While normally you’d take this opportunity to run, you’re pissed enough at the orc for trying to kill you in the first place and grateful enough that this woman just probably saved your life.

You run at the orc with your dagger in hand and manage to get it to the ground in its weakened state. You stab it in the back multiple times and don’t stop until the woman calls out to you.

“Okay. I think you killed it.” She shouts.

You snap out of your killing trance for a moment and see you’ve made quite the mess. You stand up breathing heavily.

“Fucking greenskins.” You exclaim, kicking the dead body.
“I hope this isn’t a possible invasion. We saw another one a few months ago, though he was much smaller and ran off when he saw us. He was nowhere near as big as this one.” The woman remarks.
“Fortunately for you that you weren’t where I just was, because there was a bunch of orcs that size on horseback about to destroy the Caravan I was part of.”

The woman shakes her head.

“I thought the empire was supposed to be making the land safe. So much for their promises, well anyway, thanks for saving my life. I froze up a bit when that orc didn’t go down with the second arrow.” The woman says.
“You’re welcome, but I’d say you saved mine first seeing as that orc would have caved my skull in if you hadn’t shown up.” You respond.
“Hm, I suppose that’s true enough. Guess we helped each other. So where was this Caravan and where were you going?”
“Shit, I don’t even know now. I know I was probably north east of here. There was a stone bridge and then I fell into the river and wound up here. I was travelling from Galpatolis and going to Arcanius.”

The woman’s eyes widen when you say that.

“I see. Why?”
“I got business there. I’d really appreciate it if you could tell me how I could get there from here.” You say walking towards her, but then you experience a moment of fatigue and your legs give out causing you to partially collapse to the ground. The woman goes to help you up.

“Hey, you still don’t look that great. Look, you’re barely in any condition to walk anywhere let along travelling all the way to Arcanius. Why don’t you come back with me where you can at least rest and heal up? I mean as I said, you did help me kill the orc. My village isn’t that far away.”
“Okay, yeah that sounds fine.” You say not really wishing to argue since she’s right about you not being in the best condition right now.

The woman tells you her name is Keira and her village is Tarvo. She goes on about how it was absorbed by the Empire decades ago and how they used to even have a sizable amount of soldiers there, but eventually they realized the village was never going to be a problem as far as rebellions go. As it stands there are only a few soldiers and a single Galpatis official who probably got sent there because he pissed someone off. As a result he doesn’t really enforce many official Galpatian laws other than something obvious like murder or rape and allows everyone to go about their normal lives.

Eventually you get to the village, which is fairly humble. It’s probably smaller than your old home of Teckleville.

“Hey Keira, you catch that hunting this time?” some other woman asks and points at you.
“Sort of. He was fighting an orc and we both brought it down together.” Keira replies.
“An orc? This close to the village?! Shit. We need to tell the magistrate about that! Not that I really want soldiers stomping about here, but if orcs are going to be a problem then I’d rather we have better defenses then we have!”
“Mm. Well, I need to get back to my home and patch him up.”
“Okay, but don’t Ardan see you taking another man inside your home! He might get the wrong idea!”

Keira makes a minor laugh and waves at the woman, though you notice Keira also rolling her eyes when she turns her head away.

You soon get to Keira’s home which isn’t large, but you suppose it’s big enough to serve Keira’s needs since she’s living here alone. She gets a fire started and you welcome the warmth since you’ve been near freezing since you got out of the water.

“You know you’ll get warmer quicker if you get your clothes off. Those are going to need to dry properly anyway.” Keira says.
“Um what?” a little taken by surprise.
“What? Is what you got under those clothes so impressive that you think I just won’t be able to contain myself? Or perhaps you’re just shy?”
“Well, after the day I had, I really wasn’t expecting it to end with a pretty woman asking me to take my clothes off. I’m half expecting you to turn into a monster of some sort which would be more in line with my luck lately.”

Keira chuckles a bit.

“Well that won’t happen, so perhaps your luck is better than you think. Perhaps even Yaz is looking over you.”
“Did you say Yag?”
“No, I said Yaz. You know, the god of fortune? I don’t suppose he’s worshipped in Galpatolis.”
“No, but he’s called Yag where I come from.”
“Ah. Interesting. I suppose divine beings go by many names though. Glad to know you weren’t one of those silly people that worships the emperor though I didn’t think you were really from Galpatolis since you don’t look like you are.”
“You could tell just by looking at me?”
“I could tell just by how you speak and act. You speak the language like you only just learned it. You’re obviously not a native Galpatian. Where are you from originally?”
“Eh, I’m originally from a small village far to the south. It’s so small, nobody really knows it exists.”
“Hm, I guess the Empire came and annexed your people too huh?”
“Something like that…ouch!” you say feeling the aches and pains in your body.
“Okay, I think it’s time you took your clothes off, you probably got some wounds that need patching up and I can get to them better if you’re naked.”
“I gotta say, this is still pretty unusual for me. That other woman mentioned someone called Ardan, I mean I don’t want your husband…”
“Ardan is NOT my husband.”
“Okay, well boyfriend then.”
“He’s barely that, and if he does come in here, he can just step right back out, because he pissed me off recently anyway. I don’t want to talk about that though. Besides, nothing is happening between us anyway. I don’t just become involved with strange men I find in the wilderness, so let’s get you fixed up.”
“Okay then if you insist.”

You still feel a bit weird about all this, but honestly with as much pain you’re in right now, you really aren’t thinking about Keira in that way. (Well at least not immediately)

Eventually Keira stitches up some of your wounds and places some sort of healing salve on them. She then gives you some spare furs to wrap yourself up in while your clothing dries. She tells you that you can stay here for a few days so you can heal up. As much as you’re in a hurry to get to Arcanius, it probably would be best if you rested.

As the days pass Keira says with you here, she’s probably spent more time in her home than she has since her mother died since she had to be around more to take care of her.

Apparently Keira prefers being outdoors hunting even when she doesn’t need to, even sleeping outside under the stars at times rather than coming home. She says that sometimes she’d like to travel, but she says she’s never quite had the nerve to do it. She’s not sure why exactly seeing as there isn’t much to tie her here except Ardan though once again she doesn’t speak much more about him.

Keira asks you a few questions about yourself, which you keep vague with half truths, misdirections and outright lies. You don’t want to discuss your real situation anymore than she wants to discuss Ardan.

Keira also tells you how to get to Arcanius though she doesn’t ask why you’re going again. Going by her directions, it’s going to still be a long ass trip, especially with no horse or other mode of transportation now. You don’t even have any supplies for such a journey though maybe Keira will give you some before you leave.

When you’re feeling slightly better you insist on walking about the village which Keira is happy to see since she doesn’t feel the need to check up on you.

You wander the village a bit and are mostly met with stares, but nothing more. A few people actually have heard about you since news spread in this village fairly quickly. It’s mostly positive, since killing an orc is something to be celebrated here. In fact a few people are so nice they actually give you some free food.

As you’re accepting a few of these free gifts, a couple of soldiers approach saying that you’re the one they’ve been hearing about and how the magistrate wants to see you about the orc found near the village since a few people have expressed concern to him about it.

Seeing as you aren’t really doing anything better right now and in no condition to resist. You go with the soldiers and follow to a slightly better looking building than the rest of the village.

The magistrate doesn’t look like the typical noble that you’ve seen many times before back in Galpatolis. He’s got more facial hair and a general less kept appearance. It’s apparent he barely gives a shit about formalities anymore since he gives his nose a quick pick and blows it out before even speaking to you.

The meeting isn’t very long. The magistrate just asks you some general questions about yourself and how you came to be in the situation where you were fighting an orc in the first place. You give him the same story you told Keira and he seems to accept that as a suitable explanation. He doesn’t even ask why you were going to Arcanius. The man just seems to be fulfilling the basics of his duties.

“I see. So the orc you were fighting was separated from his fellows. Which means these villagers are jumping to conclusions that there is an imminent attack from orc savages. Glad to hear it, since I doubt if those assholes in the capital would bother sending anyone up here anyway. Very well. You’re dismissed.” The magistrate says.
“Okay. Um, is there any transportation from here to Arcanius?”
“Sure, put one foot in front of the other and start walking. What? Did you think we’d give you a horse for killing a single orc that you apparently lead near here in the first place? I got more important matters to care of. Out.”

And with those words, the magistrate’s soldiers start escorting you out the office and soon out the building as well.

Well at least the law isn’t trying to arrest you for a change.

In any case, you get the strong impression you’ll have to steal a horse before you leave this place. Not before at least another day of rest though. You wander the village a bit more before heading back to Keira’s home.

