CH. 06 - Harvest Festival

[Daos]

Ladonna Marche (Lonely Pony Tavern, Common Room)
"I'm not an elf, so I couldn't say," Rebekah replies.  "Once they ruled the world, and many still have aims to do so again some day.  As a result, most people don't trust them."  She shrugs.  "Liala is an elf raised in a human town, with human values.  I suppose it's not terribly surprising she'd view her own people and culture and language as 'foreign.'"

Theronymous P. Wiggledigit (Village Square)
Theron heads back downstairs and to the village square.  It has been decorated for the festival with streamers, ribbons and flags all bearing autumn colors of red and gold. There are a number of contests being set up, including a fishing contest, an archery contest, a wrestling contest, a drinking contest, a music contest and a trivia contest. There is also a grange display, where anyone can enter something they created or crafted to win a prize. Not to mention numerous vendor stands that sell food, drink and little knickknack souvenirs for the tourists.

Katya (Village Square)

"Everything's fine, I assure you," Dawn says.  "Isn't that right, Acolyte Glun?"

Garnet fidgets, and casts her eyes downward to her feet.  "Y-Yes..."

[HorizonsDream]

"I suppose so," Ladonna says. Though, she still seems a little disturbed by the whole idea of wanting to change into a human. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't keep you from the festival even though I have a couple of more questions for you. They can wait until later," she says with a smile.

[Ezeze]

Katya is not entirely convinced, but it was very hard to determine when Garnet was actually in distress because the poor thing constantly appears to be in distress. She couldn't push forward without being rude, and likely mortifying the acolyte in the process.

"Then I'll leave you to your private conversation. I hope you both enjoy the festival." Katya excuses herself.

Then finds something to do within earshot of Finbul and Calvin - perusing a stand, maybe. Or watching a contest. - So she can discretely eavesdrop. Not maliciously, of course. Just in case her old friend needs some help.

[Daos]

Ladonna Marche (Lonely Pony Tavern, Common Room)

"It's fine.  Shall we return to the festivities then?" Rebekah asks.

Katya (Village Square)

Katya walks away from Garnet and Dawn and instead makes her way closer to Finbul and Calvin.

Calvin Kippes, a male human in his late twenties, serves a dual role in the village.  Primarily, he is the cobbler.  However, the population of Buho doesn’t generate sufficient demand for him to engage in the work full-time. Thus, he supplements his income by being a woodcutter for those in the town who lack either the time or strength to cut their own. Generally, he cuts wood in fair weather and makes shoes in foul weather, so whether or not the shop is open depends upon the disposition of the clouds.

Calvin is a sinewy man, nearly six feet tall with brown hair, brown eyes, and a ruddy complexion.  His father died in the war and his mother passed from sickness a few years back, so he has no family, having never married.  He's so buried in his work, so wonder if he ever will.

He and Finbul are currently arguing.

"I'm just saying," Finbul continues, "that this entire land used to be nothing but forest.  The constant deforestation of this nation will eventually lead to widespread ecological and economic disasters."

"Will you get lost already?" Calvin counters.  "They're just some damned trees.  So some squirrels will have to find a new place to live.  Big deal."

"Without trees to produce the air we breathe--"

"Trees don't make air.  That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Have you ever read a book in your life?" Finbul asks.  "Trees breathe in carbon dioxide and then convert it to--"

"Ha, trees don't breathe!  They don't even have noses or mouths.  Boy, you sure don't know much about nature for a druid, do you?" Calvin retorts.

[Ezeze]

Katya struggles to keep a straight face. Thankfully the men are too distracted by their conversation to notice. Poor Finul is arguing uphill trying to get a woodcutter to cut less wood, but their banter doesn't seem to be in any danger of coming to blows - or, in fact, doing anything other than frustrating both participants. She lets her focus drift to the trivia contest.

She joins the crowd, a member of the audience rather than a participant. It will be interesting to see what kind of questions are asked.

[HorizonsDream]

"Have a good day, Rebekah," Ladonna says with a smile before she makes her exit.

Ladonna walks out of the tavern, and heads to the festival. She starts scanning the crowd for the various council members of the town so that she can get a sense as to where they are and what they are doing.

[notARobot]

Seeing that the contests are still in the preparatory stages, Theronymous decides to wander freely among the accumulating crowd.  As he does so, he tries to pick out anyone who looks like they're gearing up to participate in the drinking, wrestling, or trivia contests.

[GravityEmblem]

Lillian, after standing awkwardly next to Ryan, decides to head outside to to see what the other people are doing. The trivia contest catches her eye, and she eagerly makes her toward it to sign up.

[Daos]

Ladonna, Lillian and Theron all arrive at the festival grounds just as the trivia contest is about to begin.

Judy McIntyre has set up a small stage with six chairs on it.  On each chair sits a cowbell.  "Attention, people of Buho.  The trivia contest is about to begin!" Judy announces to anyone passing by.  She holds up a bulbous purple bottle.  "The winner will receive this, a Potion of Genius, brewed under church supervision.  Drinking it will make one smarter for several hours.  If you wish to participate, come up on the stage and have a seat.  I'll ask a series of questions, and if you know the answer, ring the bell.  Whoever answers the most questions correctly wins."

====================

(OOC:  Passing an INT check will allow your character to know the answer, even if the player does not.  If your character has a relevant proficiency, they can use that instead.  E.g., if the question is about ancient history, and you have the ancient history NWP, you can roll that instead.)

[HorizonsDream]

Ladonna glances around for a moment, then confidently walks up to the stage and sits down in one of the chairs. "I'm in," she says cheerfully.

[GravityEmblem]

Lillian takes a seat as well.

[notARobot]

Theron swaggers onto the stage positively oozing confidence, as though the outcome of the contest were already determined.  He looks over to Ladonna and Lillian, flashes them a grin, and says, "Sorry ladies -- it doesn't look like there's a runner-up prize for this one."

[GravityEmblem]

"Fine by me," Lillian lightheartedly retorts. "I think you need that potion more than us."

[Daos]

Liala also joins them and takes a seat on the stage.  As the chairs are human sized, Theron must climb up onto his in order to sit on it properly.

"We may now begin," Judy says.  "We can start with an easy one.  The first question is...what material, in the common vernacular, is known as 'Gonto's Bounty'?"

[notARobot]

Theron just smirks in response to Lillian's rejoinder.  Scarcely a moment after Mrs. McIntyre finishes asking the first question, he rings his bell enthusiastically.

EDIT:  The answer is 'gold'.