While all the rest of the ideas seem okay, you really think you need to act quickly on this. It’ll be ugly and ruthless, but unfortunately necessary. Since everyone is against Rita’s idea though, you decide not to say anything about it and say you’re going to have to think everything over later.

When everyone’s away you decide to talk to Rita privately.

“Rita, can I speak to you for a moment?”

“I knew this was coming eventually…look you’re alright looking and if you do manage to become a doctor then maybe I’ll be interested, but until then…”

“What? No! I wanted to speak to you about your plan.”

“Oh.” Rita says looking a little disappointed that you weren’t suggesting what she thought you were.

“Anyway, who did you have in mind to do this deed?”

“Well, I don’t know really. I figured you might know, I mean didn’t you have Crimson Talon connections or something?”

“Connections? Those were thugs that were going to break my legs if I didn’t pay a loanshark on time. I don’t have any connections. I mean with all the guys you go out with…”

“Hey! I don’t like what you’re implying! Contrary to popular belief I’m not some whore like those two half breed sluts you saw fit to hire recently. I’m a lot more selective and I’m certainly not going out with criminal types!”

“Hmmm, if you say so.”

“Why don’t you just go back to that Reynolds guy? I mean he’s sort of a connection right?”

“You must be joking!”

“Not at all, I mean surely for a fee he could lend you that ogre for a little while right?”

“I dunno if it works that way…(Sigh) alright I suppose I could try since I don’t have any other contacts.”

“Okay. Oh! Here take this.” Rita says handing you a small notebook.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the name of every whore that works for the Flying Griffon and their physical description. I have where some of them live too, but not all of them.”

You stare at Rita in disbelief

“What? Eliza’s not the only one who can think up spying you know.” Rita remarks.

“Yeah, but Eliza’s not the one who was stalking the competition out of jealousy either. Nevermind, I guess this will help since I never kept up on who worked there anyway.”

The next day after class, you don’t go to the inn, but instead head to where you know Mr. Reynold’s “office” is. It’s not in a good part of the city, but you make it without any problems.

Mr. Reynold’s is currently alone and smiles when he sees you.

“Somehow I just knew we’d meet each other again soon, so how much you need this time?”

“I don’t need money, I need something else and you’re about the only person I can think of who might be able to help.”

“Oh? Well this is interesting. What is it?”

“I need that ogre that works for you or whoever that other big guy was.”

“Olaf and Silence? They’re not freelancing for me anymore sadly. The Crimson Talons have them doing something more directly important for them. I believe they fight at one of those underground gladiator matches now.”

“Well, can I get in contact with them some how?”

“Ha ha ha! Well I suppose I could tell you, but I don’t think they’d necessarily let you in, I guess you’d have to speak to whoever’s in charge and well it would be a big hassle really…what did you need them for anyway?”

“Is it any of your business?”

“Well if Olaf and Silence had still been freelancing for me it would’ve been, but I guess not now. I’m assuming you need some sort of muscle though, and if that is the case I DO have two new employees that might work out for you. David! Tom! Get in here, we might have some business!”

“Yeah, boss what’s up…hey! I know you!” David says looking at you.

“Hey! How’s it been? Didn’t you go to college?” Tom adds.

Now here’s a blast from the past, your two old school buddies all grown up and obviously full blown criminals now. Funny to think back how your life turned out so different…then again maybe not considering you’re here to have several women horribly disfigured.

“Well, it seems you gentlemen all know each other, maybe now you’re ready to tell us what you need doing?”

You take a deep breath and state what you need done.

“Wow, didn’t expect that one.” Mr. Reynolds says. David and Tom are also surprised.

“Shit, what the hell did they do to you, cheat on you?” David asks.

“Fuck man, that’s some serial killer shit!” Tom adds.

“Look, I don’t need them killed! I just need them disfigured so they aren’t pretty anymore.”

“Yeah, I got that. Okay, so how much you willing to pay?” Mr. Reynolds asks.

You and Mr. Reynolds negotiate a price, which is agreeable, but Tom begins to speak up.

“Uh…I dunno Mr. Reynolds. I don’t think I can do this…”

“Tom, stop being a pussy! We’re just gonna cut up some bitches and get out, shit ain’t that hard.” David says

“But I dunno. I just feel weird about doing this. It’s not like beating up people who don’t pay on time.”

“You’ll do what I tell you to do! David, you better keep your little sidekick in line before I replace the pair of you!” Mr. Reynolds snaps.

You think back to your old childhood involving your former friends. Tom always was the weakest of you three, but he always went along despite protests. You have no doubt David’s capable of committing the act, you just wonder if he’s gotten any brighter since then. The last thing you need is for them to fuck this up for you and get all of you in trouble.

Getting the “real professionals” might be tough though. Might even cost more money.
> You get Olaf and Silence
You need professionals for this and David and Tom don’t qualify. You ask for directions to the underground gladiator matches, but Mr. Reynolds still insists on a bit of money for that information, so you have no choice but to pay him.

After running back and forth to his office and the inn, (And incurring some questions by your mom and staff where you’re going) you pay him and he tells you that it’s located in a tavern called the Troll’s Breath on the edge of the warehouse district. He tells you to that can let the bartender know that he sent you.

You feel like you’re going to get mugged around every corner on your way to the place, but fortunately that doesn’t happen. You are approached by several prostitutes and offered Cloud Rock a lot though. When you walk in the place, it’s filled with a rowdy bunch as you’d expect. You try not to make eye contact and walk straight to the bar.

“Yeah?” the bald bartender asks gruffly.

“Mr. Reynolds sent me because of my interest in games.”

“Did he now? Alright, but the next time you see that dick, tell him his time as an independent loanshark are coming to an end soon. He needs to join up with the Crimson Talon or get the fuck outta Kyton. Door’s around the back.”

“Thanks, oh uh one more thing.”

“What!?”

“Is there anyway to speak to Olaf or Silence after their fights?”

“What the hell do you wanna be talkin’ to those two idiots for? The pair of them together barely have enough intelligence to put on their own boots.”

“It’s a business proposition.”

At this point the bartender’s eye narrow.

“Wait a fucking minute. You’re sent here by Reynolds and you wanna talk to Olaf and Silence about a business proposition? This sounds like Reynolds trying weasely shit as usual. Fuck you, they don’t freelance anymore. They’re pit fighters for the Crimson Talons until I say otherwise! Now get the fuck outta here!”

“Okay, I’ll talk with you then, how much do you want for their services temporarily?”

“I said they ain’t for fuckin’ hire you dumbfuck! If you wanna meet them so bad though, I can oblige and throw your ass in the ring with them!”

At this point the bartender snaps his fingers and two thugs grab your arms ready to carry you off. You make one desperate plea.

“Alright! Alright! I’ll hire whomever else you got then! These two guys holding me will do, I just need some people fucked up and I got money to give to whoever will do it!”

The bartender nods and you’re released.

“Alright in my office and start talkin’ fast. Reg, you’re at the bar.”

You follow the bartender upstairs to a room that is much nicer than the rest of place. He sits down at a fancy desk and pours himself a drink, but doesn’t offer you anything. You look around the office at the various items he has on the wall until you’re interrupted.

“Well? Are we just wasting my time here while you admire my office, because the fight pit is another place you can admire from the inside.”

You quickly explain everything and your situation and give him the information that Rita wrote down for you. The bartender nods a bit while playing with his ring. When you’re done, he speaks.

“Is that it? You wanted to hire two bruisers like that to cut up some barmaids? You’re sort of new at this I take it. Those two would’ve probably raped and broke all their necks right in the middle of the fucking Flying Griffon. Subtlety is not their strong point.”

“Okay so do you have someone else in mind?”

“Sure, got a mean ass Sotakan assassin that could easily do the job.”

“A Sotakan? One of those lizard people? But they avoid cities.” You say.

“That they do, but let’s just say I acquired this one from an egg. The great thing about him, is he’s completely loyal and doesn’t require much. Just does what he’s told.”

“How’s he sneak around though? I mean seems like he’d stick out.”

“Hah, those lizard bastards have natural camouflage abilities. As they grow up they adapt to whatever sort of environment they grow up in. Now a regular swamp dwelling Sotakan would stick out, but not my boy. He’s lived here in the city his whole life, took him out in the night to get acquainted with the surroundings while he grew up and now he’s practically invisible when he wants to be.”

“Okay well that’s great, but I don’t need them killed.”

“Heh, maybe not all of them, but a couple may come back to kill you. I think I may have a little more information on the Flying Griffon than your barmaid found out. Frank’s an unregistered wizard. Well wizard’s giving him a little too much credit perhaps, but he’s managed to snag himself a couple of succubae as barmaids.”

“What?! He can’t summon demons into the city! That’s illegal!”

“Oh and I suppose what we’re doing is?”

“Alright, but it’s not only illegal, but it’s a potential danger to the city.”

“No, I agree. Demons tend to fuck up business and their chaotic ways are too much of a risk to deal with, but then again I don’t have to tell you that.”

“So…how do you know all this?”

“Because it’s my fucking job to know shit that might interfere with business that’s why. I kept wondering why some of my merchant contacts weren’t stopping by here anymore. Frank might have some control over his ladies, but I know he can’t completely stop their appetites. Rather short sighted of him really, it’s not like they’re going to be able to stop themselves from completely draining victims forever. They’re going to eventually get out of hand and he’s going to start having to explain to the Klyton militia why people are always last seen going into his place before mysteriously disappearing. You must’ve really pissed him off for him to resort to this.”

“Yeah, I guess so…so where does that leave us?”

The bartender (who mentions his name is Edmond and is definitely more than just bartender) says that he was keeping an eye on the Flying Griffon and if he lost anymore of his merchant contact to it, he was going to act. He didn’t before since as skilled as his lizard is, he’s not sure if he can take two succubae by himself, in fact it would be easier to just try and kill Frank. But of course then there would be two unleashed succubae running around in Klyton and nobody really wants that.

