They were about four days from Wilted Gulch when the scenery on their path started to shift. The desert behind them was giving way to an arid expanse that featured more vegetation than they had been seeing up until now. There was a smell in the air that Thora couldn’t quite place, but as the weary crew crested a small hill the source came into view. Tall ships hoisted their sails in the harbour before them, merchant vessels coming to dock at the port.

A sign reading “Welcome to Pitted Dusk” was partially obscured by a large and colourful banner. The words “Hare Days” were spelled out in large painted letters. The scene before them was one of a city in heavy growth. What was obviously once a small port town was now rapidly expanding with many new structures popping up around the central point in town. People wandered around the streets in every direction, loudly chattering as children shouted and chased each other while wearing bunny ears. A little girl walked by with an apple on a stick, but this apple had ears upon it.

“I guess they like rabbits?” said Zearach, one eyebrow raised as he took in the strange human celebration before them. Several hares and rabbits were rushing back and forth in the bush to the side of the road, clearly unphased by all the activity around them.

“We should find out more” suggested Alandal, pointing towards a few inns down the main road. “I bet we could find a place to rest the horses over there.”

Thora’s mind raced to the thought of getting an actual chair and a proper meal. They had stopped a few days back for a meal at a small town on the way, but since then Thora had only eaten rations while holding the reins. That was hardly a restful break. It would be nice to learn more about this town, perhaps find somebody needing some help.

As they made their way down the busy central street, more families wandered the streets, checking out the stores and special event sales from the shopkeeps. The air was filled with the infectious laughter and excitement of the townsfolk.

The Hero’s Hearthstone

Eventually, they found themselves between two competing establishments whose newly minted names seemed to indicate that travelling adventurers were the new target audience. On one side of the street a squat building with a double-door greeted travellers with a hanging sign that read “The Adventurer’s Arms”, though the word “Adventurer’s” had covered over the word “Strong” on the original sign. On the other side of the street stood a sign that read “Hero’s Hearthstone”. Here too, the word Hero seemed to have been plastered sloppily on top of some other word that had originally graced the sign.

It was Alandal who made the decision by confidently striding into the Hero’s Hearthstone and going straight to the bar, leaving Thora to deal with the horses. Thora didn’t mind, though, as the soldier wasn’t feeling up for negotiating their stay at the moment. It had been a long drive and Thora just wanted a good meal and a relaxing evening.

It wasn’t long before Zearach came out with a thumbs up and joined the dwarf in bringing the wagon and horses around back. As they chatted, the elf filled Thora in on the news in town.

“Remember all those long-eared rodents?” Zearach asked. “Apparently they are a bit of nuisance around these parts, destroying the crops year after year. To keep things in check this festival happens annually and they send off some murderous predators to keep the hare population in check.”

“So why are the people wearing the ears?” Thora wondered. “Wouldn’t that make them siding with the pests?”

“That’s the best part!” the elf replied. “The predators are also the same type of long-eared rodents! Apparently quite dangerous, though. There will be a contest to see who will have the opportunity to recapture those predators after their job is done. There’s a magical hunting bow up for grabs, too, that I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on.”

“I’m sure the competition won’t have a chance” replied the dwarf, with a little bit of a smile. “I mean, how hard can it be to capture a few rabbits?”

Returning back to the inn, the two rejoined Duanne at a table to continue the conversation and strategize for the upcoming competition. Alandal had his drum out again, much to the initial disdain of the crowd in the inn, but his intricate rhythms turned even the most skeptical of patrons into fans. His clawed talons practically flew across the skin of his drum in a complex dance of taps and slaps and bumps. Thora could almost see the story that the bard was telling, a feeling of excitement and wonder but also pain and loss. It was a beautiful performance that culminated with a massive flourish. Thora still couldn’t tell when Alandal was smiling, but he certainly deserved to be after that.

A little boy cautiously came up to the dragonborn and tossed a coin towards him, which the bard deftly caught in mid-air. Running away with a grin, the child returned to his table as Alandal rejoined them for the meal.

“That was a great piece, did you write it yourself?” asked Thora, curious as to where the music came from.

“That was an old one, passed down through my family” the drummer explained. “It tells the story of our people, in a way.”

The dragonborn didn’t seem to want to go into more detail than that, as he dug into his well-earned feast. The conversation turned towards preparations for the competition. Nobody really had a good handle on what was involved with the challenge, other than some loose details about the sabertoothed bunnies and Old Man Darmuth’s bow as the prize. They needed to know more and it was still quite early in the afternoon. That left time to do some exploring before hitting the town to gather some information.

