Valtún lumbers into the Mesopotamian marshes, each heavy step sinking through black water and reeds. Behind her, mercenaries crash along the drier bank, their hunting horns muffled by fog.
A low island emerges ahead. An elderly man with a narrow frame, white beard, ochre robes, and ink-stained fingers crouches beside clay tablets. A young adult woman in layered blue veils stands near him, bronze charms hanging from her wrists.
Naramu
By the old kings, do not move! Those tracks are not crocodile tracks.
Samira
Naramu, gather the tablets. The thing is fleeing men, not hunting us.
The scholar snatches a cracked tablet from the mud. The sorcerer raises one charm, and pale blue fire briefly trembles above the marsh water.
Mercenary 1
There! Through the reeds! Bring down the monster before it reaches the island!
Samira
Stranger, if you understand speech, choose quickly. Stand between us and them, or keep running.
✓ Quest Accepted
Stand between the scholar and sorcerer and the mercenaries
✓ Quest Accepted
Escape the mercenaries
“It's been hours. I've been trying to avoid direct conflict with these mercenaries to not encourage a follow-up pursuit by moving from village, to trees, and now the thicket of the marshes. At this point my patience is worn and it's clear I can't shake their persistence. I turn around in the leg-deep water, which for them is chest-level, and unleash a booming, guttural roar. If they farthest mercenaries don't flee on the spot, I'll charge toward the closest one, and sever him in two with a single clean swipe of my massive forearm.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intimidation, rolled +1)
Valtún pivots in the leg-deep water. Her roar rolls through the fog like a collapsing tower, shaking reeds and sending black water from every stalk.
Mercenary 2
Run! Run, damn you!
The farthest hunter drops his spear and flees blindly into the reeds. The closest mercenary freezes, chest-deep before her, his courage broken by the sight of her advancing bulk.
Valtún charges. Marsh water bursts around her thighs as she closes the distance, her massive forearm sweeping through the mist with the clean certainty of an execution.
The blow severs the closest mercenary in two. His body disappears into the churned water, while the survivor's footsteps fade toward the bank.
Naramu
By the old kings... Samira, it understood us.
Samira
Yes. And now it has answered.
Pale blue fire gutters above the island as Samira lowers her charm. The marsh settles around Valtún, and no horn sounds behind her.
Quest Complete
Escape the mercenaries
Quest Complete
Stand between the scholar and sorcerer and the mercenaries