Stonehearth: Choose your own adventure!

[Dwalus]

@coasterspaul

Think of the possibilities if we could get to know them and befriend them! They’d be much more loyal, and also we wouldn’t need to pay them. We’ll go with them.

We can rob them after that.

[Dlittleman]

Before we rob anyone, we still need to fulfill our obligation to the Blacksmith, for teaching us how to wield a sword. (Because we would have gotten ripped off by the adventurers!)

@Sanyo201

You then explain to them about the letter the blacksmith gave you and how you were supposed to deliver it to his daughter, which made them all look at each other with confused looks. They ask you what the blacksmith looked like and you describe him to them. “That’s troubling, we don’t remember the blacksmith looking like that.” The robed man said. "There is certainly something dark going on in these parts, that much is certain.

But, if the Blacksmith and his daughter turn out to be evil (or something), then delivering the letter, effectively carrying out the Blacksmith’s evil bidding, is a really bad idea. I mean, the idea does have some merit. The fact that the best adventurers in town don’t know him goes to show that he may not be a Blacksmith, or he’s just really bad at making swords.

Hmm… there is one way that we can determine whether the Blacksmith’s motives are sincere. We can read the letter. Even though that be a little invasive, our experience would seem to justify it. So, to quote Honor and Practicality, I think we should…

@coasterspaul

Read the letter first so we know what we’re getting into, and then deliver it unless it’s really bad

[Dwalus]

Seconded. But we should still rob the adventurers sometime in the future. Think of all the money we could get.

[Dlittleman]

“No! No robbing ever, because robbing is bad, and badness is wrong!” says Honor.

[Dwalus]

Why do people never like the antihero?

[coasterspaul]

We are fighting against a mysterious tower, goblins, and dark magic. How can we fight evil if we are evil? , pondered our hero, as a dark, animalistic voice within his head kept telling him to rob the adventurers.

Even if we are to rob them, we can’t do it in broad daylight. We’ll need to wait for night. Still, they might be light sleepers.

[Dwalus]

@coasterspaul

How can we fight evil if we are evil?

There are those who stand against the dark, a shining beacon of light in the night for all to rally around. Then there are those who do not fear the dark but use it, bend it to their will, fighting evil with evil. Do not fear the darkness, for the darkness does not fear you.

For as the cheery days fade away and the watchful nights close in, when all is lost and death is nigh, that shining light will only draw the evil closer.

[Sanyo201]

(Author note:) Ghost could you elaborate about the “You got my attention, how and why?” question? Was it directed at me, and what about? I apologize if I didn’t catch on or it was not intended for me.

–

You stand up, stretching out the cramps from sleeping on the ground all night. The first thing you do is pick up your things, placing the sword across your back and taking the letter out of your knapsack. Even though it’s an invasion of privacy you HAVE to know what this letter reads. You unroll the letter and glance at the parchment… and you swore you saw something on the page…move? You rub your eyes so you make sure you aren’t seeing things and look back to the letter, and it’s a completely blank page, save for a small emblem at the bottom of the note. It is a strange symbol, a pair of crossed axes with a skull above their meeting point. You are puzzled by this but decide to put the letter back into your pack in case it might be important later on. You idly glance about the area, the sudden temptation to “borrow” from these three invading your mind. Most of the things are already packed up and with the three adventurers, except for Nielas’ tent and a small box inside it. Making sure you are out of eyesight, you slowly make your way towards the box, reach for it, and suddenly it feels as if lightning had struck your hands. Ouch! You lose 3 hit points from the spell, and quickly run away from the box. He has some kind of magic ward over it, and you have no idea how you could get past it, crummy wizards. You drop the notion of theft for now, and instead try to find out a little more of why you’re here, and why these folks are paying attention to you now. You make your way over to the remains of the campfire where only Lana remains, Ronald and Nielas are presently nowhere to be seen. “So, why now are you three paying any attention to me and offering me to journey with you, and why are we out here in this field instead of town?” You ask, the huntress just stares are you blankly for a moment. "Town’s too dangerous, especially now with all of them pouring from the Tower. Towns and cities are essentially magnets for monsters now. And to answer your first question, you were directly targeted by whoever- whatever is at the top of that Tower. And you survived. Despite our better judgement Nielas says you’re invaluable and we’ll need you for “future trials” She returns to what she was doing, making sure the campfire is out and covering up any traces of it being there. Well, she isn’t the most talkative but at least she’s straight to the point… Surely the other two will be back soon, what should you plan to do next?

[Gorkiork]

As you want to get as close as possible with the group(easier to rob later!) you ask each member of the adventurers to teach you some of their skills, so you could be of more help to them(and rob them easier afterwards!)

[8BitCrab]

good idea, however two of the members are not present right now…

[coasterspaul]

I ask Lana if she has any tips about using weapons besides “Use the pointy end”.

[Gorkiork]

Well start with the one, practise, and then the others should be there

[Dlittleman]

Think in the long term. What are we going to do afterwards we practice and talk will all the members?

@Sanyo201

You unroll the letter and glance at the parchment… and you swore you saw something on the page…move? You rub your eyes so you make sure you aren’t seeing things and look back to the letter, and it’s a completely blank page, save for a small emblem at the bottom of the note. It is a strange symbol, a pair of crossed axes with a skull above their meeting point.