When you arrive, she’s still not back yet, though she did say now that you’re feeling better, she might be gone a little longer. That’s awfully trusting of her to just assume some stranger isn’t going to take her stuff. You guess thieves aren’t a real problem around here since everyone knows one another and she probably believes you to be an upstanding person.

She doesn’t have much that you’d want to take anyway, not to mention you’d be quite the scoundrel indeed if you stole from a woman who has done nothing but help you. You aren’t quite that much of an asshole.

Still, doesn’t prevent you from being a little nosey and you look through some of her belonging that are more out in open.

As you’re picking up what looks to be a flute sitting on a small table by her bed, you hear footsteps behind you.

“So you’re the guy that killed an orc and has been living here with Keira? You are far less impressive than I heard about.” A voice says.

You turn around and see a large older man standing in the entryway with a small axe in his hand. You just can’t catch a break.

“And you’re Ardan I presume. Surprised I haven’t seen you sooner.” You say.
“I was out hunting and I come back after a few days only to find that another man is trying to steal MY woman!” Ardan exclaims.
“Okay look, I’m not stealing your woman. She’s just letting me stay here until I recover. In fact I should be leaving by tomorrow.”
“Oh so you think you can just fuck my woman and leave then?”
“I haven’t fucked her! In fact NOTHING has happened between us!”
“Oh we’re going to see about that. Come on.”
“What?”
“Come on. We’re going to both go see Keira. I know her better than anyone and I’ll know if she’s lying or not when I confront her with you there.”
“But she’s out hunting.”
“So? I know what grounds she prefers and that’s where we’re going. Now you’re coming with me or I’m going to break your legs and drag you out of here.”

Ardan grips his axe tightly after threatening you.

Well he’s no orc, but you doubt if he’d be an easy fight either. The guy is predictably crazy jealous and you suppose to can understand his view point, but that doesn’t change the fact that for all you know he’s going to just take you out to a more secluded place and murder you there.
> You stay put
You doubt if you’re going to go meet Keira and if Ardan’s going to kill you, you’re not going to make it easy for him by going where it’s isolated.

“Yeah, I got a better idea. Let’s just wait for Keira to come back home.” You say.
“No, this needs to be settled now and I’m not going to wait around.” Ardan replies.
“Well if you think I’m going into the woods with you alone, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“You should have thought about that before you decided to move in on my woman.”
“Again, I didn’t move in on her!”
“You’re living here and you expect me to believe that?”
“Fuck this. Your mind is obviously made up about me, so if you’re going to try to kill me, you better just try to do it now, otherwise I’m going to just leave.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”

Ardan now moves towards you and he looks fully intent on using that axe now.

“Well then I guess you’ve made your choice.” You say.
“Guess I have.” Ardan answers.

You draw your dagger and then throw a nearby cup on the small table at Ardan. He blocks his face and then swings his axe at you.

In these close quarters its difficult to avoid him, but you’re still a lot more agile than him. You honestly don’t intend on fighting him, your goal is to get around him and out the door so you can get outside.

Ardan swings a few more times and you duck and roll. You stab Ardan in the leg and while he’s fallen to one knee due to that wound, you achieve your goal of getting around him and out the door.

Your next move is to try to find a horse, which as far as you know the few that are in town are near the magistrate building. You run back towards that way, meanwhile Ardan has recovered from his wound and begins shouting.

“STOP THAT FUCKER! HE JUST TRIED TO KILL ME!” he shouts.

Unbelievable.

Hoping that nobody takes him seriously, you continue to run and then you feel a hard force hit you in the back of the head. You fall to the ground and hear screams of people nearby.

Your vision begins to darken as your hands try to feel the back of your head, which of course has Ardan’s axe in it.

You then hear several people shouting and then nothing at all.


You might as well go together at this point, you knew he wasn’t going to be the ideal partner to begin with. Who knows, maybe you can use him as bait or something.

“Alright, come on let’s go.” You say.
“Hold on a minute.” Warts says and finishes off one of the mugs that wasn’t quite empty yet.
“Seriously?”
“Hey, I’m thirsty. Alright NOW let’s go.”

Warts and you leave the inn and after looking around a bit and scratching his head he beckons you to follow him. He walking just fine, so maybe he isn’t that bad off.

You continue to follow without another word, until he gets to a secluded spot with a sewer covering.

“What the hell are you doing? You ask.
“Tryin’ to take dis thing off, wat’s it look like ya idjit? Help me over here.” Warts says trying to take off the sewer lid.
“No, I mean why the fuck are we entering the sewers?”
“Cuz, it’s the best way to get into Reginald’s house. He’s got a secret passage to it down here.”
“How the hell you know this?”
“Cuz people talk shit all the time and not even realize ol’ Warts is even there to lissen. Waz in a garbage bin and heard these two weird guys in red robes talkin about it in an alley awhile back.”
“…okay I’m not even going to ask why the hell you were in a garbage bin, but weird guys in red robes, secret passages…are you sure Reginald isn’t part of some fucking cult? I mean this is starting to sound a lot more complicated and dangerous.”
“Well, why ya think I wanted someone else to come along?”
“YOU said this was for MY benefit!”
“Oh yeah…well it is! Look humie, ya gotta take big risks in dis profession. I don’t doubt yer skilled. You’ve lasted longer than most independently in dis city. But I’m tellin ya, there’s more out there that yer missin. I mean, sure it’s foolish ta go head to head against da ECS, but robbin some rich asshole that may or may not be a wizard? Well dat’s different.”
“I really don’t see how since both can get you killed. However, I do see your point to a small degree. I have been playing it a bit on the safe side. Still, if this is looking to be more trouble than it’s worth then I’m getting the hell out as quick as possible.”
“Sounds like a plan ta me.”

You help Warts with the sewer covering and the pair of you descend into the smelly depths.

It actually isn’t too bad, but that might be because you’re standing next to Warts and his own stench is cancelling out that of the sewers.

Warts gets slightly more talkative as you walk to your destination. He mentions that the Thieves Guild has their hideout somewhere down here, but he doesn’t know where. Neither does the ECS, since they’d probably mount an attack if they could.

Warts also goes on about how he’s not fond of the ECS since a lot of them tend to have ties to Fel while he’s dedicated to Yag. Says that worshipping Fel if you’re a thief is like cheating since he’s the god of shadows and all. Though he’s not so much opposed to that, so much as he doesn’t like all the dedication Fel seems to want. Yag on the other hand doesn’t really require anything and he not might bless you anyway, but then he might give you a lot even if you don’t do much. Warts claims that ALL the gods are like that, so he might as well pray to one that is at least honest about it all.

“Why worship any god at all?” you ask.
“Wat? You crazy or sumthin? You don’t pick a god, youz gonna be in trouble when ya die! Even pickin’ some stupid god like Karn would be better than nuthin! You don’t believe in anything an’ who knows WHERE yer soul goes! Nah, better to pick somethin’ just in case.”

It’s a little surprising just how serious Warts takes religion, well as serious as a follower to the God of Luck and Chance can be anyway.

(It also occurs to you how it’s weird how everyone’s been getting religious on you lately)

“Eh, I guess I can sort of see that logic. I’m not really religious, but occasionally I have said the odd thanks to Yag.” You say.
“That’s all ya need man. He’s lissening, even if he doesn’t do anything.” Warts says.

You and Warts continue a little longer and then he stops.

“Okay, think wez gettin’ close. Should be a secret wall around here from what I heard.” Warts says and begins pushing on the wall nearby.
“This seems a bit unprotected.” You say looking around for potential traps.
“It’s a secret door, maybe he didn’t anticipate anyone finding it.”
“You said the Thieves Guild is down here, surely they would have found it if this is their territory.”
“It’s a big ass sewer and they’re the Thieves Guild not the Holgard Watch. Dey don’t exactly patrol da place. They’re all most likely up top breaking into shit. Besides, I told ya, they ain’t the ECS. They aren’t very territorial anyway. Dat’s why we can walk around here without as much concern…well except for giant rats and such.”

Just as you’re about to ask Warts another question about the Thieves’ Guild, Warts finds what you’re looking for and when he does so a large bolt just whizzes over his head and into the wall behind him.

“Man, good thing Yag lissened to me.” Warts says.
“Good thing you’re short and constantly walk around slightly hunched over most of the time. Oddly, this makes me feel slightly better. If there weren’t any traps at all I’d be even more paranoid about how easy this was. So far it seems like this guy just has shitty security, but then we haven’t actually gone inside yet.” You respond.

You and Warts both enter the passage and soon find yourself in a cellar with a bunch of wine barrels. Tons of them. Warts looks like he’s hit a gold mine and immediately starts grabbing wine bottles.

“Hey, leave some room for actual valuable, you’re supposed to be carrying shit for me, remember?”
“I am grabbing valuables! You realize how much old bottles of wine go fer?”
“Okay, point taken, just don’t drink them all.”

