When last we followed up on the adventures of Gwenwen, Nanoc, Lem and Swipe (all the way back in January!), their journeys into the Dungeon led them into a grand hall where they were promptly ambushed by an anatomically incorrect Chimaera.
While Gwenwen was shocked by a sudden bout of unexpected courage, the beast was brought down by combined fury of Nanoc, Lem, and Swipe. At the end of the ferocious fight, the Chimaera lay dead while Lem was left scorched and injured by its fire breath.
This narrative is based on a play session of the solo RPG system Four Against Darkness. It's designed to simulate the experience of an adventuring party exploring a fantasy dungeon. A PDF copy of Four Against Darkness can be purchased at DriveThruRPG. I'm trying my hand at miniatures photography for this entry's illustrations.
We took some time to tend our wounds as best as we were able, but we didn’t tarry any longer than necessary. The halls that followed our encounter with the Chimaera were largely empty.
While I had come into the Dungeon under the pretext of exploration, I’ll admit to being glad for the reprieve. Whatever courage had inspired me to charge into the fray with literal lightning had subsided in the battle’s aftermath.
In truth, the whole ordeal left me feeling quite drained. Lem was also in a foul mood afterward, but I could hardly blame him for that. Even with his shield taking the brunt of the monster’s flames, he had been burned and singed and had to be uncomfortable. I resolved to buy him some sort of balm or ointment when we returned to the surface. If we returned to the surface. And if I managed to find any sort of treasure to finance such a purchase. I tried not to think too long about the dire state of my finances.
It was a task made harder by our next encounter. Some hours after our bout with the beast, we turned a corner and found ourselves face to face with a most extravagantly dressed dwarf. What seemed strangest to me is that he didn’t seem surprised to see us. He smiled, stepped directly in our path and, with almost impossible speed, opened and set up a folding shop table where he laid out a selection of goods.
“Simon’s my name and selling’s my business!” he said. “Would you like to take a look at my wares?”
Setting aside the fact that he’d wasted the potential for a perfectly good rhyme, Simon the Salesman had me immediately intrigued. There were so many things I wanted to ask him. Did he live down in the Dungeon, for instance? Where did he get his goods? Was it even profitable to sell to wandering explorers? I can’t imagine he had anything even approaching consistent customers.
Then again, I ran into him on my first trip into the Dungeon, so who am I to question these things? Perhaps the man has an entire client list, complete with their children’s names and birthdays.
Before I could ask him anything, Lem stepped forward and jabbed a finger at a glass vial full of a bubbling red liquid. “How much for the healing potion?”
Simon’s grin widened. “That beauty is 100 gold pieces,” he said. “It’s pricey, to be sure, but always money-well spent in this place.”
Lem paused and Simon’s grin faded. “Do you not have enough for that, my friend?”
Lem tuned a frown toward me. “Not with what he’s paying us.”
Simon looked us over and his lips bent into a frown. “Would you reckon that any of you have enough coin for anything I have to offer?”
“Probably not,” Nanoc replied, scratching at the back of his head. Swipe stayed silent, though his eyes seemed to being tracing over Simon, almost as if he were sizing him up.
“Well,” Simon sighed. “That’s a true shame, it is. Perhaps if we meet again, things will be different.”
Almost as quickly as he’d unloaded it, Simon put his table and goods away. He then tipped his cap toward us and walked down the corridor we’d just come from.
“You should’ve stole something, Swipe!” Nanoc said, after Simon disappeared from sight. “Isn’t that you sneaky-types like to do?”
“Nobody steals from Simon the Salesman,” Swipe replied. “Not if they know what’s good for them.”
