Nightfall - Fantasy Superhero Quest

There are various reasons why Dusk City is something of a hellhole and rather than being one in particularly, it is the combination of these factors that make things so bad.

For starters, Dusk City has changed hands a few times over the last handful of generations, which has laid the foundations for further problems. Because of this changing hands, you got no traditionally entrenched leadership, the leftovers from the previously leadership desiring their power back and multiple power bases with some power that are seeking more power.

Right now, the Elder Lord followers are the group that isn't in power with the zealots and supporters of the previous leadership in the city seeking see their side restored to power. Before the 11th Crusade, the situation was reserved with Elder Lord leadership with a third of the population being High Pantheon worshippers. Oppressed by the Elder Lord leadership and seeking to restore the power that they had after the 10th Crusade, there were a significant amount of High Pantheon rebel/criminal groups.

When the 11th Crusade ended and Dusk City was in the hands of the Solaris Imperium, they appointed a good many of the local High Pantheons leaders into the Dusk City nobility in addition to bringing nobles from outside of the city. While they did this to get local support and get local leadership who knew their way about the local scene, it had the side effect of putting organised crime bosses into positions of official power.

With more willingness to break the law, experience at breaking the law without getting caught and preexisting local power bases, the corrupt members of the Dusk City nobility were able to get the advantage over the non-corrupt nobles. While this wouldn't have been so bad, the events of the Blood Plague made things worse.

During the Blood Plague, the vampires in Dusk City deliberately targeted non-corrupt leadership in Dusk City. By getting rid of those wouldn't abuse their power, they hoped to destabilised the situation so that their vampiric nation could conquer Dusk City and be seen as liberating them from their oppressive and corrupt rulers.

Fortunately, the Blood Plague ended without there being a vampire nation in position to conquer Dusk City, but as a direct result of their actions, Dusk City was still left a corrupt city with almost all of the non-corrupt leadership having been wiped out.

With Dusk City firmly in the hands of corrupt leadership, it is just a matter of keeping things that way. Beyond having a de facto monopoly on legit mate, the nobles had plenty of experience in the art of organised crime and keeping the proper authorities from finding out what you been up to.

The religious split in Dusk City is also a vital factor for its corrupt state. By claiming that they are dealing with rebellious Elder Lord followers and are attempt to spread the worship of the High Pantheon, they are able to deflect attention from their corrupt and criminal actions as the greater authorities in the Solaris Imperium are willingly to turn a semi-blind eye when it comes to dealing with religious rebels.

[X] +2 Stealth

As you and Avitian expected, it doesn't take long for the sects to take action. Between the children being dumped on the laps of the Mighteons and the evidence given to the Kindeons, there is no way that wouldn't take action. While you don't know the exact details, the Mighteons react in force.

While you aren't privy to the exact details, the Mighteons are not subtle when they come to collect Captain Hargrove. Barging in on his barracks, they seized him against his will and a couple days after the event, you learnt that two members of the city militia got cut down trying to bar the way of the Mighteons.

Needless to say, the incident has increased the tensions in the city. The city militia is now hostile towards the Mighteons, which has caused the Mighteons to respond in kind. The city militia also has the support of the equally corrupt city guard and the local nobility are trying to keep out of the affair whilst simultaneously trying to bring it to an end.

Also in line with your expectations, Captain Hargrove isn't the only one to be arrested as the result of the evidence you uncovered and delivered. A few others are taken into captivity by the Mighteons, but you don't take notice of them beyond dotting down their names and a few identifying details to make a record of who might be part of the child smuggling ring that you discovered.

Another side effect of the recent events is that the Night has been brought to the attention of some important figures. While the street criminals had become aware of the Night's existence over the last few weeks even if their knowledge is more rumour than fact, people of importance are know aware of your night-time activities.

The city guard and the city militia both know that you are involved in the downfall of a corrupt city guard captain while if your more recent encounters are anything to go by, some of the more outright criminal groups are now taking note of your actions. The Mighteons are also aware of your involvement and have taken an interest in you, but you don't know what type of interest. While they might see you as a potential ally, the followers of the Mighty could also view as just another criminal to take down, a symptom of the diseases and not part of the cure.

Nonetheless, life goes on and over the next two months, you would end up...

