You hear voices heading towards you. You hide behind some wooden barrels. Before you put your candle out, you notice you have left a trail of wet footprints which lead to your hiding place.

Do I have a spell for this?

You have used your camouflage spell. You could use the wipe clean spell, I suppose. It will wipe your footprints away.

Do it.

Very well, but you will have no spells left if you go through them like you are doing.

Do I have a choice?

No.

The group of people walk towards where you are hiding. There is a wooden table and stools just in front of the barrels. They sit down. You recognise one of the voices as Elspeth’s. There are four men with her who you have seen before in the tavern. She appears to be in charge of them. They place candles on the table and light the lanterns lining the walls.

You listen intently, wishing you were invisible.

“Is everything ready?”

“Yes, Elspethe. The gunpowder’s all here, and the king himself will be in three days’ time.”

“Good. He can’t be on the throne a moment longer than that. It was never meant to be his.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to go ahead with such a daring plan, not after what happened here last night.”

“Oh? And why is that Laffe?”

“Well, because… Trellis is here and… those thieves badly bungled killing that tourist last night. It’s drawn a lot of attention to this place. I think we should wait at least Trellis has gone.”

“Do you? I don’t. Thieves are always killing tourists. The guides don’t like them taking the job off them, but what can you do? It’s how it works here. Trellis isn’t a problem for us.”

“I beg to differ. He sang that song about the latest plot that failed to kill the king - and he was looking directly at us when he sang it.”

“So? He knows nothing of our plot. Only we do unless one of you has been chatty? I hope not.”

“We’ll have our heads on spikes once the gallows have done their job. Can we not wait a bit longer?”

“No. The plan goes ahead.”

“But Trellis… he’s a powerful man. Some say he’s a magician. He could be here now, for all we know, listening to us… I’m sure I can feel eyes boring into me, I can.”

“Laffe, you’re hysterical. If you lose your wits, we’ll lose our lives. Are you sure you still want to be a part of history - the right side of history?”

“Of course, but… something feels wrong…”

“Torque, go and search the rest of the passageway to put Laffe’s overactive imagination to rest.”

You hold your breath as Torque walks past you sweeping his lit candle over the barrels you’re hiding behind. You hear his footsteps on the wet stone floor heading up to your room. You hope the door shut properly.

That Elspethe has got a lot of explaining to do. What is she? A barmaid, or a criminal mastermind? Why is she their leader? Why do they want to kill the king so badly? Why does she keep such bad company? Why are they holding secret meetings in a secret corridor? How did they even find this place?

Do you have any more questions? Because you really held back there. Are you sure there are not one or two more you would like to add to the list?

Why are you so sarcastic when you’re meant to be a computer? You can add that one if you like.

I suggest you listen to them rather than criticise me.

You dare not move in case you make a noise that alerts them to your presence. Torque returns, slightly out of breath.

“All okay at the other end. And the floor is wet through here. If anyone walked through here recently, there’d be footprints left behind, like mine. There’s only mine.”

“Good point. Does that make you feel any better, Laffe?”

“Slightly, but don’t you think we should move the gunpowder barrels? We don’t want them to get wet especially after all we’ve gone through to get them here. Without them, our plan won’t work.”

The men scrape their stools as they stand up to move the barrels you are hiding behind.

“No! Not now! Later. We must make the final arrangements. I need to get back to work before I’m missed. Come back after dinner and move the barrels. Put them on Kalder’s cart and take them to the safe house.”

“Just how safe is the safe house?”

“My, my, you are full of doubts today, Laffe. Go on, spit it out.”

“Can you really trust Sir Welldohn? He’s taking a huge risk letting us store the gunpowder at his house. It will get traced back to him and if they get him in the Star room - he’ll squeal.”

“Can you tell the future, Laffe?”

“No… but I…”

“It sounds to me like you’re getting cold feet. And that means you’re a liability, a loose cannon.”

“No… I…”

“Yes. I can’t have someone like you onboard. You can’t take part in the plot.”

