Once the adventures leave and regroup with the others at the tavern, Talila and Umbra find themselves heading to their assigned rooms for some rest. Jjaxx, finding himself without a violin, inquires to Bob if he knows where he could locate a violin. Bob, confused as to why Jjaxx would not have a violin already, points him towards a local general goods merchant further into the village. Upon departure, Estraban bids Jjaxx farewell on his short quest to get a violin. In the meantime, Mathayus, Rishi, Salem, and Estraban find themselves at the bar in anticipation for a waiter to tend to their needs: food and drink. Steve, being of a red-haired human sort, approaches the counter and asks the newcomers what they are looking to have. The adventurers find themselves at a loss of words for what to order, not having the knowledge of where they exactly are. Steve suggests steak, vegetables, and a good ale from about 60 years young. The pickings are slim at the moment due to an event that happened 3 weeks ago, slowing down the traffic for everyone he explains. The party asks what happened, Steve replies very bluntly that it was "bad", nothing more. Once Steve sets off to prep their meals, Salem asks what is seriously going on with everyone. No one is wanting to give any more information about the "bad" event that occurred, let alone the fact everyone speaks with a different dialect. Turning to Mathayus, Estraban asks for the piece of paper that Sam had given to him earlier. Reading the address, he puts the paper in his pocket for later.
Jjaxx has managed to wander over towards the other half of the village, looking for the general merchant store that Bob directed him towards earlier. As the lights start to dim in the road, buildings start closing their doors, Jjaxx spots the store and runs full throttle towards it. He bursts through the doorway, shutting the door frantically behind him, stopping to catch his breath. Sarena, the merchant of the store, stares at him, wondering what all the commotion was about. Jjaxx replies that it was dark out and it made him uncomfortable. She smiles in acknowledgement and proceeds to ask him what he is searching for. Calming down, Jjaxx responds with the fact he is new to the village and is in search of a violin. Sarena looks up, lost in thought, trying to recall if she has a violin. Excusing herself, she wanders to the back of the shop to look at a recent merchant haul. She comes back to the counter, a brown and black violin in hand (bow included). Jjaxx looks it over and approves of it, but before paying for it, he asks her if she has any rapiers. She points to a far corner and suggests looking over there, since that is where she puts all sorts of weapons that look like swords. After a bit of searching, he finds a rapier that meets his standars, although a bit on the shabby side. Placing it on the counter along with the violin, Jjaxx asks the end question: how much. Giving a friendly smirk, Sarena says he can pay however much he is willing to pay. Jjaxx, feeling a bit flustered at this proposal, feels his mind racing and struggles at figuring out what to say. Upon seeing the internal struggle, Sarena smiles again and asks him if he plays the violin well. He responds in stammers, saying yes he hopes so and that he will be playing tonight at a disgruntled gnome's tavern...Bob's tavern.... Sarena chuckles softly and says she knows where it's at, then offers 2 gold pieces for both items and that she will be showing up tonight to watch him play. Jjaxx agrees and before he can leave, she takes the items and bundles them behind the counter, to help ensure that he travels safe on the way back to the tavern.
By the time Jjaxx returned to the tavern, Steve came out with heaping dishes of food for the hungry party. Upon receiving his ale, Estraban takes out a leaf that was from their drastic escape from the woods earlier. Biting into it, he recognizes the plant as one that has a subtle poison, not a strong one but enough to add some flavor to his drink. Seeing how happy Jjaxx was upon returning, violin and rapier in hand, Estraban asks him what's up. Jjaxx told him that he got a discount on the room he got, as long as he played for the tavern for the night. Offering some food and ale, Estraban slaps Jjaxx on the back and wishes him good luck. Salem observes the leaf that Estraban used to spice up his ale, asking him if he had any extra. Estraban shares what remains of his stash with Salem, when Jjaxx grabs a few extra and shoves them in his mouth. He is ready to perform.
Rishi and Mathayus, sitting quietly and watching the others deal with the random shenanigans, start to take in the overall room. Mathayus, with his guard up at all times, notices a few new faces in the tavern, one of them being a blonde human female. Rishi, slowly eating his share of food, carefully watches Jjaxx. He still has his qualms about Jjaxx.
