Our story begins on a beautiful spring evening in the town of Rendrick, on the second to last night of the annual 15-day-long Festival of Flowers. The town bustles with activity, with the bazaar in the center of town and the fairgrounds on the outskirts, next to Durrcan Keep, being the hubs of the festivities. Locals and visitors from throughout the hinterlands browse the variety of goods for sale, sample delectable foods, and generally make merry as musicians, jugglers, acrobats, magicians, and others provide entertainment as the sun begins to set.

For the last two weeks, Adeline had been taking her ease at the festival; she'd experienced nothing even close to the scale of it and she revelled in the festivities. It was as close to being fey as she'd seen other mortals come and it brought a genuine warmth to her heart and smile to her face to see them celebrate one of natures most beautiful faces for nothing more than what it is. Not to mention the profits to be made at such an event by one such as her, allowing the young performer the luxury of indulging her every whim.

Today, she wandered through the bazaar wearing a crown of flowers she'd won from an infatuated young minstrel who thought his flute was the finest instrument she ever might see. She'd proved him wrong with her own piping and won the crown by popular approval, but in a fit of generosity allowed him to steal a kiss to remember her by. By the time the evening twilight began to encroach, she'd already frittered away coppers on sticky treats and savoury sweets, the kind she enjoyed best, as she perused the wares of a woodcarver offering artfully engraved combs and pins alongside other childrens toys and ornaments. She was wondering whether to buy something or not when a tumbler caught her attention, making her turn to watch their antics, licking her sticky fingers clean and carefully pocketing her bag of nibbles.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:53, Sat 11 Dec 2021.

It wasn't as though Gerard had planned for his decision to leave on his journey to coincide with the date of Rendrick's famous Festival of Flowers.  Hearing about the upcoming event had merely spurred him along as he readied to leave his former home.  Besides, Rendrick was only in the next county so it made as good a destination as any other.

After several days on the road, he had arrived during the third day of the Festival of Flowers.  Gerard immediately went about getting into the spirit of the festival.  Using carefully selected flowers from afield, he went about hand-crafting flower garlands; even using his druid-craft to coax the beauty from each individual flower.  These he sold at the festival to fund his own stay and expenses; in addition to providing the services of a healer should they be required.

The days passed and the joy of community intermingled with the wonder of nature.  The Festival of Flowers represented exactly the kind of connection of which Gerard wished to gain a deeper understanding.  The druid enjoyed himself immensely, but as the days of the festival drew near to close he knew that he would be moving on as well.

Come the night of the eve of the final day, Gerard had donned his wolf-skin to ward off the nighttime chill.  He stood at a stall taking bites of a grilled meat-skewer while trying his best to convince the proprietor to reveal the combination of spices that went into the delicious delicacy.  Out of professional interest, of course.