January 3, 2009 - "The Stormhammers" enjoy the Flood Festival and antagonize the Stormblades.
The party sells their miscellaneous loot from last session and go to see Alahind to see if he's found a house for Snake Eyes to buy. He tells them that yes, he has found them one, but it's half-destroyed from last year's Flood Festival storm, which blew a wooden beam onto the house and destroyed the roof. The owner is an old halfling named Tygot, who runs a shop called Tygot's Old Things. They go to see him.
Tygot's store is a cluttered mess of all sorts of antiques and bizarre oddities. Huron is immediately fascinated by a rack of exotic creature skulls and buys one. Snake Eyes purchases the deed to the house for 50g. Tygot offers to handle the rebuilding and construction needed on the house for 100g, which Snake Eyes accepts.
On their way back to the Tipped Tankard, they notice lots of caravans and visitors arriving for the Flood Festival, which starts tomorrow. One group of performers in particular catch their eye - one person is watching them curiously as they walk by. As they notice him, they notice he isn't dressed like a performer except for his fox design mask - he is wearing adventurer's gear. Fraxx and Snake Eyes notice the mystery person do some drow sign language, asking "Fraxx?". Huron of course doesn't understand it and is confused. Wary, Fraxx doesn't immediately answer, but Snake Eyes responds by pointing to himself.
Mark: I put a hand around my rod.
The fox-masked figure comes over and looks at Snake Eyes, who is a much different body build than Fraxx, and then turns to Fraxx and reveals that it is Fraxx's longtime friend from his homeland, "Dangerous Deadeye Drrk Darkenson." He explains to Fraxx that after Fraxx's house/family was destroyed, Fraxx's father came and found him, and brought him here since they're friends.
Meanwhile, Huron is keeping himself entertained by checking his equipment and flexing. People walking by think he is a street performer and/or homeless and give him 7 copper pieces.
They head back to the Tipped Tankard and Drrk helps himself to one of the vacant rooms, since no one except the party ever stays the night there.
While eating, they discuss how they should maybe register as an adventuring party in town. Alahind already told them that it is 25gp to register, and doing so lets them start building a reputation in town and become known in the area. After some lively discussion and some downright horrible names, they focus on the idea of making a name that mocks the Stormblades. They decide to go with The Stormhammers (other suggestions included Earth Cudgels, Lightning Blades, Thunderhammers, etc.)
They also want to ask the Tipped Tankard owner Pilok if they can buy the bar - but once again he is passed out and hammered. Artem sees them talking about this and tells them they have good timing, as the one time of year Pilok is sober is about to start - during the Flood Festival, because round 2 of the drinking contest takes place at the Tipped Tankard. Seeing their blank looks, he explains that the Drink Down The Flood contest starts on day 1 of the Festival with 64 people at the Town Hall, then progresses through the days at different taverns until the final round on day 6. The whole party decides to sign up.
Artem then also gives them a brief agenda of the rest of the Festival:
Day 1
Opening Ceremonies (Lakeside Pavillion)
Drink Down the Flood! (Town Hall, 64 people)
HURL THE ROCK! (Temple of Kord)
Day 2
Drink Down the Flood! (The Tipped Tankard, 32 people)
Archery Trick Shot Competitions (Temple of Kord)
Day 3
Drink Down the Flood! (The Rolling Barrel, 16 people)
The Crater Lake Monster Hunt (Crater Lake, no limit on entrants)
HURL THE HAMMER! (Temple of Kord)
Day 4
Drink Down the Flood! (The Drunken Morkoth, 8 people)
Team Tug of War (Crater Lake, teams only)
Wintersun Feast (Church of Pelor, cancelled due to their recent hardships)
Day 5
Drink Down the Flood! (The Slippery Eel, 4 people)
HURL THE TREE! (Temple of Kord)
FIGHT THE BEAR! (Temple of Kord)
Day 6
Drink Down the Flood! (The Coy Pixie, 2 people)
Annual Flood Festival Cooking Contest
Day 7
Closing Ceremonies & Lowering of the Waters (Lakeside Pavillion)
Also, the Church of the Raven Queen will be performing nightly displays of magical illusion and grandeur at their cathedral, and that each citizen will also be allowed to speak to a single deceased person that they desire. He also tells them that during the Festival, pretty much everything will be on sale and if they want to buy anything and get probably 10% or 20% off, now is the time.
