[Let's Play] Fighting Fantazine Adventure 7: Queen of Shades

[Beroli]

The room beyond is in darkness but the light from the corridor is sufficient to show that it contains a large four poster bed and at least one wooden chest.

Search the room?
Return to the corridor and...
Go to the first door?
Go to the third door?
Go back downstairs?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 9/11

Gold Pieces: 13
Bone bracelet (not worn)
Jardakka has the Sword of Glantanka
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Search the room.

[Thaluikhain]

May as well search the room.

[SGamerz]

Not enough information to tell whose room it is. Search.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to search the room.

[Beroli]

The bed has not been slept in. The wooden chest by the door contains only folded clothes, but there are others. Before you can examine them, you hear footsteps in the corridor outside and the door of the bedchamber is flung open.

You are confronted by an unlikely looking couple. One is a giant, easily nine feet tall, with a single eye in the middle of his forehead. The CYCLOPS holds an iron poker in front of him like a weapon.

The woman by his side has the arms and head of a Human female but the long sinuous body of a serpent. She holds her body upright, like a cobra poised to strike, but her long tail trails across the floor behind her. Even her head is not fully human because she has the large yellow eyes and pointed fangs of a snake.

You recognize these people, and they recognize you.

‘What are you doing in my master’s house?’ the snake woman asks in her silky voice.

‘Thieves!’ the Cyclops roars. ‘Nothing but common thieves! Where are my guards?’

Jardakka leaps forward to cut him down before he can summon the insect men but Shar-kali-Sharri parries her blow with his iron poker, showing surprising skill for a merchant. In the next moment, the snake woman pulls a dagger from inside her clothes and lunges at you. You must fight her.

SERPENTINE Skill 9 Stamina 6

Something will happen if she wins two Attack Rounds in a row, and so I will pause for votes on if/how to use Luck.

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 9/11

Gold Pieces: 13
Bone bracelet (not worn)
Jardakka has the Sword of Glantanka
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

With a 3 point skill advantage, I vote not to use luck.

[SGamerz]

Use LUCK once.

[Beroli]

[spoiler=the Serpentine]
Round One: Rey 19, Serpentine 17, Luck Test 6. Successful. Serpentine is at 2 Stamina.
Round Two: Rey 24, Serpentine 16. Victory.[/spoiler]

The serpent’s coils continue to writhe even in death, smearing the floor with blood. Jardakka has already succeeded in disarming the Cyclops and now holds her blade to the merchant’s throat. She demands that he hand over the mirror to you but Shar-kali-Sharri is a brave man and is not easily intimidated. In a loud voice, he calls on Libra to save him from the thieves who have invaded his home.

There is a blinding white light, like a flash of lightning, and the day’s events rush before your eyes.

When you open your eyes again, you find yourself sitting at a table in Madam Hun’s tavern. It seems to be the middle of the day, and the tavern is full with customers. The ogress herself stands before you, resting her hands on her hips. She asks you if you would like to eat a meal at her tavern, at the cost of 2 Gold Pieces. ‘Make your mind up,’ she says impatiently, ‘you’ll not get a second chance!’

Fox and Jardakka are sitting across the table from you and for a moment you have a sense of déjà vu, as if you were reliving these events. But this is no dream and you are free to make your own choices. Start by deciding whether you want a helping of Madam Hun’s pease porridge.

You have not eaten yet today. Beyond the immediate vote, please vote on where you wish to diverge from your choices the last time you went through this day.

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 8/11

Gold Pieces: 5
[/spoiler]

[SGamerz]

Yep, this was one of the stuff I was referring to earlier. We have to commit further crimes/injustice (and honestly, I think robbing the living ought to be even worse than robbing the dead) to correct our previous wrong, and Libra is going fault us both ways. If, theoretically, it's still possible to win by not getting caught when we break into the house, then the moral of the story is basically: it's not about whether what you do is unjust, but whether or not you get caught doing something unjust. I can accept it if we're getting this crap from the Patron God of Thieves or something and he punishes us for sucking at being thieves, but here...bah!

As of now, don't eat, and go shopping first instead of seeing Vik.

[Queen of Swords]

Agree with that.

[Thaluikhain]

Second SGamerz on all counts. Bah!

[JourneymanN00b]

I also vote to go shopping first instead of seeing Vik, but I vote to eat this time.

[Beroli]

3-1 votes to not eat, 4-0 votes to "go shopping," which I'm taking to mean "calm Jardakka when she gets angry at Fox (although you do now know, at least out of character, that Shar-kali-Sharri at least claims to have given Fox 200 gold which he's keeping from you), and then agree with Jardakka to rely on magic."

‘What do we do now?’ Jardakka demands.

‘Libra says we must return the mirror to Iltikar’s tomb.’ You shrug. ‘I know it won’t be easy.’

‘It will be more difficult than you think,’ Fox says. ‘I sold the mirror yesterday evening.’

‘You sold it? Who to?’

‘A minimite. Pompous little fellow called Enno. He said he was acting for the merchant Shar-kali-Sharri. I checked the merchant out; he’s rich enough all right. Has a big stake in the Mutton Fish trade but his real passion is collecting artwork from old Lumlé.’

