The Stolen Candle - Chapter 2

There is no burning mystery here. The boy was excited to show the heroes the surprise being prepared, but was unprepared for the awesome and massive appearance of Kill Hound. He literally pissed himself and fled.

"I don't think its worth it to search for the boy," said Ben. "We can let him be, but if we're walking around Cartouche and see him, maybe we could ask him some questions then."

You pick rooms, settle in, get a bite and a sip, and head to bed. The housekeeper says that they'll come back after dawn and prepare breakfast, and some local elders will want to discuss business, the future,can and other "fool nonsense" with you, as they "lack any sense their mothers should have gave them."

Morning comes, and sure enough, some light clattering wakes you, except for those sleeping on the floor who is probably snapping at the little birds roosting on his back for the heat.

The bathrooms have hot water, showers, and the like. In the main room, coffee and tea and apple juice are laid out, along with cold sausages, cheese and biscuits, while oatmeal and eggs are prepared in the kitchen, along with pancakes, waffles, and light pastries.

Kyron heads down for breakfast. Filling his plate and looking to the others.

"Why don't we walk around town, and get to know our neighbors today."

Hungry, Tipolei makes himself a plate with a little bit of everything but takes more than half of the sausages. Kyron has good idea.

Looking at Ana with a sad smile, "Maybe you sit on Tipolei shoulders? Kids be less scared of Tipolei then..."

Coffee and pastries, hallelujah! Chay makes a beeline to them both, mentally salivating at his two favorite things to consume.

"Excellent plan!" says Ben "Let's split up and see what see. Enjoy your days."

Kai reverts to a human form and looks around for a tarp to write on with paint, a bell some cord and a pulley to mount on the roof.

The tarp reads, 'The dragon is in, taking requests and questions. Ring the bell.' which Kai hangs on the side of the buidling from the roof with weights to stay flat. After mounting the pulley he tries to set up the bell to ring if you jiggle or pull the cord. Satisfied with his work he stretches before reverting back. Kai curls up by his notification system.

"Why go looking for people when they can come look for me."

"Tipolei, that is a good idea. Ana is definitely our friendliest looking member."

Ana nodded quickly, smiling as she hugged Tipolei

You have breakfast, and a number of small girls fight over who gets to carry platters off sausages and pancakes to the roof to feed the "baby dragon".

The breakfast turns out to be some impossibly ill-conceived buffet for the whole town, and the line up grows long, curling around the next block. The town works together, with new chefs jumping in, deliveries of additional supplies funneling through the back, and two dozen surly tweens gang-pressed into dish washing assembly line rocketing from remorse and misery to giggly bubble fights and back at the improbable speed of preteen angst.

The Coffin Nails make an appearance and say that they should get together after the hellish festival ends to report and plan.

Lastly, you are introduced to about three hundred people, and only a herculean memory could recall any of them in the chaos.

Ana's presence next to Tipolei does indeed settle the alarm at his presence, and soon Tipolei even finds himself holding babies for parents who are filling their plates though no one recalls him offering such a service.

Kyron, stuffed with carbs and his insulin spiking, reaches out well beyond his standard distances and determines that the rift is still quiet.

Chay holds court by Echo, drinking endless coffees and espouses the wonders of modern nuclear powered automotive technology to the local gearheads.

Ben is approached by the local leadership, the town council of you will, who offer whatever support they can manage to your team to protect the town. This doesn't include much more than morale support, but it is earnest.

Tipolei, loving kids, has fun and plays with them for hours if he can, always keeping an eye open to make sure none stray too far from him until his mom takes him back...

Reports to Ben that the rift is still closed.

Kai sucks the food into his mouth and chews a bit to 'taste' it. He licks the platter and thanks the server before stretching and looking to see where everyone is. "I'm gonna look around town." he states when he sees someone through a window and takes off flying around to check things out.

Chay continues to hold court for as long as anyone is interested. He even allows the kerchief to fall to his neck. No one seems to care about his face. He loves his shiny baby and everyone else does too it seems. This makes him very happy.

When he finally has a chance to catch up with the others, Ben feels very wary of the attention they're receiving. "This seems completely opposite with hoe the place was when we arrived yesterday," Ben says. "I'm not sure we can condone this, but this is definitely out of our hands. Also, have any of you heard of any trouble around here? I've not heard anything, but people speak about supporting us as if something were going on? Maybe someone is hiding another problem in the town? What do you think?"

"Well, we have a baby dragon, a big cuddly dog, and Ana, who can resist our charm ?"

If you would like to interrogate the townsfolk on what they are supporting you against, make a Persuasion roll (or 1d4-2,1d6-2 if untrained).