imp

The iron doors drag open with a groan that rolls through the stone. Torchlight finds a grotto fifty feet high, its sloping walls cut into rows of old gnomish seats. Most of the floor lies beneath three feet of black grease, cold and thick as half-set tallow. The stink catches at the back of your throats. Six squat shapes wait ten feet from the threshold, submerged to their eyes. Five hold spears level. The sixth wears a crooked gorget and slowly lifts his chin above the muck. ‘Captain Gullian,’ he says. ‘Access to Her Slick Magnificence is restricted.’ He glances back to see whether anyone important heard that. ‘State your business. And your offering.’ Farther in, five more gloops have stopped grooming a vast black body half-submerged in the pool. Twelve legs shift under the grease. A long head rises. Sootmurk opens one eye. ‘Let them speak, Gullian,’ she says. ‘You have exhausted every subject you know.’ Two rulings before you commit: wading in the grease halves ground movement. There is no running, charging, or fighting withdrawal in it without falling face-first. The gloops swim freely. The grease will burn if lit: three rounds, 1d6 damage at the start of each turn to anything standing in the pool. Ander, you stand at the front. Gullian is waiting for your answer. What do you do?

Ander Vale misses Captain Gullian

Ander keeps his shield between the spearpoints and the others. ‘Our business is the folk taken from the King’s Road. Our offering is a chance to give them back.’ Then he steps into the muck and cuts at Gullian. The grease drags at his legs; the sword goes wide.

Gullian flinches so hard that only the sword’s drag through the grease saves his throat. His practiced dignity vanishes. ‘TAKE HIM ALIVE!’ Five spearpoints twitch forward. The black pool dimples as the other guards sink out of sight. Behind them, Sootmurk settles her chin onto one folded leg. ‘A ransom demand,’ she murmurs, amused. ‘How enterprising.’ The fight is on. Ander is ten feet into the pool, alone before Gullian and five guards. Brea, you are at the doorway with a clear shot over him. What do you do?

Brea Thornwick misses Captain Gullian