10.02.16

Summary
The party woke up in the morning and was directed by Nighthill to head over to the Dark Red Bull Man tavern. Upon arrival, they receive gifts from the townsfolk, including a copy of Linan Swift's book, "How to Make Turnips Actually Taste Good." Tonans takes this. Ricky and his nephew look significantly better and talk more about McGuffin's. They claim to buy out most of it, so there isn't any in town. But the party accepts the coupon for wool coats.

Then comes the fun. Goofus and Gallant arrive, and the whole party participates in their games. Dr. Bratwurst goes first, followed by Tonans, Caelynn, Ana and Torment. Caelynn and Ana fail, and suffer their punishments. The others are victorious. Afterwards, the group meets Nesim Waladra, who tells them of Ereven, a monk of the Order of Merlin and Waladra's master. Waladra recognizes Dr. Bratwurst as a member of their order as well, and has heard tales of the Drow monk. He is not sure whether to trust him, however, as he has seen drow to terrible things. He was present at the destruction of Leilon.

Nesim asks the party to go after Ereven, whom he believes to have been kidnapped. He says that Ereven has knowledge of the work of the Cult of the Dragon. I expected Ana to make more of a big deal about the guy who rescued her as a girl but she may have forgotten. In any event, Ana led the party in accepting the quest from Nesim.

The session ended with Nesim leaving the Dark Red Bull Man tavern, leaving the characters to prepare.

Session Outline
Dark carnies with games for you
 * 1) Oh! What a beautiful morning!
 * 2) *The party arises and, presumably, go to look for either Nighthill, Escobert, or breakfast. In any event, they are soon found by a number of townspeople who have brought them gifts. Among them, Ricky appears, to bring them a coupon for 30% off of wool coats. Ricky looks positively radiant, and his nephew, one of the prisoners, does as well. They both drink a bottle of McGuffin's Best Ginger Tonic, and are big believers in its effects. If the party shows him their bottle, he will remark that he's never seen a blue label before, and note that his is red. He and the nephew are excited to see a new variation.
 * 3) *At the end of the line is a pair of small gnomes. They bring behind them a small cart, and the crowd seems to mill around, anxious to see what happens.
 * 4) The Dark Carnival, but not that dark carnival
 * 5) *The two gnomes introduce themselves as Gallant and Goofus, lords of the Dark Carnival. They sing a song to indtroduce their purpose:
 * 6) **To the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Nice rewards but dangerous too

Do you dare to try your luck?

If you fail well then you're... in trouble

We've a task to test you each

Fame and Wealth within your reach!
 * Each character is able to decide if they will play their game, as follows:

Tonans: Farmville

 * The gnomes lay out a small playing board, covered with farm plots. The board has 16 spaces, in a 4x4 grid.
 * On each turn, the players (Tonans and Gallant) may take one or more squares to grow crops
 * If the player chooses wheat, he play place two fields
 * If the player chooses rutabagas, he may place only one
 * After all fields are placed, each player attempts to grow crops. The roll succeed on a 12 or better
 * Wheat fields produce 1 gold, but each connected one gives a +1 to the roll (not diagonal)
 * Rutabagas produce 2 gold, but each rutabaga field that consecutively produces gains an additional income (i.e. two successes in a row gives 5)
 * Rewards:  3 Arrows of Light, which provide bright light for one hour after firing, or an additional 1d4 radiant damage when used as a weapon
 * Loss: Healing Potion allergy. Healing potions restore only 2d4 points, rather than 2d4+2

Caelynn: Two Truths and a Lie

 * Caelynn seems like the honorable sort, so we will test her mettle in determining others
 * Gallant and Caelynn each take turns telling two truths and a lie about themselves. If the person guesses the lie correctly, they receive one point. First to two points wins
 * A successful insight check of DC 11 forces Gallant to eliminate one of the truths
 * Gallant's rounds
 * I once bit an elf on the buttocks
 * I own a great deal of property in Neverwinter (lie)
 * I used to go to and drink gallows of ale
 * Goofus is hoping you lose
 * I am hoping you lose
 * Linan Swift is hoping you lose (lie)
 * The dragon that attacked the town was black (lie)
 * The dragon that attacked the town was blue
 * The dragon that attacked the town was adult sized
 * The drow has been nearly killed last night
 * The human has been nearly killed last night
 * The tiefling has been nearly killed last night (lie)
 * The cultists wore black robes (lie)
 * The cultists wore brown robes
 * The cultists wore blue robes
 * Rewards: Quiet Dragon cloak. Looks like cult of the dragon, removes disadvantage to stealth when wearing heavy armor
 * Loss: Tone deaf. Character receives -1 to insight checks on characters that are not human, dwarf, or elf

Doctor Bratwurst: Test of Pain

 * Goofus produces a solid box, neither wooden nor metal, it is unidentifiable in its construction and origin
 * Bratwurst puts his hand into the box, and waits.
 * The box produces pain. Bratwurst must survive three rounds of both mental intimidation and physical pain.
 * In round one, he takes 1d6 damage and must attempt a DC 8 consitution check to keep his hand in the box
 * In round two, he takes 1d6+1 damage and must attempt a DC 10 constitution check
 * In round three, he takes 1d6+2 damage and must make a disadvantaged DC 12 con check
 * Character wins by surviving and passing the trial.
 * Rewards: Aura of Enlightenment. Character receives +1 to charisma or consitution checks when interacting with anyone who recognizes his status as a monk.
 * Loss: Enduring pain. Character retains his wounds (1 hp if he passes out) and hp max is reduced by 2

Torment: Child's Play

 * Torment likes children, and can speak to dragons, so he must be able to win at a word game
 * Starting with Gallant, each player names a letter to add to the current chain. If the player finishes a word, then they lose.
 * Best 3 of 5 wins
 * Rewards: The Sword Coast miracle guide to language (player can choose a language to set it, then may spend 1 hour studying it in free time to completely master one languange of their choosing.
 * Loss: Tongue tied. Character has disadvantage on verbal checks against children

Anastrianna: A battle of wits

 * The gnomes produce two glasses and secretly pour a particular poison (iocaine powder) into one of the glasses. They explain that it is one of the deadlier poisons, and particularly affects the victim's sense of direction
 * They place it before Anastrianna and ask her to choose one to drink. When Ana chooses, both drink
 * Both drinks are poisoned; the gnomes are immune to the poison. To win, Ana must choose not to drink. A successful insight check of 15 will reveal that whenever she begin to reach for one or the other, the gnomes pupils narrow and his body vibrates with anticipation.
 * Rewards: Vial of Cancellation. Potion can reverse any negative affect suffered by a character
 * Loss: Inner compass bent. Character can no longer sense direction