Still, if you’re willing to pay then Edmond will readily accept your money, and he’ll have the mortal barmaids disfigured and the demonic ones killed. He assures you that unlike Mr. Reynolds this will be a straight up agreement and that the Crimson Talons will not seek to extort your inn in some way. Mainly due to all the Klyton militia and adventurers going there it wouldn’t be worth the trouble. He doesn’t need to risk some do gooder or gung-ho orderly type sniffing around.

Of course you’ve been overwhelmed by all this information. Part of you wonders if all this is worth it. You could wait it out, Edmond did claim that Frank probably won’t be able to control them forever; the problem with this is in the meantime it’ll still be cutting into your business.

With this new information you could also report Frank to your militia buddies, though this might be difficult without evidence. Still, you’re on good terms with most of the ones that frequent your place and they’ll probably investigate.
> You hire the assassin

You don’t have any proof to give to the militia other than Edmond’s information and you can’t afford to wait around and hope things get better. You need to act now, so you tell Edmond that you’ll pay for the assassin.

“Okay, but this is going to be expensive AND once we do this I don’t want to hear any shit about you having second thoughts because you feel guilty. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? Edmond asks.

“…I’d be lying if I said yes, but this is something that has to be done. You won’t get any complaints from me. I just hope your lizard can do the job.”

“Well I hope so too, because if not, we’re both going to be in for a fight if we have angry succubae after us. I want five hundred gold by tomorrow.”

“Five…that’s a lot.”

“That’s fuckin’ cheap to hire the best! You’re only getting a discount due to the fact that this is something I was thinking about doing anyway! Now if you don’t like the price…”

“No, I can get it. When’s the job going to be done?”

“Tonight if possible, but I suspect it might take my boy into the wee hours of the morning since he’s dealing with other worldly beings and all. If he hasn’t done it by the time you come by with the money tomorrow, then he’s failed and you can keep half of your money because I’m a nice guy. How’s that sound?”

“Erm…good I guess, but I’d rather he succeed.”

“I’m sure he will. So is our business done or did you still want to see the fight pits? I’m sure Olaf’s eating his competitior right about now.”

“Eh, that’s okay I should be getting back.”

“Suit yourself.”

You’re able to get a coach back to inn, naturally it’s a lot later now and everyone is asking you where you’ve been. You explain that you forgot to do something at campus for a class, which seems to satisfy as an excuse.

For the remainder of the night, you’re preoccupied with your decision. Wondering if it’s going to fail or not. You barely get any sleep and the next day at your classes you can barely concentrate. You basically wander the day in a haze until it’s time for you to go pay Edmond.

When you enter the Troll’s Breath, Edmond points to his office and you follow.

“Told you my boy could do it. Now aren’t you glad you made this decision? You got my money?” Edmond asks in a friendly tone.

“Yeah…you mean that’s it? It succeeded?”

“Of course it did! I figured you already knew it did given that you’re closer to the Flying Griffon and are friends with all those Klyton militia folks…I mean it’s pretty big news! Flying Griffon Massacre they’re calling it! ”

You’ve been so caught up in your own worry you haven’t been paying much attention to outside discussion or events. You feel a sense of relief, but then you question the word…

“Massacre?”

“Yeah the demons are dead and Frank is going to jail. Seems that the militia think he was making human sacrifices to summon up the demons and it all got out of hand.”

“Wait, why would they think all that?

“Eh, well apparently my boy had some problems understanding the differences in the terms disfigure and dismember, so he killed those human barmaids in a rather gruesome fashion, but on the bright side it completely puts all the blame on Frank. They figured he or the succubae killed the barmaids and then the succubae tried to rebel against their master he was forced to kill them. Being an unlicensed mage certainly doesn’t help him. In any case the heat doesn’t even trace back to us as long you don’t start acting suspicious around your militia buddies, which I trust you won’t.”

“Yeah…”

You’re a little in shock as the realization that you’ve just participated in murder. Granted you weren’t doing a good thing anyway, but disfiguring is still a lot different than murder. You don’t say anything since you promised that you wouldn’t whine about having a guilty conscious afterwards.

Edmond takes your money and makes you stay until it is all counted. When it is, he says you can leave.

“Oh one more thing. I hear you’re going into medicine. Very useful profession, I could use a competent doctor every once in awhile; gods know that drunk that I currently have on my payroll is barely useful. I hope I can call upon you in the future if I need to.”

And there it is, the “catch” for doing business with a criminal. You could kick yourself in the head for actually believing that this was going to be a straight up transaction. He may not be extorting your inn; he’s just hanging a “favor” over your head in the future. Somehow that’s almost worse.

There’s little you can do about it now though, you head back to the inn where your patrons and staff are all talking about what happened at the Flying Griffon. Rita in particular speaks to you about it.

“Sheesh, I didn’t know you were going to go to that extreme, but can’t say those bitches didn’t deserve it. That’s what happens when you work with demons right? Who knew Frank was a mage? Well at least we don’t have any competition anymore.”

Rita’s callous talk about the Griffon barmaids makes you angry. In fact all of this was Rita’s initial suggestion and while you listened to it, that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t suffer the negative consequences for it too. You snap and grab Rita by the arm roughly and pull her into the cellar. Flameflower and Sunshine are down there drinking your wine supply.

“Erm…uh…(giggle)” is all Sunshine can utter when getting busted,

“If you two halfbreed bitches don’t get upstairs and start doing some actual work for a change you’re gonna get some of what Rita’s about to get! MOVE!”

You don’t need to say it twice, your tone is enough to sober them up and get them moving.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You better let me go, and what the hell do you mean I’m getting something? You better not be implying what I think you’re implying. You so much as start grabbing my tits and I’ll scr…”

You don’t let Rita finish; you just slam her up against the wall as hard as you can with your hand over her mouth.

“Bitch I wouldn’t touch your gold digging fuckhole with a ten pole. You think those girls deserved to die? Oh no, you just felt that they needed to be disfigured; well maybe you need to be mutilated. Take your ass down a few notches.”

At this point you grab a nearby candle and start holding it need Rita’s face. She pulls away and tears start.

“Oh what’s the matter? Don’t like being a victim? Well how do you think those girls felt in their final moments?!” you say and throw Rita to the floor.

“I fucking caused that to happen! And guess what? So did you. So if you’re not going to feel bad about it, you’re at least going to feel bad in other ways. I’m lowering your pay and if you don’t like it, tough shit, you can quit. I can get some other shallow whore to do your job, you’re not special. And if you’re getting some sort of bright ideas about reporting me to the militia or some shit, remember what happened at the Flying Griffon? Well I can make that happen to you too.”

You leave on that threatening note, while Rita tries to compose herself. You’re a little surprised that Rita’s “tough girl” act was broken so easily, you’re also surprised at your own actions. The scary part to you is that it was easy and how you feel a lot better now.

You exit the cellar and a few moments later Rita follows. This leads to a few whispers amongst your staff. Everyone assumes that you and Rita must’ve had some rough sex. Your mother even approaches you about it.

“Far be it from me to interfere with your personal life, but if you’re going to insist on having sex with the help, I’d appreciate it if you at least took Rita up to your room and NOT anywhere on the business premises!”

“…okay mom.”

“(Sigh) I mean…(Sigh) Rita? You could do so much better! Sure she’s pretty, but the girl is a shallow gold digger and not even a very good one! Couldn’t you at least picked Eliza? I could’ve understood that, she’s sweet. Or how about a nice girl at your college? You know like one with a bright future ahead of her? (Sigh) I just hope for your sake you didn’t get that little tart pregnant!”

You just nod and agree with your mother the whole time. It’s better if everyone thinks that you were fucking Rita rather than the truth anyway.

With the Flying Griffon closed down, business picks up and you don’t have as many financial worries any longer. You’re not out of the woods yet though since now you’re in your final stages of your education, which means medical school as well as having to get a job actually working at a hospital. The only problem with that is being an intern doesn’t pay all that well and you certainly can’t do that AND work at the bar.

Your mother reassures you that you shouldn’t worry about it as she’ll be able to hire a couple extra people as well as being able to help with the rest of your tuition.

In any case it looks like your days as an innkeeper are over.
> You future Prospects
A few years have passed and your medical schooling is complete and you now work at the Klyton hospital as a real doctor. You haven’t been able to really enjoy your success though.

Sure, you have your own apartment and you make a decent living to afford the things you want, but you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop and Edmond is going to call in that favor. It’s prevented you from even having a serious relationship for fear that whomever you’re with could possibly be hurt if things get…complex.

Of course there’s also your mother to worry about still, but from what you know she’s planning on selling the old inn and moving to Teckleville. Hopefully soon, so it’ll at least keep her somewhat out of potential harm.

Ultimately you try to keep yourself busy with work hoping it will keep your mind off things, but it doesn’t help. Eventually you do come up with something that does help a bit. Alcohol.

It’s amazing that you grew up in a place that sells the stuff and never had a drink until now. You have to say, it’s not bad and it seems to calm you a bit when you’re feeling anxious. Through this crutch you finally manage to cope.

Well at least until the fateful day does arrive…

One night when you’re coming home from the hospital and carriage pulls up next to you.

“Hey doc, I think we have a friend in common.” A voice says from the inside of the carriage.

“Let me guess, Edmond. Right?” you reply.

“Correct. I think you know what comes next doc.”

“Yeah, I do.” You say and get into the carriage.

You sit down on one side while sitting opposite of you is one man dressed in a cheap suit smoking pipe weed. The other one is dressed more casually and openly playing with a dagger. The pipe man lights up and speaks.

“Before we get started, my name’s Hans and this is my brother Wallace. Now that that’s over with, Edmond is personally in need of your medical services.”

“I figured it was something like that. What happened to him?

“Oh what usually happens to our kind in this business. There was a disagreement, some words were exchanged and before you know it, some people get hurt while others aren’t so lucky.”

“I…see. So I take it we’re heading to him right now?”

“Yes. He’s a little paranoid about going to hospitals especially with the attempt on his life and all.”

