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Comments
A.
Can't you sell your medicines and buy the charm at the same place?
Time considerations. It'd take probably half an hour to find an apothecary, fifteen minutes to haggle a good price for the medicine; or, up to half an hour to find an apothecary that sells silver and cloth, up to an hour to find the materials and make the charm.
Doesn't sound like much, but fifteen minutes eats away at your remaining time all the same.
[C]
Secondary choice B, then.
[A], then .
[A] then
[Three votes for A, then B; A/B wins.]
You can't just knock down people's gravestones for your own pleasure. That's just not right. It might be more risky to use the raised section of the graveyard, but you're willing to take that risk.
And, in the meantime, you have medicine to sell.
You head back to the main roads, then over to the crossroads, where the north-south road and the east-west roads meet. In nearly all the villages and towns out there, their markets and inns will congregate around here; it's the one place where nearly everyone passing through the village is guaranteed to gather. The taverns you have been going to aren't gathered here- you don't want to attract the attention of someone you might meet later- but you should be able to find an apothecary here.
Looking around, you scan the signs of each shop, looking for something that would mark the store as an apothecary here. If only signs were standardized- you'll just have to hazard a guess.
One store seems to have a sign with a steaming vial on it, but when you step inside, it's an alcohol store. Feeling faintly queasy at the strong smell of liquor in there, you step back out and look around again.
The second store you step into actually is an apothecary. You check around the store first, wanting to note what kinds of things it sells. (After all, if it sells expensive reagents, or vials of mixtures made from hard-to-find reagents, you're probably not going to be able to sell your honestly-not-that-great mixtures to the store's owner.)
Thankfully, there doesn't seem to be anything too expensive being sold in here. The most expensive thing being sold is a burn-vial- you're not sure what it's made of, but it's a tough bottle with a mixture of a black powder and a clear acid. The mixture produces a gas, which burns and explodes on contact with air, making it a valuable weapon for any alchemists.
You wander over to the counter, pulling out five of your vials and placing them on the counter. The sixth one, you think you'll keep for yourself- just in case, as people say. You also pull out two of your three vials of aloe vera sap.
The shopkeeper raises an eyebrow. You flush. "I'm looking to sell these," you explain. "These five are a mixture of tea tree oil- rubbing them on skin helps to alleviate pain. And these two are aloe vera sap- they help to soothe and disinfect burns."
The shopkeeper looks at them and nods. "How much?"
"I'd like... a full mark each," you reply.
He laughs. "Not a chance, girl!"
And thus begins the long process of haggling.
You don't get as much as you'd hoped, but you get more than you'd expected. He agreed to buy the vials of tea tree oil for two silvers each, and the vials of aloe vera sap for two silvers, five pennies each. Fifteen silvers; that leaves you with slightly over three marks. You almost feel rich for a second.
You slip the coins into your pouch and walk out, glancing up at the sun. You have less than five hours remaining before the sun goes down. Are you going to...
[A] ... Go to the western woods. You still have time before the sun goes down.
Go to a tavern. You've given up on this black-cloaked figure nonsense, and you'd like to hear any gossip pertaining to newcomers to the town today.
[C] Hunt around town for a new cemetery, just in case.
[D] Something else. (Please specify what.)
[A]. It's probably too late, but might as well poke into it.
[A]
A.
Also, [A].
[Four votes for A; A wins.]
You begin the long walk westward again, trying to remember exactly where you'd noted the Fae yesterday. You remember the general area, so it shouldn't take you too long to get out there. An hour, an hour and a half, tops; you should be able to make it there and back easily.
The trip to the site is uneventful, if long. Your new poultice has eased the pain in your leg, but it's still a constant dull throb in your leg, and you have to make sure not to strain it too much, or else you'll reopen the wound. You wish you hadn't sold so many of your pain-relieving ointments to the apothecary- you're hesitant to use your only one for pain that is this weak. (Although you likely would have been hesitant if you had a dozen vials. Really, you'd only use the ointment on your leg if you had wagonloads of the stuff.)
You make sure to note the progress of the sun as you go. It takes you what you estimate to be around an hour and a half to walk there; possibly a little more. The sun is starting to get uncomfortably low in the sky.
You make your way to the site of the Fae unhindered, for now.
