Gwenant grabs her tankard third... if only because of the competition! With only a simple "Cheers!" she immediately takes a long draught of her ale and starts on her soup. She hears the bard's song, and makes a mental note to go over it with her fellows, as it sounds like it could have plenty of useful information... Maybe she'll get a transcript from the bard before they leave tomorrow? After a little while, she slows down enough to start on one of her stories. "Alright, this one I heard from a rickety old merchant gnome a ways south of Neverwinter. He swears it was true, every word!" Without further ado, Gwenant begins her bombastic and almost certainly exaggerated retelling of the Tale of Slesemwy and the Young Drake...
"It was in the dead of winter, and in the gnomish village of Meklanford, the people were preparing to celebrate Midwinter. All sorts of candies and sweets were being made, mulled ciders, fine roasts, and all manner of delicious foods for the grand banquet that was to take place. But things took a turn for the worst when on the outskirts of town, a young black dragon was spotted. He was miserable in the cold, nearly blind in both eyes, and wanted the myriad tasty morsels the gnomes had made for himself, so he took on a human disguise, wandered down to the village and, after transforming into his true and terrible form, made his demands!"
Here, Gwenant adopts a faux-deep voice and growls, "Hear me, puny people, you are like insects before my greatness! On the day of your festival, you shall leave out your feast for me to eat, and if I am satisfied, I shall let you live!"
"The gnomes of Meklanford despaired, for they had no great heroes in the town, and what few adventurers frequented their countryside were all cowed and terrified by the fierce young drake. With seemingly no other option, the village elder commanded that they do as the dragon said, when a young gnomish maiden named Slesemwy stepped forward."
Gwenant's voice changes to a much higher pitch."I do not fear this dragon, if you but give me a dagger and a good, stout rope, I'll bring you back its heart!"
"Many of the people tittered, but the elder saw something in the young maid, and granted her request. With her dagger and her rope in tow, she gathered a few other items. There was a large stone from the river, a small wheel of cheese, a small rubber ball, a flighty little sparrow, and a block of incense and some firewood. With the firewood, she made a small camp for herself on a hill outside the village, tossed the incense into it, surrounding herself with cloying smoke, and waited. It wasn't long before the young black wyrm saw her and landed before her in all his majesty."
"You are brave, child, but foolish, why do you sit in the open when I am about? Did you not see your adventurers cower in fear, nor your elders meekly bow?"
"The little gnome merely scoffed and said, 'Scared? Of you? Why should i fear something that I am obviously far stronger than?'This confused the dragon, but perhaps not as much as it enraged him. 'You? Stronger than me? Hah! I dare you to prove it, little girl! I have slain boar and bear and lion with my talons and breath alone, could you say the same?' To which Slesemwy said simply,'Very well, I shall prove it to you!'and she pulled forth the large stone and wheel of cheese."
"I can squeeze water from a rock without any effort, can you?"
"Of course I can, I am a dragon! If some child can do it, then I shall do it with ease!"
"So she gave him the stone, and held her cheese, and the young black dragon did not notice the difference, for his eyes were bad enough that he could only discern that both were roughly identical in size, shape, and color. The young drake squeezed and squeezed and squeezed, but no matter how hard he tried, no water came from the stone. Then Slesemwy squeezed the cheese wheel, and water flowed easily from it. The dragon snarled, but he only said, 'Surely you have another test of strength, how am I to know this isn't some fluke or trick?'"
"With a smile, the maiden replied, 'Then let us let our throwing arms decide! I have here, two balls, and I will throw mine so high, it shall not come down again!'Angry and with wounded pride, the young dragon did not even try to look for a trick, and simply snatched the ball she offered, and threw it high, high into the air, until it was but a dot in the sky... at which point it fell down, down, and landed some ways away. Before the dragon could think to take a closer look at her own attempt, Slesemwy threw the little sparrow, and he flew high, high into the air, and then flew away, until there was no sign of him. The young black dragon's pride was thoroughly wounded, and he immediately tried to think of a way that he could regain his sense of superiority over this little gnome, and it wasn't long before he growled to her."
"You may be strong, little girl, but I can do something none of yours can! I can change my form!"