He also tells them about the Demonskar Ball, the true highlight of the Festival. It takes place a week after the Festival ends and is invitation-only. The only way to get in is to be a noble, be an important person in town (such as a head priest or guard captain)...or make a name for yourself during the Flood Festival. Snake Eyes asks him if they can bring guests if they have an extra invitation. Artem says he doesn't know as he's never attended, but says probably, as long as they do it on the down low. They tell him they will bring him if they get an extra invitation, to which he says he'll gladly go - he's heard the food is excellent.
The party is intrigued by everything and decide to enter all of the events. They ask him about the cooking contest, and he tells them that it is judged on creativity and the exoticness of the meal. The party likes this idea and start designing a party logo for the event, which involves a storm cloud, a hammer, a lightning bolt, a destroyed sword representing the Stormblades...and a bat. Huron gives Artem the sack of 200 dead bats and asks him to put them in the cellar for the contest.
Jamie: I shoot Shaun in the kneecap. Shaun: Except you roll a 17 and die. Jamie rolls a 17. Jamie: SHIT!
Day One
The party attends the opening ceremonies and listens to the Lord Mayor give a speech about the history of the Flood Festival (which Mark dictates, hilariously). They see Alahind up on stage, already drinking, and remember reading in the Cauldron Chronicle that he has been the Drink Down The Flood champion for 25 years in a row. They grimly anticipate matching up against him.Afterwards, they go find a tailor and commission chef hats made embroidered with the Stormhammers logo, which they intend to break out for the cooking contest on Day 6. They also get their logos sewn into their traveling cloaks.
They also run into Keygan Ghelve, who was found guilty of involvement in the kidnappings, but only partially due to the circumstances. His punishment was to replace all of the town's locks free of charge and provide master keys to the town guard. He greets the party and doesn't hold a grudge, instead thanking them for rescuing Stargloom. He tells them that if they ever need his lock (or lock-opening) expertise, he would be happy to help.
Next was shopping for exotic ingredients for the cooking contest. Snake Eyes found and purchased Dark Naga intestines for 100g, some powdered unicorn horn, and dried Myconid Queen membrane flakes. Huron's contribution...bats.
Snake Eyes stops at an apothecary and buys some antitoxin for the contest. The first of many cheating efforts by the party...
Drink Down the Flood! (Town Hall, 64 people)
The Town Hall is full of people competing in the drinking contest and others just there to watch. They see Alahind and all of the Stormblades entering, and also notice Morate Windwalker there with his wife. Huron, Snake Eyes (after drinking the antitoxin), Bonesaw and Drrk all move on to the second round. Fraxx falls short though, losing to a farmer who jovially slaps him on the back after and introduces himself as Pierto. They notice that Morate, Alahind, and all of the Stormblades except the rogue have also passed this round. The Stormhammers also toss around the idea that since the next round is at the Tipped Tankard, they should get Artem to put extra strong drinks in their competitors' mugs and weak alcohol in their own. They never act on this plan though.
Jamie: I'm taking your anal virginity is that ok? Mark: Are you saying that as you or Dale? Jamie: ...Dale.
HURL THE ROCK! (Temple of Kord)
They head to the Temple of Kord, which a huge half-orc in cleric robes introduces himself to the crowd as Rokk Strongarm, head priest of the church. The contest is to hurl a small stone either accurately or for distance. Huron and Bonesaw throw for distance, the others opt for accuracy. Snake Eyes wins the accuracy contest and receives a small bronze trophy with a stone inscribed on it. While Rokk is holding up his hand and the crowd is cheering, Snake Eyes notices that Rokk looks a lot like Patch, the orphanage janitor. He asks Rokk if they are related, and Rokk tells him that yes, they are brothers - but Patch has gone missing. He explains that he hasn't had time to investigate due to his duties to the church, but a few days after the orphans were rescued, Patch mysteriously vanished and no one has heard from him since.
Day Two
Drink Down the Flood! (The Tipped Tankard, 32 people)Pilok greets the Stormhammers, sober and suave and cleaned up. They ask him about selling the tavern, but he's not very keen on the idea. They put it aside for now.
Pilok: I appreciate the offer but- Fraxx: STORMHAMMERS!!
Highlights of this round:
- Snake Eyes vs Huron. Snake Eyes forfeits. (Takes a sip and forfeits and says "I'M SO WASTEDDDDDD!"
- Cora vs Bonesaw. They slam 8 drinks in rapid succession. Cora wins. After Bonesaw comes back in the room after running to puke outside, he tosses a pickup line at her...and she comes back with "Sorry, I only like WINNERS."
