Lost Mine of Phandelver

The machine spluttered and hummed, rattled and knocked with much more activity than before. Some of the moth-eaten clothing of the marionette seemed to magically repair itself and the cracked facade of its face seemed to close or even...heal? The puppets motions also seemed less mechanical, more smooth and closer to what one would consider life-like. A small storm appeared inside the orb, with tiny lightning bolts crackling as cloud-like swirls of mist churned. Once again, the puppet waved a hand over the orb and then the machine settled back into stillness as a small card was ejected into the slot below.

Printed on the card: "Prisoners here are we all...Play ye each game in this circus of horrors with your greatest cunning, might, agility, heart, awareness and charm and perhaps ye will win the keys that will help unlock all of our cages..."

"Huh... well, say what ya will 'bout the fortune, but that whole, uh, presentation was pretty somethin, if I do say so myself." Marcon commented, arms crossed and arms still a touch wide following events. "Still, it seems we got our confirmation, more or less. Only question left is where we start? And -- though this would be a bad idea -- whether we take the gamble of splitting up just a bit to cover more ground."

"I'd normally say split but it feels like we should all be available to to play if needed. That way the one with the best chance to win is available to play, but lets see how it goes. Why don't you try the strong as hammer?" replies Rigel.

The party proceeds to a booth a few stalls down the midway where they find none other than the headless goon that had been standing guard over Malachai the day before. He was outfitted in a baggy clown costume, but through the gaps in the fabric it was not hard to spot the leather armor he wore underneath. He was holding a red and yellow striped hammer at his waist as he stood motionless adjacent to a 25-foot tall, narrow sign. Hashmarks at every foot indicated the various levels a puck could ascend up a central track when a contestant struck the launching fulcrum at the bottom. A carnival barker cajoled passersby into challenging the behemoth to a strength contest: "Step right up! Test your Arms! See if you can beat Headless Buck - the strongest headless clown this side of the Shadowfell! That's right ladies and gents, beat the clown and have a night on the town!"

The barker started in on Marcon, Garet and Ronk while they were still two stalls down the midway: "You there, farmboy! Think you've got an iron grip and shoulders made of twisted steel? Grab this here hammer and give your might a try! Just one silver me boy! C'mon whaddaya say? Chicken? Ah, maybe your blue friend here won't be afraid to swing my hammer! Oh, and look at that! A domesticated bugbear! In a bathrobe! Nice bathrobe bugbear! How 'bout you push up them sleeves an' show us how you do it in goblin country!! One silver coin in me cup if you please!!"

HEADLESS BUCK slams the hammer down on the launcher: 7

(OOC: to play the game, pay the barker 1 SP and make a STR (Athletics) check...the roll result equates to how many feet up the scale the puck travels. There may be ways to cheat, which I won't describe here, but if anyone intends to tip the scales in the party's favor, provide a DEX (Stealth) check to avoid being noticed by the barker.)

Ronk nods. "Yeah, sticking together might be best... If one of use screws up, someone else might be able to win it." As the barker shouts at him, Marcon, and Garet, Ronk waves at the headless now-a-clown goon, then stops when he realizes the goon probably can't see him. He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a silver. "So... Who's first?"

The barker takes Ronk’s coin and directs the headless clown to hand him the absurd-looking mallet

Garet will cast guidance on Ronk or Marcon. But before that he will stop his Bugbear or Human friend from hitting and investigate the machine and mallet first. Looking for some cheating mechanism/magic that could be installed to work against them

Investigation : 21
Arcana (if needed) 12

Garet can find no hidden trickery or cheating mechanism 

Marcon grimaced, but hadn't outright denied Rigel's suggestion. Yet when it later came to actually accepting a go, the farmhand ignored the baiting barker and instead gave an over the top bow to Ronk. "By all means, my furry friend, you go ahead and have a crack at it first." He suggests, prior to then standing back with his arms crossed, waiting to see the results. It's only with Garet's requesting a moment that the sleepy-eyed farmhand eyes widen for a moment in an epiphany. "Oh yea.. right. Good looking out, Mr. Garet."

Ronk shrugs and accepts the mallet, then stops awkwardly to let Garet inspect everything. He takes a moment himself, closing his eyes, takins a few breaths, centering himself... then brings the hammer down on the target.