Shopping spree

With time to kill, Duanne suggested a visit to the shops. The wizard was looking for some enchantments or potions, something that could grant an advantage in the coming challenge. Their first stop was at an enchantment store run by a shopkeep named Lemeroth who stood with an air of someone what has been there and done that and wished not to have to bring themselves down to that level again. The walls were adorned with a myriad of mystical items and things that made Thora’s head spin. A small crystal globe swirled with coloured clouds, a low purple glow emanating from it in all directions. On a very ornate wall hook hung a shiny metallic shield with a label that promised it could attract arrows and bolts to it, thus sparing the wielder and their allies the pain of death. Several large weapons hung on a display rack behind the counter, clearly beyond Thora’s price range or abilities. In general, the store seemed to have excellent wares but the prices were somewhat outside of what they could afford.

“Thank you for the help, I’m sure we’ll be back” Zearach offered, politely, knowing full well that they would need a big increase in coin to afford some of the prices here.

Following the directions they had received earlier, the tortle led the group to a place that was definitely in their price range: Cornelius’ Cutrate Casting. The little gnome running the shop wore an outfit almost as garish as the building in which he operated his establishment. Everything in the store seemed to be a toy or knock-off version of someone else’s good idea, although that did come with a more reasonable price tag. Duanne and the gnome got off to a fabulous start and were soon knocking tales back and forth of ridiculous combinations that could be achieved. Floating ducks, cookie suits, mechanical mice, and multiple other ridiculous purchases were soon being stuffed into the tortle’s pack. How could this possibly be helpful? In the end, though, it wasn’t Thora’s say as to how the wizard wanted to spend their acquired fortune.

Thora’s head shook in disbelief as the wizard waddled outside with arms full of ridiculous things to try out. Well, at least the tortle was happy!

Moons and Stars

The next stop on their tour of Pitted Dusk was the one that Thora had been looking forward to all day. From conversations had with some of the locals, the name of the town apparently came from the magnificent view of the sky as it filled with stars at night. It was probably no coincidence that a scientist had decided to set up shop here in town with a large device called a telescope. The dwarf had only read of such things in beka’s books and now Thora was going to be able to visit an actual telescoparium!

“I hope we get to look at the surface of Depus tonight!” piped up a little girl that was ahead of Thora in the entry line. The soldier couldn’t help but smile at the contagious excitement of the child. The dwarf had actually hoped for something similar!

Fortunately, the crowd at the Telescoparium wasn’t too large and it allowed the group to enter and take their time without feeling rushed. Outside, the warm gold of the sunset sky was starting to give way to the cool indigo glow of twilight. There were few clouds to block the view and you could feel the energy in the room begin to bubble up as the host of the event began to usher people towards the viewing area.

While the others started to assemble to take a turn, Thora peaked into the small shop which featured numerous souvenirs and literature. There were so many interesting things to read, but the dwarf’s eyes settled on a tome that had not been in mother’s library: Moons of Rhime. While all folks in Rhime knew a little bit about the moon rumoured to be the birthplace of the gods, there was little need for the people under the mountain to talk about the objects in the sky. Thora had read enough surface-dweller books to know the names of the three moons: Jumani, Depus, and Erada. However, this small book went into so much more detail! Carefully designed artistic renditions of the three moons were throughout the book, highlighting the various sizes of Jumani and its sisters, also including the different paths that they took across the sky. Thora had never known that Erada was so small compared to the others, or that it travelled in a completely different direction, appearing to move up and down in the sky!

Thora missed most of the scientist’s explanations of the evening constellations, but quickly made the way to the telescope when it was available to take a turn at stargazing. The soldier needed to use the children’s step stool to get a good look, but when Thora’s eyes pressed against the eyepiece an audible gasp escaped the dwarf’s lips. There they were, in all their glorious brilliance! The rhythm of Thora’s heart quickened, it was almost impossible to pull away.

“Ahem” coughed the astronomer, interrupting Thora’s gazing. “Next turn!”

The dwarf pulled away with reluctance, wondering if getting back in line was an option, but they still needed to get to the Party’s Gold this evening. It had been a truly amazing experience to have in the midst of all the other business of the last few weeks.

“Now just remember, everyone!” called out the scientist as everybody assembled to leave. “Come back in three months time for the biggest event of the century! For the first time in three hundred years all of our moons will align in a celestial marvel that most in Rhime will never see again!”

Thora wondered if they would be able to be back in Pitted Dusk by then, but was also intrigued by the historical past of this. The book from the souvenir shop didn’t mention much about the last time this lunar alignment event had happened. Something at the back of the dwarf’s mind was signaling concern. Had Thora read something about this in one of beka’s books? Or perhaps it had been Uncle Belgar who had told of it? He had certainly seen much in his travels. Perhaps tomorrow Thora could find a place with some historical records here in town.

