I hand Wilde the spear. "Take this and follow my lead."
I push the guard into the pile of junk and bring my sword to her neck. "Don't scream and you don't get hurt. We're leaving with the stoat."
Mr. Wilde does not appear eager to follow your lead. But he'll come around, you're sure.
[Surprise Turnabout: 6+1 vs. 4]
You turn around and sprint forth in a tackle, running straight into the guard and knocking her off her feet, straddling her atop the junk pile as you put the serrated two-handed sword to her throat, ready to drag it over at a moment's notice. She looks surprised for a few moments as you explain what's about to happen, then frowns, thinking for a second.
Hm, she asks. What's your plan here, if she may ask? Thinking of defecting? She knew a lot of people who thought the same way once. Did
not end well, let her tell you.
"Oh for - hush you idiot, I'm not murdering you."
Get him on the ground and pin him there with a foot. Then absorption go!
[Disturbing Implications: 4]
The thought of what else you might be trying to do is enough to either give the man a moment's pause or frighten him into silence - a bit of both, you suspect. You decide to adjust your method of restraint a little.
[Keep A Good Man Down: 6+1 vs. 5]
You place him on the ground face-down and step on him, then begin to consider your next move. Doesn't seem all that much easier this way. Too squirmy. Not weakened at all, even if entirely restrained. Maybe a little strangulation might be in order.
Of course, before you can further plan out what to do with the man, you notice that you are no longer alone, a royal guard having arrived in this quasi-forgotten corner of the castle.
[Wounded Gazelle: 5]
Hey, he says, naked guy! Quit molesting the castle staff! He was just about ready to call out for reinforcements, too. Could be stoat infiltrators about, don't you know. If you keep making alarms like these you run the serious risk of reducing overall stoat-preparedness, don't you know. They cut your ears off for that.
Interesting. How do they do these effects? Really well done, even out here.
"So hey, Sword, you know anything about that?"
Ask the sword. See if the images can be followed to their source. Also it would be silly to be yelling strange things into the sky. Might be bears out here.
You find the sword in your hand as if it had never left your grip. This landscape is of slight interest, one finds. Profoundly unnatural, persistent, surrounded by echoes of someone else. One like you, perhaps, an earlier traveler. They entered this clearing, and never left. One can sense a bit of their presence still.
Okay, you suppose that's some kind of information. The weird afterimages group around the eye in the sky, setting still over the castle, the sky behind you turning dark and bluish as night begins to fall. Their silhouettes start to crawl behind the castle as well, seemingly following the eye. It appears to be the key element, lingering for perhaps longer than it should, still harboring the expectation of a call.
The moment is hanging in the air as well, you notice. The Worm-knight is motionless, looking into the distance. The guard is rubbing his hands, muttering repetitively.
"Elizabeth, eh? Sounds like a nice place to visit. By the way, did you actually do something to warrant that torture? Like besides being local mayor or something?"
Talking about intimate things. And still following Lee. Gotta trust the gal.
Certainly, says the man. Stole supplies, gouged prices for stoatman customers, pushed two guards into the river when they discovered too much, had a passing clanfolk man shoot a flaming arrow into the siege camp. Poisoned the water supply every now and then. Set stoat-traps in the woods for patrols to fall into. Built a catapult to launch supplies into the castle (didn't have enough range though), then used it to launch a plague-ridden corpse (very expensive this time of year, by the way) through the roof of a stoatman barracks building, which was what finally got him caught. Had a good run, certainly. Contributed to the good fight in his own way, he likes to think, and he's especially proud that the stoats in question didn't manage to break him. If there's one way for a merchant to get by in the saboteur business, it's to pick only the most incompetent targets.
Ah, good times. Would have been great to maybe shank one on the way out, but guess you can't have everything. Where are you taking him, by the way? Out of town, yes? You look over at Lee, who does seem to be guiding you toward the woods.
