Hagrtich crouches among rain-lashed reeds in the flooded ravine, his treasure-laden pack dragging at his shoulders. Beneath the cloak, his wounded flank burns.
Rushing water divides him from the upper bank. Beyond the reeds, the ravine climbs toward unfamiliar ground, where fresh bootprints and snapped stems mark his passage.
Captain Veyra appears at the ravine’s edge, rain darkening her coat and wetting the loose strands around her hard-set face. Several pirates spread behind her.
Captain Veyra
Thief! Surrender the pack and come out of that water. I will not chase you through every ditch beneath this cursed temple.
Her pirates fan along the bank, watching the reeds and the rising channel. None enters the current yet, but their blades and ropes are ready.
Captain Veyra
You cut my crew loose, stole what waited below, and left us to find your trail. Hand over the treasure, and this need not become bloodier.
Rain drums against Hagrtich’s hood while the current tugs at his feet. Behind Veyra, the upper bank narrows toward the temple, leaving the pirates exposed against the grey sky.
✓ Quest Accepted
Escape Captain Veyra's pursuit
“A wet, gurgling chuckle, mocking and genuine churns from out of my jaws. "Piteous, pathetic humans." I shift within the reeds, purposefully standing above them so that they may see me. My voice is naturally guttural, and bitter, as if I already bore resentment toward them. "You are unfit to make demands, pirate captain. Your precious prize has abandoned you for a handsomer purpose. You are powerless to stop me. Try, and you and your remaining crew shall be my next meal."”
FAILURE (Poor Willpower, rolled +2)
Hagrtich Ssazar
Piteous, pathetic humans. You are unfit to make demands, pirate captain. Your precious prize has abandoned you for a handsomer purpose. You are powerless to stop me. Try, and you and your remaining crew shall be my next meal.
A wet, gurgling chuckle churns from Hagrtich’s jaws. He rises deliberately above the reeds, rain shining across his scales and the bulging pack, making himself plain against the grey water.
Captain Veyra
Your teeth do not make you sovereign, lizard. Hold him there. Do not enter the current.
The threat earns no retreat. Instead, the pirates spread wider and cast their ropes toward him. Hagrtich’s exposed stance gives them a clear target, and one line catches his pack strap.
Captain Veyra
Drag him sideways, away from the deep channel. The water will do the rest.
The taut rope yanks him toward the bank, but the strain parts the reeds beside him, revealing a narrow, water-filled culvert beneath the opposite bank. Its current runs away from the pirates into darkness.
Hagrtich Ssazar
The rope holds the pack, not my body; the culvert offers another way out.
“I plant my clawed feet firmly into the earth, engaging in a tug of war with the pirates that through my natural strength, I surpass them in. I purposefully do not cut the rope, though I easily could if I wished, with my claws. I want to pull them into the current myself, so that I may kill at least one of them.”
SUCCESS (Superb Strength, rolled +3)
Hagrtich plants his clawed feet in the mud and leans back. The rope bites his pack strap, but his superb strength turns the tug against the bank.
The pirates brace and haul together. Hagrtich’s claws trench the earth, then he surges backward, dragging the nearest men off balance toward the rushing current.
Captain Veyra
Hold fast! Cut the line before he takes you!
Too late. Two pirates slide over the muddy edge, and the rope wrenches a third from his stance. The current seizes them and carries them into the culvert’s black mouth.
One pirate catches a root, but the rope pulls him loose. The culvert swallows him from sight, and the violent water leaves no rescue possible.
Captain Veyra
Release that rope! Fall back from the water!
Veyra’s surviving crew abandons the line, stumbling away from the bank. The torn strap slips free, while the culvert reveals a dry ledge running beneath the opposite bank, hidden from the pirates.
“A devilish grin spreads over my snout. "Now you're mine, and mine alone." I break into a gallop and leap over the gap. I scramble over earth and stone, then lunge after Veyra before she can properly take off. My jaws snap shut around her shoulder. The second they do, I grab onto her and jump backwards, right back into the culvert. The current lashes and paints crimson as I break into a death-roll, ripping the pirate captain to pieces beneath the surface. When I crawl onto the dry ledge, her decapitated head is held between my jagged teeth.”
SUCCESS (Superb Brawling, rolled +2)
Hagrtich Ssazar
Now you're mine, and mine alone.
Hagrtich’s devilish grin bares his jagged teeth. He breaks into a gallop, clears the gap, and scrambles over wet earth and stone toward Veyra.
Captain Veyra
Back! Keep him from me!
Before the captain can flee, Hagrtich lunges and clamps onto her shoulder. His claws seize her as he springs backward, dragging them both into the culvert.
The current closes over them. Beneath the surface, Hagrtich’s violent struggle ends Captain Veyra’s resistance, and the rushing water bears away the evidence of the attack.
Hagrtich emerges onto the dry ledge, rain and culvert water streaming from his cloak. Captain Veyra is dead, and her remaining pirates are left beyond the gap.
He crawls deeper along the ledge with his treasure-laden pack secure, while the current lashes past and the surviving pirates stare helplessly from the ravine bank.
Quest Complete
Escape Captain Veyra's pursuit
Attribute Upgrade: Strength Superb→Legendary
+ New Item Acquired
Captain Veyra's head