"And with a roar, he transformed himself into a giant! Into a gryphon! Into all manner of large and terrible creatures! But Slesemwy, with a mischievous glint in her eye, simply said the words that would spell the dragon's downfall."
"You can make yourself bigger, yes, but you cannot make yourself smaller. It must be too hard for you!"
"The dragon snarled and immediately transformed himself into a human. 'Is this not a smaller form?' he growled."
"Slesemwy was unimpressed and said, 'but you can't turn into a cat.That's too small for you.'And the dragon, desperate to prove himself a great and powerful creature, turned into a small black cat, and then back again."
"'Ah',said the maiden,'but what is smaller than a fly? Certainly if you are a powerful dragon you must be able to turn yourself into a fly!'And without delay, the black dragon became a little black fly... Who, within a few seconds of transforming, fainted from all the smoke and incense in the air. Dizzy and nearly unconscious, the young dragon transformed back into a dragon, at which point Slesemwy, still fully prepared and ready for this outcome, threw the rope around the young dragon's neck and put all her little gnomish weight onto the great serpentine neck! Dizzy as he was, the dragon was on even footing with the maiden, and it wasn't long before he fell completely unconscious, then died to the maiden. Without further ado, she took her dagger, cut out the dragon's heart, and returned to her village a hero!"
"And that's how a young gnomish maiden choked out a dragon and saved the Midwinter Festival!"She looks around a bit sheepishly, having realized that she's just shouted that last part, and takes another gulp of ale. "Like I was saying though, a bit odd, but there are plenty of little lessons to pull from that."
The bard doesn’t keep a written transcript of his songs, but for 5 silver coins he’ll gladly sing it again and you can take note. Or you can make an intelligence check to see how much you remember from the first time around.
"Hello Martin - come join us!" says Zak as Martin enters the Inn and sits down with the rest of us.
Zak sits eyes wide open in awe listening to Gwenant's story. "Go Gnomes!"
He's also listening to the bard play their song but he's actually catching quite a buzz from the ale and is not really even listening to the words, just enjoying the music itself.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Actually he's enjoying it so much (both the ale and the music) that he stands up, takes his sword off his back and leans it against the wall, and then proceeds to cut a rug right in the middle of the Inn.
"Heeyyyyy!! Yeahhh!! Anyone want to join me!?!"
Performance check to see how good of a dancer Zak is (LOL): 6
Renny watches Zak absolutely nail it on the 'dance floor' (if you could call it that) with total shock.. so much shock she doesn't realize that she's almost through that ale. Apparently she's just been downing it.
Spotty remains rather quiet, simply watching and listening with amusement while he enjoys his plate of ribs. He isn't drinking his ale, though- at his small size, it's too easy to overindulge.
Gwenant can't stop the wide grin splitting her face at the sight of a dancing Zak. "If he can move like that, I don't think anything in the Citadel will touch him, whether they want to or not!" She drains the rest of her ale and leans back in her chair with a happy sigh, content and satisfied with food, company, and entertainment alike.
Some drunk farmers get in on the action, while another traveler gets out a flute and plays along with the bard, happier than ever that people are dancing to his tunes!
A barmaid comes to the table, and offers you another six tankards of dwarven ale:
Felosial only paid for one round, but this one’s on us! Your friend there has made a lot of customers get another round of drinks!
Gwenant stops gnawing on a rib long enough to nod at Renny. "Yeah, that's right." She takes another bite and swallows before continuing. "Though with the Lord of the Dance over there we may need to re-hash a few points in the morning. Regardless, I'm mostly what I look like. I was a gladiatrix until a year or two ago, more of a pit fighter really, so I'm good at hitting things. I also have a good nose for weird creatures, and I have magical healing hands."
She snickers at Spotty, "What are they going to do? Dance each other to death?"
When the barmaids come around, Hef orders a half-pint along with the rest of the party's order. If they have something a bit weaker for the small folk he'll ask for that as well. He's still nursing his first, but he doesn't want spotty to miss out.
"I'm pretty 'name on the tin' as well. I'm a soldier, more a sword-for-hire these days... though I've got standards for who I work for. I have a stick with a blade on the end. I'll try to keep the rest of you out of danger, but one pair of boots can only do so much." He kind of fades off at that last bit, some memory stirring. He takes a pull of ale.
