Episode 2 - Steeb Sings the Truths

-OK, so they're at The King's Field Inn in Greenest.

-Stebe goes off on his own and heads over to Escobert the Red and his group to try and join their conversation.  

   -(The dude with armor standing next to Escobert the Red with short black hair and a friendly face is Sergeant Markguth, whom the characters first spotted last episode)

   -"...and Sergeant Markguth here nearly froze his tits off!" exclaims Escobert.  

      -Everyone in his group laughs.

   -Sergeant Markguth notices Stebe and so they start talking to him.

   -Stebe introduces himself with a flail of his arm and a curtsy; his curly hair and frilly shoulder pads bounce with his flamboyant greetings.

      -"I am Stebe Stimball, here from the North, through the Sharp Tooth Forest (The Wood of Sharp Teeth) and on my way to where I have arrived now, Greenest!" (I love the way Stebe says "Green-EST" haha; also lol at "on my way to where I have arrived now" haha Stebe must have smoked a joint in the bathroom).

      -This is met with a positive response from the group.

   -Edward is finishing up his meal as he joins Stebe and his new friends ("gross" haha good one Braden).

      -Some people do a double-take when they see Edward due to his scarred visage and kind of get out of his way a bit as he makes his way into the group (Edward takes this in stride and just winks at them (haha genius)).  No one wants to stand too close him since he looks so gnarly.  Edward takes this in stride and just winks at them (haha genius).

   -Stebe assesses the crowd, sensing that a bardic performance would probably go over really well among the crowd (since people have been drinking; it's dark; etc.).

   -Stebe tells the group that he's actually heard of Sergeant Markguth; "His tales of glory spread from the nearest field to the other closest field!"

      -(haha apparently at the time I didn't get it since I was probably distracted or something... or maybe I'm just dumb haha anyway I asked Braden to roll for deception hahaha jeez this went completely over my head)

      -No one seems to get this joke (since I didn't get it haha) except for Escobert the Red, unable to contain his laughter any longer (plus I finally got the joke ugh haha).

   -People seem to be really enjoying Stebe's energy and are very agreeable with whatever he says.

   -Stebe then roasts Escobert the Red.

      -"And who could forget about Escobert the Red?!  Whose spoils have reached all across Faerûn...except, of course, for the top of the cabinet."  (I still don't know if I get this one... because he's a dwarf so he's short and can't reach the top of a cabinet or something?)

   -All of Stebe's jokes are going over really well.

   -Edward starts to laugh a little TOO hard and is getting a little rowdy.

      -(I think it's probably here where the whole "Anson is just roleplaying himself in this game" meme came from)

      -He shouts for Stebe to start playing some music.

         -(We clearly don't know the rules that well haha so we start discussing how exactly skills are supposed to work along with advantage/disadvantage)

-Stebe starts to play music.

   -(I was shocked that Braden actually brought a flute or recorder or whatever!  Holy shit!!)

   -"The roar from above / gave a terrible sound / And the piss from a knight / wet his pants on the ground! (haha Edward's really into it, apparently) / the stalwart companions three / uh...sent a dragon to echo the clouds (lol) / Tiamat!  Tiamat! / Tiamat!  Tiamat!  /  The Cult of the Tiamat! / Tiamat!"

      -(hahahaha this was genius)

      -Some people are confused, but a lot of people are REALLY into it!  They begin to surround Stebe and cheer him on as he continues to play.  Some people even begin shouting "Tiamat!"

         -Stebe tries to avoid getting too close to them while he's playing but also motions to his bag (for donations).

            -He gets a ton of money from the crowd.

         -Although overall the crowd response was very positive, Stebe notices that his performance is being received a bit more negatively Sergeant Markguth and Escobert the Red.

-The cleric who was talking to Erasmus hears what's going down with Stebe and the crowd and seems shocked.

   -It's as if he's in the chicken coop but all the chickens are actually wolves (I meant to say, "It's as if he's (a chicken) in the chicken coop but all the (other) chickens are actually wolves in disguise" but I think they got what I meant haha I just wish I hadn't said it so sloppily IRL because it's kind of a cool line, even if it is a bit clichéd).

   -"Tiamat?!" whispers the cleric, clearly upset.  "Mother of Dragons?!  Chaos!?  Are you mad?!"

   -Erasmus tries to explain that Stebe doesn't actually have an allegiance to Tiamat or any cult; he's just singing about it for entertainment value.

      -Unfortunately, they can both hear Stebe up on one of the tables shouting, "Tiamat!!  Yeah!!  Woooo!!" (haha Yosie's laugh here is great!)

   -"You better make sure," replies the cleric.  "And all these people cheering...what would Eldath think?  You associating with these people?  This is madness!  Madness!"

      -The cleric then closes his eyes and seems to be in deep thought.  He raises one hand, palm facing Erasmus.  Erasmus reciprocates, touching his palm to the cleric's.

