I was rudely awakened by the sounds of a of ruckus in Alice’s tiny cottage. My first thought was that Piltis had one of his goons follow me and he was there and my second thought was that I had no escape route in the loft, but it was a very pretty teenage girl and what turned out to be her doofus brother. I missed most of their hushed conversation but I gathered they were relations of Alice’s in some manner of trouble.
The next morning Alice apologized profusely but said that despite her promises she was going to have to turn me out so Teresa Marie and Sirus could stay with her while they looked for their father, who was missing you see. I laid a quality guilt trip on her, just for fun more than any real desire to stay in this place, and the agony on her face was very satisfying, but she didn’t relent. She sent me out into the world with a hearty breakfast, which was literally the least she could do.
I secured a room at a decent place (for Graltontown) called the Cardshire Arms and got some practice changing my appearance, coloring my hair and adding the facial blemishes of a survivor of porridge-pox. I sang the few common peasant songs I knew on the streets and made a tidy sum, I guess pity plays. I cleaned myself up after a simple lunch and did some shopping, picking up the latest fashionable accessories, a fine pair if lady’s boots and a locket from a surprisingly amiable fellow selling produce.
After that I made rounds about town spreading word of the fictional homicidal servant’s plots and started letting word leak out about an exiled foreign noble who was coming to town. While I was mingling with these Graltontown dullards I heard a rough looking group asking about woman who was looking for warriors to take on the great wolf of the woods. I paid a lad to pass them a note and went back to my room for a quick change of appearance. Meeting them in the common room I spun them a tale about how the wolfen beast of the woods had carried away my little brother. In return I had to listen to their whining about just being back recently from the Ulpine front and how they were having trouble adjusting to civilian life. I did my best to cover my boredom with feigned sympathy. Is there anything less interesting than other people’s emotional pain?
I pulled on their heartstrings as best I could but you know these “hero” type, they never do anything for free. A fellow in the group with a shoddy eyepatch suggested they could work for “trade” which I responded to with much sobbing and tears, the very idea! The innocent peasant girl ruse worked well and their leader apologized for his friend and said that they at least needed some money for costs. We agreed on fifty gold, although wherever was a simple country girl with a sick father going to come up with that kind of money? I spent some time altering the boots and the locket before turning in.
In the morning we head into the woods!
Funds: 75 gold, 25 Silver
XP: 800
Inventory: Peasant outfit (with hidden pockets) , Signet Ring , Stiletto , Map case, quill pen, red riding cloak, candlerod (5) , dreamer’s star tea (4 servings) , poison ring, awful pendant, disguise kit (8 uses) , Fashionable Accessories, hollow heeled boot, poison locket
Revenge List: Duke Eaglevane, Piltis Swine, Rince Electrum, watchman Gridley, White-Muzzle the worg, Percy Ringle the butler , Alice Kinsey , “Patch”
Rumors : Murderous servants (25%) , exiled noblewoman (10%)
Behind the curtain – I decided for the Rival event someone kicking Ela out of her “home” since she doesn’t have much else to lose at this point, besides money which is a different event.
The Errant Endeavors of Ela the Expert 