Second Age of Heroes (Mutants and Mastermind Quest)

[Oshha]

So this is a going to be my first SV quest (I've run a few over on SB). It will be a superhero quest using the Mutants and Masterminds ruleset where you will be playing a first generation superhero in an alternate history based off one of my CK2/EU4 games (I exported it from the former into the later).

The setting is simple. Out of universe, I wanted to roleplay a knight in shining armour who would united Britain or at least most of it. In order to get some threats, I set up things so that some factors (mainly reforming pagan religions at certain points so they wouldn't be converted away super easily) wouldn't be crushed super easily in addition to a few mods to expand and improve gameplay. Start date is earliest of 769.

Spoiler: Lots of text about background of the setting

Of course, my plans to have a hero save Britain and then watch his descendants either continue his legacy, lost it or destroy it got derailed when my character, Arthur Cadarn, became immortal five years after I started. So as he united Britain under Welsh Catholic rule, the rest of the world went to dark ages from his perspective. The Umayyads took the Hispania peninsula (Arthur fought in the final campaign to aid the father of his daughter-in-law, but failed to prevent the inevitable defeat) and eastern North Africa coastline. The two Francia briefly united before collapsing into multiple civil wars as Charlemagne died early on. Pagans united and launched multiple great and lesser holy wars into Frankish lands, turning into a mismatch of pagan and Christian boardergore as the Catholics fought each other whilst falling to pagan invaders. Roman held on and strengthened their boarders, but made minimal expansion outside of the Balkans. Pagans (Norse, Slavic, Romuva, Tengri and those Finnish guys) reformed their religions and build up their Kingdoms (Norse - Sweden & Denmark, Slavic - Bohemia & Poland, Romuva - Lithunia, Finnish - Proto-Finland, Tengri - Large hordes in the steppes). Coptics suffered a resurgence as Armenian and Abyssinian empires formed and between them and the Romans, they manage to eliminate the Islamic rule in the Middle East with Zunist taking Persia and the Jomsviking in Oman (???). West African pagans formed the Kingdom of Mali while Italia managed to take Tunisia in a series of Holy Wars. With Catholicism falling and its authority diminished, many of their number converted to heresy.

All while this was going on in the 8th​ Century and early 9th​ Century, Arthur was uniting Britannia under his rule, giving tolerance to all Britons (Scottish, Irish, Pictish, Anglo-Saxon, Breton, Welsh) and bringing it into a golden age either as the rest of Catholicism was falling.

Then just as the day was dark, it got darker. The Umayyads invaded France, conquering most of it over the next century, conquering all remaining Catholics with the exception of two counts and driving back the Pagans. Italia fall under Fraticelli rule and over half a dozen civil wars, the Catholics slowly lost their power until they had been effectively driven from Italia and into Tunisia, where their power continued to wane. This ultimately resulted in them disposing of the Pope in Roma and installing their own Anti-Pope. In the steppes, the Tengri grew strong with the arrival of a Great Khan and while he was felled by his age before he reached Christian lands, the legacy hordes launched invasions of the Middle East and the Roman Empires. The Armenians swiftly lost land to the Pagans, breaking their military and causing the collapse of their empire as lesser nobles declared their independence and Muslims reclaimed some of their land. With a civil war breaking out as the hordes came, large swaths of Greece and Anatolia were lost to the pagans, ultimately resulting in a Khan in Greece claiming Constantinople and the crown of the Empire itself. The Abyssinian Empire, having conquered Egypt, Ethiopia and Yemen, collapsed into civil war with multiple breakaway states, including Muslims claiming their independence.
At the start of the 10th​ Century, Emperor Arthur Cadarn had been strengthen a united Britannia for over half a century and finally looked upon the rest of the world. Catholicism no longer ruled anywhere in mainland Europe apart two counts who held on due to nobody trying to seriously conquer them yet. Catholicism from had been driven completely from Hispania, was in the process of being wiped out in Francia, Germinia and Italia by heretics, infidels and pagans with the last bastions of it being slowly lost in Tunisia. The Pope himself had been disposed by a kingdom of heretics and was hiding out in northern Sweden. The rest of Catholicism fared little better with the Roman Empire having lost large amounts of lands and the throne to pagans whilst both Coptic Empires had shattered, slowly losing lands to pagans and Muslims. Meanwhile a new Great Khan was uniting another Great Horde in the furthest steppes.