      -The cleric looks deep into Erasmus' eyes and slowly nods.  He then reaches down to his amulet of Lathander, murmurs a soft prayer to himself, and then takes off the amulet and gives it to Erasmus.

         -"You will need this," he says.  "I want you to know that Lathander smiles favorably upon you.  I want you to continue your path following the way of Eldath.  Just remember that Lathander is with you, too.  Well-met."

            -The cleric then abruptly leaves the tavern.

            -(This was a cool scene, and will actually be important later when the PCs go to Ravenloft!)

-At some point during the evening the PCs find out that the innkeeper's name is Gordon (another pointless detail haha).

-Stebe continues to perform.

   -The crowd is really into whatever he does, even if he knows that it's not even really that good!  People are just really having a blast.

      -As people try to buy him drinks, some tell him that they "hadn't seen him around before" (not in reference to seeing him around at the King's Field Inn, but I don't think anyone got this...it makes sense though what they mean if you know what happens later on!) or ask him if he's "excited for the night" (the latter of which strikes Stebe as odd because one would think that THIS is the event and place to be, so what's going on later that would be the actual event to be excited about?

   -Stebe doesn't really drink that much, although he remains jovial.

   -(At some point I make a joke that Braden wouldn't really know about what it's like to actually perform live since he's not a musician (Braden, Yosie, and Anson are all very talented musicians, of course but either no one got my joke, it wasn't really that funny to begin with, or Anson edited out everyone's reaction haha)

   -Stebe also notices that there are certainly a lot more men than women in this tavern for some reason, but this doesn't really strike him as that odd.

      -(I then go on to explain for awhile about how this maybe isn't weird for Stebe because he's been in rural places before that are more "traditional" in terms of gender roles in a Medieval European-style setting (e.g. men work and then go to the tavern to drink; women stay home with the rest of the family and manage the home).

-Meanwhile, Erasmus notices a dude with a shaved head across the room (Anson (who shaves his head, if you didn't know) wolf-whistles here haha) who's not drinking but is just hanging out.  He's wearing robes.

   -He locks eyes with Erasmus.

-Stebe starts to play slower, sorrowful tunes and ballads as it gets later into the night.

   -However, the crowd is still pretty rowdy and really seems to want Stebe to continue playing faster, bawdy songs; they keep on throwing money at him and are even giving him their jewelry!

      -(Anson makes another "I'm not even going to write that down" joke (see Episode 0.5 - Reinkaos - The Adventure Continues), shit never gets old to us.  Also, Anson jokingly says, "Don't worry, we're all going to kill ourselves tomorrow," referring to the point-of-view of the drunken Tiamat followers... but he's actually right!  Maybe this is obvious based on Vela & Co.'s group suicide ritual the previous night (or maybe just really early that morning), but I thought it was quite astute at the time!).

-Edward goes up to the bar to talk to Gordon, who looks fucking knackered and is drenched in sweat.

   -"Your friend over there is much more professional than the last group, let me tell you!" Gordon shouts as tries to manage the bar.

      -("Oh shit..." Braden murmurs haha... am I too predictable with my writing?).

   -"Yes, we heard about those Purple...Peppermint...Python...Club," says Edward (haha it's The Purple Pox Performer Brigade (see Episode 1 - To the TAVERN)).

   -"Is that what they were called?" asks Gordon, confused. 

   -"I don't know!" shrugs Edward.  "Does it matter?!"

   -"Well, they were good!  They just made things...a little bit too crazy.  They started fights and had those strange cards and tried to read people's fortunes-"

   -"Aye, they're no Steben Stimball,"

   -"Hey, the way that he did his business tonight, I want his name on the wall!"

   -"Talking about names, I find it interesting that this place used to be called "The Flaming Sword", as a follower of Tempus.

   -"The Flaming Blade."

   -"Yes, The Flaming Blade."

   -"Well," he sighs.  "I'm not one for religion or the gods...I do pray to Chauntea-"

   -"Trust me, they are not one for me!" Edward gestures to his pale, burnt skin.

   -While expressing a face of equal parts empathy and repulsion (what I was trying to convey here, at least), he asks, "What on earth happened to you?"

   -"Let's just say it was a good day," replies Edward, mysteriously.

   -"Well, I hope I never have one of those good days, then."  

   -Edward laughs heartily at this and orders another drink.  Gordon gives it to him on the house- "Looking like that, you should get free drinks for the rest of your life.  (waka waka).  As to your question...The Flaming Blade Inn...the previous owner was, as far as I know, not a religious man.  His family were farmers and there was no inn here, no travelers-"

   -"Was he a former soldier or sellsword?"

   -Gordon thinks that that's maybe correct, but he's not sure.  He's not sure why the previous owner changed the name to "The King's Field".

  -"I will say that us soldiers follow Tempus because we take fate as it comes," says Edward.

  -"He did always say things like that... people would talk to him about certain things, he'd say, 'Everything happens for a reason,'" replies Gordon.  "I don't agree, but... the gods work in mysterious ways."