“Hey, doesn’t he already have a doctor?”

“He did, but unfortunately his over indulgence of the spirits made his skills useless and he was…sent away a long time ago.”

“Oh…”

The rest of the trip is mostly in silence. Hans asks a few superficial things about you which you give quick answer to, but your mind is focused more on what you’re going to encounter when you get to Edmond. How bad is he going to be? What happens if you can’t help him? By the gods you could use a drink right now.

You then think to yourself. “Maybe this is why his old doctor was a drunk.”

Eventually you arrive at the Troll’s Breath Tavern. When you enter the place it’s completely empty save for a few rough looking sorts who look like they’re focused on cleaning up the place. You notice broken glass and a few blood spots here and there.

“Is that the doc?” one of them asks Hans.

“Yeah, is Ed still in his office?”

“Yeah, and his pet lizard is guarding him like a fucking dragon. Ed’s not letting anyone in there except the doctor.”

“Hm, well I guess you better get in there then. Don’t worry. You’re probably safer than the rest of us right now.”

You don’t share that sentiment, but you have little choice in the matter. You head to Edmond’s office and knock on the door.

“Who the fuck is it? That better be the doc!”

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m coming in.”

You cautiously enter and see a great deal of blood on the floor. Edmond is clutching on to his left side and his Sotakan assassin is standing close by staring directly at you. A bottle whiskey is also nearby probably being used to dull his pain and as a disinfectant.

“Well, don’t just stand there, I gotta fucking hole in my side!”

You quickly inspect the wound and see that Edmond’s been shot most likely by a blunderbuss and he’s still got fragments of the shot in his body.

“Okay, keep the pressure on it like you’ve been doing. I can fix this, but I need to act fast and I’m gonna need some stuff from the hospital.” You say.

“What?! You mean those idiots didn’t have you pick up any supplies?”

“No, they told me to just get into the carriage.”

“Fucking morons. It’s like they want me to die! Okay look, we got access to some hospital supplies in a warehouse much closer than the hospital. Just tell Reg outside what you need and he’ll get them for you. Go, go.”

You leave the office and ask for Reg, who comes up immediately.

“What’s up? Will he live?”

“Yeah, but I’ll need some medical supplies. He said you can get them from one of your warehouses. Now I need…”

Before you can finish Hans interjects.

“Reg, you realize we sold most of those supplies to that bodylegger a few weeks ago? We don’t have much left.”

“We don’t? Well what do we have left?” Reg asks.

“I dunno, I don’t have the supply list in front of me now do I? But what if you get there and find that what the doc asked for isn’t there? We’ve wasted valuable time fucking around while the boss bleeds to death! Look why don’t we just take the doctor back to the hospital, I’m sure we can get everything there right?”

“Well yeah, but Edmond said…”

“I’m sure Edmond won’t mind if disobey his orders if it’s going to save his life.”

Well this certainly stressful. If the warehouse is lacking supplies, you might not be able to help Edmond. If you go back to the hospital you might take too much time since it’s not just the trip back and forth but it’s the sneaking around stealing medical supplies.
> You tell Reg to get the supplies at the warehouse
You decide it would be best to do this quickly as possible. You’re sure that you can improvise if needed.

“Better go to the warehouse, I don’t want to leave Edmond in the state he’s in any longer than necessary.”

“Sounds good, but you’re coming with me, it’ll go even faster if you’re there to point out stuff you need.” Reg says.

“Uh… okay.” You reply not expecting to leave with Reg.

You and Reg take the carriage and soon you’re at the warehouse where a couple of goons let you in.

“Okay, the medical shit is over here, let’s get it and go.”

You tell Reg to find the obvious things like syringes and bandages while you try to look for the pharmaceuticals. You’re having a hard time though and look for a good twenty minutes before Reg gets impatient.

“Come on, what’s taking so fucking long?”

“I can’t find any antibiotics or anything like that. I need that stuff to make sure he doesn’t die of an infection even after I sew him back up. The fact that this place has really bad lighting doesn’t make it any easier.”

“Look, worry about that later. Grab some of that stuff when you’re at work tomorrow and come back here. Right now though the primary concern is stopping the bleeding and getting him patched up! He’s tough he’s not going to die overnight of some infection.”

Not necessarily true, as you’ve seen it happen before, but there’s little you can do about it now. You just hope Edmond’s constitution is as good as Reg claims.

Just as you’re about to leave a couple of gunshots are heard followed by the death yelps of several men.

“Oh shit! It’s a hit!” Reg shouts scrambling for his flintlock pistol, while the sounds of several footsteps enter the building.

You start to panic and look for another exit, but it’s hard to see in this darkness, so you fumble around trying to stay hidden. A couple more gunshots are heard followed by the slumping of a couple of bodies.

“Argh shit!!” you hear Reg shout. This is followed by a set of running footsteps and the sound of a sword hitting something. You don’t hear Reg anymore.

You creep behind a bunch of boxes hoping that you’re not found, but it doesn’t work. A hand suddenly grabs you and turns you around.

“There you are doc. I really wish this could’ve been different, I really do. But it’s time for a change in this organization and you’re just another casualty of war, nothing personal.” Hans says and stabs you repeatedly in the chest until you’re no longer breathing.


A few years have passed and your medical schooling is complete and you now work at the Klyton hospital as a real doctor. You haven’t been able to really enjoy your success though.

Sure, you have your own apartment and you make a decent living to afford the things you want, but you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop and Edmond is going to call in that favor. It’s prevented you from even having a serious relationship for fear that whomever you’re with could possibly be hurt if things get…complex.

Of course there’s also your mother to worry about still, but from what you know she’s planning on selling the old inn and moving to Teckleville. Hopefully soon, so it’ll at least keep her somewhat out of potential harm.

Ultimately you try to keep yourself busy with work hoping it will keep your mind off things, but it doesn’t help. Eventually you do come up with something that does help a bit. Alcohol.

It’s amazing that you grew up in a place that sells the stuff and never had a drink until now. You have to say, it’s not bad and it seems to calm you a bit when you’re feeling anxious. Through this crutch you finally manage to cope.

Well at least until the fateful day does arrive…

One night when you’re coming home from the hospital and carriage pulls up next to you.

“Hey doc, I think we have a friend in common.” A voice says from the inside of the carriage.

“Let me guess, Edmond. Right?” you reply.

“Correct. I think you know what comes next doc.”

“Yeah, I do.” You say and get into the carriage.

You sit down on one side while sitting opposite of you is one man dressed in a cheap suit smoking pipe weed. The other one is dressed more casually and openly playing with a dagger. The pipe man lights up and speaks.

“Before we get started, my name’s Hans and this is my brother Wallace. Now that that’s over with, Edmond is personally in need of your medical services.”

“I figured it was something like that. What happened to him?

“Oh what usually happens to our kind in this business. There was a disagreement, some words were exchanged and before you know it, some people get hurt while others aren’t so lucky.”

“I…see. So I take it we’re heading to him right now?”

“Yes. He’s a little paranoid about going to hospitals especially with the attempt on his life and all.”

“Hey, doesn’t he already have a doctor?”

“He did, but unfortunately his over indulgence of the spirits made his skills useless and he was…sent away a long time ago.”

“Oh…”

The rest of the trip is mostly in silence. Hans asks a few superficial things about you which you give quick answer to, but your mind is focused more on what you’re going to encounter when you get to Edmond. How bad is he going to be? What happens if you can’t help him? By the gods you could use a drink right now.

You then think to yourself. “Maybe this is why his old doctor was a drunk.”

Eventually you arrive at the Troll’s Breath Tavern. When you enter the place it’s completely empty save for a few rough looking sorts who look like they’re focused on cleaning up the place. You notice broken glass and a few blood spots here and there.

“Is that the doc?” one of them asks Hans.

“Yeah, is Ed still in his office?”

“Yeah, and his pet lizard is guarding him like a fucking dragon. Ed’s not letting anyone in there except the doctor.”

“Hm, well I guess you better get in there then. Don’t worry. You’re probably safer than the rest of us right now.”

You don’t share that sentiment, but you have little choice in the matter. You head to Edmond’s office and knock on the door.

“Who the fuck is it? That better be the doc!”

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m coming in.”

You cautiously enter and see a great deal of blood on the floor. Edmond is clutching on to his left side and his Sotakan assassin is standing close by staring directly at you. A bottle whiskey is also nearby probably being used to dull his pain and as a disinfectant.

“Well, don’t just stand there, I gotta fucking hole in my side!”

You quickly inspect the wound and see that Edmond’s been shot most likely by a blunderbuss and he’s still got fragments of the shot in his body.

“Okay, keep the pressure on it like you’ve been doing. I can fix this, but I need to act fast and I’m gonna need some stuff from the hospital.” You say.

“What?! You mean those idiots didn’t have you pick up any supplies?”

“No, they told me to just get into the carriage.”

“Fucking morons. It’s like they want me to die! Okay look, we got access to some hospital supplies in a warehouse much closer than the hospital. Just tell Reg outside what you need and he’ll get them for you. Go, go.”

You leave the office and ask for Reg, who comes up immediately.

“What’s up? Will he live?”

“Yeah, but I’ll need some medical supplies. He said you can get them from one of your warehouses. Now I need…”

Before you can finish Hans interjects.

“Reg, you realize we sold most of those supplies to that bodylegger a few weeks ago? We don’t have much left.”

“We don’t? Well what do we have left?” Reg asks.

“I dunno, I don’t have the supply list in front of me now do I? But what if you get there and find that what the doc asked for isn’t there? We’ve wasted valuable time fucking around while the boss bleeds to death! Look why don’t we just take the doctor back to the hospital, I’m sure we can get everything there right?”

“Well yeah, but Edmond said…”

“I’m sure Edmond won’t mind if disobey his orders if it’s going to save his life.”