While Warts plays wine expert, you take a look around the room and find that there are stairs leading up and a solid metal door to your left, which is locked.

Since you don’t want to go too far from Warts while he’s alone with a bunch of wine, you stay in the cellar and pick the lock of the metal door, which is surprisingly easy.

You enter the dimly lit room and find what could only be a room dedicated to dark magical endeavors of some sort. There’s two demonic looking idols starring at you and the pentagrams and symbols on the floor aren’t any you recognize. There’s also blood splatters on them.

From what little you now know of this Reginald, this guy is into some dark shit. Everything about this makes you want to just get the hell out right now, but you’re already here now and you’d hate to just leave with wine bottles.

You walk carefully around the room making sure you don’t step on any symbols or inside any circles just in case. You also keep an eye on the demonic idols, which still feel like they’re watching you.

There isn’t much else in the room itself, though there is another door off to the side, this one isn’t locked and you open it.

However, you soon wish you hadn’t.

You see a row of cages and various torture devices along with dead bodies in most of them.

“Fucking hell, I came here to rob some shit, not take a tour of a slaughterhouse.” You say to yourself.

Just as you’re about to shut the door a voice calls out.

“Stranger! You’re not one of them! Not one those red robed freaks! (sob) Please! Help me! I can’t die here, not like this! I watched my…(choke) just please…help. Who knows when they’ll be back!” a nearly naked young girl in a cage begs. She reaches out to you desperately hoping that you’ll rescue her.

You definitely didn’t sign up for this…however given what you’ve seen here, you’d be quite the heartless dick if you just left her here to this horrible fate.

“Curse my parents for some of their morality getting through…” you say and head over to the cage.

The lock isn’t that difficult to pick and you soon get it open causing the girl to not even wait around, she just runs past you, out the torture room and beyond. You suppose you can understand her not wanting to stick around, but a thank you would have been nice.

So much for good deeds.

Seeing as there isn’t anything else in here, you return to the wine room where you unsurprisingly see Warts drinking.

“Hey, some humie gal just ran through here an into da sewers wearin’ practically nuthin’.” Warts says.
“Yeah and I’m glad to see that didn’t interrupt your important work. Thought you were supposed to be helping.” You say.
“Wat’s yer problem? I am helpin’! Sides dese valuable bottles, I found out one of the barrels had a hollowish sound. Smashed it open and there was a body inside, idiots didn’t bother looting it and he had some good stuff still on him.” Warts answers and takes another swig from a bottle.
“Warts, you’re telling me you found a body in one of these barrels and you’re STILL drinking the fucking wine?”

Warts suddenly stops drinking. He ponders your words a bit and then sniffs the top of the bottle. Then he promptly gives a little shrug.

“Still tastes alright ta me.” Warts says
“Of course it does. Look, we’re getting the hell out of here. This place has been a big fat zero.” You say.
“What about all these valuable bottles of wine? An’ ya haven’t even checked da upstairs yet!”
“Yeah well I’ve checked enough of the basement to know that most likely there isn’t going to be anything that precious up there that’s going to make me want to stay another moment in this fucking house. There’s some dark magic going on here and I’m not sticking around for it rub off on me.”
“Just say a prayer ta Yag, you’ll be fine.”
“And as you like to point out, he might not listen.”
“Fine, we can leave if you really wants, but I’m just sayin’ we haven’t gone through the entire house yet.”

Funny how Warts is content on letting you do all the exploration. He could have easily been searching the upstairs while you were stumbling upon sacrificial captives.
> You search the rest of the house
Well in for a copper in for a trove.

“Fine, but whatever I find I’m keeping. You stay here and continue getting drunk seeing that that’s what you’re good at.” You say and make your way up the stairs while Warts continues to do what you suggested.

You get to the ground floor and begin to search the downstairs cautiously and methodically, all the while grabbing whatever looks valuable. By the time you’re finished, you’ve more or less filled your pack, you’re starting to think that Warts had the right idea after all, but you decide you’ve pushed your luck enough and that it’s time to go, even if there is a second floor to loot.

As you’re making your way back down the stairs, Warts suddenly is running up them.

“Warts, what the hell?” you ask
“Up! Go back! Up! We gotta… HRUP!”

Warts vomits all over your legs and boots. You’re about to yell at him, but then you soon see what’s caused all this excitement from him in the first place. Several people in red robes are shouting and running after him, and now most likely you too now that they’ve seen you.

You immediately turn around and run back up the stairs, though Wart is busily trying to get past you. In between that, the heavier pack and the vomit still covering your boots, you end up slipping and tumbling down the stairs and into the cultists.

While the cultists cushion your fall down the stairs, it doesn’t do much on improving your situation overall. There are enough of them that after the fall to the bottom, you’re immediately nabbed, beaten and stripped. And not just your of your weapons, you’re stripped of your all your clothing and throw you into one of the cells that you rescued that girl. They’re even less pleased when they learn that you released her.

You aren’t killed right away, but after a couple of weeks you wish you had. By the time you’re sacrificed, you’re a babbling mess that is grateful for death.


Chapter 2D: Unwanted Attention

Year 17

This city is a violent crime ridden pit of corruption.

And while you don’t actually mind all that, what you do wish is that you didn’t have to concern yourself with potentially stumbling into Ebony Claw Syndicate territory, which according to most of them is basically the entire city. They’re more of a danger than the Holgard Watch.

There’s also the Thieves’ Guild, which is the ECS chief rival from what you’ve learned. Apparently the Thieves Guild was established here first, but when the ECS moved in with their Blue Dream trade, they’ve been slowly winning the fight over the underworld

Originally, the Guild was more of a loose confederation of thieves and such. Nobody ever forced anyone to join, but there were benefits if you did such as not having to worry about paying extra for fencing stolen goods, ease of bribing guards for major crimes, etc.

As the Thieves’ Guild has been losing ground however, they’ve been less “free spirited” and have been actively trying to recruit any freelance thief, burglar, pick pocket they can. However, they’re more reasonable about it than the ECS since they still don’t force you to join and will let you remain independent. As opposed to the ECs who normally just beat the hell out of any freelancers as a warning once and if they get caught again, it ends much worse.

There are a few other smaller factions, but they’re so low that they’re barely worth considering.

Fortunately so far you’ve managed to avoid the attention of any group mainly due to focusing on stealing actual coin and dealing primarily with a non-aligned fence by the name of Yinen for your stolen valuables. You met him at the Hell’s Own Inn where you still reside at. Funny thing is you didn’t seek him out; he came to you asking if you needed a fence.

After a bit of suspicion and getting over some trust issues (Which you still have concerning him) you agreed and he’s been taking all your business. You aren’t sure who he’s selling your stolen goods to and he’s probably taking a little more than he should, but it’s worth it just so you don’t have to worry about selling the stuff yourself or seeking one out and having to get involved with one of the major factions in the city.

In any case, you’ve been more or less making a decent living here and despite a healthy amount of paranoia, you actually like it here. It’s definitely not Teckleville.

“Yeah, these will fetch you a nice price. Might take a few days though. You alright with waiting?” Yinen remarks examining your gems.
“Yeah, that’s fine. Just get me the value in bullets and a pistol cleaning kit.” You say.
“Oh. Okay, sure. But more bullets again? Are you planning to shoot everyone in Holgard? I didn’t realize you used it so much, I would think such a loud weapon would incur too much noise in your profession.”
“I don’t use it much actually, but it makes me feel safe.”
“Well, can’t argue with that. Things in this city have been feeling a little more tense than usual. Rumors are that there are dark forces gathering to stage a coup on the Baron.”
“Dark forces? What, as opposed to the dark forces under the Baron’s control?”
“Nah, I mean like REAL dark forces. There’s just rumors about religion being involved, it’s very weird.”
“What, you mean like Fel, the god of shadows? You told me their temple has ties to the ECS. You saying the Ebony Claw Syndicate is going to take over the city directly?”
“I dunno, but I don’t think it’s them we should worry about. Tell me, have you ever heard of Neroth?”
“Not really religious so no.”
“Not surprised, most people don’t unless they’re really into the old text dedicated to Joachim. You familiar with him right?”
“Yeah, it’s general a religion that preaches peace and shit.”
“Well there was a time when it didn’t and that’s mainly due to Neroth. Neroth was like the opposite of Joachim. Good verses evil type shit. People forget that it was only a couple hundred years ago when the Church of Joachim was burning and crusading on a regular basis due to their desire to stomp out any followers of Neroth and things they generally tied to him such as the supernatural. Nowadays the Joachimites are generally peace loving pacifists for the most part, but that’s only due being mostly successful in destroying those that follow Neroth and then subsequently going so overboard that some of the Joachimites finally realized they needed to rein it in before they became like their hated enemies.”
“Hm, didn’t realize you were a theologian. How do you know all this?” you ask.
“Eh, I grew up in a Joachim household. Didn’t take obviously, but still I don’t like hearing rumors of Neroth worshippers being in the city. I mean say what you want about Karn or even Fel, but they aren’t actively evil deities. Neroth is bad news man.”

