Scene 4
[Choose Urban Adventure
Conflict Scenes: 2 - Intimidate or Put a social pressure on the Actor]
Ever heard this saying “no room for an apple to fall”?
Da’liysh is not among such places, exactly, even if it’s just a rock
floating in the void. But for some reason, which I don’t know exactly, most of
the smithies… well, all of them actually, are situated in one place. The “smoke
district” as the locals call it. That would make my job both easy and harder,
at the same time, since I don’t have to run around the rock looking for this
one particular Mrakor but still, there are more than enough workshops in the
area. I would have a hard time finding him. And even harder still after losing
too much time spending in the company of the bikers. He may have been long gone
since Scarlet told me about him. I mean how long it was since she told me to
look for him? Three? Four hours according to the riders? Can I be sure that he
is still out there among smiths and tinkerers.
This trail of thought was scared away by the noises of hammers. I found
myself on the outskirts of the district. And the sounds of hammering and
tinkering were my welcoming committee… of sort.
[Harold’s Investigation roll d20 + 1, with advantage for Bai Lei being a
human = favored enemy = 12 / 11]
Any workshop was as good as any I thought, so I decided to visit the
nearest… and the loudest one, the two-storied workshop with a wooden sign above
the door, depicting a hammer and a quill. Quite an odd combination but there
was a meaning behind it. A master craftsman was working under the sign.
Nobody reacted to me entering the shop. I could hear hammering sounds
somewhere deep in the building, didn’t skip even a beat when the door screeched
under my lousy touch. Kind of ironic to see and hear not properly oiled door in
the shop like this. Another weird thing was that shop’s counter was empty so
anyone could just take the merchandize from it shelves. Of course, I’d like to
see someone stupid or desperate enough to steal from master craftsman.
Well, there was always me, but I wasn’t that
desperate… yet.
My first and only instinct was to go and look for a source of all that
clanking. Which wasn’t that difficult…
[Roll on General Oracle - Does Harold finds a Mrakor? – No, but… Mrakor’s
boss is in the shop]
Turned out that there was a yard deep inside the building with its own
smithy, and it was occupied at the moment. The weaponsmith was busy as ever,
his hammer was hitting on the chunk of metal loudly, rhythmically… and
ruthlessly.
It may had been not very wise to interrupt him, but…
“May the strikes of your hammer always bring you profit, meister”
The hammering stopped, upon hearing my words. The hammer itself didn’t fly
in my face, though.
I thought it was a good sign.
“And may you always find which is to your liking. Can I help you with
something?”
“Yeh, I’m looking for someone”
“Don’t we all… At some point in our lives?” But that’s not that sort of
establishment, kid. The petal district is on the other side of the rock”
“I may visit it later. No, I’m looking for someone working around these
parts”
“You should be more specific”
“His name is…” And that’s when I realized something. Does the smith know
any guy by the name Bai Lei? I mean, sure, Scarlet did give me a name, but the
name is something precious to any Mrakor as well as the face. And who am I to spit
out other’s secrets?
“He is a Mrakor”
A heavy sigh escaped smith’s chest, a tell that he knew who I was talking
about.
“What did he do this time?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary I assure you. Is he here?”
[Roll Harold’s Persuasion d20 = 10 + 0 vs Weaponsmith’s Passive Insight =
10. Again a draw and again equal to the
standard difficulty of 10 in Scarlet Heroes for level 1 character]
[Stranger NPC reaction 1 + 1 = 2; Roll on Unfriendly NPC table 3 + 1 =
Reasonable refusal]
“I don’t think I need to remind you that this is a smithy. Not a teashop”
Why he had to use this word exactly? Now my limbs are aching. “We sell in metal
not in conversations. So, unless you are here to buy anything…”
I saw where this was going, and it’s not like I had much of a choice here…
“Got any tools to go up close and personal in your collection?”
Now that was the language that he understood
“How “close” are we talking about?”
* * *
“There you go…” The smith put a few items from his collection on the counter in front of me. “Stainless steel. Three and a half inch blades, perfect for throwing. Sting worse than the words of former wife. Six of those would definitely end anyone’s day. If you know how to throw those. But I would prefer not to see any blood on my beauties” I give him a dirty look. One that just screamed: “Are you kidding me?! Why would you craft weapons if you wince about the blood that much?”