[Trouble In Anglefork Town: 6+1]
Rather fortunately you don't run into any trouble. Or, rather, you don't run into any trouble that Lee does not kindly slit the throats of before you arrive at your leisurely pace. The sight of blood seems to invigorate the broken man. Hah, he says, is it not the most wonderful thing, the spilling of blood in the dying light? There is a certain artistry in subversive action, no?
In any case, you leave behind the outlying farms of Anglefork Town in not too long from now, finding yourself in the thin woods once again, Lee climbing a tree to survey the nearby area, watching for a coordinated response from the town guard that does not appear to come. The broken man congratulates you on a messy rescue well-performed, but wonders what it is you were going to do with him exactly. Being a backpack has been quite fun thus far, of course, don't get him wrong, but he was really looking forward to maybe pointing you at something that you could horribly destroy with many (stoatman) casualties. So he's a little disappointed when the counter-question that Lee poses appears to be one about trade.
Trade, he says! Don't talk to him about trade. These stoatmen know nothing! Nothing! He pauses to wipe a little foam from the corner of his mouth. Really, they should all just be killed like they apparently used to be back when the splintering began. And after the new cities of stoatkind are successfully depopulated, he bets you could no doubt work something out with the Glorious Land on resettlement. Land of opportunity and all that, yes?
"Listen, we need to talk about - wait, what the hell are you doing? Can one of you please tell me what's going on here?"
Take the spear, at least.
You grab the spear and observe as Ms. Minett handily takes down the guard in a surprise tackle, explaining that she (and maybe you as well) will be taking that cowering stoat along.
[Bravest of the Brave: 2]
A cowering stoat that seems to have feebly risen to his feet and started scampering away in the commotion. Look at him go! You wonder if you should mention that to Ms. Minett.
Leif Erikson, Miner
- A Word: INEVITABLE
- Wounds: 3
- A mercantile backpack
- Sturdy Falchion
- Improvised Quarterstaff
- Body Count: 1
- All Broken Up: A History of Violence
- Damp and moldy fuel
- Reappropriated, Clean Skirt
- Inscribed Wooden Stylus
- Iron Spearhead
- 1.03 gp
- The Box: ?
- Tower of the Mind: Convenient Relocation
- Induced Lucidity: A Concert For The Gods
- Compatibility: Minding
- Tricks of the Mind: Cormick's Condescending Riddle
- Tricks of the Mind: Perceptual Rebuke
- Tricks of the Mind: Erikson's Inexplicable Grapefruit
- Tricks of the Mind: Speak With The Mob
- Tricks of the Mind: Headfirst Dive
- Tricks of the Mind: Lend Them Your Limbs
- Tricks of the Mind: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
- Tricks of the Mind: Erikson's Seeds of Discontent
- Party in the Courtyard: Celebration in Earnest
- Never In: Swallowed By The Pit
- Gods of the Underground: Did You Just What
- Labyrinths of Anglefork: Tunnel-Literate
- The Voracious Dark: Two Deals Made
- The Voracious Dark: The Promised Sixth
- Moth's Flight: A Successful Mission
- Troubles In Anglefork Town: More Lethal Than Anticipated
- The Secret Life of Stoats: Harnessing Potential
Eileen Minett, Vinyl Collector
- Wounds: 3
- The Doom Guard: Consorting With The Enemy
- Exotic serrated zweihander
- Reclaimed Hooded Robe (worn, torn)
- Inauspicious Day: We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
- Giant White Mushroom
- A Word: SEA
- A Word: HUNGER
- A Word: CHAOS
- A Weapon: Explosive Cysts
- Origins: Witness to Dissolution
- Tower of the Mind: There's Something To Remember
- The New Queen: And Something To Forget
- The Queen's Guard: Bringer of Doom
- Touch of Flame: the Secrets of Flammability
- The Voracious Dark: Three Connections Given
- Stone's Glory: An Uncivil Disagreement
- Body Count: 1
- Never In: Change of Priority
- Labyrinths of Anglefork: Tunnel-Literate
- The Flip Side: Crippling Indecision
- The Impromptu Prophecy: ?
