Before the Ball of
Bravos: Baldin Islewright and the Mage’s Spectacle.
The Lady’s visit ends
and the players are escorted from the premises.
If you desire the players may run across any of the Widows along their
way out, the Master of Mirth, or friends, allies, or enemies who may have come
to the event to seek glory and gold. Events
to try skill and standard carnival games in the setting abound, and anyone
seeking thrills will be happy to find most anything the members would
seek.
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| Old Mage from Sinto-Risky on Deviantart |
Baldin is seen wandering
around the festivities, speaking to guards, vendors, and adventurers with a
confusion that leans towards senility. If
spoken to Islewright cryptically speaks of things he must do after rattling off
a broken version of the rhyme contained in Brasslegged Eric’s missive, in Sylvan,
mumbling more as he continues to scrawl on his slate tablet. The tablet’s symbols appear to be the
writings of a child, with sailboats, dancing maidens in a circle, and drawings
of the four animals listed in the rhyme.
Heal, Knowledge (Arcana/Religion), or Spellcraft:
DC 20: Baldin seems to be suffering
from a magical exposure. The spell residue
of his extensive work may have finally gotten to him, leading to his illness.
DC 32: Baldin’s
absentmindedness shows the signs of an extremely intricate but equally subtle enchantment
gone awry. Suggestions this deeply
hidden can cause senility or general insanity if they are not acted upon.
If the higher DC check
is passed the subtle signatures of the spell may be seen via Detect Magic or similar if Baldin is stripped
of all of his magical items. The spell
itself has been linked to his cloak and trinkets. If observed off of Baldin’s body a small
sympathetic item can be found. Bringing
back Baldin’s memories and making him lucid changes Sir Filo’s Escape later in the module.
If Islewright is not
engaged by the players he will continue on his way, leading to the triggered
event Fighting the Darkness.
The party suffers one of
the following Random Encounters during their trips through the bizarre streets
of Fiddler’s Crown (roll d6):
1: A Bard singing the Tale
of the Disappearance of the Four Lads of Green-Cup. His unearthly singing is accompanied by a
skeleton that plays a rousing stringed instrument overlay under the tale.
2: Marcus Foulweather, a
merchant of Rockston, is chasing after a group of thieves. A man who looks a cross between a scarecrow
and a sallow fish, Foulweather offers the party a map to an island of legends
for the retrieval of the item stolen. The
item, an axe that has seen better days, makes an appearance in A Case of Crabs and Daggers.
3: A bareknuckle
brawling contest is occurring off the street, and the current leader screams
for the blood of the player with the most obvious physical prowess. If they win, the brawler, a thick-set man known
as Millstone, can provide information on thieves, pirates, and the underworld about
the Seas. The warrior is judged by the
guards in the audience, who report back their skills (+1 Favor).
4: Two skinny children
fight over a dropped purse of coppers. A
commoner comes to them, claiming the purse and begins to beat them with his
staff. If the players intervene the
guards take notice, providing +2 favor.
5: Ruiva’s daughter is
among the crowd, and approaches the Party or single member who has a Favor of
10 or above. She can be wooed and dined,
but if the members become too forward they are reported to the Widow (-2 Favor
for getting her drunk, -5 for sexual imposition).
6 – Fire in a tent
begins to spread. A rogue sorcerer
attempting to show off has called up a couple of Common Salamanders, who have
begun spreading their flames. The guard’s
one mage attempts in vain to protect the tents from flame and damage, but the
party’s assistance causes a hubbub (4 tents involved. If prevented from burning down (10 rds/tent, 20
cold damage or water-based spells and Caster Check (DC: 14)) the party gains
favor and a gift of 1d4 random potions from the chagrined apprentice.
Gather Information:
DC 12: The taverns of Fiddler’s
Crown are providing one free drink per head per day by bounty of the Three
Widows.
DC 16: The Mages of Fiddler’s
Crown are sponsoring a show of illusions and merriment on the Widow’s Walk
Cliffs tonight.
DC 22: Old Baldin Islewright is
wandering around again; the voices in his head are legion, but he makes such
pretty toys for the peasant and noble children alike.
Encounter: The Mage’s Spectacle
and Rogue Spellcraft
The Mage’s Spectacle is
a grand affair, and the party will be sad if they miss it. The following shows two encounters: One for
if the majority of the party has attended the Spectacle and other if the party
has stayed away.
Attending the Spectacle:
The Mage’s Spectacle is
held within an area that is manipulated by the magic of the Green-Cup to appear
as a beautifully-appointed greenscape on a scrabbly area of the Widow’s
Walk. Hundreds of men, women, and
children gather around to treat themselves and watch the show. The tale told, the Crone and the Archmage, is
a classic Punch and Judy style drama with magic used instead of mallets. The Crone is always getting the upper hand
through her quick wits and the Archmage’s underestimation.
Around 10 minutes into
the Spectacle something goes wrong. The
spells, previously shaping into a battle between a little old witch and a master
mage, tangle together and begin falling to the ground (Read Below):
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| Angry Mob from Bloke and Coke |
The Crone and the
Archmage: Creature: Living Spell (Baleful Polymorph/Fireball) [See: Eberron
Campaign Setting pp. 293-5. You may also
use the rules for the Living Ice Storm
here, replacing Ice Storm with the two spells listed and increasing the HD by
2.
The spell will roll down
the cliff if undefeated, going into the streets of the Crown.
Fail to Attend:
The living spell has
been quashed, but the streets are filled with its leavings. The creatures left behind by the spell are
angry and powerful, and the sound of a thousand humming whispers reaches out to
the party even as they attempt to sleep.
In the streets the people are stampeding, attempting to get away from the
swarms of these malformed beasts.
If viewed:
The street is filled
from corner to corner with frogs in a multitude of hues. The frog’s bodies are topped with the twisted
faces of men, women, and children and the streets are filled with people trying
to escape the onslaught.
Scourge of Creepy Toads:
Treat as 1d2 Hellwasp Swarms, replacing their Inhabit ability with a poison
(DC: 18) which deals 1d6 Con/Frog.
During the battle each
round roll d100. If 40 or lower a Mob of
men rush through the scene, possibly trampling, damaging or dragging the party
along with them in their rush to leave behind the scourge.
