The wagon lurches violently over the uneven cobblestones, throwing Timothy against the splintered boards. The Slave Trader towers over him, a silhouette against the sliver of sunlight cutting through the wagon's canvas. He tosses a heavy, rusted lockpick set onto the straw.
Slave Trader
Move, rat. The gates are ahead. If your wrists are still bound by the time we pass the arch, I will toss you to the Guard Captain myself.
Timothy
Focus. My fingers are raw, but these picks are the only way to avoid the noose. If I fail, I am dead before the sun reaches its zenith.
Timothy ignores the throbbing ache in his arms, lunging for the metal tools. He shoves the picks into the gaps of the wooden stocks clinging to his wrists, his breath hitching as he scrapes at the stubborn lock.
Slave Trader
Stop shaking. You have the hands of a thief, so use them like one. The city wall is only a dozen paces away.
+ Scene Quest Added
Escape the slave wagon
+ New Item Acquired
lockpick set
“I try to pick the stubborn lock on the wooden stocks, struggling due to the weight and poor condition of the lockpick set.”
FAILURE (Fair Lockpick Prodigy, rolled -1)
The heavy metal pick bites into the rusted mechanism, but the lock is older and more stubborn than it looks. As Timothy applies leverage, the brittle tool snaps with a sharp, metallic ping. A jagged fragment of iron remains lodged deep inside the keyhole, effectively sealing the mechanism shut.
Slave Trader
You clumsy fool. That was the only working pick in the batch.
Timothy
The mechanism is jammed. My hands are shaking too hard, and now there is no way to turn the bolt.
The wagon hits a deep rut in the road, sending a spray of splintered wood flying as the stocks groan under the stress. The Slave Trader kicks the side of the wagon, his face reddening with fury as the city gate looms just ahead, the iron portcullis beginning its slow, heavy descent.
Slave Trader
The guards are dropping the gate, boy. You have until the wheels hit the threshold to free yourself, or I leave you in this crate to be crushed against the stone.
“I try to persuade the slave trader not to hand me over to the guards.”
SUCCESS (Superb Oratory, rolled +0)
Timothy
Please, sir! The guards will see me as nothing more than a ruined slave if I am locked in this frame. If you bring me in whole, you can demand twice the silver for my talents as a smith. I am worth more alive and mobile than as a broken wreck at your feet.
Slave Trader
The boy has a silver tongue. If I leave him here, the gate captain keeps the coin for the resale. If he remains intact, I claim the full bounty.
The Slave Trader pauses, his hand hovering over the lever that could tilt the wagon bed and spill Timothy out onto the cobblestones. He glares at the descending iron teeth of the portcullis, then back at the youth. He reaches into his heavy fur coat and draws a small, rusted iron key.
Slave Trader
You have five seconds, brat. Try not to snap this one.
+ New Item Acquired
Rusted iron key
“I try to open the heavy lock with the fragile rusted iron key.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +3)
Timothy
The key feels brittle, like a dead twig, but the pins inside the mechanism scream in protest as I turn it. I push against the resistance, letting my instincts guide the metal, until a crisp, heavy metallic snap echoes through the wood. The restraint falls away.
Timothy
It is open.
Slave Trader
Do not test me, boy. Get your feet under you before the gate guards decide we are more trouble than we are worth.
The wagon wheels screech against the cobblestones, grinding to a halt right beneath the teeth of the gate. The Slave Trader looks past Timothy, his eyes narrowing at the approaching patrol.
Timothy
The gate is wide, the crowd is thick, and he is distracted. If I move now, I can slip into the shadows of the alley before he even registers my weight is gone from the wagon bed.
Quest Complete
Escape the slave wagon
Skill Upgrade: Oratory Superb→Legendary
+ Story Quest Added
Escape into the city alleyways