Do you distrust the man this much that you’d actually break into his house?
You enter the market through a wide-open archway. A foul smell assaults yoursenses. There are no market stalls anywhere, but there are sacks of straw piledup in the corners, and various figures in ragged clothes lie on top. When theynotice you, the rabble starts to move.
Do you
turn back?
or wait?
Within seconds, you are surrounded by the wretches of the streets. They harrassyou, begging for scraps and for money. Those closest to you have started nestlingyour purse strings.
Do you
give them something?
try to shoo the rabble away?
The beggars start fighting amongst themselves for your alms. This gives you anopportunity to leave the market again.
Do you want to
get out while you can?
or would you rather wait?
Suddenly, knives appear seemingly from nowhere!
When one of the beggars collapses, covered in blood, the others scramble awayand hide between their sacks of straw. You take that as a clue to get out.
When you enter the market, nothing stirs. There is no sign of the beggars thatwere here just recently…
Magistracy
You see a board holding announcements of the town administrationnext to the door.
Do you
examine those announcements first?
or knock on the door right away?
Announcement:
“To the Citizens and Inhabitants of Lowangen!
Let it be knownthat a state of emergency has been officially declared for the duration. Thesituation warrants no further explanation. The state of emergency leads to thefollowing regulations:
According to the treaty of the Svellt League, fugitivesare to be housed as kindly as possible. Therefore, all inns are hereby orderedto provide lodgings for a set fee of 5 Bits per night and per person. Anyoneoffering private accommodation to fugitives may charge a set fee of 2 Bits pernight and per person.”
“Anyone owning a weapon not used for the protection of their person is herebyordered to turn said weapon in for appropriate restitution at the guard houseat Eydal Bridge within the week to provide adequate armaments for the town guards.Ownership of more than a single weapon for personal protection is prohibited.Ownership of unauthorized weaponry will be punished with a fine or, in extremecases, with a jail sentence.”
“The squandering, destruction or misuse of food for any purpose other than nutritionalneeds is prohibited. Storage of food is allowed within limits, said limits beingthe amount necessary to survive for one week. All food stores beyond the limitare to surrender their stock to the magistracy within the week for thefeeding of the needy. Violations of this order will in all cases be punishedwith a jail sentence.”
Announcement:
“To the citizens and inhabitants of Lowangen!
Let the followingbe known: Whosoever will help the town of Lowangen in her fight against the siegeforces beyond the normal call of duty shall be rewarded by a grant of citizenshipfor life and beyond for all his or her descendants in perpetuity. In particular,the town has need of weapons and food.”
Do you want to
talk to the town magistrate?
or leave?
Town magistrate
After a number of knocks, a young, black-haired woman opens the door. “The officeis closed. We have important things to discuss. If you have something urgentto bring to our attention, please be brief. Otherwise, you will find all necessaryinformation on the bulletin board!”
“Please forgive our intrusion. We will be able to manage on our own!”
“Good! Good-bye then.”
Exhibition of art in craftsmanship
The door of the building is locked, butyou notice a sign:
“Due to the prevalent crisis, the exhibition building willremain closed until further notice.”
Do you
break into the building?
or walk away?
Dextrous and, most important of all, quiet, [NAME] opens the window shutters.
There’s a lot of screeching and creaking as [NAME] opens the window shutters.
Doyou
The interior of the building consists of a single large hall filled with variousempty pedestals apparently meant to support pieces of art.
Do you
look around some more?
or make tracks?
You trample through the exhibition hall revealing a lack of stealth.
There is a wooden flight of stairs leading up in a small room next to the hall.You do not find anything else.
Do you
take a look upstairs?
or just make tracks now?
The wooden stairs screech and creak something awful.
There are a number of small rooms upstairs.
Do you
search the rooms?
or would you rather hurry away now?
There are various chests in the largest room, and inside are the former exhibitionpieces. Amongst them is a brooch with the picture of an ash tree.
Do you
take just the brooch?
or do you want to check out the rest of the stuff?
That is incredibly noisy.
You take the brooch and get the heck out of there.
You have hardly started to work on the window locks when a troop of town guardsmenappears on the scene to inquire.
Do you
surrender?
flee?
or fight?
“The stay in jail will be a lesson to you!” the guard captain tells you as hisguardsmen take you away.
You make tracks as fast as you can before the guards have a chance to call inreinforcements.
“Throw the bums into jail - that’ll give them some time to think about messingaround with other people’s window locks. Let’s hope they’ll learn a lesson!”
Theguardsmen take you away.
Suddenly, a loud voice can be heard from the outside: “Come out in there! Thegame is up!”
A short look through the cracks in the shutters is enough to convinceyou. There must be a dozen town guardsmen out there.
