“BAAAAAAR FIIIIIIIIIGHT”
The cry for battle cut the tension as the interior of The Mellow Canary erupted in chaos. Everyone lunged for the weapons Akmong had conveniently left laying around. They knew he had asked them to quest alongside one another peacefully, but ten thousand gold pieces was too high a price. Greed took over and bloodshed was inevitable.
After getting their hands, hooves, paws, or otherwise on a weapon, most parties chose to cover each other in a defensive stance. No one had made a move, but the tension was once again relieved by three rogue arrows from Malus on the second floor balcony. The Assblasters, as they were infamously known as, each took an arrow to the thigh. It was on.
After Ahron picked up a longsword, the robot saw a small pouch mixed in the collection of weapons. Inside was a key and a bit of gold. Malus matched it by discovering five gold on the wooden floor while choosing his quarterstaff. His celebration was cut short by Greaseface accidentally harming him and Ahron while swinging around an unruly mace.
Behind the bar stood The Pack. While Rara and Cyrillus found some gold and a key, respectively, Randall was showing off with his scimitar and accidentally hurt himself. Randall watched as Rara approached him, hoping she would tend to his wounds. "Rara is the lone survivor from her village of fox. She swears vengeance and wishes to discover who hunted the fox." she said aloud before moving away, leaving Randall blinking in confusion.
Forming around the fireplace, Ordella discovered some gold while Khanarak tripped, letting a few gold pieces go scrawling across the floor and into the hearth. But it was Rok who was hit with something truly special: inspiration. She didn't know what it meant yet, but she knew it had to be good.
It was nothing but fortune for Hell's Belles, who each took the opportunity to relieve some drunk patrons of their gold and a mysterious key. While Lavina shoved a few gold pieces into their pocket, their eyes met with a particular Giggle Dogs from across the tavern. Lavina vowed to do whatever was in their power to keep the mutt safe from the scrap.
That giggle dog, meanwhile, had his eyes set on one thing. Milk. Vandal leapt over the balcony as Marnu hopped after him, leaving Hustus to fire more arrows into the crowd. Vandal saw a warm glass of milk sitting on the bar top and even slapped down five gold pieces to no barkeep in particular. While he chugged the delicious beverage, Marnu grabbed a wooden stool from beside the bar. It was surprisingly lighter than the harp he was so used to, causing him to accidentally hit party member Vandal as he brought it careening up over an unaware Cyrillus. Marnu apologized as Vandall spat out all of his milk, then brought the stool careening down atop Cyrillus' head.
While Cyrillus was knocked onto the cold wooden floor, he took the chance to pinch a few gold pieces from the distracted Booberella. The well endowed elf, meanwhile, grabbed hold of a shield and accidentally let even more gold spill, but thankfully it was to her fellow party member Tuuluuwaq. The bear grabbed hold of a sickle with his meaty paws and felt particularly inspired as he used it to cut into a crowd. Priggat hissed out a monologue while grabbing a few shuriken, letting them fly upwards to Hustus on the balcony, who in turn spilled a few gold down onto the peculiar ratfolk.
Murder Bunny decided to go on the offensive. He sprung into the crowd, slashing Rok with his falchion and then leaping away as fast as he appeared. Calius followed, tip toeing behind and picking up a trail of gold pieces as he went. The peaceful Pastor Sandro slowly waded through the chaotic crowd with his hands outstretched, making it through the parted red sea of bloodthirsty bar patrons just fine. He was rewarded by finding a corked bottle of bright red liquid at the end of his path, which he tossed carefully from one hand to the second to the third to the fourth before carefully placing it in his pack.
As the fighting continued, the interior formerly known as The Mellow Canary was now pained red with gore. The trios continued to swing their weapons wildly but were slowly becoming a combination of exhausted and nostalgic as their worn down bodies and minds continued to flash back to home. All besides Malus and Calius, who couldn't for the life of them remember where they had come from or how their story had began.
That's when the double doors swung open and brought Akmong Sus with them once more.
"END THIS MADNESS! AT ONCE!" he shrieked out. "BY ORDER OF THE KING!"
Mention of the King reminded the adventurers once again of their quest and the large reward that came with it. They lowered their weapons one by one and crashed onto stools, against walls, or just straight onto the floor from exhaustion.
Akmong cooled the temperature of the room. "Now I for one am shocked. SHOCKED! Shocked that you would pilfer my weapons that I had left unattended and politely asked you not to touch. Stunned that you would lash out against one another after I presented you with a competitive opportunity at riches beyond your wildest imaginations. Shame on each and every one of you."
He fed the crow another cracker and continued.
"Now, I leave for Langdale at first light. Collect yourselves, pack light, and be ready to leave in the morning or get left behind. We have a long road ahead of us."
Main Quest #1: Arm Up
You lunge for the table full of weaponry. Choose one of the 21 weapons below. One per person!
Canassa Daggar Find 20 gold
Ahron Longsword Find 5 gold and a key
Rok Shortsword Find one Item Voucher
Hustus Longbow Deal 1 dmg to an entire party of your choice
Faerora Crossbow Find a key
Greaseface Mace Deal 1 dmg to each of your two party members
Calius Glave Find 5 gold
Murder Bunny Falchion Deal 1 dmg to whoever chose a weapon after you
Randall Scimitar Deal 1 dmg to yourself
Lavina Rapier Add 5 gold to your party total
Tuuluuwaq Sickle Find one Item Voucher
Priggat Shuriken Take ten gold from whoever chose a weapon after you
Khanarak War Hammer Lose 5 gold from your party total
Booberella Shield pay 5 gold to whoever chose a weapon before you
Malus Quarterstaff Find 5 gold
Ordella Spear Find 10 gold
Rara Whip Find 15 gold
Cyrillus Sling Find a key
Marnu Stool Do 1 dmg to the person above and below you on the weapon list
Vandal Fists Lose 5 gold
Sandor None Find a health potion
Main Quest #2: Tavern Brawl
A fight has broken out between your seven parties in The Mellow Canary. What do you do?
A. You group up with one another and form a solid defense. No one dares come anywhere near you, resulting in no harm but no reward. NO EFFECT.
B. You decide to be bold and split up to go on the offensive. It is...ill advised! You are quickly overrun and robbed of a few gold pieces. MINUS TEN GOLD FROM YOUR PARTY POT.
C. You go the peaceful route, attempting to smooth things over with other the other parties. Your peaceful resolve is handsomely rewarded. THIRTY GOLD SPLIT BETWEEN EACH PARTY WHO CHOSE THIS.
Side Quest #1: Party Name
Every party did this! The fifth group messaged it to me before deadline. Gold for everyone.
Side Quest #2: Tragic Backstory
The mysterious origins of Malus and Calius will go unsaid, but every other player did this and earned themselves 20 gold for it.
Hidden Quest: Well Rounded
Each weapon was secretly assigned a tag. Either blade, blunt, ranged, or misc. If your party all had a different weapon type, you earned an additional ten gold to your party pot. The Pack, Get Ready to Rok, and The Northerners achieved this.
