Complete Private Side Story Solvale A Prosperous Town

[Pandora*]

A Greedy Town

Greed...

Location Data

Name: Town of Ripplethorpe
Size: Small
Time: Afternoon
Weather: 65°F Partly Cloudy
Party: @Ash Vargold | @Rael | @Fiora Di Angelo

The crowd was now a mix of arguing and pushing each other around and others scrambling wildly to grab up the coins Fiora had tossed at them as if meat for rabid dogs.

Maximilian and Hylia both glanced at each other and seemed to recognize this at the same time.

"This is worse than what Gardibrook experienced. We must make haste. Most of that greed came from the natural tendency of the Merchantile. This is..."

Gripping onto Ash's hand with hers without asking this time, Hylia looked at Rael for a moment then the group the crowd, and closed her eyes humming...

"♫ She of three bless everyone here and keep this grassy doggo within fate's cosmic threads. Don't fall out doggo, don't fall out. Harmonize soul in discord. Hear the ancient songs across our histories. Let my fate spilt and help guide this one. Fates be blessed. ♫"

Hylia stopped and looked at her wrist, then looked at Ash again with a mixed expression.

"I'm not the best at much but when it comes to this I'm super topper popper whopper! When you feel stuff's going bad, sing and think about how many fates you could unlock. Especially with Tria and Ella working behind the stage!"

A strange sensation flowed between Hylia and Aisling and went directly to her chest. Aisling herself would feel tired regardless of rest meter, but only temporarily.

Hylia let go and bit looked worried.

"....blast it."

The crowd wasn't deterred from their greed in the slightest. One turned to them and pointed.

"You! You dropped your money? What the hell is wrong with you? How could drop money, precious money like that! Do you want to be worthless? Fine, then give me all of it... and your equipment I could see it and get more gold...."

"The gold? Ohmahella! The curse might be in the concept of money for some reason!"

"Agreed. Lady Idol this was what the Acolyte mentioned to me before I set off. That I told you of. If this is a curse. Then the 'Queen', as she calls herself, is the source."

Hylia looks at the two elves present and plugs her ears with her fingers in a gesture before continuing, being sure to back away a bit since more and more villagers were noticing what they could gain off of the party. Their sense of self-preservation and inhibitions were nowhere to be seen.

"Don't do the long ear elf thing here! Or anything that would make their cursed belief become yours!"

Hylia nodded rapidly and with her microphone pulled from her bag extended, she hastily started to lore dump so she could look like a professional... she was of course!

"Ohohoh right! I should explain yep. See have you ever heard of mass fate alteration? Well, a curse is dissonance stuffing its nasty fingers into many people's fates all at once and artificially creating a mass fate alteration! Hee hee, I can explain stuff yepyep! So do you all get it?!"

The Shield of Flanst drew his sword and stepped up. He looked at the pinkette.

"Fair lady, you should back away. I would rather not wield my sword against innocents. This would look badly upon my Lady as well. It may be better to camp after all Sir Ash."

"There isn't any dissonance coming from them. It's their fate that effected a mass change. Only Ash is making the signal go off, but it shouldn't grow worse for now. There isn't anyone for me to fight... a mass Dissonant Curse without the catalyst is um... I don't have magic for that! I would just hurt them!"

"Look what this group did to us? We are fighting among ourselves because they ruined our deal! Now they should pay ME for all my trouble!."

The crowd stopped infighting and approached...

< A prosperous town wants to be more prosperous. As those who hear this stare out their windows, and a dog howls in fear and hides behind a tree with its tail over its eyes. What will you do, fight the townsfolk? Flee to the safety of rural camping?>​

Guidelines

Posting Rules

• Post every 2 days preferred. The thread will be concluded if it drags on too long (over a month).
• One post from each character per 'cycle' as in when I respond with NPC. There isn't a cycle count for these types of events. There are no comms. Keep the rp in one place.
• You may use a 3.05 playtest build to make rolls.
• Pandora's Manual
• Pandora's DM Page

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

Location: Mayor's house

Given the random bits of information both Tertorians seemed to drop on the fly but neither had the time to elaborate, it all proved her concerns right. Just a glance at their ravenous greed made her doubt, but both bodyguard and idol alike pretty much confirmed it- This is the same matter Falderen was so curious about, and the one side-quest she hasn't completed just yet, and neither was she the only one after a conclusion.