- Drrk vs Pierto. Despite Drrk, Snake Eyes AND Fraxx all helping Drrk cheat and switch glasses and dump ale on the floor, Pierto still wins.
- Morate also advances, as does Alahind. Annah advances, but Zachary does not.
- As Snake Eyes is watching Morate drink, he notices the next table over a human woman with brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She looks familiar but he can't place where he recognizes her from.
Archery Trick Shot Competitions (Temple of Kord)
Drrk and Snake Eyes enter the trick shot contest, as do all of the Stormblades. The judges for the contest are Rokk, Ankhin Taskerhill and Alahind. Drrk is chosen first to shoot. He walks up to the judges, and suddenly throws both hands behind him and shoots. He hits one target okay, but misses the other entirely. Rokk and Ankhin give him fair scores but Taskerhill gives him a very low score. The Stormhammers immediately start hating him because they guess he is going to be unfair in his judging.
Snake Eyes stands on the judge table and does a backflip off, shooting in midair...but botches his acrobatics roll and ends up just falling off the table onto the ground. He then shoots, and hits the target, and bluffs that was his intention all along. He gets okay scores.
As Todd steps up to shoot, a cleric of Kord announces his name loudly to the crowd. Thus do the Stormhammers find out the Stormblades' first and last names:
Annah Taskerhill - Female human warlord, leader of the Stormblades. Regal and beautiful and confident.
Cora Lanthenmire - Red-haired female human fighter. The one Bonesaw has been hitting on. Impatient and brash.
Todd Vanderboren - Male human rogue. Brown hair, weaselly looking. Sneers a lot.
Zachary Hawkwinter - Male human cleric of Kord. Handsome and muscular. Snake Eyes stole his holy symbol when the groups first met.
Todd does a plain, straight shot with a hand crossbow. The Stormhammers boo loudly at the lack of creativity in a trick shot competition.
Drrk: More like VANDER-BORING!
Cora grabs a longbow but then seems to not know what to do, so eventually just does a running charge up to the shooting line at full speed and fires. She hits the target and is given pretty good marks. Annah and Zachary however miss the target completely and drop out.
Jamie (as Bonesaw): You can nock MY longbow!
Round two, Snake Eyes lines up FIFTEEN targets and blinding barrages them. He hits 5 perfectly, but misses the other 10. Todd brings Annah out to help him and they go behind the target, then suddenly Todd vanishes and appears in front of the target and shoots it. Drrk gets Rokk to go on his hands and knees, and he vaults off Rokk's back and shoots while upside down in mid-air. He bullseyes it, but is so excited he forgets he's in the air and crashes down, knocking himself unconscious. He gets top marks. Cora then says she can also use multiple targets, and lines up 5 in a row, saying she will pierce through all of them. She pierces through FOUR of them (critical hit), and receives similar marks to Drrk.
Rokk says that technically Cora has won, because of her higher first-round scores. But due to the spectacular two shots Drrk and Cora just pulled off, they should have a final round. Cora hmms and Drrk tells her he is game if she is. She agrees.
They decide to shoot at the same time. Cora nocks a longbow, holds the arrow in place with the hand that is holding the bow, then gets Zachary to nock a second longbow and put it in her other hand. Drrk sees this, and purposefully takes his time readying his crossbows and preparing - long enough that her arms start to wobble from the strain. Finally he signals that he is ready. She shoots, and Drrk immediately drops a darkness globe on himself and fires, shattering both of her arrows as they soar towards the target. Drrk then uses his action point for a second shot and bullseyes it, winning the contest. He wins a small trophy with a golden archery target, with a hole through the bullseye.
Day Three
Drink Down the Flood! (The Rolling Barrel, 16 people)Today's round of drinking takes place at The Rolling Barrel, a nice and clean tavern located only a few blocks away from the city guard barracks. A wooden rail circles the tavern near the roof, and a small barrel rolls continually around in a large circuit.
Results of this round:
Annah vs a Cauldron citizen. Annah wins.
(round with two nameless NPCs)
Huron vs Pierto. Huron wins.
Morate vs the human ponytail woman. Morate wins.
Cora vs a Cauldron citizen. Cora wins.
(round with two nameless NPCs)
Alahind vs a Cauldron citizen. Alahind wins.
