching these people about Beith. With a shaky hands, he scrawls his name on the parchment.



Captain Bremen assumes he will be gone prior to the festival so he does not bother initially. When he learns that two of his companions have gone elsewhere he still refrains from signing up. I've been in enough real battles to know these things're just fer show. I got naught to prove, though a chance at that coin purse'd be nice. He signs up on the archery roster, bragging about taking out a skeleton through a throng of fighters in a dim hallway. Saved the life of Irving, even. That part was left outta the song, somehow, but he'd not have matched up against the ogre if'n it hadn't'a been fer me.

Clay for story telling. Bremen for archery.

[Spearmint]

Amistad has signed for the melee combat tourney.

Idriss skips the festival, spending time in research and soul development.

[Dram]

Baxtaw- Asks the Merchant. You only seen goblins no others? He looks to see how many of signed up for the archery competition.

[onlyme]

Halfpint prepares for her events, hoping that she can prove to herself, as much as to the town, that she can handle herself in a skirmish. She also walks around listening to the stories of the various travelers, completely mesmerized by the tales of adventure that each story portrays.

[Marullus]

Baxtaw- Asks the Merchant. You only seen goblins no others? He looks to see how many of signed up for the archery competition.

The merchant nods. "That's right. I expected some foul necromancer, some human commanding the fray to direct the goblins so boldly. But there was only that large goblin on the hill. He and his hound from hell." The man shudders.

[Stirling]

Foxy signs up for the archery contests using her new short bow.

[Marullus]

10:00am

The appointed hour arrives and the archers find their way to the archery butts. The crowd gathers excitedly, eating tarts and strawberries and quite a few townsfolk already well into their cups of mead and ale.

The eight archers take their positions to the cheers of the townsfolk.


Sir Albrecht and Wilhelm the Sage stand to officiate; Wilhelm begins, his voice carrying over the throng. "Welcome all ladies and gentlemen, to this time honored, indeed, auspicious event! The trials of arms, including feats of both bow and blade, stand as Tradition both in common festivals as well as high holy days, since the beginning of the Baudhic calendar. Indeed, to gather and test oneself against ones peers shows great strength, determination, and the ability to protect one's community - feats deserving of recognition and celebration! We laud, therefore, such displays this day..." He continues on for another few minutes, the murmuring of the crowd beginning to drown over him. Then, Sir Albrecht's voice cuts through, the crowd quieting again. "The rules are these! Each Archer shall fire, launching in three volleys. One point for the target (AC 7), two for the outer ring (AC 4), four points for the bullseye! (AC 2) The one with the most points after three volleys shall be declared the winner!"

Each participant should roll three [1d20] rolls and post them. Roleplay through your actions before and between each volley. Once I have posts from all six participants, we'll move to resolve. (If players wish to do it one volley at a time, I'm okay with that, too. My default is to allow some expeditiousness.)

Signups: Archery Contest
- Baxtaw the Elf
- Bandy Sandybanks
- Captain Bremen
- Halfpint the Hobbit
- Fingers McGraw
- Foxy O'Hare, Flame of the North
- Berylla Frogmorton (npc)
- Alcide the River Ranger (npc)

Sign-ups: Sword Tourney
- Bandy Sandybanks
- Halfpint the Hobbit
- 'Blackjack' Amistad
- Zirina, of the Mercenary Company (npc)
- Mormont, of the Mercenary Company (npc)

Sign-ups: Storytelling Contest
- Clay Weatherwax