The boxed text below explains what is happening in terms of the HeroQuest rules. The remainder of the text is a prose description of what is happening in this scene.
| The Protagonists:
Celephais Relevant Abilities: Considered A Notorious Outlaw 17, Hurl People From Windows 5W, Orichalcum-Bladed War Fans 17, Quick-Witted Lies 17, Reflex Sidestep Technique 17W2, Sneaky 10W, Solar Essence 10W, War Fan Fighting 7W, Wrathful 17. B'lah Relevant Abilities: Cudgel Fighting 10W, Know First Library 3W. 2 Library Guards Relevant Abilities: Cudgel Fighting 5W. |
ROUND 1
Celephais, a young Night-caste Solar Exalt, has sneaked into the First Library of Dust in the city of Sijan, searching for half-forgotten lore concerning the resting place of First Age Solars. Disguised in the grey and silver robes of one of the library's archivists, she is engrossed in copying from a massive collection of scrolls when three of the library's guards, each armed with a sturdy oak cudgel, approach. The guards' leader, a surly brute named B'lah, clears his throat: "I don't think I recognise your face, girl..."
| B'lah uses his Know First Library 3W, with an automatic augment (+2; see HeroQuest p79) from Celephais' Considered A Notorious Outlaw 17 for a target number of 5W. This means that he begins the contest with 25 AP (see HeroQuest p66).
Celephais resists with Quick-Witted Lies 17, with a +3 augment from her Sneaky 10W. This gives her a target number of 20, and she begins the contest with 20 AP. The Narrator decides that B'lah's action is a "cautious" AP bid (see HeroQuest p68). B'lah bids 5 AP. B'lah rolls a 9, a failure which bumps up to a success due to his level of mastery (see HeroQuest p62). Celephais rolls a 17, also a success. According to the Extended Contest Results table (see HeroQuest p66), Celephais loses half the bid, or 3 AP - she has not fooled B'lah, though her lie may have been plausible. Running AP Totals: Celephais: 17 B'lah: 25 |
"Um, I'm new here, I just transferred over from the Ashes Repository.." She begins, but her lies fail to convince B'lah: "The Ashes Repository has been sealed these six months past," he retorts.
"Ah. Well, no, you see, I didn't transfer straight to here from there," Celephais improvises desperately. "I spent some time at the College of Easeful Rest before..."
| Celephais tries to save the day by once more using Quick-Witted Lies. Her target number is still 20.
B'lah resists with Know First Library 5W. This is a "normal" effort - Celephais bids 5 AP. Celephais rolls a 20, a fumble!, while B'lah rolls a 15, a failure bumped to success. Celephais loses twice her bid, or 10 AP, and the Narrator rules that her obvious error means that she now has no chance of fooling the guards with her lies at all. Running AP Totals: Celephais: 7 B'lah: 25 |
"What? There's no such place as the College of Easeful Rest! Besides, I recognise your face now..." B'ah snaps an order: "Seize the anathema scum!"
The two guards heft their cudgels and step forward, confident that they have Celephais at a disadvantage and that their superior numbers will make subduing the notorious outlaw a simple task.
| Both guards use their Cudgel Fighting 5W and receive a +1 equipment bonus for their cudgels (see HeroQuest p78) for a target number of 6W. They therefore begin the contest with 26 AP.
Celephais defends herself against both attacks with one of her Charms - Reflex Sidestep Technique 17W2. As she is defending herself against multiple attackers, she suffers a -3 penalty against the second of the two guards (see HeroQuest p79). Note that switching abilities does not change her AP total (see HeroQuest p70). The guards are making a "normal" effort, and so each bids 8 AP. Guard One rolls a 3 - a success, though he does not get a bump as his mastery and one of Celephais' cancel each other out (see HeroQuest p62). Celephais rolls a 10 - a success bumped to a critical. Guard One transfers his bid of 8 AP to Celephais. Guard Two rolls an 11 - a failure (his mastery is also cancelled). Celephais rolls a 13 - a success, even against her reduced target number of 14W2, bumped to a critical. Guard Two transfers twice his bid, or 16 AP, to Celephais. Celephais' Charm use makes her caste mark glow, which would mark her out as one of the Exalted, even if the guards did not already suspect this to be the case. Running AP Totals: Celephais: 31 B'lah: 25 Guard One: 18 Guard Two: 10 |
Celephais' caste mark flares into life as she stands in one smooth motion and, faster than any mortal and seemingly without even paying attention, sidesteps the guards' attacks. Her unnatural speed leaves them off-balance as she backs away from them, giving herself vital room to manoeuvre.
END OF ROUND AP TOTALS:
Celephais: 31
B'lah: 25
Guard One: 18
Guard Two: 10
ROUND 2
| The Narrator decides that, from this point, the order in which the participants in this contest act will be determined by their AP - those with the highest AP will go first (see HeroQuest p69). B'lah, who would normally go first, defers his action, as he has a cunning plan. Instead, Celephais acts first. |
Celephais, realising the need to defend herself, draws her Orichalcum War Fans. Still backing away from the guards to stop them outflanking her, she flicks a fan out towards the face of Guard Two, hoping to force him back up a little or, if she's lucky, put him out of the fight.
| Celephais now uses War Fan Fighting 7W, and gets a +6 bonus from her Orichalcum War Fans (+1 for "light equipment", +2 from their own ability rating (see HeroQuest p79) and +3 as an automatic augment from her Attuned To Orichalcum 10W) for a target number of 13W. Guard Two resists with Cudgel Fighting 6W.