  -Edward thanks the innkeep for the ale and Gordon goes back to work.

-Erasmus approaches the dude with the shaved head and the robes (who seems remarkably calm considering how raucous the crowd is in the main room).

   -"Hello friend," he nods.

   -"Good evening," says Erasmus.

   -"Good evening."

   -"I am Erasmus Fortuna."

   -"Well-met, Mr. Fortuna.  My name is Nesim Waladra.  I am obviously not from around here, but something tells me you are not, also.”

   -“You’ve guessed correctly.  I’m from Waterdeep, and before that, other lands that need not be mentioned.”

   -“Waterdeep?  What are you doing so far south?”

   -“Yesterday, I met two companions- one of them is that bard who is rabble-rousing (although I think Yosie said “revel-rizing”?  Like as in encouraging revelry or maybe a combination of “revelry” and “terrorizing”?  I’m not sure haha) this whole place-

    -Nesim laughs.  “Mr. ‘Tiamat’ over there.  Is he serious about all that stuff?”

   -“Well, he’s trying to earn a living for himself and follow the passions that perhaps whatever god he prays to instils within him.”

   -Braden jokes about how meanwhile Stebe is like “TIAMAT IS THE ONE TRUE ONE!!! YEAH!!!!”  (haha Yosie’s laugh on this one is so good).

   -Nesim laughs again, “I think it’s less about Tiamat and more about the almighty gold piece, but…maybe that’s just my opinion.”

   -“You say you’re not from here.  Where are you from?”

   -“The South.  Don’t worry about that.  Honestly, I’m just looking for a friend (“My friend Tiamat”, someone whispers (haha)).  You don’t know a man by the name of Leosin Erlanthar, do you?”

   -“Leosin Erlanthar?  Nah, never heard of the fellow, Nasser-whatever you said your name was” (haha).

   -(I correct Yosie and tell him the name is “Nesim Erlanthar”, but this was obviously a pretty derpy mistake.  His name is, of course, Nesim Waladra) “I could describe him as my teacher, but he said he would be here tonight, and…he’s not.  I’m just very worried.  I think something really horrible might have happened to him.  He had been travelling back and forth between here and Candlekeep and had been doing lots of research.  I fear that some ill fate may have befallen him.”

   -“Where does Candlekeep lie in relation to here?”

   -“If you follow the Uldoon Trail, when you get to the border with Amn (at the city of Nashkel) you turn north and that will lead you directly to Candlekeep.  If you hear anything about him, you could let me know.  I’m staying at this inn.”  Nesim then eyes Erasmus suspiciously.   “Be ye a holy man?”

   -“Aye, I’m an acolyte of-“ (Brad interrupts and points out that Erasmus is now wearing two holy symbols- “I’m uhhh…Lathander?  Eldrith (he meant “Eldat”h)?  I swear I’m uh…”; Yosie confirms that Erasmus had actually pocketed the holy symbol of Lathander).  “I’m an acolyte of the way of Eldath.  She took me in when no one else would have me.”

   -“You know, I was like that once as well.  (I then point out how absurd it is that these two are having this serious heart-to-heart conversation while all around them there’s the chaos from the increasingly unstable crowd watching Stebe’s performance).  Luckily I met my teacher.  He taught me that everything you need is already inside of you.”

   -“Aye… (but) some of us need a little…help from our friends” (haha womp womp).

   -“Yourself is the only friend that you ever need.  But maybe this ‘Eldath’, this god or goddess…perhaps she is just a part of you that you have never gotten in touch with before.  If so, I think that is a beautiful thing.”

   -“Cheers.”

   -(I then joke, “So, you uh… looking to get laid tonight or…?” (chuckles))

-OK, so at this point it’s like 3AM, but the party’s still raging!  People are getting drunk, there’s small scuffles here and there, etc.  Stebe is exhausted and starts seriously thinking about heading to bed.

   -(Anson jokes, “Edward thinks to himself, ‘I just need to dance!’”, but obviously doesn’t say this in Edward’s voice and certainly comes off as something Anson would be thinking in that situation and not Edward, although who knows how serious Anson was actually being here haha.  Yosie then brings up how our friend Franklin (shoutout to Dollar Country (awesome old-timey country music podcast) and Torbort (lo-fi dungeon synth)!!) used to have a character named “Nedward the Burned Knight”; Anson doesn’t seem to remember and we tease him about it for a bit).

-Suddenly, the front door bursts open.  (“Fuck yeah” -Braden haha)

   -A man stumbles into the room.  He’s got long, straggly hair, clean shaven, and is wearing a hat that’s “obviously been trampled on a few too many times” (whatever the fuck that means haha).

   -“Everybody!  I got something to say!”

      -People start to quiet down.

   -“Oh no, here we go…” says Gordon.

   -“I seen it!  Outside of town!  10 miles!  12 miles!  There’s a camp…soldiers…big dragon people!”