Within century, there would be no more Catholics in mainland Europe and within another two, there would be no more outside of Britannia. Within a century, the Roman Empire would not just be a Christian empire ruled by pagans, but a pagan empire with Christian minorities. Within another century, no more Coptics would rule in the Middle East and within two, they would no longer live there.

Christianity was dying with only the British lands remaining strong as pagans, infidels and heretics claimed the rest of the world.

The next century would be known as the Age of Heroes as Emperor Arthur Cadarn put an end to the Dark Ages as they were peaking, with a hundred years of non-stop war as the British immortal restored Christianity to its rightful glory.

First he brought the Pope under the safety of his rules. Secondly, he had the Pope declare a Crusade against the heretics in Italia. With his standing army of over twelve thousand strong, he swiftly crushed the heretics for the lands of Italia had been bloodied by decades of civil war between heretics and faithful. Next he turned his attentions to the Muslims, readying another Crusade. However, Arthur's plans were waylaid as the Italian nobility placed a pagan warlord as king, much to the British warlord's bafflement. As of such, the 2nd​ Crusade was the liberation of Italia like the first. As he left in his ships for the second time, the Italian nobility elected the younger brother of the old pagan king as their new king. The 3rd​ Crusade was far more brutal than the first two as Arthur had grown fed up with the Italian nobles, claiming the kingdom as his own and clearing out the old nobility, placing loyal and faithful followers in their place. The 4th​ Crusade was against the Muslims in Hispania, striking at the rich western coast. Seeing that the war would be a large one, Arthur brought now only his standing armies, but his personal retinue with both armies totalling over thirty thousand in total. However, Arthur underestimated the sheer size of his foes and while he saw plenty of initial success, he was slowly losing men and women as he crushed armies of equal size while the Muslims were able to continue feed more and more soldiers into the meat grinder. Realising that he was going to lose from attrition, having lost almost half of his original army, Arthur brought in levies from his subjects in order to hold the line against the Muslim hordes. By the end of the 4th​ Crusade, over sixty thousand British warriors had fought in Hispania with half of them being lost there while the Muslims had committed over three times that many and lost over half that many. It was the most perilous point of Age of Heroes as while it broke his biggest threat beyond recovery, Arthur would have lost if the war had continued for another year or two and it would had been the Christianity which would have never recovered.

The 4th​ Crusade was a turning point as it broke the backbone of the Umayyads and Arthur never gave them the chance to recover. Launching the 5th​ Crusade against the largest pagan kingdom in Francia whilst declaring several lesser holy wars against the various pretty kingdoms and warlords in Francia, striking up through Italia and across all of coastlines, taking what land he could in order to strengthen his position before the Umayyads could recover. Within five years of the 4th​ Crusade ending, a quarter of Francia was under Arthur's rule. Arthur never stopped the wars, seeking more and more foes, declaring holy wars against those on his boarders in mainland Europe and seeking out disposed nobles with claims on lands that he could not reach with his holy wars. The 6th ​and 7th​ Crusades were declared upon the Umayyads, seizing large chucks of Hispania and further stripping them of their richest and most populous lands. Various British dukes and duchesses also decides to join in with the Age of Heroes, declaring their own wars to claim or reclaim land for the Britannia. By the halfway point of the 10th​ Century, all of Italia and Hispania were under Arthur's rule along with most of Francia and Germinia with only a few holdouts of Muslim and pagan resistance that Arthur couldn't be bother to put down whilst he had other things to worry about and his nobles were willing to the job for him. Holy Orders were founded with the biggest being the Knights Templar, the Knightly Hospitaller, the Teutonic Orders, the Knights of Santiago, the Knights of Calatrava and all of them having their Grandmasters answer to Emperor Arthur Cadarn whilst the Pope was restored to Roma.

