[RPG] Innkeeper's Quest (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy)

[The Chosen One of Arroyo]

[X] ...suggest to your allies that you all resume drinking, confident that no one will trouble you further after that demonstration.

 

[FumblingLinguist]

"Hey Ganīm," you say, "do you think we could get another bottle of that brandy?"

"Sure thing," he replies. He pays another two silver for the bottom, and Ṣadin chips in an extra silver by way of apology for the mess.

Meanwhile, a hunchbacked goblin has emerged from a back room and begun cleaning up shards of broken pottery off the floor. Two bar patrons are getting ready to carry Lathir's fallen assailant out of the tavern. One of them shouts "Hey, Bahir! Qadir! We're going to the Pantheon, you guys coming?" evidently indicating the two guys who got a taste of your broom. (Neither of them look like Qadir you met this morning, but it's a common enough name.) They all exit together, leaving just one of the guys who'd been on the other side of the brawl scowling over his cups.

Spoiler: Die Rolling

Your roll to avoid intoxication is a 10, another success!

After the second bottle of brandy is finished, Ganīm offers to walk you and Lathir back to Thalīra's, and you accept. Ghathur comes along too, leaning on Ganīm and Ṣadin the whole way, evidently holding his liquor less well than the rest of you. The men of clan Mirzahar promise to get Ghathur home safely.

You've earned 1 character point for holding your own in your first bar brawl, and 1 character point for making friends and learning your way around the city. What do you want to do with them?

[ ] Save them—possibly for a bigger "power up"
[ ] Save 1 point, spend 1 point buying Area Knowledge (Zimar'an) at IQ
[ ] Spend 2 points on HP +1
[ ] Spend 2 points raising Carousing by a level
[ ] Spend 2 points raising Merchant by a level
[ ] Spend 2 points on Area Knowledge (Zimar'an) at IQ+1

Spoiler: QM Note

This is a short update, and a bit late. I meant to have it up this weekend, but I got sick. Don't worry, more is coming soon!

 

[Celer]

[X] Save them—possibly for a bigger "power up"

 

[ozymandias]

[ X ] Save them—possibly for a bigger "power up"

 

[FumblingLinguist]

Spoiler: QM Note

So, my thinking I was over being sick turned out to be a bit premature, but I'm actually better now and hope to return to an update at least every weekend, if not more frequent.

When you and Lathir wake up the next morning, the courtyard is a lot busier than when you arrived mid-morning the previous day.

"Peace Lathir, who's your friend?" asks a young woman, really barely more than a girl to your eyes.

"Peace Sahira, this is Marūra. Marūra, this is Sahira. And this" Lathir says, gesturing to another woman whose blue hair and pointy ears mark her as an elf-blood, "is Nawitha."

"Nice to meet you, Marūra," Nawitha says, "I'm sorry, I should be going." The apology seems as much directed at Sahira as anyone. "Peace."

You take your seats, along with the last two loaves of bread that were sitting in a basket on the table.

"You almost missed breakfast," Sahira comments. "Are you new in town, Marūra? Don't worry, you'll get used to waking up without the cock's crow soon enough."
"Oh," says Lathir. "Actually, we were out drinking last night."

That reminds you, "Hey Lathir, what was the deal with that guy who attacked you last night?"

"What!?" Sahira asks.

"I have no idea," Lathir says. "Never saw that guy before in my life."

Whoops. You'd just assumed she knew what the deal was.

"But I'm fine," Lathir reassures Sahira.
"I was just talking to Nawitha about the demon attack on the Pantheon last night. I heard about it from a wineseller who came by earlier this morning. Something's wrong with the city. Demon attacks never happened in my village growing up, but here they happen all the time."

Sahira's home village sounds awfully peaceful—back in Pangang your priest was attacked by a hellhound about a year ago. On the other hand, you have to admit you didn't expect to be hearing about a demon attack on your third day in Zimar'an.