As Benedict Wallis, you focus on... (Pick 2 Options)
[] [Wallis] Run your businesses. You have several businesses that you run to provide you with a steady source of income. While they are capable of running themselves, your personal touch is always appreciated. Increases Expertise: Business and increases wealth.
[] [Wallis] Study the High Pantheon. The patron deities of the Solaris Imperium and the ones you nominally worship, your education towards them is lacking as you only know the basics and the common rumours. Increases Expertise: Religion.
[] [Wallis] Socialise with your fellow nobility. You have made the first steps, now you just need to keep at it and get yourselves properly involved. Gain increased relations with the local nobility
[] [Wallis] Meet the local religious leaders. As you have discovered, the religious authorities hold no small amount of power and influence and unlike pretty much every other authority in the city, they are not outright corrupt. Gain increased relations with the local religious leaders.
[] [Wallis] Study magic. While you would hardly call it common, magic isn't exactly a rarity either, not for someone of your position and wealth. Right now, you know practical nothing about magic that isn't rumour and legend and should you run into someone wielding magic, it would be nice to have some knowledge to rely upon. Increases Expertise: Magic.

In your spare time, you focus on... (Pick 2 Options)
[] [Spare] Practice hand to hand combat. You have learnt all that Avitian can teach you, but there is still more for you to learn. You can hire a teacher to help your combat skills progress further. Increases Close Combat: Unarmed.
[] [Spare] Focus on fitness and your physical prowess. Whilst you are a fit and healthy young man, you could always hone your body even further and improve your ability to pull physical feats. Increases Athletics and Acrobatics.
[] [Spare] Study History. Study the local history of Dusk City and general history of the world. While you don't see a particular use for the knowledge right now, you can see how having knowledge of past events would be useful. Increases Expertise: History.
[] [Spare] Practice stealth. You aren't particularly tougher or stronger than the average person and you will go down to number in a fair fight. With stealth and ranged weapons, you can level the playing field with a strong opening move, but that mean improving your skills when it comes to moving about unseen. Increases Stealth.
[] [Spare] Study the Elder Lords. The Elder Lords are worship ed in the lands to the south and the east and their followers once ruled Dusk City. As expected of a Solarian noble, you don't care for them so you know next to nothing about them. Increases Expertise: Religion.
[] [Spare] Design Gadgets. You are something of a genius, as proven by equipment such as your grappling gauntlets. Taking the time to come up with some potential ideas and hammer out the plausibility of them will be the first step towards coming up with more equipment for Night to wield. Design a Gadget to be built in the future.

[X] [Wallis] Meet the local religious leaders. As you have discovered, the religious authorities hold no small amount of power and influence and unlike pretty much every other authority in the city, they are not outright corrupt. Gain increased relations with the local religious leaders.
[X] [Wallis] Study magic. While you would hardly call it common, magic isn't exactly a rarity either, not for someone of your position and wealth. Right now, you know practical nothing about magic that isn't rumour and legend and should you run into someone wielding magic, it would be nice to have some knowledge to rely upon. Increases Expertise: Magic.
[X] [Spare] Design Gadgets. You are something of a genius, as proven by equipment such as your grappling gauntlets. Taking the time to come up with some potential ideas and hammer out the plausibility of them will be the first step towards coming up with more equipment for Night to wield. Design a Gadget to be built in the future.
[X] [Spare] Practice stealth. You aren't particularly tougher or stronger than the average person and you will go down to number in a fair fight. With stealth and ranged weapons, you can level the playing field with a strong opening move, but that mean improving your skills when it comes to moving about unseen. Increases Stealth.

Even as you spend almost every night hunting down street criminals as the Night, you make time in the day to perform deeds as Benedict Wallis because just as the Night can do things that Lord Wallis can't, Lord Wallis can do things that the Night can do. For example, you decide to make inroads with the local leaders of the High Pantheon sects as Benedict Wallis.

While you wouldn't have dared approach them as the Night if you could help it, there is nothing suspicious about Benedict Wallis getting to know the local priests and priestesses. Despite it being your activities as the Night which made you decide to approach the local sects, it is perfectly acceptable for a nobleman to express interest in the worship of the High Pantheon. Heck, it is even encouraged given the desire of the Solaris Imperium and the High Pantheon themselves to convert Dusk City to the worship of the High Pantheon and firmly establish the land as being part of the Solaris Imperium.