With Catholicism secured, Arthur turned his gaze to eastern Christianity. He married one of the daughters of old Roman Emperor, using her claim to the Throne to dispose the pagan Roman Emperor and get rid of the elective monarchy that had been installed by a greedy nobility. He installed his wife as Empress of the Roman Empire using his armies and then aided in restoring the Roman Empire to its glory from two centuries ago. The new Empress was highly unpopular, but her British powerbase was untouchable and her rule secure as her opponents either met an assassin's knife in their back or a soldier's sword in their front. With the Roman Empire secure and set to become a loyal and valuable ally once it had recovered, Arthur turned his attentions to the Coptics as they fell to pagan and Muslim. Opening his coffers, he lent coin and soldier to their wars, giving them a much needed edge over their foes. Within a decade, the Armenian Empire was reforming while the Abyssinian Empire had mostly recovered.

While his eastern adventures were ongoing, Arthur's subjects had fought their own battles in the west with Tunisia expanding while Francia and Germenia were secured with pushes eastward and northward, the former stopped by the Slavic Kingdom of Bohemia and the latter by the Norsemen retaining control of the seas, halting any advances beyond the Danish peninsula. In the late 10th​ Century, Emperor Arthur Cadarn declared himself the Holy-Emperor of the Holy British Empire, having sought the approval of the Pope and the friendships of the Romans, Armenians and Abyssinians.

However, Arthur still had threats to face as the Great Khan had arrived at the borders of the Roman Empire by Crimea and Georgia. Whilst having mostly recovered, the Roman Empire was still too weak to fend for itself against another Great Horde. Unwilling to abandon his allies and let the Roman Empire fall to pagans once again, Arthur sent his personal retinue, numbering over thirty thousand now, to aid his wife's armies while rallying a massive army of over a hundred thousand men and women. Taking this massive army to Kalevan, where the Great Horde boarded the Baltic Sea, Arthur and his commanders craved their way through undefended lands as the Hordemen fought the Romans and British in the south. Eventually, the Great Khan mustered up a grand army to face Arthur. With each side having various advantages, Arthur and the Great Khan fought each other to a standstill, both losing tens of thousands of soldiers with the latter having it worse. An uneasy truce was made when the Great Khan died and the war for the Roman Empire with him, but it lasted a mere two years as Arthur soon marched on the Great Horde before it could recover from the last one, bringing over eighty thousand soldiers through Kalevan. The war lasted five years as Arthur sought not to take land, but to slay the pagan soldiers so that the military might of the Great Khan could be broken. With eight out of ten men dead by the end of the war, the Great Horde collapsed into in-fighting as the Great Khan was unable to hold onto his power.

Returning home just as the 11th​ Century, Arthur defeated the last major threat he would ever face and the Age of Heroes came to an end along with the last serious Christian expansions in the old world. Whilst the New World was colonised by the Holy British Empire, the Christian Empires barely expanded over the centuries and instead focused inwards while fending off the odd pagan invasion or raid.

The year is 1902 and the world is one of peace. Emperor Arthur the Good still rules the only world superpower with the Roman Empire, the Armenian Empire and the Ethiopian Empire as his loyal friends and allies whilst the Empire of Mali holds peace and trade with the Christian Empires. The Norse Republics hold tentative trade with the Holy British Empire whilst still forming the Pagan Pact with the Kingdoms of Sweden, Finland, Bohemia, Poland and Lithuania. The Pagan Pact holds a tentative peace with the Holy British Empire and the Roman Empire whilst safeguarding themselves against steppe aggression. Armenia and Ethiopia have ties of trade and peace with Persia and the Jomsvikings whilst all four defend themselves against aggression from the tribes of the steppes and the warring nations of India. The far eastern nations of Japan and China have ties of trade with the Westerners and Africans, unwilling to provoke the Holy British Empire.

And now as the 20th​ Century begins, so does the Second Age of Heroes.

For the character creation, you will first pick your character's name, gender and homeland as the former are important while the latter decides what sort of things you will be dealing with initially. The second part of character creation will be picking your powers and then the third and final part will be picking your character's ground, which will determine your abilities, skills and advantages.