Do you
surrender?
or attempt to fight, outnumbered as you are?
“That’ll get you five days in jail for sure!” the captain of the guard snapswhile his guardsmen bind your wrists and lead you away.
“The nerve of these low-lifes! That alone is going to get them five days of jail.But they deserve another sentence on top of it for their sheer stupidity!” thecaptain says after the guardsmen overpower you and take you away.
That was close! You waste no time and get the lead out before your opponentsget some reinforcements.
guard house at Eydal Bridge
The officer in charge, a woman, looks you over and says: “You are carrying alot of food around - take it to the magistracy and don’t dawdle on theway, or I’ll just confiscate it! Is that understood?!”
Market and Trade Office
The door of this building is locked, but you noticea sign with the following words:
“Decree:
Let it be known that according tothe state of emergency declared in this town, the activities of the Market andTrade Office have been suspended until further notice. For the duration of thisstate of emergency, all legal affairs of the trade are being handled by the townguard and are to be submitted at the guard house at Eydal Bridge.
Gatehouse of Lowangen Fortress
When you attempt to pass through the gate intothe court of Lowangen Fortress, four guardsmen with crossed halberds immediatelyblock your way: “Halt! No one is allowed to enter here!”
Do you
force your way in?
or follow the guardsmen’s orders?
From all around, armed soldiers come running: It is no use. You will have tosurrender!
“That’s two days in the dungeons for you!” the captain of the gate screams. Witha furious gesture, he waves over some of his men: “Get that scum out of my sightbefore I lose control!”
You are bound and led through the lively streets of Lowangento the town jail.
No one answers your knocking.
“Ah! You are back, I see. Well, you are obviously willing to do your best - so:one good turn deserves another. What do you want to know?”
There is a donation bowl next to the bridge. Inside there are a few Bits. Doyou feel like donating something?
What do you want to tithe?
Ducats
Silver Crowns
Bits
How much do you want to tithe?
Do you want to
go to sleep right away?
or take a look around town first?
We were caught trying to break into the exhibition building. During the day,there are simply too many guard patrols on the streets of Lowangen.
We broke into the exhibition house of art in craftsmanship. Of course,breaking and entering isn’t exactly our strong point: the noise we made attracteda patrol of town guards.
Some of us are seriously considering a carreer in thievery: our burglary in theexhibition of art in craftsmanship was a stunning success!
We paid a visit to Ailian Sevensprings. The Elf was very reserved rightfrom the start, and, all in all, behaved in quite a strange fashion.
We have delivered the package in question to Master Deringorn, and one thinghas become perfectly clear: He and Dragan are anything but friends.
You open a huge gate that reveals a narrow tunnel. The musty smell is not whatyou call inviting, but after all you start your way to the other side.
The tunnel seems to be endless, but finally you recognize a gleam of light whichis comming through a door gap. You enter the inside of an old castle.
“So - you could take a bit trouble for this.” Dragan says, looking angryly atthe Vinsalter. “Guess you screwed it up, didn’t you?”
You hardly manage to see Gavron disappearing behind a corner.
Do you
try to catch up Gavron?
or follow him cautiously?
Gavron is as quick as a flash but you are fast enough to pursue. You finallymanage to corner him a few allays away.
This guy is a true lightning - he escapes in no time.
Suddenly Gavron accelerates his steps. Do you
After looking around several times without discovering you, Gavron disapperasinside a building.
“Hey! What’s this going to be? What do you want from me?”
“You precisely know!”
“Where is the Salamanderstone?”
“I really do not know what this is supposed to be!”
You help Gavron to remember by letting him taste your fists.
You let the guy off.
“Ow, stop it!! I’m just going to tell you, what you want to know.”
“I delivered the Salamanderstone to Vindaria. I can’t tell you any more.”
You dig somewhat deeper.
“I really don’t know a thing, I haven’t to do anything with that gang. Theyoffered me 100 Gold for getting that little stone - they hadn’t to tell metwice.”
You just take one moment of unattentiveness and Gavron uses this to escape.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What Salamanderstone?”
Gavron is as quick as a flash. You hardly manage to follow him.
[NAME] loses contact and stays back.
[NAME] and [NAME] lose contact and stay back.
“Bridge toll, 1[N]Silver!” says the duty guard at the bridge.
Do you
turn back?
or pay?
You don’t have enough money!
You pay your obulus and are allowed to pass.
“I think we’ve made a deal! Fulfil your part, so I will fulfil mine!” Sayingthis, Dragan closes the door.
“It has been 7 days now,” [NAME] says surprisingly, “if we don’t find that Gavronguy soon, then it seems like we can forget this Salamanderstone!”