While traveling through the countryside, the party comes upon an altercation in a small village they are passing through, called Alesia.
Alesia consists of about 40 houses, scattered loosely around the village center, which consists of a small gathering place and an old well. The houses are mostly wood and mud, some have stone-reinforced walls. They are clearly the home of simple, rural people, of which there are about 200 living in Alesia. About half of these are adults and half children.
When the party approaches the center they will notice a group of villagers loudly arguing with two apparent foreigners, who clearly speak only broken Latin. In the mumble of words and voices,
The two foreigners are Celtic bards (called filid in Gaul) speaking Gaulish. Characters whose mother tongue is Gaulish will recognize the language though due to the chaos they can't make out what exactly is being said.
Characters with a Celtic culture background will recognize the foreigners as filid.
Let the party choose their style of engagement into this situation. As play starts, some of the villagers have noticed the party and the argument in front of them is in full swing, and by the looks of it could well escalate into a fist-fight.
If the party chooses to wait and see how things go, roll the usual fortune die for engagement. The party is at an advantage (roll 2 dice) if at least one of them is in armour or openly carrying a weapon larger than a knife.
Irrespective of the roll, the argument before them will quickly turn into a short fist-fight that will see the two bards break free after getting pummeled and running away. A part of the villagers will follow them and then halt in front of the party.
If the engagement roll was a success, the bards passing the party at some distance and the villagers who gave chase will be intimidated enough to change their mood from aggression to careful defensiveness and someone will step forward to ask them who they are.
If the engagement roll was a partial success, the bards will run past the party and a few villagers will run past the group to chase the bards out of the village, while the rest stop, calm down a bit and ask the party who they are.
If the engagement roll was a failure, the bards bump into the party on their attempted escape and seconds later the characters find themselves in the middle of a brawl. Everyone roll melee combat to avoid getting a few kicks and punches (1 point of lesser harm on failure).
The characters can then choose to disengage or join the brawl proper. Continue at After the Brawl.
If the characters intervene with diplomacy, trying to calm down the situation or act as translators, the engagement roll is at a disadvantage if nobody in the party is a Gaul, and at an advantage if at least one character has social 3 or higher.
On a success, the character(s) manage to gain the attention of the crowd and calm down the situation enough that it is possible for more or less one person to speak at a time. Continue at Having a Talk.
On a partial success, the party barely manages to avoid a brawl breaking out, but finally manages to draw attention to themselves, maybe with some shouts or shenanigans. Continue at Having a Talk, but the position for the first social roll is with a desperate position.
On a failure, the party does manage to draw attention to themselves, but as the attention of the crowd shifts to them, the two bards make a run for it and chaos ensues. Seconds later the characters find themselves in the middle of a brawl. Everyone roll melee combat to avoid getting a few kicks and punches (1 point of lesser harm on failure).
The characters can then choose to disengage or join the brawl proper. Continue at After the Brawl.
If the characters think they are tough, they can choose to go in with force, push the two sides apart and dominate the situation - peace through overwhelming power.
For the engagement roll, judge how well armed the party is. If they are clearly a group of warriors, they will be at an advantage. If they are all unarmed, without armour, and nobody is exceptionally strong or large, at a disadvantage. Otherwise, normal.
On a success, silence falls over the village center as the show of force works as intended and everyone falls silent, waiting for the characters to proceed. Most likely, this will lead to Having a Talk, with a controlled position.
On a partial success, it takes some time to calm down the crowd. As with a success, most likely play will continue with Having a Talk, but the position is risky.
On a failure, the party only adds oil to the fire and the characters find themselves in the middle of a brawl. Everyone roll melee combat to avoid getting a few kicks and punches (1 point of lesser harm on failure).
The characters can then choose to disengage or join the brawl proper. Continue at After the Brawl.
The brawl will end quickly, as soon as the villagers have let off some steam or someone draws a real weapon. The men have no intention of seriously harming anyone and will let go of any character who suffers 2 or more lesser harm.
Then, the men will apologize, as their ire was directed against the bards, and frankly speaking not even against them but their troupe.
If the bards are still present, proceed to Having a Talk. Otherwise the villagers will explain the situation as described in What Happened.
The previous day, a troupe of entertainers arrived in the village, coming from the south, just like the party now. They set up a small stage from their two simple wagons and in the evening had a show with song, dance, a play and a juggling act. Their payment, as is customary, was room and board and a few small coins or trinkets. Everyone was happy that evening, and the villagers talked and drank with the entertainers into the night, getting news of the world, jokes and funny stories.
Since this morning, farmer Jacques Marlon can't find his daughter Elaine. He last saw her the previous evening and he is afraid that she ran away and is with the entertainers, most of whom left on the northwards road early that morning. The two bards were still there, however, and the villagers were about to question them on Elaine, and the rest the party witnessed.
As soon as everyone has calmed down, the villagers will explain as described in What Happened.
If someone translates for the bards, they will say that they are not fixed members of the troupe that passed by, and planned to make their own way after traveling with them for a few days, which is why they didn't leave with the others.
Everyone involved is speaking the truth here.
If questioned, the bards can give a few details on the troupe. The villagers can also describe what they saw the evening before. See The Entertainers below.
Jacques Marlon would follow the entertainers himself, but with the harvest coming up and his wife being ill, he can leave neither the farm nor his other two children behind.
He can offer his saving (worth one coin) and some food and provisions as payment.
Elaine is barely 14, good looking with long blonde hair, though somewhat slim. She is his oldest child and in his words a bit too independent and stubborn for her own good.
By law and custom, Elaine is a child and her father's wishes should be her command. This will become important later in the adventure.
According to Jacques, on the previous evening Elaine was flirting with the oldest of the entertainer boys, probably 17 or 18, a good-looking muscular fellow. Jacques didn't feel like intervening and thought it harmless. When pressed a bit he will also admit that he might have had a bit too much beer to worry. He thinks the boy was called Gerald, but he isn't sure.
Aside from the two bards, the entertainers are not a large group.
Two adult men are leading the group, and responsible for haggling, news, organization and taking care of the animals (two donkeys and a dog) and the two carts.
Their wives do the cooking and most of the handiworks such as clothes, and one is playing the flute.
Three teenage boys are treated like sons by both couples, neither the villagers nor the bards know the exact family relations, and they do most of the juggling, theatre and dance.
One young boy and a teenage girl join them in the easier parts and otherwise walk around the crowd with a hat asking for small coins for the performance.
Both the villagers and the bards agree that the entertainers left in the morning. At that time, most of the villagers had just started their day and were either in their huts or on the fields, so those who actually saw the entertainers leaving didn't get a close look and had no reason to count them or check if a village girl was among them.
As the entertainers have left in the same direction the party is anyways traveling, there should be no reason for them to refuse some help. Jacques will be thankful even if they don't personally return the girl. Just having someone traveling this way bring a word, or telling Elaine in no uncertain terms to return home would already make him happy.
It is early afternoon when the matter in Alesia is settled and the party will have to decide whether to press on or stay in the village for the night. If they ask the villagers, they can learn that the north way leads through the forest towards the village of Lergovia. This is likely the next destination of the entertainers. With children and carts it will take them at least half a day, if the characters march briskly they should be able to make it in a few hours, well before nightfall.