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 5. Once you’ve completed everything that you wished to do, click this option to continue the story.
Unable to delay your contract any longer, you make your way back out through the busy streets of the marketplace and start in the direction of The Wingdart Chapter House, which is located near the back of town where you see four warriors equipped in black leather, stitched with the emblem of the wingdarts on their breast standing watch by the entrance that leads towards a small fortress with stark grey walls.
Too dangerous to walk right in without being recognised, you slip into a nearby alleyway that overlooks the fortress, follow it downward, and you stop at a sewer entrance nestled below the fortress in a trench line, filled with a mountain of refuse that comes through the dwarven aqueducts and is dumped here, before the mages come along each morning and burn it away.
Taking one last snifter of the oh so sweet fresh air, you hold your breath, and climb the mounds of shit, rubbish, and deceased corpses to the large round opening in the side of what had been hill and enter the sludge infested mess.
Eyes watering at smell, you try to stop yourself from gagging on your own vomit, and quickly push on through the darkened tunnel, hearing the scitter of rats and other vermin as you clench your teeth. All the while cursing the dwarf for putting you in this position.
Of course, you could have just walked in through the front gates, but knowing what the Captain had in store for you, she was more apt to either arrest you or kill on the spot.
Distracted by rats scrabbling at your feet, you let out a low growl and stomp down with your boots, before taking the left tunnel where you finally discover the secret entrance you’d used all those years to escape the Captain’s murderous clutches.
Stepping on oddly shaped rock in front of what to be an ordinary wall of the sewer, you wait for it slide open and reveal a staircase that leads up into the fortress and into the quarters of the recruits who would be out training right now.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Certain you’d find some clue as to who robbed Glumdel among their belongings, you all but gallop up the staircase, and come out from behind a bookcase, before beginning your search of the chamber, which was neatly sorted with rows of beds. The storage chests in front of their bunks locked with a simple one-two combination that you easily smash open with a knife.
Not sure how long you’d have to peruse their belongings, you move quickly from one chest to the next, breaking them open and looking inside, before pocketing a few items for yourself. As you had half expected, none of them had much, to begin with, except for one sly bastard that had almost a dozen pouches stuffed full of gold.
Having met a few of these blaggards who refused to pay for anything and stole anything they could get their hands on, you surmised that this recruit must have been thieving for some time now before he was finally forced to hideaway here, then make his escape later from town.
Foot pressed to tap a tile beneath the bed, you close the secret passage behind you, clean yourself off using one of the recruit’s uniforms, then change into some fresh clothing, before discarding your clothing out the window.
You then slip underneath the bed of the thief and close your eyes to get some sleep, while you wait for your target to arrive.
Many hours later as you dream of bosomy barmaids, you hear the heavy sound of footfalls as dozens of feet cross into the room. Their childish voices boasting of their exploits in the Hero’s Guild or some worthless contract they completed against a cave with a few hobs inside. While a few commented on the smell of their quarters which to your nose still smelt far better than the sewers below.
Patiently waiting for everyone to go to sleep, you hear the creak of the bed above you, wait till there were no more movements, then slowly slide out with a dagger drawn.
Looking down at the sleeping form of a young gnome no older than twenty summers old, you begin to wonder if you should go through with the kill after all? All Glumdel really wanted was his gold back and there was more than enough of it to pay the dwarf and more in the chest.
(Click here to complete the job and end the gnome’s life.)
Spoiler: Spoiler
Still, a job was a job and you hadn’t come all this way to just walk away now. So with one quick slash, you open up the gnome’s throat who chokes on his own blood. Empty out the chest with all his ill-gotten possessions, and head back out through the sewers.
Obviously Glumdel would not be displeased you hadn’t brought the gnome’s head back, but be damned if you were going to carry that thing through the sewers where it could attract god knows what down there. (+ 580 Gold Pieces.)
Back at the Inn, you order yourself another mug of heart-knocker, drink it down, then pay for a room...
(Click here to empty the chest and just leave.)
Spoiler: Spoiler
Not much on taking life, just for the fun of it, you let out a heavy sigh, and empty out the gnome’s ill-gotten positions, before heading back out through the sewers and towards the Inn.
Obviously Glumdel would not be displeased you hadn’t completed the job, but gold was gold and he should be satisfied at least to get his gold back with interest. (+ 380 Gold Pieces.)
Back at the Inn, you order yourself another mug of heart-knocker, drink it down, then pay for a room...
(Click here if you’d like to pay for a room upstairs. Cost: 150 Gold Pieces.)
Spoiler: Spoiler
Entering the luxurious room that smelled of perfume and scented wine, you go out onto the balcony to take in the rich smells of the town, ogle the women in front of the bordello, before heading to bed for the night on a plump pillow that felt like you were floating on a cloud.
Battle Results
+ 50 Health Points
Loot
None
(Click here if you’d like to pay for a room downstairs. Cost: 10 Gold Pieces.)
Spoiler: Spoiler
With the sudden daunting realization, you would need to part with your hard-won gold, you let out a wince and instead pay for the straw pallet below in the cellar that smelled of rotten eggs, puke and was infected with lice and rats that pester you all night.
Battle Results
- 40 Health Points
Loot
None