Kareem Bishop jerks awake at the foot of Shou Lung’s outer wall, dust in his mouth, stone looming above him like a cliff carved by emperors.
The weight at his side shifts. A bag he does not remember opening slips, and gold spills across the road in a bright, clattering arc.
Two gate guards stop mid-patrol. Lacquered armor catches the light. Polearms angle down as their attention locks on Kareem, then on the gold, then back to him.
Kareem Bishop
The coins are not local.
The Senior Guard
Hold there. Stray traveler, whose purse is that, and why does it shine like a temple offering?
A third figure, robed beneath a faded blue sash, hurries from the gate shadow, eyes sharp with greedy caution. He crouches near the scattered coins without touching them.
The Gate Scribe
If this is trade, speak clearly. If this is theft, speak quickly. Shou Lung records both.
Wind stirs the gold at Kareem’s boots. Behind the guards, the massive gates wait half-open, and the road into the empire stands exposed.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get past the gate guards
“I put my hands up and slowly turn, "Hey, I didnt steal anything. I woke up with this on me. I-I don't know where I am"”
SUCCESS (Superb Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Kareem Bishop
Hey, I didn’t steal anything. I woke up with this on me. I don’t know where I am.
Kareem raises both hands and turns slow, careful, showing empty palms to the guards. The gold at his feet flashes in the sun as his bag sags open beside him.
The Senior Guard
Easy. Keep those hands high. If you mean no theft, you stand still and let me see the bag.
The Gate Scribe
He speaks plainly. That is either innocence or a very practiced lie.
The senior guard lowers his polearm a finger’s width, not enough to welcome, only enough to listen. The scribe straightens with one coin pinched between two fingers, testing its weight.
The Senior Guard
Foreign face, foreign coin. Fine. You will answer under the gate seal, and your bag goes where I can count it.
The offer lands like a blade laid flat on a table, entry or evidence. Behind them, the half-open gate waits in silence while the road to the city narrows around Kareem’s next choice.
“"May i pick the rest up?”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled -1)
Kareem crouches at the line of scattered coins and begins gathering them one careful handful at a time, keeping his shoulders loose and his movements slow.
The senior guard watches every motion, polearm angled aside but ready, while the scribe tracks each coin as it disappears into Kareem's palm.
The Gate Scribe
A strange answer, but not a thief's haste. If you meant to bribe the gate, you should know imperial hands prefer a declaration with their silver.
The Senior Guard
Or a confession. Speak plain, foreigner. Is this tribute for passage, or evidence we take from you?
Kareem gathers the last of the visible coins, but the motion costs him. One slips through his fingers and bounces hard against the stone, ringing loud under the gate arch.
The Gate Scribe
That sound will be in my ledger. So will your answer.
The senior guard shifts his stance toward the bag, and the half-open gate waits behind him, silent as if it is listening.
“"I don't bribe. I will pay legal dues but not bribe”
SUCCESS (Superb Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Kareem Bishop
The gold is legal dues. Not a bribe. If you want it logged, log it as payment for passage.
The Gate Scribe
Then your tongue is better disciplined than your timing, foreigner. That is at least a proper claim.
The Senior Guard
And your purse is heavy enough to make honest men suspicious. Keep your hands where I can see them while we decide what your claim is worth.
He lowers the ledger a finger's width and makes a neat note beside the coin's bright stamp, his eyes never leaving Kareem's face.
The guard's polearm stays angled toward the bag, but his grip loosens by a breath. The scattered coins are almost all gathered now, their clink soft under the arch.
The Gate Scribe
If this is dues, then say for what office, what road, and whose seal sends you. Give us enough to write, and we may yet write you lawful.
The Senior Guard
Speak carefully. The gate can open on your words, or close on them.
