Fantasy Text Adventure I

Corvina

You have just come of age. You are a fairly well-off (but not rich) young adult who has finished their apprenticeship. Now you wander the streets of the great city of Wernichsburg, the capital of the Northeast Mark

What is your name?

KilgoreTrout

"Boaty McBoatface".

Nah, not really. I'll go with, um....

..."Heinrich Voss".

Corvina

Welcome, Heinrich.

You were an apprentice. Were you an apprentice to a thief, to a monastic order, to a priesthood, to a wizard, or to the town garrison?

KilgoreTrout

A thief.

Corvina

Theft, contract killing, corruption, blackmailing, bookmaking, loansharking and trafficking--these are the skills you learned under the auspice of Ulrike, one of the myriad actors in the vast criminal and political underground of the Itruliyan Empire.

Was Ulrike attached to any particular organization, or did she act independently?

MadassAlex

Ulrike was a prominent associate of the local chapter of a major fencing guild, an environment wherein she could rub shoulders with prominent nobility, skilled commoners, and mercenaries ascending through the ranks. Her mastery of honourable combat has brought her endless insight into perfect deception while keeping her largely shielded from common suspicion. 

Corvina

As you achieved adulthood, your apprenticeship was deemed over. You now live in the upper story of a small shop run by an old contact of Ulrike's in a middling district of town. However, he isn't renting it to you out of the kindness of his heart of any sort of debt to Ulrike.

In order to make rent, you must search for small jobs. The sun rises, and it seems like the perfect day to begin your search. Where do you go?

MadassAlex

To areas of high activity, such as a town or district square. We'll be most likely to find people advertising jobs there, or otherwise have many passers-by to offer our services to (whatever that may mean). We're also likely to find things like notice boards and stalls, and will retain the ability to disappear into a crowd. 

On that note, we are sure to wear indistinct clothing before leaving. 

Corvina

Who's we? Heinrich lives alone.

Anyhow, you walk to Friedrichsplatz. Out of all the job offerings, two catch your eye:
A small radical group needs a thief to work on "appropriating supplies". The job pays middlingly

-- or --

The High Priest of the Temple of Enorxes, a minor cult, has claimed that a relic of Enorxes in a ruined Temple in the outskirts is calling to the Friedrichsplatz temple. He needs a thief to steal it. This job pays middlingly.
Which do you choose?

MadassAlex

"We" is the collective will that moves the meatpuppet "Heinrich".

Looks like we're working for shady characters either way. Can we investigate each option, or are we pressed to choose now? If pressed, I would choose the first option -- anyone whose motivations might veer too far from money or power might do something... illogical. Heinrich just can't have that, I'd suspect. 

Corvina

Ah, OK.

Which would you like to investigate first?

MadassAlex

Investigate first option first.

Corvina

Right, sorry.
The group is known as the Black Nightshade Society. It distributes free food to the poor and arms to its paramilitary. These are what it requires

glennmagusharvey

(I just want to say I'm enjoying this thread already, even though I have nothing to contribute to it at the moment. :) )

KilgoreTrout

See if they'll pay more than just middlingly. I mean, we do have a lot of other jobs we can take that pay more. (Okay, just the one, and it may not actually pay more, but we're bluffing.)

Corvina

KilgoreTrout said:

See if they'll pay more than just middlingly. I mean, we do have a lot of other jobs we can take that pay more. (Okay, just the one, and it may not actually pay more, but we're bluffing.)

The representative of the Black Nightshade Society notes that this is clearly a lie. Few people would wish to risk publicly associating themselves with the Black Nightshade Society if a more well-paying, more respectable alternative existed. Only those who have no better option--or those whose hearts beat for liberty and who wish to serve the people--would risk it.

KilgoreTrout

Hmm. Oh well, worth a try.

Let's tell him (or her) we'll get back to the Society with our answer, and then investigate that High Priest.

