Last adventure, the party climbed up a hill. This adventure, the party climbed down a hill. In between, they had lunch.

The party reached the house at the top of the hill and after some boot-quaking, Ha’Des called out a “hello” and received a “come on in” by way of reply. So the party did, and walked right into the goodfellows playing cards before lunch.

An experiment:

To make the goodfellows (thuggish fae pixies) somewhat weird I had them be the characters from the Under Hill, By Water game we played. The goodfellows are meant to be game logic defying creatures. At least that’s the read I get on them from Brancalonia book. Since this was the same group, I thought it would be funny if the NPCs talked to the players by referencing their characters from other games. This got a chuckle, but not much else. Instead of approaching them as funhouse ride, the party viewed them as a puzzle to be solved. Don Hector noped out after a few interactions. Ha’Des played it straight. Nico tried to figure out how the magic “worked” in a mechanistic way. All that said they still kept to their mission which was to convince a goodfellow to come back to town with them.

Nico and Ha’Des did much of the negotiating. Don Hector feigned sleepiness and went to explore a backroom. After some finagling, Nico developed a rapport with the goodfellows and Ha’Des offered to make lunch for everyone. Meanwhile, Don Hector came upon a horrible icon depicting the goodfellows’ grandfather (a horrible trickster fae the players encountered in a different campaign). As he reacted to the sight, the floor swung down, sending him tumbling down the mountain along. Fortunately, he landed in a haywain at the base of the hill and not the dung heap. He then set out to climb the hill again, taking the road this time.

Back up at the top, Ha’Des is doing his best to cook with no ingredients beside water and a potato. Nico continues to chat with the goodfellows, and they start asking him questions about his time with the fae. (Nico spent his childhood working in a faerie workshop.) In particular, the goodfellows reminded him of this horrible Ice Queen figure he encountered one time when he tried to escape the faerie lands. Nico’s not happy to be reminded. Some more ingredients got found, but Ha’Des convinced the goodfellows the greatest ingredient in any soup was love. They buy this as the soup gets served.

Don Hector learned that taking the road to the top of the hill doesn’t work and found himself at the bottom again. He headed through the brambles and encountered the donkey again. This time, he tried to rob the donkey and ended up at the bottom of the hill again. So, he decided to wait to see if the others succeed.

Finally, Nico and Ha’Des managed to convince a goodfellow to come with them down the mountain. The fellow climbed in the cooking pot. At the bottom of the hill, a disgruntled Don Hector greeted them. Also, they noticed the goodfellow’s pot had begun ticking. Realizing this can’t be good, they hurried to bring the pot to Count Chico. The goodfellow appeared. Count Chico’s delighted. He pays the party and turns over Gwardo Izznardo. The party hurries out of town, but not before stocking up on soap for the road. As they’re leaving, they heard a loud explosion come from Count Chico’s manor house.

At last, Gwardo Izznardo demanded they stop for the night and reveal what they wanted with him. The party tried to keep the cup secret, but Gwardo sees through all that. He promised he won’t betray the players if they will look after him in his old age. They agreed, and Gwardo deciphered the riddle.

“Church Yard San Basle.”

“Where’s San Basle?” The party asked.

Gwardo didn’t know, except that it was on the other side of the River. He does remember there was a legendary wine with that name and maybe they should talk to a chef to learn where exactly it came from. Gwardo named three places where they might find a chef. The party discussed which might be best, opted for one, and set off.

Next adventure, on the road again!