Everyone rushes out from their respective locations to investigate the fearful outcries coming from the edges of the village. To the surprise of none of the villagers, and possibly the rest of the party, Samara and Kon are facing off with a collection of locals who are armed with various farm implements and apparently guarding the children and elderly who were harvesting from the orchard.

Kon has stepped between the locals and Samara and looks to be trying to calm everyone down.


The sheriff, A thin man with black hair, a pointed beard, and a severe look of annoyance arrives onto the scene as does the rest of the village.

"You there! You two, who do not belong here..." he shouts at Samara and Kon, "...Yes, you, the cat thi...er...woman? and the other one. Step away." he strides in between Kon and the locals, facing the two adventurers, and very obviously ready to side with the locals over them. "What have you done here?"

"The cat thing started to attack us, but the other one stopped her and..." one of the men behind him starts to speak, but is immediately cut off.

"You dare to attack my people?" the sheriff declares in a very accusatory tone, "Well? What say you in your defense? Though I doubt you have anything defensible to say."

Kon gives a short, aborted bow, straightening and extending a hand with an affable demeanour, "Sorry for the misunderstanding, sir.  My name is Kon, this is one of my companions, Samara.  We were coming to speak with the folks and I'm afraid she got excited to meet new friends.  Samara's a dancer, you see, and her boisterous acrobatics were...  Alarming."

[12:13, Today: Elde Kon rolled 22 using 1d20+6 to Make an Impression, explaining the events since arriving and their talk with the millers]

Haznut runs up and, as soon as he can see what’s going on, falls to the ground in a fit of laughter, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Haha, you all… Kon and Samara…couldn’t..hurt a fly!” He forces out his statement between loud bellows and obnoxious laughter, sheathing his dagger and grinning.

Kon chides Haznut, "Wouldn't and couldn't are very different things.  I suppose that doesn't help our case though."

The sheriff seems to be considering Kon's words until Haznut's loud interruption. His eyes narrow and he turns his gaze back to Kon, "I assume that you're leaving soon. I can assure you; we do not tolerate rabble in our village." he says, "Therefore, I recommend you keep to the inn until you leave. My understanding is that tomorrow should bear some fine traveling weather." his words are just as clear as he meaning.

Kon nods, "Yes, we had planned to leave in the morning.  We had just come to talk, as I said, and...", he leans to the side to address some of the people behind the sheriff, "Samara wanted to invite you fine folk for an evening of entertainment."  Returning upright again, "I assure you, no rabble here.  In fact we are here on duty from the university in Lepidstadt.  But as you wish, we two will adjourn to the inn and restrain ourselves to imposing on only Hetrik for the rest of the day."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:13, Tue 29 Nov 2022.

"Save your breath, Kon," Samara whispers, "They're not listening."
Slowly, arms wide, Samara sweeps a deep curtsy. "Please accept my most heartfelt apologies, Sheriff. I really had no idea my person would be so terrifying to them. I certainly meant no harm, quite the opposite. I am an entertainer, and thought to perform for the people this evening. I am truly sorry that my intent was misconstrued. I shall quit the field, and trouble you no more."
Attempting another Diplomacy effort on this new target.
19:43, Today: Samara al-Khafif rolled 13 using 1d20+5.  Diplomacy / Make an Impression vs. Sheriff.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:44, Tue 29 Nov 2022.

"Your prancing..." he begins Souray, "...um...might be exactly what this town needs after a hard day's work." he finishes, then regains his composure and sharply tells everyone to disperse before stomping off to his home.

Samara cocks her head to one side, looking after the departing Sheriff, raises an eyebrow at Kon, then glances back behind her.

Kon pats Samara on the shoulder, "See, they're friendly folk in the end.  They just have to warm up to the boisterous nature.  I'm sure the apology helped too.  That's probably what counts as public acceptance around here.  I'm sure we'll see more than a few people show up later."  Waving to the people, Kon turns to head back toward the Apple Blossom inn, "Next time though perhaps you should leave the cutlery at home.  Besides, you've got claws.  Who needs daggers in a quaint little place like this?"

Vostiun walks up to the group of his colleagues kepping a comforting hand on Saidou's shoulder. "Already making fast friends, I see. Well at least we got some directions from the priest."

Vostiun watches the villagers disperse and keeps and eye on one man in particular from the crowd.

The villagers disperse leaving you all alone, though the orchard workers are still close by.

This message was deleted by the player at 05:11, Tue 29 Nov 2022.

In reply to Vostiun Hephaurio (msg # 11):

Saidou seems on edge as he and Vostiun arrived, by his shadow's wavering fingers fidgeting while it's owner keeps their hands almost frozen stiff and still.

With an audible crack of strain, Saidou speaks in a low tone two steps above a growl, deliberately not looking to Kon or Samara, "Prancing, the angry stern man says. We are prancing, evidently. Are we to be a circus then? I a knife tosser, and we try to convince the crowd tha' Hazzy is a bearded woman? Were you hoping they bring the torches out ready lit, that you can juggle them while they build the bonfire stake? Are you... What... Do you even..."

