Begin a Session
Johnny is on a mission to find out what lies beyond a flooded passageway in a sea cave.
Likely(76)No
Begin a Session(45)External factors create new danger, urgency, or importance for a quest
"Where's Ernesto?"
"Following up a lead in Erast."
"It had better be bloody important."
"Why? What's happened?"
"Pirate attack. One survivor."
"What's so strange about that?"
"The survivor says the ship that attacked him was crewed by the living corpses and captained by a ghost. Sally Slaughter's back."
Johnny swims for a long time. It's so dark in the passageway that he puts on the ring Ernesto gave him, and it lights up the area around him like a torch, even underwater. Eventually, arms and legs aching, he comes out of the water and steps into an inland cave. In front of him, someone has set up a table and two chairs. The scene is lit by two large torches stuck into the ground. There's a man sitting in one of the chairs. He picks up an apple and pulls a switchblade from his inside jacket pocket. He cuts off a slice and eats it. Johnny walks up to the table and sits on the other chair.
Make a Connection(Heart)—8 vs 9|8
"Well, you're still wearing the ring so I know you're not a mage. So how do you do it?" asks Ernesto.
"Do what?" asks Johnny. He looks around the room and sees a pair of armed guards standing a respectful distance away.
Ernesto picks up a device that's sitting on the table. "This is a rebreather. Latest from Harbia, you put it over your mouth and nose, and it lets you breathe underwater. We had a man swim the passageway and timed him, it takes over twenty minutes. The best diver in the world can only manage four. So, how do you do it?"
"Oh, that. Kind of an embarrassing story, to be honest. I don't really like telling it."
Ernesto slices off a piece of apple. "I suggest you start talking." The guards take a step forward.
"Well," says Johnny, who secretly loves telling the story, "It all started a couple of years ago. I was in Nimesh and I got a job from this mage..."
Johnny was shown into the mage's chamber by one of the burly church guards. The mage was tall and fat, and had a great big flowing gray beard. He was dressed head to toe in yellow and white robes. "My name's Rootle," he said with a smile. "You must be the smuggler."
"Adventurer," corrected Johnny.
"Yes, yes," said Rootle dismissively. He put a large decanter on the center of the table, filled with a strange brown liquid. "You'll need to take this potion," he said. He turned around and started rummaging on the workbench behind him. "Now, the job is to deliver a message to a mage in Lorresia and return with his reply. You'll need to swim underground under his cloister and climb up the well, then sneak to the window of his chamber at night." He picked up a pipette from the workbench and said "Use this to administer the dose," as he turned around to see Johnny, empty decanter in hand, a line of brown liquid coming from the corner of his mouth.
"Dose?" said Johnny, innocently.
"You bloody fool, you've drunk it! A single drop lets you breathe underwater for a whole hour. Do you have any idea what it cost to make?"
It was at this point that Johnny felt glad he was using a false name.
The mage started calling for the guards-
"You can't be serious," says Ernesto.
"Wait, I'm just getting to the good part," says Johnny.
Ernesto leans back in his chair and puts one hand on his temple, eyes closed. "You can leave us," he calls out to the guards, who disappear into the darkness beyond.
"So, how did you know I wasn't a mage?" says Johnny.
"The ring. It's cursed - it drains magic when worn. If you were a mage you would have taken it off immediately."
"Clever. So, what's next? You know I have to complete my vow, right?" says Johnny.
"You have to tell me that you found me on the other side of the passage?"
"It was an iron vow."
"Very well, go ahead."
"I went down the flooded passage and you were there."
07 - Explore the flooded cave vow +1 (6/10)
Fulfill Your Vow(track)—7 vs 6|1 07 - Explore the flooded cave vowcompleted quests +2 (1/10)
I'm taking the match to mean I can have another shot at Make a Connection
"Excellent work, Captain Glass. Now, let's get down to business. I have an interest in the cursed and the supernatural. You seem to be a magnet for both."
"You're offering me steady work?"
"In a manner of speaking. An adventurer's guild could be an excellent front for this kind of work - I'll provide you with a manager who actually knows how to run and grow a business for your guild, you help keep the seas around Ossik free of the cursed and unliving."