Well this certainly stressful. If the warehouse is lacking supplies, you might not be able to help Edmond. If you go back to the hospital you might take too much time since it’s not just the trip back and forth but it’s the sneaking around stealing medical supplies.
> You go back to the hospital
The hospital is probably a better bet. Besides you can get the higher quality stuff there. You doubt if you’ll have that much of a problem getting the supplies too, it isn’t an uncommon thing for a few things to go missing here and there.

“We better go back to the hospital, I’d rather be on the safe side.”

“Good man, come on we’ll take the carriage back to the hospital, my brother will drive it, he knows all the short cuts in this city and isn’t squeamish about running over dumb fuckers that get in the way.”

“Erm, okay then.” You reply.

“Just be quick about this shit, if you take too fucking long and Edmond dies, you three are going to be joining him!” Reg reminds all of you.

You, Hans and Wallace leave the Troll’s Breath Tavern and set out for the hospital. On the way there you make a mental note of what to say if anyone at the hospital asks you any questions and where else in the hospital to search just in case you don’t find what you need right away.

“Tell me, do you think Edmond is a fair man?” Hans suddenly asks you.

“Huh?”

“I said, do you think Edmond is a fair man? Tis not a hard question.”

“Uh, well sure. I mean I had a deal with him in the past and he lived up to it.”

“Yeah, I know all about that so called deal. If it were truly a deal, you and me wouldn’t be having this conversation. I hope you realize this isn’t going to be the last time he calls on you again.”

You don’t say anything. You were trying not to dwell on the possibility of such depressing matters.

“Look friend, I know you. You’d rather not have to live your life being connected to the underworld, but you were in a tight spot, so you resorted to desperate measures. Sort of like your father no?”

“Yeah…I guess so…” you answer not really thinking of that parallel before.

“Well, I sympathize. Trust me I do. I mean I know what it’s like to get so far deep into something that you don’t know how you’re ever going to get out. Hell, I never intended to be part of the Crimson Talons, but I had to do it not just for my survival but my brother’s as well.”

You say nothing and wait for Hans to get to the point he’s going to make.

“What I’m saying is, you don’t NEED to have this hanging over your head forever. You could end it tonight.”

“Hold on, if we’re talking about what I think we are, you heard Reg, he said if we took too long he’d have us all killed.”

“I didn’t suggest that. I mean that hospital surely has a bunch of things that shouldn’t be used in excessive dosages.”

“You want me to kill him? I can’t do that, I’d get killed by that Sotakan! If not immediately then certainly soon after he suspected that I had something to do with his death!”

“Well I figured that you’d be a little creative in that area. Perhaps give him something for the pain. Something that creates a plausible tale that the man just died in his sleep. It’s not like that lizard is really going to put two and two together. It’s not the brightest thing; it’s just really good at following orders and killing people. I wouldn’t worry about it anyway. The lizard will be taken care of soon. And you needn’t worry about anyone else potentially retaliating either, Edmond’s never been too popular and what few loyal cronies he has other than the lizard will also be dealt with.”

You bury your hands in your head at the thought of all this and how you got here in the first place. If you go through with this, you won’t just be an accomplice the murder anymore, but a full blown one. You think about the irony of being a doctor. You’re supposed to be keeping people alive not killing them.

“Look, I know this is all a lot to take in, but just think. If you do this, you’re free. Free to go about the rest of your life as you see fit. And getting rid of Edmond would be a favor to everyone; he’s an evil bastard. Now I’m not saying I’m a saint, but the man is unnecessarily brutal. I’d at least try to put an end to some of the random violence that goes on in the organization and get back to focusing on business. Hell, I’ve got even a long-term plan of trying to make the organization legit one day. Like I said, I didn’t really want this life, but it was survival at the time.”

If Hans is trying to identify with you on some level to get you to help him, it’s working, because you’re starting to seriously consider going through with this plan.

Eventually you get to the hospital and you tell Hans you’ll be out as soon as possible. It’s the graveyard shift so you don’t run into too many people you know that ask questions. In fact nobody really pays too much attention to you at all, but you decide to play it safe and head down to the supply room in the basement to take what you need.

After grabbing a few syringes, disinfectants, bandages and the like, you break the lock of the cabinet with the pharmaceutical supplies. You grab the pain killers immediately, but then you look for something that might help you with the other problem.

“Incitahol? What the hell?” you say to yourself, picking up the small vial. This stuff shouldn’t even be mixed in with the regular drugs. It’s a powerful experimental concoction! It was supposed to be a “miracle” drug that increased the body’s natural healing ability even greater than that of mountain trolls and was first used on dying patients. Unfortunately what the drug really did was the speed up the death process and bring them back as zombies. It was banned by most civilized places and is highly sought out by lazy necromancers who don’t have the natural ability to raise hordes of undead.

You’d worry more about finding this if you didn’t have your own drama going on right now. In fact this would probably be the perfect thing to take with you. Incitahol doesn’t cause pain and quickly puts the patient into a coma and death follows soon after. (And then it’s zombie time) You’ll have to explain some of this to Hans though so he’s prepared.

Part of you wonders if you should really go through with all this though. There’s no guarantee that Hans is telling you the truth and you might be just trading one master for another. In fact he might just blame you for everything and have you killed when he takes power.

Of course another way to handle this is to inject this stuff into Edmond and not tell him what’s going to happen. Chances are undead Ed might kill everyone nearby. Incitahol does increase the reflexes and strength after death making for a rather lively zombie. The problem is this is a very risky endeavor not to mention severely irresponsible.
> You don't kill Edmond
You don’t know if you’ll forever be indebted to Edmond, but at least you know his character a little bit better than Hans. Telling Hans you’re not going to go through with his plan though would be foolish, the only way to do this is to act like you are and then rat him out when you get to Edmond. Not the noblest of plans, but you see that you have little choice.

When you leave the hospital you enter the carriage, which is waiting for you across the street.

“I trust you got everything you need?”

“Yeah, I found something perfect to take care of our problem.”

“Excellent! I knew you’d see things my way.” Hans says. He doesn’t seem to think you’re going to double cross him, which is good news for you. Hans goes on a little more about how you’re doing the right thing and to make sure to stay calm throughout the whole procedure

You get back to the tavern where Reg and several other Talon members are waiting.

“What the fuck took you so damn long? Edmond could’ve died already!”

“Sorry.” You reply and head to his office.

You enter the office and the Sotakan assassin is holding a dagger to your throat already.

“Down boy, it’s the doc...ugh…what the fuck took you so long? I’m dying over here!”

The Sotakan releases you and you run over to Edmond who is now lying on the floor still clutching his side. You begin working on Edmond immediately.

“Argh, fuck! That hurt!” Edmond winces as you take out a few pieces of shrapnel before sewing him up.

“Yeah I imagine it would. I got some bad news to tell you.”

“What worse than getting shot?

“Well maybe not as bad as that, but how close are you to Hans and his brother?”

“We’re business associates though they’ve been working for me since they were snot nosed kids. So I suppose I’m like a father figure to them. Heh heh.”

“Then they’re ready to commit patricide, because they tried to get me to kill you.”

“What!?”

You explain to Edmond what Hans told you as you’re working on him. He’s mad, but not at you. In fact he doesn’t even accuse you of making it up. He says it’s hardly surprising given the business he’s in. He calls over his Sotakan and tells him “Hans, Wallace, dead.” With this simple instruction, the lizard assassin finally leaves the room to do his mission.

Doesn’t take long for the Sotakan to come back.

“Wow. I guess that’s the end of that then.” You say still working on Edmond.

“Looks like. Hey doc, that was a real standup thing ya did. You probably could’ve easily injected me with some shit that could’ve killed me without even my lizard boy even realizing it before it was too late.”

“I’m not a killer, despite my unfortunate lapse of judgment concerning how to deal with those waitresses a few years ago.”

“Hmm, well I’m sure it probably still passed through your mind. Especially how that deal went down with Frank’s place. Anyway, Hans was probably right about one thing, I was going to hang that incident over your head for the rest of your life, but given these recent events let’s call it even.”

“Thanks Edmond.” You say politely. Sure you could get self-righteous and point out that you’ve saved his life TWICE. But really, why piss off a crime boss?

After patching up Edmond and making sure he’s not going to get an infection, you mention that he should be fine as long as he takes it easy for a couple months. He thanks you again and says if you ever need another favor you know where to find him. You assure him that you won’t.

You get on with your life after this last bit of dabbling with the underworld. Part of you for a while worries that Edmond is going to go back on his word, but that doesn’t happen thankfully. You definitely feel a great weight has been lifted off of you. You also properly dispose of the Incitahol. You’d normally report something like this, but you’d rather not have to explain why you were breaking into the pharmaceutical cabinet in the first place. You just hope whoever was dumb enough to put the stuff there doesn’t have any more of it.

As for your family’s inn, your mother eventually sells it in a few years and moves back to Teckleville. You aren’t unhappy to see it sold off; you didn’t have too many great memories of the place in the last years you were there. Still, if it weren’t for the inn you wouldn’t have been able to become a doctor either.

While the rest of your life generally plays out in a positive way, you never do lose your minor alcohol problem because every once in awhile you still feel guilt about some of the things you were involved in. Drinking helps ease the pain a bit, but you never talk to anyone else about it of course. Sometimes you wonder what you could’ve done different when you worked at the inn, a better way perhaps.

You’ll never know.


The hospital is probably a better bet. Besides you can get the higher quality stuff there. You doubt if you’ll have that much of a problem getting the supplies too, it isn’t an uncommon thing for a few things to go missing here and there.

“We better go back to the hospital, I’d rather be on the safe side.”

“Good man, come on we’ll take the carriage back to the hospital, my brother will drive it, he knows all the short cuts in this city and isn’t squeamish about running over dumb fuckers that get in the way.”

“Erm, okay then.” You reply.

“Just be quick about this shit, if you take too fucking long and Edmond dies, you three are going to be joining him!” Reg reminds all of you.

You, Hans and Wallace leave the Troll’s Breath Tavern and set out for the hospital. On the way there you make a mental note of what to say if anyone at the hospital asks you any questions and where else in the hospital to search just in case you don’t find what you need right away.