As we know now, this letter is more than unusual. I will assume it is evil, since it came from a blacksmith who shouldn’t know how do make words on a page disappear. That means that the Blacksmith’s daughter (we don’t even know if she is the daughter) is either working with the Blacksmith as a co-conspirator, or is actually being targeted by the Blacksmith, and is soon to be a victim.

Now, let’s consider the tower. What do we know about it?

@Sanyo201

After gathering a tidbit of information from one person or another, you find out that a large tower had appeared several miles away from the town. Yes, appeared as in ‘from thin air’. Surely someone of great power must reside in that tower, some said, or perhaps it is an invasion from another realm, claimed others.

@Sanyo201

Above the tower the sky seems to be in permanent overcast- dark, lumbering clouds encircle the entire area above the tower. You hear a rumble of thunder and a bolt of lightning flashes across the sky in a blaze of light.

@Sanyo201

And to answer your first question, you were directly targeted by whoever- whatever is at the top of that Tower. And you survived.

It seems that all we know is that the tower is big and evil, and has and evil person at the top. Since we are ill-informed, it would be dangerous just to go running up to it, since they were able to control us easily with a form of dark magic. It would seem, that logically, we need to find our more about this tower. Our only lead is the Blacksmith’s daughter, since the Blacksmith is most likely evil (Because he wrote a letter with magic, when he shouldn’t of been able to).

The only problem is, we don’t know if the Blacksmith’s daughter is in on it or not. But, I think we have reason to believe that she is actually the victim.

@Sanyo201

In a slight panic, you scream out for the blacksmiths daughter to help you- only to remember you never were told her name. So you just screamed “Blacksmiths daughter, help!” Thankfully everyone within earshot was too busy fighting goblins to pay attention, but you still feel embarrassed.

In the next entry, it said…

@Sanyo201

Your steps are heavy as if they were tied to heavy iron weights, you barely feel in control of your thoughts, let alone your body. You feel a ice cold feeling wash over yourself, as a thin, dark fog swirls around your body.

For some reason, we were seized upon a dark force right after we were fighting the goblins. But what is weird about it is that we called out to the Blacksmith’s daughter before we were attacked by the dark force. Here’s what I’m thinking. Maybe, the letter has magic designed to attack the Blacksmith’s daughter, or maybe to alert the guy in the top of the tower when the letter got to the Blacksmith’s daughter (since Lana told us that we were targeted by the guy in the top of the tower). When we called out for the Blacksmith’s daughter, the letter alerted the guy in the tower. He realized that we weren’t the Blacksmith’s daughter, and so didn’t attack us at first. But, he/she must have later realized that we were a threat, but he still wanted the letter delivered to the Blacksmith’s daughter. So, he tried to take control of us, and have us to deliver the letter. Then, he was probably going to kill us. But, luckily, Nielas arrived just as were we being seized, to save us from the dark force. We only survived, because the person on top of the tower didn’t want to kill us (At first).

Of course, that is all conjecture, based of a weird coincidence that I saw. But either way, we have to find out more about this tower. So, I suggest that we give a visit to the Blacksmith’s daughter. If we can’t figure out if she is good or bad just by talking, then we can give her the letter. If she is good, we can have Nielas ready with a jar, to capture the dark force before it can kill her. If she is bad, we have all four of us, ready to attack on a moment’s notice. Thoughts?

---

I may be taking this too seriously. But this is so cool and fun, it’s hard not to!

[Sanyo201]

I like your gumption @Dlittleman
(Author Note:) I apologize but updates to the story are going to be fewer and farther between, going through a crappy time right now what with the terrible weather among other things.

---

---

You ask Lana if she could teach you anything in the ways of combat, and she shakes her head ‘no’. “I’m afraid I’m not skilled in close combat, my skill lies with the bow and trapping. If you ever consider the path of archery, I may have a thing or two I could teach. Ronald would be the one to ask for melee fighting, he’s thick-headed but he’s stayed alive this long for a reason.” You thank her for her time, and go sit under a nearby tree for a bit of shade. You feel a bit hungry and consume one unit of the rations from your knapsack. A few moments after you’re done, Nielas and Ronald return and ask if everyone is ready to move. You stand up and walk over to where the three adventurers are gathered, and in a strange turn, ask you what the next plan of action should be. What do you tell them? Or is the leadership role not for you?

[Dwalus]

The leadership role is for us. Investigate the tower but learn archery on the way.

[coasterspaul]

@Dwalus

The leadership role is for us.

We could just ask for a larger share if we succeed instead of stealing from them! Isn’t it wonderful? agrees Honor.

Let’s take an indirect route to the tower, not just to prevent whatever’s on top from seeing us, but mainly so we can get more skilled at everything.

[Dlittleman]

@Sanyo201

(Author Note:) I apologize but updates to the story are going to be fewer and farther between, going through a crappy time right now what with the terrible weather among other things.

I hope you feel better!

@coasterspaul

We could just ask for a larger share if we succeed instead of stealing from them! Isn’t it wonderful? agrees Honor.

Yes! I approve! Anyways, I do think we need to establish ourselves in some sort of leadership role. At least have some say in what we do.

[Gorkiork]

Tell them to from now on call us: Grand Master Burlyhands

[Dwalus]

While we’re on the subject, I believe we should be playing as Mer Burlyhands.

[Llessur]

the sword came from the blacksmith right? maybe that should be looked into as well. as a side thought, pick up five small stones and put them in your pocket for later.