Then, Sahira lowers her voice. "I think it might have something to do with the king. You know he used to be called Taz'ar Khabīri?"—that is, Demon of Shadow, rather than Man of Shadow, something you had heard about, though you rarely hear people make a big deal about it. "Nawitha thinks he's great. She thinks he's a secret elf-blood using magic to disguise himself. But I think he might actually be a demon."

You barely remember life before King 'Ishar Kabīri. You were a small child when you heard King Mizarshām mir Rōmis had died and that the nobles of Zimar'an had elected a new king. Occasionally, someone from your parents or grandparents generation would say that it was weird to have a wizard for a king, but for the most part there wasn't much discontent.

Lathir begins murmuring sympathetically at Sahira's comments. Then you say...

- [ ] "Thank you! That's what I've always thought. It's so obvious, why don't other people see it?"
- [ ] "If Nawitha thinks he's an elf-blood, maybe he is. Doesn't it make sense that an elf-blood would be able to identify another elf-blood?"
- [ ] "I think he's just a wizard. I grew up in a tavern, I always heard all the best gossip—if King 'Ishar Kabīri was anything but human, I'd know."
- [ ] WRITE-IN

Regardless, after you finish morning meal, you will
- [ ] Return to the tavern where you met Ganīm and see if you can figure out why Lathir was attacked.
- [ ] Go to the Pantheon, and see if you can find more information about the demon attack.
- [ ] See if you can find Nawitha, to get her perspective on recent events.
- [ ] Stay at Thalīra's awhile longer, you never know who you else you'll meet.
- [ ] Try to find that book for Censor Ranis.
- [ ] WRITE-IN.

 

[ozymandias]

[ ] "If Nawitha thinks he's an elf-blood, maybe he is. Doesn't it make sense that an elf-blood would be able to identify another elf-blood?"

[ ] Try to find that book for Censor Ranis.

 

[Celer]

[X] "If Nawitha thinks he's an elf-blood, maybe he is. Doesn't it make sense that an elf-blood would be able to identify another elf-blood?"

[X] Try to find that book for Censor Ranis.

Saying that the king is a demon doesn't seem necessary, but neither do I wish to cause greater offense in arrogance: towns are very different from cities.

 

[FumblingLinguist]

Spoiler: QM Note

I wrote an outline for a more plot-advancing update, then realized I had a couple gameplay items where introducing them could be a post in itself—namely dealing with injuries, and deciding what equipment to carry around on a regular basis. But because I have a decent idea of what's happening in the next update, the wait for it should be much shorter.

"I suppose that's a good point," Sahira says, as if she really hadn't thought of it like that before.

You're about ready to leave to find that book when you notice Lathir wincing. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing. That guy last night didn't land a hit on me once. The worst of it was tripping and falling into the table. But I'm fine."

Then she winces again.

"Let's go back to the room and take a look at that," you say.

Lathir takes off her vest, making it much easier to see she does, in fact, have tits as claimed the previous day. You get some ointment out from your backpack and have her hike up her tunic to reveal a horizontal scrape that looks exactly like what you'd expect to see on someone who fell backwards onto the edge of a table.

"This will help it heal," you say. She tenses up as if expecting it to start stinging horribly any second, and only relaxes after pulling her tunic back down.

Spoiler: First Aid Roll

3d6 roll of 11 vs. your First Aid-13, with +1 for having a proper first aid kit rather than just some rags to use as bandages.

You put the ointment away, and it occurs to you there might be some other items in there you want to have with you today as you try to track down "Among the Various Parts Animals Have". Or things you carried with you yesterday you might want to leave behind. Yesterday, you carried these things around the entire day:

- [ ] Cloak. 2 lbs.
- [ ] Cheap Large Knife. 1 lb.
- [ ] Cheap Quarterstaff. 4 lbs.
- [ ] Map of Zimar'an, Annotated, Papyrus. 0.09 lbs.
- [ ] Pouch. 0.2 lbs. (Holds silver pieces.0
- [ ] Scroll Case. 1 lb. (Holds map.)
- [ ] Silver Piece ×131. $2620, 2.62 lbs.

