Zook stood in the village court, watching as Chief Notty dealt with case after case that morning. Or rather, it seemed as much even though only a few cases were brought before the chief. It was just one of those slow weeks.
"So let me get this straight," said the chief to the man in cuffs standing before him, "you were cheating in the tops tournament by using a metal top instead of a wooden one." He turned to glance at Zook, who merely shrugged. Then he addressed the man again. "You realize the spent more making your little toy than what you would've gained from the prize money, right?" When the other man didn't reply, Notty sighed. "Fine, you forfeit your entrance free and are hereby banned from few tournaments. Oh, and pay a 5 gold fine for wasting my time. Guards, get those cuffs off of him and get him out of my sight."
The chief turned to the gnome standing beside him. "What's next, Mr. Zook?"
Zook stared at the parchment before him. "It looks like Solgi was brought in again for squatting in an empty house."
Notty rolled his eyes. "She gets money from begging and spends it in this village. Can't we do something to help her?"
Before Zook could reply, a man burst into the court. "Sire, I need your help."
Zook looked to the man. "Natrius? What's wrong?"
Grasping his chest and wiping the tears from his eyes, Natrius addressed the two. "It's Daniel."
Hearing the gnome gasp, Notty turned to Zook. "Who?"
Zook raised his hand high above his head. When the chief stared at him, the gnome made a muscular pose attempt.
"Oh," said Notty, "the blacksmith."
Welcome back!
Last time, we learned that our uber-muscular blacksmith named Daniel has an embarrassingly low strength. Well, a few people on the Mythic Discord suggested to turn it into the plot of an adventure, and I think that's a brilliant idea. So this will be about a group stepping out of their comfort zones to help a friend.
Just a warning though, if you're expecting an action packed, hack and slash adventure, you might be disappointed. Remember, these are Level 0 characters. They have a ways to go until they become heroes. Not only that, they can't even walk into a shop and buy thousands of gold in weapons and armor. They'll have to move a step at a time to succeed.
And that's assuming they survive in the first place.
So let's get to it.
I'm not sure what happened to Daniel, so I'm going to let Mythic help me.
(Q) Did Daniel get injured? (50/50) No.
Okay, so it's either a disease or poison.
(Q) Was it caused by a person? (Likely) Yes - Random Event.
(Random) "Strange, Help."
Sounds like it wasn't completely deliberate.
"It's food poisoning," Natrius said. "Evidently, when a group of merchants came through a couple of weeks ago, they traded some food from their home. I looked it over and found out they use a spice native to their land that can be poisonous if you don't slowly build up a resistance to it." Pulling out a small sack, he revealed pieces of multi-colored bread. "Daniel was one of two people who tried it, and it just took effect. This morning, while bending a piece of metal, he collapsed and has been unconscious ever since."
Leaning forward, Notty eyed the other man. "Tell me, Natrius, how do you know all of this? I thought your skills were limited to dying fabrics."
"More or less," said Natrius, "but I've worked with my share of dangerous plants and even learned a bit of medicine, just in case."
"How bad is it?" asked Zook.
Natrius covered the bread again and returned it. "According to my studies, he won't last more than a couple of weeks. His size and health are the only reasons he's lasted this long."
"Wait," said Notty, "what about our healer? Can't he do anything?"
Natrius shook his head. "I'm afraid he was the other who ate the bread. He wasn't so lucky."
"So what do you suggest?" asked the chief.
"We need either the antidote," Natrius answered, "or a really strong healing potion."
"And I'm guessing neither are in supply here," said Notty.
"I'm afraid not, sire," said Natrius, "but we have to do something. Daniel is my closest friend."
"Well that's easy!" Zook perked up. "We just hire a group of adventurers. They're always looking for quests like this."
"Normally, I'd agree with you," said the chief, "but the problem is every adventurer is elsewhere, exploring dungeons, hunting dragons, and the like. We haven't had a group in this village in weeks."
Zook then got a sly grin on his face. "Then we'll do it."
Notty furrowed his brow. "You'll do what?"
"I was once a hireling," Zook answered. "I'll put a group together, and we'll travel to the next town to find either the potion or the antidote."
"The roads aren't safe though," said the chief, "and we can't spare a lot of guards. That would leave us open to attack."
Zook moved his hand aside. "Not a problem sire. I've got the skills we need."
The chief frowned. "What skills? You don't know any spells?"
"Give me a chance," said the gnome, "I can do this."
(Q) Does Chief Notty agree? (Likely, just to get the adventure going) Yes - but BARELY!
Notty sighed. "Something tells me you'll go anyway." He paused in thought. "Fine, you may form a group of 8 individuals; you and 7 others." He looked up. "Make that 6 others, plus you and Natrius."
Natrius looked up. "Me, sire?"
"Yes, you," said the chief. "Mr. Zook'll need your skills with medicine."
"But I don't know how to, what do you call it, adventure?" He held up his hands. "Last time I left the village, it was in a carriage with three guards."
"Best I can do for Daniel," the chief said.
"One other thing," said Zook, "we could use some money for supplies."
"I'm afraid we don't have much with business being slow.," said Notty. "I can't do much."
"We'll take whatever you can spare," said the gnome, "but the more you give us, the better chance we have to succeed."
Let's see if Zook can convince the chief to offer some gold.
(Q) Does Notty give some gold for supplies? (Zook's +1 vs. Notty's +3 = -2 or Very Unlikely) Yes.
"Fine," said the chief. "I'll open the coffers and give you 200 gold." As the gnome's grin grew wider, Notty held up a hand. "That's total, to be divided among your group." He then jabbed a finger. "But once you're done, Daniel owes me a sword that'll cut through an anvil. Am I clear?"
"You got it!" Zook jumped up, tapping Natrius on the back and leading the reluctant other man out of the court.
Next, we build the team.
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