The site is... well, honestly, it's really nice. The clearing they had been dancing in was sunny and cool. There were tables at the far edge of the clearing, piled high with leafy vegetables and juicy fruit, savoury cheeses and plump loaves of bread. The grass was soft under your feet, and the smell-
You withdraw your silvery knife from your belt.
If the Fae had been here last night- which they had been- the table would not be full of food.
You draw your silver knife across your palm, reopening the wound that had somewhat healed over since you cut it earlier this morning. Pain flashes across your mind, and you can almost feel the glamour lift.
The clearing looks remarkably like the rest of the forest. The tables full of food have been replaced by crude constructs, a long series of stumps, with smaller stumps to make benches. The food that had looked so delicious was rotting, flies buzzing around it. Even the grass under your feet feels harsher.
Grimacing, you begin to move around the clearing. You know what this is- you've seen it before. Fae creatures dance in the woods; the lights and sounds attract travelers. The travelers, seeing only beautiful singers and dancers, eagerly accept the invitation. Sooner or later, the Fae offer something- food, water, a kiss, a gift- and as soon as the traveler accepts them, they are forevermore trapped, owned by the Fae.
You pause, near the stumps with rotting foods. There, caught on the stumps, is a torn piece of black cloth.
It only has a light speckling of dust over it, and it hasn't even completely dried from the morning dew. It's been here for less than a day.
You draw yourself up again. Whoever this black-cloaked person was, they were here, less than a day ago. They were at the table, indicating that they had eaten.
You sigh. This probably really isn't any of your business... but it would be bad form for you to just leave someone in the Fae's clutches, too.
You decide to...
[A] ... hang around the area and set a variety of tricks and traps. You might be able to kill the Fae as they arrive, before they have time to overwhelm you with their glamour.
... draw your weapon and blindfold yourself. You may be able to tackle them before they have time to overwhelm you with their glamour.
[C] ... head back to town and go to an apothecary. You can make yourself a charm to help ward off the Fae's glamour- but, judging by the position of the sky, it will be nighttime before you can make it back.
[D] ... head back to town and forget about this whole business. You can visit the tavern; you want to catch up on the gossip of the latest arrivals to town.
[E] ... head back to town and go to an apothecary. You can make yourself a charm and a blindfold. It will allow you to throw off most of the glamour, but you won't be able to fight the Fae effectively.
[F] ... do something else. (Please specify what.)
[C]. We don't actually have to be in town before night. We'll have more prep time if we are, but safety trumps that.
Okay, it's been brought to my attention that I should post about what a charm does.
Essentially, there's two main aspects of a glamour; the physical aspects of it, and the spiritual aspects of it.
The physical aspects of a glamour change what you see about the world around you. This mostly covers illusions; ghost sounds, seeing things that aren't there, making people dizzy, and so on.
The spiritual aspects of a glamour change the way you think. It makes people tired, it makes people not consider things properly, it makes people more rash.
They're interlinked and poorly defined, as a spiritual aspect may often be a physical aspect and a physical aspect may be a spiritual aspect. For general use, though, this is a vague outline that serves our purposes.
There are three ways to fight off a glamour. One involves wearing a charm; these are necklaces, usually made out of silver and some type of binding with significance to the wearer. They are specifically necklaces, as they connect the wearer's throat to their heart- the passage of life, of air, going from outside you (your throat) to inside you (your heart). This prevents spiritual aspects of glamours from affecting you- or, at least, weakens them.
You can also blind your senses. This involves things such as earplugs/earmuffs, blindfolds, and smelling oils. They stop the physical aspects of a glamour from fooling you, as you are no longer using the senses the glamour would affect.
The last method involves injuring yourself. This is usually done with a purified blade; cold iron, silver and glass all work well. You must cause yourself a severe amount of pain in order to throw off a glamour. It is theorized that the amount of blood shed also affects your ability to throw off both aspects of the glamour.
In that case, I'd support a charm for spiritual aspects, so we'll have our wits about us and know to cut ourselves, thus dropping the physical aspect.
[C]
[C] seems like a good choice, as long as it would not hinder our magical efforts. Does this torn strip of black robe have any use for us? I mean, it still counts as black fabric, so I wonder if it's of use in charms. But, ah, whatever. I'm guessing here that we can buy black cloth cheaply enough to not have to scavenge like that.
C.
