Sunday
Travel and arrival
We start traveling to Peppercorn City, stopping at Dragonview for Saturday night.
Peppercorn City was named because the discoverer saw a peppercorn when entering the area, an thus named it as such. It was the year 550 was when it was founded, and has grown steadily for the past 200 years. Is is now a bustling hub of a city. It has a circular wall around it, with several tiers. The lower class has been built around the outside ring, along the edge of the wall. The middle class gathers around the central ring and the upper class lives in the upper ring. The upper class are notorious for their long, strange names.
A guard stops us at the gate, suspicious that we are stopping at such an unusual time. Upon discovering that Lilith is in our party, the guard quickly stops harassing us and invites us in. Sharkel asks for a gnome town, but is disappointed to find that the majority of the town is human. Upon reaching the tavern, there is a lot of attention on Lilith, because Leobardus is her father. We learn that Leobardus had saved Peppercorn from some dragon that was terrorizing the town.
Political Intrigue
Shortly after we arrive and get settled at the Drowsy Dragon, a messenger walks over and hands a letter to Lilith. She notices that many of the guests are discretely watching, so she moves to her rooms to have more privacy. After about ten minutes, she hears a knock and a second letter is slid under her door. The first letter contains a invitation to Lord and Lady Marshals ball. The Marshals are average in the upper classes. Not particularly high royalty, but also important enough to have influence. The second letter contains a similar invitation to Lord Farmer’s ball, at the same time as the Marshals ball. Lord Farmer is rather reclusive, but highly influential in Peppercorn.
Shnarkle attempts to bully the bartender into getting him some juice. However the bartender has gotten annoyed to the point of getting one of his jumpers to kick Shnarkle out. Upon seeing this, Murbrek tries to stop the jumper by standing in front and intimidating. However, both get stopped by Lilith, who hears the curses of Shnarkel, and comes downstairs. She apologizes to the barkeep, before she arranges that he will go somewhere else to find juice and bed. Sharkle promptly wanders off and falls asleep on the side of the road.
Lilith continues a conversation with the barkeep, asking about the political climate of the city. He talks about how Lord and Lady Leobardus had just passed through, and left a few days ago. He mentions that Lord Farmer is likely to know Leobardus’s intended destination, but is notorious for being difficult to talk to. The Barkeep mentioned that Lord Archer spent a lot of time with her father, so she might have the best luck talking to him.
Lilith, Rar, and Mubrek discuss what to do next. It is decided that Mubrek will find Shnarkel and babysit, while Lilith and Rar gather clothes for Lord Farmer’s Ball.
Murbrek eventually finds Shnarkle lying drunk and robbed in an ally. He splashes him with water, then brings him into the woody wood chuck diner and gets him a giant glass of grape juice. He then forces him to bed, then Shnarkle falls asleep immediately.
Monday
After waking up, Lilith and Rar get a pedicure, in preparation for their ball that night. Lilith feels that the prices are suspiciously low, likely due to her fathers standing.