Action: Albert asks Eliza to marry him
Eliza almost kneels herself, lowering her face to just above yours. She takes your hand and kisses it with the utmost respect, then whispers into your ear.
"Yes... [6] as your
second wife." She pulls back and looks at you with the utter seriousness of someone bred among the most scheming of nobility. "Never tell my father I said that, but you are king. Your first responsibility is to your kingdom, and you must secure alliances from without. My allies will grumble, but we rise or fall with you, my liege."
Forging armour for Sahainn.
You are used to armouring men and making barding for horses, not worgs. [6-1+1] That said, you have made some contacts on Craftsman Street during your stay and after a little conference with Arondson and his friends amongst the leatherworkers you think you have a design that could work - but it will prove complicated and expensive. You will need at least [4]
eight balluns* [40 crowns' worth] of steel to work with yourself, [5] though the lamellar plate designs are very workable. You will need to achieve three successes (success of 4 or more, failure costs 1 ballun/5 crowns) to forge them, or else pay
30 crowns to Arondson to do the job for you. [5] Although you will need good tough leather for the backing and supports, you only need
three balluns [15 crowns]. [1] The girdle will be very complicated to construct, requiring 5 successes (success 4+, failure 1 ballun), though the leatherworkers will do the job for
25 crowns.
Normally you would not have to bother with special leatherworking, but this is a very unusual armour design. Given the expense of some of the items involved, you may wish to find a charismatic or diplomatic friend to assist you in the buying - or a less legitimate source for a discount.
*A
ballun is a measurement of weight. One
ballun of good steel at normal market prices in Stormstead would cost five crowns.
You have been tasked to complete a skill challenge. Complete the following steps to acquire your desired reward: special combat circumstances for Sahainn.
- Acquire 8 balluns of steel and 3 balluns of leather. You may be able to negotiate better prices than market - or be short-changed.
- Forge or have forged the metal plates. [3 successes, Difficulty 4 - get a 4 or better to succeed] (Your metalcrafting skill counts here.)
- Work or have worked the leather girdle. [5 successes, Difficulty 4] (You are not a leatherworker.)
"Damn, these bastards must be covering their tracks"
Ask around the village for any clues as to their base or direction of travel. Be ready to get attacked at any moment.
[5] The people of the village are understandably tacit about the location of a lot of armed men, but an elderly man catches you when you are not seen and identifies himself as a former Ranger. He reveals the location of a hollow concealed among the marshes - practically invisible until you get right next to it. [?] The old man gives you very explicit directions, which you follow throughout the evening without hassle until you reach the hollow in question [6] and discover that it is most certainly occupied. About a dozen tents are camped out in the hollow, including one much larger tent in the centre. You suspect that Renart's movement has made all the bandits pull back to the nearest safe ground; their base camp. [5] It is night, though, and cloudy at that. There is also plenty of vegetation around the hollow to conceal yourselves [5] and there is only a single guard patrolling the edges of the camp with a bow. The bandits appear very secure in their position, [6] as all the talking informs you. Light streams freely from the big tent and there appears to be drinking and feasting ongoing. Aside from the unlucky patrolman everyone is awake and presumably in the central tent. [6] You can't get a good guess of numbers, but you would say more than two dozen bandits must be camped here. Too many for your party to take on in a straight fight.
How would you like to proceed from here?
Author
Topic: You are King III: Spring 938 AAL (Read 133685 times)