It did create a diversion, enough to let the fellow elf regroup with them. Although she didn't expect a 'thank you', neither did she expect her presence to become centerstage given the oppressive energy coming from the townsfolk.

"Hold that thought." Apparently Hylia had something to say about elven non-sense, yet given how the idol speaks in riddles (incomplete ones at that), it all bounced off her mangled ear. Golden iris fell upon the crowd, specifically on the one lady to mention the word 'Worthless', the concept felt... Familiar, somehow. As if her worth had to be weighed and lacking in gold meant lacking entirely on it.

Fiora doubled down over the anger some of them felt. Unwise to instigate the emotion into the rest, but she saw an opportunity to muster strength and take the attention of those few emotionally afflicted with coats of crimson amidst their golden fever.

Undoubtly she would earn their ire, partially stolen for her own whims. From the corner of her eye she could notice the group backing off as they were all losing ground, and chopping necks didn't seem like the option any of them wished for.

"I suppose we are doing this without spilling blood." Which meant they had to reposition, her head turning side to side as Fiora looked for the means to get across- If there's a clue nearby, then it's worth a shot, and with only the mayor's home in plain view and a crowd of angry villagers infront of it, the only choice she had was to open up a path.

Without punching the life out of them, that only left punching the lifeless out of the way.

Fiora took a few steps backwards, sheathing her blade while making haste to create an appropiate distance. A short sprint is all she needed, breaking forth with fire left behind each footstep she made, heavy as iron but unencumbered despite all the plate she wore, and finally she followed up with a leap.

A leap short enough her boot almost kicks someone's head off as she put priority on pushing herself forth rather than up. Still, it was high enough to reach the first floor's height, but not at an angle to aim for one of the windows. Her fist balled hard enough her knuckles would be white for anyone to see, were it not for her gauntlets.

Flames begun to form around her right fist, far more yellow than orange. A detail she didn't gave much attention while mid-air, her upper body turning on one sharp motion forth as she aimed to crash fist, elbow and shoulder all against the wooden wall serving as the only layer between herself and an interior. Her full weight pushed against it. Were this another situation she would be using a backdoor or something. But she felt confident in making haste over circling about. Confident that whatever lurks within is still present and awaiting their intrusion.

Confident she would find something of Worth within this house.

 

[Ash Vargold]

"We have to stop meeting like this, but I will not say it does not gladden my heart to some measure."

"Wouldn't that be nice... glad to see a friendly face around here."

Certainly it was better than the crowd between them, growing more incensed as they scrabbled for Fiora's scattered gold. Ash went to draw his sword - only for Hylia to grab his hand before he could.

"What are you-"

He trailed off as she began to sing. The song was... familiar? Not the lyrics, but the melody. It seemed to reach deep, past the steady thrum of his heart, past the comfortable facade, down into...

The fatigue struck without warning. Ash pulled away, a hand to his head as he struggled to maintain balance. His heart pounded loud in his ears, but it wasn't the dissonant rattle of loneliness, but something more... mundane.

There was no eldritch calm clouding the gaze he turned towards Hylia. Shock, confusion, fear- all those emotions were all too clear in his previously stoic face. It was as if there was an entirely different person looking at her.

"What... what did you do?"

Ash shook his head, as if it might... clear his head? Unclear her head? The world pressed in with an intensity she hadn't felt since Szofrit. Nowhere near as bad, but enough to leave Ash(Ais?) shaken, especially without the comforting thrum of comradery to lean on...

But like with Szofrit, there wasn't room to panic. Not with the gold-crazed crowd turning their attention towards them, ready to tear them apart for their valuables. And unlike Szofrit, the System's blessings were still at his disposal.

"The gold? Ohmahella! The curse might be in the concept of money for some reason!"

"...okay, now this really reminds me of home. I'm all for ditching town-"

Crash!​

Ash turned towards the nearby building - one that now had a neat, human-sized hole in the wall.

"Did she seriously just... you know what, fine."

"Spirits, heed me! Don't let them near!"