Before you can respond you’re suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Bah, none of doze gods compare to Yag. No point worrying about shit, when you’ve run outta luck, yer time iz up and that’s all there iz to it.”

You look and see Warts standing nearby clutching something in his hand. Looks like a bunch of small figurines of some sort.

“Warts? What’re you doing here?” you ask.
“Sellin these figures. Found ‘em in da woods with a bunch of broken boxes. Probably somethin off a Caravan that bandits were tryin to steal from. Dunno why dey didn’t take these. Tried to use dem for barter with Spiderfangs, but dey dumb. Think these things iz cursed. Superstitious idjits.” Warts remarks and hands five figurines to Yinen who takes them.

“Hmm, odd. They look like something that you’d find in some tribal village. I’d say Sotakian, but these don’t look reptilian enough and I’ve never known the lizards to have craft stuff out of valuable material. You got Ivory, jade, gold, silver and platinum here. Wonder if they’re a complete set. Well I’m sure I’ll find someone interested.”

Yinen hands Warts a bag of coins, which Warts takes and then looks displeased about.

“Ey! Wat’s dis then? I may be just some dumb halfbreed hobgob, but I know damn well that shit is worth more!” Warts exclaims.
“I gave you MORE than enough Warts. I still have find someone interested in this shit as you put it.” Yinen remarks.
“Bah, you humies always tryin’ ta cheat. Fine. Should be enuff for drink and Snuffit for awhile anyways.”

You take your leave to head up to your room, you figure you’ll stay in a couple days waiting for Yinen’s payment. You’ve got enough to take a break for a while.

As you’re half way to your room, you hear the patter of feet running behind you and you quickly turn around with your pistol.

“EY! Don’t shoot!” Warts says.
“Warts, what the hell, you should know better than to run up on me like that! Why are you following me anyway?”
“I wanted ta catch ya before I left. I noze I still owez youz a debt, well I’m here ta repay.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I wuz thinkin’ I could help ya on a job or sumthin.”
“Help? No I don’t think so. I work alone.”
“An howzat workin’ out? Doesn’t look like yer doin’ all that well if yer still livin’ here. If I had ta guess, youz still small time.”
“I do alright halfbreed, and what’s it to you anyway?”
“I’m just sayin’ you could be doin’ better if you went fer better targets. Have you even broken into one of dem nobles’ homes yet?”
“Well, no…but I’m working up to it.”
“Pfft. Wat kinda thief are ya?”
“Look, I’ve cased the high class rich area several times and the homes got security up the ass. The aristocrats got more watchmen on their payroll than the average merchant. I know I’m no slouch, but if I can get enough coin with lower risk targets, why take the fucking chance? Besides, I’m trying to keep a low profile anyway.”
“Well what about Lord Reginald?”
“Who?”
“Sheesh, youz been in dis city for a year and you don’t even know the major players! Lord Reginald is some well off guy dat got a title becuz he’s dah Baron’s son’s friend. Hear he’s more than dat though.”
“Yeah so what’s this all got to do with me?”
“Well he lives more on the edge of da high end district. He doesn’t even own a mansion, just a modest house. He has no family an’ he also doesn’t pay for any extra guards. Not even mercs, which prolly means he’s got more coin than it appears”
“There has to be a catch. I mean if he’s well off and a special friend of the Baron’s son, then he’s gotta have connections and protection.”
“Well, dere’s some rumors about him and not just about him pokin’ the Baron’s son like a woman. Like he’s got magic powers or sumthin’. Guess makes sense he don’t need extra help.”
“So you’re saying we should got rob a wizard.”
“Nah, he’s no wizard, he’s just got some magic powers. Prolly just rumors anyway. Sides, should be easiest stealin’ from one lone man, than one who has a shitload of guards right?”
“A lone man, who might be able to turn me into ash with a flick of a finger and has who knows whatever else in his home. Assuming I even go for this, why do I need you to come along again? I didn’t realize you were actually a thief, figured you were more of an opportunistic scavenger.”
“Pfft, I’ve been sneakin’ around, nicking stuff long before youz was even thought about! You try growin up as a half breed in a mostly hostile tribe. I had ta steal to survive sometimes! Sides I could carry more stuff for ya! Also, if ya getz inta trouble I could help. Like last time!”
“Last time I helped YOU.”
“Yeah, well I’m offerin’ anyway. I don’t even want dat big of a cut…”

And THERE it is. Warts definitely isn’t doing this solely for altruistic reasons.

“Thought you said you were helping me out?”
“I am! You don’t expect me to do it fer free do ya? Come on, give a hob halfbreed a break. The place is ripe fer the pluckin’ an best of all ya don’t have ta worry if its Ebony Claw territory.”

You shake your head that you’re considering this.

“Okay, okay, we can go do this, but I’m getting some rest first, just tell me where the place is exactly and I’ll meet you there later. When is the best time to break into this place anyway?”

Warts gives you some directions and then says it probably would be best to meet him there around midnight since he says he’s seen this Reginald person leave at night and stay out until dawn. Sounds more like something you do, but if he’s not going to be there then that’s when you need to be there.

You part ways with Warts and get some sleep.

Hours pass and when you wake up you find that it’s night time, still too early though. You stay your room a bit going over all your tools and equipment and making sure everything is in order. Eventually you decide that you’re going to be as ready as you’re going to be and leave.

You head downstairs and find that the inn has the usual crowd with one important difference.

You see Warts lying under a table with a couple of big mugs of alcohol on it. Surprisingly, the owner has not thrown him out; unsurprisingly everyone is avoiding that table.

You walk over to the halfbreed and kick him in the foot, which causes him to stir, so he’s not completely out of it.

“Warts! What the hell are you doing here?” you ask.
“Huh? I…uh…buh…I waz just…” Warts slurs as he sits up and just manages to not hit his head on the table.

“You were just what? What were you doing Warts? Fixing the table leg? Counting the number of nails in the wood? Having an out of body experience and travelling a different plane of existence? You talked me into doing this job and now I find you in no condition to do anything.”
“Ey! I’m up! I’m up! I ain’t forgot wat we’re supposed ta do, an’ I’m more than ready! I’m not drunk, I just had a little rest like you did.”

You have your doubts about that, though Warts stands up without too much trouble.
> You go by yourself
Warts is going to be a liability, you’re better off going by yourself. You’ve already got the directions.

“Ey! Where youz goin?!” Warts exclaims.
“Not with you that’s for certain.” You reply and leave.

Wasting no more time, you make your way to Reginald’s home as quickly as possible.

When you arrive, the place looks fairly unprotected. The Holgard Watch is still patrolling the area of course, but they aren’t standing guard over it like gargoyles. It’s a simple matter of just waiting and sneaking over to the front door, which has a pathetically easy lock.

You walk about the dimly lit ground floor and begin looking around cautiously. It doesn’t take long before you start pilfering several expensive looking items. With your pack nearly full of loot, you consider leaving, but you figure you should at least give the second floor a look seeing as you’re here and you may just find something even better.

You walk upstairs and begin creeping around the landing and going in the various rooms. One thing you notice is while you were told how this place was the home of some big cultist, so far you haven’t really found any evidence of anything like that.

Well at least not until you find Reginald’s master bedroom.

It is there that while going through a few containers, you find evidence of his religious practices namely in the form of some dark tomes. You glance through them and see a lot of writing in a language you don’t understand and you start to feel a little uncomfortable. Like a chill goes up your spine.

“Fuck this. I’m not taking this shit.” You mutter and quickly put the books back in the drawer.

As you’re about to leave, you spot a red jeweled medallion and figure you’ll nab that on your way out.

Unfortunately, this was probably more dangerous than the books since those were only dangerous if you spoke the text in them. The medallion on the other hand contains powerful magic and since you don’t have the right protection against it, you’re fucked.

The moment you touch the medallion, you feel immediately compelled to put it on. As soon as you do so, your body is instantly paralyzed and you fall to the floor. You’re still aware of your surroundings, but can’t do shit about anything. You soon begin to panic and you’d probably cry out if you were able.

You lay there motionless until dawn and the terror becomes worse as you hear what you guess to be Reginald coming up the stairs. He’s quite amused when he finds you and is even more amused when he puts you through the twisted tortures dedicated to his dark god before ultimately sacrificing you to it.


