[IC] Death & Taxes (Session 3)

Nekurr was not planning on jumping the bonfire as... we was not sure what he would find on "the other side". But not noticing any evidence of that purple drug and seeing Pepin's little happy face he gave in to it. "I think elf man here is not into jumping but I'll go after you". Truth is... Nekurr wasn't one for jumping as well...

Bruv will listen in on the conversation from a distance before approaching.

Nera
The smith lays out five knives on the barrel before him. There are three hay bales a short way away. "Have at it, outsider." A small crowd of villagers stops to see what the Catfolk can do.

Nekurr & Hildar

With the flames still relatively low, Nekurr has little trouble leaping the flames. The Half-Catfolk lands harmlessly on the other side of the bonfire in the pile of beans. He even manages to bounce right back up and finish the whole thing off with a bow. The children and elders erupt into applause.

Peppin beams. "Did I tell you all that this Cat Man knows the Cat Lady who helped me get my razorwing back?" He then comes up to Nekurr and Hildar. "That was brilliant! Are you gonna come watch the races, too?"

Not about to decide against it Nera approaches the barrel and grabs a knife, testing it's weight for a second. Finding it satisfactory she twirls it in her paw and throws it at the hay, striking true.

"Oh this was exciting!" Nekurr tells Hildar after his magnificent jump before Pepin joins them. "Sure! I was already on my way to the razorwings'. You have to tell me all about it!" the cleric seems to be doing a great job at mingling with the locals, mostly the underaged but nevertheless...

Bruv mimes an inspection of the stage to try to get closer to the conversation.

Nera

Taking the knives into her paw, Nera finds the daggers to have a bit of a different heft to them than standard throwing daggers. Maybe a local specialty of the smithy? The Catfolk holds her breath and hurls all five knives at the hay bales one after the other. And one after the other, they strike—one, two, three, four five—all in the center bale. Once the onlookers have a chance to take in what's happened, they notice that the Catfolk has not only tossed the daggers into the target; she's plunged them into the hay to create a perfect five-pointed star. The crowd erupts into applause.

The smithy lets out a hearty laugh. "Now that was something! The Lady's blessings be upon you, outlander!"

Suddenly, folks in the crowd seem to have taken a notice of Nera's bow. A teenaged girl asks the smith to let Nera show it off. He regards the weapon. "It's not really in keeping with our customs..."

Nekurr & Hildar

Peppin takes off in a trot toward the north end of the festival grounds. "They're not really races," he says between huffs. "The mayor hides something... We've trained our razorwings to find game from the air... So the one that finds the thing first wins." The boy's arrived at a pile of wooden pens, each holding a razorwing inside. He finds his and gives the creature a bite of something. "Applesauce is gonna win this year, I know it!" He looks around. "We should be able to let 'em out in a few minutes. You can place a bet if you want... I think the shopkeeper handles the money."

Bruv

Bruv thinks he overhears the boy: "...and you know it, Jacey!" But the two teenagers seem to notice Bruv's presence. Their conversation quickly dies as they look around awkwardly.

Nekurr stops as Peppin mentions that the mayor is hiding something. For a moment, he though it was a confession, but then realised the kid was talking about some sort of food probably. "Well, let us pray that Applesauce is blessed and finds it first" After some short words whispered to Fortuna, the half-catfolk asks Peppin to introduce him to the shop keeper. "Talking about hiding things, I heard there is a old house around that hides some sort of ghost. That looks like a really cool story!"

Tronus remains quiet for the most part at the festival he's mostly only talkative when he needs to be and there's too many things on his mind to not brood. Scratching the back of his neck he adjusts his shield finding himself in front of the Greased Pig contest area.

Bruv waves a gentle hello when he sees he's been noticed, "'Oi! Sorry ta interrupt. Oi was 'opin' ta talk ta Jacey 'ere about da pageant. Ya see, I've been asked ta be a guest judge, an' just don't know a ting about it. So was 'opin' ta learn..."

Nera grins triumphantly. While this is the opposite of a low profile, perhaps drawing the crowd would keep the pressure off of the others? Maybe she just liked the attention.

"Oh come now, I got permission to bring it and everything, was looking forward to a chance to use it. What if I made a shot from far away?" Nera elects to be nice, choosing not to argue the questionable correlation between throwing knives and the harvest.

Nekurr & Hildar

Applesauce writhes and shakes like a dog trying to dry off. "Whoah," Peppin says, slack jawed. "He's never looked so ready to fly before. Guess your prayer worked!" The boy scans the field and adds, "I think most of the kids have jumped the pyre now. The flight should start any time now. You should place a bet if you want. Mrs. Tabbins is just over there." Nekurr recognizes the woman; she's the one he bought candied fruits and cards from earlier in the day. The boy smiles. "I'm gonna get Applesauce ready. Uh... I don't know if the village is really haunted. But my dad says I have to go to bed right after the festival ends or the Night Creepers will get me. I've never seen one, but some people say they have bird faces. Maybe Mrs. Tabbins can tell you more?

Tronus

The hog is currently in a wooden pen with a trough of food soaked in muddy water. The creature snorts and whimpers as Tronus gets near. There are no other people around, as Nera seems to have drawn quite a crowd over at the knife-throwing area.

NeraThe smithy harrumphs. "This isn't some kind of game, Catfolk," he says. The man scans around; there's at least two dozen people watching now. "But I have to admit, it does show the Lady's blessing to have so many foreigners here for the Founder's Feast." He shrugs. "What the hell. How 'bout you use the bow... but you do it blindfolded?"

"Right! Let me put something on applesauce. I have a good feeling about him" Nekurr says as he leaves Peppin to ready the razorwing. "Mrs Tabbins, how are you tonight? I'd like to place a bet on that one over there". Suspicious of those ghostly night creepers, he then adds "A nice festival you guys have going around here. I can see it lasting all night"