“Tell me, do you think Edmond is a fair man?” Hans suddenly asks you.

“Huh?”

“I said, do you think Edmond is a fair man? Tis not a hard question.”

“Uh, well sure. I mean I had a deal with him in the past and he lived up to it.”

“Yeah, I know all about that so called deal. If it were truly a deal, you and me wouldn’t be having this conversation. I hope you realize this isn’t going to be the last time he calls on you again.”

You don’t say anything. You were trying not to dwell on the possibility of such depressing matters.

“Look friend, I know you. You’d rather not have to live your life being connected to the underworld, but you were in a tight spot, so you resorted to desperate measures. Sort of like your father no?”

“Yeah…I guess so…” you answer not really thinking of that parallel before.

“Well, I sympathize. Trust me I do. I mean I know what it’s like to get so far deep into something that you don’t know how you’re ever going to get out. Hell, I never intended to be part of the Crimson Talons, but I had to do it not just for my survival but my brother’s as well.”

You say nothing and wait for Hans to get to the point he’s going to make.

“What I’m saying is, you don’t NEED to have this hanging over your head forever. You could end it tonight.”

“Hold on, if we’re talking about what I think we are, you heard Reg, he said if we took too long he’d have us all killed.”

“I didn’t suggest that. I mean that hospital surely has a bunch of things that shouldn’t be used in excessive dosages.”

“You want me to kill him? I can’t do that, I’d get killed by that Sotakan! If not immediately then certainly soon after he suspected that I had something to do with his death!”

“Well I figured that you’d be a little creative in that area. Perhaps give him something for the pain. Something that creates a plausible tale that the man just died in his sleep. It’s not like that lizard is really going to put two and two together. It’s not the brightest thing; it’s just really good at following orders and killing people. I wouldn’t worry about it anyway. The lizard will be taken care of soon. And you needn’t worry about anyone else potentially retaliating either, Edmond’s never been too popular and what few loyal cronies he has other than the lizard will also be dealt with.”

You bury your hands in your head at the thought of all this and how you got here in the first place. If you go through with this, you won’t just be an accomplice the murder anymore, but a full blown one. You think about the irony of being a doctor. You’re supposed to be keeping people alive not killing them.

“Look, I know this is all a lot to take in, but just think. If you do this, you’re free. Free to go about the rest of your life as you see fit. And getting rid of Edmond would be a favor to everyone; he’s an evil bastard. Now I’m not saying I’m a saint, but the man is unnecessarily brutal. I’d at least try to put an end to some of the random violence that goes on in the organization and get back to focusing on business. Hell, I’ve got even a long-term plan of trying to make the organization legit one day. Like I said, I didn’t really want this life, but it was survival at the time.”

If Hans is trying to identify with you on some level to get you to help him, it’s working, because you’re starting to seriously consider going through with this plan.

Eventually you get to the hospital and you tell Hans you’ll be out as soon as possible. It’s the graveyard shift so you don’t run into too many people you know that ask questions. In fact nobody really pays too much attention to you at all, but you decide to play it safe and head down to the supply room in the basement to take what you need.

After grabbing a few syringes, disinfectants, bandages and the like, you break the lock of the cabinet with the pharmaceutical supplies. You grab the pain killers immediately, but then you look for something that might help you with the other problem.

“Incitahol? What the hell?” you say to yourself, picking up the small vial. This stuff shouldn’t even be mixed in with the regular drugs. It’s a powerful experimental concoction! It was supposed to be a “miracle” drug that increased the body’s natural healing ability even greater than that of mountain trolls and was first used on dying patients. Unfortunately what the drug really did was the speed up the death process and bring them back as zombies. It was banned by most civilized places and is highly sought out by lazy necromancers who don’t have the natural ability to raise hordes of undead.

You’d worry more about finding this if you didn’t have your own drama going on right now. In fact this would probably be the perfect thing to take with you. Incitahol doesn’t cause pain and quickly puts the patient into a coma and death follows soon after. (And then it’s zombie time) You’ll have to explain some of this to Hans though so he’s prepared.

Part of you wonders if you should really go through with all this though. There’s no guarantee that Hans is telling you the truth and you might be just trading one master for another. In fact he might just blame you for everything and have you killed when he takes power.

Of course another way to handle this is to inject this stuff into Edmond and not tell him what’s going to happen. Chances are undead Ed might kill everyone nearby. Incitahol does increase the reflexes and strength after death making for a rather lively zombie. The problem is this is a very risky endeavor not to mention severely irresponsible.
> You kill Edmond and inform Hans of the plan
Hans is probably right about Edmond, he’s going to keep you around indefinitely. If you help Hans he’ll most likely have his hands full trying to root out all the people still loyal to Edmond and solidifying his power base to worry about you.

When you leave the hospital you enter the carriage, which is waiting for you across the street.

“I trust you got everything you need?”

“Yeah, I found something perfect to take care of our problem, but I need to warn you about it first.”

“Oh? Well, out with it then.” Hans says.

You explain to Hans about the Incitahol and he seems intrigued.

“So this stuff will kill him and then bring him back to life?”

“In a manner of speaking. He’ll slowly lapse into a coma and then die. Then he’ll come back as a zombie and most likely a very lively and hostile one.”

“Interesting. Okay. Good. That lizard will probably be by his side the whole time. When Edmond comes back he’ll probably try to attack his lizard who will defend himself and then the rest takes care of itself.”

You’re glad Hans sounds pleased with this plan, the only thing you have to do now is pull off the deception. Eventually you get back to the tavern where Reg and several other Talon members are waiting.

“What the fuck took you so damn long? Edmond could’ve died already!”

“Sorry.” You reply and head to his office.

You enter the office and the Sotakan assassin is holding a dagger to your throat already.

“Down boy, it’s the doc...ugh…what the fuck took you so long? I’m dying over here!”

The Sotakan releases you and you run over to Edmond who is now lying on the floor still clutching his side.

“I’m going to give you this shot first, it’ll help as an anti-biotic and to ease the pain. You might start getting sleepy though, do you someplace more comfortable to lay?”

“Yeah, I guess the sofa.”

You Help Edmond to the sofa and give him the shot of Incitahol. You then begin sewing him up as quickly as possible. Normally you’d do a better job and extract the shrapnel in his body, but you figure he’s going to be dead soon anyway and you need to get out of here before he starts turning.

“There you go. You should be good now, but you’ll need to rest and not move too much for a few days.”

“(Yawn) Not a problem. I’ll probably just take care of business from here for the time being. As long I got my Sotakan whatchin’ my back, I’ll be fine. Damn, that shit kicks in really quick. I don’t feel anything….(Yawn) Glad you could help out doc…be sure to stick around…(Yawn) might have some work for you in the…zzzzzzzzzz…”

You stand away from Edmond, give a nod to the Sotakan and then leave quickly.

“So is he asleep?” Edmond asks walking up to you.

“Yeah, won’t be long…hey where’s that Reg guy?” you say noticing a difference in some of the personnel hanging around the bar now.

“Don’t worry about him, you just take a seat at that table over there. If need anything just let Wallace know.”

“But you know what’s going to happen and I’m not a fighter. I don’t think you’ll need me here.”

“Don’t be so sure. Given what’s going to go down, we might still need a doctor soon. Besides having a doctor around in the future might be useful. Sit down, you’ll be fine.”

You get the impression you don’t have any choice in the matter, so you do what Hans says. You curse yourself for believing him. You have indeed traded one master for another.

“Could I have a drink?” you ask Wallace, who looks less than pleased about you barking orders at him, but he gets you a bottle of strong whiskey before going to talk to his brother.

Time passes and as you slowly get more drunk a loud noise is heard from Edmond’s office. It’s a mixture of hissing, moaning and loud crashing.

“Hah! Sounds like he’s (hic!) up!” you slur while taking another drink. At this point Hans, Wallace and several other thugs rush into the office. You hear a bunch of yelling, fighting, and gunshots, but you just continue to drink the whole time.

“Dis is yer fate mr. smart ass doctor, now you gotta (hic!) get yoost to it.” You say to your self while looking at the bottle.

“Was it worth it?”

At this point Hans exits Edmond’s office looking a bit winded. He’s followed by Wallace and one of the other thugs that lived.

“Shit, it’s a good thing that lizard had been preoccupied with Edmond. I can say with all honesty he put up a damn good fight even with a couple of bites in him.”

“You chopped his head off I (hic!) hope!” you exclaim.

“Yeah, of course I know the stories of the dead infection. Sheesh doc, I think you’ve had enough for the night.” Hans remarks.

“I haven’t begun to drink!” you shout and then promptly pass out in the tavern.

While this would be the first time you passed out in the Troll’s Breath Tavern, it wouldn’t be the last. After this night, your life takes a drastic turn.

Your hospital career begins to take a slow but sure nosedive, though your “career” as a Crimson doc begins to pick up a lot. Hans has a lot more trouble establishing order over the Crimson Talons than he thought he would. You end up doing a lot of after hours surgery. To Hans’ credit he pays you well and you get free drinks whenever you can.

Eventually your mother knows something is going on with you, she isn’t sure what (and doesn’t really want to either), but she knows it isn’t good. Having no real reason to stay any longer, she finally sells the inn to the city and moves back to Teckleville. She mentions when you get your life together you can visit her, until that time, stay away.

You never see her again.

From there your life becomes a downward spiral and your drinking increases to cope with your situation. As the years go on, the hospital can’t tolerate your sub par work due to a combination of drink and lack of proper sleep. Getting fired is bad enough, but you also lose your license and are lucky not to go to jail for malpractice.

Doesn’t really matter to you at this point, you just embrace the whole criminal lifestyle and work for Hans full time. The only problem is, he’s getting sick of your sub-par work as well. Your situation becomes very much like the doctor who once worked Edmond.

It doesn’t really need to be said that your fate is very similar to his as well.

