The day after her 46th birthday Henrietta Chalk looked around her empty home and asked herself what she was doing there. Her husband, gods rekindle his spirit, had died of infection two years ago. Her children had all grown up and sought fortunes better than their little farm. When she was unable to answer the question, Henrietta Chalk picked up her late husband's sword, rucksack, and an old potion that they'd stashed away for a rainy day, and headed out to seek a fortune of her own.
Skill: 7
Stamina: 19
Luck: 11
1 Fortune Potion (2 Measures)
On a technical note, I'm going to crop some of this text to focus on specific lines. Don't worry, I'll still include it all, just a little more focused.
You have no idea how much I wanted to just stop reading Rumours after this sentence.
Oh, you can get along with anyone if you have the right recipe for strawberry tarts. Put in some work to help around the place, and make an unforgettable dessert, and every town is home. That's what I always say.
Well, Brunhild, that's Mrs. Chambers, told me her son married a princess, so her tales are up on stilts. I think Linda is the honest one, and her children are just the dearest little things. Proper raising there, comes from honest parenting.
I won't lie; I swallowed hard at the grizzly tales. Had to struggle to keep my tea down. But, my mind was set and that's that. I've brought children into this world and watched them leave it. No miserly Warlock is as scary as that.
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| Wizard publishing certainly thought he was young. |
I have no earthly idea why these particular rumours seemed to have some truth. I don't know how any of the adventurers came out knowing the exact number of keys, let alone how this very minor titbit got disseminated through the peasants. If I'm going to sit around telling adventurers stories about their unlucky predecessors
you can bet I'm going to go on about the monsters, and entirely forget the number of keys involved.
Either way, he's clearly just a street magician.
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| I'm sure we're going to get a nuanced and considered view of fantasy race politics on this adventure. |
Well, who isn't, dearie? Bit of a sneaky pie and a sip of ale never hurt anyone.
You know, this whole section would have made more sense if the ferryman came to town to spend that gold every so often. Maybe got drunk and started going on about the damn keys. I also have questions about this river. Is it entirely subterranean? Could Henrietta get a boat and ride it along the river till it goes under the mountain, and just skip the first part of the dungeon?
I was going to make a point about just swimming across the river, but then I realized that unless the book blatantly contradicts me on this, Henrietta can't swim.
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| Okay. Now I'm facing the pillow. |
Ah, they were such sweet dearies. I can't tell you how much the people of Mossbottom pulled at my heartstrings. I could have just settled there. Maybe become an auntie to all the little children. But, no. It's time for something new. I turned over to the mountain and began the hike.
Personally, I think "Turn the page" is a better instruction than "Now turn over." Still, it creates a nice effect to have the big blank space and then the command all on its own. Creates tension and adds gravity to the start of the adventure proper.
The whole scene does rather paint the player as an idiot. People are literally crying because I'm about to go die, and I still don't stop to try and get a friend to go halfsies on the loot with. Hades, the villagers literally talked about other adventurers passing through. I could just wait for the next one and hook up with them.
But, I suppose Henrietta knows that if she stayed here much longer she'd never leave.
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