Name
[] [Name] Write-In

Gender
[] [Gender] Female
[] [Gender] Male

Homeland
[] [Home] The British Isles
-[] [Home] England
-[] [Home] Wales
-[] [Home] Scotland
-[] [Home] Pictland
-[] [Home] Ireland
-[] [Home] Cornwall
[] [Home] The Mainland
-[] [Home] Britanny
-[] [Home] Francia
-[] [Home] Dutchlands
-[] [Home] Germania
-[] [Home] Italia
-[] [Home] Tunisia
-[] [Home] Hispania
[] [Home] The Colonies
-[] [Home] Arce
-[] [Home] Kalevan
-[] [Home] Sweden
-[] [Home] South Africa
-[] [Home] New Prydain (North America)
-[] [Home] New Albion (Central America)
-[] [Home] New Europa (South America)
-[] [Home] Australia

***
​

Feel free to ask any questions about the setting, I'll do my best to answer them.

 

[Oshha]

This quest will use the Mutant and Mastermind rules set, but I have found a good summary of how the rules work here.

MnM runs on a d20 system. Actions have a difficulty, you roll a d20+relevant Ability+Skill rank and try to surpass it - for example, an Expertise: Science check to figure out a complex mathematical formula, rolling a [12]+5+10=27. In some cases, degrees of failure or success (5 under/over the target) matter. I'll generally show the difficulty ratings of actions, unless your character hasn't got a clear idea of it. Characters have Abilities - the stats, Strength, Stamina, Agility, Dexterity, Fighting, Intellect, Awareness, Presence - Defenses, Skills and Advantages (such as Improved Grab, allowing grabs as part of normal unarmed attacks, or Takedown, allowing you to chain attacks against low-level enemies), as well as Powers, covering all the super stuff.

In combat, you roll d20+attack bonus against the target's Parry (in melee) or Dodge (in ranged) Defense. The difficulty to hit someone is 10+Defense. For example, your Parry is 5, so melee attacks against you have to get 15 or over. A natural 20 results in a crit, allowing you to increase your attack's power, add an additional effect or change the effect to a different one. I'll provide the options in these cases.

MnM has no HP, but damage stacks up in the form of Toughness penalties. When you take Damage, you make a Toughness check against 15+the attack's Damage to see if you withstand it. Failing it by less than 5 is a -1 penalty to your future Toughness checks; failing it by 5-9 is a -1 penalty and the dazed condition, limiting you to one action per turn, though it fades after a turn. Failing it by 10-14 is -1 and a staggered condition, limiting you to one action and slowing you down for the rest of the encounter. Failing by 15+ incapacitates you, knocking you out of the fight. In such a condition, you might be killed, though it might be that your opponents have other plans for you, or that an ally swoops in - but defeat always has consequences.

Minions are a special type of enemy representing the faceless henchmen, goons, thugs you face. They are easier to dispatch - knocked out immediately if they fail a Toughness check by anything - and more vulnerable than real villains and elite henchmen, though still potentially dangerous. Who knows, a lucky Minion might become a villain in their own right if they fare well against you.

 

[Oshha]

[X] [Name] Frederica Le Blanc
[X] [Gender] Female
[X] [Home] The Mainland
-[X] [Home] Francia

***​

You are Frederica Le Blanc, a citizen of the Holy British Empire who lives in the Kingdom of Francia. Francia is the closest region to the heart of the Empire itself, the British Isles, and is the most culturally similar as a result. Sheer distance has caused the colonies to diverge in culture along with influences from the incorporated natives while Hispania has remnant Islamic culture influencing it despite the centuries. Italia is the domain of the Pope and shares border with the Romans, both of those affecting the local culture while Germania has pagan influence from centuries of back and forth fighting with its pagan neighbours to the north and east. Tunisia is quite British, but also quite African while the Dutchlands are just too darn mercantile with their many trade empires and merchant republics.

In fact, it can be argued that the French are the most British of all the people in the Empire as the British Isles themselves are culturally diverse with a mixture of Irish, Scottish, Pictish, Anglo-Saxon, Cornish and Welsh culture. And yet others argue that they are not for in places, Francia still retains leftovers from the conquests of infidels, heretics and pagans many centuries ago.