It would also be easy to play your newfound interest as something unrelated to the Night. You are the head of a relatively old and powerful house who has recently come of age and therefore be interested in expanding your power base. You have recently made some small attempts at integrating yourself with your fellow nobility, but it is clear to all involved that you don't get along with them and have expressed rather strong sentiments in favour of anti-corruption and justice.

The next logical step is to meet with the other legally empowered authorities, the local sect leaders. While it is commonplace for the wealthy and highborn to seek out the Createons and the Cureons, few rarely go to the Mighteons or the Leadeons due to having plenty of reasons to avoid those who deliver justice as a matter of faith. The opposite is true for you as the fact these people desire justice as a matter of principle means that you have a reason to seek political allies in them.


"Thank you, Sister Barbara," you say to the priestess of Serena as she shows you into the outsider meeting room of the main Mighteon temple in Dusk City.

"Pleasure is all mine," replies Barbara with a smile and it doesn't a genius to tell that it is a genuine one.

Like all members of the Mighteon clergy, Barbara is beautiful as the result of wielding the power of the Goddess of Beauty. A young cat-eared redhead with a muscular tone to her lean yet curvaceous figure, she is an eye-catching beauty and a lesser man of your age would have been draw in by her beauty.

But not you. You are too quick witted and too involved in a dangerous line of work to fall over a pretty face even if there is more to her.

You take a seat and wait patiently as Barbara retrieves a platter of fruits, a pair of glasses and two full pitchers, one wine and the other water.

"May I offer you some refreshments?" inquires Barbara,

"I will have some water," you answer as you wish to accept some of the hospitality, but not dull your wits.

There is silence as Barbara pours two glasses of water.

"May I be blunt and get straight to the point?" asks Barbara as she hands you the glass of water.

"Of course," you answer as you take the glass from her, curious about what this meeting is about as while you have met all five of the sects over the last few weeks, those meetings were all done at your request and this meeting was requested by the Mighteons.

"What exactly are your intentions?" asks Barbara, "Despite the presence of two major temples and over a dozen smaller ones, we don't exactly get many visitors. Not as many as we should be getting anyway, especially not from the local nobility like yourself. And those that do generally have ulterior motives of desiring either beauty of their own or the beauty of another person."

"But you think that I am here for different reasons," you conclude.

"I am the one who usually greets important male visitors such as yourself because of those who serve here, I react the least badly to unwanted attention," says Barbara, "I noticed in your previous visit that you didn't ogle me like most nobleman your age and today only confirms that you have no interest in me."

"Not that you aren't good looking, but I came here for more than to look at a pretty face," you confirm.

"Yes, it is quite plain that you have," agrees Barbara as the beautiful young woman gives you a look, "While my tolerance for unwanted attention is one of the reasons that I get assigned to deal with the nobility, another reason is that I am an assistant of Commander Marchford."

You are easily able to place that name. Commander Adeline Marchford is a senior member of the Mighteon sect and the person in charge of the local Mighteon presence in Dusk City.

"So by having someone of importance dealing with them, you don't get nobles thinking that they got stubbed," you say.

"Indeed," says Barbara, "But in this case, I have been asked to see what your intentions are given both your apparent lack of interest in fornicating with me and the rumours swirling about you recently."

"Rumours?" you repeat in an inquiring tone.

"Your disregard for your fellow nobility over their unproven corruption is something that you been hiding," explains Barbara, "It certainly hasn't endeared you to the other noble houses or their wealthy supporters or the corrupt leaders of the city militia or the city guard."

"But it has gotten the interest of the Mighteon sect," you muse, "Hmm, I think I know where this is going. You haven't been making much progress in combating the local widespread corruption and criminal activity so you hope to use my support to try and change that situation."

"That is the gist of it," admits Barbara, "Due to politics, both local and in the greater Imperium, we have been unable to make much progress in dealing with the local corruption. While those of us that are actually here in Dusk City know how truly bad the situation is, the local leadership in the city is good at concealing the full extent of their corruption from the rest of the Imperium. As a result, the local branches of the sects are under orders to not rock the boat and turn a blind eye to crimes by the nobility and other High Pantheon worshipping leadership so long as it they deal with Elder Lord worship in the city."