But there's a lot of things you could have kept with you after checking in to Thalīra's, yet chose to leave in your room:

- [ ] Backpack. 10 lbs.
- [ ] Balance and Weights. 3 lbs.
- [ ] Bottle of Oil ×2. 3 lbs. each.
- [ ] Burning Glass. 0.25 lbs.
- [ ] Caltrops ×6. 0.5 lbs. per handful.
- [ ] Candle, Tallow. $0.50, 1 lb.
- [ ] Cheap Small Mace. 3 lbs.
- [ ] Cord, 3/16" (10 yards). 0.5 lb.
- [ ] Crowbar. 3 lbs.
- [ ] File. 1 lb.
- [ ] First Aid Kit. 2 lbs.
- [ ] Foul Pepper. 1 lb.
- [ ] Garlic. 0.25 lbs.
- [ ] Holy Symbol. 1 lb.
- [ ] Iron Spike [Backpack] $1, 1 lb.
- [ ] Lamp. 2 lbs.
- [ ] Lockpicks. 0.1 lbs.
- [ ] Mallet. 3 lbs.
- [ ] Major Healing Potion ×2 [Backpack] $700, 0.5 lbs.
- [ ] Monster Drool. 0.5 lbs.
- [ ] Pole, 6' ×2. 3 lbs. each
- [ ] Rope, 3/4" (10 yards). 5 lbs.
- [ ] Sack ×2. 3 lbs.
- [ ] Scorpion, 13.5". 6 lbs.
- [ ] Scorpion Bolts, 13.5" ×12. 0.06 lbs. each.
- [ ] Shoulder Quiver. 0.5 lbs.
- [ ] Wax Tablet. 2 lbs.
- [ ] Whetstone. 1 lb.
- [ ] Wineskin, Half-Full. 4.25 lbs.
- [ ] Wolfsbane. 0.25 lbs.
- [ ] Wooden Stake. 0.5 lbs.

(I have omitted a few items because I am taking you will wear clothes, but not lug around camping gear for no reason.)

You're stronger than you look, and can carry up to 45 lbs. without suffering encumbrance penalties. Up to 90 lbs. is considered "light encumbrance", up to 135 lbs. is "medium encumbrance", and more than that is "heavy encumbrance". Technically there's a fifth, "extra-heavy" category, but everything you brought with you from Pangang combined won't put you there.

So, what do you carry with you today as you go about your day?

 

[ozymandias]

Keep what we had yesterday.

 

[FumblingLinguist]

You head out in search of the book Ranis' requested carrying the same things you carried with you yesterday.

Spoiler: Search Roll

I'm calling this a roll vs. Merchant-2—even in a large city with a lot of shops, it's a very specific ask. Luckily you roll another 11, a success.

It takes some work, with nothing coming of your first couple of leads, but eventually you find a bookseller who claims to have what you're looking for. The opening words of the scroll he shows you are indeed "Among the various parts animals have...", and it does indeed have numerous diagrams of animal bodies. After some haggling you, you pay 11 silver and leave with the scroll in hand.

By this time, it's late afternoon, and you initially worry about how you'll find Ranis, but get a tip that the censors are holding court on the steps of the Old Temple and you might be able to talk to them if you hurry. You arrive to see a huge crowd in the plaza in front of the temple. You see seven men standing on the steps of the temple, in identical white cloaks with purple trim, but not all eyes are focused on them. Numerous merchants hawk a variety of wares, and there seems to be a crowd in one corner gathered around a massive column of butterflies.

The censors begin descending the steps and you hurry after Ranis. You almost lose him in the crowd—his short stature doesn't help on that count—but then you reach him.