***​

Powers: Here you get to pick your power set where you can select one of the generic power sets I have come up with or you can pick your own power set using the write-in options, but if you do use a write-in, I reserve the right to veto.
[] [Power] Flying Brick (Flight, Super Strength, Super Toughness, Enhanced Senses)
[] [Power] Enhanced Body (Enhanced stats across the board)
[] [Power] Brick (Super Strength, Super Toughness, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Speed)
[] [Power] Energy Manipulator (Controlling and using 'energy' fields)
[] [Power] Psychic (Telepathy & Telekinesis)
[] [Power] Portal's and doors, make wormholes in reality to block, escape or cut.
[X] [Power] Inspiring Aura - Inspire awe and fighting resolve in friendly fighters (continuous "second wind" effect), inspire doubt and hopelessness in enemy fighters. Supplemented with merely peak human dexterity and speed, not superhuman.
[] [Power] Write-in

Appearance (Optional): Appearance is an optional vote where you can vote for the appearance of Frederica Le Blanc.
[] [Appearance] Write-in

Region: The region is the particular duchy in Francia that Frederica is from. There are other duchies in Francia, but these are the only ones I am allowing you to pick as I have actually developed them a bit unlike the other duchies.
[] [Region] Duchy of Brittany
[] [Region] Duchy of Burgundy
[] [Region] Duchy of Normandy
[] [Region] Duchy of Provence
[] [Region] Duchy of Orleans
[] [Region] Duchy of Toulouse
[] [Region] Duchy of Aquitaine

 

[Oshha]

Haer​

Haer was the first wife of Emperor Arthur the Good and the only one he married for love. The then-Count Arthur Cadern had the option to marry a lowborn woman such as Haer due to his low station and the lack of any other nobles in the court to stop him with his lord, the Duke of Powys, being fond enough of Arthur to not contest the marriage. Haer was a kind and patient woman who carried out her duties diligently without complaint. With bravery to match her husband, the two of them go along swimmingly for all of their years together.

A diplomatic woman who liked to garden in her free time, Haer didn't do anything spectacular, but as a constant companion of Arthur Cadarn in his early rule, seeing him rise from Count of Ternyllwg to King of Brythoniaid and gave birth to the eldest of Arthur's children. She lived until the age of seventy three after fifty three years of marriage with Arthur Cadarn.

Duchess Dalita 'the Evil' Mihranian of Jerusalem
An infamous woman with great attiptide to evil, Duchess Dalita was nonetheless a great one who played a great part in shaping the Holy Lands in her lifetime. Dalita was the only member of the ruling dynasty of the Armenian Empire to retain their lands when it collapsed. While in a slighter better position than others due to her positon down south, away from the pagan invaders in the north, Dalita's situation was still perilous.

A cruel and deceitful woman, Dalita was ruthless and paranoid, crushing any perceived enemies both external and internal without mercy. An excellent spymistress, Dalita primarily relied upon spies and assassins as while decent for the area, her military forces weren't enough to actively crush her foes. Between her skill at managing and ruling her lands and her mastery of the art of intrigue, Dalita was able to secure the Duchy of Jersualem as a significant power within the successor states of the Armenian Empire.

Duchess Lousin 'the Just' Arcuni of Ascalon
A wife of Emperor during the 12th​ Century, Duchess Lousin was a less remembered for her deeds and more for who she was. The Duchess of Ascalon after the northern Duchy of Jerusalem had its ruling dynasty marry into the Cadarn family, Lousin had a semi-secure positon when she inherited her duchy at the young age of sixteen.

A well-read and attractive socialite, Lousin had little appetite for ruling her lands and leading her armies, leaving such matters to those who were more capable at them. Instead she held her position as Duchess rather use of diplomacy, charming and befriending those in her court. When she was seventeen, the wife of Emperor Arthur died and Lousin saw her chance to fully secure her duchy's safety. Travelling to Mathrafal, she and her retinue entered the court of Emperor Arthur, where Lousin and Arthur ended up seducing each other with feminine wiles and knightly virtue respectively. While it was a political marriage with Lousin seeking security for her duchy and Arthur desiring to bring another Christian realm into the British sphere of influence, the two of them generally loved each other despite the sheer age difference.

With British armies keeping her lands both safe and hers, Lousin spent her life in Arthur's court at her husband's side, entertaining him and his courtiers with her charming personality. Lousin's lust and faithfulness were well-known as well for she never bedded a man who wasn't Arthur, but gave the British Emperor over twenty children and spent most of her nights at his side.

