Brian pulled rank on us and mandated (strongly encouraged?) that we stay at the cabin and finish the job rather than go back to town.  Some of us were wounded and Clarisa was the worst off but we pressed ahead to the storeroom.  Since Xeeli was fresh, she took the lead.  After looking for traps she opened the door.  And we were attacked by 6 rats.  They weren’t too tough although Xeeli was hit a couple of times, and missed a save.  And Clarisa was crit again but not knocked out.  But they were dispatched.  Xeeli successful did a Treat Disease, assuming the failed save was disease.  And then some Treat Wounds for her and Clarisa since Brisco was late.  And then we headed up to the last two bedrooms.  The first one had no monsters for a change.  Just some beds and cabinets with bedding.  The last room had an eerie blue glow and a colder temperature.  The Ghost Lore and Occult Lorists were consulted but we didn’t learn much.  When we entered, we meet Finnegan the ghost. 

We had a long conversation with him.  The upshot was that he inherited his adventurous grandmother’s magic sword but was killed, unheroically, in the nearby swamp.  We tried to figure out what he needed to move on since we didn’t have a bedroom to spare.  Eventually we figured out that it was the failure to use the sword that was holding him back.  Xeelie promised Finnegan to use his sword in her adventures.  Once he was convinced, he faded away.  During that, Oakwood retrieved that vial in the bathtub from last time.  We thought it was a heating rod that explained why the water was steaming.  It turns out, it was the Ooze that was steaming and the vial was just a vial of acid.  Xeelie took that since she is our alchemist.  We then had to finish searching the house.  With the Detect Magic rules, that could take hours but thankfully, Brian moved that along.  We found the “Hand of the Mage” which would allow anyone to cast the Mage Hand cantrip.  The negative was that it was the mummified hand of an elf so Xeelie didn’t want it.  Brisco ended up with it.  In the study, in the globe liquor cabinet, were some healing supplies.  4 healing potions, 3 antitoxins, and a quality healers kit that gave a +1 on rolls.  The kit went to Brisco and the potions were distributed.  Finnigan’s sword was a +1 short sword (again?) that cast a modest Arc Lightning once a day.  Xeelie took that, with plans of transferring her current sword’s +1 into TerStegan’s great axe.

Brian said that there were sufficient supplies to repair the cabin at the cabin.  With Xeeli leading and the rest assisting, it could be done in 2 days.  I think he blew the first roll, used a hero point and crit on the second.  A fine job.  We added a crow’s nest on the roof and fixed up the barn for Brisco.  During that, TerStegan took the croc meat to town and sold it to Tammily.  She was working on a stand to sell fish at the Festival.  Now she’ll sell croc on a stick.  Xeeli finally got TerStegan his +1 axe.  On to the Festival.  It started with a play about the town founders.  We got a bit of a history lesson on the town back story.  Basically, it was a bunch of names (of the founders) being played by a bunch of names (the current town residents) recounting the origins.  TerStegan managed to get a minor role of an orc henchman of the villain and did alright.  Next were some announcements.  A couple of missing persons that were also in the Message of the Day.  Now that we’re 3^rd, our scope of concern is getting bigger, evidently.  Someone was going to repair the tavern ruins and turn it into a school.  And then the political speeches for mayor.  The current mayor, Oakwood’s father, had had the job for 20 years.  His was the “stay the course” message.  Next was the town nut.  But he rambled and soon wandered off.  Lastly was the mayor’s chief rival.  He made some good points that seemed to be resonating.  The election is in two weeks.  Lastly, we were presented as the heroes of the day for our Kobald thwarting and dragon slaying.  That was muddied by Brisco’s anti-lumber pro-plants protest signs.

Lastly were the games.  Everyone got two tickets but that was a bit more complicated since some were group events and some were “kid” events.  First up was the tree felling contest.  Basically, who could do 40 hit points in the fewest swings.  However, no one could break the 4-round barrier, so it became the most damage in four swings.  TerStegan and Oakwood competed.  Oakwood picked up marital weapons when he multi classed into fighter so he was using the same battle axe.  TerStegan’s had a +1 to hit from the magic axe but the AC was low.  (No crits which hurt him.)  DG successfully argued that his Forestry Lore should give him an advantage when felling trees.  +1 damage.  Both rolled great although TerStegan had to use a hero point to turn a crit miss into a hit.  But Oakwood won by virtue of those 4 points.  Next was the axe throwing contest.  Clarisa and Xeelie competed in that one and since Dan was running Brian’s character, he was rolling against himself.  Xeliee managed second place.  Next was a balance beam joust that used Acrobatics and some basic attacks.  Our most Acrobatic is Xeelie but she was saving her ticket for archery.  The joust had no prizes but there was wagering.  TerStegan used his ticket to get her in and then bet 5 gp on her.  She did the same.  Her opponent was Rajani from our rival gang.  Neither rolled well and it took a hero point from the GM to get past the first round.  But she fell and Xeelie won.  She did a backflip at the end which she nailed.

