Cyrus Kyre crests the hill and sees chaos spilling across the road. A circus camp lies broken, wagons tipped, canvas ripped, performers huddled behind barrels and wheels.
In the road below, a roadside priest kneels over a bandit who shudders in his grip. The priest’s hands shake as he presses a vial to the man’s lips.
The Priest
Hold him still. The poison is slow, but it is not kind.
Across the camp, the remaining bandits drag oil flasks toward the nearest tents. Smoke is not yet rising, but their intent is plain.
The Bandit Captain
Burn it. We leave nothing for them, and nothing for the road.
The performers look to Cyrus Kyre and then to the flames waiting in the bandits’ hands. Fear tightens the camp into silence.
Cyrus Kyre
The bandits are choosing fire over flight.
One torch lifts toward dry canvas. The priest looks up, desperate, and the camp holds its breath.
The Priest
You there, sword-bearer. Will you stop them, or stand aside?
✓ Quest Accepted
Stop the bandits from burning the circus camp
“I say, "Hey, what the fuck are you idiots doing? You have to be the shittiest roadside bandits to have ever been. You attack a fucking circus? Oh yah, cause everyone knows that circuses are full of rich people and treasure. So stupid. And to top it off your leader gets fucked up? He's supposed to be the toughest? Well, he's definitely not the smartest, since he had you attack the fucking homeless freak show theatre nerds. And the kicker is, now you're going to set it all on fire. So this will all have been for nothing? I'll tell you what to do. Put down the torches and let me lead you idiots. If you want to last longer than a week and actually end up with some coin in your pocket, I'll show you the way. If you have half a brain amongst you, you'll follow my lead and we'll salvage something out of this cluster fuck. Or, you keep on acting like a bunch of fucking idiots and force me to kill everyone of you. And I mean every single person."”
SUCCESS (Fair Intimidation, rolled +0)
Cyrus Kyre
Hey. Put the torches down and stop pretending this circus is worth your ashes. Your captain is down, and this ends with coin if you stop being fools.
The torch wavers. One bandit hesitates, then another lowers his flask. The priest keeps the bandit captain pinned with both hands, staring over at Cyrus Kyre like he cannot believe the turn of it.
The Priest
If you are clever enough to listen, then listen. Help me keep him breathing, and I will not see you all hanged for this.
The nearest bandits trade looks and back away from the tents. One torch is stamped out in the dirt, its flame dying beneath a boot, but the panic has already cost the canvas a blackened edge.
The Bandit Captain
Cowards... fine. No fire. Get him up. We are leaving.
The camp exhales. Performers start to rise from behind the barrels, still shaken, but the tents remain standing. Smoke never quite takes hold.
The priest does not let go of the captain yet, and his shaking hands are flecked with spilled tincture. Your words buy order, but they also leave a few wary faces turning toward Cyrus Kyre, measuring the cost of obeying him.
Quest Complete
Stop the bandits from burning the circus camp
“Stop. Don't run away and fuck this leader guy. He's the bandit captain, while I'm the new fuckin' bandit general. If you want to do this right, round up all these circus freaks and we take them hostage. Then, when the "heros" come to save them, we ambush them and take all their shit. Because, you know who has lots of gold and valuable stuff? "Adventurers." The "good guys" and "heros." Think about it”
SUCCESS (Fair Persuasion, rolled +0)
Cyrus Kyre’s pitch lands like a tossed coin, and the camp listens. The priest’s grip loosens on the captain, not from trust, but from calculation.
The Priest
You speak like a man who has watched hunger teach strategy. If you mean it, then name what you want kept alive first.
The Bandit Captain
Kept alive? He wants a crew, not corpses. Fine. The tents stay, the performers stay, and we use them as bait when the road-proud heroes come sniffing.
A few bandits murmur agreement. One drags a barrel away from the scorched canvas, and another kicks dirt over the last ember.
The Priest
He saves them from fire, then uses them as teeth. Still, lives are lives.
The captain’s shoulders square under the priest’s hands, no longer fighting the hold so much as accepting a new chain of command.
The Priest
If this is your bargain, Cyrus Kyre, then stand in it. We are all dirty with it now.
Director's note
evaluate and assess this situation to determine: 1. How many bandits are there and how well equipped they are. 2. How many circus people there are and do they have any valuables we can take. 3. What the layout of the land is and determine where and how to setup the ambush. 4. Gather Intel from local
From above, the camp reads like a rough map, tents in a bent ring around the road, the saved wagons and the cleared barrel making a narrow lane through the middle. The priest and captain stand at its center while Cyrus Kyre watches the whole spread, and the bandits fan out by the firebreak, counting heads and looking for weak ground.
The Priest
Eight of them, if none slipped into the dark. Two have mail, one has a spear, the rest are knives and clubs. The circus folk are three tents down by the wagons, with little worth stealing but their tools and banners. If you mean to trap raiders, the road bend and that ditch beside it will do the work.
“Are the circus performers hiding any weapons?”
NO (Likely, rolled 83)
Cyrus Kyre scans the huddled performers, but their meager belongings contain only worn costumes and broken props. There are no hidden blades or concealed weapons among them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Use the circus performers as bait
“Disguise some of the bandits as performers, set up series of ambushes that use the real performers as bait, distractions and human shields. Use my personal knowledge of how "adventurers" operate to setup counter measures that will nullify their advantages and use their strengths and morality, etc against them. Use the bandits knowledge of the area and it's terrain to make sure we have advanced warning of the "heros" approach. Get Intel about who will likely be sent.”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +2)
The camp turns into a map in Cyrus Kyre’s head, lanes, hide spots, and sightlines snapping into place. The bandits are not a mob, but a rough ring of seven, with two lean crossbowmen and the rest carrying spears, cleavers, and one hunting bow.
He picks out the performers’ valuables too, threadbare but usable, bright scarves, painted masks, a cracked tambour, and a wagon latch that can be rigged to clatter. The circus folk themselves become the bait, visible, vulnerable, and easy to herd toward the road bend.
The land gives the answer with it. The ditch can hide men low, the barrel lane can break a charge, and the tents can screen a second line. Whoever comes to rescue or avenge this camp will have to choose between speed, caution, and the exposed road.
The Priest
A patrol from the east road is the likeliest trouble. If they come at all, they will come hard, and they will trust the bend before they trust the camp.
Cyrus takes the measure of the priest’s warning and the bandits’ habits at once, then folds them together into a single ugly plan. The performers will draw eyes, the decoy men will show false weakness, and hidden watchers will count the approach before a blade is drawn.
The Bandit Captain
Then we set it. Ditch on one side, barrels on the other, and any hero who breaks through gets our full welcome.
The captain’s head turns toward the road, already sold on the scheme. The camp is no longer in doubt, only in preparation, and somewhere beyond the bend the next travelers are now a matter of timing.
Quest Complete
Use the circus performers as bait