He might be bullshitting you, but you’re not exactly familiar with this area, so you might as well not take chances. Still, you got a better idea on payment.

“Hey Warts, I don’t have the five gold coins, but I do have these.” You say and hold out Graham’s rings to Warts.

Warts approaches cautiously and then takes one of the rings from your hand. He inspects it and then speaks.

“Grm. Okay, sure these will do. Stupid hobgoblin tribe around here always likes pretty jewelry even if it fakesy.” He says and takes the other one from your hand.
“Fake?” you say in a completely surprised tone, though not completely put on since you didn’t think someone like Warts would know.
“Yeah, fake… youz really didn’t know?”
“No, I’m afraid I come from a small town and don’t have a good eye for that sort of thing. The merchant passing through was very convincing when he was selling them. I bought them for a girl I liked, but alas, I was unlucky in love too, so I just kept them.”
“Grm. Youz gotta have a better eye and pray to Yag more. Anywayz, come on let’s get goin, don’t wanna stand out here tooz long. Dis path is da one.”

You start following Warts who leads the way.

“So…there are hobgoblins in this area?” you ask.
“Oh yeah, the Spider Fang tribe, but there don’t really come around the way we’re goin’ so no need to worry about getting’ eaten. Can’t wait to get back to them though. With these rings, Snuffit will allow me at least ten ruts with ‘er. Way better than getting’ drunk…well sometimes better anyway.” Warts remarks.
“Are you a member of the Spider Fangs?”
“Me? Nah…too much humie blood. Can’t ever be part of tribe proper. Good thing mum good fighter and loves me, otherwise tribe probably would ‘ave eaten me when I was born.”
“Wait, your mom is a hobgoblin? Who was your father then?”
“Dunno, some humie bandit that attacked and tried to rut with her in the forest. Me mum said it was dark and he seemed pretty surprised when he realized she wasn’t another human. Mentioned he tasted like cheap beer after she was done wit him, so I guess he liked to drink.”

Since you have no words for that story, you just silently continue to follow.

Warts and you trudge along a dirt path for quite sometime until it disappears completely.

“Okay, from here, we go…dis way…no wait dis way…I think…” Warts says.
“You think? Don’t you know?” you reply.
“Yeah, yeah, I just haven’t used this way in a long time. Gotta pass a haunted cabin. Accidently passed out there once, ended up shitting my good pants, though not sure if that was just because of the ghost.”
“Haunted cabin? Why the hell are we going near it then?”
“Cause it’s the safest way. Even the bandit types don’t like goin’ near it and nobody from the Spider Fang tribe is brave enough either. Sides, it’s really only haunted sometimes.”
“Sometimes? But what if today is that day?”
“Well hope youz brought extra pants den. Really though, it’s a lot safer. Da ghost really only messes with people that go in that cabin. I mean if you wanna risk it, we could go another way I know, but there’s been a lotta bandits travelling back an through that area. Normally, I’d just go that way since I know all da best hidin’ places and even if they did see me, I’d disappear again before they could even mount an attack. However you’re probably not as stealthy as me, so you’d probably get yerself seen and gutted. Might even rut wit youz first, some of these bandits aren’t picky.”
“I’m actually no stranger to being stealthy myself when I have to be.”
“Truly? Grm. Well it’s up to you.”
“I’d rather take my chances sneaking pass some bandits than possibly dealing with something I can’t even hurt.”
“Okay, hope yer as sneaky as you claim, cuz all bets are off if the bandits catch sight of ya. Dis way.”

Once again Warts leads the way and you follow.

You trudge through the forest for quite sometime and eventually it gets dark, but you still haven’t seen any signs of bandits or anyone else really. Warts doesn’t seem to be concerned, but you’re constantly alert, thinking behind every tree lies an ambush.

“Gettin’ pitch black, gonna have to stop soon.” Warts says.
“What? We’re not walking through the night? In fact won’t it be easier to slip by any potential hostiles in the dark?” you ask.
“You want to continue, be my guest, but I’m gonna get some sleep. I’m tired. Sides, looks like we got lucky. Guess the bandit crew that was wandering around this area moved on. Praise Yag.”
“As you say.” You reply, still looking around.

While you’re half tempted to go on without Warts, you’re still holding on to the slight hope that he actually knows where he’s going, so you start looking for a tree to climb and sleep in.

“Hey, what youz doin? You think youz a squirrel or somethin’?” Warts asks.
“I’m not sleeping down here on the ground. What if something wanders by before I can properly react? I’ll be in a tree so I can at least be somewhat out of immediate sight.”
“Youz gonna fall out and break yo’ neck too. All youz gotta do is cover yerself in dirt and leaves and shit. Hides youz just fine.” Warts says and begins doing just that.
“Yeah well when you’re already green and smell like the outdoors, I suppose it’s a lot easier to camouflage yourself with little effort. I’ll take my chances in a high tree.”

Warts shakes his head unconvinced and continues to cover himself. You have to admit, if you didn’t know he was there, you probably wouldn’t notice him if you were just wandering by.

As for you, you climb to a sturdy and large enough branch that will support your weight and you can at least somewhat perch yourself on. You already know you aren’t going to sleep deep tonight, but you figure that’s sort of been the standard problem while out here.

“I’ll be so damn glad to be out of the damn wilderness.” You say to yourself.

You’re up for quite awhile, but hear nothing except the usual sounds of various insects, owls and other nocturnal animals. Eventually sleep catches up with you and you close your eyes.

You aren’t sure how long you’re asleep, but you open your eyes when you start hearing voices nearby.

“I told ya, I heard something.”
“Probably just another raccoon. I don’t know why we gotta patrol over here anyway.”
“Cause the boss said so that’s why! You know there are savage greenskins that live in this forest. We’re supposed to make sure none of them get too close to the main cam…I knew it. I knew I heard something! Snoring! And it’s coming from over there!”

At this point you’re awake enough to see everything that’s going on below. You see two men who you guess are bandits.

Seems like Warts didn’t take into account that his camouflage attempt would all be for naught due to his large honker making noise. It doesn’t take long before they kick and prod at his hidden location, waking him up.

“Hah! A filthy greenskin! Probably a scout! Kill him!” one of the bandits shouts.

Warts just barely avoids their attacks and tries to scramble away from his prone position, but one of the bandits manages to trip him up before he can run and it isn’t looking good as he gets kicked in the face by the other one.

Not that you have any loyalty to Warts and he’s been pretty snarky towards you in general, but he’s still your guide and if you don’t want to get lost…

You waste no time and try to climb down your tree as fast as you can. Fortunately, the bandits are have decided to have a little fun before killing him directly. They proceed to continue kicking Warts and don’t notice you at all.
> You attempt to silently slit their throats
You figure if you start shooting, you might attract more of their fellows or something worse. Better to do this silently, even if it means getting closer.

You manage to creep up on the first bandit and grab him. You aren’t exactly accustomed to do this though, so your technique isn’t perfect. You struggle a bit before managing to messily slit his throat.

This all of course has alerted the other bandit who doesn’t waste anytime in attacking you. He starts off by kicking his buddy who you’re still holding to. The dead weight of a dying man being pushed hard in your direction is enough to cause you to lose balance and fall backwards with a body on top of you.

You struggle to get out from under the dead body and going for your pistol, but the bandit has already taken advantage of your prone situation, by kicking you in the head. He then crotches down to punch you in the face several times before grabbing your pistol. You’re in a half conscious state and you can only hope Warts does something, but unlike you, he takes the opportunity to run rather than help.

“Well, what’s this you were going for? (Whistle) Shit, never seen one like this before and I ain’t seen many. Dumbass kid, shoulda used this to begin with. Bet you’ll never make that mistake again.” The bandit says then drives his sword in your throat.


You aren’t going to let this fat fuck get a chance to possibly shoot you in the back, plus you’re too pissed about him trying to molest you.

With a couple quick moves you pull out your dagger, stab him in his arm and relieve him of his fancy pistol. Graham screams out like a little girl and now pleads for his miserable life.

“Please! No, don’t kill me!” he whimpers pathetically.

Once again, much like how it was Klint, you show no remorse and pull the trigger of the pistol.

It’s the first time you’ve ever used one; so the unexpected kickback nearly causes you nearly drop it. You also weren’t expecting it blow half of Graham’s stinking face off. His obese corpse slumps lifelessly against the carriage wall.

“Shit.” You remark to yourself being in awe of the power of the weapon.

Never being one to miss an opportunity, you quickly deprive Graham’s body of the jeweled rings on his fingers. You then also go through the pockets that you can get to and get a bag full of gold coins.

After looting Graham’s body, you remember that there is a skirmish going on outside. A quick glance shows several bandit types fighting the mercs. The mercs are out numbered, but thanks to their armor and better training, they’re doing a good job of fending off the bandits.