(round with two nameless NPCs)
The Crater Lake Monster Hunt (Crater Lake, no limit on entrants)
All of the Stormhammers enter, as do the Stormblades and hundreds of others. When the whistle blows, everyone jumps in and Drrk immediately fails his Athletics check and starts to drown. Fortunately there are trained swimmers accompanying the participants and one drags Drrk to shore. Almost immediately Huron wins the contest and finds the correct boat. As he puts his peg into the boat, a huge magical illusion appears above the lake of a giant glowing tentacle writhing around, which then slithers down into the water. Huron is then outlined in magical light to show everyone he has won. He receives a medium sized trophy depicting a man reaching into a pool of water, and a tentacle reaching up behind him.
HURL THE HAMMER! (Temple of Kord)
For the second "Hurling" contest, Rokk reveals the hammers that will be thrown - giant seven-foot long hammers weighing over 100 lbs, with thick leather straps wrapped around the end. He explains that the throwers have to spin around rapidly to gain momentum, and then release the hammer in the right direction (an athletics check and then an attack roll). Snake Eyes is the only Stormhammer to have a really good throw, but Annah, Zachary and Cora all have good throws as well. However Snake Eyes still ends up winning the contest, and receives a small silver trophy with a hammer inscribed on it.
Day Four
Drink Down the Flood! (The Drunken Morkoth, 8 people)The next round of drinking takes place at The Drunken Morkoth, a common inn for wealthy visitors to town and merchants. The walls are adorned with various murals depicting the Morkoth - the fabled monster of Crater Lake - engaged in various drunken activities.
Results of this round:
Annah vs a Cauldron citizen. Annah wins.
Huron vs Morate. Huron wins. Morate shakes his hand after.
Cora vs a Cauldron citizen. Cora wins.
Alahind vs a Cauldron citizen. Alahind wins.
Team Tug of War (Crater Lake, teams only)
The Stormhammers are going to skip this event, before discovering that there is only one other team entered - the Stormblades. Hearing this, they immediately sign up. Bonesaw, Huron, Snake Eyes and Drrk take part. They get off to a poor start, but quickly turn the tables on the Stormblades and pull them into the water. For good measure the party makes fun of the Stormblades as they swim to shore. The Lord Mayor presents the party with small platinum medals with a wave design on it.
Wintersun Feast (Church of Pelor, cancelled due to their recent hardships)
Even though the feast is cancelled, the party decides to go visit the church and see how Kristof is doing. He greets them warmly and Snake Eyes asks for a blessing, which Kristof gives him. Snake Eyes then asks if he can join the church. Kristof is surprised but says of course, and asks Snake Eyes to come by once a week to learn the ways of the Morninglord.
That evening, the party decides to go to the Cathedral of the Raven Queen and check out the magical display, and also to commune with some dead people they have some questions for. There are lots of people watching the displays, and Raven Queen clerics are filtering through the crowd offering blessings. The actual Cathedral is majestic and huge, reaching up into the sky, made of black marble and obsidian. They meet the head priestess of the church, Embril, who greets them and says that her second will take their requests, a cleric named Iverson.
Huron speaks with his dead father.
Who killed you? Your mother.
Why did she kill you? Because I discovered her secret.
What was her secret? When the moon is full, she transforms.
Snake Eyes speaks with Drakthar.
Who do you work for? Master Orbius.
Where is the decanter of endless water? I sold it.
What are the names of the people you sold it to? Triel, Skaven, and Tarkilar.
Fraxx first asks to speak with his father. Iverson tries, then tells him that his father isn't dead. The party decides to save Fraxx's commune with dead opportunity for later.
Drrk has no one to speak with, but they use his turn to ??? I forget this too.
Day Five
Drink Down the Flood! (The Slippery Eel, 4 people)The party heads to The Slippery Eel tavern, noticing that the rain that has been falling the last few days has been steadily increasing, and it is raining fairly heavily today. The Slippery Eel is a pretty high-class restaurant/tavern, and many pleasant meals can be ordered as well as the usual wide range of drinks.
Results of this round:
Annah vs Huron. Huron wins and advances to the finals.
Cora vs Alahind. Alahind wins and advances to the finals.
HURL THE TREE! (Temple of Kord)
The final "Hurl" competition hosted by the Church of Kord is to throw a giant caber (essentially a giant log) as far as possible. Most of the Stormhammers and Stormblades enter, but to the shock of everyone there, it is Fraxx (who has only 8 str) who somehow manages to fling the caber the farthest. He receives a small gold trophy with a tree inscribed on it.
FIGHT THE BEAR! (Temple of Kord)
The final competition is a combat one - to fight a bear. Rokk reveals that this contest is a 1-on-1 fight against a bear inside a 30' by 30' metal cage. It is not a lethal fight - the bear is well trained and the participant's weapons are enchanted to deal non-lethal damage. The Stormhammers draw straws to see who will get to fight the bear, and Drrk wins. He heads in and the gate is closed & locked behind him.