When the half-pint arrives he smiles and offers it to Spotty. "I've served with a few Halfling funditors... slingers. This is prob'ly more yer speed."
Renny nods to Hef and Gwenant, "Well, you guys may have figured out my thing... I've got some magic now. Most of it revolving around fire."
If there's a flame near by, preferably a lamp on the table with them, she'll move her fingers slightly in it's directly and the following things happen: the flame instantly snuffs out, then re-lights.. then it doubles in brightness for a moment before returning to normal but then within the flame forms a tiny dragon that rears it's head and beats its wings.
"Just some tricks.. anything else is a bit too destructive for where we are."
As the evening goes on, most customers are now leaving the tavern. The bard sang his last song, and went around asking for a few coins. He then leaves through the front door. Other than your party, there seems to be only three people left in the bar: Garon, one barmaid (Selena), and a young man sitting at the bar drinking quietly.
Zak unfortunately doesn't see the cool trick that Renny displays because he's still dancing. Although he's starting to get tired, and drinking the second ale a little slower than the first.
Gwenant grabs her tankard third... if only because of the competition! With only a simple "Cheers!" she immediately takes a long draught of her ale and starts on her soup. She hears the bard's song, and makes a mental note to go over it with her fellows, as it sounds like it could have plenty of useful information... Maybe she'll get a transcript from the bard before they leave tomorrow? After a little while, she slows down enough to start on one of her stories. "Alright, this one I heard from a rickety old merchant gnome a ways south of Neverwinter. He swears it was true, every word!" Without further ado, Gwenant begins her bombastic and almost certainly exaggerated retelling of the Tale of Slesemwy and the Young Drake...
"It was in the dead of winter, and in the gnomish village of Meklanford, the people were preparing to celebrate Midwinter. All sorts of candies and sweets were being made, mulled ciders, fine roasts, and all manner of delicious foods for the grand banquet that was to take place. But things took a turn for the worst when on the outskirts of town, a young black dragon was spotted. He was miserable in the cold, nearly blind in both eyes, and wanted the myriad tasty morsels the gnomes had made for himself, so he took on a human disguise, wandered down to the village and, after transforming into his true and terrible form, made his demands!"
Here, Gwenant adopts a faux-deep voice and growls, "Hear me, puny people, you are like insects before my greatness! On the day of your festival, you shall leave out your feast for me to eat, and if I am satisfied, I shall let you live!"
"The gnomes of Meklanford despaired, for they had no great heroes in the town, and what few adventurers frequented their countryside were all cowed and terrified by the fierce young drake. With seemingly no other option, the village elder commanded that they do as the dragon said, when a young gnomish maiden named Slesemwy stepped forward."
Gwenant's voice changes to a much higher pitch. "I do not fear this dragon, if you but give me a dagger and a good, stout rope, I'll bring you back its heart!"
"Many of the people tittered, but the elder saw something in the young maid, and granted her request. With her dagger and her rope in tow, she gathered a few other items. There was a large stone from the river, a small wheel of cheese, a small rubber ball, a flighty little sparrow, and a block of incense and some firewood. With the firewood, she made a small camp for herself on a hill outside the village, tossed the incense into it, surrounding herself with cloying smoke, and waited. It wasn't long before the young black wyrm saw her and landed before her in all his majesty."
"You are brave, child, but foolish, why do you sit in the open when I am about? Did you not see your adventurers cower in fear, nor your elders meekly bow?"
"The little gnome merely scoffed and said, 'Scared? Of you? Why should i fear something that I am obviously far stronger than?' This confused the dragon, but perhaps not as much as it enraged him. 'You? Stronger than me? Hah! I dare you to prove it, little girl! I have slain boar and bear and lion with my talons and breath alone, could you say the same?' To which Slesemwy said simply, 'Very well, I shall prove it to you!' and she pulled forth the large stone and wheel of cheese."
"I can squeeze water from a rock without any effort, can you?"
"Of course I can, I am a dragon! If some child can do it, then I shall do it with ease!"
