Liberation Day

## The Characters

* Grace (Warforged Bladesinger)
* Temperance "Tem" Goodfellow (High Elf Cleric)
* Sam McMann (Half-Elf Rogue)
* Sprita "Sparkle" Whiskerant (Human Monk)
* Gilly (Wood Elf Rogue)

## Enter Mavromichali

*"You all are an adventuring party that has been together for some time now. You’ve been going around different parts of the great continent Dinami, helping people and doing epic heroic things, as adventurers in a world like this often do. After your latest venture, you’ve found yourselves with a huge chunk of change and word of a great festival that happens every year in the city of Mavromichali: an event known as Liberation Day, where many years ago the religious zealots of the town booted out the wizards, ”liberating” themselves from their “evil” magics. Nowadays, however, the day simply becomes a time of celebration for the city and its people. The festivities take place all over the city, but the one of interest lies in the city’s palace, and luckily for you all, you have gilded invitations into the palace, signed with an elegant flourish by an unknown benefactor from your travels. As your traveling cart begins to crest a great hill, you see the glittering gold statues atop grand marble pillars that mark Mavromichali’s palace. The golden fixtures seem to shimmer and dance with light in the afternoon sun. However, as you make your way down the hill, the scenery becomes less grand than the previous sights. The city streets reek of poverty, and fancy embellishments are nonexistent as you approach the worn roads and buildings with rusted tin roofs and battered walls. However, you can still feel the excitement of a festival in the air. This is your destination."*

After traveling for some time, Grace, Sparkle, Tem, and Gilly can finally disembark from their cart and donkey and explore the city proper. However, upon actually reaching any signs of city life, they see a rather rough display off in the distance, especially on a day of celebration. A young man with countless papers in his hands gets shoved out of a bar, being told to "get out and stay out!" The party, being the curious and helpful adventurers they are, go to help this seemingly bullied person. What they find astounds them: a nosy tabloid reporter by the name Sam McMann, who apparently has an invitation to the party in the palace just like the others, signed by the same unknown benefactor. With the knowledge of another with the same invite being in their midst, they decide to allow Sam to join them while they see what the Liberation Day festival has to offer.

## Fun Festivites

The first hint of a festival in the town can be seen when the party encounters a parade, which is led by a bombastic goliath man with a jovial gnome woman on his shoulders. Together, they shout out in Giant about how the day is one of celebration, wishing a "HAPPY LIBERATION DAY!!!" to everyone they see. At least, everyone they see who can understand the language. Behind them, floats cruise by, and performers in bright costumes toss candy to the onlookers, mainly aiming to make the kids in the crowd smile. Gilly then goes on to (quite literally) take candy from babies, never slowing his pace with Sparkle close behind to protect the children. The others stay close to the back, looking out on the display with amazement and vigilance.

Even on a day of celebration like today, there are still some who have to set up shop and hope some curious folk cruise by to purchase their wares. One such man is what the party finds once they finish watching the parade. He sells soup! What kind? Well, it's got veggies in it! After making this clear to the party, he offers to sell them bottles of it for a few copper apiece. Most everyone take him up on this, and while Sparkle safely pockets hers for later, Gilly chugs his immediately. Unbeknownst to anyone (even the poor salesman), this soup can have some pretty wacky and random effects! Gilly starts farting Dancing Lights, Sparkle takes a point of exhaustion after wanting to try the soup for herself, and Gilly, after buying even more soup, finds an odd ring of keys in his second helping. Upon pulling it out and inspecting it further, Gilly finds that it has a brass keyring with a note etched into it in Common: "IF LOST, PLEASE RETURN TO FORVAR". He later gives them to Sam, swindling himself out of a potentially interesting opportunity to give someone keys they found in soup. The party, rightfully confused as they are, eventually frighten the man into closing his shop early for the day with all their questions. Oh, well. Onto more fun!

Walking through the city streets eventually becomes tiring, especially with Sam constantly poking at Grace for secret code words (for some reason...) and Gilly munching on stolen candy. However, everyone is stopped in their tracks when a small warforged made of rusted brass runs up to them, only stopping in front of Grace to offer an outstretched palm. After milling upon what this could mean for but a moment, Grace places a sigil of his monastery back in Earthstone in the little warforged's hand. They are confused by this offering, sticking it in their pocket and holding the palm back up. It is only until Sam high-fives the warforged and Tem places a handmade wanted poster in the little brass hand that Gilly comes up with an offering of his own: one (fake) platinum piece. The warforged is thoroughly pleased with this, scurrying back to the alley from whence they came. They return with a massive group of similar warforged, all of which holding discarded instruments or instruments made from litter in the city. Together, they play a rousing symphony for the party and anyone else who will listen, picking up the pace when Sparkle places an actual platinum piece in a donation can they had set out.

Upon reaching the palace gates, our party has a sudden realization: they are all severely underdressed. Luckily for them, Mavromichali's finest tailors and sellers of accessories were only a short walk away (unfortunately for the first poor salesperson who has to deal with this rowdy bunch). After terrifying yet another person who is just trying to do business, the party achieves ultimate fanciness: Gilly is decked out in a khaki suit, Tem is in elegant yet piercing black, Sam is looking simple yet sophisticated, Grace is wearing an epic green hat and bowtie combo, and Sparkle is matching with her cat Thai!