Drrk hits the bear with a large number of abilities and shots, and the bear takes a lot of damage but still wears Drrk down quite a bit. When the bear is almost defeated, it roars and rages. Huron, outside the cage, notices one of the bear trainers run up to Rokk in a panic, and Huron overhears that the bear is going against its training and is entering a berserker rage. Huron runs up to the door and starts yanking and pulling on it, but it is difficult due to it being made of metal and because of the slippery rain. Meanwhile, Drrk starts taking lethal damage and realizes something is wrong and, though near death, peppers the bear with more hand crossbow shots. Huron rips the door of the hinges and rushes in just as the bear drops to all fours with a whimper and tries to run past Drrk & Huron and out of the cage. Huron takes mercy on the bear and decides to knock it out BY PUNCHING IT IN THE HEAD. He manages to knock it unconscious. Though shaken and angry at the trainers, Rokk rewards Drrk with a statue depicting a bear rearing up and about to attack a man.
Day Six
Drink Down the Flood! (The Coy Pixie, 2 people)The final round takes place in The Coy Pixie, an elegant and high-class ballroom. The place is packed to watch Huron take on Alahind. Huron drinks some antitoxin before the match, but some bad rolls quickly spell his defeat. To his surprise, Alahind lets him have the trophy and reward, since he says he doesn't need it. The reward is a large gold and crystal tankard trophy, with a permanent illusion cast on the tankard to make it look like it always has ale sloshing around inside. Huron celebrates by filling it with ale and drinking out of it. After the celebration, Alahind congratulates Huron on making it to the finals, and gives him a sealed envelope and tells him to open it later.
The party ends up with some time to kill, and then have the idea to use Fraxx's commune with dead spell to speak with a famous dead chef, and have the chef give them help and tips for the cooking contest tomorrow. Fraxx heads to the Bluewater Academy, a combination library/mage school, and instantly discovers (natural 20 on history check) that the founder of Cauldron, Surabar Spellmason, was not only an archmage and famous adventurer, but an extremely talented chef.
They rush to the Cathedral of the Raven Queen and Fraxx tells Iverson who he wants to speak to. Iverson casts the spell, remarking "A popular request this year," to which the party curses, thinking that others might have had the same idea. The spirit of Surabar materializes, and starts having a conversation with Fraxx, and soon the rest of the Stormhammers as well. They gradually convince him not only to give them some cooking tips, but also to stay with them during the actual cooking contest to benefit from his expertise. (Snake Eyes tells him numerous times that Surabar can possess him, but the ghost declines.) During the conversation they also discover that the magic cauldron Bonesaw found in Drakthar's lair used to be Surabar's, and it has a trick to it - when a flaming sphere is used to cook whatever is in the cauldron, it will taste extra delicious and tasty.
Hearing this, Huron rushes out the door to find a mage. He remembers an advertisement in a previous Cauldron Chronicle for magical potions, a store called Weer's Elixirs. He heads there and meets Vortimax Weer, a cranky and grumpy wizard.
Huron (rushing into the store): I UH UM FLAMING SPHERE! Vortimax: What.
Vortimax isn't really interested in the cooking contest OR showing up the Stormblades, but he eventually says that he will help in exchange for a potion he's never seen before. The Stormhammers, who have now convinced the spirit of Surabar to help them in exchange for naming their meal after Cauldron, check through their loot and find two potions, an orange one and a milky white one. They give him both. He hmms at the milky white one, and says he's never seen it, so he'll help. The other one is glances at and tells them is a healing potion. The Stormhammers leave, greatly enjoying the idea that they might have just given him a bottle of sperm.
The Stormhammers leave and are doing some more shopping and wandering around, when they receive a message (unsigned) asking to meet them, immediately, at the Rolling Barrel. Intrigued, they head there but it is empty other than the bartender. The Stormhammers are puzzling over the note when the door slams open - it's the Stormblades. They are armed and carrying their weapons (though sheathed.)
Annah steps forward and immediately starts verbally insulting the Stormhammers. Huron steps forward and starts trading insults back and forth, commenting on how her father does everything for her. She responds with "At least I know who my father is." Huron responds that his father is dead. Annah rolls her eyes and says "Huh! Big surprise." And Huron leaps forward to fight, but is held back by Snake Eyes. However, Cora pushes her way to the front and challenges Huron to a fight - fists only. Huron agrees. They start fighting and trading heavy punches. They miss a lot, but Cora hits Huron good a few times, her gauntlets glowing a fierce red with the force of her hits. Huron responds by smashing a mug into her face, blinding her.