“Oh. Well… if you’re sure you don’t need me…”

“You’ve been very useful sourcing the gunpowder for us, but we have all we need now. You have no further use.”

“But I was to light the fuse…”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“I really don’t think that’s the right job for you anymore.”

“So… you’re going ahead without me? Well, I’m disappointed, obviously, but I understand. I wish you luck. May the Gods save the Queen.”

“Where are you going, Laffe? You can’t possibly think we can let you leave, not when you know all our plans - the plans you’ll no longer be a part of.”

“So, you want me to stay here and guard the gunpowder?”

“No. You must be silenced. You can’t leave here alive.”

“Surely, you don’t mean to kill him!”

“I must. I demand absolute loyalty. I said so at the very beginning. Do you wish to join him, Torque?”

“No, of course not. It just seems harsh after all the work he’s put into the plan and…”

“Silence! It’s been decided.”

You gasp in shock as Elspethe’s back splits in two at her spine and a black and blue striped serpent’s head emerges. It lunges at the terrified Laffe who screams as its fangs spike the soft flesh of his neck. His eyes bulge as the powerful venom pumps into his veins. He is dead in seconds.

The snake eyes the rest of the group before it retreats seamlessly back into Elspethe’s body as though it had never happened.

The remaining men are stunned into silence and know it was a powerful warning of their own fate if they dare to put Elspethe’s plot in peril.

“The thieves will be happy. They can have this body. They missed out on the shield maiden’s last night. They’ll pay me well for it. I’ll send them to collect it after dark. If anyone asks if you’ve seen Laffe, say you have, but he was drunk and heading up to the swamps again when you last saw him. They’ll think he’s had a tragic ‘accident’. They’ll never find him. The students do like to chop bodies up as you know. They make jigsaws of ‘em. Chop ‘em up into pieces - then put ‘em back together again. It’s a handy skill to have on the battlefield, so I’m told. If anyone’s in that many pieces on a battlefield, I doubt they can be brought back to life, even if you could put them together again, but there you are. It keeps them busy.”

What is Elspethe? She’s… got a snake hidden in her back!

She is a Serpent Syren. Not many live to tell the tale of seeing one in action. I must say out of all the adventurers so far that have passed through here, you really are going all out to fill every moment with far more peril than any of the others. Most did not survive to see breakfast.

These others… why didn’t many survive?

You all arrive here in the same place. You all receive varying amounts of Kand to purchase basic equipment and spells with. You all have only one hour to spend your Kand before it is stolen. You are all equal when it comes to the start…

So how come most die before this point?

I was getting to that. Sometimes the character they choose is a hindrance. For example, one traveller thought a tooth fairy would be a ‘laugh’ and so he was trying to fight cut purses - as a tooth fairy. It did not go his way.

So, my choice as a shield maiden was a good one?

It was - till you decided you could not use your axe.

I understand that now.

Other travellers did not pay for the tavern in advance like you did - and had nowhere to stay that first night so they were easy pickings for the pickpockets who killed them in the night. Some simply perished in bad weather with no shelter.

Some employed guides. Some set off straight away with no idea where they were headed and most made bad choices when buying equipment and spells.

I see. So, what you’re saying is… a character’s actions shape the adventure? And no two adventures are the same?

Correct.

But not everyone died?

No. Some are out there still. Somehow.

And do they have you, too?

Yes. I can have more than one dialogue box open at once.

But none of them has ever been down here, or seen Elspethe as she really is?

No.

Trust me to have the most perilous adventure of all. I still don’t understand why Granddad would pretend no one had been in the POD-VRI before when several had.

You will find out sooner than you think. You must leave before the thieves come to collect Laffe’s body. Your provisions pack is waiting downstairs.

What do I do after that, though? Where do I go?

Those are your decisions to make.

You hear Elspethe’s voice at the far end of the secret corridor.

“Kalder! Rustle up some spider searchers, will you? Laffe’s made me feel on edge someone might’ve been eavesdropping on us. The spiders won’t let them out alive if there’s anyone down here. Don’t set them free till they’ve taken the body, though. You know how they love the taste of flesh and bone.”

