Pizazz's Ravenloft and Beyond

"I don't actually think people will ask many questions. It doesn't really feel like the locals have much independent thought. But yes, we should agree on a story. In my experience, the simplest is often the best. And the less we say, the better, too. One option for now is that we're simply travelers, looking for a nice hamlet to find a bed for the night as we continue our journey."

Lionel gave his most friendly and polite smile to the leather smock man. "We were sure Wisteria Vale will live up to it's reputation and I can see it is clearly the case. We are traveling adventurers," (in his opinion, with the small arsenal he, Ketch and Ulthan were carrying, simple "travelers" would not cut it even for the book characters) "and hoped to spend the night in your lovely town. I hope the Inn here is accepting guests?" He personally saw no reasons to hide the intend of meeting Vargan, but could postpone the question if Mordekai thought it's for the best. 

     "Ale!  Entertainment!  Comfortable beds!!  Please, good sir...  Tell us you have all these things in plenty for we are sorely in need!" Ketch adds. Perhaps the bard can be brought to them.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure the Inn will be able to serve you well with a stay. I'm sure. We are a small town, for brave adventurers I'm sure we have no such entertainment, and I'm afraid we have no ale here, only wine, hopefully that will do. I'm sure it will. I'm sure they have beds as well. Surely." 

The other man speaks, "Oh Dapple. We have the best entertainment, Quill comes to the Inn every night to perform. He's just the best, you'll all love him so much. He has the most amazing stories to tell. He's amazing. He provides excellent entertainment. He is very nice. He performs every night." 

The both stop speaking and smile at you...in....what you have no other choice than to take as the creepiest pair of smiling people ever.

You turn to your left to see a small child carrying an apple pie through the market.....though she is walking backwards....perfectly...and eerily.

Lionel opened his mouth to assure creepy peasants that wine and the stories form Quill himself is everything they could dream of, when the back-walking child appeared, breaking the enchantment of the place, smashing the charm to pieces. The young paladin closed his mouth and just smiled sadly, he felt as if he was suddenly returned to Sigil. "I wander... Does it mean someone is leafing through the book in reverse order? Anyway, let's get to the inn." He gave the peasants half smile and moved towards the inn.

What time is it, morning, noon, evening, night? If morning to noonish area "hrmpfh bard come later utazo come later hunt now hrmpfh" and after a brief look inside the bar, if no major activity Ulthan and Utazo will head out to hunt in the forest for a couple hours then go back before night when he'll show up. That and I want to scout out the place and nearby area for a getaway. Are we talking a few dozen homes or a few hundred homes?

Less than two dozen structures make up the sum total of the village.  It seems....Ulthan glances to the sky.... uh...noon, sure, that seems right. 

Ulthan seems to be taking his cat out for a hunt.  Everyone else heading to the Inn? 

     The Inn it is!  Ketch finds things unusual but, from what reading Ketch has done, he figures no book could tell all the things characters do at all times so the oddness is likely the spell gilling in the gaps the best it can.  Still, no sideways mountains and the sky seems right.

     “The wine...  is there a lot of it?” Ketch asks, heading to the Inn to find out.

Mordekai practices his creepiest smile on the way to the Inn. Not for anyone else to see, more for his own amusement than any practical reason.

When he gets bored of that, he'll turn quietly to Meepo, "I can't imagine a horde of skeletons would go down very well around here, but if you want a group of them, I could always make them look like the other creepy villagers around here." Mordekai ponders that for a moment, wondering if anyone even dies around here. 

"Meepo no like this place." Meepo tells Mordekai as they walk towards the inn. He pulls his hood down to block the sunlight from his sensative eyes.

The group, sans Ulthan, wanders over to "Blossom's Rest", a truly peaceful sounding sort of place. This tavern feels very much like the heart of the town, being at it's very center. As you walk in you see a number of people sitting about at tables. They have food and drink in front of them....but...they seem to just be making small talk about the weather, and though it takes a moment to realize it, you don't see a single person holding a spoon or fork and no one is eating. They're just playing at having lunch.  A dwarf is serving a table and laughing .... a bit too loudly.... at a joke, and a female wood elf is behind the bar pouring a couple drinks.  You then watch her as she dumps them back into the bottle one at a time, cleans up the splatter, and then pours four glasses again. 

