Cobblar Languid on Tour
When they arrive at the inn in the evening it immediately becomes clear that word of the musician's presence has gone around, the street in front of the Mifora Way is filled with fans who oscillate between yelling her name and singing her songs. Kieran can't resist and grabs his lute to play one of her songs as well, unfortunately his performance of it isn't up to his usual standards.
A man in a rather rumpled sports jacket ambles over to the party as they enter Cobblar's suite. “You are the adventurers? Good to meet you, I’m Vic Danny, I’m the manager.” His handshake is clammy. “Best keep out of the way of Cobblar and that new boyfriend of hers, she doesn’t need any distractions, it’s going to be a long, long night. We do a thirty-minute set, including the encore, at each of the taverns, and need to get in and out of there as quickly as possible, without any hassle, but I’m sure mister Dannark has explained all this to you.”
He explains that he and the musicians will go to the venues in their own wagon, and the rest of the entourage go with Cobblar's wagon, he leaves it up to the party who, if anyone, they want to travel with. He then fields the party's questions before going back to a desk and taking up some paperwork.
As Vic leaves, a halfling woman with very smooth skin, shiny lips, her hair done up in four orbs on her head, and wearing something akin to a tracksuit comes over. “I’m Mimosa, Ms. Languid’s personal cosmetician, nice to meet you”. She looks Izzy up and down; “my, you’re quite unique, aren’t you? I love your sense of style, why don’t we go over to my table and we can exchange some tips.”
Reading on the couch is a large half-orc with a greyish skin and bright eyes. He gets up, straightens his dress suit and comes over. “Fenton Flow, publicist, pleasure to make your acquaintance, I’m sure. I hope it has been impressed upon you that you are not to speak about anything you might see or hear tonight, hmm?”
The assembled band members then introduce themselves; there's the intense shawm player, the laidback drummer, the pompous dulcimer player, the finicky lutist, and the timid violist. It immediately becomes clear they are just hired guns; they haven’t been with Cobblar before tonight.
Both Boldrek and Kieran go over to Mimosa. The barbarian wants her to spray some of the perfume he brought on Cobblar so he can track her more easily. The stylist asks why she can't use the singer's usual fragrance and once the dwarf has had a sniff of it, he's fine with her using it. The paladin wants to see an ear ring or something like that that the singer will be wearing tonight so he can locate it with a spell, Mimosa shows him one.
Eventually a buff dwarf with a short beard, wearing an expensive suit comes over. “So you guys are the security for tonight? I’m Eclek Sivart, you might have heard of me? Recipient of the Kallfem Trophy and won the Banak Open four times. There’s really no need for you, if anything happens I’ll be there, Cob is safe as houses with me around. But I guess you guys can be of some use.”
This rankles Boldrek and he stares the other dwarf down; "I’m not impressed, I will protect her, that’s what I was hired for." Tensions rise but eventually Eclek just walks away. Somewhat later Cobblar finally makes an appearance. She's a short, raven-haired half-elf with purple eyes, dressed in a suit made of velvet with shimmering colors, almost like an oil puddle.
Our friends introduce themselves to the singer and Kieran tries to be playfully flirty, succeeding at it quite well, making Eclek frown rather unhappily but Cobblar smiles. Vic and the musicians leave, the party decides they will all stick with Cobblar. As they get downstairs Zayn casts a Silent Image of Cobblar to appear in the lobby. The fans outside that can see her go crazy and start yelling and push inside, overcoming the hired security people.
At this time everyone else goes out the back entrance where a wagon stands waiting; it is a shiny dark blue with large, silver letters on the side proclaiming: “Cobblar Languid on Tour”. There's still plenty of fans at this side of the inn and when they see the star their reaction is immediate. “I love you, Cobblar!”, the yelling is deafening as they come running. Izzy notices a slight man, maybe late twenties or early thirties, with a small mustache, reach into his jacket. He takes something out, his autograph book.
It takes a lot of strength to keep the rabid Languids, as her fans call themselves, away but eventually everyone is in the wagon and they are away. Kieran also got a seat inside, the other three party members walk along the wagon or hop on it. Eclek is all over his girlfriend as they make their way to the first venue, he's talking about their upcoming holiday to Mifora, saying they could cancel the last part of the tour, "Martell is a dump anyway". Kieran inserts himself into the conversation and tries to subtly say that Cobblar, being the consummate professional she is, would never disappoint her fans like that.
Good for What Ales Ya
They arrive at the first tavern, a large crowd is gathered outside and as they make their way into the alley behind it, the fans follow. It takes a lot to keep the fans away as they make their way to the backdoor. They arrive in a storage room, "rather smells of stale beer," Fenton Flows complains. It takes a lot to keep the backdoor shut, with the Languids pushing up against it. There are tiny windows high up on wall, but the first one breaks within a minute.
Mimosa does last minute touch-ups as musicians get ready on stage, the roar of the crowd almost deafening even in the storage room. The tavern is packed tighter than fish in a barrel, no one can move an inch. The band starts playing Go, Go, Go, and Cobblar bounds onto the stage with a lot of energy and the fans yell in ecstasy.
At the end of the first song a fan manages to get on stage. Eclek, standing in the wings, is the first to respond. He rushes out and tackles the fan to the floor. Unfortunately the dwarf lands badly and breaks his leg. He's in a lot of pain but hides it well, "I need to be brought to a temple and get healing," he tells our friends. “You can crawl that way,” one of them replies rather callously. Kieran asks Cobblar if she wants her boyfriend to be brought to a temple or if he should heal him, but the way he phrases it, he steers her towards the first option, which she picks. One of the tavern staff get the unenviable task of bringing the dwarf there.
All of this fortunately only takes a minute and then the concert is back on. The rest of the set goes without any further incidents though the place is quite rowdy and after the encore: You!, they don’t get away without a second encore: Transmuted.
After that everyone rushes off the stage and back into the storage room. From there it's quite the gauntlet to get back to the wagon. Izzy suggests she could disguise herself as Cobblar but the singer won't have it; "there is only one Cobblar!" However, without asking the star, Zayn uses another Silent Image spell to create a double of her down the street. Many Languids rush that way and that relieves the pressure in the alley and they make it into the wagon and are off to the second venue of the night.