Chapter 1 - The Arrival
The following are excerpts from the journal of the last heir to the estate of the "Dark" family....making a quick note here in the journal. Was traveling down the old road via coach to my inherited estate which I've heard so much about. The coach has crashed.
The horses have fled and there's no sign of the coachman who was driving it. Blasted man was driving with reckless abandon, as if there were the hounds of hell at his heels. Fortunately I had the foresight to hire a pair of bodyguards to escort me in case such dangers arose.
Reynauld is an strong warrior of zealous faith in the Light. I feel safety and divine favour in his platemailed presence. Whether it is a godly presence or merely his own earthly strength of presence I do not know.
I caught him sticking his hands in my pockets on the ride here, however. His attempt at pickpocket was foiled by the clinking clamour of his gauntlets. Kleptomania is not a very suitable trait for holy men. Odd.
Dismas is an experienced mercenary, bandit, and rogue. He has a code of honour, unlike other vagabonds I've encountered. I trust him to work loyally for the pay I gave him.
He always seems to have an ace up his sleeve, however. Often literally. No one wants to play gambling games with him.
With the coach crashed we have no choice but continue towards the estate on foot. Fortunately the distance is small. Unfortunately, the state seems in shambles, and the lands around it are teeming with bandits. I send Reynauld and Dismus to do their job and clear the way of any danger for me.
Not far from the crashed coach I heard a gruff shout of surprise cut short. It seems I was right to send the escorts out. There are indeed bandits lurking.
The swift knifestab to the gut and a zealous longsword swing dispatched the bandit before he could even attack.The escorts shouted to me to remain where I was and wait for them to scout further ahead.
Several moments pass, then I hear further shouts and clamours of fighting deeper along the path. Gunshots ring out. Then silence falls.
Reynauld and Dismas have returned. The two limp a bit, and Reynauld assures me the blood and scrapes are only a trifling injury. They assure me that the way is now clear, and we may now carry on to the estate. On the way they regale me with tales of the fighting; it seems they faced a massive brute of a man armed with a cruel whip, who's lashes inflicted the bleeding scrapes I now see, and a bandit armed with a shotgun who's sprays of buckshot left them with several small wounds. Dismus's accuracy with a pistol put the shotgunner out of commission, and several swings of Reynauld's longsword quickly lay the brute to rest. They then show me the treasures they happened to loot from the bodies and the bandits' camp. Several strange knicknacks, which they found on the bodies, stand out to me. They may be of use to adventurers.
It seems we found a fair amount of gold.
I have arrived at the estate. Or what's left of it. I and my escorts have elected to stay in the hamlet, where the groundskeeper has lived and worked to keep in a reasonable state of disrepair. This hamlet will be our base of operations. I'm staying in an upper bedroom in the local tavern located in the hamlet, from which I will oversee the restoration of this ruined land. It's worse than I expected. The caretaker has informed me of all the events that transpired to bring this place to ruin. An ancestor of mine sought forbidden knowledge and delved too deep beneath the family manor, opened an ancient cyclopean doorway, and unleashed things that should not be, which have since run loose and corrupted various regions. It is up to me to organize a team of adventurers to clear the place out, using treasure and funds salvaged by advendturing parties.
It's a long road ahead of me. For now I suppose I will get to work on orgnaizing the first party to head out into the nearby ruins. Two adventurers have arrived by another carriage and seek to aid me in the restoration effort.I payed the coachman to bring more adventurers next time, 3 instead of 2. He assures me that it's expensive to increase the carrying capacity of the carriage, and these priceless family heirlooms I've given him will surely raise the funds which will let him carry one more soul per trip to this land.
We must prepare for the next mission. Reynauld and Dismus are ready. The plague doctor and vestal are meeting Reynauld and Dismas now; I know not yet what the two newcomers' names are.
So there's the tutorial done. Got two trinkets already, that seems pretty lucky. Bodes well for RNG.
Got openings for a plague doctor and a vestal. I want to keep Reynauld and Dismas undorfed for the sake of seeing how long our two starting dudes last.
On an unrelated note, imgur's a pain in the ass now for uploading a bunch of images.
I vote we name the estate "Ebony Raven Way"
Too late.
Author
Topic: Let's Play Darkest Dungeon: Taking Meatshield Applications (Read 4297 times)