Corvina

Unfortunately, you can't get an audience with the High Priest himself, but you do get to talk to a lesser member of the clergy. He says that he heard a relic of Enorxes in a ruined temple a few miles from the city call out to him, telling him to fetch the relic and bring it back to the temple

KilgoreTrout

Hmm, I'm not sure if Heinrich is any great judge of character, but what's his impression of this clergyman? Does he seem like he might be dishonest or evil or anything negative like that?

Corvina

He seems a little ashamed, but otherwise largely neutral

KilgoreTrout

Spoiler:

I believe I will let Alex pick who to work for. Or somebody else. In any case, I can't decide.

glennmagusharvey

Spoiler:

I'm leaning toward the first job

MadassAlex

I'm still feeling the first job, so there's my vote. 

Corvina

You tell the Black Nightshade Society that you'll take the job. She beckons you to follow her through a complicated series of twists and turns through alleys and streets until you find yourself in a safehouse. The details of the operation are given. You are to disrupt a shipment of grain and vegetables from a noble's country estate to their city home under cover of night a week from today.

MadassAlex

We ask for further details about the path of the shipment, such as its passage through the likes of mountain passes or rivers, or how remote certain sections of road are from the nearest residence. Additionally, we will need to know roughly how well-guarded it is, as well as the style of its defenders. 

Corvina

It's guarded by two guards, both carrying a sword. It will cross the river Ichturnach at Mansfurt just a few miles south-west of here in a week.

glennmagusharvey

Heinrich checks his equipment and supplies in order to make preparations for the mission.  What does Heinrich have and what might he need?

Corvina

He has a grappling hook, a dagger, a knife, lockpicks, a garotte, and a rope. As for what he might need, that's for you to decide.

KilgoreTrout

Can we acquire something like a smoke bomb, or a whole lot of them?

MadassAlex

If the shipment is only guarded by two swordsmen, and those warriors need to make a river crossing, I don't think this is going to be overwhelmingly complex. Our mission is to "disrupt" the shipment, too, which could include a variety of outcomes. 

I think we'll want a sword and some kind of projectile weapon. The sword is so that we can fight another swordsman on relatively equal terms, and the projectile weapon is so we can threaten an opponent in difficult terrain without standing there ourselves. A horse-drawn shipment can't bolt through a river crossing, either, so we capture the shipment if we can deal with its guards while it's essentially trapped on poor ground. 

Granted, we might be better off purchasing a sword for ourselves and hiring an archer rather than buying a bow. The archer's services will be cheaper than a bow or especially a crossbow, and a second person provides us with spatial options. For instance, if a hired archer is on the other side of the river compared to Heinrich, Heinrich could hold up the shipment while the archer places shots from behind. 

That said, the reason we're taking this job is financial, so we can't just spend whatever we want. A decent sword could be seen as an investment, though, and is probably the minimum we want for defending ourselves in violent situations. Even then, though, we're likely to lose against two swordsmen together, so having a way to exploit that river is going to be crucial. 

KilgoreTrout

I originally thought that all we had to do was keep the shipment from reaching its destination and considered ways of doing that, some of which involved destroying it. But then I looked up and saw that the notice for the job said "A small radical group needs a thief to work on 'appropriating supplies'", so the Society probably wants the foodstuffs intact.

If we can get a second person to help us out, then that would make things easier. We're already supposed to do this job under cover of night, and I was thinking the best time to make our move--whatever that move turns out to be--is probably when one of the guards is asleep and the other one is keeping watch.

Perhaps surreptitiously disarm the sleeping guard before sneaking up on the one who's awake and knocking him or her out? Even if attacking the one on watch makes enough noise to wake up the other guard, they'll find themselves swordless. If we have an archer with us, they could hold the just-waking-up guard at bowpoint.

As for what I was thinking of doing with the smoke bomb: either startle the horses and move in while the guards are trying to calm them down while simultaneously trying to see through the smoke, or throwing it right at the guards and absconding with the wagon full of goods while they cough and flail around.