Athletics: 25

Guidance: 3

"A fine attempt indeed," says the barker who then hands Ronk a stuffed bugbear, that strangely enough, appears to be wearing a bathrobe. "Who's next!" he shouts while looking directly at Marcon and the others. The headless clown tightens his grip and slams the mallet down again:

HEADLESS CLOWN: 21

Marcon took his time with it a little to rub his chin and feign examining the equipment from afar. But with the in the end hapless shrug, the farmhand flips the barker a silver as he took up hammer and strode up to the mark. "Aight... we can do this... This ain't the first time ya had to go to work half dead on yer feet." Marcon half-mutters to himself prior to making an over the top wind up that leaves him standing on one leg and nearly toppling as a result, before then throwing all of his might and weight into bringing the mallet down!

--> Athletics: 14.

The puck rocketed up the track as if it had been propelled with a keg of dwarven blasting powder....at the top, it struck so hard that it dented the winner's bell, which peeled a loud clang that caught the attention of everyone in town. It was as if the entire circus stopped for a few brief moments and turned its full attention to Marcon.

His mouth hanging agape, the barker walks over to Marcon, takes his hand and shakes it as he puts his other hand to his forehead. "Erm, congratulations there sonny...you, uh, you win...you win that there striking hammer..." He then turns to the facing crowds and shouts: "Booth's closed for repairs folks! Move it along!" and began disassembling his midway display. "Be careful with that thing," he says to Marcon with a short nod and then busies himself with his work.

(OOC: make a WIS (Insight) check vs. DC 11 to attempt to discern the man's emotions.)

The headless clown just stood there like an automaton that had been given no commands, but Marcon noticed that as he moved, the clown also pivoted in place slowly such that it always faced towards the farmhand.

Insight(DC 11): 0.

(OOC: And the world is right again.)

Still both embarrassed and frankly confused at his winnings, Marcon more or less lets his hand get shaken dumbly nods back at the man. "Uh. Sure, yea, I-I can be careful." He comments, before then turning to the others and shrugging while gesturing to the hammer. It took maybe a hot minute; but, noticing the headless clown's movements all the same, the farmhand frowns and tests it a little more with some sidesteps prior to finally saying.

"You, uh.... you aight there, bud? You ain't, uh... I mean, I did the thing before, but uh... you ain't like mad over what happened or anything right?" He asked, feeling as he looked: a touch silly.

MARCON INSIGHT: 3

Marcon can't discern anything from the man's reaction other than his apparent surprise that he'd won. Despite his attempt at reconciliation with the headless clown, the behemoth just stood there quietly.

Across the midway, the party sees a quickling shuffling 3 cards back and forth on a small table top. "Follow the queen! Follow the queen! Disappears before your eyes she does! Make a wager and pick her out of three! Double your money! Triple it! Become rich overnight!" he blurts out in one multi-syllabic word.

(OOC: to play Follow-the-Queen, a character makes a wager of any amount and rolls a d6 to make their "choice." Proficiency in either Perception or Insight allows the roll to be made with ADV. The quickling then reveals the queen's location by also rolling a d6. A roll result of 1-2 is the left card, 3-4 is the center card and 5-6 is the card on the right. A character wins if their roll matches the quickling's roll. If they rolled with ADV, they win if either roll matches. The winnings are double the amount wagered, but a special prize is awarded to a player that wins three games in a row!)

Marcon gives his new mallet one last wary glance, but eventually his attention is drawn as surely as the rest to the quickling. "I think that feller there has probably one too many cups of coffee if I do say so meself." He comments as he crosses his arms, then looks up and over to the rest. "What'chall thinking? Not exactly hurting for coin just yet, or so I imagine. But a bit more couldn't hurt for if some of those other tents charge an arm and a leg." There's a moment's pause before Marcon looks askance and mutters, "Hopefully not literally."

Then with a shake of his head, he grins tiredly at the rest. "Anyhow! You've been quiet, Vanzaren?Rigel? Think ya'll might be up for it?"

"Isn't t..that the g..game w..where you a..always loose? Says Garet concerned about the card game

"Not really," Vanzaren says, "game of chance."

Ronk tries to watch the cards, but gives up shortly. "I... Don't think I'd be very good at this one..."

"Sure, I'll try." says Rigel as he ambles over to the follow the Queen booth. He puts down a platinum piece. " Go big or go home eh." He says with a wink.

His keen eyes follow the man's movements closely even though the dealers hands are almost a blur. The cards seemingly hop over themselves as they are shuffled around by the man on the other side of the table. When he finally stops Rigel pauses a moment considering his choices. A few seconds pass and Rigel points to a card.

(He is proficient in perception)

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