"Given this meeting and the lack of previous action, what has changed?" you ask.

"I presume that you have heard of the arrests of Lord Brandon Gilmore and Captain Jeremy Hargrove?" replies Barbara and after you give her a nod, she continues, "What isn't widely known is that a dozen children rescued from a child slave ring dropped off the night before those arrests were made at this temple while several documents of evidence detailing the slave ring amongst other crimes. That was-it was something of a reality check for us, about what sort of things were happening as we are hands off due to imperial and religious politics."

"Now you seek to expand your influence and do something about the corruption, but do so in a manner that doesn't get you into too much trouble with your superiors in the capital," you finish as you grasp where Barbara is heading with this, "The refusal to cooperate by the other local authorities due to their corruption means that the influence of your sect is limited and you can only do so much without being the ones to cause trouble and initiative conflict. But my recent appearance on the political scene gives you the opportunity to expand Mighteon influence due to the possibility of having a friendly and influential noble house supporting you."

"That is a good summary," confirms Barbara, "But it isn't all of it. While the sects would benefit from having House Wallis supporting our anti-corruption endeavours, you can also benefit from our support. Your sympathies might be attractive to the Mighteon and Leadeon sects, but they will also make the other noble houses and those in their pockets wary of you and your refusal to play the same sort of criminal games as them would likely brand you as one of their enemies. Just like House Wallis can provide local influence for the sects, the sects can provide broader and non-local support for you that you would otherwise lack."

"I see," you say before bringing up something you noticed in Barbara's words, "When you say 'sects', I assume you are referring to at least one other sect beyond the Mighteon sect?"

"That would be correct," answers Barbara, "While I am a member of the Mighteon Sisterhood and the assistant of the local commander, I am making this offer on the behalf of the local Mighteon and Leadeon leaders. Both of our sects have an interest in dealing with the criminal infestation that plagues Dusk City and after you reached out to our sects and the others, Commander Marchford and Chief Adamson decided to make their offer of friendship to you a joint one rather than two separate ones."

"And you got given the honour making it to me," you conclude.

"Yes," says Barbara, "They hoped that coming from an attractive member of the opposite gender who is young like you are will make the offer more enticing and appealing to you."

"Are you suppose to be telling me all this?" you ask with some amusement in voice.

"Probably not, but I feel that using my feminine wiles isn't needed to convince you," replies Barbara, sharing your amusement, "No, after having this conversation with you, I expect you take up this offer of mutual assistance on its own merits."

"Which brings us back to the main point of this meeting," you say, "While I am unwilling to agree to anything without having some solid details to go on, I am open to cooperating with the Mighteon and Leadeon sects to deal with the corruption in Dusk City."


While you make some nice inroads with the Mighteon and Leadeon sects, you also spend your free time on other ventures. For example, you devote some time into studying the art of magic. Magic isn't common, but it isn't exactly uncommon either and while you have yet to truly encounter it as the Night, you have no doubt you will run into magic wielders sooner or later.

You are only able to pick up the general basics of magic over the months, but it is enough to give you some solid facts to go on. For starters, magic isn't defined subject with no clear-cut definitions on what magic is. Instead, you got a collection of various abilities and powers all magic because of culture and tradition deeming them so.

One form of magic that you know of all too well is vampirism and necromancy as does everyone currently alive as the result of the Blood Plague. Wielding the power of the Elder Lord Sangina, vampires are undead monsters that feed on the blood of the living while vampires aren't inherently necromancers, most end up heading down that route of magic if they haven't already.

Undead cover everything that has been killed and improperly brought back into the wield of living. Vampires, ghouls and ghosts all count as undead, but are all different in nature.

There is also the three Divine Magics, the Elder Magic of the Elder Lords, the Ancient Magic of the Ancient Ones and the Holy Magic of the High Pantheon. All very in nature and the only thing that are in common is that they are a magic which originates from a deity.

Unsurprisingly, you are unable to find out much about Elder Magic except for the fact that each Elder Lord has a different variant of Elder Magic due to imperial and High Pantheon propaganda.

Ancient Magic is less a type of magic and more a personal set of abilities granted to someone by one of the Ancient Ones. While some abilities are might be given out to different people, you should expect every person with Ancient Magic to have a unique set of abilities.