One night during a poker game you’re on a rare winning streak and drinking heavily as usual. Your obnoxious bragging gets on the nerves of several Crimson Talon members who have already been told on several occasions by Hans that your usefulness is soon coming to an end. They decide that tonight is the night.

As you try to stumble your way home in the dark, a crushing blow knocks you to the street followed by several sharp piecing to your body. Fortunately you’re so damn drunk that the pain is somewhat nonexistent. You mumble something incoherent and then pass out forever.

Your winnings are taken back and your body sold to a bodylegger for spare parts. (Your liver is useless though)


The hospital is probably a better bet. Besides you can get the higher quality stuff there. You doubt if you’ll have that much of a problem getting the supplies too, it isn’t an uncommon thing for a few things to go missing here and there.

“We better go back to the hospital, I’d rather be on the safe side.”

“Good man, come on we’ll take the carriage back to the hospital, my brother will drive it, he knows all the short cuts in this city and isn’t squeamish about running over dumb fuckers that get in the way.”

“Erm, okay then.” You reply.

“Just be quick about this shit, if you take too fucking long and Edmond dies, you three are going to be joining him!” Reg reminds all of you.

You, Hans and Wallace leave the Troll’s Breath Tavern and set out for the hospital. On the way there you make a mental note of what to say if anyone at the hospital asks you any questions and where else in the hospital to search just in case you don’t find what you need right away.

“Tell me, do you think Edmond is a fair man?” Hans suddenly asks you.

“Huh?”

“I said, do you think Edmond is a fair man? Tis not a hard question.”

“Uh, well sure. I mean I had a deal with him in the past and he lived up to it.”

“Yeah, I know all about that so called deal. If it were truly a deal, you and me wouldn’t be having this conversation. I hope you realize this isn’t going to be the last time he calls on you again.”

You don’t say anything. You were trying not to dwell on the possibility of such depressing matters.

“Look friend, I know you. You’d rather not have to live your life being connected to the underworld, but you were in a tight spot, so you resorted to desperate measures. Sort of like your father no?”

“Yeah…I guess so…” you answer not really thinking of that parallel before.

“Well, I sympathize. Trust me I do. I mean I know what it’s like to get so far deep into something that you don’t know how you’re ever going to get out. Hell, I never intended to be part of the Crimson Talons, but I had to do it not just for my survival but my brother’s as well.”

You say nothing and wait for Hans to get to the point he’s going to make.

“What I’m saying is, you don’t NEED to have this hanging over your head forever. You could end it tonight.”

“Hold on, if we’re talking about what I think we are, you heard Reg, he said if we took too long he’d have us all killed.”

“I didn’t suggest that. I mean that hospital surely has a bunch of things that shouldn’t be used in excessive dosages.”

“You want me to kill him? I can’t do that, I’d get killed by that Sotakan! If not immediately then certainly soon after he suspected that I had something to do with his death!”

“Well I figured that you’d be a little creative in that area. Perhaps give him something for the pain. Something that creates a plausible tale that the man just died in his sleep. It’s not like that lizard is really going to put two and two together. It’s not the brightest thing; it’s just really good at following orders and killing people. I wouldn’t worry about it anyway. The lizard will be taken care of soon. And you needn’t worry about anyone else potentially retaliating either, Edmond’s never been too popular and what few loyal cronies he has other than the lizard will also be dealt with.”

You bury your hands in your head at the thought of all this and how you got here in the first place. If you go through with this, you won’t just be an accomplice the murder anymore, but a full blown one. You think about the irony of being a doctor. You’re supposed to be keeping people alive not killing them.

“Look, I know this is all a lot to take in, but just think. If you do this, you’re free. Free to go about the rest of your life as you see fit. And getting rid of Edmond would be a favor to everyone; he’s an evil bastard. Now I’m not saying I’m a saint, but the man is unnecessarily brutal. I’d at least try to put an end to some of the random violence that goes on in the organization and get back to focusing on business. Hell, I’ve got even a long-term plan of trying to make the organization legit one day. Like I said, I didn’t really want this life, but it was survival at the time.”

If Hans is trying to identify with you on some level to get you to help him, it’s working, because you’re starting to seriously consider going through with this plan.

Eventually you get to the hospital and you tell Hans you’ll be out as soon as possible. It’s the graveyard shift so you don’t run into too many people you know that ask questions. In fact nobody really pays too much attention to you at all, but you decide to play it safe and head down to the supply room in the basement to take what you need.

After grabbing a few syringes, disinfectants, bandages and the like, you break the lock of the cabinet with the pharmaceutical supplies. You grab the pain killers immediately, but then you look for something that might help you with the other problem.

“Incitahol? What the hell?” you say to yourself, picking up the small vial. This stuff shouldn’t even be mixed in with the regular drugs. It’s a powerful experimental concoction! It was supposed to be a “miracle” drug that increased the body’s natural healing ability even greater than that of mountain trolls and was first used on dying patients. Unfortunately what the drug really did was the speed up the death process and bring them back as zombies. It was banned by most civilized places and is highly sought out by lazy necromancers who don’t have the natural ability to raise hordes of undead.

You’d worry more about finding this if you didn’t have your own drama going on right now. In fact this would probably be the perfect thing to take with you. Incitahol doesn’t cause pain and quickly puts the patient into a coma and death follows soon after. (And then it’s zombie time) You’ll have to explain some of this to Hans though so he’s prepared.

Part of you wonders if you should really go through with all this though. There’s no guarantee that Hans is telling you the truth and you might be just trading one master for another. In fact he might just blame you for everything and have you killed when he takes power.

Of course another way to handle this is to inject this stuff into Edmond and not tell him what’s going to happen. Chances are undead Ed might kill everyone nearby. Incitahol does increase the reflexes and strength after death making for a rather lively zombie. The problem is this is a very risky endeavor not to mention severely irresponsible.
> You kill Edmond and don't inform Hans of the plan
Hans is probably right about Edmond, he’s going to keep you around indefinitely. On the other hand Hans probably isn’t any better. It’s always possible Hans will get killed by “normal” dangers when he gets in power, but he seems pretty savvy. He’s likely to stay in power long enough for you to get trapped in this life and his successor is just going to insist on your services. That’s even assuming you live that long, being connected to organized crime isn’t necessarily a safe way to live if you don’t have the street cred and stomach for it.

You need to get rid of Hans as well and hopefully not telling him what you’re exactly going to do will create that opportunity.

When you leave the hospital you enter the carriage, which is waiting for you across the street.

“I trust you got everything you need?”

“Yeah, I found something perfect to take care of our problem. He’ll slowly fall asleep, then lapse into a coma then finally die.”

“Perfect, I can even say his lizard killed him. I better have a crew ready to bum rush him though. He’s not going to be an easy kill though.”

You’re glad Hans sounds pleased with this plan, the only thing you have to do now is pull off the deception. Eventually you get back to the tavern where Reg and several other Talon members are waiting.

“What the fuck took you so damn long? Edmond could’ve died already!”

“Sorry.” You reply and head to his office.

You enter the office and the Sotakan assassin is holding a dagger to your throat already.

“Down boy, it’s the doc...ugh…what the fuck took you so long? I’m dying over here!”

The Sotakan releases you and you run over to Edmond who is now lying on the floor still clutching his side.

“I’m going to give you this shot first, it’ll help as an anti-biotic and to ease the pain. You might start getting sleepy though, do you someplace more comfortable to lay?”

“Yeah, I guess the sofa.”

You Help Edmond to the sofa and give him the shot of Incitahol. You then begin sewing him up as quickly as possible. Normally you’d do a better job and extract the shrapnel in his body, but you figure he’s going to be dead soon anyway and you need to get out of here before he starts turning.

“There you go. You should be good now, but you’ll need to rest and not move too much for a few days.”

“(Yawn) Not a problem. I’ll probably just take care of business from here for the time being. As long I got my Sotakan whatchin’ my back, I’ll be fine. Damn, that shit kicks in really quick. I don’t feel anything….(Yawn) Glad you could help out doc…be sure to stick around…(Yawn) might have some work for you in the…zzzzzzzzzz…”

You stand away from Edmond, give a nod to the Sotakan and then leave quickly.

“So is he asleep?” Edmond asks walking up to you.

“Yeah, won’t be long…hey where’s that Reg guy?” you say noticing a difference in some of the personnel hanging around the bar now.

“Don’t worry about him, you just take a seat at that table over there. If need anything just let Wallace know.”

“Uh, I don’t think you really need me around any longer.”

“Nonsense! Given what’s going to go down, we might still need a doctor soon. Besides having a doctor around in the future might be useful. Sit down, you’ll be fine.”

You get the impression you don’t have much choice in the matter so you do as Hans says. You try not to make your panic too noticeable, but you really scared about what’s going to happen. What happens if Hans finds out what you did? What if something gets out of hand and you suddenly got a bunch of zombies hungry for flesh? Normally you’d probably have a drink to calm your nerves, but you’re so worried about what might happen, you feel your only hope is to have all your wits about you.

Eventually Wallace gets sick of watching you and goes to talk with his brother who is currently sitting at a table with a group of other thugs telling them how they need to attack the Sotakan assassin as quickly as possible when they rush the room. You think about making a break for it, but you’d never make it.

Time passes and eventually noise is heard from Edmond’s office. It’s a mixture of hissing, moaning and loud crashing.

“What the fuck?” Hans says pulling out his flintlock and then looks over in your direction, you shrug your shoulders replying “I dunno.”

“Come on, let’s just do it!” Wallace says picking up a nearby blunderbuss.

At this point Wallace and the rest of the thugs rush into Edmond’s office. Hans stays outside watching you and the both of you hear a bunch of yelling, fighting, and gunshots. Then there’s silence.

“Wallace?” Hans calls out while heading towards the office.

“…ugh…yeah…I’m hurt…get the doc…” Wallace’s voice calls back.