The Party’s Gold

The building before them was loud, garish, and probably just the type of thing ka’az Dunil would have loved. It smelled like horse urine mixed with petunias and body odour, which unfortunately was probably not far from the actual ingredients. The Party’s Gold promised a good time to all who entered, but Thora had a feeling that most left without much of their day’s pay left in their pockets. They had travelled clear across town from the Telescoparium to get here and the place was definitely picking up the pace as the evening clientele piled in by the dozens. With the additional tourists in town, like them, the place held all manners of people from across the region.

“We should find the betting odds for the contest and see what the competition is like” suggested Alandal, his gaze scanning above the crowd as he towered over the other patrons.

“How are we going to know what the best team will be?” asked Thora, slightly confused.

“The lower the payout, the more likely that team will be to win. We need to beat whomever is favoured right now” explained Duanne, who seemed ready to drop whatever he had left in his coin purse on the competition.

Finding the competition betting odds turned out to be very straightforward as it seemed to be a very popular information board today. With the competition happening tomorrow, a lot of the wagers had already been placed by others. Unknown to most would be that a new name would be added to that board tomorrow. The existing list featured a few newcomers who were getting bad odds, but the expected winner were a returning group who had placed as champion the year prior. They would be the team to beat. According to chatter around the casino, not everybody from the reigning winners had survived last year’s challenge, yet still they were coming back for more. The reward must surely be amazing!

“Hey, youngling” whispered Thora, spotting a child eyeing the wager board. “Make sure to bet on Alandal’s team tomorrow. A sure thing!”

The dwarf gave a little wink before setting aside a large wager on their team. Thora had utmost confidence that they could win this, especially if it was a team sport with your life on the line.

An a-maze-ing challenge

The next morning started with a nice breakfast at the Hero’s Hearthstone and then a visit down to the town center for registration. The crowds were starting to gather up around a fenced area in a field, jostling for position to get a good spot. A few of the challengers were already meeting up in the field, standing in front of large banners advertising the contestant’s team name. While Alandal registered their group at the main booth, Thora tried to get a look at the competition. Surrounded by tall tourists blocking the view, the dwarf pushed through towards a pile of nearby wooden crates. Climbing up and looking out over the crowd, Thora could see that many of the teams were unarmed, dressed in casual clothing. The soldier felt a little out of place equipped with all the steel and leather armour, but it was a little late now.

Climbing down, Thora rejoined the others as they took to the field. The event announcer was just now shouting out to the crowd and naming some of the teams that had already arrived. Isolated cheers went up for some of the newcomers, possibly family, but the large share of the applause and support went for last year’s champions. When “Alandal’s team” was announced, there was some scattered polite applause, but they were unknowns here. That would change soon, Thora was sure of it!

Duanne was kneeling on the field, examining the large wooden board that had been placed before them. The board was square in shape, several feet across, and featured what appeared to be a maze. Small holes were placed throughout the maze, but it did seem like the general idea was to get from some starting point on the board to the exit point for the maze. However, it was far too small for it to be a challenge for any of them. The path was very straightforward and could easily be figured out. What were they supposed to do?

The answer soon arrived, muzzled and wrapped up in a trenchcoat. The small white rabbit was slightly larger than normal, but tiny enough to fit inside the walls of the maze. As the announcer shouted out the challenge rules, Thora watched the rabbit in the maze, poking about, trying to find a way to get the muzzle off.

“Why would you need to muzzle such a tiny rodent?” asked Thora, kneeling down near the board to get a better look. “He’s so fluffy!”

The sound of the starter horn was the only answer the dwarf got as the various teams jumped into action. Shouts and encouraging cheers surrounded the field as the spectators all urged on their favourites. Thora and the others lifted up the board from each corner, trying to figure out how to get the rabbit through the maze. Currently, it seemed quite content to simply sit there.

It was the wizard, unsurprisingly, who came up with the plan. Duanne tossed his floating duck onto the maze and Thora then added a few bits of meat to the top to get the rabbit moving. It gladly jumped up to try to get the food, frustrated by its inability to pick any of it up with the muzzle in the way. The poor little thing didn’t even get to have its snack before two nets were tossed onto it by the others in the crew. With their rabbit firmly attached to the floating duck platform, it then became a game of of balancing. Working together, they tilted and bumped and did anything possible to move the duck over the walls of the maze and toward the finish line. With eyes closed, Thora concentrated on the final push and steadied both legs. Focusing again on the board, the soldier bent, swerved, and twisted, the stout dwarven frame seemingly defying the laws of physics.

As the bunny crossed the finish line, they heard a shouting voice crying out “18 seconds, Team Alandal!!!” causing a huge cheer to erupt from the crowd. A loud curse could be heard across the field as last year’s champions took a pause to glare at them, before returning to their board. Only a few seconds later they were complete as well, confirming that both teams would now face off in the final challenge.