Basilissa Konstantina 'the Usurper' Zeno of the Roman Empire
Konstantina Zeno was a Roman Princess before the Empire was invaded and seized by Pagans. With her family's dynasty falling to traitors and pagans, she fled to safety British lands in the sanctuary of Arthur's court in Mathrafal. She lived there for a few years until the then wifeless Emperor Arthur decided to reclaim dying Roman Empire for Christianity and married the husbandless Konstantina in order to press her claim as his wife.

Konstantina was a patience and restrained woman, who plotted her victories and was willing to wait for the right opportunities. She was also very ruthless and cruel when she needed to be with a totally willingness to crush those who got in her way. This ruthlessness and carefulness is generally attributed to Konstantina's natural frailness as she had to adapt to other ways to compensate the weakness of her physical body.

When it came to reclaiming the Empire and ruling it afterwards, Konstantina would be seen on the battlefield, leading her Roman supporters alongside the British armies of her husband. While her natural frailness meant that she was terrible at actually fighting, Konstantina was a capable leader on the battlefield and collected her fair share of scars between the battle she fought and the assassination attempts she was the target of. Her Roman Basilissa ultimately died in battle at the age of forty six whilst fighting another rebellion against her rule.

Lady Ceinwyn 'the Warrior' Cadarn
The third child of Arthur Cadarn back when he was, but a mere Count, Ceinwyn grew up amongst her father's warriors alongside her other siblings. Learning the art of war and battle from her father himself, Ceinwyn desired to join her brothers in leading her father's soldiers. However, it was unseemly for a woman to lead men into battle and many within her father's court protested the idea. But Ceinwyn was able to convince her father that she could do it and Arthur favoured his own daughter that he had raised himself over his upset courtiers, especially when they could provide no good reason for why she was incapable of doing the job.

Ceinwyn the Warrior is considered to be a vital person to the rise of gender equality as she was the one to make it acceptable for a woman to partake in war in the realm that would grow to become the Holy British Empire. The acceptance of women as equals in war would led to women becoming involved in other areas of ruling and ultimately led to gender equality within the Holy British Empire. With the Holy British Empire treating women as equals, this way of thinking spread to its neighbours and trade partners to the point that the majority of the world has gender equality as the norm.

 

[Oshha]

[X] [Power] Enhanced Body (Enhanced stats across the board)
[X] [Region] Duchy of Orleans

***​

You are Frederica Le Blanc and you live in the Duchy of Orleans. The Duchy of Orleans is ruled by Duchess Gwenhwyfar Rhys, a forty one year old duchess who recently inherited the title from her late father, Morfarch Rhys. The Duchess is said to be fair hand at the game of intrigue and to be physically fit and attractive for her age. However, she is always rumoured to be a paranoid, untrusting sort of woman who indulges in many vices and no virtues.

***​

Powers: Here you get to decide what sort of family Federica comes from. Please note that all options have an equal amount of points assigned to them.
[] [Family] You come from a family of local nobles. While you aren't too high up in the aristocracy, your family owns land, is rather rich and you enjoy one of the higher positions in the social pecking order. Presence. Expertise: Noble,
[] [Family] Your family has a proud military tradition to it. Your family has served for many generation with your father an officer within the military and your mother a retired sergeant. Fighting. Close Combat: Sword, Ranged Combat: Pistol,
[] [Family] Your family are craftsman, serving in the city by producing their goods and selling them to the populace or the traders. Intellect. Expertise: Craftsman,
[] [Family] You are an orphan, your parents dying while you were young. Since then you done your best to raise yourself. Awareness. Insight.