“"I am sorry, let me start over. This bag was on my lap. My name is on the bag. I have no idea where it came from." I gesture towards the coin, "i was just asking to clean the coins up. They are not for a bribe or anything. I don't know what seal sends me? I am Chief Warrant Officer Kareem Bishop. I can tell you my unit and where I was but I can not tell you where I am or why"”
SUCCESS (Superb Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Kareem Bishop
I am sorry. Let me start over. The bag was on my lap, my name is on it. I do not know where it comes from. I was only asking to gather the coins, not bribe anyone. I am Chief Warrant Officer Kareem Bishop. I can give my unit and where I was, but not where I am or why.
The Gate Scribe
Chief Warrant Officer, that is a hard title to carry with such a confused face. Still, a title is a title, and a name is something a ledger can hold.
The Senior Guard
He speaks like a man telling the truth badly. That is often more useful than a polished lie.
The scribe writes Kareem Bishop in careful strokes, then taps the bag's tied mouth with two fingers. The senior guard watches the motion, not the man.
The Gate Scribe
Foreign or not, you know rank. That helps. It means somebody taught you restraint.
The Senior Guard
And somebody taught him to look after his own. That bag is still a problem, though.
A small coin slips from Kareem's fist and rings against the stone. Both men look down at once, and the brief silence makes the gate feel larger.
The Gate Scribe
Tell me the unit, Kareem Bishop. If your words fit the record, we may decide whether this gold opens the road or seals it.
““Chief Warrant Officer Bishop, 75th Ranger Regiment, United States Army Rangers, attached to 27th BSB, 2-12 Cavalry, 4th Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Stationed out of Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa.” i slowly reach for my dog tags around my neck and my wallet with my ID card”
SUCCESS (Superb Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Kareem eases the bag's cord loose and draws out his dog tags first, then the wallet, holding both where the guards can see. Metal catches the gate light as the senior guard's eyes narrow, not in suspicion now, but in recognition of form.
Kareem Bishop
Chief Warrant Officer Bishop, 75th Ranger Regiment, United States Army Rangers, attached to 27th BSB, 2-12 Cavalry, 4th Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Stationed out of Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa.
The Gate Scribe stops writing mid-stroke and leans in. The senior guard angles his polearm aside and studies the tags as if they are a puzzle with a known answer.
The Gate Scribe
That is a long chain of service. The shape of it, though, is clear enough. A soldier's naming, not a merchant's boast.
The Senior Guard
Show the card.
Kareem opens the wallet and presents the ID card. The scribe takes it with two fingers, compares the face, the name, the sealed marks, and then looks back at Kareem with a new, careful stillness.
The Gate Scribe
He is recorded now. I can work with this.
The Senior Guard
Then we decide whether he enters as a guest, or remains here as an inconvenience with a very expensive bag.
+ New Item Acquired
Dog tags
+ New Item Acquired
ID card
“"Of those options I would prefer to be a guest. But may I ask where we are? And when we are? Like what year is it?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Diplomacy, rolled +4)
Kareem Bishop
I would prefer to come in as a guest. And I want the place and the year, if you will give them.
The Gate Scribe
Shou Lung, outer gate of the imperial road. As for the year, we count by reign and season, not by a stranger's wanderings... but this seal is current, and so are we.
The Senior Guard
He is no bandit. No man that speaks with that discipline comes here empty of sense. Guest, then, if the scribe finds no fraud in the purse.
The Gate Scribe
He writes Kareem Bishop into the register with a visitor's mark, not a prisoner's knot. Foreign, yes. Dangerous, perhaps. But lawful for now.
The senior guard turns his polearm outward and lifts the gate chain hook from its iron loop. The barred passage shudders with a deep, wooden groan.
The Gate Scribe
The imperial road leads toward the first district from here. If you mean to keep your gold and your head, do not draw steel before the bell tolls.
He stamps the ledger once, then slides Kareem's card back across the plank. Both guards watch him differently now, less as a suspect and more as a man already half inside.
Quest Complete
Get past the gate guards
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Fair→Good