Shamutanti Hills… Again, Day 3 and 4 and 5

Yesterday my unskilled and unlucky hero, made it as far as Dhumpus. The villagers are creeped out by my sword, so I gave them a cold shoulder and instead picked up some food. This cost 6 of the 7 gold I have left, so now I can’t afford the inn. That’s fine, I can sleep in the woods.

Bad move.

In the night, I’m attacked by a wolfhound. He tore me up, from a full 17 stamina… to 3. I even had a 8 combat strength to his 7, just crummy rolls. It’s the beginning of day 4 and I’m on the edge of death.

The next day day passes in a few turns of the page, as I skirt a plague-stricken village and make my way without incident to Birritanti. Aside from picking up the unwanted company of a sprite who suppresses magic, it really is 3 turns of the page and I’m here. Now for the insult to go with my injury: I know that the crystal waterfalls would heal me back to full, but I can’t afford it. Nor can I afford to sleep at the inn nor buy food, both of which would heal me. All I can do is walk through the town, camp out, and take what little healing comes from dinner and a tent.

As I walk onward to the next village, I’m pondering the various potential mechanisms of my inevitable doom. Stub my toe? Sleep badly and get a crick in my neck? Get bitten by a mouse? … Or… an assassin! Our brave hero checks his life insurance one last time, then engages in fistcuffs with the ruffian. But what luck! The guy has a glass jaw, and with some great luck I get the first two hits and he surrenders! He pleads that he’s just some street urchin from Khare and that he attacks random folks in the woods just to stay in practice. What a weirdo. The book gives me the guy’s page number in Khare, should I want to look him up again and I dunno, hang out some time?

The day only gets weirder. That afternoon, I’m accosted by a witch who invites me to tea. As is typical small-time tea talk, she asks if I happen to have some torn-out pages from a spell book. In fact I do from way way back at the start of the book, but still that’s a very odd thing to ask someone, right? The up side is that she does me a favor, banishing the annoying little sprite. This unlocks my magical potential again, though I’m wary of using magic at all since I have only 12 stamina.

A bit dizzy from the really weird turn of events, I hit the trail again and make my way to the rather squalid village of Torrepani.