Background: Pick the background of Federica and decide what she did whilst growing up. Pick 2 with the 2 with the most votes winning. Please note that all options have an equal amount of points assigned to them.
[] [Background] You train regularly doing your best to stay fit and strong in order to join the army when you are old enough. Strength, Stamina, Agility. Athletics & Acrobatics.
[] [Background] You hang out in the back alleys of the city, hanging out with thieves and other criminals. Awareness, Dexterity. Stealth, Sleight of Hand, Deception,
[] [Background] You like to go out and get involved in street fights, something which didn't go in your favour fairly often. Stamina, Strength, Fighting. Close Combat: Unarmed, Intimidation,
[] [Background] You like to socialise with others and are an outgoing socialite. Presence, Awareness. Insight, Persuasion, Deception,
[] [Background] You like to get involved in book and spent plenty of time at the library, learning useful stuff. Intellect. Expertise: History, Expertise: Culture,
[] [Background] You like to study science and technology and did your best to keep with the latest studies and inventions. Intellect. Expertise Science, Technology, Vehicles,
[] [Background] You volunteer and help out at the local church, a girl of faith and virtue. Awareness, Presence. Expertise: Christianity, Treatment, Insight,

City: Pick from one of three cities from within the Duchy of Orleans. There are others cities as well, but they are not up for selection.
[] [City] Orleans
[] [City] Avaricon
[] [City] Carnutum

 

[Oshha]

Knight Errant
Name: Federica Le Blanc
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Power Level 10

Spoiler: Appearance

Powers
Enhanced Body- Biological: Innate,
-Abilities: Enhanced Strength 5, Enhanced Stamina 5, Enhanced Agility 5, Enhanced Dexterity 5, Enhanced Fighting 3, Enhanced Intellect 3, Enhanced Awareness 3, Enhanced Presence 3, Impervious Toughness 5,
-Movement: Speed 3 (16 KMPH), Quickness 2, Swimming 1, Leaping 1, Sure-Footed 1, Improved Initiative I,
-Regeneration: Regeneration 8 (0.8 per a round),
-Senses: Analytical Lowlight Extended 2 Vision, Analytical Extended 2 Hearing, Acute Extended 1 Smelling, Acute Extended 1 Tasting, Acute Extended 1 Touching, Time Sense,
-Feature: Attractive II, Eidetic Memory, Temporal Inertia,
-Allure: Affliction 1 (1 - Entrances, 2 - Compelled, 3 - Controlled), Defence = Will, Limited to Visual & Penalty to those not normally attracted, Cumulative,

Abilities
Strength: 7
Stamina: 7
Agility: 6
Dexterity: 6
Fighting: 5
Intellect: 4
Awareness: 7
Presence: 6

Defences
Dodge: 8
Fortitude: 8
Parry: 7
Toughness: 7/Impervious 5 (13)
Will: 7

Attacks
Initiative +6
Unarmed +9: Close, Damage 8, Critical 20,
Sword +8: Damage 10, Slashing, Critical 19-20,
Pistol +6: Ranged Damage 3, Critical 20

Skills
Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (9)
Close Combat: Sword 3 (8)
Expertise: Christianity 1 (5)
Deception 6 (12)
Insight 7 (14)
Intimidation 2 (8)
Persuasion 6 (12)
Stealth 4 (10)

Advantages
Assessment: Use Insight to learn an opponent's combat capabilities.
Attractive 2: +5 Circumstance bonus to interaction based on your looks.
Connected: Call in assistance or favours with a Persuasion check.
Benefit (High Life Social Connections): Between your beautiful looks and charming personality, you have gained access to the high life of the city of Orleans.
Benefit (Father Fionn Killian): You have revealed your secret to the local priest and he has offered you his aid in your personal crusade against the dark side of Orleans.
Eidetic Memory: Total recall, +5 circumstance bonus to remember things.
Fascinate (Deception): Use an interaction skill to entrance others.
Great Endurance: +5 on checks involving endurance
Improved Defence: +2 bonus to active defence when you take the defend action.
Improved Hold: –5 circumstance penalty to escape from your holds.

Complications
Code (Live by the Sword, die by the Sword): Taking another human life is an evil act even if it is something necessary and the right thing to do. As of such, Knight Errant won't take a life if it is within her power to avoid doing so.