Holy Magic mainly consists of healing light and physical enhancement. While member of the High Pantheon has their own personal touch as giving features of their sacred animal to a blessed follower, Holy Magic is generally standardised to healing, light magic and boosting existing aspects of the target. The main difference is the extent of the magic and what is being enhanced and to what degree.

You also have alchemy, which is like cooking and herbalism, but it is done to get supernatural results via at least one supernatural element. While the common perception of alchemy being the creation of potions that temporarily empower the drinker with a magical effect isn't incorrect, there are other forms of alchemy. For example, it is possible to skip the potion stage of alchemy and directly grant the alchemical power, but that tends to be permanent and, for lack of a better word, complicated.

Another form of magic is sigils, symbols or characters that are graved on an object to imbue it with magical power and can be either permanent or temporary. The Dwarven Runes are the most well-known form of sigils, but are far from being the only one.

There is also enchantment. Enchantment is pretty simple in concept, but is quite varied in practice. You find an object and give it either a temporary or permanent supernatural effect. The main catch is that due to all the possible objects and effects, there is a lot of different possibilities when it comes to enchantment.

And then you got the rest of the magic, a mixture of unrelated magical effects and abilities that for some reason or another, folks have decided to call magic. You have barely touched the surface of the massive mess.

Magic isn't all that you study the art of stealth. While you are already good at it, your adventures as the Night have might it quite clear and stealth is one of your best assets. The ability to sneak into buildings undetected and to get the drop on unsuspecting enemies is vital. It is easier to find evidence in secure locations if nobody knows that you there and the closest you come to defeat is always when your enemies see you coming.

You also take the time to look at your equipment and what additions could be made to them. While you are exceptional, you are still human and have the physical limitations of one. To get around your human limitations, you will do what all humans do, use tools perform feats that would otherwise be impossible.

You know all too well how your current set of equipment has been. The armour in your costume has protected you from serious harm on multiple occasions while your brass knuckles have given you an extra bit of hitting power that is useful more often than not. And the mobility that your grappling gauntlets is incredibly useful as it allows you to pull of feats of movement that a regular person cannot.

Your other gadgets have also proven their worth over time. Smoke bombs let you make hidden getaways and can create cover to hide in when there is none. Bolas prove useful for subduing foes while keeping them conscious for whatever reason they are needed away while your boomerangs are a useful ranged tool, letting you attack at range when a human has no innate ability to do so.

But how can you expand upon those tools that you currently wield? Maybe upgrading the hitting power of your brass knuckles directly into your gauntlets? Perhaps you can reinforce your armour, but how far can you do until you start hitting trade-offs in terms of mobility and stealth.

What about adding other tools to your belt? You could find a weapon to use, but you would be untrained in it, reliant on your innate fighting skills. Adding other tools and unconventional weapons could be doable, but at this point, you will need to start branching out into other areas of expertise such as enchantment or alchemy or metalworking.

Still you have a couple of things you could do right now when you have the time and you know where to start looking in the future to increase your arsenal.


It had started out as an easy night with nothing particularly stand out about it. Go in, take the criminals by surprise, beat them up and the search the place for evidence of any criminal activity. Just hitting another criminal operation and shut it down, possibly temporary, possibly permanently. At the very least, it will hurt the backers.

In the end, you never reached your destination. After setting out for the night, it didn't take long to notice that someone was trailing you. You noticed them before you realised what they were up to. A stout figure wearing leather started following you at some point and despite their best efforts to conceal their intentions, it quickly became obvious that they sought to follow you.

After all, why would a normal person just happen to follow you about the city? What are the odds of that happening, especially when this person seems to be wearing light armour?

You lead them through the streets, attempting to shake your follower so you may attempt to turn the tables and be the one following them. But despite your best efforts, the person is able to keep track of you, doggedly following your every move. At least they don't seem to realise that you caught on them despite your attempts to shake them.

What do you do now?
[] Confront them. You know that they are following you and you are unable to shake them. Stop and confront them about what they are up and demand to know what they want.
[] Ignore them. While following you like they are is suspicious, they haven't actually done anything wrong yet. Just ignore for now and go after those who are actually breaking the law and committing injustice.
[] Write-in.