The imp's eyes narrowed at Alexander and his lips cracked into a smile, revealing his triangular teeth. He reached down to grasp the fat, wobbly root. It looked more like a grub than a tuber. Waving it around in front of him as it quivered and dripped a watery-liquid, the imp explained:

"Do ye know 'ow t'use t'is lad? Ye just plug it where t'sun don't shine and its milk do t'ee rest."

He then offered the root to him and arched a brow when he asked for fairy stool. That told the imp that he knew more about what was on his rug than what he was playing him for. Retracting the root, the imp placed it back on the carpet and brought his hands together. He interlaced his fingers and gave them a loud and unpleasant crack before his smile widened into a grin.

"Oh-ho, so yer not justa' lad after all. Ye know sometin' 'bout t'ese herbs. Ye an apoto'cary? An alchemist?" His smile stretched to inhuman limits, the corners of his mouth nearly touching the lobes of his ears. "A wizard?"

@Legion02

Name: Keith
Level: 1
Race: Human
Class: Warlock
Date/Time: Day 1 / Morning
Location: The Market and Docks.
Tagging: @liferusher@JackalopeLove@Raizin@Ayemdar@Vec@Zelosse@Trickster@knighthawk@Zelosse@liferusher@Holy Soldier

If there was one advantage of driving a carriage that was being controlled by a dangerous idiot towards their destination it was the fact that people were more inclined to get out of their way or get run over; While Keith himself failed to notice failed to notice anyone actually getting run down from his position next to the near mindless barbarian driving the carriage, he wouldn't have exactly shed a tear if he did. Good of the many after all...

Arriving at the Market area that also served as the cities docks, Keith used his position from on top of the carriage to get an idea of just what the situation was like. So many rats... Big ones too. Of sure, infestations of rodents and other vermin weren't exactly uncommon in most cities but when they got to be the size of dogs and are in numbers large enough to overwhelm whole parts of a city on par if not better then most humanoid invaders then things had truly gotten out of hand.

He had to wonder for a moment how to best profit from the situation at hand before he thumped on the roof of the carriage. "We're here. We have rodents the size of dogs, a small child trapped in a burning building and a woman trying to flee by rowboat from swimming rats. If you've got the range, try and help the woman, everyone else protect the carriage and slaughter rodents to your hearts content because we're going to be getting a lot of attention in a second. If you can think of a way to save the kid you have my permission to speak up. And remember; If you're going to scavenge, loot or pillage focus on killing the rats first and don't get caught."

With initial orders given, Keith turned to look at the woman trying to row away... before pulling back his arm as if he was going to throw a ball. With a few seconds of concentration, a decently sized ball of fire appeared in his hand before he pegged it towards the swimming rodents that were pursing her. The ball exploded in a large blast when it made contact with the swimming swarm, inciderating those nearby while flash heating the water to the boiling point and filling the air with boiling steam.

• Protect the Queen and Princess.
• Discover who the Bridge Lord impostors are.
• Apprehend or kill if necessary the Bridge Lord impostors.

1. Servants. This scenario is mostly challenging because the players do not know who is the impostor and who isn't. Unfortunately, there isn't that much action in this scenario. This scenario challenges the psychology and the characters' abilities to discern friend from foe. Players can utilize NPC servants if necessary for their posts, but there will be servants who play a key role in the scenario controlled by the GM.
2. Decisions. The decisions your characters make in this scenario can dramatically effect the game. The correct decisions are not going to be revealed or given to you, so you'll have to do your best. Whatever happens happens.
3. Explore. Feel free to explore the castle. Characters may uncover clues.
4. Bridge Lords. The Bridge Lords are aware that the king hired some mercenaries to protect his castle and family. They know who you are, but you don't know who they are. Be careful traversing the castle alone, they may take advantage of an opportunity to catch your character off guard and end his/her life.
5. Read the rules. Some of you may need to read this slowly, thoroughly and more than once. These rules are here for you to refer back to. If you follow these rules, then there won't be any problems and you will enjoy a fun scenario. Be advised that more rules may be added.
@Cyrania@Fetzen@Ashevelendar