Both groups settle back to watch, Snake Eyes sidling up next to Todd. He starts whispering insults at Todd and after a few rounds of this Todd flips out and attacks Snake Eyes with his mace, but Snake Eyes blocks the attack and they leap back from one another, tipping over a table. Zachary notices and looks over at both rogues, who both shout "He attacked me!!" Zachary draws his weapon, a giant warmaul resembling one of the hammers from the Hurl The Hammer contest, and attacks Snake Eyes. The attack misses and hits the tipped-over table, destroying it. Annah also attacks, wielding a shield and trident, and the Stormhammers also leap into the fray.
At this point Bonesaw bursts into the tavern, having been left behind at the Tipped Tankard. He sees Cora fist-fighting Huron, and notices the other 3 Stormblades attacking Snake Eyes, so he leaps up on a table and fire breaths, uses his ring-recharge, and fire breaths again. He ends up burning Todd, Annah and Zachary each once. Snake Eyes throws a barrage of shurikens at them as well, drawing blood on all 3 (not Cora), but Todd responds by teleporting behind Snake Eyes and crushing him with a powerful mace strike (crit), and somersaulting away. Drrk takes out Todd with a crossbow shot, which spreads Fraxx's warlock curse that was on him to the other 3 Stormblades. Drrk shouts at Annah to stop now before this goes any further (gesturing at the wounded Todd). Annah responds by glaring at him and saying "We shall remember this!" and whistles loudly. A dozen city guards rush into the tavern and break up all the fights. The guard seemingly in charge reads the Stormhammers the riot act, while the Stormblades simply walk out. The guard is threatening them with a cold night in jail when Skylar rushes into the tavern, demanding that the guards all leave and stop wasting everyone's time. The guards filter out.
The party starts telling him about the fight and what started it, and he interrupts them saying he knows very well what happened. He tells them that this kind of thing happens all the time, and that because they are all nobles and rich, and politically connected, there isn't anything the city guard can really do. The Stormblades ask him what they can do, Skylar shrugs helplessly and says "become nobles?" He reminds them that the cooking contest is set to begin in a few minutes, so they rush off to the contest.
Annual Flood Festival Cooking Contest
Vortimax meets them there and casts flaming sphere for them, and under Surabar's guidance they made an incredibly tasty meal (d30+20 for how tasty it is). Huron has a taste and loves it so much he has to be held back from eating the rest. The judges sample a few of the other dishes, including Zachary Hawkwinter I's exotic dessert, but once they try the Stormhammers' entry they freak out and end the contest immediately and declare them the winners. They each receive a golden trophy shaped like a bowl with a spoon sticking out of it.
GM: What is this, Iron Chef? Shaun: No, it's STORMBLADE CHEF! Shaun (moments later): STORMHAMMERS! Dammit!
Day Seven
Closing Ceremonies & Lowering of the Waters (Lakeside Pavillion)Everyone shows up to watch the closing ceremonies. Once again the Lord Mayor and Alahind are up on stage, and the Lord Mayor is giving a long speech about how successful this festival was. Before be begins his speech, he calls the Stormhammers up on stage to recognize them for their impressive feats during the Festival, and hands each of them a small sealed envelope while the crowd applauds and cheers. As they walk off the stage, they see the Stormblades angrily leave the pavillion. The Lord Mayor's speech takes a long time...so long that people start to get antsy and confused. The Stormhammers see Jenya in the crowd, and notice her suddenly grow agitated and extremely concerned. She rushes up to the stage and whispers something to the Lord Mayor, who tells the crowd that the closing ceremonies will have to be delayed slightly, as there seems to be a small problem with some of the wands.
The crowd disperses, and Jenya spots the party and rushes up to them. She tells them she just received a magical sending from the head priest of Bahamut, Sarcem, who had been away from Cauldron on a mission to purchase wands of control water (since the other churches have stopped creating them.) He was on the way back when he was ambushed by bandits led by a murderous apeman at The Lucky Monkey Inn. The message sounded like he was in serious danger. Jenya begs the Stormhammers to rush to the Lucky Monkey and save Sarcem and the wands. Someone asks her why she doesn't ask the Stormblades, but she refuses instantly, saying that the Stormhammers are the proven ones, they saved the orphans, they defeated the vampire, and she trusts them. They agree to help.
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