PrologueHaving been given plenty of time to mingle and meet the other vastly inexperienced adventures and would-be heroes you would likely make your way into the main keep and run into more people waiting around and gauging one another.
Eventually a horn will sound in the main keep. If you or anyone are still outside the guards will politely ask you to enter the keep for the briefing.
What is your reaction to this? Have you had any riveting conversations thus far?
Source: Pillars of Eternity
A large man covered in plate walks to the front of the room. Upon the plate is a briolette cut gem. He is aging and scarred, but still looks incredibly ferocious yet dignified. He says nothing as he slowly looks over each person in the crowd seeming to dedicate a moment to each individual person. The crowd is silent.
How do you react? What do you think as his gaze lands upon you?He is flanked by three soldiers. Two are clearly guards, but one is a woman in mostly leather other than her bronze gauntlets and boots. Her gear is worn and bears the dirt and dust of the road
The man in plate doesn't take his eyes off the crowd as he calls out. "Scout. You will read the report you just read to me to this crowd. Proceed."
The woman seems surprised at first and hesitates.
"Proceed" the man in plate repeats
The woman's fear of disobeying the man overcomes her fear of the situation and she steps forward next to him and unfurls a scroll and begins to read:
Our squad was dispatched to locate the target Ciba Glistenglimmered the Decisive Number. If the previously dispatched kill team had failed to do so we would recover The Fatal Spring from his lair.
Our squad failed to find Ciba's lair, but instead found the previously mentioned kill team slain to the last near a brook they seemingly stopped to camp at. Ciba had...
The woman hesitates and then continues "...killed them"
The man in plate raises a hand "Lieutenant, I specifically instructed for you to read the very same report you read to me moments ago. You will correct this mistake and read what you read to myself and the rest of the council"
She bows fearfully "Yes, commander! Forgive me commander!"
She continues to read and describes in excruciating detail the horrid acts committed upon the kill team ultimately culminating in what remained of them being staked to the ground. Many faces are in shock and terror. One elf vomits on the rug.
How do you react? Have you been listening? What do you make of all this? Who is the man in plate? Are you silent?"Thank you, Lieutenant. That will be all" The commander says. The scout quickly salutes and flees from sight. The commander now speaks to you all:
"None of you will likely achieve glory. If you're lucky you will starve to death in the forest, but more than likely you will die horribly. If you are not prepared to face death itself then I ask that you leave. I shall wait for you to gather yourself and go"
An awkward silence ensues as people look around and consider
Does he mean leave right now?Soon some people do leave. A little over a third of the entire menagerie of would-be heroes files out of the room. The commander quietly waits for the last to depart and for the guards to close the door behind them.
"I shall be frank with you all. I have no love for adventurers or mercenaries. You lack the discipline and dedication that I believe any who wield a weapon must have. Yet, we have no choice. Our world has been saved, but the scars left behind are too deep to disappear. The future of our people lies to the west, but it is filled with terrifying beasts, servants of the fallen swamp titan, who bar the way of any who draw near. We can not send an army. Our allies amongst the elves and dwarves will not permit one to pass onto their lands, nor will they send their own for it would leave their land sorely vulnerable to an invasion. That is where we all agreed upon you, mercenaries.
We have no need of so many people on our payroll, nor is Ciba the greatest or most important threat we must deal with, but he is a test!" The commander clasps his hands together
"You will all be given two weeks to find Ciba, kill him, and return with proof of his death. Upon doing the group that succeeds will be officially incorporated as a part of our future operations."
The crowd murmurs and some even shout.
One goblin cries out "This is outrageous! It'll take near a week just in traveling back and forth!"
A human spearwoman joins "Yeah! We don't even know where the lair is! That region could fit a whole kingdom!"
The guards surrounding the crowd put their hands on weapons as the commander gets a harrowing look in his eyes
The crowd continues shouting
"Silence!" he shouts back
"You will come back in two weeks as the heroes you claimed to be or not at all. That is all. May the gods be with you."
How do you feel to all this? Do you react at all? Do you say anything? One way or the other you all will be pushed together as people form their own groups although Egem is highly sought after by others. How do you all end up together?Mission: Kill Ciba Glistenglimmered the Decisive NumberDo you wish to do anything before leaving the keep? Or leaving the lands of the notched union?We have multiple routes to choose from either southwest through dwarven lands or north then west through elven. Both have their own unique perils and the fearful and scornful glances of the other parties should not be disregarded either! We are here on the map:
and need to get to the dark shadowy place in the west!
Do you have any interactions you'd like to do with NPCs or even moments during the commanders speech and scout report you'd like to talk? I'll voice NPCs as we roleplay through stuff! You don't have to wait for my prompting to try something either!
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Topic: In Search of Fairy Tales - Adelaathira - The End of Dwarfdom (Read 36100 times)