Votes acknowledged; leaving Rodriguez to work his con tricks alone.
226
The sun is setting. A room at a cheap local hostelry will cost 1 Gold Piece, or 10 Salacoins, for one night. If you have enough money to pay for a room and want to spend it in this way, turn to
436. If not, you have no choice but to sleep rough in the street – turn to
456.
Lee Miles is still dead broke, so he will have to sleep rough in the street.
456
You wake the following morning to find yourself in the gutter, with a couple of rats curled up next to you, sharing your body’s warmth. You shoo them away in disgust. You have a crick in your neck and do not feel ready for the day at all. (Lose 1 STAMINA point.) But it could have been worse – at least it’s not winter! Turn to
86.
86
You might not have been in Salamonis long, but what you have learned is that anybody who wants to become an adventurer and take on any officially listed quests has to become a member of the Adventurers’ Guild first.
It’s a new day, and the bright morning sunlight fills you with a renewed sense of optimism. You soon find your way to the Adventurers’ Guild on Market Square, next to the Bazaar. The building might be in need of a few repairs – there are tiles missing from the roof and a couple of broken windowpanes – but its pillared entrance and sturdy, iron-bound oak door still speak of a faded grandeur. In some ways it reminds you of a grizzled veteran adventurer.
The Guild is open for business and, as you approach the entrance, your eye is drawn to the Quests Board outside. Pinned to the bottom board is a curl of parchment with three words written on it in neat calligraphic script: ‘Found – 1 Backpack.’ Could it be your missing pack?
You enter the Guild House at a run, your heart hammering in your chest. You find yourself in a large room that seems to be full of hard-bitten adventuring types – Flatlands Barbarians, salty sea dogs from the Skull Coast, Half-Elves from the Forest of Yore, Dwarfs from Stonebridge, and even black-clad warriors swathed in loose-fitting black robes from Chiang Mai – discussing everything from the price of throwing knives in Silverton to the whereabouts of a lost city in the Desert of Skulls, and rumours of a war brewing between two rival sorcerers. You approach the counter on the far side.
Standing behind it is an elderly gentleman with a warm smile and a twinkle in his eye. ‘And what can I do for you?’ he asks.
‘I saw you’ve had a backpack handed in and thought it might be mine,’ you say. You then proceed to tell him how you came to lose it in the first place.
When you have finished your story, the Guildmaster says, ‘How do I know what you say is true? You could be a scammer trying to claim something that doesn’t belong to you. Can you tell me what was in it?’
You rattle off the list of contents: a few personal mementos, a short sword, spare underwear – ‘Did your mum write your name in them?’ the Guildmaster laughs – your money bag and a copy of
Longbeard’s Legends of the Windward Plains.
‘Sounds like it could be yours,’ says the man, ‘but are you prepared to put your money where your mouth is? You need to pay 1 Gold Piece if you want me to release it into your custody.’
This is outrageous – you’re having to pay to get your own pack back! – but it doesn’t seem like you have any choice.
If you have at least 1 Gold Piece, or the equivalent, turn to
108. If you don’t have the required fee, turn to
107.
Lee Miles does not have the required fee.
107
Your quest to become an adventurer would seem to have been doomed from the start.
Test Your Luck. If you are Lucky, turn to
197. If you are Unlucky, turn to
217.
Rolling the dice yielded a 6, meaning that Lee Miles was Lucky.
197
Seeing how upset you are, the Guildmaster takes pity on you and hands you the pack. ‘After all, I can’t have it cluttering up the place any longer,’ he says with feigned annoyance.
You are delighted to be reunited with the canvas rucksack at least, and unpack it – there, in the middle of the Guild House – just to make sure nothing has gone missing.
Add the following items to your Equipment: Short Sword, Spare Clothes, a Purse containing 12 Gold Pieces and
Longbeard’s Legends of the Windward Plains. (Add 1 point to your LUCK score and 1 point to your AMONOUR score.)
‘If you want to join the Adventurer’s Guild, you need to talk to me. For I am Jeskan Stovec, the Guildmaster.’
He explains that it will cost you 2 Gold Pieces and that will give you an Adventurers’ Permit, which means you can then take on any of the jobs posted on the Quests Board outside the Guild House. You can also use the permit to prove your credentials to any potential employer, such as a priestess wanting someone to find some magical fungi for her in the Moonstone Hills, or a merchant who’s looking to hire guards for his caravan travelling to Chalice. ‘But you look like you’re new to this game,’ he says, giving you the once-over. ‘If I were you, I’d get some training before setting yourself up as a sword for hire.’
Without having to be asked twice, you hand over the money and the Guildmaster writes out a permit for you. (Deduct 2 Gold Pieces and add the Adventurers’ Permit to your
Equipment List.)
If you want to ask the Guildmaster for his advice regarding where to train, turn to
127. If you would rather set out on a quest straightaway and prove yourself as an adventurer that way, turn to
389.
Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.
Adventure Sheet
Lee Miles
SKILL: 6
Initial Skill: 6
STAMINA: 9
Initial Stamina: 12
LUCK: 6
Initial Luck: 6
AMONOUR: 2
MONEY:
10 Salacoins =
1 Gold Piece
10 Gold Pieces
0 Salacoins
PROVISIONS REMAINING: 0
ITEMS OR EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
Clothes
Trinket
Backpack
Short Sword
Spare Clothes
Purse
Longbeard’s Legends of the Windward Plains
Adventurers’ Permit
SPECIAL SKILLS:
(None)
THE WHEEL OF THE WEEK:
Stormsday