Err… Spider searchers?

Nasty little things. Like killer ants. They get sent into secret rooms and caves if anyone is suspected of hiding there. They swarm and digest them when they find them. Not a single tooth is left behind.

That sounds awful. How do they know if anyone was hiding though if there’s nothing left of them?

The spiders leave ten times bigger.

I need to get out of here! I don’t want to become spider breakfast. I haven’t digested my own yet.

You hastily stand up and make your way cautiously to the other end of the corridor. You find the secret door which leads out at the back of Room 1, near the stairs.

You climb down the stairs trying to act normal. You see Elspethe serving people at the bar, and you cannot help but shiver in revulsion at the memory of the snake hidden in her back.

Trellis makes you jump by shouting your name. He walks over to you.

“I’m curious. What are your plans?”

“I don’t have any plans beyond finding my grandfather’s scrolls and going home.”

“Where do you think they may be?”

“They could be hidden in this tavern or be buried at the edge of the world for all I know. They don’t have a beacon and I don’t have a map.”

“You might not, but that man over there might be someone you’d like to talk to.”

He points to a one eyed, elderly beggar sat at one of the tables. He has a staff and a large bulging jute sack at the side of him. He has flowing, tangled white hair and an equally tangled beard. He is wearing patched clothing.

You collect your provisions pack off a silent Sal and head over to the beggar.

“I’m Valda. Trellis said I should come and speak to you.”

“Trellis? Why? Who are you? What you want?”

“Do you know anything about scrolls? My grandad left four here. I must find them before I can go home.”

“Scrolls? There are many scrolls on Glamis. As many as there are stars in the sky.”

“I was afraid of that. But these are written in a secret code. Does that not narrow it down?”

“Secret codes? That explains Trellis’ interest in them.”

“These scrolls are only of value to me.”

“If someone has the scrolls then they have value for them, because they have value for you. Do you understand?”

“Yes. But no one has the scrolls, so that’s not an issue. I wish I had a map. Glamis is a big planet. I could search forever and never find one and even if I do find them, I don’t know the cipher.

“You should’ve chosen an easier quest. Others seek the scrolls; you can bet on that. I cannot help you with the scrolls, but I do have a map. I found it a few months ago. It was packed well in oilskin and tied with twine in a field I slept in one night, under a haystack.”

“A map of what?”

“Anything you want it to be.”

“I don’t understand.”

“This map is blank. You determine what it’s a map of by thinking of what you want to find or where you want to go.”

“So, it’s…like Satnav… you put in a postcode and there’s the route to… your intended destination.”

“I’ve not heard of Satnav or a postcode, but this map is a genuine enchanted one, using Scribe magick and twice dipped goat leather.”

“I have no coin left; the pickpockets took it.”

“Perhaps they did you a favour - because of them, you were led to me.”

“Can I see the map? I can’t buy it, but if I can at least get an idea of where the scrolls are, it would be a big help.”

“What skills do you have?”

“I can use an axe (now) and I can blend herbs to make potions.”

“They’re useful skills to have. Make me a potion for my poor blistered feet - and I’ll give you the map. If it works.”

“You’ll give me the map?”

“In exchange for relief from the unbearable pain I’m in, yes. I have no need for the map now. I’ve been everywhere I want to go. My feet don’t want to walk another step. You have places to go. You need it more than I do.”

“I’ll start collecting herbs for you right now. Is there a forest and stream nearby?”

“Yes. Go out of the door and turn left. Follow the main road through the town past the farms on the left. You’ll smell Peachmusk and Sapphire Lyons just before you reach The River of Shifting Sands. The Forest of the Unwary lies on the opposite side of the river. I’ll wait here.”

“Thank you so much. You’ve been a great help.”

“I wouldn’t thank me yet. The forest is feared in these parts for a reason. Be careful of things above you and the river. Not all is as it appears here.”

“So I’m told. I’ll be back!”

“I hope so, but usually when people say that… they don’t return…”

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