Part 1: No Business Like Show Business

Aurelia races in pursuit of the the creature, hot on his heels. Bekassine creates a wall of solid ice in front of the doors leading out of the opera house, cutting off the false servant's escape! Ramank hits him with a ray of frost, eliciting a grunt of pain, but neither Horace nor Yarth are able to grab a hold of him.

With a brief thought, the creature dismisses his illusory disguise, revealing his hairy, porcine form to all! A ripple of shock and fear goes through the crowd as the creature growls menacingly! He bites wildly at Yarth before dashing off to the side of the room, trying to avoid being surrounded.

Horace recognizes the creature as a fey known as an azarpal. Azarpals can store food in their multiple stomachs for long periods of time, slowly infusing it with a signature poison that causes those afflicted to sweat profusely and succumb to intense nausea. Azarpals love spreading discontent via poisoned food. They delight in traveling caravan routes, disguised as merchants, constantly sampling regional cuisines, and choosing their favorites for stomach storage and poison infusion. Then, upon reaching a land where the dish is rare or sought after, they find a place to leave the meal out for an unwary traveler. They might also find a way to introduce the poisoned meal to a tavern or restaurant and hang back to watch the resulting fun. Like most fey, azarpals are weak to cold iron.

The thaumaturge's glare demoralizes the azarpal. Aurelia misses with her attacks, but Yarth scores a critical hit, sinking his teeth into the fey's side! Bekassine conjures sticky webs to ensure the creature stays put.

Squealing with pain and rage, the fey bites Yarth back! He tries to slap the dragon with his tail, too, to no avail!

Ramank says some arcane words, forcing the creature to see his own death while Yarth lets loose with two more strikes.

Ramank fills the fey's mind with a vision of its own death, leaving it frightened! Yarth rips into the creature with his claws as Horace moves in and delivers a powerful slice. Aurelia uses her magic to completely confuse the fey's senses, and Bekassine blasts it with ice, though it resists the spell's worse effects.

Still, the hoglike creature is now badly wounded, scared, stumbling about, and enshrouded by sticky webs! He squeals and snorts, but eventually raises his arms above his head. "Fine! I yield! I yield!" The bruised and bewildered creature offers no further resistance as you bind him, the crowd applauding your efforts.

Zachrin Vest comes over to personally congratulate you, gesturing for the guards to take the fey into custody. "An azarpal. I shouldn't be surprised. These fey have become a slowly increasing threat in Ravounel, although this event is the first time one has dared make so public a scene in Kintargo. I suspect that Cheliax might be behind these increased fey actions—and that using a non-diabolic element here marks an attempt to keep a distance from the events in case they’re found out. Whatever the case, I am grateful for your intervention."

"Yes, well, I still believe my arrival left more of an impact!" Delmonia says to Bekassine. The rebel artist doesn't seem very interested in anything else the dwarf has to say, alas.

Meanwhile, Ramank tries to chat up Motman Primm. Motman has wild but short hair, half-moon spectacles, and permanent paint stains on his fingers and face; he dresses in fine clothes that are only two generations out of style. The gnome is good-natured but something of a walking minor disaster, constantly causing drinks to spill or committing faux pas of one embarrassing kind or another. He seems too distracted by his own bumbling for Ramank to make much of an impression on him.

At the same time, Horace approaches Abigail Tottlescoff. The hellspawn nephilim knows she’s distracting. Her combination of good looks, sharp horns, and orange-hued skin—once something that made her a second-class citizen while Cheliax was in charge—are now features she uses to her full advantage. She wears a scandalous outfit that might’ve been better suited for a private occasion, rather than a public one.
Abigail looks Horace up and down and her grin widens. "Indeed. Even more so now that you've finally come to me. I do so enjoy making new... friends," she purrs, giving the thaumaturge a suggestive wink. She is quite flirty with Horace as they chat and drink, putting her hand on his arm and sidling up close to him. She seems to enjoy the murmurs her actions are causing among the more uptight guests.As the Dance of the Masked Devils reaches its zenith, Aurelia takes to the dance floor, whirling, stepping, and gliding with grace and precision. The bard outlasts all of the other competitors, the last dancer standing! The crowd applauds her victory as the bard removes her own mask, lights it on fire, and tosses it into cauldron full of the other dancers' masks in the ceremonial close of the dance!

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Once the dance ends, Zachrin invites the attendees to relocate upstairs to the balcony, where he’s had the seats temporarily rearranged around tables and turned the area into a feast hall. During this first half hour, the feast consists of appetizers and drinks (a combination of fruits, slices of cheese, olives, pickles, and a selection of fruit juices and ciders), while the second half hour consists of the main course: silver salmon with dill, garlic-roasted boar, and various grilled vegetable dishes. Dessert—a collection of sugary pastries and small glasses of sweet wine—is served at the end of the hour with the guests expected to relocate with their treats and drinks back to the main auditorium for the fourth hour’s auction.