You get out of the carriage with the intent of just running off into the woods, but then you might get lost. It occurs to you that you do have an advantage that will allow you get away a lot faster and still stay on your course.

While one of the mounted mercs bashes in the head of a bandit you take the opportunity to shoot him while his back is turned. The merc’s armor is of no protection and he cries out as he falls from his horse.

“Who the hell is that guy?” one of the bandits shouts.
“Dunno, but who cares, he’s killing their side!” another says.

You quickly run to the now ownerless horse and clumsily get on. You’re a bit vulnerable for a few seconds, but fortunately the bandits seem to now think you’re on their side and don’t focus on you (and the remaining mercs have their hands full)

You soon manage to control the horse (which is anxious to get away from the chaos anyway) and gallop away until the skirmish is far behind you and you’re basically left alone again. Unfortunately your horse suddenly starts wheeze and wobble. You manage to hastily get off before it collapses.

There on it’s left side you see what the problem is. In all the ensuing the chaos, the horse actually took a few crossbow bolts. Probably damage to vital organs and its adrenaline is finally wearing off. Bad luck for you and even worse luck for the horse. Not having many more options, you start walking.

In any case there’s two more bodies to your count now. Granted Graham deserved it, but that merc…well he made a living risking his life, it just happened that today his time was up. You had to survive a dangerous situation and that’s it.

That’s how you’re justifying that one anyway.

Still, you at least acquired a few goodies for your troubles. You’re going to have to learn more about how to take proper care of this pistol because it’s far too valuable of a weapon to neglect. It’ll certainly make dealing with shit in Holgard a bit more manageable.

The rings are what surprise you most. You’re no jeweler, but you have stolen enough cheap baubles in the past that you can tell a fake when you examine it in greater detail. The gems in the rings are actually common, but altered slightly (especially their color) to resemble more valuable ones. Even the ring is gold plated rather than pure. Looks like Graham wasn’t as rich as he made out.

However, the little pouch of coins is real money so there’s that at least.

You continue along the road, which as you guessed starts alternating from being intact, to dirt with a few stones to being little more than a well worn path in the grass. Even the occasional signs aren’t much help given that many are flat out damaged in some way.

Your natural instinct to just keep going in a straight line like you were doing, but unfortunately for you, the path completely disappears into forest. Doesn’t help that the road also branches into several paths that twist in different directions. You weren’t expecting that so you aren’t sure which way to go.

While you’re pondering this decision, a voice calls out to you.

“Hey! Where youz tryin’ to get to?”

You then see a person dressed in simple clothing coming out of the forest. He’s a little shorter than you, in fact he’s a little greener than you too. Doesn’t look like an orc though, not nearly big or massive enough. Goblin perhaps, but he’s taller than one and almost a bit human looking. A short green human with a few warts on his face and a bigger than average nose.

In any case, you maintain your usual caution.

“Okay, that’s far enough. Who are you?” you ask.
“Me? I’m just Warts.” He answers picking his big nose.
“Appropriate name.”
“Grhm. So youz tryin’ to get to Holgard?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Well cuz, I can lead you to it. Lotz o’ paths in this forest lead lotz o’ places. Easy to get lost if you don’t know da way.”
“You know the way huh? How do I know you aren’t going to lead me into an ambush?”
“Youz don’t I suppoze. Take yer chances going alone an’ getting lost, don’t care. I just try to earn a little extra coin for drink an’ leadin’ clueless humies like yerself gets me some…well when they aren’t throwin’ rocks at me that is.”
“What are you exactly?” you ask.
“Huh? What you mean?” Warts replies.
“I mean, you don’t look quite like any greenskin I’ve ever seen.”
“You seen a lot o them have ya?”
“Well no, but I’ve heard tales…”
“Then you don’t really know nuthin’ then do ya?” Warts says in a perturbed tone.

Actually he’s got a bit of a point.

You decide to get right to the matter.

“Alright, assuming I take you up on your generous offer, how much is it?” you ask.
“Oh, yeah price…hmm, you want to go to Holgard right? Five gold coins.” Warts answers.
“Five gold coins just to lead me through the forest? That’s fucking outrageous!”
“Holgard is tricky to get to if you don’t know the way. Lot of false paths get made. Besides, you lot usually have more than enough gold. I see you humies travelling all over in your rolly boxes filled with goods.”
“Do I look like I’m in a rolly box carting around a wagon full of treasures? I’m just a simple traveller down on his luck.”
“Down on luck huh? You should pray to Yag more. Anywayz five gold. Final offer.”

This greenskin obviously has no concept of haggling. It really isn’t like you don’t have the coin, it’s more like you don’t want to give so much to the likes of him after being fortunate enough to acquire it in the first place.

Ultimately, he’s either telling the truth about the forest being that treacherous or he’s completely bullshitting you. You’ll just have to decide for yourself.
> You go it alone
You’re not paying him shit, this is probably some sort of set up.

“Yeah, I think I’m good on my own.” You say.
“Grm. Suit yerself.” Warts says and then without another word he disappears back into the forest. You thought for sure he’d at least try to lower his price if you declined his help, but you guess not.

In any case you still aren’t sure of which way to go, so you gamble and just pick a path that looks the most promising. You figure you could always backtrack if feels like you’re going the wrong way. (You hope)

You walk along your chosen path for a while, still keeping an eye out for any potential ambushes. In fact you don’t even walk directly on the path, you mostly just stick close like you were following a river.

Speaking of which you eventually come across a real river with a bridge and everything. There even looks to be a sign post nearby, which makes you think that you are probably going in the right direction.

Unfortunately it also looks like a group of four bandits has boldly decided to set up a blockade of sorts here. They haven’t seen you yet, so that’s at least one good thing in your favor. Of course while you only see four bandits, who knows if there are more hiding nearby with bows or something. In fact you probably shouldn’t linger here too long. You slink away and head upstream hoping you’ll find another way. (And not get too lost in the process)

You don’t have too much luck for the most part, but then you see one area where the water looks low enough to cross. You decide to make the attempt.

All goes well until it turns out the water wasn’t as low as you thought and you’re now knee deep in it. You’re already a third way across however and you press on.

By the time the water is nearly up to your chest, the current begins to pull you and you’re soon not walking across the river bottom anymore. You try to maintain control of the situation, but the current is swifter than you anticipated, not to mention you don’t know how to swim.

You’re fortunate in that you don’t get pulled too far downstream or go completely underwater before you manage to grab hold of a rock which is close enough to the other side that you pull yourself to the other side of the river bank.

Your possessions are another story however. You’ve lost your coin bag, along with the pistol you just managed to acquire. About the only thing you have left is your dagger. You curse your luck along with the forest, the river and your situation in general. After releasing a torrent of swearing, you move on.

Eventually night falls and along with now being cold and wet, you’re also starting to feel tired. You aren’t even sure if you’re heading in the right direction anymore since you got a bit discombobulated when you were struggling not to drown.

Still, you press on and that’s when you think you see a slight respite in this mess.

You see a cabin, though probably an abandoned one as there is no light coming from it. You just hope there isn’t anyone or anything lurking inside.

You cautiously approach the cabin and while you have a feeling of unease the entire time, when you explore around it, you don’t find anything out of the ordinary. Of course it is dark, so maybe you’re missing something, but so far it doesn’t look like anyone is making camp here.

As soon as you try the door though all your senses start to scream danger and you draw your dagger and spin around. You are met with the sight of a man in a robe standing nearby. It’s hard to see his face, but the light of the moon shows he’s a lot older than you.

You lift your dagger up in a defensive stance, but the man isn’t moving.

“Put that away son, it wouldn’t do you any good again me or anything else out around here I’d wager. In fact you shouldn’t even be around this cabin. Bad things happen here.” The man says.
“Yeah? Well what’re you doing out here then?” you ask.
“Good help is hard to find nowadays. What’s your story, you look a little worse for wear.”
“What’s it to you?”
“Sheesh, just trying to make conversation. You don’t look like one of the many bandits out here. You ain’t green, so you aren’t hobgoblin. Can’t see any points in those ears, so not an elf either. Given your age though, what you do look like is a lost lamb in the woods. Is that what you are?”
“No and I’m doing just fine out here.”
“Bullshit, kid. You look like a half drowned rat. What’d you do, fall in the river?” he says and starts to step forward.