"Deal," says Johnny, holding out his hand.
Make a Connection(Heart)—8 vs 2|5
Ernesto shakes Johnny's hand. "Here's to a long and prosperous partnership."
"Well, I'd better swim back to my lads, they're spooked enough as it is," says Johnny. "How are you and your men getting out of here?"
"There's a hidden staircase carved into the cliffs above. You can keep the ring until we meet again in person, you'll need it to get back."
Johnny returns to the rowboat where his men are waiting nervously. They help him aboard and they head back to the ship, which in turn heads back to Erast. He heads to the Three Lillies to wait for the manager to turn up.
She arrives a week later. She walks into the Three Lillies and says, "I'm looking for Captain Glass". She is youthful and athletic, and carries a rapier at her hip. She wears a captain's hat with a feather in it. Johnny raises his hand and waves her over. "I'm Tiffany Swiftblade," she says, "Ernesto sent me."
"I've been expecting you," says Johnny.
Tiffany looks around the tavern and says "Well, this won't do. This won't do at all. We need a proper guild hall."
"I like it here," says Johnny, defensively.
"Well then, let's find a suitable building nearby so you won't have far to walk. And I understand the guild owns one ship? The Spearhead?"
"Actually that's my ship."
"Well, you can't use it for guild jobs, then."
"Who's counting?"
"Potential investors. Trust me, it's better to transfer the ship into the guild's name."
"What about the crew?"
"Either they join the guild, or they quit."
"Ernesto wasn't joking when he said you know what you're doing."
Make a Connection(Heart)—6 vs 5|1
"Thanks. Who are our competition? Any other adventurer's guilds or knightly orders you've run across?"
"Well, the Ikoban Adventurer's Guild subcontract work to us, we're on good terms. And the Blackfriar's Adventurer's Guild sent a couple of troublemakers sniffing around."
"And you've done no other research into potential rivals?"
"Well, a gang are probably going to try and kill me when they find out who I am."
"That's good, who are they?"
"No idea," says Johnny. "Why is it good?"
"Well, if we find out who they are, we can see if they have bounties on their heads. Could be a nice way to earn a bit of cash and reputation at the same time. Well, that's enough to be getting on with. I'll go hunting for potential guild halls, you go explain the situation to your crew."
"This'll be fun," he says.
Johnny gathers the crew, and asks them to join the guild.
What percentage agree to join? 1d100→52
About half the crew decide to stay on, the other half want to remain independent. One of the crew who decides to leave is Dorian Osborne, the First Mate.
Using some of the money from Sally Slaughter's treasure, Tiffany buys a slightly run-down building near the Three Lillies. The newly crowned guild members are put to work sprucing it up and converting it into a guild hall. Tiffany hires an assistant manager, Leo, to run things while she's away - she announces she's going to fill the vacant First Mate position.
Johnny tries to find out more information on the gang who are hunting him.
Gather Information(Wits)—8 vs 6|3 Momentum:4 → 6
Johnny finds an off-duty city guardsman drinking in a tavern and buys him a couple of drinks. He finds out the gang is run by a man called Havoc. They're a mid-size organization who smuggle contraband goods into the city, and use them to create forbidden elixirs and chemicals to be sold on the black market. They have various labs and storerooms hidden around the city, and Havoc himself operates out of a tavern called the Old Musket, giving the gang the name of The Musketeers. They can be identified by a musket tattoo on their necks. There's a small reward for the capture of anyone with such a gang tattoo, several individual bounties for lieutenants and captains, but Havoc himself is not a wanted man - he's smart, and covers his tracks well.
"So, what do we do about them?" Johnny asks Tiffany the next morning after filling her in on the details.
"Nothing for now. We'll just keep building our reputation and recruiting until we have the manpower to take them on."
"What if they come after us for the lab raid?"
"If it's on, it's on. But there's no point in starting it while they have the advantage."
"Right. So, what now then, if not the Musketeers?"
"We capture a pirate ship."
"Capture a pirate ship? Isn't it a better idea to sink them?"
"Not if you're intending to keep it. Or would you rather buy the guild's second ship out of your own pocket?"
End a Session Momentum:6 → 7