“Okay, let’s start with Carl. Mike and Melissa, can you leave the room please?”
“Sure,” said Mike.
“Okay, Carl. Who’s your character?”
“I’m playing Atur, who is a lawful evil tiefling war cleric of Asmodeus.”
“An interesting choice.”
“Yes. I was raised in a cult, and I believe that it is my destiny to one day defeat the powers of good and summon Asmodeus bodily to the material plane to rule in fire and torment.”
“He will obviously reward you for being his conduit into the material plane.”
“Of course!”
“Of course. Okay, well, future conduit you may be, but right now you’re an agent of the Zhentarim, which is a worldwide organisation of thieves’ and assassins’ guilds.”
“Okay.”
“You’ve just been initiated into the Zhentarim, and they’ve given you your first mission, and it’s an unusual one. You’ll be working with agents of the Emerald Enclave and the Harpers. Except that because of a recent Harper mission gone awry, we have forced them to an agreement. The next cross-faction mission, the Harpers must send a patsy – a nobody, who’s not an agent and has no connection to, or knowledge of, the Harpers, factions or missions.”
“Oh, this’ll be fun.”
“Note that the Harpers still get to send an agent. You are required to take him along.”
“Okay,” said Carl.
“Your mission involves tracking down the source of a number of mysterious magical artifacts that have recently appeared. You’ll receive additional information from other agents further down the track. You will meet your party members at the Grouse and Bitch Tavern in the town of Littlewood.”
“Okay,” said Carl again.
“Please leave the room now, and send Melissa in. The next time you come to the table, it will be in the tavern in Littlewood.”
“Right,” said Carl.
“Hi,” said Melissa.
“Hi. Who’s your character?”
“I’m playing Helna, a chaotic good elf ranger. Grew up in the forest, doesn’t like big cities, that sort of thing. But I have an evil twin brother, whom I am duty bound to track down and slay.”
“Harsh,” I said.
“Well, he did kill my mother and father and run off with a drow priestess.”
“Okay,” I said. “Are you planning on going beastmaster?”
“Hunter,” she replied.
“Okay. Would you have a problem with performing an assassination if it were in the greater good?”
“Absolutely not, as long as the target is a clear and present danger.”
“Okay, you’ve just been recruited into the Emerald Enclave, which is a loose coalition of druid circles from across the world. You haven’t been asked to assassinate anyone yet, though you are given to understand that this may be on the table.”
“Okay.”
“For now they want you to investigate the sudden appearance of certain evil magic items. You will receive additional information from agents down the track.”
“Okay,” said Melissa again.
“This is an unusual mission. You’ll be working with agents from the Harpers and the Zhentarim.”
“Why?” she asked.
“This is a cross-faction mission that has the potential to affect the balance of power further down the track. You’re mainly on the team as an observer. There was some kind of agreement between the Harpers and the Zhents, and the Harpers got by far the short end of the stick.”
“What happened?”
“It seems that the Harpers have been forced to send a patsy on this mission. Someone who isn’t a Harper, has no knowledge of Harpers, or factions, or missions. They’ve picked someone out.”
“Just some random dude off the street?”
“More or less, yes, though knowing the Harpers they’ll probably have picked someone who is at least capable. You’ll be meeting him and the Zhentarim agent at the Grouse and Bitch tavern in the town of Littlewood. I want to stress that the random dude’s participation in this mission is not optional. You are required to take him.”
“Okay.”
“Please send Mike in. While you’re out there, can you and Carl please describe to each other your characters’ physical appearances? The next time you come to the table, it will be at the tavern in Littlewood.”
“Right,” she said.
“Okay,” said Mike. “My character is Vagabond, a neutral good human barbarian.”
“Vagabond?” I asked.
“His real name is Umfrey, but he prefers Vagabond. He’s something of a local hero, having defended the town from a band of goblins.”