“Get the fuck back old man! I’m no damn lamb in the woods, I’ve killed people!” you say thrusting your dagger in his direction a bit.
“Is that right? Hmm, perhaps you could be useful. You just a fighter? You got any other skills?”
“Yeah…I mean what the hell you wanna know for?”
“Because as I said, good help is hard to find and I got a lot of tasks that need doing. Now I know you’re lost out here, but I’ll tell ya what, I’ll get you out of this forest and set you up with a place to stay and whatever else you might need if you help me in my tasks.”
“No thanks, I already killed one old pervert in exchange for his so called help.”
“Well that explains why you’re so mistrustful. Look kid, I barely even think about that anymore and you don’t have the right equipment anyway. I’m a wizard and I do a lot research and experiments. Unfortunately, the material that I sometimes need requires me to come outside which I’d rather not do. I used to have an apprentice of sorts to help out on that front, but well let’s just say shit happens.”
“A wizard that does experiments? And how do I know that I’m not going to be one of those experiments?”
“Because if I wanted you for that purpose, I would have already cast a spell to immobilize you and taken you back to my place already. I’m just looking for someone to help me do the grunt work I don’t want to be bothered to do. I can also promise to pay you, if saving your life just isn’t good enough.”
“How much?”
“We can discuss that later, but I need to know if you want the job, because I’m not staying out here all night.”
“Well where is your place? Holgard?”
“Pfft, not that cess pit. Though it isn’t too far from there.”
“How far is it?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that, I can get us there real quick. So you in or not?”
> You go with the wizard
“(Sigh) It seems like I don’t have that much of a choice seeing as I’m pretty fucked out here.” You say.
“So that’s a yes I take it?” the wizard remarks.
“Yeah, I’ll accept your help.”
“Great, now hold still.”

Before you even know what’s happening, a bright light flashes before your eyes and encompasses you. You’re blind for a few moments and then when you open your eyes again, you find yourself in a room with fancy paintings, expensive furniture and some heads of creatures unknown to you.

Just as you’re admiring the new view, you’re spun around and find yourself face to face with your “savior.” He briefly grabs your left wrist and you feel a tingling sensation on it. Needless to say you pull away and step back.

“What the fuck?!” you exclaim rubbing your wrist.
“Really, I hardly think that’s anyway to talk to the man who just saved your life.” The wizard remarks

Your wrist stops tingling and when you look down at it, you notice a new little symbol on your skin that resembles an eight.

“What the hell did you just do to me?” you ask.
“Nothing bad I assure you, but I suppose much like you I’m a bit on the mistrustful side, so I wanted to secure the agreement we made.” The wizard says.
“What did you DO?”
“Put a geas on you. Don’t worry though you still have lots of freedom.”
“What the hell’s a geas? And what do you mean by I still have lots of freedom? Did you just magically enslave me or some shit?!”
“(Sigh) I hate it when it’s put like that. I suppose if you want to look at it that way, then yes. I’m the only one who can take it off though so you might as well not kick up about it.”
“Oh? Well I can imagine the spell also doesn’t work when you’re dead either.” You say and draw your dagger.

However as soon as you do, you feel as if you’ve been dealt a hefty kick to the crotch. You fall to the floor holding on to your nether regions.

“That was a very silly thing to do. Even if I couldn’t blast you into ash before you’d even reach me with that pig sticker, the geas prevents you from harming me in the first place. You’re just lucky I’m not fond of pointless cruelty. Most of the time when one tries to directly defy a geas, it causes extreme pain throughout your entire body. I altered the spell of course.” The wizard remarks.
“So I’m supposed to be glad you’re only magically kicking me in the balls instead?” you ask as the pain slowly begins to fade.

The wizard at this point puts a hand to his face and shakes his head. He paces a bit and then speaks again.

“Okay look, let’s start over. Hello my name’s Ral and I’m your new employer until I feel our contract is done. In return for your service, you will receive lodgings and food. Quality lodgings too I might add. I will also provide whatever equipment you need for whatever task I send you on. If I don’t have it, well I’ll provide coin so you can go buy whatever you need at that cess pit Holgard which as I mentioned I don’t live too far from.”

Ral pauses a bit before continuing.

“Now before you start arguing with me again, let me tell you about the exact nature of your geas. First of all, you’ve still got all the freedom you want. You want to leave my home and go drown your sorrows in whores and booze, go right ahead. Holgard’s just a couple days away and I’m not going to stop you. In fact you can go on a three-day bender if you want, but after that, I’d advise you to start making your way back before you start feeling the effects of the spell. The pain will start in your genitals as you’ve already experienced, but the longer you resist, the geas is going to start taking on a more traditional role and you will feel that pain all over your body. Depending on your constitution you MIGHT be able to last up to three weeks of defiance. No more than that though and you really don’t want to know what happens.”
“What happens if something else prevents me from reaching you or I’m otherwise detained?”
“Well I suggest you don’t let it detain you for over a week.”
“That’s fucking bullshit. You claim I got all this freedom, but you’ve just stated I’m practically tethered to the area!”
“Y’know I would have thought someone in your situation would see this as an opportunity, not a reason to complain. Not to mention being grateful that I just saved your life. Despite your boasts of being a killer, you stink more of common thief. You’re on the youngish side, so you were probably originally from a boring small backwoods town and going to Holgard to make a name for yourself or whatever. Well guess what? You would have been just one of many cutthroat vagabond thugs there. Your chances of succeeding would have been minute at best. If the Ebony Claw Syndicate didn’t do away with you for encroaching on their territory, they would have used you up and spat you out if you were dumb enough to join them. Not to mention the whole city is a mass riot waiting to happen. Mark my words, you’ll be thanking me that I did you this favor by next year.”

At this point Ral tells you he’s done speaking on this matter right now as he has important work to get back to. He tells you the lay out of his home, where your bedroom is and how you can help yourself to whatever food and drink you want in the kitchen. His home is your home as he puts it.

He then mentions that Holgard is west of his home if you need to go there. He also says there’s a small village called Dert to the east as well which is actually a lot closer, but his opinion of that place is even lower. From his descriptions, it sounds similar to your hometown, but smaller, poorer and even more insular.

“I’ll give you a month to get accustomed to the surrounding area and your situation, but I fully expect you to be ready to perform my tasks by that time, and none of this ungratefulness any longer.” He says and then leaves you alone in his living room.

You just slump down in one of the cushy chairs and despair at your new situation. Your eyes wander the room for a bit until they fixate on one of the stuffed creature heads.

“Well at least my head isn’t up on a wall yet I guess.” You say with a sigh.
> You time passes...
Chapter 2C: Indentured Servitude

Year 17

A year.

A year of this magical slavery has passed already and you’re far from thanking Ral for this despite what he told you. It hasn’t been as bad as it could be, but it certainly could be a hell of a lot better.

Boredom and tedium are the main enemies mainly because Ral has you doing an endless amount of mundane tasks such as cleaning his home or gathering shit for him and unfortunately, that usually consists of various plants in the forest. Which you suppose has made you a bit more knowledgeable about the outdoors, but that isn’t exactly knowledge you ever desired!

If you’re lucky, he’ll send you to Holgard to acquire something and that’s really the only time you bother going to that city. Only having a week of “slack” doesn’t give you a whole lot of time to go venturing out to Holgard like you probably would on a regular basis. Two days to get there, two day back. It’s hardly worth it most of the time hence why you tend to do all your thievery during these mundane trips.

The thing is, you don’t even really need to steal anything since everything is provided for you. You aren’t really doing it for the thrills either because you’re forever pissed about your situation. You’re more or less doing it just to stay in practice. The only good thing is you believe your time there is so infrequent and your mark so insignificant, that you haven’t ever drawn the ire or even the attention of any of the other criminal organizations in Holgard, let alone what passes for the law there.

Sometimes you’ll go to Dert to “practice” though you don’t really like to mainly because there’s no challenge. You suppose it’s just as well as you just doing it to keep your skills from rusting, because you certainly wouldn’t be getting rich from taking anything from those poor bastards that live there.

The people there aren’t exactly welcoming to you either and you feel like you’re going to get lynched at any time. If that ever actually figured it out that you’ve been stealing from the place as opposed to passing yourself off as a “herbalist.” (All that time gathering plants has at least come in handy for something)

You’ve been trying to figure out some way of escape, but there doesn’t seem to be anything for it. You actually did disappear for more than a week once, but you returned pretty quickly after two days of increasing pain. You can’t imagine what you would have felt any longer than that. Ral didn’t even seem fussed that you attempted it.