As you step into the bar, a peel of thunder can be heard and the sky outside abruptly becomes totally overcast.  Rain starts coming down. No one seems to notice. The half-elf stops pouring her drink and looks up smiling, "Welcome strangers to the Blossom's Inn!  Can I offer you some lunch?  Please, sit anywhere you would like. And welcome here. If you would like some lunch, I would be happy to help you! My name is Daphne, and my husband Ulrich", she motions to the dwarf, " own this fine establishment."   Ulrich looks over, pausing, as if the entire world was zooming in on his face...and smiles, and waves, giving a small laugh as if someone had just told a joke....and then turns away and goes back to serving the table. 

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Ulthan, you and your cat reach the edge of the forest, and delve into it, though the sky suddenly darkens and then rain begins to fall from the sky abruptly...under the tree cover you're sheltered someone, until large drops begin plopping down off leaves.  The forest seems pretty old, with well worn paths through the trees.  As you reach the edge you notice a doe and a buck go leaping away further into the woods. 

Ulthan initially went with the group inside just in case dagger man there but not seeing anything weird Ulthan and Utazo headed out to the forest. We track and hunt them down, albeit if they turn up to be weird flesh creatures I'm not eating them. I'll leave it up to Utazo though on the eating part if Utazo wants to. After a successful hunt go back to town and "sell" the leftover meat. Ulthan ignores the potential poaching thing cause he's just not aware of that kind of societal construct.

By now Lionel stopped resembling a newborn spaniel puppy and despite the overall perfection, was his collected old self. "If we are in the play, I guess we might as well behave like the characters of this play. We probably have to order something." He walked to the bar and trying to imitate the general tone of the establishment (and the town) asked if he and his friends can get some food and lodgings here, while they all are waiting for Quill's performance ("When is he usually coming here?").

Daphne looks a bit befuddled at the question, "Oh...I'm afraid good Quill hasn't come to share his stories with us in many days. It seems like it's been a couple weeks now. Ever since that friend of his arrived. The big floating round gentleman. Have you met him? The one with little eyes all over his body." 

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Ulthan slips like a ghost through the woods....making his way trailing the deer. The creature carves left, then right, picking it's way through the woods. The sudden rain and shift in weather has spooked it and it keeps moving....though Ulthan and his cat try to flank it. It dashes ahead a bit, but it appears as if the forest is starting to thin...and so it turns and heads to the right. Straight on...Ulthan looks at what appears to be some farms, and perhaps another village. He's been going roughly straight away from the village, so he's sure he's not come round in a circle.

 "Do not believe we did, no." Lionel was trying to think of a monster with many eyes but nothing good came to mind (Arcana: 8 ) "And where would they go then? Quill and that gentleman of many eyes?"

Meepo arcana 24 nature11

Meepo tries to recall some creature that could be thus one with many eyes...

(For the very basic / obvious monster types, you can certainly recall basic information about them without a roll. I only require rolls if you want your character to know weaknesses, strengths, or powers...so if any of you can guess what a "big floating round" thing with "many eyes" might be, then your characters would know.)

Ulthan grumbles and looks over Utazo, we're not built for long chases he thinks, we should have gotten it by now being a ranger and not slowed down by terrain. He looks over the buildings, does it look very similar maybe from just a different angle? Perception 18. If Utazo hasn't given up continue chasing otherwise, pat the big cat "hrmpfh good hunt hrmpfh" he speaks in Goliath language and it's the same place we'll go back to meet the others to tell the others what he found out.

It does indeed seem to be the same town.  You've arrived on the far side of the town you left from.....

To Lionel's knowledge the only creatures "round and with many eyes" were relatives of the legendary horror of Underdark. While sweet Daphne was thinking about the address the bard with "the gentlemen" went to, he tried to assess Quill's chances to remain alive. They did not look so good.