Corvina

So, will you buy anything?

MadassAlex

^^ A bow can't be held at tension for long, certainly not long enough to control someone via holding them up. Smoke bombs have their limitations, too; as specialised tech, their manufacturer and seller can be triangulated, and they might malfunction or perform poorly if they land in water. A smoke bomb would be a fantastic tool for exploiting an enclosed space, but holding up and capturing a shipment on a road under an open sky is a different matter. 

^ Whatch'er sellin'? 

I'm firmly in favour of buying a basic, one-handed sword. Temporarily purchasing the services of a mercenary archer is something I'm still keen on, for both strategic and financial reasons. I suspect other participants here would contest the second expense moreso than the first, so why don't we "lock in" the sword? 

glennmagusharvey

Since Heinrich is a thief by trade, a smoke bomb might be a useful thing to get and hang onto just in case, not just for this mission, if it's not too expensive.

KilgoreTrout

I actually like the archer idea, since a single person going up against two guards would have a much rougher time than two people doing the same.

And yeah, a smoke bomb would be good to have, although if we don't need it for this particular mission we might want to wait until after we've gotten the reward to buy it. Again, depending how much one would cost.

Corvina

You can buy a smoke bomb and a sword, but not both.

MadassAlex

The sword, strongly. A one-time gimmick tool is far less useful to us than the additional general security of a sword. 

KilgoreTrout

Agreed, sword's a better investment.

glennmagusharvey

Yeah, a sword is better.  Smoke bomb can be bought with the money we earn after this job :P

Corvina

OK, you now have a sword. Nothing special about it.

Do you do anything else today, or in the following week?

Sredni Vashtar

Find free amusements. Learn about the city's culture and history. Get a feel for the people in the different districts in a fairly discreet, unobtrusive fashion.

Also: Don't get mugged.

glennmagusharvey

Keep an eye out for loose change while walking down the streets. :P

MadassAlex

Corvina said:

OK, you now have a sword. Nothing special about it.

Do you do anything else today, or in the following week?

I'd like us to find some time to gather some additional intel, if possible, on our mark and our employer. Which noble are we about to cheese off, and what are they known for, if anything? Is there a particular reason our employers have chosen this shipment over others? 

Corvina

Heinrich learns that the Northeast Mark was one of the last territories conquered by the Itruliyan Empire in its expansionary stage. Beyond the Walhonitz Mountains, a great mountain range, it remains relatively unsettled, though ruled by petty lords. Only the western portion, the Royal Mark ruled directly as a province by the Margrave (not by petty-lords subject to him), has been heavily settled by the Itruliyans and can thus be considered 'civilised'. The lands beyond the Walhonitz--Transgualhonitsia--are not well-provided for, and the peasants there live fearful lives, subjected to not only the terror of the Itruliyan Empire and their local lords, but also of various monsters, demons, sorcerers &c, and cannot expect anything but trouble from the legions assigned there.

As for free amusements, near the Scholar's Quarter, there's an aged philosophers giving a free lecture every Sunday. For low cost, there's a circus in town

KilgoreTrout

Hmm, well we have a week. I vote we go to the circus!

glennmagusharvey

I would have suggested going to the philosopher's talk to improve Heinrich's familiarity beyond the lower-class and underworld realms of the city, by just generally being observant of the people at the talk.  It's free, but probably more likely to be attended by the idle rich as well as more spiritual types.

KilgoreTrout

Any reason we can't do both?

Corvina

There's no reason you couldn't do both. I'll update with a description later

Corvina

The circus is full of all sorts of attractions. Besides the famous lion-tamer who's visiting for about 3 months this year, there's also a troupe of actors, ready to play tragedy, comedy, or romance--a Punch and Judy show, clowns, and all sorts of fun foods.

KilgoreTrout

In the spirit of trying anything and everything to see what happens like in old adventure games, I want to ask those actors if I can join their troupe.

Corvina

They ask if you have any training, if you know any plays