"Ah, Marūra. Peace." He sees the scroll in your hands. "Follow me." He leads you and Lathir on a winding path south through the city streets and brings you to a building that, from the outside, looks little different than Thalīra's. The first thing you notice that sets it apart is the pair of giant, six-legged lizards, each bigger than a horse, tied up in the courtyard. When Ranis' leads the two of you inside, you can see the building is much more finely furnished as well. He has a servant fetch some bread and watered wine, and tells you to wait in one room while he goes to retrieve a smaller scroll from another. He puts it down on a table along with three small stacks of silver pieces, and indicates you should lay your scroll down as well.

He begins reviewing the scrolls, but then pauses and raises his head to look at you again. "I'd like to know more about you." The next sentence you don't understand—it sounds like Kāian. Without stopping, he continues, "What can you tell me about the tuning I'm wearing? Do you have any musical talents? Or, what can you tell me about this?" He pulls his sword halfway out of his scabbard. It's somehow black and shining and clearly quite sharp at the same time.

Is fate on your side today? And how does it help you?

- [ ] Use Wild Talent to roll vs. IQ for Connoisseur (Luxuries). Defaults to Savoir-Faire-3 if this option is not chosen.
- [ ] Use Wild Talent to roll vs. IQ for Connoisseur (Weapons). Defaults to IQ-5 if this option is not chosen.
- [ ] Use Wild Talent to roll vs. IQ for Hidden Lore (Magical Items). No roll is possible if this option is not chosen.
- [ ] Don't use Wild Talent
- [ ] Use Luck to re-roll the Connoisseur (Luxuries) roll if it fails.
- [ ] Use Luck to re-roll the Connoisseur (Weapons) roll if it fails.
- [ ] Use Luck to re-roll the Hidden Lore (Magical Items) roll if it fails.
- [ ] Don't use Luck.

NOTE: Connoisseur, Luck and Wild Talent can be used together—or only one can be used. Luck can only be used with Hidden Lore if you also use Wild Talent. Only one Wild Talent option can be chosen, but if multiple Luck options are chosen and there are multiple failures to re-roll, I'll pick a failed roll at random.

Additionally, you'll tell Ranis...
- [ ] That you're a great bartender
- [ ] That you're pretty good at dealing with belligerent drunks—by force if necessary.
- [ ] ... and you'll cite the previous night's events as evidence, mentioning meeting Ganīm.
- [ ] ... and you'll cite the previous night's events as evidence, without mentioning meeting Ganīm.
- [ ] That you can play a musical instrument, even though you can't. (This option involves a Fast-Talk roll.)
- [ ] WRITE-IN

 

[ozymandias]

[ ] Use Wild Talent to roll vs. IQ for Hidden Lore (Magical Items). No roll is possible if this option is not chosen.
[ ] Use Luck to re-roll the Hidden Lore (Magical Items) roll if it fails.

] That you're a great bartender
- [ ] That you're pretty good at dealing with belligerent drunks—by force if necessary.
- [ ] ... and you'll cite the previous night's events as evidence, without mentioning meeting Ganīm.

 

[FumblingLinguist]

Spoiler: Die Rolling

You roll a 13 on your Hidden Lore (Magic Items) roll. Default rolls for both Connoisseur specialties fail.

Your eyes go wide. You think you remember hearing about this sword. "Is that... Pākūsh?"

"If it were," Ranis replies, "what could you tell me about it?"

"That it was made from the fires of a volcano by priests of Pūrūn, that it's incredibly sharp, and that if thrown it will return to the owner's hand."

"Very good. Yes, it is Pākūsh, and I'm impressed you know so much about it. Hmmm..." he looks thoughtful for a moment. "Here's your 15 silver, as promised. Sawira, has Yadūn returned yet?"

"I do not know, master," replies the servant woman who'd previously fetched your food.

"Go check. And if you find him, bring him here."

"Yes master."