---

At the far end of the hall, the resonating knock of two wooden doors unfolding traveled across the room. Wearing a yellow, gold-tinged gown was the queen with her dark hair stacked like an ice cream cone upon her head and decorated with thin gold chains and sunflower petals. To her right was her young daughter, wearing a white and pink tinged gown with her hair braided and wrapped a top of her head with pearls and pink flower petals - clearly cash shop items. Holding their skirts, the two entered the room amidst an announcement:

"Now presiding, Her Majesty, Queen Abatha Bridgewater and her daughter, Princess Madeleine!"

Two soldiers wearing bronze (in color) armor escorted the women to the table and before anyone took a seat, they stopped as though waiting...the two royal guards gave those that were seated an irritable look as though they should had known royal etiquette. One guard muttered:

"Was respect listed as a requirement on the poster?"

Queen Abatha who seemed to have taken more interest in her nails answered nonchalantly, "Probably not."

Princess Madeleine stared at the three guests with her eyes glimmering with interest. She didn't see too many non-humans. Well...actually, she didn't get to see too many of anything really. Her mother kept a close eye on her.

"Whatever. Let's just sit and get this over with," the queen said.

The guards slid the chairs out for both women and made sure they were comfortably seated before they took their seats next. If the three were expecting a warm welcome, they didn't get one.

"I don't know why the king insisted on hiring these plebeians. Are we not doing our jobs?" asked the princess's guard.

"Apparently not," the queen's guard replied. They appeared to be having a conversation as though the guests didn't exist.

The queen peered down at her meal, and found her glass of wine to be more worth her time. She cupped it and spoke, "It's only for one night. The fat bastard will be back in no time. He doesn't like traveling, and if there wasn't a banquet at the meeting, then the meeting will be short."

Princess Madeleine blushed in embarrassment at her mother's frankness. In front of the guests! "Mother..." she whispered at first, and then corrected herself. "I mean...my queen."

"I'm only being honest, dear. It's no secret," she said before raising the glass to her lips.

Name: Katherine
Level: 1
Race: Kitsune
Class: Warrior
Date/Time: Day 1 / Morning
Location: The Market
Tagging: @JackalopeLove @Raizin @Ayemdar @knighthawk @Zelosse @liferusher @Holy Soldier @Bright_Ops

"Huh. Son of a bitch." Katherine thought aloud as the wagon started moving through the crowds. "That old horse is actually keeping up pretty well. Impressive." She sat on the back of the wagon, her feet dangling over the edge, her back to the rest of the party. People ran around the wagon, crying and screaming for help. I'm sure no one would notice if I snatched one. She sighed and decided against it.

Before long, they had arrived at the market. She looked back over her shoulder at the leader of the group as he spoke.

We're here. We have rodents the size of dogs, a small child trapped in a burning building...

She listened patiently to his orders, which further proved him to be the leader of the group. At least in her mind. She looked over at the child in the building crying for help. "Roasted." She said to herself. She felt hot air on her back, prompting her to look back over her shoulder again. The leader had created a ball of fire in his hand, which he threw onto the swimming rats, boiling them alive. Her gaze followed the ball and gave a quick nod of approval. "Boiled." Her attention turned to the woman who was now trapped in the rowboat floating in boiling water. "...Steamed." She had skipped breakfast for the meeting with this party, and so she couldn't stop thinking about food.

"If no one is saving the kid, I'm calling dibs on his corpse." She announced to the party behind her.

Gwendolyn netted herself a scrutinizing glance coming from the gargoyle when she proposed that idea. Kerylun leaned his upper body forwards with his arms crossed in front of his chest until his head was above hers. "Excuse me ? Did I hear this right ? We are to play guinea pigs with our own lifes ? What if the poison is delayed ?" He didn't say this loudly, of course. Or at least he tried not to. "Anyway... if you intend to put this plan into action, than I suppose that I'll eat the probes. My physiology is different and would likely require a mugh higher dosis for the same effect due to my size."

