Along the Road: Shorty

[Amazing Aardvark]

Along the Road: Shorty

You find yourself in front of the men leading them cautiously through the still terrain. Something doesn’t feel right…

Turn back and find another way. (Trick option. This will trigger the event)
Or
Continue carefully onward. (CTC: Click to continue)

After continuing on for a couple miles, nothing happens and the uneasy feeling goes away.

Huh, must’ve been something I ate. (Click to end event)

Or

Ordering your men to a halt, you tell them that the path doesn’t feel right and that tracing your tracks back to another trail would be safer.

Let’s head back. (CTC)

Ever since turning around, the bad feeling has been gone and all seems fine.

Always trust your gut. (CTC)

But before long, you find yourself approaching a lone man in the middle of the road.
“Hail, friend.” The stranger says.
“Hail, what can we do for you today?”
“Well, that depends… you mercenaries?”
“That’s right.”
“If you want to help me, then you can start by throwing down your weapons and emptying your pockets.”
“I’m sorry, did you just tell us…
“Yes, I did!” The man interrupts. “Quickly, if you please!”
It’s then that the thirty other men materialize from the trees with swords and bows in their hands.

Great… (CTC)

“This here is our road, you see. And anyone travelling down our road has to pay a tax. You have a special case however. You and your men passed by this same way not long ago. I don’t know what idiot decided to come back, but that doesn’t matter now, does it? When you first went by, we didn’t have enough… toll collectors… to receive your payment. Well, now… hehe…. we do. It seems to me then that your rate should be doubled. Two-Thousand crowns a man!”

“We don’t have that kind of money!” (CTC)

“Ha, I was hoping you would say that. Now, I may be a thief, but I’m no crook.”
The bandit notices the confused look on your face.
“Here’s what I mean. We have a bet to offer you, see? Our best man against your’s. No weapons, no armor, just fists. What d’ya say? 500 of our crowns against 500 of yours?”

Seems fair. (CTC)

Upon agreeing to the terms of the wager, the bandit captain calls out, “Shorty!”

Back behind some of the other bandits, you see him. You think you are losing your mind. Trees can’t move. Can they? But it wasn’t a tree… It was Shorty.
Standing 7 feet tall with muscles the size of a bull’s neck, Shorty must’ve weighed 30 stone. If he got into a fight with an orc, you’d be praying for the orc. Shorty walks up, shaking the ground beneath him, and says in a deep, macho voice. “Right here, Captain!”

*Gulp* (CTC)

Turning to your men, you ask if there are any volunteers. Not to your surprise, nobody moves. Just as you were giving up hope of living through the day… Sven the Small (Any character with the “Tiny” trait) steps up and quietly says. “I can take him, sir.”
“What’s this then?” Shorty yells. “This your idea of a joke, sending a kid to fight me?!?!”
You turn to Sven and ask him quietly, “Are you sure about this. He could break your neck with just one punch.”
Sven looks at you with determination in his eyes, and says with grit in his voice. “I’ll be fine, sir.”
“We gonna fight, or what?” Shorty bellows, “I ain’t got all day!”

Good luck, Sven. (CTC)

The two men meet in the middle of the road, shake hands, and get ready to fight. While taking off his armor and laying aside his weapons, you here Sven offer up a quick prayer.

He’ll need all the help he can get. (CTC)

The fight that follows is too much to describe. You never saw a man take a beating like you did that day. By the time they were done, there was blood all over the ground, and it was mixed with scraps of clothes, tufts of hair, and a few dislodged teeth.

Good heavens! (CTC)

Confidently, Sven comes striding up to you with a coy grin on his untouched face. You glance behind him to see Shorty lying on the ground groaning in pain. If you hadn’t seen what just happened with your own eyes, you wouldn’t have believed it. In fact, you’re still not sure you believe it.

I need a drink. (CTC)

The bandit leader is at a loss for words with his jaw hanging down in amazement.
“Here… “ he stammers. “Your crowns.”

Thank you very much. (click to gain 500 crowns, give Sven the Brave trait, and end the event)

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