Session Date: 05/27/2024
The party is with The Vim & Vigor Brothers and we are all headed toward Shelmourn - we do not do much in the way of sightseeing, but we also are not pushing hard to get to where we are going. Mary is mostly walking with and taking care of the oxen, and taking the time to teach Vim how to care for the animals. Vogue and Tabby go on occasional excursions to make some cash to help fund everything, with Bosch tagging along in this and being friendly, talking about thieving tactics. A lot of Bosch’s approaches to thievery are very extravagant and messy.
Faylen is aware of these graceful paper bird constructs that are letters. A dragon version of one flies in and embeds itself into the wood next to Faylen’s leg, and he recognizes it as from his sister Beitris.
Letter vibes:
What’s up Nerd!
Nice trick with that guy dressed as Axamonar - you almost got me! The letter continues and she is very proud of Faylen and that he’s helping people and there are numerous questions about all of the party, but especially Bosch. She hopes that they will see each other soon, unless she sees us first.
We pass through a couple of villages on the way. At one point Vogue requests that we stop at one of the villages and we stop so that the brothers can do a performance to make some money. When we make it there, there is unfortunately another act in town.
- Outstanding Oddball the Clown
- Norbélina Emma Grenon, the Non-Euclidian Gymnast
- Zacharias Dogsworth, Beast Tamer
- And Introducing: The Surprise!
Vim and Vigor are concerned that this might be the previous outfit they were with before they started doing their own thing: The Berserk Bazaar - a circus crime syndicate that The Vim and Vigor brothers were previously a part of. Tabby recommends that some of us go to check the place out, taking Vigor or Vogue to see what is going on.
We walk into town and it’s a quaint little place where nothing seems to really be going on. Faylen hopes that this will be a nice little stop with no real interruptions or drama, and he hopes the circus in town is not at all related to the history of the siblings. Vogue is not so hopeful.
We continue in and see some of the regular carny tricks: a bearded lady (a dwarven woman that has a comedy act), a strong man, and a menagerie of animals. Talitha mentions to Mary that the animals don’t smell particularly friendly, and asks if she should go talk to them. Mary says to lead on, and Talitha leads to a large tent that is closed off. There is a sign that says EMPLOYEES ONLY or something of a similar sentiment on it. There are sounds of distress coming from inside - nobody is shouting and beating the animals, but there is something not right going on. Mary and Faylen enter the tent - not sneakily - to check things out.
Tabby and Bosch go around the tent toward the entrance, trying to not give their position away.
Faylen and Mary find animals in too small cages, not quite enough food - animal neglect, rather than outright abuse. We find an elephant, a dancing bear, a tiger that is looking smugly at Faylen though it’s unsure why. Mary approaches the elephant first and asks if she can help - the elephant asks if she could give him some more feed, and maybe a bath at some point. They could also use water. It’s clear that whoever is responsible for taking care of the animals just isn’t doing this.
Faylen and Mary get to work getting more feed and water for each of the animals.
Tabby keeps an eye open and there are no real guards that he notices, nor any workers really around. Nobody seems to be around to enact violence.
Bosch is sneaking and he’s doing a good job at it. He hears someone talking:
So that’s what we’re doing now? That’s it? I’m not the boss, okay? We’re taking people falling from trees now? I’m not the boss, okay?
Bosch looks around to see if Vogue is here, and tries to recall if she fell from a tree at any point. Bosch doesn’t see Vogue anywhere but does see Mary, Faylen, and Tabby working on caring for the animals.
From the entrance someone says, with a lisp, that he doesn’t recall hiring any interns. Mary explains that we aren’t interns but nobody is caring for the animals. At the entrance is a clown: not a scary clown, just a regular show clown, doing the voice, in makeup, and everything. He explains he’s the leader of the circus and he is glad that we are helping him, and Mary again clarifies that she’s helping the animals and not them. The clown extends a hand to shake it, and Mary says that she wants to be confident the animals are taken care of.
Oddball explains that he will ensure that they are taken care of and he will bring people back to care for them soon. Mary explains that the animals haven’t been cared for very well and explains that the elephant needs food, and water, and a bath. Oddball explains that they are a bit short staffed at the moment, and Mary explains that they shouldn’t have the animals then. Oddball apologizes to the elephant and then turns back to us and explains that we have helped and they appreciate it. He offers us tickets for tonight’s performance as thank you.
Tabby finally goes to shake his hand and there is a buzzer in his hand that Tabby manages to avoid triggering. As we leave, Oddball snaps and makes a show about making sure someone takes care of the animals. He shakes the hand of the attendant and we see the thunderwave spell is attached to it rather than just being a trick buzzer.
The rest of us run into Bosch as he is at a carnival game stand, eyeing a plushie of an almiraj:
It’s one of those hit the platform with a hammer and ring the bell. Faylen gives guidance to Bosch so that he has a little extra help, and he ends up winning the plushie.
We worry about where Vogue has gone off to, and Vim mentions that Vogue goes off on her own a lot. Vigor says that he’s worried, and Vim explains that Vigor will worry after her for all of us. We learn that Vim has an almost unconscious impulsion to steal and he ends up returning Faylen’s wallet to him, which makes Faylen somewhat upset, though he recognizes that Vim is making an effort to change his way and that he’s still working on it.
Faylen leaves Vogue’s ticket out somewhere for her to find with a note explaining where they’ve gone in case she wishes to join, and then the rest of us return to the circus to watch the show. Vim happened to put on a light disguise - glasses and a wig - but Vigor appears as himself. Vim is clearly trying to decide if he knows Oddball or not.
Norbélina the Non-Euclidian gynmast is first. She’s rather talented as a gymnast and a clear professional, and she’s very talented. She’s also using magic to do something as well, and Faylen can tell that she’s using some sort of occultism magic, but he can’t tell if it’s a spell she’s casting or something inherent to who she is in some way. It’s impressive.
Next is Zacharias Dogsworth with the vibe of a British explorer. He has a whip that he uses for performance and appearance, but not on the animals. He has a lot of animals, including one that we didn’t see in the tent: it’s a holdfast. It has a sleek body and talons, vaguely lupine features. (Weird taloned ferret dog):
Talitha comments that the holdfast is rather rude.
We start to grow even more worried that we haven’t seen Vogue at all, and we start talking about leaving to check on her, but Oddball comes up to say that there are two surprises, not just one - and the new surprise is that a previous employee has returned! The prodigal daughter returns to the show to delight us all, and a performer who has fallen from the sky (literally) to entertain and delight us. In the other cage is a man dressed quite flamboyantly with opalescent skin, red hair, and horns.
The ground seems to open up and there is a large pit with water and there are sharks swimming in the pool. Faylen realizes that the sharks are fully real that have been cast with an illusion spell to make them look like an illusion, and nothing about this is a game despite Oddball’s reassurances to the crowd as two cages with Vogue and the stranger lower, with both unwilling participants clearly unconscious.
Oddball says to let the main part of the show begin!