Festival and Fire (Saturday, Rova 22nd 4707 AR)

For five years, the faithful of Sandpoint have attended church in temporary structures erected after fire destroyed the previous temple, and while their new religious leader was helpful, kind, and wise, church wasn't the same. Now, the new cathedral is finally done. All that remains is for the Swallowtail Festival to renew the site's blessings from the gods and it will be as if the Sandpoint fire had never occurred.

The heroes were already in Sandpoint when this adventure began.

The Swallotail Festival

The Swallotail Festival begun promptly, as scheduled, on the Autumnal Equinox. The square before the church quickly became crowded as locals and travelers arrived, and several merchant tents featuring food, clothes, local crafts, and souvenirs were there to meet them.

Welcoming Speeches: The turnout for the opening speeches was quite respectable, and the four keynote speakers each delivered short but well-received welcomes to the festival. Mayor Deverin's friendly attitude and excitement proved contagious as she welcomed visitors to town and joked about how even Larz Rovanky, the local tanner (and notorious workaholic) managed to tear himself away from the tannery to attend, much to everyone's amusement. Sheriff Belor Hemlock brought the crowd down a bit with his dour mood, his reminder to be safe around the evening's bonfire, and his request for a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives in the fire that claimed the town's previous church several years ago. The next speaker was scheduled to be local nobleman Lonjiku Kaijitsu, but a sudden illness prevented him from attending the ceremony (this isn't something that surprised the locals, given Lonjiku's well-known dislike of frivolity and festivals). Sandpoint's own showman Cyrdak Drokkus was more than up to the challenge of bringing the crowd's mood back up with his rousing anecdotes. He delivered a not-completely-irreverent recap of the long process the town went through to finance and construct the new cathedral. He threw in a bit of self-promotion at the end, inviting everyone to stop by the Sandpoint Theater the following evening to check out his new production of "The Harpy's Curse", revealing that the lead role of Avisera the harpy queen will be played by none other than the famous Magnimarian diva Alishanda! Finally, Father Zantus stepped up to give a short speech thanking everyone for coming before declaring the Swallotail Festival underway.

Festival Fun and Games: Numerous games and contests took place during the day, including sack races, games of hide-and-seek, weight-lifting challenges, balance beam contests, tug-of-war events, and the like. Winners of these games generally won nothing more than bragging rights for the rest of the day, but for many of Sandpoint's residents, this is a fine prize indeed! Thurden and Urtrigor took part in some of these games, while Bruthien and Tsela introduced themselves to each other.

Swallotail Release: At noon, Father Zantus and his acolytes wheeled a large covered wagon into the square, and after recounting the short parable of how Desna first fell to earth and was nursed back to health by a blind child whom she transformed into an immortal butterfly as a reward for her aid, they pulled aside the wagon's cover, releasing the thousand children of Desna - a furious storm of swallotail butterflies that swarmed into the air in a spiraling riot of color to a great cheer from the crowd. Throughout the rest of the day, children futilely chase butterflies, never quite quick enough to catch them.

Lunch: Lunch was provided free. Each of Sandpoint's taverns brought its best dishes. It soon became apparent that the darling of the lunch was, once again, Ameiko Kaijitsu, whose remarkable curry-spiced salmon and early winterdrop mead easily overshadowed the other offerings, such as the Hagfish's lobster chowder or the White Deer's peppercorn venison.

Consecration: Finally, as the sun begun to set, Father Zantus took the central podium, used a thunderstone to attract everyone's attention, and cleared his throat.

Initial Assault

As Father Zantus took the stage to begin his speech, the heroes were nearby.

A sharp retort, like the crack of distant thunder, sliced through the excited crowd as the sun's setting rays painted the western sky. A stray dog that had crawled under a nearby wagon to sleep started awake, and the buzz of two dozen conversations quickly hushed as all heads turned toward the central podium, where a beaming Father Zantus had taken the stage. He cleared his throat, took a breath to speak, and suddenly a woman's scream sliced through the air. A few moments later, another scream rose, then another. Beyond them, a sudden surge of strange new voices rose - high-pitched, tittering shrieks that sounded not quite human. The crowd parted and something low to the ground raced by, giggling with disturbing glee as the stray dog gave a pained yelp and then collapsed with a gurgle, its throat cut open from ear to ear. As blood pooled around its head, the raucous sound of a strange song began, chanted from shrill, scratchy voices.

Bruthien and Urtrigor saw that the shape that raced by and killed the dog now hid at the wagon's edge - a single goblin, licking the blood from its dogslicer as it looked excitedly at the crowd.

In this initial battle, a group of three goblins (including the one who just killed the dog) attacked the heroes.

These goblins' tactics in battle were scatterbrained at best. They clambered up onto nearby barrels for higher ground against Thurden and Urtrigor. Another got distracted by a plate of salmon and wasted his time stuffing his pockets with food for later. They wasted opportunities to hurt the heroes. These goblins were far too excited. As such, they fought to the death.

Goblins in the Streets!

When the goblins attacked, they shrieked and leapt and raced and cackled, taking great joy in the panic and fear they spread among the humans (whom most goblins insultingly called "longshanks"). Some goblins waved torches and lit tents on fire, while others chased children and pets with ill intent. The entire time, goblin warchanters sang a horrifically catchy and nerve-wracking goblin song at the top of their lungs, further spurring their kin into murderous frenzy. Everywhere the heroes looked, goblins tore through merchant stalls, menaced locals with their dogslicers, threw rocks through windows, and otherwise made terrors of themselves.

The Goblin Song

Goblins chew and goblins bite.

Goblins cut and goblins fight.

Stab the dog and cut the horse,

Goblins eat and take by force!

Goblins race and goblins jump

Goblins slash and goblins bump.

Burn the skin and mash the head,

Goblins here and you be dead!

Chase the baby, catch the pup.

Bonk the head to shut it up.

Bones be cracked, flesh be stewed,

We be goblins! You be food!

Goblin Pyros

After the heroes defeated the initial three goblins, the chaos that has engulfed Sandpoint was impressed upon them. Goblins race everywhere, running amok and singing and slashing indiscriminately. At the point where the heroes were ready to take action, a sudden bloom of fire from a nearby unattended wagon or cart grabbed their attention.

A group of goblins found the cart full of fuel for the sunset bonfire just south of the festival grounds and has lit it on fire. The heroes rushed to investigate the burning wagon. As soon as the goblins saw the heroes, they shrieked in delight and attacked. These goblins had not only armed themselves with burning torches (weapons they wielded with maniacal delight), but also have the support of one of their warchanters.

Initially, the goblins tried to gleefully burn the heroes with their torches, but as soon as one of them was slain, the surviving goblins realized the fight was for real and switched to their dogslicers.

The warchanter continued singing during combat, using her whip to try to trip Urtrigor. She cast hideous laughter on Bruthien after he proved himself particularly dangerous, but he resisted the effects.