By the time Ranis is finished putting away the scrolls, Sawira has left and returned—with a gargoyle in tow. In Pangang, you would occasionally see a gargoyle flying overhead, but never up close. He really does look like he's made of stone, or would if he stood still. As he walks in, his body moves as smoothly as if it were made of flesh, and you've never seen stone do that.

"Yadūn, were you able to talk to the big blue woman? What did you find out?"

"I tried to talk to here, but she didn't want to talk to me. I did follow her for a bit though—I can tell you the inn she's staying at." He describes the inn, and you realize it's the one you stayed at your first night in Zimar'an.

"Interesting. Marūra, I have a proposal for you. Earlier today there was a woman in the plaza with blue skin and silver hair. I figure she was at least seven and a half feet tall. I'm curious about her. I'll pay you three silver up front to spend a day finding out whatever you you can about her and report back to here this time tomorrow. How does that sound?"

- [ ] Agree, and go to the inn where she was last seen immediately.
- [ ] Agree, but go back to Thalīra's for the night and try finding the big blue woman tomorrow morning.
- [ ] Politely decline and return to Thalīra's.
- [ ] Politely decline and go somewhere else (see here for some possibilities).
- [ ] WRITE-IN.

 

[Celer]

[X] Agree, and go to the inn where she was last seen immediately.

 

[FumblingLinguist]

You arrive at the inn with the big "INN" sign without incident. "Did you find Thalīra's okay?" the innkeeper asks when he sees you. "Or did you leave something behind?"

"Actually, I'm here on an errand for Censor Ranis," you reply.

"Huh," he seems to believe you, but nevertheless makes a point to say that he'll "have your hide if I find out the two of you are just here to weasel free flop space out of me."

You assure him you aren't, and enter the courtyard. You spot your target immediately. She's got shoulder-length silver hair, golden eyes, blue skin, muscular arms, and is taller sitting down than you are standing up. She isn't wearing anything beyond a fur loincloth, a fur top that's too small to cover her midriff, and a bow slung over her back—not even wearing sandals. The only company at her table is what appears to be a tree branch (for use as a club?)

Strangest of all, she's glowing, noticeably helping illuminate the shade of the courtyard.

"Peace, sister," you say. "I'm Marūra. And this is Lathir. I'm new in town, and I heard another newcomer that I decided I had to check out." You're doing your best to project an aura of this is normal, you are normal, me approaching you is normal even though none of those things feel true. "What brings you here?"

She laughs. "You come to see the big blue lady, eh?" Her speech is strange—you can understand her well enough, but she's clearly not from Hamurān. "I am called Karsīmath. You want to know why I am so big and strong and blue? My mother was a woman, but my father was an angel, that is why. And because you ask, I come here to buy some things, maybe sell some things."

"Sell some things? Like what?"

She reaches into a sack near her feet and pulls out a simple bronze helmet and a bronze sword. "I found these in the cave of an ogre I killed. And... a moment please." She chugs the bottle she was drinking from, sets it back down on the table, then strikes it horizontally with the sword. Not surprisingly, the bottle shatters. More surprisingly, the sword rings, sounding more like a bell than any sound you've ever heard any knife or axe make.

"Magic sword!" she declares.

It occurs to you that, angelic father or no, a seven and a half foot tall, strangely-dressed woman with blue skin might not receive the warmest reception from local merchants. Whereas you figure you can get at least 25 silver pieces for the helmet, probably more (you aren't confident you can judge its quality). As for the sword, it might be a bit more work but your parents would probably be disappointed in you if you had a sword like that and sold it for less than, say, 210 silver—assuming whatever enchantments are on it do more than just make noise.

Spoiler: Self-Control Roll

I'm going to say the potential windfall here calls for a self-control roll for Greed, and I rolled a friggin' 18. Therefore...

The opportunity here is too good to pass up. "If you want to sell these, I've got some silver on me," you say. "I could give you 80 silver for the both of those items."

