Lochen’s Keep: Insurrection

The game opens up by panning down from the sky to show a dwarven young women wearing a brown cloak and a leather tunic. A staff is strapped to her back as her brown hair is messily arranged in a braid. This is Sap, a druid adventurer here to puruse the guilds. Sap is a bit shy, used to months away from humanoid contact. She’s a bit confused about the customs, yet is enjoying the pleasant vibes and interesting vendors. She walks a little down the main road in the Shopping District of Lochen’s Keep. Vendors and guild-stalls are arranged on side to side of her, and one stall stands out from the rest, surrounded by a thick crowd. Specifically, a short dense crowd. There is an assembly of assorted shorter humanoids: halflings, gnomes, dwarves, but also goblins, kobalds, and the occasional kenku or pixie. A smiling halfling hands her a paper pamphlet, reading “Join Small Folk United, and celebrate the big upcoming wedding!” Disinterested, she hands the man the paper and looks for a food stall to enjoy a drink.  

The view changes, as it cuts to a scantily dressed elf in a dark nearby alley. He dons a cloak, smirking to himself as he thinks of all the mischief he could cause. This is Knoe, a troublemaking trickster. He saunters into the bustling street, and is immediately confronted by a tall dragonborn in half-plate armor. Flinching a little, his smile flickers. “Who are you?” he asks. “Im the emissary for the Left Hand! Join our righteous cause in pursuit of-“. As he speaks, Knoe takes a long swig from a non descript leather flask, and belches loudly in the man’s face. The man subsequently walks away without another word. 

Lastly, we reach our final character. A reptilian figure attracts odd looks from the surrounding townsfolk. He’s used to it, although in truth many of the looks were at the chittering albino money on his shoulder. This is Dave, the lizardfolk wizard. Speedwagon, his monkey, chatters something excitedly and points towards a stall, just across the street from Sap. “Does that have what I want?” Dave whispers, and Speedwagon nods. He approaches the stall, appraising the banner above. A Brass and fabric piece of renature, it reads “Alchemy Allure”. An artificer is excitedly giving a demonstration of potions and baubles to the intruiged audience. After a moment, the lizardfolk hails the man. “Excuse me, is that for sale?” He points at a floating ball of light to the right of the man. Even from a few feet away, he can feel the radiant heat. “Oh, that prototype brass sun? Oh, for you my friend, you can by that for the low, low price of 20 gold!” Before the man can talk more, the monkey begins to shriek fervently. To the world, the monkey screams wildly. But to Dave, he hears a dear friend rebute in outrage: “Dave, are you hearing this? This man’s a conman! He’s tricking you! That sun aint worth 20 gold, its 15! he’s cheating you of 5 gold pieces! This is an insult, an insult to your intelligence and to your family! You cant tolerate this, will you? You know what you must do…” “I know what I must do…” whispers Dave menacingly under is breath. He begins to draw an iron wand from his satchel, when ubruptly…

The screams were first. People running twoards them… no away from something down the road. Smoke billows from the sky as an explosion blasts fire from a wall of houses. The surrounding shopkeeps scream and flee, as the adventurers are suddenly left alone in the deserted street….

to be cont. later!