## The Life of the Party

Fancy clothes, gilded invitations, and a desire to rub elbows with the wealthy while also having fun: this is the checklist of our adventurers as they finally get to the gates of the palace. Initially, their entrance is halted when Grace, as a warforged, is prevented entry. However, the party does not hesitate to demand he be allowed inside as an "emotional support warforged", completely ignoring the fact that Grace has an invitation like the rest of them. Nonetheless, there is no time to waste! There is still merriment to be had! At least, that is what the party expects. Entering the palace proper and seeing its gorgeous architecture and extravagant embellishments is misleading: the fanciness is merely meant to cover the hollow atmosphere and dull lives of those wealthy (or socially connected) enough to be allowed through the doors. Most stand around in their finery, only changing positions to wordlessly accept refills on drinks or hors d'oeuvres from the servants scurrying and busting around them. These servants, upon closer view, are more warforged! With polished bodies of silver and gold and fluid yet rehearsed movements through the main ballroom, they work constantly to keep the guests satiated. Yet, they have no mouths with which to greet new guests. None to talk back to an order or express themselves the way people can.

Our adventurers, unfamiliar with the posh silence surrounding them, decide to let loose and have fun! Sam whisks a young noblewoman onto the dance floor, walking her through a simple waltz, Gilly finds a corner in which to enjoy his candy from before and more treats from servants, Grace leads Tem in dance movements that are surprisingly elegant and fluid for a construct of his stature, and Sparkle dances with her cat, giggling the whole way through. Even with the nobles looking at this display with confusion and mild disgust, the party could not be more pleased with how this event is turning out to be. Who knew that all it took for the rich to have some fun was a group of ragtag adventurers from out of town to show them how it's done?

## Sending Mixed Signals

All of the working warforged, once milling about the ballroom and attending to the guests with little praise or feedback, pause in their rehearsed movements and seem to shut down for but a second. A hush falls over the room, with many waiting with baited breath to see what will happen. Among these warforged, Grace, once a dancing party guest, shuts down right alongside them. His vision darkens to black, and a flurry of zeros and ones come into his view. These numbers eventually join together to form letters, and those letters form words, and those words sentences, and those sentences a message. Upon coming back to the world, Grace (and the rest of the party) are able to see that the event has now blown up into chaos. The formerly quiet and subservient warforged are now machines of destruction, throwing down their trays and wrecking anything they can. The party guests now begin flooding to the exit doors, letting hysteria drown out any sensibility they had before. Even though warforged out right attacking people are few and far between, guards thrust their way into the ballroom through the vicious stream of escaping partygoers.

Our heroes decide to help the warforged somewhat, not caring to escape like everyone else who was once in the grand ballroom with them. Sam casts a thick coat of fog over the guards, making them unable to take down any straggling warforged. Luckily, most of them don't have to worry about guards at all, since they have made their way out through secret tunnels hidden throughout the palace. With the only entrance and exit to the palace proper being blocked off by more guards, the party decides they have no choice but to follow the warforged for a way out.

## Enter "The Manor"

The lower levels of the palace, meant for servants to get from place to place without disturbing their masters, are not as nice as the majestic ballroom. Despite the slight darkness and the hanging stench from years of neglect, the warforged leading the party along do not seem to care. Darting past corners and not pausing to decide where to go next, their mechanical scurry never falters, yet the party is able to keep pace. Eventually, they all reach an expansive hallway. Is this the way out of the palace and maybe even the city?

At the end of the hallway, the party meets Bill (similar to but not to be confused with Hank), a warforged mechanic who is currently focused on a beat-up warforged body on a nearby table. He is somewhat confused by the batch of elves and humans that have stumbled into what was once just warforged territory, but he lightens up upon seeing Grace standing amongst them. As a sign of trust, Bill enlists their assistance in decoding something mysterious he got from the broken warforged lying before him: a message of sorts that got somewhat lost in translation. While Bill can tell that this message holds importance since the warforged who got it got badly hurt to bring it to him, some parts could not get through in time.

Upon reading the message in full, Bill's relaxed and welcoming demeanor shifts slightly: he allows Tem to mend the broken warforged with her cleric magic as he leads everyone down the hallway further. The light at the end, rather than being an exit, leads into a more expansive common space. There, crowds of warforged turn to these mysterious newcomers, letting their tentative fear subside when they see Bill amongst them. With a newfound strength and sense of purpose, Bill moves to the front of this room, where he can see everyone in it better.

## A Hopeful Future

All of the palace's warforged, as well as the few non-warforged now in their ranks, look to Bill for what to do next. Standing up on a lone crate, Bill looks out on his allies, both new and old, struggling to put the right words together. However, this does not mean he fails to ignite a hope for victory.

*"Well, guys. I suppose, uh, this is it. I know that things seem pretty scary out there, and some of ya feel like you’re in a real jam right now. But we can do this. We should do this. I can tell that not all of us really wanna fight, but sometimes the best things in life are worth fighting for. Like the chance to be be free outside these walls. To be treated fairly and with respect like those big wigs upstairs. Today isn’t just for them anymore; it’s for us now too. If we stand united today, tomorrow we can truly be free!"*

Now, with their hearts filled with hope and camaraderie for mechanic and organic beings alike, this band of unlikely rebels rises up triumphantly, ready to finally have something truly worth fighting for: a chance for something better.

*"As you all know, this day was, in fact, the Liberation Day disaster you have heard about again and again in another life. After this day, where peaceful constructs rose up and fought for their freedom, most of them were destroyed and condemned to the scrap heaps. Those that remained hidden or were built in secret after this day were deemed illegal by the ban on warforged instated in many different areas of Dinami. Although your efforts were valiant and touched the hearts of all the warforged you fought alongside, this battle was lost. Fortunately, some out there with brilliant minds and stalwart hearts are continuing the fight. Losing the battle doesn’t always mean losing the war, so **perhaps we will have to wait and see if there is a way to keep the hope of freedom alive…**"*

## The Full Playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3NZgSmkW8DUddKCtVL6SiB?si=1f2e90dc7c4b4411