Summer in Varisia, with its record-breaking heat and unprecedented humidity, is coming to a close. And none can be more pleased with the changing of the seasons than the residents of Sandpoint.
Gerund: You arrive in Sandpoint riding on a wagon full of wares along the Yondabakari river trail a couple of day before the festival. You present yourself at the new chapel, a multi-denominational place of worship, and Father Zantus welcomes you warmly, providing you a place to stay in the newly rebuilt chapel. On the morning of the festival you set up your booth in the town square with the other vendors. Selling pots and horseshoes is not the glorious start to your career that you imagined, but Erastil teaches the importance of family, and you hope to make enough profit here selling your father’s wares that you can leave your parents on their own with a clear conscience.
Sasha and Seoni: The two of you arrive from Magnimar on the same ship, The Kraken-tooth, the night before the festival. Though you didn't know each other before the journey, you've bonded a little over cards and dice games with the ship's crew. You each get a room at the Rusty Dragon, and the next morning, it is quite easy to follow the crowds to the square in front of the chapel.
Poot: You have been scrubbing and cleaning all week, and now that the Hagfish looks as respectable as it ever has, Jargi has tasked you and Bianca, Jargi’s niece and barmaid, with ladling out free samples of the Hagfish’s not so famed lobster chowder to festival goers in the town square.
Yola: The first to arrive in Sandpoint, you have been staying at your uncle Garridan’s inn, The White Deer. You’ve spent your evenings answering Garridan’s questions about Shoanti life, and your days listening to his wife prattling on about the life of an innkeeper and weathering her well intentioned attempts to “civilize” you. By the morning of the festival you are thoroughly bored and just about ready to return to the plains.
All: The Swallowtail Festival begins promptly, as scheduled, on the first day of autumn. The square before the church quickly becomes crowded.Shortly before noon, four speakers take the steps in front of the chapel to welcome the locals and travelers alike. The first to speak is Mayor Deverin, whose friendly attitude and excitement prove contagious as she jokes, "This is quite a turnout. I see that even our resident workhorse Larz Rovanky, managed to tear himself away from the tannery to attend!" There is much chuckling at this remark from all except the dour-faced Larz. Sheriff Hemlock is the next to speak, and he brings the crowd down a bit with his dour mood, his reminder to be safe around the evening’s bonfire, and his request for a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives in the fire that claimed the town’s previous church five years ago. Fortunately, Cyrdak Drokkus is more than up to the challenge of bringing the crowd’s mood back up with his rousing anecdotes as he delivers a not-completely-irreverent recap of the long process the town went through to finance and construct the new cathedral. He throws in a bit of self-promotion at the end, as is his wont, inviting everyone to stop by the Sandpoint Theater the following evening to check out his new production of “The Harpy’s Curse,” revealing that the lead role of Avisera the harpy queen will be played by none other than the famous Magnimarian diva Allishanda! Finally, Father Zantus steps up give a short speech thanking everyone for coming before declaring the Swallowtail Festival underway. His acolytes wheel a large covered wagon into the square, and the priest recounts a short parable of how Desna first fell to earth and was nursed back to health by a blind child who she transformed into an immortal butterfly as a reward for her aid. The acolytes then pull aside the wagon’s cover, releasing the children of Desna—a furious storm of a thousand swallowtail butterflies that swarm into the air in a spiraling riot of color to a great cheer from the crowd. Lunch is provided free, at the expense of Sandpoint’s taverns. Each brings its best dishes—this event is a marketing push by the taverns as much to win new customers as it is to feed a hungry crowd. It soon becomes apparent that the darling of the lunch is, once again, Ameiko Kaijitsu of the Rusty Dragon, whose remarkable curry-spiced salmon and early winterdrop mead easily overshadow the other offerings, such as the Hagfish’s lobster chowder or the White Deer’s peppercorn venison.
As the day progresses, give us an idea of what your character is doing. Is he mingling with the crowd? Keeping to himself? Did he listen to the welcoming speeches or ignore them? A quick physical description of your character would be nice, as well.
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Pootles Shrewsbury, the lackey of the Hagfish, being only 2 foot 10 stands on a step ladder beside the cauldron of Chowder laddling portions into a bowl which Bianca the barmaid hands out with a smile.
The halfling pushes his brown curly hair from his brow and puffs vigorously on his briar, hand carved pipe while he works throughout the day, entertaining any children that walk pass, by transforming his smoke clouds into butterflies.
If the opportunity arises Poot would like to track down Cyrdak and ask why he wasn't able to audition for the role of this so called "Harpy Queen" With some simple costuming and makeup he believes he could be a far more intimidating and spectacular Harpy than that hack Allishanda.
Yola:
She's helping her uncle with the peppercorn venison, anything to get away from her aunt. After she's done, she wonders a bit, sort of on the fringe gets some of the curry spice salmon and brings it back to her uncle place.
After she has eaten she sees if she can find her uncle's brother the Sheriff, maybe he has something more interesting for her to do that hand out vension.
Her aunt has tried to make her look more presentable, to the clientele but really a dress? Please! So Yola ditches the dress, and gets her trousers and tunic back on, her aunt doesn't like it but one look from Yola and that shuts her Aunt up. Her Uncle doesn't really care what she wears as long as it's clean.
Mich
Sasha slept in after a late night of casual card games in the Red Dragon. After a quick bite to eat, she met Seoni in the market catching the tail-end of Father Zantus’s welcome. When the butterflies were released, she spent some time helping the children chase after them through the streets. Along with Seoni, she visited stalls of exotic clothiers and dye-makers picking up a few expensive vials to dye her hair. While Sasha is casually going from booth to booth, she is actually following her leads looking to gain entrance to the illegal Three Dragon Ante game that is held at the festival. While Seoni and Sasha are casual traveling companions, Sasha has gone to great lengths to make her true intentions about the underground gambling hidden. Aside from her search and festivities, the highlight of her day has been coming across a halfling who gave her a free bowl of chowder that reminded her of home.
Gerund found the crowds overwhelming at first. There were more people in this town square than lived in his entire community, and, unlike home, he knew none of their names. He felt confident he could face any beast or evil that crossed his path, but the throng before him was unsettling.
However, he thought, unlike back home, things happen here, and he was more likely to find his destiny, his noble quest, here, rather than the back woods. He would keep a sharp eye out. When destiny knocked, he would have the WELCOME mat already laid out.
He put on his best smile, extolled the virtues of the myriad metalwork he had for sale, and regaled them with the details of the craftsmanship and process of their construction.
He listened to the speeches. He knew Father Zantus' sermons were something to behold, but he found he enjoyed this informal oratory even more.
When the lunch rush had ebbed somewhat, he partook of the complementary meal, reminding himself that while its flavours were unfamiliar, it was gaining new experiences, after all, that he was after. He suspected the locals would find the piquant menu of his home harder to take.
Gerund marvelled at the differences among the peoples present. Back home it was all pretty much the same, but here, they came in all shapes and sizes. He tried not to stare.
Seoni doesn't much care for the crowds of the festival, but it's a useful way to learn about a new town, so she attends. She listens with half an ear to the speeches and watches the crowds, getting a "feel" for the place, checking out the locals - a healthy well-fed population means the town is doing well. After the butterfly release, Seoni wanders through the marketplace with Sasha and then on her own as some exotic thing or another caught Sasha's attention. Seoni averts her eyes from the tradespeople to avoid being drawn into conversation or pressed to buy something. She's not much interested in chatting. But she does like looking at cleverly-made objects that have a subtlety of design her detail-oriented mind can appreciate.
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