A small canvas sack appeared next to the half of dozen of throwing daggers.
“And then there this. It’s not often that I get an order for one of those.
You’re one cruel person to buy something like this”
“Life can be cruel to some of us. Need to be prepared for anything.”
“I can see that…” He was definitely referring biker’s artwork on my face.
“That will be thirty three silver”
“Thirty three?! For a sack of nails?”
“No, for melting the nails together.”
I decided against haggling with this guy, not because he still had the
hammer in his hand, but because I still needed his help.
I laid the payment on the counter. Four rings. One that of gold and three
of silver.
“Isn’t it a bit troublesome? Working both behind the counter and the forge,
at the same time, I mean?”
[Roll Harold’s Persuasion: d20 + 0 vs Craftsman Insight = 11 vs 10. Reaction
roll on Stranger chart 2d6: 5+4 (+1 for a small bribe) = 10 (Full Agreement)]
“That doesn’t happen often. In fact, that maybe the first time ever, when
this happened”
“How so?”
“I was hoping you could tell me, since that’s you who was looking for him.
He was… kind of edgy this morning”
Bingo! As the say on Shakor.
“He may have seen something he shouldn’t have. I’ve come here to ask about
it. Now, is he here?”
The smith silently looked at the staircase that led to upper floor. That
was his answer.
“Second door to the right. I’ll… look after those…” He gave the sack a
gentle pat, not strong enough to pinch himself, but enough to make it sing.
“You won’t need it… if you are here just to talk.”
“Fair enough.” I walked up the ladder, towards my answers and destiny. One
might have been dumbfounded how easily the smith let me pass. That’s only
because he was certain that Mrakor could handle someone like me…
* * *
The smith wasn’t lying. After climbing the staircase I found myself in the
corridor and a set of doors to the right. Three at least.
The craftsman said that I needed the second door. He also said something
about the guy being on edge. Guess that leaves me with trying a polite approach
first. The key word here is “trying”, courtesy was never my strong suit.
I knocked three times, slowly so that the guy on the other side would
register the sound and realize that it wasn’t his just him hearing things.
“What is it?” The voice on the other side was not the voice one would use
to talk to one’s boss, but definitely a voice of someone being cornered.
“Bai Lei? We need to talk.” Maybe starting the conversation using his real
name was not the best move but at least I had his attention.
I heard a sound of lock being fiddled with and a few moment later the door opened.
Just a little, enough for Mrakor to see the intruder that throws around names
that he shouldn’t know about.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Someone who get involved in the mess he didn’t want to be in. Just like
you.”
“I have no idea what you are blabbing about.” And yet he didn’t shut the
door in front of me. That’s a good sign.
“I think you do. And I also think that you regret your decision” It may
have been far-fetched, but judging by his reaction…
“Why would she utter her name to me, at first place” … I truly touched the
nerve. Shaking his head he then entered the door wide enough for me to slip
into.
Mrakor had short red hair and the body that one would have by working day
and night at the forge.
His pair of auburn eyes sized me suspiciously.
“Who are you to her?” No need to be a scholar or an investigator to figure
out who he was speaking about.
“Nobody, really. I haven’t known about her existence until today. The man
she was with, however… he’s my brother.”
“Is he still alive?” There was oh so little empathy in his voice, as you
could imagine. He truly wanted to see Ardet dead in all that chaos that he
brought upon us… and my head especially. Can’t blame him though, I have the
same wish from time to time as well.
“He’s fine for now. Unlike the girl. But you know that, don’t you?”
He didn’t answer to that, instead the Mrakor just stepped back, further
into the room.
“How bad is it?”
“Exactly how you would expect when someone literally steals your soul. I’m
sure she told you all about it right before entrusting you with her name”
“If she trusted me that much why would she…”
Why would she bed with
some bastard like your brother? That’s what he wanted to say. He wouldn’t be the
first one to have similar thoughts nor would he be the first to do something that stupid and regret later.
“But is it worth the suffering of the one you truly care for?”