The previously quiescent spirits clinging to Ash rose to attention, taking the form of translucent limbs and hands rising from his body. A flurry of emotion scrabbled at the back of Ash's thoughts, dangerattackdonoharmunderstandprotect, and the hands reached for the nearest villagers, ready to grab and shove them away if they got too close.

With his defensive bubble established, Ash turned to Maximilian and Hylia and jabbed a thumb towards the manor.

"Alright kids, new plan! Everyone into the hole!"

 

[Rael]

Location:
Mayor's House

The keyword was spoken, made more evident by the reaction of villagers ready to tear into one another, and the newly arrived party, the moment the glimmer of gold made its appearance. Information from many directions flowed endlessly, and the request of the valiant knight for her to step back from possible danger was met with a nonchalant nod of her head and the dutiful reclamation of distance with a backward step, and then another.

The wind somewhat shifted from its perch on her shoulders as the Summon kept its watch over the elf and the residents of the village for any sign of hostile intervention that it would be made to intervene upon.

"It would be unwise to..." Calmly, she had intended to explain the predicament that had led to her standing with her back to the mansion, but the very same elf who had thrown a fistful of her coinage sped past until she was but a blur of motion in the distance, a blur of movement preceding the loud crash and collapse of structures behind her.

She would heave a sigh were it not for the more pressing matters at hand, the civilians' attention finally turned on them.

Her grimoire flipped open to a blank page, the canvas for the channeling of her magic as feathered pen gave way to shift and mold by manipulation of aether disguised with the dextrous flick of fingers. Without paint, it still gave rise to the images in her hand as it touched the material, and what she created then with magically-induced astounding speed, would be inflicted upon the world.

On a road not too far from their present location, the neighing of horses grown out of control at an unseen threat and the struggle of a carriage driver to keep them under heel in vain. A carriage surged forward down the road, its doors thrown open with merchandise tumbling steadily from it as it sped away from their location, coinage, and valuables left scattered down the road.

"The mayor? Had he come back for what remained of his riches?" Loudly, she asked, as if caught by surprise, making herself taller by stepping on the tips of her toes for a chance to spy something glimmering in the distance far above the enraged crowd.

Rael used what she had been willingly given against others, and in so doing had wasted a valuable resource, a valuable card that could've waited until later, but lamenting the circumstances could wait. She would not await the results of her deceit to come, the last to follow the group into the darkened halls of the mansion.

Inside, her hand would find and tug on Ash's sleeve, for the others remained strangers still. "There was a person on the upper floors, but also something that sounded not as friendly. The person claimed to be a ghost, so perhaps your expertise would be of use here."

 

[Pandora*]

A Greedy Town

Wrap up

The fall of the wall and the growing intensity of the situation left Hylia's mixed expression in a blur. Max dragged Hylia in as he followed suit. A single nod to Ash was all the wandering captain offered as he kept his sword at the ready.

The crowd of people did not follow the group, only glaring with such incredible NEED in their eyes. Some of them started to hold their heads and it appeared their joints had stiffened. This left the party free to explore the house.

And so time passed...

The place was well furnished and it looked like little had been moved recently, with the exception of a small vault that had been broken into. The extremely well polished hunk of steel had been cleaned out entirely. In the back of the vault was a ..

Drawing?

It seems whatever of worth was in there was taken by the incredibly skilled artist that left this behind.

Then came the basement.

Within was a empty room with a full skeleton crumpled on the floor.

Not a piece of flesh was on the bone. Nor did the spirit of this individual reside here any longer. The barren walls seemed bleached with the outer stone eroded away. Something told you... this might have been the mayor, but there was no clear evidence. One thing was for sure though...

There wasn't a single bit of gold in this manor.

The sun dipped and since the Mayor's residence was free of crazy mobs, the group found themselves staying overnight.

Eventually the coast had cleared and the party would go their separate ways.

Event Complete!

@Ash Vargold @Fiora Di Angelo @Rael
Congratulations this event is completed!
Yes, this was a rushed and silly ending. It's been a year guys and I just want to close this and set my sights on what's next. See you next time!

• Relations with Hylia and Max, have changed, (varies based on character)!