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23
Rova 4707
When
the dawn bells ring in Sandpoint, the day holds the promise of clear weather,
the excitement of an upcoming festival, and the solemnity of the dedication of
a new house of worship.
 |
| Bethana Corwin |
At
the nearby Sandpoint Garrison, Oliver Turn awakens to the sound of morning
reveille. He gets dressed and pins a
cloth badge to his tabard identifying himself as an auxiliary member of the
Town Watch. As he waits to hear his duty
assignment, he sees Sheriff Hemlock receiving upsetting news. Hemlock motions for Oliver and another
freelancer to follow him and they head towards the North Gate, stopping at a
relatively new three-story building whose entrance is flanked by a pair of
carved deer made from white birch.
Hemlock strides right into the White Deer Inn and starts up the stairs
(after speaking briefly with a maid), much to the surprise and anger from the inn’s
proprietor, Garridan Viskalai.
The
argument in the hallway between Hemlock and Viskalai is loud enough to wake
Felix Bloodrider seconds before there’s loud pounding on his door. Hemlock, flanked by Oliver and another
watchman, with Viskalai looking on angrily, confronts Felix with the news that
word quickly spread of his assault on the Magnimarian merchants and their
bodyguards last night. Hemlock says that
if the victims hadn’t already fled and could swear out a statement, Felix would
already be in a jail cell. Felix isn’t
intimidated in the least by his fellow Shoanti warrior’s imposing presence, and
makes the fact clear to Hemlock. The two
look poised for an altercation until Hemlock declares he doesn’t have time to
deal with Felix, and appoints Oliver to keep a close eye on him all day to
ensure he stays out of trouble.
 |
| Mayor Deverin |
The Swallowtail Festival starts on time with a series of speeches by
town leaders. Mayor Kendra Deverin
thanks everyone for attending and says that the construction of a new church
shows that Sandpoint has heart. Sheriff
Hemlock asks for a moment of silence to remember the lives that were lost in
the fire that claimed the previous chapel five years earlier. As Lonjiku Kaijitsu is ill,
theatre-proprietor Cyrdak Drokkus takes the stage and tells a few jokes before
introducing Father Abstalar Zantus, Priest of Desna. Father Zantus declares the Swallowtail Festival
officially underway. Attendees scatter
for food, games, trinkets, and more.
Xeveg makes the rounds of the local vendors, hoping to stumble across
anything of historical interest. He
notices a dull gray ioun stone, but the price is too high for him to afford
it. Felix sticks close to the
lemon-berry juice stand run by Garridan Viskalia’s wife and daughters before
being asked to escort the youngest daughter, nine-year-old Mantha, to the games
area. There, Felix tries “The Devil
Hunt” (firing arrows at a wooden rendering of the legendary Sandpoint Devil)
and “Raise the Shipwreck” (hitting a bellows so hard it knocks a bucket full of
coins and candy off a pole). He doesn’t
have much luck with either, and grouses about it loudly. For his part, Oliver keeps a close eye on the
festival-goers but doesn’t notice anything suspicious. Bey shares her matter-of-fact confidence that
the day will end in flames and death, leading most people to steer well clear
of her.
 |
| Father Zantus |
At midday, the festival-goers assemble before the Cathedral again, where
Father Zantus and his four acolytes have arranged for a covered wagon to be
brought into the square. Father Zantus
delivers a parable about how Desna, goddess of luck, beauty, and travel, fell
to earth after being defeated by the vicious demon-goddess Lamashtu. Desna was befriended by a young blind girl
who nursed her back to health, and in gratitude the goddess turned the girl
into a Swallowtail butterfly so she could see the world of Golarion and explore
it for all eternity. After the story is
finished, the cover on the wagon is pulled back to reveal thousands of
Swallowtail butterflies; the freed creatures fly up into the sky in a beautiful
spiral of color.
Lunch is provided free to all by the proprietors of three local
kitchens: Garridan Viskalai, Shoanti
owner of the White Deer Inn; Jargie Quinn, peg-legged owner of the Hagfish; and
Ameiko Kaijitsu, well-liked owner of the Rusty Dragon. Felix and Bey end up sitting next to one
another, and Bey shares her belief that the streets will soon run red with
blood. Felix is enthusiastic about the
idea. On the other side of the square,
Oliver cleans his nails with his shortsword while Xeveg tries various exotic
foods and then plays chess with his familiar, much to the daylight of nearby
children.
After lunch, Bey spots her recent companion in battle and asks Oliver
how he is feeling. She observes that one
of his wounds seems to be infected, and that although he may die, she hopes
he’ll live long enough to join in resisting the doom that will soon befall
them. In turn, Oliver expresses his
confidence that he’ll be fine. The
ranger continues to trail Felix at a distance, leading the heavily-muscled
Shoanti man to introduce himself. When
asked “what his quest” is, Felix replies “beer, food, and wenches!” Xeveg continues scouring merchant and junk stalls,
and has a stroke of luck: mixed in with a pile of homemade jewellery and old
war medals is a medallion depicting a strikingly beautiful but enraged human
woman. Xeveg instantly realizes the
medallion is both ancient in creation but relatively unmarked by the passage of
time, and that it depicts one of the rulers of old Thassilon, the Runelord
Alaznist. He can’t afford the initial
price asked for, but negotiates a deal to buy it at a cheaper price if it
hasn’t been sold by the end of the day. Bey
Lin takes a break from the festival and visits Brodert Quink to see if he’s
recovered from his wounds; though laid up in bed, Brodert says he’s getting
better. The old sage is annoyed,
however, because he’s lost his brass spyglass.
 |
| Goblins Attack the Swallowtail Festival! |
At
sunset, it seems like the whole of Sandpoint has turned out in front of the new
cathedral to witness the dedication ceremony.