“Okay, that was just last week, and the town is called Littlewood,” I said. “The town’s initial outpouring of gratitude has worn off. You’ll still have a place there, but they’ve stopped coming up to you in the street to thank you.”
“Okay,” he said. “It sounds like a good time to start building on that reputation.”
“You’re out for a walk one day when you meet a woman, leaning against an old fencepost. She looks like she’s about forty or forty-five, wearing leather armour and carrying a rapier and a harp. She’s strumming a few strings of the harp, but she puts it away when you approach. Hi, she says.”
“I say hi,” said Mike.
“Warm day, isn’t it? she says. Let’s go for a drink.”
“Is it?” asked Mike.
“Not particularly. She leads you into the town to the Grouse and Bitch tavern. You’ve been there many times before. It’s not crowded tonight. In fact, you seem to be the only one there, apart from the bartender, who unasked starts pouring you a beer. Wait here for a minute, the woman says. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” said Mike.
“She disappears. Carl and Melissa, you can come in now. Mike, two figures approach your table. One is an elf, dressed in leather armour and carrying a longbow, and the other has red skin and horns, and is carrying a shield and a very huge mace.”
“Is this him?” asked Carl. Mike looked at him.
“Uh,” said Mike. “I was kind of with someone…”
“Okay, I say, looking around.” said Carl.
“The tavern is completely empty except for the three of you and the bartender, who is now coming over and putting a mug of beer in front of Mike.”
“How much?” asked Mike.
“He just put it down and walked away without saying a word, and now he’s left the room, leaving the three of you completely alone.”
Mike looked at Carl and Melissa, who were looking at him.
“Uh, hi?” said Mike.
“Okay, he’s the Harper,” said Carl. “You’re Enclave, obviously.”
“Yes, and you’re Zhent.”
“What?” said Mike.
“Doesn’t matter,” said Melissa. “Let’s go. I haul him up by one arm and we leave the tavern.”
“Okay, I vote we torture him until we find out what he knows,” said Carl.
“Who, him?” asked Melissa. “He doesn’t know anything, that’s the point.”
“Can we trust him?”
“I really don’t know anything,” said Mike. "I was just walking along tonight when this lady came up and offered me a drink. She led me to that tavern and left, and then you two showed up.”
“Okay,” said Melissa. “Here’s the situation. You’ve been picked by the Harpers to be their agent on this mission. You don’t have a choice, and we’re not going to torture you.”
“Why not?” asked Carl. Melissa just looked at him.
“We head straight out into the wilderness,” she said.
“At night?” I asked.
“Yeah, we’ll stay nearby the town tonight so it should be pretty safe.”
“Do we actually know anything about the mission? I only know that we need to track down some magical artifacts. Do you know anything else?” asked Carl.
“I look at you and hesitate for a moment,” said Melissa. “No, I say. I know just that. However, I was told that I would be contacted by agents further down the track. They should have some more information for us.”
“Do I know who the Zhents are in this town?” asked Carl.
“It’s a small town. There’s only one, and he’s the one who recruited you.”
“Okay, wait here, I say to the others. I want to go back into town and find him.”
“He’s nowhere to be found,” I say. “He’s not at any of his regular digs and none of the regular people seem to know where he is.”
“Damn,” he said. “Okay, I come back.”
“Okay, you two have had several hours together. What have you been doing?”
“I try to engage her in conversation,” said Mike.
“I’m making a fire and boiling some water,” said Melissa. “I reply in monosyllables.”
“An awkward several hours, then. Carl, you come back.”
“Nothing,” said Carl. “My contact is gone. Vanished.”
“So, no leads then,” said Melissa.
“Mike,” I said. “Can you make an Intelligence check?”
“Ha. Ten.” he said. “I’m not good at Intelligence.”
“That’s okay, this wasn’t hard. You remember dimly a few days ago, during the celebrations, someone was telling a story about a cursed dagger.”
Carl and Melissa just looked at him.