Then he looked up towards the large wooden doors that had just opened. Oh dear... These women looked like bugs! Remnants from the version in which the world had not yet been such a rotten place and that the developers had forgotten to take out of the game. The guards were talking. He didn't clearly understand what, but he felt like having a good pretense for approaching them carefully. "Briefly excuse me, will you ?" This is what Kerylun did with loud, thudding steps until he stopped still a respectful distance away from the guards, but especially from the royals.

"Erm... excuse me. I... need something to sit on if I... don't want to spoil the atmosphere." Hopefully these two guys would see the problem. If not - well... then he'd just sit down on whatever they'd give him.

Name: Alexander Salzar
Level: 1
Race: Human
Class: Sorcerer
Date/Time: Day 1 / Morning
Location: Bridgewater - Market - Imp's stand
Tagging: @Holy Soldier
Mentioned: -

---

After the explanation Alex was visibly cringing, as his mind imagined the whole situation. After that only one question shot through his mind: why would anyone actually buy this!? “Milk to the rest.” Did he mean that the actual fluid coming out of the root was drinkable? But then the imp got an even bigger grin. His cover was blown. It was hard to pretend he didn’t know anything about roots and ingredients after just asking fairy stool. There were no other appliances. Well, there were. Throwing it in some nasty aunt’s soup would surely ruin it and leave no trace behind. That was a fun little game back when he was young.

Alex quickly looked left and right. Nobody around that looks suspicious, but he didn’t really have a trained eye for that. He opened his satchel and pulled out the orb, letting it hover in his hand in front of the imp, before he put it back. “Sorcerer, technically. Oh and alchemist. Sort of. Listen, this is little dance is going to take too long for me.” He began, as he sat down in front of the imp’s rug. “I won’t buy herbs. Not yet. I’m looking for a man’s daughter. She came over here to buy…that.” Alex pointed at the leaking grub. Clearly with a voice of disdain. “However, it’s good to have a supplier of certain herbs. Especially one I can trust. One would be more inclined to do good business with someone who helped him out int he past. So, I will ask you straight out: have you seen a beautiful, young lady buying such a root?”

Still, as he talked, he couldn’t help but wonder why the old man actually needed the root? It certainly didn’t look appetizing. Nor did Alex know any alchemical uses for it. The explanation the imp gave him certainly could be the how the old man intended to use the root…could it?

Name: Gwendolyn
Level: 1
Race: Elf
Class: White Mage
Date/Time: Day 2? / Morning
Location: The Fat King's Castle - Great Hall
Tagging: @Fetzen

Gwendolyn blushed a bit at Kerylun's words. She hadn't mean that she wanted to gamble their lives, just that their food was more likely poisoned then the royals and they would have to be careful. The elf was about to say as much but then the queen and princess came in and Gwen quickly realized something. "Great. I forgot how proper manners in places like this work. That's definitely putting us in the queen's good books and make this guarding thing go easier." And by the queen's disdainful look, Gwen saw that her conjecture was correct. The princess, however, seemed more reasonable at least and someone she might even like to get to know better. Though it still was welcome news that this job might not last a week, she'd been thinking in terms of a month long assignment. Now she just needed to try to get into better grace's with the queen, especially since Shama had needed to go so suddenly. The white mage bit her lip as she got up, and turned towards the throne, and deeply curtsied with her head down.

"Forgive me, your majesty, for my unintentional offense." Gwen said. "In my lands, it was considered boorish for guests to stay standing before the host sat down, showing distrust of their host's intentions." She maintained her pose until the queen would either leave or let her rise. Her elven eyes darted around the room though, looking for any suspicious activity. If the king could really be back so soon, the imposters might decide to act now.