“Come on, get yer ass over here, my brother’s hurt!” Wallace says. You gulp nervously and slowly make your way to Wallace

“Shit, it looks like a fucking slaughterhouse in here.” Hans remarks as you both enter the room.

Hans is quite correct, the office is splattered with blood and gore with several dead bodies everywhere. Edmond, the Sotakan, and the Crimson thugs they’re all dead. You notice Edmond has a head wound, the Sotakan does too, you can’t tell with some of the other though until…

“OH SHIT! WALLACE!” Hans shouts as two of those bodies suddenly sit up and attack!

Hans shoots one of them in the chest, dropping it to the floor temporarily, but the other one begins munching on Wallace. His screams are enough to finally cause you to run.

“HEY YOU COWARDLY FUCK, HELP ME! AGH! MY FOOT!” Hans yells as you try to open the tavern door. Unfortunately Hans wasn’t taking any chances of you attempting to escape and the door is firmly locked.

In desperation you grab a nearby chair to bust out a small window you might be able to squeeze through. You attempts are cut short when one of the zombies tackles you to the floor and take a bite out of your arm. You cries of pain are cut short when the next bite rips out your throat.

Your death is just one of the first in the zombie plague you thoughtlessly unleashed on Klyton.


You need professionals for this and David and Tom don’t qualify. You ask for directions to the underground gladiator matches, but Mr. Reynolds still insists on a bit of money for that information, so you have no choice but to pay him.

After running back and forth to his office and the inn, (And incurring some questions by your mom and staff where you’re going) you pay him and he tells you that it’s located in a tavern called the Troll’s Breath on the edge of the warehouse district. He tells you to that can let the bartender know that he sent you.

You feel like you’re going to get mugged around every corner on your way to the place, but fortunately that doesn’t happen. You are approached by several prostitutes and offered Cloud Rock a lot though. When you walk in the place, it’s filled with a rowdy bunch as you’d expect. You try not to make eye contact and walk straight to the bar.

“Yeah?” the bald bartender asks gruffly.

“Mr. Reynolds sent me because of my interest in games.”

“Did he now? Alright, but the next time you see that dick, tell him his time as an independent loanshark are coming to an end soon. He needs to join up with the Crimson Talon or get the fuck outta Kyton. Door’s around the back.”

“Thanks, oh uh one more thing.”

“What!?”

“Is there anyway to speak to Olaf or Silence after their fights?”

“What the hell do you wanna be talkin’ to those two idiots for? The pair of them together barely have enough intelligence to put on their own boots.”

“It’s a business proposition.”

At this point the bartender’s eye narrow.

“Wait a fucking minute. You’re sent here by Reynolds and you wanna talk to Olaf and Silence about a business proposition? This sounds like Reynolds trying weasely shit as usual. Fuck you, they don’t freelance anymore. They’re pit fighters for the Crimson Talons until I say otherwise! Now get the fuck outta here!”

“Okay, I’ll talk with you then, how much do you want for their services temporarily?”

“I said they ain’t for fuckin’ hire you dumbfuck! If you wanna meet them so bad though, I can oblige and throw your ass in the ring with them!”

At this point the bartender snaps his fingers and two thugs grab your arms ready to carry you off. You make one desperate plea.

“Alright! Alright! I’ll hire whomever else you got then! These two guys holding me will do, I just need some people fucked up and I got money to give to whoever will do it!”

The bartender nods and you’re released.

“Alright in my office and start talkin’ fast. Reg, you’re at the bar.”

You follow the bartender upstairs to a room that is much nicer than the rest of place. He sits down at a fancy desk and pours himself a drink, but doesn’t offer you anything. You look around the office at the various items he has on the wall until you’re interrupted.

“Well? Are we just wasting my time here while you admire my office, because the fight pit is another place you can admire from the inside.”

You quickly explain everything and your situation and give him the information that Rita wrote down for you. The bartender nods a bit while playing with his ring. When you’re done, he speaks.

“Is that it? You wanted to hire two bruisers like that to cut up some barmaids? You’re sort of new at this I take it. Those two would’ve probably raped and broke all their necks right in the middle of the fucking Flying Griffon. Subtlety is not their strong point.”

“Okay so do you have someone else in mind?”

“Sure, got a mean ass Sotakan assassin that could easily do the job.”

“A Sotakan? One of those lizard people? But they avoid cities.” You say.

“That they do, but let’s just say I acquired this one from an egg. The great thing about him, is he’s completely loyal and doesn’t require much. Just does what he’s told.”

“How’s he sneak around though? I mean seems like he’d stick out.”

“Hah, those lizard bastards have natural camouflage abilities. As they grow up they adapt to whatever sort of environment they grow up in. Now a regular swamp dwelling Sotakan would stick out, but not my boy. He’s lived here in the city his whole life, took him out in the night to get acquainted with the surroundings while he grew up and now he’s practically invisible when he wants to be.”

“Okay well that’s great, but I don’t need them killed.”

“Heh, maybe not all of them, but a couple may come back to kill you. I think I may have a little more information on the Flying Griffon than your barmaid found out. Frank’s an unregistered wizard. Well wizard’s giving him a little too much credit perhaps, but he’s managed to snag himself a couple of succubae as barmaids.”

“What?! He can’t summon demons into the city! That’s illegal!”

“Oh and I suppose what we’re doing is?”

“Alright, but it’s not only illegal, but it’s a potential danger to the city.”

“No, I agree. Demons tend to fuck up business and their chaotic ways are too much of a risk to deal with, but then again I don’t have to tell you that.”

“So…how do you know all this?”

“Because it’s my fucking job to know shit that might interfere with business that’s why. I kept wondering why some of my merchant contacts weren’t stopping by here anymore. Frank might have some control over his ladies, but I know he can’t completely stop their appetites. Rather short sighted of him really, it’s not like they’re going to be able to stop themselves from completely draining victims forever. They’re going to eventually get out of hand and he’s going to start having to explain to the Klyton militia why people are always last seen going into his place before mysteriously disappearing. You must’ve really pissed him off for him to resort to this.”

“Yeah, I guess so…so where does that leave us?”

The bartender (who mentions his name is Edmond and is definitely more than just bartender) says that he was keeping an eye on the Flying Griffon and if he lost anymore of his merchant contact to it, he was going to act. He didn’t before since as skilled as his lizard is, he’s not sure if he can take two succubae by himself, in fact it would be easier to just try and kill Frank. But of course then there would be two unleashed succubae running around in Klyton and nobody really wants that.

Still, if you’re willing to pay then Edmond will readily accept your money, and he’ll have the mortal barmaids disfigured and the demonic ones killed. He assures you that unlike Mr. Reynolds this will be a straight up agreement and that the Crimson Talons will not seek to extort your inn in some way. Mainly due to all the Klyton militia and adventurers going there it wouldn’t be worth the trouble. He doesn’t need to risk some do gooder or gung-ho orderly type sniffing around.

Of course you’ve been overwhelmed by all this information. Part of you wonders if all this is worth it. You could wait it out, Edmond did claim that Frank probably won’t be able to control them forever; the problem with this is in the meantime it’ll still be cutting into your business.

With this new information you could also report Frank to your militia buddies, though this might be difficult without evidence. Still, you’re on good terms with most of the ones that frequent your place and they’ll probably investigate.
> You wait it out
You tell Edmond that you think that you’ll take his approach and wait it out. If he wants to do anything against Frank, well you won’t have anything to do with it. Edmond nods and remarks that perhaps it’s best you don’t get yourself into this game since it’s slippery slope that you’re libel to get yourself in a lot more trouble that you wouldn’t be equipped to handle.

Before you leave he trusts that you won’t be speaking to anyone about your meeting, because if anyone finds out, it won’t matter how many militia buddies you have. You assure him that you remember his pet lizard and that it won’t be a problem.

You’re able to get a coach back to inn, naturally it’s a lot later now and everyone is asking you where you’ve been. You explain that you forgot to do something at campus for a class, which seems to satisfy as an excuse.

So you wait and time passes.

You continue to wait and more time passes.

Six months pass and nothing has changed with the Flying Griffon except they continue to do better than your inn and at this point you’re just breaking even. Frank must have his demon girls under control because he’s still doing well and Klyton militia isn’t investigating him.

You wonder if you should take Edmond up on his offer, but then perhaps he’s already tried to kill them and his assassin failed. You also ponder if you should report Frank again, but you shake your head. It’s pointless now. You’re losing a war that can’t be won and you’re ready to throw in the towel. Everyone working here isn’t happy anymore, and you never wanted to do this job anyway. You wanted to go into medicine.

You approach your mother about selling the inn and she agrees. She apologizes that this inn ultimately became a burden on you, so she says when she sells the place she’ll give you all the money in the hopes that it will help with your education.

Ironically your mother ends up selling the inn to Frank. She says he was smug the whole time but was willing to pay much more than the city would. It’s a lot, but not enough to finish proper medical school. She wishes you well before leaving Klyton for Teckleville and tells you that you’ll always be welcome at Enora’s house where she will be living.

You decide maybe while you can’t be a doctor, maybe you can still choose something in medical field, presumably something you’ll be able to afford and not be as stressed all the time.

You ultimately become a veterinarian and feel a great sense of accomplishment. The only problem is they aren’t in great demand in Klyton and the few that do exist in the city have the market pretty much cornered, but you do know of a place where they might need one…

You move to Teckleville where you make a living treating farm animals and pets like kitties and puppies. Occasionally someone has something more exotic like a purple tailed glittermane, but it’s a quiet life for the most part. You eventually have a family and live the rest of your days there.

Sometimes you wonder what would’ve happened if you’d done things a bit differently at the inn, but all things considered it worked out.


You need professionals for this and David and Tom don’t qualify. You ask for directions to the underground gladiator matches, but Mr. Reynolds still insists on a bit of money for that information, so you have no choice but to pay him.

After running back and forth to his office and the inn, (And incurring some questions by your mom and staff where you’re going) you pay him and he tells you that it’s located in a tavern called the Troll’s Breath on the edge of the warehouse district. He tells you to that can let the bartender know that he sent you.