“Ugh, you won’t understand” A typical answer of someone who lived less than
twenty, or never wised up. And this is where he was wrong.
[Roll Harold’s History d20 + 1 = 14; Since 5th edition of
D&D rules doesn’t have a skill that govern culture etiquette and
anthropology, I’ll use History skill as a substitute]
“Won’t understand what exactly?
That she gifted you that one thing that is sacred to her while not knowing your
customs? And you not realizing her mistake you happily obliged her by giving
your name. An exchange of truth , a tradition of exchanging names among Mrakors
and not those of your kin to build a future together. But she didn’t know that,
did she? And when you saw her with the other, you felt betrayed, your trust
shattered and your love ripped out of your chest. You found yourself holding a burden of the
whole damn world on your shoulders and it was a torment to keep her secret, her
name any further. And when the chance to ease the pain appeared, you took it.
Maybe out of bitterness, maybe out of revenge, maybe you hesitated for a bit.
But not long enough to stop and think about the consequences”
I had no intention in preaching. Really, that was not my intention. But
when I finished, he looked at me with eyes wide open.
There was
something else in his gaze. Some sort of understanding. Of a mutual sort.
“Sounds
like you are talking from experience” It was not sarcasm, not a taunt, nor
anything in between. But those were the words of a person who was slowly
realizing that his troubles were not so unique. Mine had vibrant green eyes.
“Trust me,
that happens to a lot of people who ends up being entangled in conduits’ crap.”
I tried to give him a smile. Of a knowing kind. I think he might have
interpreted it wrongly.
“Is that
why you are here? To torment my conscience or to punish me for what I did?”
“The only
reason I’m here is to deal with all that mess you got us all into”
“And why
would I care?”
“Because
while the girl keeps being nameless,
she won’t hear you explaining yourself. And you have no hope to earn her
forgiveness “
Again, I
didn’t expect much from my little speech, but it sure did shatter his act of
defiance. I could see that judging by how he grabbed the table firmly and
putting down the hammer.
Now it was
time to ask some uncomfortable questions.
“‘How did
you manage to pull it off?” I asked referring to the whole ‘stealing the name’ shtick.
“There was
this man” Of course, there’s always
one. “He promised to deal with the red-haired… ba… I mean, pal of yours”
“And in
return all he wanted is to give up her name”
Bai nod
slowly.
“And this
guy delivered. But not the way you’ve expected. Rendering her to vegetative
state and letting her brother loose”
Another nod
from him. And more solemn than previous one.
“Who was
he?”
“Someone
I’ve never met before. Tall and gaunt, silver hair and wearing all black. He
knew a lot about me.”
A real
charmer. That leads me to question: ‘why would he agree to the deal with
someone like this at first place? ’ But I knew answer to that question.
Love truly
makes an idiot of a man.
“What was
his name?”
[Roll on
General Oracle d20 - Did 'Gaunt' gave Bai his name? (Unlikely) = 5, No)
“He didn’t
give me one”
“And you
didn’t think about asking him for one?”
“I wasn’t
in the right mood to ask”
Or rather
not in the sound mind, for that matter.
“What was
that?”
Did I say
that out loud? Damnit!
“I ask if
you can recognize him when you see him?”
“Yeh… Yeh,
I think I can.”
[Roll on General Oracle d20 - Is Bai willing to follow Harold? – 13 Yes, but… ]
“Then I
guess you will be my tour guide around the rock for the next few hours”
“I guess…
But make no mistake. Should we face him, I won’t help you. I have no intention
to fight him.”
“So I’ll
have to do all the work here, huh?” That may have sounded cowardly on his side,
but… “Fair enough.”
For all we
know, that gaunt guy was Bai’s only hope to return the girl to her former self.
And if things go sour Bai could use me as a bargaining chip, somehow, and plead
to return the girl’s name. Sounds
like a horrible plan, I know. But Bai was desperate enough to try something
like that.
And as for
me… it’s not the first time when I play the role of a leverage.
Anyhow,
what should I do now?
“Say, how
long is it till your smoke break?”
[Clue: 1 Heat: 0
Victory Points: 4
Antagonist Points: 0]