"So she gave him the stone, and held her cheese, and the young black dragon did not notice the difference, for his eyes were bad enough that he could only discern that both were roughly identical in size, shape, and color. The young drake squeezed and squeezed and squeezed, but no matter how hard he tried, no water came from the stone. Then Slesemwy squeezed the cheese wheel, and water flowed easily from it. The dragon snarled, but he only said, 'Surely you have another test of strength, how am I to know this isn't some fluke or trick?'"
"With a smile, the maiden replied, 'Then let us let our throwing arms decide! I have here, two balls, and I will throw mine so high, it shall not come down again!' Angry and with wounded pride, the young dragon did not even try to look for a trick, and simply snatched the ball she offered, and threw it high, high into the air, until it was but a dot in the sky... at which point it fell down, down, and landed some ways away. Before the dragon could think to take a closer look at her own attempt, Slesemwy threw the little sparrow, and he flew high, high into the air, and then flew away, until there was no sign of him. The young black dragon's pride was thoroughly wounded, and he immediately tried to think of a way that he could regain his sense of superiority over this little gnome, and it wasn't long before he growled to her."
"You may be strong, little girl, but I can do something none of yours can! I can change my form!"
"And with a roar, he transformed himself into a giant! Into a gryphon! Into all manner of large and terrible creatures! But Slesemwy, with a mischievous glint in her eye, simply said the words that would spell the dragon's downfall."
"You can make yourself bigger, yes, but you cannot make yourself smaller. It must be too hard for you!"
"The dragon snarled and immediately transformed himself into a human. 'Is this not a smaller form?' he growled."
"Slesemwy was unimpressed and said, 'but you can't turn into a cat.That's too small for you.' And the dragon, desperate to prove himself a great and powerful creature, turned into a small black cat, and then back again."
"'Ah', said the maiden, 'but what is smaller than a fly? Certainly if you are a powerful dragon you must be able to turn yourself into a fly!' And without delay, the black dragon became a little black fly... Who, within a few seconds of transforming, fainted from all the smoke and incense in the air. Dizzy and nearly unconscious, the young dragon transformed back into a dragon, at which point Slesemwy, still fully prepared and ready for this outcome, threw the rope around the young dragon's neck and put all her little gnomish weight onto the great serpentine neck! Dizzy as he was, the dragon was on even footing with the maiden, and it wasn't long before he fell completely unconscious, then died to the maiden. Without further ado, she took her dagger, cut out the dragon's heart, and returned to her village a hero!"
"And that's how a young gnomish maiden choked out a dragon and saved the Midwinter Festival!" She looks around a bit sheepishly, having realized that she's just shouted that last part, and takes another gulp of ale. "Like I was saying though, a bit odd, but there are plenty of little lessons to pull from that."
The bard doesn’t keep a written transcript of his songs, but for 5 silver coins he’ll gladly sing it again and you can take note. Or you can make an intelligence check to see how much you remember from the first time around.
Dungeon Master – MelGon's Tales from the Yawning Portal
Hawk of the Night (Hawk) – Level 2 Tabaxi Ranger – Swift's Storm King's Thunder
Lavandula Angustia – Level 1 Tiefling Rogue – LMoP campaign, DM: novaskyr
"Hello Martin - come join us!" says Zak as Martin enters the Inn and sits down with the rest of us.
Zak sits eyes wide open in awe listening to Gwenant's story. "Go Gnomes!"
He's also listening to the bard play their song but he's actually catching quite a buzz from the ale and is not really even listening to the words, just enjoying the music itself.
He's essentially rocking out.
Actually he's enjoying it so much (both the ale and the music) that he stands up, takes his sword off his back and leans it against the wall, and then proceeds to cut a rug right in the middle of the Inn.
"Heeyyyyy!! Yeahhh!! Anyone want to join me!?!"
Performance check to see how good of a dancer Zak is (LOL): 6
LMFAO
Renny watches Zak absolutely nail it on the 'dance floor' (if you could call it that) with total shock.. so much shock she doesn't realize that she's almost through that ale. Apparently she's just been downing it.
"No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow"
"No power in the 'verse can stop me"
Renny snaps out of after moment and looks at the others, "I think we know what his skills are now. Is dancing useful in the Sunless Citadel?"
"No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow"
"No power in the 'verse can stop me"
Spotty remains rather quiet, simply watching and listening with amusement while he enjoys his plate of ribs. He isn't drinking his ale, though- at his small size, it's too easy to overindulge.