      -He stumbles and falls to the ground.

   -“Get him out of here!” barks Gordon.

   -Edward walks over and throws the dude out the front door into a mud puddle!  Everyone inside cheers.  Edward agrees to letting a couple women by him a drink but then they start trying to kiss and lick his face (especially the burnt side), which ends up repulsing him so this pisses them off and they leave him.  This surprises Gordon, who can’t believe that Edward would pass up the company of the two women.

   -Overwhelmed, Erasmus decides to head up to the room after saying a short prayer to Eldath.  As he’s falling asleep, he feels that, despite his unquestioning faith, he still feels a deep bond with the god Lathander… as if there’s a natural synergy between his devotion to Eldath and the vibe he gets from the faith of Lathander.

      -(I missed this, but Anson jokes “It’s chill, bro…” haha)

-Stebe knows that he’s going to be exhausted the next day, but he’s making too much money to go to bed now so he decides to stay up and start performing outside with like juggling fire and stuff.

   -He leads his everyone outside.

      -When he steps outside he notices the dude that Edward threw into the mud puddle.  It looks like he’d crawled out of the puddle but was now passed out on the side of the road.

      -He also notices that there’s lots of people running around and laughing outside; some people are even having sex out in the open!  It’s complete “open debauchery” (well-put, Anson).  Among the general mayhem, he also sees one dude yelling at a wall and punching it repeatedly (I think this was my improv stock “crazy guy” character haha).     

      -Someone with a ball hanging from a chain lights it on fire and throws it into a door.  Stebe then notices that he can see smoke billowing from different parts of the town.

-A town bell can now be heard ringing violently.

   -Stebe is pushed to the side as everyone rushes out of the tavern, screaming and yelling.

      -One guy runs out and screams at Stebe and then slices his tongue- “LET’S GO!! LET’S GO!!”

-Obviously, the town is in a state of absolute chaos.

-Erasmus wakes up because of all the noise.

-Sergeant Markguth and Escobert the Red run outside, confused.

-All of a sudden, there’s an extremely loud roar off in the distance.

   -They hear it again, but closer.  They can also hear the flapping of wings (ha obviously a dragon).

-The moon has a yellow, almost reddish glow.  In its light they can see the silhouette of a large dragon!

   -Seeing this, Escobert the Red whispers (before getting louder)- (“Holy shit that’s cool!” -Braden (haha)) “To the keep… to the keep!!  TO THE KEEP!!”

      -Stebe starts shouting this as well while also frantically playing a chaotic melody on his flute.

-(We close with “I hope a dragon doesn’t annihilate you before the next time” ha so cheesy)

Episode 1 - To the TAVERN

-It is now the day after the summer solstice.

  -The PCs decide to head to Greenest, "supposedly the greenest town in all of Faerûn".

      -("Everybody recycles!" haha; "It's like the mythical land of Portland" good one Anson)

      -The PCs also realize that the trail to Greenest is also the direction in which the dragon from earlier was headed (lol).

         -Erasmus proposes that maybe they should warn the townsfolk about the dragon, but Stebe suggests, "Perhaps we could sing them songs of the tale of the dragon and make some...money!" (haha).

            -Erasmus is also worried that the town will already be destroyed by the time they arrive.

-It's a really hot day, plus there's mosquitoes and other bullshit so it's not a very pleasant trek.

   -However, the crappy conditions don't really seem to bother Edward.

      -"Once you survive the flames," he thinks grimly. "A heat like this is nothing."

   -Likewise, it doesn't seem to bother Erasmus that much as well- "This doesn't hold a candle compared to what I've been through," he thinks.  "It's not the worst I've seen.  I'm still grateful.  Praise be to Eldath."

      -Sensing Erasmus is deep in thought, Stebe says, "Ha!  Eldath is really giving us the guff today huh?"

      -"What's 'guff'?" asks Erasmus.

      -"I don't know," replies Stebe (lol).

      -"I certainly feel her tranquility in my soul" says Erasmus.

      -"But these damn mosquitoes!" cries Stebe.

      -"They feel good," interjects Edward, who happens to be covered in mosquitoes. (hahaha good one Anson)

         -(We riff on that for a bit)

-Over the course of the day the PCs eat from time to time, so they each mark off one daily ration from their inventory.

   -Stebe seems to enjoy his ration but Edward says that his was stale and Erasmus his was merely "enough to make it one more day" (oof).

   -It's revealed that Eramus' ration for that day was "some type of granola-type bar" (lol we riff on this for a bit, too).

   -"How close are we to this 'Greenest'?" Edward asks Stebe.

   -"Greenest should be coming right up!  You see these fields?  I recognize them, I've been here many times!"

      -When Stebe says this he motions with his hands towards the fields but then everyone notices that there's a wagon resting in one particular area of the field, and the grass or whatever grows there has been flattened as if people had recently been camping there.

