Arc 1: Festive Beginnings

"The Festival of Scarves has long been celebrated in the Kingdom of Morgmou. The tale of how the Great Wasting ended and life as we know it began is spun in shadow puppets and stage players to amuse adults and delight children. Many vendors sell beautifully woven scarves with depictions of great times in history, but mine are the best! And cheap, too!"

-A vendor in Emall during the Festival of Scarves

Plot points/Scenes

Overview

Our four adventures are in town for various reasons during the Festival of Scarves. After a bit of wandering they come across a large crowd in front of a traveling entertainers cart. As the show ends and the next act begins a white-haired woman in a black cloak, seemingly the entertainers assistant, drags each of our four adventures onto the small makeshift stage. They weave the story of the Sisters of Death with our four players as nameless victims.
As the show comes to an end the four players go their separate ways only to realize they have all been stolen from. Upon returning to the makeshift stage the players find the cart gone and the white-haired woman shouting about her partner stealing her cart. She enlists the players help in finding the cart and getting all their stuff back.
The woman thinks her partner took the cart to the northern ward where, behind the temple, is a tunnel system that runs beneath the city. A dangerous trek beneath the city will lead to the partner's stash of ill-gotten goods, but no partner to be found.
Once the woman's things and cart are returned to her she will introduce you to her contacts that can get you jobs and info.

Act 1

The Introduction

You stand in a large crowd in the southern ward of Emall, the capital city of Morgmou. Behind you the Emerald Spire looms, the sprawling markets surrounding the Temple of Enlightenment, the Palace of the Weeping King, but here and now your attention is captured by a small, but colorful cart and the equally colorful man who steps out in front of it. He flips a shiny coin in his fingers, flipping it in the air, pulling it out of the children's ears. "Welcome one and all! What a lovely day for a festival, wouldn't you say? Now before we start our show we need some volunteers. You there!" And he points at one of the players. A woman with white hair and a dark cloak makes her way through the crowd and grabs your arm and guides you to the rickety makeshift stage. "Ah! Perfect! Our first volunteer! Now nice and loud, please. What is your name?" Ask the player to describe themselves. Repeat for each player He turns to the players. "Now it's simple. When death taps you on the shoulder you die." He turns back to the crowd as several people dressed in sheer white fabric race across the stage behind you.

The Play

"A thousand years ago an endless war raged."
The actors dressed in shabby armor begin miming fighting and slowly one by one fall to the stage.
"The fields soaked in blood. The roads were paved in bones. Grass grew on many a nameless grave. During a long and vicious battle, a father of two sisters fell."
The last actor faces the crowd and crumples to the ground. Two actresses step onto the stage. One is dressed all in white with long black hair. The other is dressed all in black with long white hair.
"Soon after, in a small house on a grassy knoll, a mother of two sisters perished of heartbreak. And the two sisters were all that remained."
"In their grief, one sister became full of all-consuming fear, the other undying love. They lived in that house on a hill until they had grown, but although they were together, they felt alone. So they went their separate ways. Each went to study magics and after many years both became powerful mages in their own right."
On stage, a bright light appears in the hand of the sister in all black. In the hand of the sister in all white a swirl of dark smoke emerges.
"Love, harnessing magics of light and faith, worked endlessly towards cures for every illness known to man. Fear, harnessing magics of darkness and fear, searched unceasingly for the secrets of immortality."
"It was on a battlefield that their paths crossed once again. Love studied the injuries of the living. Fear studied the corpses of the dead. Love had saved many lives with her healing but watched many more die before her. Fear had seen many die, but many more kill. The sisters, reunited, decided they must put an end to this war."
"For years they studied and searched, built reputations of strength and rose to positions of power. The longer they fought for peace the further it seemed. Love had all but given up hope when Fear came to her. She had finally done it. She had found a way to end the war and Love must come home at once."
"So Love rode out to the small house that had once been their own. The grass on the hill was patchy and grey. The old stone fence crumbled. The gate creaking on its hinges. The door stood open. The inside dark and eerie. The stormy clouds thundered above. Lightning cast long and sinister shadows. Shattered glass littered the floor. Papers covered in inky scrawls were scattered about. Bloody corpses propped up the walls."
Black smoke curls around the actress dressed all in white and her voice booms.
"I have discovered the cure for death. I will live forever and my rule will be unstoppable."
The actress in black strikes out at the cloud of smoke, but it seems impenetrable. She tries again to no avail and then runs away.
"Leagues away an entire army fell to their knees."
The smoke shrouded actress taps a player on the shoulder. Let them decide how to 'die'. Several actors in sheer white cloth run on stage.
"Their ghostly spirits pouring from their mouths and being blown away in an otherworldly wind. A village of women and children collapsed on the cobbled roads."
Tap on the shoulder.
"Riders fell from their horses."
Tap on the shoulder.
"Sailors tumbled into the sea."
Tap on the shoulder.
"The war stopped. The world froze. Still to this day life is siphoned from the people to feed Fear’s deathless curse. And still to this day the sister searches for an end to this lifeless blight."
"Ok guys show's over. Get off the stage." He gives them each three wooden tokens for the festival.

Act 2

The Festival

Games galore, food, merchants Games are all 1 token or 1g Swine wrangling: Attack roll, three grapple checks 5, 10, 15 DC Pie eating contest: three constitution checks 5, 10, 15 DC Anvil crack: Strength check 20 DC Tabaxi's Reach: Three dexterity checks 5, 10, 15 DC Wheel of Fate: 1- 5 g 2- skull 3- 1 token 4- skull 5- 10g 6- skull 7- 2 token 8- skull 9- 20g 10- skull Sonnet Battle: Intimidation or persuasion check
If the players try to buy anything or play a game without a ticket they discover they have been robbed of most of their possessions.

The Missing Cart

The players return to where the cart stood to find the rickety stage, the white-haired woman and nothing else. She introduces herself as Desdemona a traveling entertainer with some illusion magic and connections. Her partner, Henrick, has stolen her cart along with all of your things. She's not a big fighter and doesn't have a lot of money, but if you bring back her cart she can get you connected to people with jobs, info, and influence. She's heard rumors of a tunnel system behind the temple. She thinks he might be hiding out there.

Act 3

The Search

The players venture out to find their stolen goods and maybe the stolen cart too. They will have to do some asking around or snooping to find the entrance to the tunnel.
Once in the dingy underground tunnels, you might get turned around. A few perceptions or investigation checks may be in order depending on the situation. The Tunnel Search encounter.

The Wrapup and The Future

Plot type

Introduction arc

Parent Plot

Main Arc: The Sisters of Death