Fiction | Game | Medium Adventurers League ⚔️
Questions About the Baron
Part 1 of a quest
This is part of a story that works as an interactive game. You’ll need to have some paper and dice at the ready! Click here for the beginning of the story, and find a reminder of the rules here.
(Going to the league headquarters instead? Hearthstone Hideout or Rebel Bar).
Unusually, at least in your experience so far, this quest begins at night. All you know is where to meet — at the south edge of the main town square of The Bastion. You don’t even know the name of your contact.
It’s not long, however, before someone taps you on the shoulder, and you spin around, heart thumping, trying hard to keep your cool. To look like a proper badass adventurer.
“You’re the one who’s going to help with investigating the Baron, right?” says a figure, a half-orc with unusually wide eyes.
“Yeah, that’s me,” you say, and introduce yourself.
“I’m Laskus,” says the figure. He has a squeaky twang to his voice. Looking him up and down, you suppose that he is some kind of rogue, as you can see leather armor, and a dagger at each hip. “The fee’s thirty silver. Fair?”
You shrug, then nod.
“Okay. Now, let’s talk as we walk.”
“Where are we walking to?” you ask, following as he begins to move away across the square.
“Baron’s Palace, of course,” Laskus replies. “No point in hitting it during the day if we want to get information.”
You follow as he leads you past a huge temple with a clock, then on past several of the magnificent tall towers of the town centre. Before long, you are approaching the lake that sits at the heart of The Bastion. You once again see the gallows at the far end, though at least now there are no bodies hanging. If anyone was hung today, they’ve been cut down.
“Glorious, this city, but poor,” says Laskus. “And I bet you can guess why. Every society has its parasites, but ours is the biggest and greediest of them all.”
“I’ve noticed a few things already,” you say. “And I gather that the Baron isn’t doing his bit to help.”
“Far from it. He’s causing the problems, or at least making them much worse. He has doubled taxes on the commoners for three months running. Bleeding us dry. And merchants now have to pay duty for everything everything they bring into or out of the city. Trade is being choked.”
You frown. “I understand greed, but those moves are bound to cause trouble. Why would he do it?”
“That’s the big question, isn’t it? I mean, if he was doing something useful with all those taxes, fine. Making the jails safer and cleaner, perhaps. The gods know, us criminals need to catch a break! But instead, he’s been having innocent people arrested. Rounded up. To add to that, more and more are being executed, even for really petty crimes.”
“Damn. That really sucks.”
“Right. Very bad for business! All kinds, not just thieving. My advice — don’t even speak to the city guards if you can avoid it. Like these ones ahead of us...”
You look up and see as a group of six burly men in chain armor and uniforms approaching, and the pair of you fall silent. Clearly, these are some of the city guards that you were just warned about.
Laskus shrinks back into the shadows, and you follow suit.
As you watch on, you see the guards yell at and punch a local begger, who yelps and runs off into the backstreets. Then they walk on, laughing.
“The way those troops are acting,” says Laskus, moving off again when the guards are out of sight, “it’s all new, that’s the thing. The troops themselves are new to The Bastion. This used to be a peaceful place, but the damn Baron’s bringing in these city guards from all over. They’re brutal mercenaries. Killers. People say that he’s building a secret army of some kind.”
“But why?”
He shrugs. “Who knows?”
You have now rounded the eastern edge of the lake. Here, the houses are small, dirty and squalid, and you can smell damp, rot, and worse. Beyond, the group slopes upwards towards a great stone palace. It has a tower at each corner, with more city guards patrolling the perimeter.
“Isn’t he part of some ancient family? The Baron, I mean. Like — nobility?”
Laskus grunts. “Of course, you’re new in these parts, ain’t you? His full title is Baron Zolantino the Sixth. He’s part of the Zolantino clan, of course. An old name, and for sure, some of the Zolantino barons and baronesses of the past did some good things. Made this town what it is, built some of the structures and town walls, that kind of stuff. Not this guy, though. Seems that what he doesn’t spend building his new army goes on gambling and whoring.”
“I’m starting to get the picture, Laskus. But other than his being an asshole, what exactly are we investigating?”
Laskus pauses, breathing hard, for you have both been walking rapidly uphill towards the palace. “Well. My first question is this: what happened to make the Baron suddenly start wanting more tax, more troops, and harsher punishments? And all in the last couple months?”
“It’s a good question. I was starting to wonder about that, too.”
“Then,” Laskus continues, “my next question is this: can the man be stopped? Reformed, if you like. If not, then assassination might be our only option.”
“Uh, well – hang on…” you begin.
But Laskus holds up his hand. “My adventurous friend, this is only about fact finding for just now. Then after, we can decide what action to take.”
You hesitate for a moment, then nod.
Laskus leads you closer to the Baron’s palace. Ahead, two grouchy-looking guards stand in front of the main gate. There are around eight more that you can make out circling the walls. To your right, there are a pile of crates in the side street… you wonder if it might be possible to use them to climb up onto the walls.
What do you do?
- Speak to the guards and ask to get through (click here).
- Try to climb up when there is a gap in the patrols (click here).
If you’d rather quit this quest and return to your league headquarters, head to Hearthstone Hideout or Rebel Bar/The Warren.