The tavern's main floor has come to a stop when Talila and Umbra emerge from their slumber. It is definitely in the middle of the night. Talila looks for a source of food, following her nose to the bar where Steve is finishing up some dishes. Upon ordering her share of what the rest of the party had, she sits and listens, observing. Umbra decides to walk outside to get some fresh air, taking in the sight of the silent street. Jjaxx, having finished up the performance, decides to head off to bed, leaving the rest of the party behind. Mathayus starts to get himself settled for first shift night watch when he sees Estraban and Rishi getting together to head out. Salem had left earlier with some of the leaves Estraban gave him, crawling up the tree he found earlier in hopes of some sleep. Suddenly, Mathayus realizes that there is no sound, as if the world had stopped. He stands up straight, putting his hands on the spike chain and tells the remaining party members to "get ready". Estraban and Rishi stop in their tracks, half out the door when they both feel a little un-easement in the atmosphere. Salem, half asleep in the tree, notices a red hue off in the distance, as if it was something pulsating. The location is 1 of the 2 he had come across earlier in the day that felt like some investigation should happen. Resuming his meditation, he sits and watches.
Umbra, oblivious to what is going on inside the tavern, decides he should ask Bob where he could purchase an instrument. Bob sharply tells him that it'll be the same store he sent his buddy to, although it'll be closed at this point of the night. A few moments pass before a sudden drop of dread is felt, silence falls upon the party and temperature becomes a tad chilly. Everyone except Jjaxx and Salem gather together into a small group, some with weapons ready for a fight. Creaking steps are heard, in which the party collectively turn and see Jjaxx descending the stairs in a zombie like state. 3 orbs are seen on his body: 1 on his face, 1 on his throat, and 1 on his chest. His eyes are of white mist, observing the adventurers while not uttering a sound. He walks towards them slowly, not showing any implication of a fight. Mathayus and Talila attempt at seeing what motive this other worldly being has, possessing their fellow traveler. Both get a very malicious feeling in return, seeing nothing but hate and contempt. Talila manages to see another "form" overlaying Jjaxx's body but fails to see what exactly it is. She does manage to see another set of "eyes" behind Jjaxx's own misty eye sockets. Mathayus tells Estraban to grab Jjaxx and hold him while telling Umbra to fetch Salem. Umbra runs to the tree where Salem is meditating, asking for him to rejoin them in the tavern. Salem, being his usual self, decides to not join and chalk it up to them being weird commoners. Umbra starts to plead to Salem, saying something is wrong with Jjaxx and everyone is on guard. Salem lets out a sigh and follows after Umbra.
Upon re-entry to the tavern, having everyone in the adventure party present, Jjaxx stares at every single person as if making notes. Suddenly, his body collapses to the floor, Jjaxx snoozing away. Rishi pipes up and says that clearly, he was right about Jjaxx being the bad guy and that they should tie him up. Talila and Mathayus agree. The 3 of them decide to take Jjaxx's snoozing body back to his room, binding him to the bed posts. Talila asks Mathayus if they came across any weird townsfolk, any odd interactions, anything out of the ordinary while she was sleeping. Mathayus says no, all they managed to do was purchase weapons. Talila says that the interaction her group had earlier with Bob said to watch out for Sam, in which Mathayus says nothing bad happened. During this conversation, Rishi can be found looking at how to make a noose with the leftover rope (not enough).
Umbra decides to see about locating Bob, in which the nasty gnome is nowhere to be found. Being a little curious, Umbra starts to flip through the various ledgers. Flipping back to 6 months prior, he notices that the handwriting is vastly different. He starts to look through the other various papers and ledgers, noticing that there are a lot of various handwritings that don't seem to match another. Estraban leaves the tavern, determined to find Sam and seek out answers. He manages to find the building that was written on the paper given to Mathayus earlier. The building is dark, but Estraban is determined to find answers. He starts to bang on the door, loudly. Sam sleepily answers the door, but he doesn't sound like he did earlier. Estraban wants to know what happened in the town 3 weeks ago. Sam declines to tell him, asking him who he is. Estraban repeats, with Sam saying again that he doesn't know what he is talking about let alone who he is. Estraban collapses due to sheer exhaustion on Sam's doorstep. Sam sighs and manages to drag Estraban in. He leaves his passed-out body in the foyer and heads back to bed, locking his room door just in case.
What will happen next to our adventurers?
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