Next was the caber toss.  That was a straight up Athletics roll, best of 3 tries.  Oakwood and his recent expert Athletics skill entered and won.  His last toss, 19+11=30 broke the record previously held by TerStegan’s godfather.  Next was archery which Xeelie and Brisco competed in.  Although Brisco had to use a crossbow.  They both did well but neither placed.  Next was something called wild cow milking.  That was a 3-man team but only took one ticket.  TerStegan used Intimidating Glare followed by Oakwood’s Athletics finished by Brisco’s Nature.  All totaled, they got first place.  Then the sled pull.  That was a team of 6 and another Athletics total.  Clarisa had a ticket left and we recruited Zug the cook as our 6^th.  Oakwood used Follow the Expert to get Clarisa a +2, getting her to +1 but she rolled poorly.  The rest rolled well and we were in contention.  Xeeli went last, and rolled great, and we burst into 1^st place.  There was a turtle racing event for the kids that Brisco bet on.  He was hoping his expert Nature skill would give him an edge.  It did not.  TerStegan, with his Performance and Clarisa, and her Ghost Lore, crashed the kid story time.  Xeelie also entered the pie eating contest, showing up Rajani again and getting second place to TerStegan’s 1^st place.  There was also a potion tasting booth that Xeelie and TerStegan sign up for.  Xeelie’s mind was expanded for a short time and TerStegan drank mud.    

The last thing was tarot card reading by Xeelie’s mother and town’s odd gypsy-like figure.  The cards are below.  Basically, play time is over and now we’ve got to save the world.  We ended with an eerie blue beam shooting from the far-off Gauntlight Ruins (the mysterious lighthouse in the middle of Fogfen swamp that adventurers are supposed to have picked clean after the Redguard defeated Belcorra) and stabbing into the nearby Otari Graveyard.  The PCs are heading towards the Dawnflower Library and thence up to the graveyard (maybe an 1/8th of a mile jog and then a switchback trail up the cliff).        

GM Summary

ast Session...
Cabin in the Woods Our heroes finished cleaning out and repairing the Cabin in the Woods

An intelligent winged snake will remain in the cellar with his pile of pillows. He (she?) has laid claim to the two barrells of X)0( liquor in the cellar, but seems willing to share. Other than the pile of pillows (which appear to have been scavenged from all throughout the house), 011ie makes no claim to either the space or anything else in the cellar. Blue Finley was finally met in an upstairs bedroom. After agreeing to take his grandma's sword on adventures: Sparkblade he was put to rest.

Otari Founders Day Festival

The group returned to town and dominated the competition at the Otair Founders Day Festival. The results of some of the more memorable competitions are as follows: NOTE: By memorable, I mean the ones that players responed to my request and gave me reminders of who won.

Tree Felling 1st Oakwood 2nd TerStehgen

Balance jousting Xeeli (winner) vs. Amicia Rajani (loser)

Axe Throwing 2nd Xeeli

Caber Toss 1st Oakwood (also established a new festival record)

Wild Cow Milking 2nd Brisco, TerStehgen and Oakwood

Sledge Pull 1st Brisco, Clarisa, Oakwood, TerStehgen, Xeeli and Xug

NOTE 1: The crowd only recalls Xeeli's final leg of the race (25), not the legs where TerStehgen (27) and Oakwood (27) did the setup.

NOTE 2: Certainly Clarisa (3), Xug (7) and Brisco (13) do not get mentioned (like now) when the race was only won by the tiniest of margins (3).

Pie Eating Contest

1st TerStehgen

Being the only contestant not to vomit, some consider TerStehgen the sole winner, however, in reverse order of succumbing to the urge to spew chunks were:

2nd Xeeli

3rd Amicia Rajani

4th Xug

Cooking Contest This competition came down to two entries:

■ Brelda Venkervale's (Chef at the Rowdy Rockfish) equiquisite rhubarb pie

■ Barnaby's (Chef at the Crook's Nook) spicy fish stew
Carman Rajani favored the pie while Oseph Menhemes favored the stew. The tie breaker was left to the heroes that defeated the underground kobold's and the baby dragon. Largely due to prior involvement with pies on the same day, the award went to Barnaby and his spicy fish stew.
Elsewhere at the festival...
Speeches and announcements

■ Carman Rajani's mayoral speech for the first time seems to have resounded with the crowd. Could there be a new mayor next year? Will our heroes be in town on the day to cast their vote?

■ Brelda is still hoping for news of her son ("please speak to me")

■ Keelo is upping the bounty on Jaul Mezmin to 300 gold pieces!

■ Lady Inkleholtz is planning to buy the remains of the Thirsty Alpaca and renovate it into a school. All donations welcome!

■ Captain Longsaddle announces that local outlaws have been waylaying travelers with firearms: watch yourself on the roads.
Performances
■ TerStehgen boosted the performance of others at the Roseguard play, particularly helping sell Wrin's portrayal of Belecorra. On a much smaller scale,

■ TerStehgen also left a handful of children delighted at the Stroy Time tent with his tall tale telling.
It's not gambling if... Much fun was had at the Turtle Racing, unfortunately Marmalade did not win as predicted, so much money was lost.

Hangovers and worse Alchemical Alcohol and Caffeinated Concoctions were consumed and sworn off by a few.

Harrow Reading Finally the group received a Harrow Reading just after sunset. Followed almost immediately by the awakening of the Gauntlight piercing the Otari Graveyard with an eerie blue beam of light. Likely nothing will come of whatever that was. I'm sure everything will be fine. But still, the group is enroute to investigate the Otari Graveyard.