         -They've never seen this kind of wagon before- it kind of resembles a Conestoga wagon but it has wooden doors and the body has been painted beautifully with vivid purple, yellow, green, and blue colors).  The shaft or whatever (the thing that attaches to the horse in order for the wagon to be pulled) is resting on the ground; there doesn't seem to be any horses around.

         -Stebe thinks that perhaps the wagon belongs to a fortune-teller, and suggests that the PCs go have a look; he then takes out the Tarokka deck.

            -(We then get into the ethics of him taking/stealing the deck from the cultists they encountered last night haha)

            -There doesn't seem to be anyone here.  Inside the wagon it looks like someone has maybe searched through it already, but it doesn't appear ransacked or anything (although there are like clothes (colorful silk skirts, satin shirts, bandanas, etc.), a box with some cheaply-made jewelry inside, a fiddle, a lute, and other random crap on the ground outside of the wagon).  There's no sign of any violence.

               -(It's around this time that I ask the PCs if they want me (the DM) to roll for the PCs in terms of like perception checks and stuff like that and they seem to like that idea since it's more mysterious, but I immediately forget about this since it's such a habit to have the PCs to roll for everything haha)

               -"Maybe if we wait along here we'll get something that if this were a (video) game would be known as an 'NPC,'" says Erasmus (haha good one Yosie).   

         -Stebe proposes that perhaps this wagon belonged to the travelers they encountered last night.

                     -(Speaking of which, while they were searching the wagon Yosie has a good one-liner here about Fordrick's name originally being "Foreskin" but he "shed that at birth" haha)

         -The wagon, clothes, etc. all seem perhaps vaguely familiar to Stebe; he might have seen this kind of thing before maybe when he was drunk or intoxicated in some way at some point in the past.

            -"I know exactly who these people are!" exclaims Stebe (haha).  "The Purple Pox Performer Brigade!  They come from Waterdeep!  They were great traveling performers; I wonder what sort of horrible things befell them on their way to...who knows (where)?"

            -"I'm sad that I never witnessed them in Waterdeep when I lived there," says Edward.

            -"They were a wonderful act!" says Stebe.

            -"What taverns did they frequent?" asks Edward.

            -"Oh, all sorts!" replies Stebe.  "Scooners' Shanty; uh... the Inn of the uh... Beloved Leg (lol); anyways, I guess if there's nothing of value here we should travel on to Greenest!"

            -"I agree.  I'm bored!" says Edward.

            -"Let's move on," says Erasmus.

            -Edward eyes the costume jewelry and wonders for a moment if it would distract from his scarred face but doesn't take anything.

-The PCs decide to continue on the trail.

   -Edward asks Stebe to play some more music on his flute while they travel.  He wants to hear some of the music that Stebe was playing last night around the fire but Stebe wants to work on some new music based on the events of the night before and in the early hours of the morning.  His lyrics so far:

      -"The roar from above / Gave a terrible sound / And the piss from a knight / Wet his pants on the ground! / The stalwart companions three / Saw a dragon, and who could it be?-"

         -Erasmus interjects with "Tiamat, Tiamat, Tiamat" (haha).

         -"I believe the youth would say that is...'fuego'" (haha good one Anson).

   -At this point, they've been traveling all day and soon the sun begins to set.  They realize that they must be getting close to town because they're noticing more in the way of farms, crops, farmers off in the distance, and other signs of civilization.

      -They come across a tired-looking farmer leading a mule on the road.  He scowls and spits as the PCs approach.

         -(Anson- "Roll for initiative?" hahaha that was a really good one)

         -The farmer asks if they're going to Greenest; the PCs confirm that they are.  The farmer says that there have been a lot of strangers and "shady folk" coming in from out of town over the past couple of weeks, which is a little strange because there's no special event or anything going on in town or nearby that would draw such a crowd.

            -"But...at the King's Field Inn, there was a group of musicians; they weren't too bad," says the farmer.

               -(The King's Field is a reference to the 1990s video game series of the same name by FromSoftware (makers of Dark Souls, Bloodborne, etc.).  Eventually they'd release a "spiritual sequel", Demons Souls (which was like a prototype Dark Souls).  Dark Souls and Bloodborne are two of my favorite games and I found both to be very inspiring while writing for this campaign).

            -The PCs ask him if these musicians were the Purple Pox Performer Brigade, but the farmer says their group didn't have a name, although they did have a strange manner of dress and behavior.  He also says that they had a strange deck of playing cards with them for fortune telling or something like that.

               -"Did they look something like this?" Stebe asks the farmer, and he fans out the cards in his hand like a magician.  The farmer isn't impressed and wants Stebe to put the cards away since he doesn't like that kind of thing.

               -The farmer also mentions that there's another strange group of people who are sometimes seen around town who often leave town with some of the local youth, and the rumor is that these strangers are giving the kids some sort of purple fungi or mushrooms that apparently grow in some of the nearby caves.  Allegedly these mushrooms make people think that they can talk to dragons "or some such nonsense".  Unfortunately, the farmer doesn't know anything about an eleven-pointed star or have any more information for the PCs, although he does mention that the peculiar group of musicians are no longer in town.  He leaves the PCs without saying goodbye.