- Sweet Little Children: Fond Farewell
- The One They Fear: Largely Irrelevant
Jack Daniels, Karate Man
- Naked
- 14033 gp (in sack)
- The Queen's Guard: An Alignment of Interests
- Wounds: 1
- Powers of the Beyond: Gardener of Thoughts
- Dusty Wooden Speaking-Trumpet
- Crossbow Bolt (in throat)
- A Word: REND
- A Word: SILENCE
- A Weapon: Murder-Thought
- Traces of Mischief: A Bisected Left Kidney
- Traces of Mischief: Ruined Left Hand
- Uncoupled: Strength
- Wooden Door (held)
- The Majordomo: ?
- The Winding Path of Inspiration: Deep Into That Darkness Peering
- Tower of the Mind: Endless Well of Mystery
- Induced Lucidity: A Garden Well-Tended
- Elongated Affairs: Enemy of the New State
- Doomstones: ?
- A Place In History: Vastly Unreliable
- Anglefork Castle: the Great Serpent
- The Obsolete Class: Suggested Victims
- 2 rats, crushed
- 1 rat, strangled
- 1 rat, live
- Touch of Flame: the Second Degree
- Travels In The Fourth Dimension: Sunday ± 2 Days
- The Impromptu Prophecy: There's A Mountain Higher Than We Knew
- The Voracious Dark: A Source Provided
- The Voracious Dark: More Specific Requests
- The Good Doctor: A Recommendation
- Labyrinths of Anglefork: Suspended Above
- Body Count: 3
Thomas Minstep, Insurance Agent
- Excellently shaped grappling hook (42 meters of rope attached)
- Afterimages: The Eye In The Sky
- Wounds: 3
- A Word: ABSENCE
- A Weapon: The Sword They Fear
- Traces of Mischief: Nausea's Depths
- A Bowl, Black and Knobby
- Anglefork Castle: From Another Time, Another Land
- Gross Incandescence: Partly Illuminated
- Tight Leather Pants (worn)
- Incredibly Tight Blue Dress (worn, mutilated, mildly provocative)
- Travels In The Fourth Dimension: Saturday, July 24th, 409 S.D.
- The Majordomo: Busy Morning
- The Good Doctor: House Call
- The Queen's Guard: A Noble Mission
- Make A Man Out Of You: A Crowning Achievement
- The New Queen: Awkward Savior
- Tower of the Mind: Advice Given
- The Obsolete Class: Let Them Be
- Cruelty-Free Foods: Treats Survived
- The One They Fear: A Satisfactory Contract
- A Place In History: Finding Glory
- Body Count: 2
Oscar Wilde, Chemistry Teacher
- A Word: REVELATION
- 1 castle guard-issue spear
- This Is The End: A Grim Prophecy
- Inauspicious Day: We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
- 1 rat, skinless and smoked
- 6 gp
- Poor Misshapen Dice
- Lock of Hair (unidentified)
- Iron nail, unused
- An Inauspicious Key
- Burlap Foot Wrappings (worn)
- Burlap Hand Wrappings (worn)
- Moth-Eaten Hat (worn)
- Respectable Brown Skirt (worn)
- Old Brown Waistcoat (worn)
- Bright Yellow Tunic (worn)
- Blue Shards of a Probable Bottle
- Blue Glass Shiv
- A Wealth of Burlap Ribbons
- An Obsolete Class: Trustworthy Individual
- The Flip Side: Procurement and Provisions
- The Doom Guard: the Inquisition
- Tower of the Mind: An Interruption
- A Frightening Door: An Understanding
- The Voracious Dark: Backed Away
- The Winding Path of Inspiration: The Measure
- The One They Fear: Largely Irrelevant