TEWR Ep 6 - Fun & Frolics at the Freakshow

by Noely

The Enemy Within Revisited Cast:
Gustav the Minstrel (Davy White)
Grimmir the Dwarf Runesmith (Dan)
Smof the Ogre Maneater (Sedrick Galamonte)
Falco the Ratcatcher (Michael Morgan)

So here we are still at the Schaffenfest, a human minstrel,  a Dwarf, an Ogre sporting a handlebar moustache, and an elven hunter (who is nowhere to be seen - no doubt off butchering some defenceless doe-eyed deer somewhere). And just as you think our merry band couldn't get any stranger we bump into another odd fellow. While most of the sights and smells of the Schaffenfest were quite delightful, there were some things that I'd rather not have seen, smelled or tasted. And just as I was thinking I'd seen it all. I saw this shifty looking fellow peddling vermin masquerading as some kebab-like sweetmeats. 

As I made a beeline away from the gruesome snack, some of the other party members swarmed the man to buy his wares. Yuch! Anyway it turns out Gustav knows the man. Is there anybody that man doesn't know? That fellow certainly gets around. 

Anyway before you know it the greasy looking chap has joined our merry band complete with his yapping little mongrel dog. 

We pressed on,  but before not very long at all we passed a Tarot Reader's tent.  "Mumbo jumbo" says I, "Let's go and get our cards read" declares Gustav. Unbelievable!

Speaking of unbelievable, that's pretty what I made of some of the Tarot Readers revelations. Dark and death in narrow watery places. Nonsense, we already left the canalways. And any old charlatan could trot out a few random numbers and colours and I fear our gullible bearded friend Gustav would swallow the info almost as quickly as he swallows the wine that's never very far away from his lips. 

On to the Freakshow then, where no doubt some of my bizarre travel companions felt right at home. There we saw all manner of bearded freaks and I swear I saw Gustav winking  at a rather plump bearded lady. Yikes!

Perhaps the most 'exciting' incident of the day was the dramatic escape of a 3 legged goblin from Dr Malthusius' Freakshow. The shifty, stinky fellow tripped the beast and it hurtled headlong into the brick wall that is Smof the Ogre. This proved to be just the first of the goblin's escape attempts but more of this later. Malthusius was delighted with this initial capture and rewarded us handsomely with silver. 

We used some of our silver during a quick visit to a pharmacist where a rather attractive blonde peddled all manner of drugs and poultices, most of them of a surprisingly high quality. Elvyra Kleinestun was her name and though some of my companions mentioned she was rather forthright and flirtatious. I have to confess that's "just the way I like em". Though she did seem to have an eye for the grubby ratcatcher in particular. There's no accounting for taste. Dunno what she sees in him. Maybe it's his rat on a stick :) 

Anyway as I said earlier the goblin escaped a 2nd time while we took in the show but this time it was too quick for any of it's pursuers and promptly disappeared down into the sewers. I'm not sure why we drew the short straw to go and fetch it though I admit the money offered to do so was a quite substantial amount. But after several hours of slogging around in the putrid effluent below I was beginning to question the decision to brave these stench filled sewer passages. 

What we discovered next made me question my own sanity. For there floating in the effluent was a putrid and bloated body. On closer inspection it turned out to be none other than the smelly alcoholic dwarf we'd rescued from the stocks earlier. But there'd be no rescue for the Dwarf on this occasion since it was clear that he was stone dead. And worse still the poor wretch had been mutilated quite horribly. One arm was missing and the poor soul had had his heart seemingly ripped out. 

Well that's enough for me. I've seen enough. At the first chance I get I'm gonna quickly and quietly slip away from this gore hunting group and possibly even slip away from Bogenhafen altogether if it means getting rid of them. It's not they're not an exciting bunch, because they undoubtedly are. It's just that I have plans to stay alive for a good deal longer than the rest of this thrill seeking bunch clearly plan to do. 

Both this session and the forthcoming session 7 use sound effects from Ambient Mixer. We had lots of fun messing around with it and the resultant effects can be heard as backgrounds in these sessions. 

If you'd like to use sound effects in your own games check out their website

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