                  -(I backstab him lol good one Brad)

-It's starting to get dark as they reach the outskirts of Greenest.

   -"Now we know how pervasive this cryptic, occult dragon... thing is," says Erasmus.

   -"And clearly these purple mushrooms were what those fellows drank night prior," remarks Stebe.

   -"You think that was laced in the drink?" asks Erasmus.

   -"A purple drink of magical mushroom tea..." muses Stebe.

   -"I would partake in magical mushrooms with no qualms," Edward interjects.

   -"Not for me," states Erasmus.

   -"Hmm...perhaps foolish," says Stebe.

   -"Anything to escape this life," mutters Edward (hahaha).

   -"Come to eldath," says Erasmus.  "She will apply a balm to your tender sores." (omg classic Yosie)

   -"No, Tempus (not Tempest you dork and you can't blame it on your "southern" accent because you're from the north (Waterdeep)!)... I let him guide me," replies Edward.

   -As they come into town they see farmhouses with thatched roofs and shit; it just seems like your average boring medieval village.

   -In the middle of the town there's a keep. It's most likely this town formed around the keep (among other pointless details ugh haha).

   -There are people around on the street, closing up shops, etc.

      -They aren't especially friendly; they seem suspicious of foreigners.

         -Considering the location of this town (out in the middle of nowhere but on the Uldoon Trail (so it gets some traffic, but not a lot)), Edward suspects that the villagers probably isn't used to so many foreigners being in town at one time.

-The PCs decide to seek out the King's Field Inn.

   -After finding it they go inside.  It seems pretty hoppin' (maybe 30-40 people?).

   -(At this point I had to go pick up my wife downtown; you can even hear me say "be there in seven minutes" haha so that's why they're just goofing around for so long).

   -The bar is on the other side of the room; it's flanked by staircases going up to the second floor.

   -It doesn't seem like a lot of these people are farmers, although it's too difficult to presume that everyone here is from out of town.

   -The innkeeper/bartender is a heavy-set dude wearing a white apron who's busily drying mugs and shit.  There's a giant oak cask behind him.

   -There's no music being played, just people talking.

   -They all get a room for the night; Edward pays for Stebe.

   -As the PCs eye the room they suddenly hear boisterous laughter coming from a group in the middle of the room.

      -It's coming from a dwarf.  He has red hair with braids and a big bushy red beard.  He's wearing armor, gauntlets, etc.

         -He seems to be telling a story about a woman with very large breasts based on how he's gesticulating.  His eyes are really wide.  Everyone around him is laughing.

         -Standing next to him is a dude who's also wearing armor (haha no Anson he doesn't have large breasts) and laughing.  He has short black hair and a friendly face.

         -The innkeeper identifies the dwarf as "Escobert the Red".

            -"If you're looking for some interesting stories, he's the one to talk to.  He'll keep you entertained all night."

-Standing next to Erasmus at the bar is a guy who's wearing armor and an amulet resembling a blazing sun.

   -Erasmus recognizes this amulet as the holy symbol of the god Lathander, "the Morninglord" (god of the sun, life, good vibes, etc.).

      -(shoutout to Anson's old character, Finn Allunia, paladin of Pelor (very similar to Lathander in the Greyhawk campaign setting)!  "I bring my trusty mace down upon his head" haha every time)

-They notice a dude who's wearing robes and looks really fit (obviously a monk haha so stereotypical).  It's unclear as to if he's drinking alcohol or not.

-They also notice that there's a fair number of people drinking alone or keeping to themselves and being weird in the corner or whatever.

-Erasmus starts talking to the cleric of Lathander at the bar.

   -"Surely Lathander's bounteous gifts shine most upon us this time of year," he says.

   -The cleric smiles.  "The blessings of Lathander be upon you as well," he replies.  "Be ye a man of Lathander, yourself?"

   -"I'm not NOT a man of Lathander, but I do swear more allegiance to the temperate Eldath."

   -"Ah, Eldath... I believe that we have many beliefs in common and surely similar goals probably in terms of visions of how life should be and how we can spread good and well-being among people.  What brings you hear to Greenest?"

   -Erasmus introduces the cleric to Edward but Stebe leaves the bar before he can meet the cleric.  Erasmus mentions that Edward is an adherent of Tempus.

      -"Tempus, eh?  Watch out for him (pointing to Edward)!" the cleric jokes.

      -Edward begins cackling maniacally as a response before starting to scarf down his dinner (roast chicken and vegetables and shit).  As he's eating continues to guffaw (with his mouth full of food) at the cleric.

      -"Your companion is quite strange," says the cleric.  "But then again, I always seem to meet very strange people here at the Flaming Blade Inn."

