What has gone before: Glendal Lorg the Elf Thief (with a heart of gold) has decided to throw in with his friend Fargle Nex in order to poke at a sour-puss priest named Boon Kal and his lowly henchman Dassadal Ul. More details are available here.
A solo role-play session using Scarlet Heroes by Sine Nomine Publishing.
Heat = 0
Victory Points: Glendal 5, Foe 1
Clues I have = 2
Glendal's current hit points; 8 of 8.
* * * * *
Scene 5: Investigation: "Be waylaid by a hostile Actor with a Clue. Face a Fight instead of a check."
Glendal helped Immuth clean up the mess made by the fight with the Servitor Construct. After assuring himself that her location was secure, the Elf excused himself and waited outside in the shadows across the street. Presently, Fargle Nex arrived, looking a trifle road-weary and windblown.
"I did as you suggested," he told Glendal when the Thief greeted him. "I doubled back and doubled back over and over, always making sure no one followed. I hope I succeeded."
Glendal saw him into his "love nest," before taking his leave. "I'll check in with you tomorrow. Remind me again when your public announcement is?"
"It was set for two days from now, but it can be postponed," the cleric replied. "The public demonstration is more important than when it occurs, as long as it does occur."
The Elf considered the remaining daylight. "Very well," he said, "I have someone I want to see, who may be able to help. I'll be in touch. In the meantime, that statuette," he said, pointing at the wooden icon, "keep it secret, keep it safe."
Leaving the outskirts of town, Glendal thought about his choices. With his natural instincts, his Elven senses honed to a keen edged danger sense, he wasn't worried about anyone following him. He automatically traced a convoluted route back to the city gates without even thinking about it. Eschewing the main gate, he angled off toward the smaller side gate, more suited for foot traffic. The day was fast advancing toward evening, and the sun was shining in his eyes as he approached it.
Lost in thought about whether to proceed with his plan, he paid little attention to the guards. Certainly, he noted they were there, as they always were, dark men in dark cloaks with the glint of steel both in their features as well as their weapons. Glendal had few dealings with the city of Sorcerer Crest's constabulary, as befits a good professional Thief, but in general he normally had no reason to avoid them.
The normal procedure when approaching the city gate during daylight hours was to simply walk through. Nighttime was a different story, but during the day there were never any challenges to be answered or papers needing to be shown. As long as one didn't look like they were going to cause trouble, they were left alone to enter as easily as they wanted. Glendal considered himself very adept at looking obscure.
So it was with considerable surprise that these guards took him completely unawares, keen danger sense or no keen danger sense. The first indication that something was amiss was when two of the four guards deliberately moved to block his path. They stood in front of him just inside the gate area, while the third stepped behind him to block his exit. The fourth, a much burlier looking man, sidled right into Glendal's face. The Elf sniffed; the guard had a distinct smell of caustic agents, vinegar or ethyl alcohols.
One of the thugs in front -- for Glendal now knew they were not true guards, but were simply dressed in similar dark clothing (and he cursed himself for his carelessness) -- spoke to the bigger man. "Well, Bomgoster, is this 'im?"
The man called Bomgoster cast a withering glace at the other, then returned his attention back to Glendal. "Aye," he growled, "'tis 'im, the filthy Elf. Lookit them ears, and that flamboyant clothing 'e wears. There's on'y one scummy Elf thief in Sorc'er Crest like that. The great Glindal Lorg!"
"It's pronounced Glendal, you half-wit," Glendal returned, more calmly than he felt.
Bomgoster hawked deep in his throat and spat on the ground. "Dirty Elf, gettin' uppity, ain't 'e." Without breaking eye contact, he took a small stoppered bottle from an inside pocket. Uncorking it, he poured a drop on the wet spot on the ground. It sizzled and popped for a few seconds, leaving a tiny pock in the pavement.
The first thug spoke again, "Well, if it's 'im, let's get this over with. I don' like bein' out here in the open so long."
Bomgoster nodded. "Awright, runt, we'll do 'im. Then we'll go collect what Dassadal owes us for it."
That was what Glendal had been hoping to hear. Without waiting for any further threats, he shoved Bomgoster away, drew his sword -- just missing the falling alchemist -- and gutted the thug on the right of the one who spoke earlier.
From the ground, Bomgoster tried to slash at the Elf, who easily dodged, and who just as easily dispatched the thug in the doorway. There was a pause as Bomgoster stood up and the last thug broke and ran. Bomgoster hurriedly unstoppered the bottle to attempt to throw it on the Elf, but in his haste he spilled some of the contents on his hands and torso. With a shriek of pain, he dropped the bottle, then crumpled over completely as Glendal skewered him with his sword. He fell lifeless into the sizzling, popping puddle of fluid.
The Thief stepped gingerly away from the caustic slick, carefully wiping his blade clean on the dead man's cloak. A quick look around showed that the area was in near-darkness; no one had yet to light the lamps at the gate. He briefly wondered where the real guards were, then decided it didn't really matter as long as no one knew he was the one who had been here.
With one last glance, he stole quickly away down the street. There might have been one or two passers-by, but who knows if they saw or heard anything. He would worry about them if they made him worry about them. Right now he was more interested in Dassadal Ul, and just how personal this whole thing had suddenly become.
* * * * *
I decided to do a an Investigation scene next, to find out more of the foe's plans: I rolled 1d10 = 10 = "Be waylaid by a hostile Actor with a Clue. Face a Fight instead of a check."
Where? I rolled on the Public Location table = "Guardpost."
Who? I rolled on the Potential Foe table, d8 = 8, d10 = 9 = "Violent alchemist." Hmmm.
Who is it? I rolled, as usual, on the Wampus Country Name Generator: "Bomgoster Chook the Celebrated King of the Magical Maze." This is more for my own amusement at this point, as I assume when I create him, I will be killing him in short order. But one never knows.... A few more rolls to define him: he dresses in dark, sober clothes; he is bigoted; and his immediate desire is to collect a bribe.
Since there is no check to perform, this Scene is essentially nothing more than a Fight. I would say that the Clue I gain if I win the Fight is that Bomgoster has been hired by Dassadal Ul to get Glendal "out of the way" in order to be able to steal the statuette. I think this will come out as part of the conflict.
I rolled on the Fight Difficulty table: d8 = 9 = "1 Tank + 3 Thugs."
Tanks have 2 HD, AC 3, to hit +2, damage 1d8, morale 10.
Thugs are 1 HD, AC 8, to hit +1, damage 1d6, morale 8.
The fight was pretty straight forward for Glendal, now that he is 2nd Level.
The Tank missed Glendal.
Glendal attacked the Tank, missed, and his Fray die killed the second Thug.
I had the Tank and the Thug take a morale check. The Tank passed, the Thug failed and ran away.
The Tank attacked Glendal, and not only missed but crit failed with a natural 1. I envisioned him as attacking by throwing something alchemical but spilling it on himself, causing 1 point of damage.
Glendal attacks again, misses, and finishes the Tank off with his Fray die.
You might notice a pattern developing with regard to the main attacks and the Fray dice.
I rolled 1d10 vs the total number of Scenes (of Investigation or Action) [5] = 2, so the Foe gains 1 VP. I'm not quite sure how to reconcile the Foe gaining a VP when I win the Scene, but them's the rules.
Ending status:
Heat = 0
Victory Points: Glendal 6, Foe 2
Clues I have = 3
Glendal's current hit points: 8 of 8.
Thanks for reading. Scene 6 coming soon!
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