Worlds of GOAL: Quest Calendar 14: The Festival (5 Days)

Because a lot of the days are various parts of the same event, I've been considering moving to posting about multiple days at a time anyway. However, I know that the more days I put into one post, the less roleplaying and thought I put into the posts, so I'm not entirely sure what to do. We'll see what happens!

Thornsday, Deadprairie 10

I approached the festival and was asked for the 3 gold fee. Knowing this would deplete my funds, I used what little charm I had to talk the guards down to a fee of 1 gold for the entry. I graciously thanked them and made my way into the festival. (Total 2 gold)

Fruitsday, Deadprairie 11

As I walked into the festival, I was immediately met by countless booths of games and activities. I smiled. I was a sucker for a good bet.

First I tried my hands at a game of hide and seek, paying 1 gold for the opportunity (1 gold). Unfortunately, the children were much better at both hiding and seeking than I was. I next tried to find something more within my skillset and found a lock picking challenge. Excited to use my new lockpick set, I paid the 1 gold fee for this as well (0 gold). Unfortunately, even with the bending of probability, I was unable to get the lock open. From here, I found a bull riding contest. I didn't feel like I would be much of a bull rider, but I was frustrated with my losses and eager to try to get back the money I had lost. I paid 1 gold to ride the bull (-1 gold)*, and I succeeded at this with flying colors, earning 3 gold. I walked away from the games having broken even with 2 gold left in my pocket.

*When I played this day, I thought I had 2 gold more than I actually should have. I think I forgot to deduct the cost of my stay at the inn from the total on my sheet.

Starday 12/Sunsday 13, Deadprairie

As I wandered the festival, I saw a small boy sobbing and looking around franticly. No one else seemed to be paying the child any mind, which was frustrating to me. I knelt down to the boy's level.

"What's wrong, lad?" I asked.

"My mommy...and daddy..." he cried. "I don't know where they went."

"Let's see if we can't find them, shall we?" I asked, wiping his tears with my sleeve.

He nodded and I raised the boy up upon my shoulders. He laughed with enjoyment as he looked over the heads of the crowd for his parents. Something about the action felt familiar. Familiar and bittersweet. I recalled my drive to save the lost children in the forest as well. I felt defensive of them. Was this just a goodness in me, or did it relate to my past? Perhaps I had had a child, and something had happened to them. This thought raised a certain sadness in me that seemed to attest to its potential truthfulness. I also considered that I may have been an abandoned child when I was younger. This also seemed to have an emotional truth to it. Was it one of these that caused the drive? Both? Neither? I did not know.

Eventually we found the boy's parents. The father was justifying alcoholism by participating in a contest for drinking. The mother was with another group of ladies gossiping about townsfolk and about out of town visitors they had seen. I did not want to leave the child with either of these parents, but I knew there was nothing else I could do. He would likely be emotionally scarred by their faults as he grew up, but traveling with me would be more dangerous for him and likely lead to a shorter life altogether. Resigned, I brought him back to his mother.

Moonsday, Deadprairie 14

I came across a strongman game where someone would swing a hammer and hit a lever to try to get a ball to strike a bell at the top of a tower. I watched for some time and realized that there was a magical effect the man operating the game was performing, making the game particularly difficult for those who seemed arrogant or bragging.

Putting on the meekest appearance I could I approached.

"If I might, I would like to try," I said. "I'm sure that I'm not strong enough, but I don't know. I guess I want to try anyway.

The man took my 1 gold and handed me the mallet. I could sense probability against me, so I used my own magic touch to tip things in my favor. In the end, I walked away having earned 5 more gold (6 gold total).

Truceday, Deadprairie 15

There was a whisper from behind some tents.

"Hey, Tychon," a voice said. "Come over here."

Who was this, and how did they know the name I had given myself? I moved around the tent to investigate. Here I was awaited by a shady looking figure wearing a long green cloak and a wide brimmed black hat. The hat concealed most of his face except for his broad smile and angular chin.

"You want some easy coins? Come play this game," he said, gesturing towards a series of three cups upon the table. I smiled. Three card monte. A shell game. One of the oldest cons in the book. I was confident that I could out-match this huckster.

Playing a couple rounds of the game, I found myself up eight coins. I was waiting for him to pull the turn, upping the cost and making the game theoretically impossible. But it didn't happen. Instead, I felt a weakening magical force overcome me. A fatigue seemed to flood my body. Using my own magical capacities I pushed off the effect, but when I looked around again, the man had vanished, his table, cups, and orb with him. (14 gold total)

Who had this magical conman been? How had he known my name? Given his skillset and what I knew of my skills and dispositions, he seemed like someone who I might have run into before. Had he been a previous companion or ally? Or perhaps he had been a previous enemy? Regardless, he was a danger. A metaphorical dagger. I knew that I needed to keep my eyes open for him and be prepared to play my own game against this sly con.

First Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-18.html

Previous Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/02/Quest-Calendar-2022-02-09.html