Saidou's minor rant tapers off into silent, steady, controlled breathing exercises.

Vostiun waits for the villagers to disperse before quietly saying, "A man who just went back to the mill convinced the sheriff to change his mind with a look. If we wanted to push our luck, if, that might be a good place to look."

Then, at a normal volume, "The priest said if we follow the river about a day's travel we should find the site. Apparently it was a common camp site for crusaders."

Kon shrugs at Saidou and gestures to Samara, "All of the prancing was done, and will be done, by Samara.  I'll be covering the tea side of things, as usual."

Turning to Vostiun he continues, a little louder, "At least you had more luck than we had.  We unfortunately missed the merchants by several weeks.  The millers were also rather busy.  'Pick a direction, you'll find ruined buildings everywhere around here' isn't exactly what I was hoping for."  With a dismissive wave of his hand toward the mill he finishes his sentence.

Nudging Samara to follow along he slowly walks back toward the inn, "And then this fiasco happened.  No chance to talk to the folks here I'm afraid, but it sounds like perhaps they'll be by the inn tonight to see Samara's routine in the end."  Kon walks up to Vostiun and claps him on the shoulder a couple of times but mutters, "We spoke to one of two brothers, Darrel, at the mill earlier..."  He describes a few unique traits during the quick pats, then nods, gestures toward the inn with a hand, and continues his slow walk past.  Still in a low voice, Kon asks, "Sound like the one?  He was rather terse and busy when we visited."

[Elde Kon begins to Follow a Lead on Darrel Miller, the...  miller...  2/2]

Vostiun shrugs. "Potentially. There were two men who looked related."

Kon nods again and mutters, "I never got to talk to Darrel's brother.  I agreed to return to the inn though, so I'll head back with Samara and we can prepare for the evening's festivities.  If you stop by to talk, be sure to invite them for later, though I expect they'll appear one way or another."

Saidou would appear to be much calmer, saying in a quiet voice- "Well, then let us return to the inn. We have our stay of execution, and someplace to sleep tonight. Perhaps the miller approaches us tonight with a reason why he nodded the Sheriff off, or we can meet him on our way out of town tomorrow if not..."

He rubs his arm against a chill, shakes his head, and sighs. "I am ... sorry, for my reaction earlier. This town has been passively hostile to the point it put me on edge. I know that's not an excuse, but I still love traveling with you all- Even you, Samara. You keep things interesting, I guess."

"You are so CUTE when you get mad, Sadie!
"Certainly not the way I would have wanted or expected it to go, but still, I rather say it was successful.
"There won't be a tongue in town not wagging about us today. They'll be lining up to peek in the windows this evening.
"And one other thing is for sure...
...they're hiding something."
Samara sounds as cheery as ever, but her tail swishes, and she is walking without her usual exuberance.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:20, Tue 29 Nov 2022.

In reply to Samara al-Khafif (msg # 20):

With a snort of amusement, Saidou responds to Samaras statement. "Of course they're hiding something, everybody does. So, do consider that in some instances, Samara, tongues can wag in ways we do not wish them to. I suppose the end result is ... acceptable, if things go well. But every town has secrets, and not all of them are secrets they want told. This will give them the opportunity, I suppose, to bring us the things they wish to solve, the laundry they wish to air. But careful that we do not ruin our potential to stop here on our way home."

Saidou looks to Vostiun, and remarks - "If they're heading back to the inn to prepare for the evening, was there anyplace else you think we should check out for the afternoon? And should we bring Haznut with us?"

“Aye, I should probably head back to the inn with Samira and Kon.” Haznut gets up and dust himself off after the crowd started to disperse. “I’d spoken to the sheriff for a short moment, I’d you could call it that even. Less than two sentences before he basically wanted me to get lost, imagine if I had an emergency!” He chuckles and ties his peace knot around his dagger before heading back. “A bearded lady isn’t too uncommon for dwarves, but I don’t quite have the figure.” He chuckles again.

"The only thing worse than being talked about, Saidou, is not being talked about."

"I think we've caused enough trouble for tonight. Perhaps the miller will come by this evening or like you said we can stop by in the morning."

Vostiun starts to make his way back to the inn.

Ok, so here is the rough timeline that will occur. This is purposefully a list without specific details and is for your planning purposes only.

The inn will be locked up for the night in 6 hours. The sun will set in 4 hours at which point dinner will be served at the inn.

• Hours 1-3: The inn will be empty except for the innkeeps family and workers.
• Hours 3-4: The smith, priest, and ~3 farmers arrive.
• Hours 4-6: Dinner is served and eaten, then guests leave and the inn is locked up.

Let me know what your characters are doing during these time blocks. If you are attempting anything that needs die rolls, please also post those die rolls. If you are not sure what you can do, look over the rules for your various skills and we are in EXPLORATION MODE as far as game mechanics are concerned.

Any other questions should be posted in Discord.