Choice Results are at the bottom. Good luck!
After traveling for many more miles out on the Open Plains without any further interference from the Centaurs, you near the Bordertown of Harthorn. A place where drifters, adventurers, sellswords and warriors alike gather together to tell tales of their adventures and collect news from the outside world. Setup by the Dwarven Lords of the eight Domains as neutral ground, the town is mostly populated by Dwarves that only come out of their homes at night for fear of losing their eyesight. In any case, you find this to be a good place to rest up for the day and recover from your wounds, before continuing on your journey to the Mountain stronghold of Stonefold. As you enter the remarkably shabby town, you see hundreds of warriors from all kinds of races, Orcs, Redlings, Centaurs, Elves, Minotaurs, Trolls, and Werewolves wandering about the cobblestone streets in search of a fight, booze or female company.
Careful to avoid bumping into any of them. You walk along the street and find yourself standing right in front of several food merchants selling their wares. One is selling apple pies, one is selling freshly baked bread and another is selling raw meat. (If you wish to pay for food, it will cost you 1 gold piece each. Each item you pay for will boost your health points by 1. You cannot, however, purchase more than 3 items.)
Rolling your eyes in amusement, you walk away from the stall, and press on towards the center of the town, making sure to avoid all eye contact with many dangerous miscreants that wander the streets looking for trouble. There you find several more signposts, and raise a quizzical eyebrow in surprise. It seems the town offers more than just sanctuary and rest for the restless wanderer. It also offers training to those, who have gold to pay for it. One training on offer is mental resistance, another offers increased aptitude in battle and the last offers endurance training. However, you could just go to the inn to get a good night's sleep instead of spending the day training. Or save your gold by heading out of town a way's to get some sleep by the road. You take a moment to think about what you should do.
Choice 4. Do visit the Hero’s Guild (Boost your Health Points)? 20 Gold Pieces
The Hero’s Guild, an apt name for a group of self-righteous bastards who thought they were better than everyone else, while quite bothersome to navigate, they did have the kind of intensive training that could turn would be warriors into proper adventurers with real backbone. The signpost pointing north towards an opulent mansion behind the statue, surrounded by walls, and shrubbery that rose several feet into the air with garden beds that ringed the building on all sides to give the place a rather pleasant smell, but a colourful one as well with rows of purple wildflowers, bright yellow earbuds, and crimson red stingers.
Swarming with bands of adventurers in spotless armor that hadn’t seen real battle yet, you pass them by in the yard out front and walk through the grand archway that leads into a palace of unimaginable wealth with marble flooring, fluted columns that hold up the ceiling, and a mosaic that boasted a painting of the Lightbearer in golden armor, and an assortment of portraits and various statues that stood around the grand hall depicting heroes in their famous poses. Each one of them sneering down at you with that same imperious look that had you more than once wanting to take your sword to the lot of them.
Stifling that urge, you ignore the stares you were getting for not being dressed appropriately, and head towards the front desk where a well dressed businesslike dwarf stands behind the counter with a condescending smile.
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Well-groomed with short brown hair that makes him look like one of those noble dwarfs you’ve heard so much about, you know the kind that likes to step down on their own common folk and treat them like dirt, the dwarf sniffs his huge beaked nose at your approach, and splays on a fake smile.
If only to stop yourself from strangling the obnoxious toad, you state, “Give me your hardest dungeon.”
Pale grey eyes almost fluttering wide open, the dwarf stares around the hall in stunned disbelief as though he had imagined your words, the faces of everyone in the hall looking at you shocked expressions, before replying, “I think I may have misheard you, sir. Can you please repeat your request.”
Letting out a sigh of annoyance. “I said I wanted to try your hardest dungeon.”
Sweat pouring down his forehead, the dwarf pulls out a white handkerchief from his pocket, and begins mopping up his forehead. “Are you certain, sir? Would you not like to first try out your skills against goblins perhaps?”
Left eyebrow twitching angrily at having to repeat yourself, you lean forward, grab the dwarf roughly by the doublet, and bring him closer to you as you reply through gritted teeth, “I said, give me, your strongest dungeon, or I’ll wring that little neck of yours.” Then released the slimy fool who bobbed his head up and down in apology.
The dwarf immediately tapping one of the bells on the counter to summon an attendant dressed in white pantaloons and a striped golden doublet. The male elf, bowing his head slightly to you, before leading you out of the great hall and into a series of blank corridors.
Mind-wandering away as you recall the many times you’ve visited places such as these. You remember your shocking surprise at finding out the Mage’s College had helped build this place. The Heroes Guild hiring them out to enchant every inch of this building with a thousand different spells, that had transformed every room into a grand masterpiece of illusion that allowed adventurers to venture into some of the darkest, dankest under-pits of the world where they could test their newfound skills against phantom dragons, trolls, goblins and all manner of ungodly beasts that they could ever possibly imagine. An illusion designed to be so powerful, that they could feel the sting from a goblin’s spear thrust, but also be killed if they made too many mistakes.
Filled with all manner of traps and monsters, these dungeons were meant to help would-be adventurers with any brains between them to gain experience against weaker creatures at first, then build their way upwards, making actual combat far simpler.
However, your interest has always lain with the underworld where even the most seasoned warriors were hesitant to travel. There in the very pits of hell itself, you could battle Demon Overlords, face off against Celestials, and match blades with Primordial beings that had existed before the very beginning of time.
Such a challenge like that was hard to pass up, although undoubtedly the risk to life and mind was so great, few ever dared try it.
Taken down a winding staircase, they finally stopped at the threshold of a doorway, engraved with dozens of runes that lit up as the elf touched the doorway.
Swinging openly to reveal pitch-black darkness. The elf gestures for you to go inside.
Battle Results
+ 40 Health Points (Permanent.)
Loot
None