Lost Mine of Phandelver

"Greetings friends," says a friendly and familiar voice from behind the group. They turn and see Sister Garaele approaching from the circus midway. "It seems that this strange festival has engulfed all of you as well. We were beginning to wonder what came of the heroes of Phandalin..."

A cart-wheeling clown intersects the graceful elf's stride, eliciting a sudden stop from her, but the garrish-looking street performer continues on his way, rolling head over heels. A few more flips beyond them, the clown polymorphs into a cat which then scrambles after a pair of mice that were feasting upon a piece of discarded bread. "Interesting visitors we are playing host to...or perhaps they are hosting us..." she quips. "You all look rather...tired, what help can I offer you?" 

"You're acting oddly friendly," Vanzaren says, suddenly on guard.

“I feel we are being watched,” says the elf. “While it is not my nature to be ‘friendly’ I feel we may need to be on guard for one another as long as this circus is in town. I don’t think they are here purely for our entertainment…” 

"Oh, you would be correct," Vanzaren agrees. "Think of it like this, you know that phrase where children will run away to the circus? Well this circus preempts that and just swallows you up before you realize what's happened."

"The boy is not the only Phandalin citizen that has gone missing, it seems that Linene Greywind was seen running out of town raving like a lunatic only a couple of hours ago," says the Tymoran cleric, "very troubling indeed. Do you have a plan to address this issue? If so, I humbly offer my services to you as needed."

Rigel's hunter's mark spell successfully takes effect on the boy the ranger saw peeking out from behind the tent, mystically marking it as his quarry. Though his mark disappeared from his direct line of sight, Rigel could feel the spell's effects were still active and he knew he would be able to track the boy much easier.

"Thank you my lady." Says Rigel with a slight bow. " Though our friend may be to proud to say so, Marcon could use a bit of help. I fear the extreme exertion of the past few days has taken an extra heavy toll on our companion. If there is anyway you can help him with that it would be appreciated. I fear we're all going to have to be at full capacity for what lies ahead.'

Marcon snorts and farts in his sleep, before rolling over a bit in his corner and going back to quietly snoring in his sleep....

"Probably should have asked Malachai why the circus has come to Phandalin in the first place but since it's too late for that I suppose we'll just have to find out another way. As for Linene, we'll just have to hope that once we get the circus to move on she'll be okay. For now though I'm afraid if I don't pick up the boys trail I may lose it. Since e eryone else needs more rest than I currently, I'm going to go look for him. I will meet everyone back here in one hour." 

The stealthy ranger trots off across the way to try and pick up the boys trail.

Stealth: 16. Survival: 10

"That's not how it works," Vanzaren says, "its not that easy."

Rigel easily spots the footprints of the boy in the mud behind the tent. The footprints lead north towards the edge of town where several more, even larger tents have been erected.

Sticking to the shadows Rigel follows the trail keeping an eye out and ears open for any indication the group is being hunted.

Garet cerfuly packs / attach to back pack the armor and fallows the team in search for the boy

As Rigel and Garet move towards the place where the boy was seen, Sister Garaele goes with them. Looking back at the others, she says "You may stay here at the shrine, although I don't know that it is any safer than any other place, and there is definitely strength in numbers right now. Come with us if you are able."

The three along with any others who join them follow the tracks to the old north wall of the town, which was little more than a small heap of squarish stones with several openings along its length. Rigel pauses as he seems to have lost the trail, but after a few minutes of searching, picks it up again. They continue northward to the edge of town where a few buildings still remain, some occupied, some empty disheveled husks. Not far away a large tent had gone up, though it did not feature a carnival barker, signage or street performers looking to lure passers-by into its attractions therein.

As the team continues to follow the tracks, which seem to lead towards the large tent, the echo of a child's giggle can be heard in the distance, but not in any one physical direction but more so as if it had issued forth from a collective waking dream. Back towards the town square, a large fireball erupts into the sky and the many people in the crowds "ooh" and "aah" followed by a round of applause.

Rigel tells Garett, "Hold here and I'll go scout it out. If anything happens you get the rest."

The stealthy ranger moves in closer to the tent. Once there he listens close for any indication on what's going on inside.

Stealth: 14

Perception: 17

Garet rests 

Perception for his own security purposes 18

Rigel and Garet both remain keenly alert but spot no immediate danger while Sister Garaele stays by Garet's side, with one of them keeping eyes on the ranger and the other watching the rest of the party several yards away. As they kept watch, Sister Garaele engages Garet in her counsel: "You seem quite preoccupied, Servant of Meilikki...more so than the others, even given our current predicament. Unburden yourself of what weighs heavy on your conscience - tell me, what has pulled this pained and anxious look across your wide face?"

Meanwhile, Rigel approaches the tent flap and freezes in place as he controls his breathing and tries to stifle and filter out all noise so that he can listen to what is occurring inside, but he hears nothing - no animal sounds, no sideshow display, not even hushed whispers. The ranger did note that the tracks he was following went right up to and disappeared under the tent flap leading into the tent and just then the ranger heard the faraway childlike laughter once again, this time coming from inside the large tent. It sounded as if he was on one side of a large mansion and the high-pitched giggle had echoed through the many rooms, halls and wings to his location. He was certain that this was the same sound he had heard only moments before. 

Back at the larger group, Harlan finally breaks the silence of their respite: "You know, I've only ever seen one other firbolg in my whole lifetime. And that one there..." he said to Vanzaren while pointing across the way towards Garet, "...looks exactly like him, except much younger. This may sound a little insensitive, but in genuine curiosity, do they all just look the same?"

The laughter sends a shiver down the rangers spine as he realizes the enchanted nature of the sound. Not wanting to unwittingly fall into a trap, Rigel resists the urge to enter and instead begins to circumnavigates the tent. Once a few feet from the flap he attempts to use his dagger to cut a one inch slit in the tent wall. If successful he puts his eye to the hole trying to see what is going on inside.

To his surprise, Rigel sees not the inside of a large circus tent but rather a small parlor with windowless walls of stone and an elegant wooden table surrounded by eight comfortable chairs. A hearth burned brightly at the opposite end of the room. Sitting atop the elegant table was an equally elegant-looking dragonchess board, with all its pieces set in their starting positions. The ranger could see no other exits leading out of the room.

OOC: Insight check for my boy Garet as nothing/no-one  looks what is really is here: 24

Garet firmly grabs amulet of the Goddess of Nature. He is soar from the recent fights and overwhelmed by the findings. 

"The n.nature gets t..twisted around here. Z..zombies, daa..ark magic. I was h..hoping to travel and l..look for some in..information about my f..father past. Did not expect this here" 

Finishes Garet showing his father armor

"If he could not g..get out of h..here.. How c..an I?"