Celephais makes a "cautious" bid of 6 AP. She rolls a 4 - a success (both Celephais' and Guard Two's masteries cancel out). Guard One rolls a 9, a failure. He loses 6 AP - equal to the AP bid. Running AP Totals: Celephais: 31 B'lah: 25 Guard One: 18 Guard Two: 4 |
Celephais' slashing war fan forces Guard Two to backpedal a little. He steps forward again, though, as B'lah orders both him and Guard One to distract Celephais while he tries for a knockout blow against her. The two guards aim rapid blows at Celephais, hoping to draw her full attention...
| Both guards use Cudgel Fighting 6W. Celephais resists with Reflex Sidestep Technique 17W2.
Both guards make "cautious" bids of 4 AP. Guard One rolls a 3 - success, but Celephais rolls a 5, a success which bumps to a critical. He transfers 4 AP to Celephais. Guard Two rolls a 5 - success. Celephais rolls a 15 - a failure (thanks to the -3 penalty she suffers for facing multiple attackers), bumped to a success. Her higher roll means that Celephais loses half the bid, 2 AP. Running AP Totals: Celephais: 33 B'lah: 25 Guard One: 14 Guard Two: 4 |
Celephais's magic allows to her to elude Guard One with ease, though in trying to avoid Guard Two, she turns her back on B'lah. He rushes to strike her down with his cudgel: "Take that, dogfodder!"
| B'lah uses Cudgel Fighting 11W (ability rating 10W, with a +1 bonus for his cudgel). Celephais resists with Reflex Sidestep Technique 17W2, with a -6 penalty, as B'lah is the third attacker she has faced this round. Her target number is now "only" 11W2.
B'lah, going for the kill, makes a "determined" bid of 20 AP. He rolls a 16 - failure! Celephais rolls a 10, a success which bumps to a critical. B'lah must transfer twice the bid, or 40 AP, to Celephais! As he only has 25 AP, Celephais will only gain this amount (see HeroQuest p67), but B'lah still loses the full 40 AP, reducing him to a total of -15 and putting him out of the contest. Having suffered a Minor Defeat in combat, he has been Impaired (see HeroQuest p74). Running AP Totals: Celephais: 58 B'lah: -15 Guard One: 14 Guard Two: 4 |
B'lah hurls himself at Celephais from her blind side, and is still trying to work out what happened a full second after she glides effortlessly out of the path of his charge. Unable to stop, and assisted by Celephais' boot planted in his backside, he crashes into a rack of shelves and goes down in a heap.
END OF ROUND AP TOTALS:
Celephais: 58
B'lah: -15
Guard One: 14
Guard Two: 4
Celephais, emboldened now that there are only 2 guards left in the fight, goes on the attack against both of them. Giving no thought to defending herself, she dances forward, lashing out viciously with both of her war fans and hoping to cut the guards down before they can flee or before reinforcements can arrive.
| Celephais uses War Fan Fighting 13W. Both guards resist with Cudgel Fighting 6W.
As she is attacking more than one target, Celephais suffers a -3 penalty for each extra opponent, reducing her target number to 10W. She will only roll once, and will compare her result to the best roll made by her opponents. If they lose AP, she decides how to divide the loss among them (see HeroQuest p79). Celephais makes a "determined" bid of 40 AP. She rolls a 9 - success. Guard One rolls a 10 and Guard Two rolls a 14, both failures. They must lose 40 AP between them. Celephais decides to divide this loss equally, so they each lose 20 AP. Guard Two is now on -16 AP and has suffered a Minor Defeat, leaving him Impaired. Guard One is on -6 AP. This is only a Marginal Defeat, so he is merely Hurt (see HeroQuest p74). Running AP Totals: Celephais: 58 B'lah: -15 Guard One: -6 Guard Two: -16 |
Guard Two cries out and falls to the floor, bleeding from a deep slash in his upper arm. Guard One backpedals, somehow keeping ahead of Celephais' flashing war fans until he finds himself backed up against one of the library's magnificent stained glass windows. Celephais thrusts the blade of one of her fans up under Guard One's chin, drawing a thin trickle of blood and forcing him to stand on tiptoe. His eyes are filled with fear and the reflection of the young Exalt's glowing caste mark. Her eyes are filled with wrath...
| The guards do not get to act now that they have all been knocked out of the contest. The round does not end, though, as Celephais decides to take a parting shot (see HeroQuest p69) against Guard One.
She uses Hurl People From Windows 5W. The Narrator allows her a +2 automatic augment from Wrathful 17, for a target number of 7W. Guard One resists with Cudgel Fighting 6W, though he suffers a -1 penalty because he is Hurt (see HeroQuest p74) which reduces his target number to 5W. Celephais, in her wrath, makes a "determined" bid of 30 AP. She rolls a 7 - a success. Guard One rolls a 6 - a failure. He loses 30 AP. This reduces his AP total to -36, complete defeat! This means that he is Dying... (see HeroQuest p74). Running AP Totals: Celephais: 58 B'lah: -15 Guard One: -6 Guard Two: -36 |
Celephais steps back, lowering her war fans. Just for a moment, Guard One relaxes, but Celephais shoves him hard in the chest, hurling him through the window in a shower of breaking glass. His scream echoes for long moments as Celephais glares down, watching him fall. "Teach you lot to call me dogfodder..."
She steps over the fallen bodies, gathers her scrolls and heads for the stairs.
FINAL AP TOTALS AND CONTEST CONSEQUENCES:
Celephais: 58
B'lah: -15 (Impaired)
Guard One: -36 (Dying)
Guard Two: -16 (Impaired)