      -"I thought this was The King's Field?" Edward asks, confused.

      -"Ah, I'm mistaken!" exclaims the cleric.  "Last time I was here it was called 'The Flaming Blade Inn' but the ownership changed hands so they changed the name to The King's Field."

         -(This was a hint to Edward that it's a sign from Tempus that he's on the right way in his quest; Tempus' holy symbol is a flaming sword!)

      -Since the cleric brought up the topic of strange people, Erasmus tells the cleric about the events he experienced last night with the cultists.

      -The cleric tells him to keep it down since there's a lot of weirdos around them right now and they can't be sure who's listening.  In order to go into more detail, he asks Erasmus to step off with him to to the side and have a drink together so they can speak more privately.

Episode 0.5 - Reinkaos - The Adventure Continues

-Erasmus asks Stebe (calls him "Steben" haha) about the Tarokka deck.

   -Erasmus warns Stebe not to take the cards from the Vistani (very wise of Erasmus, in hindsight!) but Stebe ignores him and takes them anyway.

      -"I'd be worried about something...sticking...on those cards" (everyone laughs and starts making jokes; Erasmus was right though!!)

      -(Suddenly we all get lost in speculating about if the printing press has been invented yet in Toril (the world of Forgotten Realms), and apparently at this point it HAS been invented in the East, but the technology is still very primitive in Faerûn.  So that's kind of neat!  I end up ruling that the printing press doesn't really exist in Faerûn, but it does exist maybe in the East, so it looks like he was more or less correct in this assumption.  However, his explanation of the Tripitaka Koreana not being movable type or whatever is a complete mess haha.  Then the conversation gets completely derailed as the topic changes to Leonardo da Vinci, then the Ornithopter card from Magic: the Gathering (lol), blah blah)

   -Stebe begins to browse the deck.  The deck looks very strange, but interesting, as every card seems to have arcane symbols and imagery and shit.

   -Edward asks Stebe to draw one of the cards for him.

      -Stebe makes a spread of the cards (demonstrating his masterful sleight-of-hand skill (lol)) and flicks a card over to Edward.

         -Edward catches it, but finds the card to be extremely hot so he drops it.  Edward then says that he doesn't think they should fuck around with the cards anymore; Erasmus agrees.

            -Stebe puts the cards back into their leather case.  As they're going to sleep, Stebe rests the deck next to him.

-The PCs are getting tired so they decide to go to sleep.

   -Stebe sleeps in a huge bag (which also carries his brass flute and clothes and shit).

   -Erasmus goes to sleep first (I guess we don't know if he has a sleeping bag or not haha).

   -Edward has first watch (each shift is four hours).

      -Edward tries to stay awake but he's been drinking so it's a bit of a struggle.  He looks up at the moon and starts to hum a tune to himself (Dean Martin's "That's Amore" (because of its reference to the moon in the lyrics) which of course ushers in other goofy jokes). 

   -(At this point, we get off topic again because the I award the PCs a point of inspiration for role-playing so well, but Anson comments "I'm not even going to write that down" which is in reference to our friend Tony from our old D&D group when we were kids who wouldn't bother recording XP if he felt it was too low haha).

-Edward finally dozes off, but hes awoken when the strangers start to stir and quietly wake up.

   -Eventually, Vela makes eye contact with Edward; her eyes gleam with "gleeful, malicious hate".

      -She whispers to him, "Remember what I said."

   -Before long they're all up and they leave the campsite, although all of their bags (save for one) and belongings and shit are still there for some reason.

      -Edward waits for the strangers to leave before he starts to wake up Erasmus and Stebe.

         -Erasmus and Stebe wake up.

            -Stebe grabs the Tarokka deck.

         -Edward tells them that the strangers have left.

            -Stebe starts to look through the strangers' belongings; he finds another jug of booze and starts to drink it (haha).  He also finds some strange-smelling herbs.

               -The PCs don't recognize the scent or appearance of the herbs, although it does remind Edward vaguely of perhaps some of the street drugs that were around where he used to live (very mysterious...).

-The PCs decide to follow the strangers.

   -Erasmus draws his quarterstaff (although he emphasizes that he wants to make it look like he's using it as a walking stick, not a weapon); Stebe draws his flute (lol).

   -Edward emphasizes that they should all sneakily follow the strangers.

      -(This confuses Brad, who thinks that they should just run after them.  However, Yosie raises the question of if he's able to sneak because he's wearing armor, which also confuses Brad because he doesn't think Erasmus would be sleeping in his armor (which is a good point) but Anson doesn't see the problem with their characters sleeping in armor so we just decide that it's too hard to figure out.  Finally, it's determined that Erasmus is wearing his armor but they're not going to sneak after the strangers, they're just going to follow them normally)

   -So, as the PCs continue they find that it's still quite dark out so it's difficult to see, and also it starts to get a little windy.  Soon they find themselves walking up a hill which comes to a plateau at the top.  At the top the wind really starts to pick up.