Karsīmath's eyes narrow. "Are you some kind of wandering trader?" she asks.

"Not exactly. Half a month ago I was helping run my parents' inn in Pangang. But I came to Zimar'an to make my own fortune. So, what do you say?"

She stuffs the helmet and sword back in her bag. Crap. Your low initial offer insulted her. What's your next move?

- [ ] Try to convince her 80 silver is a perfectly reasonable offer (Fast-Talk roll)
- [ ] Ask her for a counter-offer (Merchant roll)
- [ ] Apologize (Diplomacy roll)
- [ ] ...then say you're still willing to help her selling her treasure, and ask what sort of deal she thinks would be fair
- [ ] ...and change the subject, in hopes of getting more information out of her that you can bring to Ranis
- [ ] WRITE-IN

 

[Marlin]

[X] Try to convince her 80 silver is a perfectly reasonable offer (Fast-Talk roll)

 

[Celer]

- [X] Apologize (Diplomacy roll)
- [X] ...then say you're still willing to help her selling her treasure, and ask what sort of deal she thinks would be fair
- [X] Offer to also be her go-between for whatever she wants to buy in the city with her new money

Diplomacy: 13-, Fast-Talk: 13-, Merchant: 13-, for anyone who, like me, wanted to see what our rolls are.

Diplomacy is generally the safest of the social skills, and *failing* the fast-talk here could be damaging to our mission to find out more information, while succeeding at the diplomacy could let us both make a good deal and learn more about her. A complex deal involves understanding what the other person wants, after all.

 

[ozymandias]

[ X ] Apologize (Diplomacy roll)
- [ X ] ...then say you're still willing to help her selling her treasure, and ask what sort of deal she thinks would be fair

 

[FumblingLinguist]

Spoiler: Diplomacy Roll

13 on 3d6. Success!

"I'm sorry," you say. "Stranger makes an offer like that, it's natural to think they're trying to take advantage of you, which was not my intent at all. But I do think I could help you sell your loot. And help you buy supplies—what are you hoping to buy, by the way?"

"A better bow, an axe." Then, she adds, glancing at the one hanging from Lathir's waist, "a big one, not a little hatchet. And maybe I buy venom to put on my arrows, to kill monsters better. Also rations, torches, things like that. But I want to sell things first, then I will see how nice of an axe I can buy, eh?"

"Makes sense. So if I help you... what sort of arrangement do you think would be fair?"

"First, I want to know more about the sword. But who do I trust? I need to find someone who will tell me the truth, not try to cheat me," Karsīmath says.

"Can I see the helmet and the sword again?" Lathir asks. "I'm no spellcaster, but I know a bit about metalworking."

Karsīmath's eyes narrow again, but you jump in. "What's the harm? You can always get a second opinion later," you say with a smile.

Karsīmath obliges. Lathir examines them, and pronounces them "quite well made," and "better than most".

"How good do you mean? Like... 80 silver for the sword alone, even if the magic on it doesn't do anything but make noise? And 100 or more for the helmet?" you ask Lathir.

"Yeah, something like that."

You look nervously at Karsīmath, "By heaven, I wasn't trying trying to cheat you earlier. I was guessing blindly at the price. Guess I don't know weapons as well as Lathir does. Anyway, what do you think would be fair for me helping you sell these things?"

"I will say... ten percent."

- [ ] Agree to this
- [ ] Try to haggle for a bigger cut
- [ ] Suggest an alternative structure (WRITE-IN details)

After hammering out the details of the detail, you'll still have the problem that none of you have real expertise in magic. Therefore...

- [ ] You'll suggest meeting here back here in the morning, to head out together to try to find a wizard who can analyze the sword for a silver or two.
- [ ] It occurs to you their might be great value in having a wizard on retainer who can identify magic items. Tomorrow, you'll try to find one and bring him or her back here with you.
- [ ] WRITE-IN.