Father Zantus throws a thunderstone on the ground to get everyone’s
attention and starts to speak, but his words are cut off by the sound of a
woman’s scream, and then the sudden surge of strange, high-pitched voices
chanting a crude song. The crowd parts
as a dog stumbles through, its throat cut from ear to ear and spraying blood
everywhere. Felix and Oliver spot a
three-foot tall creature with a scrawny body dwarfed by a wide, ungainly
head. A goblin! It licks the blood from the blade used to
slit the dog’s throat and cackles in obvious glee. Other goblins are spotted all around, and
people begin to panic!
Xeveg
reacts instantly, magically blasting a goblin off a nearby cart and into a
water trough to drown. Felix literally
punches a hole in the skull of another goblin, while Bey and Oliver corner a
goblin in a nearby residence. The
giggling goblin hurls plates and silverware at the adventurers, dodging
Oliver’s attempt to catch it in a blanket and Bey’s attempt to magically
shatter its weapon. Seconds later, Felix
reaches the scene and, learning that Oliver wants a prisoner to interrogate,
gathers the goblin up in a chokehold and slams its forehead into a table and
unconsciousness. Oliver quickly binds
the prisoner with fishing line.
But the raid on Sandpoint is far from over! As shouts and screams and the sound of battle
can be heard everywhere, the adventurers realize that a cart full of wood,
intended for an evening bonfire, has been set ablaze by another group of goblins.
They’re so busy dancing and singing that they don’t even realize they’re
being watched, which gives the adventurers a chance to advance. Xeveg slips into the tent holding the
Thassilonian medallion and stuffs it into his pocket; he starts to run away,
but then changes his mind and returns to the battle. He and Bey work together
to stop an emerging threat: one of the goblins has grabbed a brand from the
blazing wagon and is trying to set the new cathedral on fire! Xeveg conjures ice and Bey conjures water to
put out the goblin’s torch. The ensuing
fight is a difficult one, as Felix and Oliver get surrounded by goblins and
their warchanter before turning the tide and emerging victorious.
 |
| Goblin Commando |
There’s scant time for celebration, however, as one last challenge
remains. To the north of the cathedral,
near the city gates and the White Deer Inn, a nobleman has been cornered by a
goblin commando mounted on a goblin dog.
Three goblins who had been hiding emerge from cover to cheer and caper
as the commando decapitates a dog.
Oliver fires a crossbow bolt into the commando’s leg, distracting the
attacker long enough for Bey to run into position and use her bardiche to
defend the nobleman. She’s left fighting
the commando one-on-one for several moments as the other goblins charge Felix,
Oliver, and Xeveg. Xeveg gets stabbed in
an unfortunate place by a goblin “dogslicer” and drops to the ground,
bleeding. But Felix is a one-man army,
using elbow smashes, jump kicks, and roundhouse punches to quickly fell the
attackers. He and Oliver then run to
join Bey in fending off the commando. Felix does a flying double-elbow strike to dismount the commando, and Oliver’s greatsword takes off his head!
Bey Lin sees to everyone’s wounds, and Xeveg regains consciousness.
 |
| Aldern Foxglove |
The
cowering nobleman, who gives his name as Aldern Foxglove of Magnimar, thanks
the adventurers profusely. He says he’ll
be staying in Sandpoint at the Rusty Dragon for a few days and he’ll reward
them for saving his life if they come by before he departs for his townhouse in
the city.
As
the adventurers head south back into Sandpoint, they see that the goblin raid
is over, with the attackers having been killed, captured, or driven off. The Swallowtail Festival has come to a
perilous end and most residents of Sandpoint have locked themselves in their
homes. The Town Watch now patrols in
force. Ameiko Kaitjitsu is seen cleaning
her rapier of blood, and when she sees the adventurers, she praises them on
their heroism in driving off the raiders and offers them a week’s free stay at
the Rusty Dragon.
For
a new group of adventurers forged in bloodshed, questions still remain: how
could such chaotic creatures have mounted a coordinated raid? What were they hoping to achieve? Is Sandpoint truly out of danger? The coming days promise answers and dangers
alike.
--------------------------------------------
Director's Commentary (22/01/2017)
I always try to put a lot of thought into how a campaign begins: I want it to be organic, interesting, and memorable. Apart from "everyone is in town for the festival," the adventure path didn't provide a lot of information so I tried to work every character into the session and trusted that the heat of combat would provide the needed bond.
I used material from the official forums to flesh out the speeches at the beginning of the festival and for the games. The PCs didn't make much use of the games, but I was glad they were there. I wanted the festival to be more than just something that passes by in a couple of lines of narrative, so I had each player tell me at least one thing their character was doing in the morning, and then again for the afternoon, and we role-played it out.
You get a glimpse of Bey's personality as an Oracle with the Apocalypse mystery: it comes across as almost bizarrely calm. The person running Oliver was brand new to gaming (not just Pathfinder), and we'll soon see how much fun that is.
The battles against the goblins went quite well and the PCs were impressive (especially Felix as a Level 1 brawler, tearing everything up). Poor Xeveg got caught with a crit and fell into negatives, but wasn't seriously close to death.
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