      -In the distance they can make some sort of a fire burning.  As they get closer they can see that the strangers are all standing around the fire.

         -It's unclear as to if the strangers know the PCs are there.

         -The fire is coming from an eleven-pointed metal star which has been set aflame.  It rests on some sort of a stand.

         -They can see Vela pulling out her hair, ripping at her flesh, and shrieking, "TIAMAT!!  ALL-POWERFUL MOTHER DRAGON!!  GLORY!!  GLORY!!  GLORY!!"

            -(My voice kind of cracks on the third "GLORY!!" haha)

         -The others begin to yell "GLORY!!" as well.

            -The PCs can see that the strangers are all holding daggers in each hand as well.

               -(It's not clear how exactly they're pulling out their hair and scratching themselves while also holding a dagger in each hand or why they don't just cut themselves with the daggers but whatever)

               -(Brad then makes a side note that perhaps this is when I could have told the PCs that all of this could have been avoided if they had just killed the strangers while they were all partying earlier that evening at the campfire haha (which is a great point!!).  We riff on that for a bit).

            -The strangers continue to shriek "GLORY!!" or "BLACK STAR OF CHAOS, I CALL UPON YOU!!" and shit like that.

               -(At this point, Brad realizes that he's heard the name "Tiamat" before IRL but can't remember where he's heard it from)

            -Erasmus starts to get really freaked out.

            -Stebe notices that not just Vela's eyes are still purple, but the others now have glowing blue eyes (except for Fordrick (the dude who has the white eye like Cable from the X-Men); he just has one glowing blue eye, of course).  Also, blood is streaming down their arms from self-mutilation.

         -Fordrick yells, "BLACK STAR OF CHAOS!!  MOTHER DRAGON!!  THY WILL BE DONE!!"

            -Then the strangers all drop their daggers and pull out vials of an unknown liquid before quaffing them.  After a few seconds, they drop to the ground, shaking.

               -It's presumed that they're all dead.

               -Edward says, "Well, that was the best summer solstice I've ever had" (ahahaha).

-Edward draws his shortsword and heads over to the dead bodies.  Stebe and Erasmus follow.

   -It looks like some work had gone into setting the ritual up in terms of assembling the altar, drawing a circle in the ground around it, etc. so they deduce that this had probably been set up by the strangers earlier in the evening (before they encountered the PCs) since they wouldn't have had time to get all of this ready after waking up and before the PCs arrived at the scene.

   -The corpses have foam coming out of their mouths, and their eyes are no longer glowing.  Vela's eyes are no longer purple.

   -The PCs check their pulse; the strangers are all clearly dead.

   -There's still traces of liquid inside of the vials; it appears purplish in color.

      -(Yosie makes a joke about cursing at the liquid to see if it bubbles (Ghostbusters 2 reference) haha)

   -Edward kicks over the flaming altar.

   -It's unclear as to if the wind starting to gust is related to the ritual.

   -Stebe stands in the middle of the corpses and draws a card from the Tarokka deck.

      -It's the VI of Cups (The Lord of Pleasure)- there's a bed of flowers/plants with two stems coming up out of it (this is incorrect, there's actually six! oops!) intertwined; at the end of the stems are blooming flowers with water flowing down from the flowers into two cups and then the water from these cups overflows into two more cups below it and then same thing again (hence, six cups... sorry for the shitty description!  It's difficult to describe!!).

         -Stebe, being familiar with fortune-telling due to his background in entertainment, tries to determine if this is significant but nothing seems to jump out at him (although maybe it's something worth remembering, just in case).

   -Erasmus investigates the bodies, looking for any scars, tattoos, religious symbols or jewelry, etc.

      -He finds that all of them have self-inflicted scars that resemble 11-pointed stars (of varying sizes).

   -Stebe tries to determine if there's anything going on with the moon or the sky or the woods or whatever, but doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

      -Edward suggests heading to Greenest to see if the cultists had any family there.

         -(Yosie tries to remember their names- there was Fordrick (Anson calls him "Foreskin", lots of laughs), Corbyn, Scaz (they never actually talked to him or learned his name explicitly, but I guess they would have been introduced at some point earlier in the evening), Vela, and Pearl (same thing as Scaz).

-The PCs head back to their campsite and go back to sleep.

   -Edward continues his watch and then Erasmus takes over for the rest of the night.

   -Stebe doesn't take watch at all and just sleeps (rude haha).

   -Erasmus is finally starting to doze off as dawn approaches, when suddenly he hears this deafening roar echoing from high up in the sky and sees a huge blue dragon flying overhead.

      -(I thought this would have really blown everyone away because it's a great ending for the first episode, but I don't think they were really that amazed haha.  It was a really cool scene in my imagination, though!)

      -(Even though the episode is over, the players continue to speculate about what would have happened if they had just killed the cultists at the campfire before they could perform the ritual, if there was any connection with the ritual and the dragon, etc.)