Cauldron Festival

[Anastasia]

"I do," The mercenary says, "They pay well when you turn them in. I could use a few to pay for getting my armor redone."

Meanwhile the farm girl nods, "My older brother. He's going to take the farm after Pappa dies, he's meeting his fiancee here, too. She's a seamstress and making good marks here, Sterm says."

[Ebiris]

"Oh that's nice. Have you got a special someone?" Marie asks inquisitively.

[Corwin]

"I can only wish luck to your endeavors," Seira tells him sincerely.

[Anastasia]

"Not yet, but maybe here," The farmgirl blushes warmly at that, hands to her cheeks, "I need to get married already. That's what Mamma keeps telling me."

Meanwhile, the mercenary nods to you, the line slowly moving forward.

[Ebiris]

"Here's hoping you find someone then!" Marie says supportively.

[Anastasia]

"Thanks!"

Then the wagon moves forward, to the gates. It's not long and soon enough you're through the gates, into Balmuria proper. The Commerce Quarter is busy, a bustle of people coming and going as...

Ball is in your court.

[Corwin]

Seira is content to move forward with the line. It would not do to stay too long in one place, or lilies would blossom all around her! Better to wait until they emerge after a day has passed, following her footsteps.

[Ebiris]

"So I want to hit up Whimsical Sweets first," Marie says to Seira and Oraga once they're in the city. "Stock up on candy and have a little nose around, see if anyone's heard from Sylvie lately, how her kid's getting on, that stuff."

[Corwin]

"That's where we can find Marianne, too," Seira agrees. "Let's do that. We can see how Mia's doing after."

Since she hadn't prayed to Seira again, probably good! But why guess when she can take a look herself?

[Anastasia]

> roll 1d100
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 90 > [d100=90]

The trip to Whimsical Sweets is uneventful. Business looks brisk enough, people coming and going from the outside. A banner levitates above the door that reads, '25% off everything today! A splendid special selection!'

[Ebiris]

"Wonder what the occasion is for the sale?" Marie looks up at that banner. Hopefully not a going out of business one! Anyway, she'll see more inside than out, so she joins the flow of customers heading inside.

[Anastasia]

You don't know, but it does smell great out here. You can smell sweet things of all kinds. Inside the shop is bustling, a fat half elf in a suit that looks like a bowl of creamy custard. "Come one, come all, come to our wonderful display of sugary surprises and confectionery completion, where from the lowest of us to the highest of us can enjoy a deep and fulfilling taste of things above and beyond the normal foods of our world, yes, let us all come together in shared appreciation for the goods and glories that rival even the brighest, most nostalgic memories of childhood, let us come together to appreciate these things, big and small!"

[Ebiris]

Marie has a browse around, filling a basket with various confections to enjoy for herself and to share out back home before she winds up near the custard elf. "So say, what's the occasion for the sale?" she asks him.

[Corwin]

The owner makes Seira get a custard craving and she looks around for suitable treats!

[Anastasia]

There's virtually anything Seira cares to have, a vast selection indeed.

"Ah, a splendid and glorious day to you, fair elven lass, for the occasion is simply to celebrate the great glories of bakery and candymancy, to show those from the farthest reaches of wild Kesse to the salty shores of the Southern Confederation, to the eastern reaches of the Free Cities, to the ruined heart of the once great Malmuthian Empire; yea, the purpose it itself, for let candy and sugared joy ring from sea to sea, from land to sky, from human to elf, from goblin to dragon." The half elf explains, waving grandly about as he gives his speech.