Name: Snoh Bhaal
Level: 1
Race: Tiefling
Class: Hexblade
Date/Time: Day 1 / Morning
Location: Market of many mouthes
Tagging: @JackalopeLove@Raizin@Ayemdar@Vec@Zelosse@Trickster@Bright_Ops@Zelosse@Holy Soldier
Mention: @liferusher



That put a smile under his mask as he tried to help her onto the wagon for its brief ride into the market. He didn't want to seem like an utter perv chasing the little girl when there were lurid and aluring others. On the other hand, he had read both volumes of Lolita from cover to cover.

"Help! (cough) (cough) Help! I don't want to burn!"

He looked to the second story and to the archer.

"Do you think you can do something to help? A rope on the arrow or perhaps arrows for pegs so I can get up there?"

The imp continued to stroke his beard as Alex finally decided to explain himself. The mischievous long smile was still present on the little man’s face—as expected of an imp.

…I’m looking for a man’s daughter…

The imp’s red eyes flicked to the rump root the sorcerer had pointed at. He knew exactly who he was talking about, and Alex could see the familiarity in his devious, little eyes. He chuckled, quaking with greed.

…have you seen a beautiful, young lady buying such a root?

Peering innocently up at the sky as though he were actually contemplating on whether he knew anything or not, the imp said, “Hmm…aye, I might know somethin’.”

His eyes lowered to the sorcerer and he said nothing further. He figured the guy was smart and knew how to properly loosen his lips. Hell, they both knew what he wanted. It was just a matter of whether or not Alex would give it to him.

@Legion02

• Protect the Queen and Princess.
• Discover who the Bridge Lord impostors are.
• Apprehend or kill if necessary the Bridge Lord impostors.

1. Servants. This scenario is mostly challenging because the players do not know who is the impostor and who isn't. Unfortunately, there isn't that much action in this scenario. This scenario challenges the psychology and the characters' abilities to discern friend from foe. Players can utilize NPC servants if necessary for their posts, but there will be servants who play a key role in the scenario controlled by the GM.
2. Decisions. The decisions your characters make in this scenario can dramatically effect the game. The correct decisions are not going to be revealed or given to you, so you'll have to do your best. Whatever happens happens.
3. Explore. Feel free to explore the castle. Characters may uncover clues.
4. Bridge Lords. The Bridge Lords are aware that the king hired some mercenaries to protect his castle and family. They know who you are, but you don't know who they are. Be careful traversing the castle alone, they may take advantage of an opportunity to catch your character off guard and end his/her life.
5. Read the rules. Some of you may need to read this slowly, thoroughly and more than once. These rules are here for you to refer back to. If you follow these rules, then there won't be any problems and you will enjoy a fun scenario. Be advised that more rules may be added.
@Cyrania@Fetzen

---

The elf seemed bothered by the guards’ conversations about etiquette and was quick to apologize for herself.

“And what intentions do I have? If I wanted you locked up, I would have had you locked up a long time ago. Sit, dear, I do not like excuses,” said the queen.

Princess Madeleine smiled sheepishly at her mother’s rudeness, trying to hide her embarrassment. She glanced across the table to Gwendolyn and mouthed silently, Sorry.

When the gargoyle approached the queen, the queen’s guard’s hand went to rest upon the hilt of his sword as he gave the beast a bothered look.

“Keep your distance, Monster. You might have accepted the king’s call, but we can’t afford to take any risks even with our guests,” he explained.

The queen sipped her wine and then called aloud for the servants within earshot to hear: “Find this stone man a chair!”

She then glanced down at her food finally deciding to poke her meal with a fork—at least. The people of the slums would have fought to the death over such exquisite meals and yet she treated her plate as though it had been fast food at McDonalds.

“Why a gargoyle would need to sit anywhere is beyond me,” the queen muttered.

The princess’s guard smiled in amusement at the idea. “They do perch on roofs.”

He then arched a brow and glanced at Kerylun curiously. “Did you come from the church? I used to wonder if those gargoyles were alive when I was a boy.”

