<div class="floatright">(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h289/masta_loki/Chain_but_not_Tamed_by_Arai_Himecopy.jpg)</div><em>Though the night is still young, you all have just finished your performance at the Back Door Inn and the bar is ecstatic with your headlining performance.  You, on the other hand, look down at the lone gold piece each of you were paid for your performance with a sense of discontent.  Despite giving it your all, the cheap owner never wavered from the agreed upon price for hiring you for a set that night.  Sure, you will likely be given free drinks all night and have no problem getting laid by those who witnessed your performance, but you’re band is just one of hundreds, if not thousands, wandering across the nation in search of the spotlight.  You’ve got the talent, you are just having trouble standing out among the others and booking larger gigs without the easy means to travel there or even find space on the reservation list by the ones who have already made a name for themselves by some degree.<br/><br/>The lot of you are sitting at one of the round tables in the corner of the bar, mulling over your pitiful payment when a single individual from the crowd casually approaches and sits at the table.  He did not show the same timid hesitation towards the potential rising stars as the rest of those who watched your show.  His unnatural luminescent yellow hues flicked over each and every one of you with a wolfish grin on his lips.  <strong>“Those are expressions I see all too often from your kind these days, though you are perhaps the first group I’ve come across that does deserve more than this.”</strong>  He said with a demonstrative look around the room then to the pitiful wage you were paid for your services.  <strong>”Fortunately, I happen to be very good at keeping my finger on the pulse of the modern music industry and know of an opportunity that could finally help your name stand out.  In exchange for this information I ask that should it prove helpful in putting you on track towards stardom, you shall hire me as your manager at five percent of your total earnings.  Should this information fail in its purpose, then we can simply part ways and you are clear of any obligation.  How does that sound?”</strong></em><br/><br/><hr/><br/>That was how you first met M’aiq, your new prospective band manager should his lead prove helpful.  After all, should it work out you all would finally be making steps out of playing in dive bars and on to a proper stage and paying him only a quarter of what any other manager was asking for.  The lead he had was certainly a tempting one.  Turns out that the Thunder Cocks, a small-name band in a nearby town was holding a competition; they would hold a raffle of no-name bands for the opportunity to challenge them in an amp vs amp challenge.  The prize of the competition, a custom-made extra dimensional carriage that was guaranteed to provide all the space and luxuries a band needed to take their career on the road along with a 1000gp purse.  M’aiq was assured this competition was the band being true to their boastful  nature since it was their own newly purchased vehicle they were putting on the line in a sort of publicity stunt.  When asked about the obstacle the raffle presented and the likelihood that you’d get drawn, he simply flashed his trademark grin and responded,<strong>”Don’t worry about the raffle, just be ready to perform.”</strong><br/><br/>After a day of travelling by rented wagon, you find yourself in the small town of Englehart just as the sun neared its apex in the sky.<strong>”The drawing will take place within the hour, so I’ll see to it you are entered.  Feel free to have a look around town in the meantime and make sure you are ready to play tonight."</strong>With that, M’aiq went his separate way into town leaving you to your own devices.