Killing Ral is out of the question since about the only thing you can do is briefly think about it on occasion. You’ve wondered if he has anything lying around that could break the spell, but even if you got lucky and found something of Ral’s that could help you (and could actually figure out how to use it), Ral keeps important rooms like his lab and his library magically locked. (And who knows what other protection he has)

So you’re stuck for now. In the meantime…

“Ah, you’re here good.” Ral says poking his head into your room
“Where else would I be? Not like I can go too far. Can’t you just track my location with the spell anyway?” You say.
“More or less, but considering it’s easy enough for me to just peek in the rooms of the house you have access to, I didn’t really see the need to do it immediately. Anyway, I have a job for you.”
“I just gathered a bunch of plants for you yesterday!”
“I’m actually in need something on the rarer side, that’s harder to get a hold of, I need you to get a plant called gray blossom. Fortunately I know someone who has it. Unfortunately, they probably won’t be willing to give it up very easily.”
“Oh? So I’m actually going to use my natural talents for a change?”
“In a manner of speaking yes, though if you can steal from a vampire, I’d be very impressed.”
“Did you just say vampire?”
“Yes, she’s the only person I know that has the plant that I need for my experiments. Or at least within the area and least amount of trouble to get it.

Easy for him to say, he isn’t the one that has to get it.

“I’m sure you’re aware that dismal village Dert has that huge graveyard not far from it, well she lives in one of the old crypts there. Now if you really feel your skills are up to the task, you could try to sneak in there while she’s asleep during the day and get the gray blossom, but I had a more conventional trade in mind.” Ral says and then produces a jar of red liquid. You can already take a guess what it is.

“Wait, she’ll just readily accept a jar of blood as payment?” you ask.
“This isn’t just regular blood, it’s a jar of sprite blood. She loves the stuff.” Ral answers
“Aren’t sprites really small? Looks like a lot of blood for a sprite.”
“Obviously that’s because it’s at least thirty of the little buggers. Now Isabella will probably try to use her vampire abilities on you like mesmerism, but don’t worry, that spell you hate so much will keep you perfectly safe from such attempts at charm or mind control.”
“Oh yeah? Well what if she decides to just rip my head off instead?”
“No it wouldn’t protect you from that of course. Though she doesn’t just go around killing people on a whim, indeed that’s why Dert still exists at all. This is also why I’m suggesting that you just give her this blood for the blossom. She might be difficult and try to barter with you or even imply violence if she got up on the wrong side of the coffin, but she’s not likely to just kill you. If she catches you stealing however, well her violent reaction is going to be on you.”
“Not sure if that wouldn’t be an improvement on my current situation.” You remark.

“You’ll find her in a mausoleum that says Mablava at the top front of it. From there, you’ll have to fumble around and find the secret button revealing the stairs that lead to the underground crypt where she makes her home proper. I think it’s somewhere on the bottom right wall. It’s been awhile. Anyway, I’m sure you’ll find it. I’d advise you to announce your presence and state your business right away before you even descend. Probably would be best to do this at dusk when she’s just getting up. If you do it in the day, she’ll be asleep and she won’t be pleased about you disturbing her slumber. If you wait until night, you might miss her since she might have left her home. Now assuming you didn’t piss her off, I’ll expect you back fairly soon. Off you go.”

Having given you your orders and the sprite blood, Ral starts to take his leave as if nothing else needs to be said, but you still have some concerns.

“Hey wait! That’s it? I mean shouldn’t you be giving me some magical weapon, or something silver at least?” you ask.
“What for? Wouldn’t do you any good anyway. Do you even know anything about vampires, or just what you’ve heard from stories? Look, if I actually thought your life was in any real danger, I’d provide you with either the proper equipment or the coin so you could go buy it. I dare say even if you do something foolish like try to steal from her and get caught, if you drop my name she’ll probably still let you off the hook, though perhaps with a nasty scar. This should be a simple enough task that you aren’t going to have any difficulties.” Ral says.

You don’t bother arguing any more since you know Ral’s made his mind up and is barking the orders that you’re going to have to obey anyway. You can only hope he’s correct about his vampire associate.

You make your way to Dert, which doesn’t take long. By the time you which the vicinity of the area, it’s still day time which means you still have time to spare waiting around before meeting up with this Isabella. Since you don’t especially feel like putting up with suspicious dumb ass yokels today, you decide that you’ll just head straight to the graveyard and wait there.

When you arrive, you never realized just how damn big the place was as you’ve only ever glanced at it from afar and certainly never had any reason to go there. In fact, it’s almost the same size as Dert itself, in fact, it may even be the same size. You can’t imagine why the village would need that big of a graveyard. Was Dert bigger at one point? Plague perhaps?

In any case you spend some time looking for the mausoleum and eventually you find it. It isn’t very big; though you imagine that underneath it is where all the space is. Must be for a family, though they must have been richer than everyone else in that village. This all makes you wonder if Isabella is an original inhabitant of this village or maybe she’s just making her home her in this place.

You also start wondering if there are other creatures potentially lurking about here. Ghouls? Ghosts? You haven’t seen or heard anything since you’ve got here and the entire place has been as empty and silent as a well…tomb.

As you creep yourself out, you’re getting less enthusiastic about just hanging around a graveyard waiting for night to come. Maybe you should just steal the gray blossom now while day still exists.
> You steal the Gray Blossom
Meeting a vampire at night just seems like a bad idea even if you were properly prepared. No, you’re going to go with your instinct on this rather than Ral’s suggestions.

You begin looking for the secret button on the right wall. As it turns out, this uses up a lot of time because you have a hell of a time finding the damn thing since it’s in a near inaccessible place behind a solid stone sarcophagus. At this point you’re hoping you get out before the sun sets.

After stretching and reaching for the thing, you hear a click and a section of the floor on the left side opens up. You look down, but only see a dimly lit stairway, which you hope doesn’t lead you through some catacomb maze.

When you get to the bottom, you find a better-lit crypt that is fairly clean all things considered. You see several sturdy coffins lining the walls and you can also smell a faint whiff of some sort of flower. Nobody is here, though you see another entryway, which looks like it leads further into the bowels of this place.

As much as you don’t like the idea, you’ll have to go further in because there doesn’t seem to be any plant life here or at least none that resembles what you were tasked to find.

You go through a long corridor which occasionally has smaller rooms off to the side, but you don’t find much in any save for some neatly placed furnishings. Other than the coffins you already passed you haven’t seen anything else like that, so you aren’t sure if this Isabella sleeps in one of those and you already passed her or she’s deeper within this place. Either way, you just want to be out of here before she wakes up.

You continue further and unfortunately just like you thought you start getting to forks in path. Still not knowing where to look, you just pick a path and hope for the best.

You eventually come to a room, you sort of wish you hadn’t. You see several naked people chained up and the room stained with blood. The people aren’t screaming or calling for help though. They’re just standing there in a trance condition. You can only guess this must be some sort of feeding room for Isabella. You don’t linger too long.

You continue to go through twisting corridors, which increasingly start becoming less “polished” with a lot less torches and you also feel like you’re starting to go deeper underground. You’re starting to feel like you’re not going to find what you’re looking for if you keep heading this way, so you decide to turn back.

And then you suddenly stop when you hear a voice coming from the direction that you are currently heading:

“I know someone is here, lurking about in my home. Hope you’re a very well prepared group of adventurers or skilled vampire hunters because it’s not going to be good when I eventually find you. And I WILL find you.”

You genuinely piss yourself at that point and in desperation you immediately run back into darkness. You have no idea where you’re going and you end up stumbling and tripping quite a bit as you make your hopeless escape.

“Only one of you huh? That was quite foolish. You realize that you’re making a lot of noise correct? I’m a lot faster than you are and know my home better than you do, if I wanted to catch you right now, I could. You should probably save yourself time and just sit put. If you do, I’ll promise to make it quick and not keep you around as a blood slave.” You hear Isabella’s voice say. You don’t know how close she is now, but she doesn’t sound as far away as before.

Alone, scared and in pitch darkness, you scream out.

“Isabella, please! I don’t want to die! Have mercy!”
“Don’t want to die? Then why the hell did you intrude on my home in the way you did? In fact, how the hell do you know my name or even how to get in here in the first place?”
“Ral! Ral sent me! He even gave me a gift to give to you!”

There is silence for a moment.

“Ah, that explains some of this then. The old bastard must want something from me, and he sent a lackey to do the job. However, he must either not value your life or he’s gotten forgetful in his old age, because I can’t imagine that he would have told you to come wandering down here without at least announcing yourself.”
“He did! He did!”
“Oh? Then YOU must be stupid or not a very good servant to Ral if you didn’t follow his instructions. Either way, I don’t think he’s going to miss you. This might have gone very differently had you not rudely trespassed on my domain. Don’t bother begging anymore, I’m not listening.”

With this confirmation that you are well and truly fucked, you gather your remaining strength and continue to run blindly in the dark. You’re stopped when you hit something. It isn’t a wall though, it’s softer than that, but much deadlier.

It’s pitch dark, but even at this close range, you see the faint glow of inhuman eyes along with pearly white teeth that sink right into your neck.

The life literally drains from your body as Isabella feeds upon you.