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.