Gwenant can't stop the wide grin splitting her face at the sight of a dancing Zak. "If he can move like that, I don't think anything in the Citadel will touch him, whether they want to or not!" She drains the rest of her ale and leans back in her chair with a happy sigh, content and satisfied with food, company, and entertainment alike.
Renny snickers and starts in on the ribs, "Which reminds me.. we were going to go somewhere to find out what everyone can do. yeah?"
"No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow"
"No power in the 'verse can stop me"
Some drunk farmers get in on the action, while another traveler gets out a flute and plays along with the bard, happier than ever that people are dancing to his tunes!
A barmaid comes to the table, and offers you another six tankards of dwarven ale:
Felosial only paid for one round, but this one’s on us! Your friend there has made a lot of customers get another round of drinks!
Dungeon Master – MelGon's Tales from the Yawning Portal
Hawk of the Night (Hawk) – Level 2 Tabaxi Ranger – Swift's Storm King's Thunder
Lavandula Angustia – Level 1 Tiefling Rogue – LMoP campaign, DM: novaskyr
Ok Zak is starting to get drunk.
He takes the ale and keeps dancing. He’s a very happy drunk. He’s hugging everyone.
It’s going to be a rough morning for him.
Spotty chuckles and sighs. "Let's just hope nobody starts a fight..."
Gwenant stops gnawing on a rib long enough to nod at Renny. "Yeah, that's right." She takes another bite and swallows before continuing. "Though with the Lord of the Dance over there we may need to re-hash a few points in the morning. Regardless, I'm mostly what I look like. I was a gladiatrix until a year or two ago, more of a pit fighter really, so I'm good at hitting things. I also have a good nose for weird creatures, and I have magical healing hands."
She snickers at Spotty, "What are they going to do? Dance each other to death?"
When the barmaids come around, Hef orders a half-pint along with the rest of the party's order. If they have something a bit weaker for the small folk he'll ask for that as well. He's still nursing his first, but he doesn't want spotty to miss out.
"I'm pretty 'name on the tin' as well. I'm a soldier, more a sword-for-hire these days... though I've got standards for who I work for. I have a stick with a blade on the end. I'll try to keep the rest of you out of danger, but one pair of boots can only do so much." He kind of fades off at that last bit, some memory stirring. He takes a pull of ale.
When the half-pint arrives he smiles and offers it to Spotty. "I've served with a few Halfling funditors... slingers. This is prob'ly more yer speed."
Renny nods to Hef and Gwenant, "Well, you guys may have figured out my thing... I've got some magic now. Most of it revolving around fire."
If there's a flame near by, preferably a lamp on the table with them, she'll move her fingers slightly in it's directly and the following things happen: the flame instantly snuffs out, then re-lights.. then it doubles in brightness for a moment before returning to normal but then within the flame forms a tiny dragon that rears it's head and beats its wings.
"Just some tricks.. anything else is a bit too destructive for where we are."
"No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow"
"No power in the 'verse can stop me"
Spotty nods and smiles at Renny's light show, then looks to Hef. "Thanks, but I just don't like beer... cider is good, though."
As the evening goes on, most customers are now leaving the tavern. The bard sang his last song, and went around asking for a few coins. He then leaves through the front door. Other than your party, there seems to be only three people left in the bar: Garon, one barmaid (Selena), and a young man sitting at the bar drinking quietly.
Dungeon Master – MelGon's Tales from the Yawning Portal
Hawk of the Night (Hawk) – Level 2 Tabaxi Ranger – Swift's Storm King's Thunder
Lavandula Angustia – Level 1 Tiefling Rogue – LMoP campaign, DM: novaskyr
Zak unfortunately doesn't see the cool trick that Renny displays because he's still dancing. Although he's starting to get tired, and drinking the second ale a little slower than the first.
(Zak, make a Constitution Saving Throw)
Dungeon Master – MelGon's Tales from the Yawning Portal
Hawk of the Night (Hawk) – Level 2 Tabaxi Ranger – Swift's Storm King's Thunder
Lavandula Angustia – Level 1 Tiefling Rogue – LMoP campaign, DM: novaskyr