Peasants and Plunder

One day, while searching the woods for a sparrow to crack with your pocket of stones, you come across a small cave at the base of a mossy hill. It smells like wet stone inside but as you venture deeper, you get whiffs of an odor like the one that hangs over the village cemetery on dry summer days.

It is then you see it. There is a man sitting against the cave wall, his legs outstretched. Sleeping, you think. The light from the mouth of cave is not enough to make out his face and hailing him does not rouse him from his slumber. You inch closer. A rusty gauntlet glints from his hand, resting just above his knees. You reach out to shake his shoulder and small mouse jumps out from his head and runs into the darkness making you yelp and jump back. You can make out now a white skull, picked clean of all flesh, and masses of cobwebs in the hollows. A cruel black arrow sticks out from the man's belly. He is most certainly not sleeping.

In the other hand, you see a leather scabbard clutched close to the chest. It is with a great effort that you wrench it from the chewed fingers. It is covered in dust and smells vaguely of rat droppings, but the blade inside, when you draw it out, is as sharp and shiny as the day it was forged. You've never seen anything so fine.

>What do you do?
[ ] Show the blade to your father, it'll surely fetch a fair price at the market, and your family will be glad for the coin.
[ ] Hide the blade inside your tunic and present it to the old watchman, Delaney Halfhand. Perhaps he'll teach you how to use it.
[ ] Wear the sword on your back and swagger triumphantly to the village well, showing it off to the other boys. You can't wait to see the green in Thomas Bishop's eyes!
[ ] Other

>>5976800
>[ ] Hide the blade inside your tunic and present it to the old watchman, Delaney Halfhand. Perhaps he'll teach you how to use it.
Easiest choice.

>>5976800

>[x] Hide the blade inside your tunic and present it to the old watchman, Delaney Halfhand. Perhaps he'll teach you how to use it.

Hopefully it’s not cursed

>>5976800
>Hide the blade inside your tunic and present it to the old watchman, Delaney Halfhand. Perhaps he'll teach you how to use it.

>>5976801
>>5976809
>>5976819
>>5976829

You sheathe the blade again and look one last time at the corpse. It is bad luck to leave a dead body out in the open like this, but it will take too long to bury him or to gather the stones necessary to make a cairn. Instead you make the sign of the tower and the wheel in the air, and run back out into the trees.

There is a stream not too far from here and you head there first, to wash the scabbard. A blade as a well-made as this might fetch a kingly price, but you cannot help but covet it for yourself. How often have you imagined yourself as one of the cavaliers of Riverstone, waging battle astride their winged steeds against the dread Falcons of the West.

Once the scabbard has been thoroughly rinsed, you dry it with the hem of your tunic and slip it beneath your clothes. The cold pommel tapping against your bare chest sends a pleasant shiver through your body.

Drawing close to stone watchtower upon the hill, you think of what to say to its lonely inhabitant, Delaney Halfhand. It is certain he will ask you where you found the sword, and then you will have to tell him about the corpse, and about the black arrow in his stomach (which you're afraid might have come from the hairy goblins that once lived in those woods). And what if the man is someone of importance, one of the old Barons? Then old Delaney will have to journey to Riverstone and you'll not only lose the sword but fail in your true purpose, to learn from him the art of its use. But to lie is a grave sin, and to lie to one of the lord's men (which the old watchman still is, however lowly his station) a crime punishable by flogging.

>What do you do?
[ ] Admit no more than your finding the sword in the woods. It is the truth, after all, and the part which you've left out will not harm anyone.
[ ] Make up a story about inheriting the sword from a distant uncle. It's unlikely Delaney will take the trouble to confirm the story and you've never put much stock in avoiding sins.
[ ] The cavaliers of Riverstone would never lie and neither will you. You've always been a straight and honest boy and choose to remain sinless.
[ ] Other

>>5976923

>[x] The cavaliers of Riverstone would never lie and neither will you. You've always been a straight and honest boy and choose to remain sinless.

I’d prefer the quest hook over the sword any day

>>5976923
>[x] The cavaliers of Riverstone would never lie and neither will you. You've always been a straight and honest boy and choose to remain sinless.

The just are rewarded for their honour - we may be able to keep the blade!

>>5976923
>[ ] The cavaliers of Riverstone would never lie and neither will you. You've always been a straight and honest boy and choose to remain sinless.

>>5976923
>The cavaliers of Riverstone would never lie and neither will you. You've always been a straight and honest boy and choose to remain sinless.

>>5976923
>[ ] Admit no more than your finding the sword in the woods. It is the truth, after all, and the part which you've left out will not harm anyone.