You feel like you’re going to get mugged around every corner on your way to the place, but fortunately that doesn’t happen. You are approached by several prostitutes and offered Cloud Rock a lot though. When you walk in the place, it’s filled with a rowdy bunch as you’d expect. You try not to make eye contact and walk straight to the bar.

“Yeah?” the bald bartender asks gruffly.

“Mr. Reynolds sent me because of my interest in games.”

“Did he now? Alright, but the next time you see that dick, tell him his time as an independent loanshark are coming to an end soon. He needs to join up with the Crimson Talon or get the fuck outta Kyton. Door’s around the back.”

“Thanks, oh uh one more thing.”

“What!?”

“Is there anyway to speak to Olaf or Silence after their fights?”

“What the hell do you wanna be talkin’ to those two idiots for? The pair of them together barely have enough intelligence to put on their own boots.”

“It’s a business proposition.”

At this point the bartender’s eye narrow.

“Wait a fucking minute. You’re sent here by Reynolds and you wanna talk to Olaf and Silence about a business proposition? This sounds like Reynolds trying weasely shit as usual. Fuck you, they don’t freelance anymore. They’re pit fighters for the Crimson Talons until I say otherwise! Now get the fuck outta here!”

“Okay, I’ll talk with you then, how much do you want for their services temporarily?”

“I said they ain’t for fuckin’ hire you dumbfuck! If you wanna meet them so bad though, I can oblige and throw your ass in the ring with them!”

At this point the bartender snaps his fingers and two thugs grab your arms ready to carry you off. You make one desperate plea.

“Alright! Alright! I’ll hire whomever else you got then! These two guys holding me will do, I just need some people fucked up and I got money to give to whoever will do it!”

The bartender nods and you’re released.

“Alright in my office and start talkin’ fast. Reg, you’re at the bar.”

You follow the bartender upstairs to a room that is much nicer than the rest of place. He sits down at a fancy desk and pours himself a drink, but doesn’t offer you anything. You look around the office at the various items he has on the wall until you’re interrupted.

“Well? Are we just wasting my time here while you admire my office, because the fight pit is another place you can admire from the inside.”

You quickly explain everything and your situation and give him the information that Rita wrote down for you. The bartender nods a bit while playing with his ring. When you’re done, he speaks.

“Is that it? You wanted to hire two bruisers like that to cut up some barmaids? You’re sort of new at this I take it. Those two would’ve probably raped and broke all their necks right in the middle of the fucking Flying Griffon. Subtlety is not their strong point.”

“Okay so do you have someone else in mind?”

“Sure, got a mean ass Sotakan assassin that could easily do the job.”

“A Sotakan? One of those lizard people? But they avoid cities.” You say.

“That they do, but let’s just say I acquired this one from an egg. The great thing about him, is he’s completely loyal and doesn’t require much. Just does what he’s told.”

“How’s he sneak around though? I mean seems like he’d stick out.”

“Hah, those lizard bastards have natural camouflage abilities. As they grow up they adapt to whatever sort of environment they grow up in. Now a regular swamp dwelling Sotakan would stick out, but not my boy. He’s lived here in the city his whole life, took him out in the night to get acquainted with the surroundings while he grew up and now he’s practically invisible when he wants to be.”

“Okay well that’s great, but I don’t need them killed.”

“Heh, maybe not all of them, but a couple may come back to kill you. I think I may have a little more information on the Flying Griffon than your barmaid found out. Frank’s an unregistered wizard. Well wizard’s giving him a little too much credit perhaps, but he’s managed to snag himself a couple of succubae as barmaids.”

“What?! He can’t summon demons into the city! That’s illegal!”

“Oh and I suppose what we’re doing is?”

“Alright, but it’s not only illegal, but it’s a potential danger to the city.”

“No, I agree. Demons tend to fuck up business and their chaotic ways are too much of a risk to deal with, but then again I don’t have to tell you that.”

“So…how do you know all this?”

“Because it’s my fucking job to know shit that might interfere with business that’s why. I kept wondering why some of my merchant contacts weren’t stopping by here anymore. Frank might have some control over his ladies, but I know he can’t completely stop their appetites. Rather short sighted of him really, it’s not like they’re going to be able to stop themselves from completely draining victims forever. They’re going to eventually get out of hand and he’s going to start having to explain to the Klyton militia why people are always last seen going into his place before mysteriously disappearing. You must’ve really pissed him off for him to resort to this.”

“Yeah, I guess so…so where does that leave us?”

The bartender (who mentions his name is Edmond and is definitely more than just bartender) says that he was keeping an eye on the Flying Griffon and if he lost anymore of his merchant contact to it, he was going to act. He didn’t before since as skilled as his lizard is, he’s not sure if he can take two succubae by himself, in fact it would be easier to just try and kill Frank. But of course then there would be two unleashed succubae running around in Klyton and nobody really wants that.

Still, if you’re willing to pay then Edmond will readily accept your money, and he’ll have the mortal barmaids disfigured and the demonic ones killed. He assures you that unlike Mr. Reynolds this will be a straight up agreement and that the Crimson Talons will not seek to extort your inn in some way. Mainly due to all the Klyton militia and adventurers going there it wouldn’t be worth the trouble. He doesn’t need to risk some do gooder or gung-ho orderly type sniffing around.

Of course you’ve been overwhelmed by all this information. Part of you wonders if all this is worth it. You could wait it out, Edmond did claim that Frank probably won’t be able to control them forever; the problem with this is in the meantime it’ll still be cutting into your business.

With this new information you could also report Frank to your militia buddies, though this might be difficult without evidence. Still, you’re on good terms with most of the ones that frequent your place and they’ll probably investigate.
> You tell the militia
You decide to tell Edmond that you think that you’ll wait it out. Edmond nods and remarks that perhaps it’s best you don’t get yourself into this game since it’s slippery slope that you’re libel to get yourself in a lot more trouble that you wouldn’t be equipped to handle.

Before you leave he trusts that you won’t be speaking to anyone about your meeting, because if anyone finds out, it won’t matter how many militia buddies you have. You assure him that you remember his pet lizard and that it won’t be a problem.

You’re able to get a coach back to inn, naturally it’s a lot later now and everyone is asking you where you’ve been. You explain that you forgot to do something at campus for a class, which seems to satisfy as an excuse.

You are a little nervous now about reporting this to the militia after Edmond’s threat, but you figure as long as you keep his name out of it, you’ll be fine. You walk over to one the tables where several militiamen are drinking. Their leader, Sergeant Keller greets you and asks if Wendy’s coming back to the table soon. You aren’t sure how to approach this so you just explain the situation while omitting the way you came about the information. Keller of course is skeptical and naturally asks you how you know this. After dodging several questions, Keller realizes he isn’t going to get anymore information from you.

“Alright, something shady is going on here…however if you’re serious about these demons at the Flying Griffon, I suppose it can’t hurt to check it out. We’re not doing this favor for free though. Fifty silvers.”

“What!?”

“Hey while I’d love to just harass people on a daily basis I really can’t go around abusing his position like that, at least not without a little incentive.”

“(Sigh) Yeah, yeah I get it, everyone’s gotta get paid. Fine, let me get it from the back, but you better shut Frank down.”

“Oh don’t worry about that. Tomorrow we’ll check the place out and if anything is out of the ordinary, we’ll handle it. If Frank turns out to be an unlicensed mage we’ll run him in, demons or not.”

You pay Keller, feel a little better about handling it this way and go about your business for the rest of the night.

The next day you get out of class you’re about to board a coach to take you to the inn, but two militiamen stop you.

“Sir, you need to come with us.”

“What? What did I do?”

“Just come with us quickly. Sergeant Keller wants to see you.”

Not wishing to cause a scene you board a different coach with the militiamen. You continue to ask them questions, but they say they don’t have any answers. All they know is that they were sent to get you and that you’ll have to speak to their Sergeant about everything.

You get very nervous when the coach passes several barracks and through the Klyton south gate. Eventually it stops miles away from Klyton and the militiamen tell you to get out.

“What’s going on? What are we doing out of Klyton? Hey!”

The two men at this point grab you and roughly throw you out of the carriage. You pick yourself up as quickly as you can and find yourself in front of Sergeant Keller.

“You should’ve left well enough alone, college boy.” Keller says.

“What the hell’s going on? Did Frank put you up to this?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, but what I do know is you need to leave Klyton now.”

“What?! But…look, you need to tell me what happened. Did you find the demons at Frank’s or…”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about and you need to just shut the fuck up and be thankful you’re alive. Now I suggest you go far far away and don’t think about entering Klyton for any reason. Come on let’s go men.” Keller says pushing you aside and heading to the coach.

You stand in disbelief as they leave you stranded in the wilderness.

It’s obvious something has happened to Keller and probably some of his men. You can only guess that Frank or his demon girls have had something to do with this. The problem is that you can’t really do anything about it. Keller probably already has told his subordinates to capture you if they see you in the city and will probably report you to his superiors as well.

The only thing you can think of to do is to head to Teckleville where your aunt Enora lives and send a message to your mom what has happened from there. Of course walking there is a long way from where your current location. They dropped you off practically on the border of elven/sotakan territory which is not a good place to be even if you’re a member of one their savage races let alone an outsider like yourself.

You decide the safest course of action is to follow the road back to Klyton and then skirt around it’s edges until you reach the road that will lead to Teckleville. With luck you’ll run across some friendly adventurers or something.

As you walk you think about your future and how your plans are now severely altered. Your mom is going to be worried until she hears from you and she’ll probably sell the inn, which is just as well since it’ll no doubt be losing money now. You won’t get to complete your schooling; you won’t get to achieve lots of things really.

Shortly after nightfall you begin to tire from all the walking and try to find a place to rest. Following the road might be slightly safer than wandering the wilderness, but highwaymen and ruthless bandits love the roads.

A couple of them find you asleep and violently wake you up with a knife to your chest. You gasp one last breath before sleeping forever.