A hare-y situation

There was little preparation time for the winners before the masters challenge was laid out in the field. At the far end of the field was a pile of tiny clothing items, too small for even most children to be able to wear comfortably. On the near side of the field was a small tube, possibly big enough for the rabbit to fit through. Just past the tube, near the center of the field, was a series of posts sticking straight up from the ground. Most of them were painted plain white, but one of the wooden poles had a darker stain to it so as to mark it as a target. Immediately after the posts were a pair of rings, raised off the ground, likely a jumping target to take the challenger from the wickets to the clothing pile.

Their competition strode confidently up to their stations, each taking one of the course challenges. There seemed to be multiple ways to solve each challenge, but finding the right match for each of them would be key. Thora watched carefully to see what type of tactics would be used while Duanne and Alandal came up with a strategy for their team. In general, last year’s champions were faring quite well, but when it came time to tossing the rabbit through the rings luck was not on their side. The poor bunny must have struck every side of those rings as it caromed across the field in a most unusual and unexpected way. The toss was strong though, if not accurate, and they were able to complete the course, but still you could see that they were disappointed.

When it came their turn, Thora huddled with the others on what their plan would be. Duanne had come up with some rather ingenious tricks.

****

Twitch. Twitch.

“I can smell them, so close. I will be free soon. They will be mine” thought Konijn as the large creatures brought him to a field. Before him stood several huge beasts who were huddled up, discussing something. Scanning back and forth, the hunter looked for a way out, but there was always another gate, another fence, another giant.

“There must be a way out of here… MOUSE!”

Konijn’s eyes went wide at the sight of the small rodent directly in front of him. Speeding off at full pace he tried to leap and catch it, but it just barely escaped into a small tunnel. His prey would not lose him so easily! Ears back, muzzle down, Konijn’s eyes never left the site of the snack before him as he squeezed into the tube, leaping forward with powerful lunges. He was so close!

His eyes became blinded as they exited the tunnel back into the full light, momentarily losing sight of his prey. But no, there it was! It was racing towards a large bearded creature who was yelling at him. Konijn couldn’t quite make out the words, but he gathered it was somewhat insulting. Teeth bared, he charged at the leather-covered giant, ready for combat. This insult would not stand!

“Look at the coward” Konijn thought to himself. “Trying to hide behind some thin tree. Ha! That will not protect him from my wrath!”

There was something else, though. A smell on the wind… something… delicious. His nose twitched, trying to find the source. Was it this irritating dwarf? No… It was closer… It was on the tree! Lunging at the wicket, Konijn attempted to close his jaws on the wonderful smelling meat that had been spread there, only to find his nasty pointed teeth unable to break through the muzzle and reach the delicious morsels before him.

“Noooooooo!” he cried out in desperation, though others in the crowd would hear nothing. Konijn kept trying, but suddenly found himself lifted in the air, flying awkwardly across the field, the grass so far below him. The travel ended suddenly, landing into the arms of a giant turtle. He narrowed his gaze, ready to attack the newcomer, but just as Konijn was about to pounce he once again found himself catapulted through the air.

As the magical force of the wizard’s spell sent him tumbling through the air, Konijn steadied himself, trying to find the balance in mid-air. Twisting around, he found a way to face towards his destination where some sort of dragon with a drum was holding up a pair of tiny pants.

“Not today, reptile!” thought Konijn, angling himself away from the giant creature. This would be it, his chance to escape! As he crashed to the ground in a heap, he attempted to rise and make a break for it only to find an enormous claw nearly crush his spine, lifting him high up into the air. He could only squirm as he felt his rear half suddenly wrapped in soft constraining fabrics. He tried to snap at his captor as a large colourful sheath of cloth was shoved over his head. It itched and tugged in all the wrong places. Did this creature have no sense of fit? The tiny hat with bells was the final humiliation as he was forced to accept his fate.

“You will die first,” the rabbit promised to the dragonborn, “and slowly.”

His captor must not have heard or understood him, or perhaps it was the clamouring of the crowd that was drowning him out. The smelly throng of screaming giants was deafening to his sensitive ears.

“Alandal’s team! Alandal’s team! Alandal’s team!” came the chorus around him.

“I know your name now. You will regret this!”

****

Thora joined with the rest of his teammates to accept the congratulations of the crowd. They were the victors today! And the bunny looked so cute in his little jester outfit, Alandal had really outdone himself. It did not appear that the rabbit was enjoying the experience, however. There was a look in its eyes that didn’t seem right, but Thora was no animal expert. Shrugging, the dwarf returned to accepting the accolade’s of the crowd. They were one step closer to that prize!

Credits

• Cover image: “Jestery Bunny”, generated by Jason St-Cyr using NightCafe