Princess Madeleine seemed to be just as interested in hearing an answer to that question.

Three servants curiously walked over to observe Kerylun. They kept their distance like timid dogs and glanced up and down his tall frame. They looked absolutely lost.

“Um…You’re Majesty…I don’t think we have a chair in this castle that can support such a creature.”

Forking a piece of chicken behind her darkly-painted lips, the queen asked, “You mean to tell me that this gargoyle is heavier than the king?”

The servants glanced at each other quizzically. They had no idea! The king was rather humongous.

“Bring the king’s chair over here and let the creature sit.”

The servants gasped a little. A monster sit in the king’s chair? They never thought they would ever see the day. They quickly scurried away to gather more servants to help them grasp the armrests of the chair that looked large enough to contain a bath for four grown adults in the center. Ten servants pushed and slid the chair across the floor, the reinforced wood grounding loudly, losing all other sounds in resonating noise. They managed to push the chair next to Gwendolyn. The king’s chair was certainly wider than the gargoyle. She and Kerylun could have shared the seat!

“There now,” the queen said with a pleased smile.

The banquet so far was going rather smooth with no suspicious activity.

Kerylun was obviously confused when the humongously large and massive... chair... was carried towards him. The half-ton gargoyle slowly sat down, his refusal of believing that this thing did hardly protest at all against his weight steadily increasing in the process of doing so. He nodded towards the queen, trying to signal her his acknowledgement.

Then he turned towards the elf, Gwendolyn, and muttered: "I can clearly see the point in why the Bridge Lords don't bother about attacking the King himself... Judging by this chair, the man must be so incredibly fat that he'll probably die from a spontaneous heart attack anyway. Are there any special DLC consumables I've missed in the shop that give you this appearance ? Not that I'd like to try them out myself, but I could resell them to newbs who don't know what they force their characters to eat..." The gargoyle folded his hands and smirked towards her before he started looking around.

In his mind, Kerylun estimated that they currently couldn't do much. Of course, they could try and confiscate or at least probe every bit of food that the people they had to protect would come in contact with before they could eat it, but such an approach to things would probably get them kicked in their butts for not obeying to unwritten rules of manners. One of them likely included not just leaving the banquet at an arbitrary time to start investigating other places as well. So all that was left was to do the same thing that Gwendolyn already seemed to do: Scan the room for anything 'suspicious'.

Name: Gwendolyn
Level: 1
Race: Elf
Class: White Mage
Date/Time: Day 2? / Morning
Location: The Fat King's Castle - Great Hall
Tagging: @Fetzen @Zelosse

Gwendolyn got up and sat down, a bit relieved to not be in that position anymore and glad her hood covered her blushing. "Fine first impressions we've made." But she accepted the princess's silent apology with a quick smile. At least they had one friend here. Until Shama's replacement showed up, it was only going to be the two of them to rely on. Any support within would help. All they could do was wait, watch, and try not to make any more scenes like had happened already.

The blush grew brighter and her hands tightly gripped the table as she heard the taunts toward Kerylun. She was sorely tempted to break that last one. How dare they speak about him that way! Why did people like that enjoy having a target to ridicule? Why poke at the most different ones? The only good thing was that they finally got him a seat, but even that was more a taunting thing. And here she was, not doing anything to stop it and not sure if she could.

Then the gargoyle turned towards her and whispered, "I can clearly see the point in why the Bridge Lords don't bother about attacking the King himself... Judging by this chair, the man must be so incredibly fat that he'll probably die from a spontaneous heart attack anyway. Are there any special DLC consumables I've missed in the shop that give you this appearance ? Not that I'd like to try them out myself, but I could resell them to newbs who don't know what they force their characters to eat..."

The elf smirked and felt her own tension ease. If he could brush it off, things would be fine. Besides, if they were able to have him hide among the gargoyle statues, he would be able to avoid a lot of in the face comments. She continued to scan the room for anything suspicious, but ready to deflect attention off from Kerylun when she could.