The Writ, Pt 2! - Mapping the Hex pt. 7
- Parnell Dubson
- Jul 6, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 9, 2023
Now all gold lighter, we see Denckash finally walking into his destination. He has had about enough of this. He wasn't much of a fan of civilization as he would rather spend his time outside amongst nature than the corrupt. Though some would call him correct for once being a smuggler. Denckash doesn't see it that way, though. He felt performing these "seedy" operations was giving the people what they need free from the authority of misbegotten royalty. And even more than being in town, he didn't much care for bureaucracy.
Disclaimer: I utilize the Mythic Game Master Emulator (Mythic or Mythic GME) as well as The Solo Adventurer's Toolbox 1&2 (TSAT) & the Solo Wilderness Crawler (SWC) to supplement the adventure and build the terrain. I prepared little outside of the game world I already created, basic hex maps, and some lore that was already written from previous adventures. I will leave links to their respective links to support the authors at the end of this post. I encourage giving them a look!.
Scene 5 - The Writ: Pt 2 - 1st Day of the First Blade - 12:13pm - Day 1
Denckash enters in the scribe's office. As he walks in he hears a little bell ring, moments later a halfling, looking a little annoyed that he is there, walks out from behind a curtain.
CL=5, Chaos Roll 1d10=5, altered!
Is the halfling annoyed to see him? 50/50 50%, d100=41, yes.
"Yes, can I help you?" he asked curtly.
"I am here to get a writ of passage, can you help me?" Likely 75%, d100=30, yes!
"Well, I wouldn't be standing in a Scribe Shoppe if I weren't, eh?" The Halfling asked.
"Right…right…Anywho, I was told I need a writ of passage by that rather unpleasant lass outside."
Denckash continues to tell him that he is a refugee of the lands of Scheck and he was here to get supplies. To be honest, he didn't even want to be here and wanted to get his supplies and move on.
"Fair enough, fair enough." He says as he begins to go back to his scriptorium and settles in, Denckash following. "I'll just say you're here on business and then you can leave me to my work. Apologies for the prickly words, it's been a day."
"Will it take long?" Unlikely 35%, d100=39, no!
"Not at all," the halfling answered, "Just need your name."
His alignment is Lawful Evil, which means malicious compliance. Folks that are lawful evil will use the law to their advantage or just follow a very strange code of ethics and tradition and rarely veer off course. I am choosing to play Denckash as the former, because I feel there is a bit of a anti-hero in here that I am drawn to. While he doesn't want to draw attention to himself by putting his name to paper, he certainly can use this writ of passage as a way to operate under the nose of authority. So, he will comply, but not because he wants to do the right thing.
"Denckash, you may call me." he tells the scribe
Does the scribe know anything about Dragonborn culture? Unlikely 35%, d100=23, yes!
"And your clan?" he asks
Drat, I was hoping he wouldn't ask that…,he thought
Denckash was uneasy to give his clan name, as he didn't want to put them at risk. At the same time, he didn't want to lie, he wasn't just some petty criminal, he was a mastermind of sorts (or at least he thought so). He doesn't want to draw extra attention so he tells the scribe his clan name.
"Lancatrixican…"
Does the Scribe sense his apprehension? 50/50 50%, d100=90, no!
The halfling turns around and disappears back into his scriptorium while beckoning Denckash to sit in the parlor. After about 20 minutes, he steps out.
Was he able to finish the writ? Likely 75%, d100=12, exceptional yes!
Coming out of the scriptorium, the Scribe, satisfied with his work, presents a piece of paper, about 5 inches tall and 7 inches wide that read:
By decree of the Mayoral Office of Cokree, on behalf of the Kingdom of Lapoach, the bearer of this writ:
Denckash of clan Lancatrixican
Refugee of the Southlands
Has full permission to do business in, and have access to, the village of Cokree.
The bearer has made his mark to affirm he does not hold allegiance to the Duchy of Scheck by witness of the Seal of the Presiding Scribe. Should the bearer be revealed as an agent of Sheck, the penalty is death.
It was beautifully illuminated, he must have had a few templates made up ahead of time. The penmanship was incredible, as well. On the bottom right hand corner was a large green wax seal atop a contrasting green ribbon. The name 'Ehron Hilltoe, Sribe' was signed with a flourish. Ehron hands the Dragonborn the quill and beckons him to sign. Denckash signs in Draconic. Not all could read the dragons tongue so he felt safer signing in it.
"You are all set." Ehron says before leading him to the door
"Do I owe you any coin?" Denckash asks.
Since it is a requirement of all who wish to do business in Cokree to I am going to set this to Unlikely
Unlikely 35%, d100=26, yes!
"That it will, 5 whole silver pieces, please" Ehron answered.
"Oh…well…that is a problem," he starts with a slight grin, "That guard took my last 5 gold pieces for an 'escort fee', is that really a thing here?"
It isn't, the guards of this town are really just there to deal with major crimes and they let other problems be dealt with by the individuals involved. Some guards, however, have been known to take bribes from outsiders they feel may not be staying long.
Unlikely 35%, d100=57, no.
Is the Scribe surprised? 50/50 50%, d100=86, no
"Sadly, that doesn’t surprise me. I've heard some of the new recruits are quite brazen. They also seem to target outsiders. I apologize for it, though." Ehrom sighed
"Do their superiors know what they are doing?" Unlikely 35, d100=27, yes
"Oh yeah, they know, they choose to look the other way, its why the citizens don't really come to their aid unless it’s a for the worst of crimes. That way they can save face and be looked at as heroes to justify their fees." He went on "Do you agree with this?" Unlikely 35%, d100=42, no.
"I absolutely do not. Consider the writ a gift." Ehron stated, "If you haven't caught it yet, the name is Ehron, please to meet you."
"Same…same…" Denckash muttered, "I must be off, then. Thanks for the help. Before I leave, is there a general store in this village?" Likely 75%, d100=25, yes!
"Yes there is, you will find it in the Market Square, next to the inn called The Sweaty Strumpet"
Literally rolled it in the Solo Adventurer's Toolbox. Nuts.
"Very well then, thank you. Have a good day." He walked out back into the street.
End Scene CL=4 12:33pm
I dropped the chaos level down one because I feel this scene was kind of tame. There wasn't any tension and it was essentially just a DMV transaction but more interesting.
Update:
NPCs - Ehron the Scribe
Threads: Close Getting Papers, update Exploring the Province
A note on threads: I grew up on old school RPGs like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, etc., then graduated to MMORPGs like WoW, so I am a huge fan of lots of side quests. I may have mentioned this before (I am too lazy to go back and check the other posts), but I like to have one big, overarching thread (i.e. Explore the Province) and pepper in new threads to add some variety and realism. How often do we only have ONE thing to do, after all. Lastly, I like to add these things because if there is a chance that I play this with a group, I have something for them to do (albeit, a more beefy version)
The Solo Adventurer's Toolbox & others: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=5E%20Solo%20Gamebooks
And for no reason, here is a picture that randomly appeared in my media of WWF Legend Bam Bam Bigelow
Comments