Yes; like attracts like, and once and object, always an object.
To clarify, so long as the figure's cloak is not destroyed in some manner, the strip of black cloth still counts as 'part of the figure's cloak'. If you had the materials- pretty much meaning 'any liquid solution in a circular container'- you would be able to perform a minor cantrip on it, which will cause the strip to gradually shift in the direction of the figure's cloak. Like a really shitty compass, with the 'north' being the object the small part you have is torn from.
You don't currently have any circular containers on hand, however, and getting one that's not made of materials that frustrate magic- heated ceramics, most metals besides silver and iron, wood- can be expensive at times.
This isn't particularly relevant at this point in time, as you know where the figure should be at night and the strip of the cloak is still defined as 'his'- i.e. you haven't taken ownership of it, you've only 'stolen' it, and thus it would interfere with the effects of a charm more than a strip of cloth you can buy.
Hm, sounds like I'd take it, just in case I was going to look for that black robe guy later. Unless it's pointless in the long run or detrimental to our other goals.
[Four votes for A; A wins.]
You pick up the scrap of cloth, rubbing it between your fingers- silk, it appears- before slipping it into one of your pockets.
Sighing, you turn to walk back to the village. It would be extremely bad form to just leave someone in the care of the Fae- to what extent "care" can even apply here, anyway, given that the figure is likely to starve in a couple of weeks.
You note the woods around you, and increase your pace slightly. Ordinarily, you wouldn't be too worried about an ambush by Fae- you could likely run away from any Fae you might encounter- but if you stumble into an ambush today, you might take an injury that would make it even harder for you take on the Fae in the clearing.
You arrive back at the village a bit under two hours before sunset, heading immediately to the apothecary you had sold your medicine to earlier.
He looks bemused to see you back so soon. "What would you like?" he inquires. You can almost see his mind churning.
"I was hoping to get a disc of silver and a length of black cloth," you reply softly.
You can almost see his eyes grow guarded, but he doesn't deny you. He grunts- not a friendly sound- and retreats behind his counter, to the storeroom all apothecaries keep.
He emerges several moments later, holding what you need- a disc of silver, a bit smaller than the size of your palm (less than two inches in diameter), and a length of black cloth. You can see that the length is far longer than you actually need, but you don't really have ten minutes to waste reassuring the storekeeper and haggling for lower prices.
"That'll be eight silver," he says disinterestedly.
You drop eight coins on the bench, then slip the silver disc and the cloth into your pack and head back out again.
On your way out, you glance at the sun- it's already nearly sunset. You don't have all that long.
On the road outside of the city, you keep an eye open, and soon find a mostly-flat rock that will sit your purposes. You walk over to it, then reach into your pack and withdraw the silver disc, the black cloth, a hammer, a chisel, and your knife.
You start by chiseling a small hole in it, just wide enough fit a small piece of cloth through. If you weren't pressed for time, you'd use a drill and measure it out, so you could get a perfectly circular hole in the middle of the disc, but you are, so you settle for a rectangular, chiseled hole.
Then, you cut a length of cloth off, slightly over two feet long, and cut that in half, so it's less than four inches wide. From the resulting scrap cloth, you carefully cut a small length of silk, a couple of inches long and a fraction of an inch wide.
You feed the thin length of cloth through the hole in the disc until it's about even in length on either side, then tie that length around the thicker length of cloth. You tie that around your neck- it's a bit long, as you're kind of thin and short, but you tie the extra length through the knot so it rests comfortably on your chest.
You hurriedly pack your tools and the remainder of your cloth back into your pack, then increase your pace.
Unfortunately, night still falls a while before you make it back to to the clearing. You are thus forced to slow your pace to move stealthily.
You make it back near the clearing some time after you had hoped to get there- probably less than an hour after nightfall, but still. You can feel tiredness beginning to tug at the edges of your mind.
You take a deep breath, then begin to walk to the clearing.
Standing off to the side, some distance before the clearing, you can vaguely make out a shape. You stop and turn to face the shape- which is soon revealed to be a tall figure, clad in green-and-brown clothing. Probably the Fae's guards.
You know it would be stupid to march into the Fae camp with this guard at your back. Anything you did that could be taken as hostile would result in a knife sliding into your back.
You have to approach him first. But how?