‘Good for him,’ Jardakka sneers. ‘How much did he pay?’

Fox holds his hands up. ‘That’s not how it works. These collectors want to handle the piece personally before they agree on a price.’

‘You gave him the mirror for nothing?’

‘Believe me, it will work in our favour in the long run. Once Shar-kali-Sharri has seen the mirror he will pay any price we ask.’

‘Jishai!’ Jardakka thumps the table angrily. ‘You screwed us. You took his damned money for yourself.’

The Red-Eye blinks and you see the fireballs building behind her eyelids. Sensing her anger, Cheechak yelps and leaps up onto a roof beam above your table.

You grab Jardakka's arm.

Jardakka turns her fiery gaze upon you.

‘Hey! We don’t know he cheated us. Let’s not start fighting each other. We’ve got to work together if we’re going to beat this curse.’

After a tense moment, Jardakka’s anger subsides and her eyes close. Cheechak jumps down onto her shoulder and she reaches up to pet the animal.

‘Truce?’ Fox asks.

Jardakka nods, but the atmosphere around the table remains uneasy. It falls to you to try to broker the peace.

‘So where does this Shar-kali-Sharri live? Down by the river? Why don’t we go over there now, all three of us, and get the mirror back?’

‘You think he will give it to you just like that?’ Jardakka scoffs. ‘And if he does; what then? If we take the mirror back to Iltikar’s tomb, we will have risked our lives for nothing!’

‘Our lives won’t be worth much when the shield maidens return. I tell you, they are not of this world!’

‘So? Then we’ll use magic against them.’

Fox smiles thinly. ‘Your faith in my powers is touching, my dear, but not even I can lift a curse laid by the moon goddess herself.’

The Red-Eye shakes her head. ‘I’m not talking about you, sly Fox. This city is awash with amulets and magic potions; I say we get ourselves some
powerful juju and blow those witches back to hell!’

Fox folds his hands. ‘Do what you want, Jardakka. I’m going to see Vik. While I’m there, I’ll ask him about our curse. If memory serves me right,
he has had trouble with these shield maidens before. He’ll give us some good advice.’

‘Or cut our throats for us,’ Jardakka mutters.

You turn to Jardakka. ‘I assume we’re talking about our old friend Hagbut the gnome?’

Hagbut is a dealer in magical artefacts. If he doesn’t have something, he usually knows where it can be found.

The Red-Eye rests her blind stare on you. ‘No, not Hagbut. The Witch of Krooe.’

‘The black sorceress? I thought she was dead.’

‘Those old powers never die. The witchwoman will give us what we need.’

‘Do you know where she lives?’

‘Not exactly,’ Jardakka admits. ‘But we’ll find her. Or she’ll find us.’

Look for the Witch of Krooe?
Go to the shop of Hagbut the Gnome?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 8/11

Gold Pieces: 5
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Let's try the Witch of Krooe this time.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to visit the Witch of Krooe.

[SGamerz]

I know we don't have the money to buy the sword now, but I still vote for the shop. The game seems able to keep track of time (it was apparently close to nightfall when we last left the shop). Maybe going there early will give us access to something different.

I trust a good magic weapon more than a witch.

[Beroli]

Visiting the Witch of Krooe wins 2-1.

Krooe is a settlement in the west of the city, a poor area inhabited mostly by recent migrants from the surrounding countryside. You leave the centre and follow a muddy track across some fields. The village clusters around several small waterways running down to the river Jabaji. The streets here are narrow, the houses little more than huts. There are fewer shops and the goods they have for sale are of poor quality. At length, the lane you are following emerges into a square with a well in the middle. The people going about their business here have ugly, misshapen faces. They are SVINNS, Man-Orcs from the village of Torrepani. You decide to ask them if they know where you can find the witch.

Approach a young man leaning idly against the doorframe of a house?
Approach an old man sitting on the steps of the well?
Approach two young women laughing and chattering as they walk?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 8/11

Gold Pieces: 5
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Approach the old man.

[SGamerz]

I vote for the 2 young women. They're more likely to be enthusiastic gossipers and more willing to give information.

[Thaluikhain]

I vote for old man, they are stereotypically waiting to give random advice to PCs.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to approach two young women laughing and chattering as they walk, as two beings have better chances of information than one.

[Beroli]

Need a tiebreaker.

[JourneymanN00b]

Please make my vote a half one to resolve the tie. Thanks.

[Beroli]

The Svinn is older than you first thought. His eyes are sunken, his hair a few white strands plastered to his skull. He looks at you fearfully when you mention the witch. He reaches forward and takes hold of your arm, though his grip is weak.

‘Keep well away from that devil,’ he says, his voice wavering. ‘The price she asks is too high.’

You start to draw back, realising that you will get no useful information from him.

‘You think me a scared old fool, eh? How old do you think I am? Sixty? Seventy? But I have seen only twenty summers. The witch took my youth in return for her help, though it has availed me little.’

Listen to his warning, return to the city center, and seek out Hagbut the Gnome?
Listen to his warning, return to the city center, and seek out a nonspecific merchant?
Listen to his warning, return to the city center, and look for Fox?
Keep looking for the Witch of Krooe?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 8/11

Gold Pieces: 5
[/spoiler]