Barston and Derron take the hostages to a tower on the edge of Yewsforth. Here they meet someone unexpected.
This one is going to be a little different than the previous ones. We already know the situation — Barston and Derron have captured [MAN] and [CULTIST]. We just need a couple of extra elements, which means the cards will likely be a bit more...interpretive, this time.
- Card One: 196 → Goblin Tower. We'll ignore everything but the fact there is a tower and the word "hostile" on it.
- Card Two: 155 → Friendly Cleric. Ohh, that has possibility. Let's two yes/no questions because I am down for a variety of things.
- Is this cleric at the tower? (50/50) → 19. Yes.
- Is this cleric Faruin? (50/50) → 01. EXCEPTIONAL YES.
So, Faruin was thought killed by Fenwick but was really just drug off the wagon and had to escape. Now, the card has a female priest. The brief off-the-cuff dialogue said "he". 50/50... Female. We'll chalk the earlier up to a language glitch since Fenwick tends to talk in partial Phillian common.
And now, some names. Faruin Tate we'll just get from Fenwick's last name.
I'll just jam out some other details without rolling. Rondrick "The Round" Yasmer. Farmer. Owns a lot of the land between Yewsforth and the mountains but NOT the road to transport his goods and so wants claim over it.
The female cultist can be Thran Gorshekk. She is the "hostile" bit.
Does Rondrick speak any Common Phillian? Let's say that the island is roughly the same size as Britain. And Britain for sure can host multiple languages. Still, he is interested in trade. So...Unlikely? → 18. Yes. Not Exceptional yes so it's not perfect. We'll give B & D a -1 to communicate. Since we've seen such glitches happen.
Does Thran? (Very Unlikely) → 86. That's an Exceptional No. She somehow learned enough East Phillian to deal with the village, possibly through magical means. Hell, maybe she only speaks it through magical means. I like that. A temporary spell to speak the language. How much longer does it have? 1d6 = 2 hours.
Everything else I can solve in post.
The tower was older than most of the buildings in the town, except for a barn turned into a meal hall and an old building that had served the town's healer a century ago before becoming simply a storage shed to the pub. The tower was a relic from the goblin wars that struck all across the Mountains Midnight centuries ago. A fight for ancestral homes in which neither side proved themselves proud.
Do the people from Yewsforth use the tower? (50/50) → 47. Yes. Just barely, though.
It is currently used by a few farmers to store grain bags. The stairs up to the second floor are cracked and unsafe. The upside of this is that the door is barely bolted and a quick shoulder shove by Derron pushes it open. Seconds later, the two hostages are shoved inside. The fat man and the bald woman. Then the woman's sword follows, tossed to the floor. It's black obsidian blade blending all too well into the shadows.
Barston grabs some of the feed sacks and tearing strips...
Hmm, there might be a better fit, but for now we'll use his Trap Knowledge to see how well he can set up the knots. 6+10 = 16 is the target number for the two to escape.
While checking this, though, does the cultist have any tricks up her sleeve? (50/50) → 60. No. She was too cocky.
And soon has fairly sturdy knots tied around their arms and legs and binding them. The woman speaks her strange, brutal language and gives a few yanks with her arms but the knots hold. If just barely.
Skill test, she gets 7+9 = 16. A tie. She nearly breaks free but does not so will not continue to try while they are there.
"I'd stop that if I were you," Derron says. The woman gives no indication of knowing the language but can read his body language enough she laughs and then sits back like she is going to sleep.
"Why are you people here?," Barston asks but she does not stir.
Giving up that tack, Barston turns to the fat man. "Why were you with them?"
We'll give the difficulty at 15. Barston has a Phillian skill of 11. 11+11-1 = 20. He communicates it very well.
The man shrugs and says in accented Phillian, "Well, when the duivel knopt, you answer, ja?"
Barston shakes his head. "No, I do not think I would answer. What are they doing in the town?"
Does the man really know? (50/50) → 43. Yes. Does he want to share this information? (50/50) → 98. Exceptional No.
Opposed Roll. B = 6+7 = 13 Awareness. Man = 7+5 = 12.
The man spends several minutes talking and Barston knows he is lying. Luckily, perhaps, for the man, Barston is not yet willing to lean towards torture to get the truth out of the man. He's willing to wait to see how well a few hours of dehydration softens them up.
Barston takes a couple more strips of feed sack and ties the mouth of each of the prisoners. Eliciting snarls from the woman and whimpers from the man.
Derron and Barston back away to discuss their next plans when a voice from the top of the rickety stairs calls out to them: "Jij hebt ze niet vermoord?"
They both look up and see a young woman with red hair standing there. Her clothes are torn and the armor underneath is wrecked. Blood has dried upon her.
Let's say she has 8 stamina. Roll 1d8. Got an 8. This means she was actually probably unconscious and somehow managed to just pull herself back out. We'll put her at 1 stamina.
Does she have healing, herself? (50/50) → 13. She does. This means her devotion is low enough it only triggered a very minor amount of healing. We'll not worry too much about the meta-game math right now.
She stumbles a little and Barston runs up the stairs...
Does she trust them? (50/50) → 20. Yes.
And again paints the air in colors and brings an image of a more healed her into the world. While she is still caked in dried blood, her wounds underneath close. She grasps Barston's hands. "Dank u wel! Ben jij een heilig man?"
He shakes his head and says sorry and tries to indicate he does not speak her language. Hearing his words, she switches over to a similar accented Phillian as the fat man.
It does not take long before Barston realize she is Faruin.
"We met your cousin, Fenwick. He thought you were dead. He did not describe you as so...," Barston stumbles over the right word.
"...red-headed," Derron covers for him.
"Ah?"
Barston and Derron bring out provisions and talk to her for some time, to learn information about what is happening in the blighted town of Yewsforth.
The food and rest will restore her up to full. She has no armor due to the near-fatal attack. However, let's check something. Does she have the ability to use swords? (50/50) → 41. Yes. In that case, they will give her the woman's sword.
We'll cut this, here, in the way these Advent 2025 sessions go. The main bits are established. I'll spend a few minutes tomorrow making a basic "hireling" template for Faruin and she can join in for a session or two.
The Mystery of Barston's "Shield"
While playing this, I found an odd note. I gave Barston the special skill for "Shields" and I have no idea why. Maybe I intended him to use his shield as a weapon in combat? As a thrown thing? I brought up several pages of the old notes from his campaign and do not see it mentioned. I'm sure I had logic, somewhere. At this point, though, I'll refund those points (20). That gives him enough to raise his Clubs skill to 5 (12 total). I'll go ahead and do that. He swings that bad boy a lot.
One day I will remember the reason I wrote it and might re-retcon it back, heh.
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