[A] Walk up to him and pretend to be friendly. When he lets his guard down and invites you to the campfire, stab him in the throat with your knife.
Walk up to him and pretend to be friendly. Try to find out what the Fae want with the black-robed figure with your charm and wit.
[C] Walk up to him and speak aggressively to him. Try to find out what the Fae want with the black-robed figure through intimidation.
[D] Something else. (Please specify what.)
B
I'm guessing I won't come up with anything that would be a better solution, so I take .
It doesn't hurt to try, or you could ask "Would it be possible to do X?".
Obviously, I probably won't tell you "Yes, that would work better than [A], [C] and [X]", but I'm happy to say if something is viable or not.
Okay then. I was wondering if trying to sneak in would be a better approach. I do not know how watchful are the Fae guards, and whether I should find them friendly as long as proper caution is exercised, or technically non-hostile but better to be avoided in any case.
It is not a better approach, but it is something you can do. It is as valid as any of the three options I presented.
You lack sufficient information to determine this. You treat Fae with great caution as a matter of course, but you do not know anything about this group's demeanour.
Okay, then I choose [D]: if I can do it undetected, I try to sneak in to get a hang of what's happening without revealing myself. The option of revealing myself to the guard I reserve for later, if it seems safe enough.
Stealth has its advantages, but if we aren't looking for a fight, it's more likely to lead to one by just pissing the Fae off. So the question is, are we looking for a fight?
Given that it's a prisoner rescue, I suppose a fight is exceedingly likely anyway.
Thus, I'll support lrdgck's [D]. (but we should maybe cut ourself real quick first just to make sure things are as they seem)
[Two votes for D (Stealth); D (Stealth) wins.]
You try to walk quietly backwards. You don't see the Fae turning to look at you- but for all you know, he's already seen you, and is just humouring you.
When you get a fair distance away, you turn around and slink around the camp. You are walking carefully again- sticking to the shadows of the trees being thrown by the Fae's campfire, knowing that they could spot you easier than you could spot them, as their night vision hasn't been ruined by looking towards the campfire.
When you get to the outskirts of the clearing, you jump up and climb into one of the trees. You don't climb too high- six feet or so- as you don't want to strain your leg or make it too hard to climb down.
Wrapping your legs around the thick branch you're standing on, you take your pack off and hang it from an overhead branch. From one of your pockets, you withdraw your silver knife again, and cut your (other) hand.
There's a flash of pain again, and you're seeing the campfire for what it truly is.
There are less than a dozen Fae in there. They seem to be about six feet tall each, with long, gangly limbs. Their heads are comically large on their bodies- their heads are as big as that of a wolf's, while their limbs resemble sticks. They are shambling around awkwardly, manipulating their limbs to keep from falling over. They are wearing cloaks made of a pale leather- you try not to think too hard about what it could have been skinned from.
Near the middle of the clearing, clinging to one of the Fae, you can see a figure in a black coat. You can't see quite what they look like- they're facing away from you, but you can see a glimpse of silvery hair- but they are dancing with one of the Fae around the campfire.
You could probably take on the Fae, if you got lucky and didn't confront too many at once.
You are going to...
[A] ... walk in with your weapon outstretched. A show of force should intimidate them, and they probably won't want to risk losing several of their members against you.
... sneak into their camp and assassinate the Fae. You should be able to pull that off.
[C] ... just walk in there and stab the black-cloaked figure. You'll alert the Fae to your presence very easily, but the figure might be able to help you fight.
No matter which decision you choose, there's a good chance you're going to have to fight. Reaching into your pack, you withdraw...
[A] ... A short sword, made of silver. Your time in the city guard in Teva was well spent learning how to fight with it.
... A crossbow. A favoured weapon of hunters, you spent a lot of time learning how to shoot with a bow and crossbow during your travels as a child.
[C] ... A sharp, glass knife. It's your focused material as a mage who focuses on glamours and illusions.
[D] ... A vial of silver flakes. It's your focused material as a mage who focuses on rituals.
[E] ... Two small daggers, one made of silver, one made of cold iron. You picked up on how to use them from a criminal in Teva, during your stay there.
I'm going with [D] for the second, since it will make us better at rituals in the long run, but would probably like to consult with the other players on what we want to do with them right now. Just walking, or even sneaking, into camp isn't a good combo with that option.