Equipment
Sword: Damage 3, Slashing, Critical 19-20
Plate Armour: Protection 6, +1 to Unarmed Damage,
Light Pistol: Ranged Damage 3,
Binoculars:
Stealth Outfit: +2 to Stealth Checks,

 

[Oshha]

[X] [Family] You are an orphan, your parents dying while you were young. Since then you done your best to raise yourself. Awareness. Insight.
[X] [Background] You like to socialise with others and are an outgoing socialite. Presence, Awareness. Insight, Persuasion, Deception,
[X] [Background] You like to go out and get involved in street fights, something which didn't go in your favour fairly often. Stamina, Strength, Fighting. Close Combat: Unarmed, Intimidation,
[X] [City] Orleans

***​

You are Frederica Le Blanc and you are special. You know that much for certain given how you changed over the last couple of months. It came as a shock when it first started and you still don't know what is more shocking, the sheer speed and strength that your body now has or your appearance.

You personally lean towards the latter as while being able to jump off of buildings and bend steel is cool, you only do that some of the time while your appearance is always there and noticeable. You glance down at the body in question, your chest bouncing slightly with each step. Of the changes to your appearance, your curves are the ones that stick out to you. Sure you have glossy, wavy and golden hair that falls down to your shoulders while your lush skin is without imperfection and whilst you have glistening blue eyes along with lips that are full and plump. But most of all, your curves are the main change to your body that sticks out to you. You weren't flat or anything before, but you sure as Haer didn't have a figure three months ago. Now you have generous curves in all the right places with wide hips, a nice butt, a snuck waist and a large set of cleavage.

And by Thor's Whores is your cleavage is big as when you can't even see your feet anymore, just two mounds of flesh that jut out. At least they don't wait a ton and hurt your back like you hear other women with large chests complain about.

Impressive as it is, your chest or even your other curves aren't the best part of the changes to your body. No, the real cool stuff is hidden beneath your new beautiful exterior. You can punch through metal, take pretty much anything a human can deal out without resorting to serious weaponry, never lose your balance, run fast enough to keep up with vehicles and a bunch of other things that should be impossible for a mere human to accomplish even if nothing is really too out there. To be honest, you haven't had too much opportunity to test your new physical limits yet.

And then you got your senses as you can see and hear further than anyone else in addition to having the rest of your senses be more refined and accurate. Oh, your hearing. You can just pick out voices from so darn far away. Then you got your ability to perfectly see things at the other end of the street. Combined with your ability to always keep track of what the time, your senses are closer to something inhuman than those of a normal person. Though the time sense is probably due to the changes to your mind.

Because since the changes to your body weren't enough, whatever did this decided to improve your mind as well. You have a pretty much perfect memory of whatever has happened since you started getting your new abilities. Your mind is so much sharper and your general awareness of what is going on around you has improved significantly. And that isn't even mentioning your superior ability to follow social cues and manipulate other people.

For all intents and purposes, the entirety of you has been improved to be just better and you wouldn't be surprised if the changes applied to your soul as well.

The main problem you had was keeping things secret. While it was a spread out over a couple of months, the changes were still unnaturally rapid. Nonetheless, you were able to play upon what people figured was naturally possible and alongside keeping your other newfound abilities secret, were able to convince folks that you were just a late bloomer and you hadn't grown that much. After all, such levels of growth weren't possible after all?

Other than convincing people that you weren't experiencing anything abnormal, you also had to deal with the fact that you were rapidly outgrowing all of your old clothes. Especially since you kept outgrowing the new clothing you were buying and you couldn't just keep buying more without running out of money or drawing undue attention about why you needed to keep buying new clothing.

Instead you resorted to alternative methods, using the new assets granted to you that were causing the problems in the first place. You had good social skills from spending your spare time hanging out with other kids, but it turns out that a nice rack and a charming smile can get you places that wouldn't otherwise be inaccessible to a poor orphan. While it does leave you feeling mildly disgusted, it works well. You flirt with a rich boy, he spends his parent's money on getting you some nice clothes and you both win in the end as you get some free clothing and he gets to spend a night with a beauty in his arms. Not in his bed of course. You are not pulling that sort of stuff. You make that abundantly clear to any boy you met and no amount of whining, threats or bribes convince you otherwise.

You would normally be worried about getting a bad reputation about such activities, perhaps one as a whore, but the opposite seems to have happened. Between your adamant refusal to sell yourself in bed and your willingness to only respectable outfits, you have gained yourself a reputation as a something of a non-sexual courtesan for the male youth of your age. A young lady to be courted and brought as a date to social events, paid in gifts that do not consist of only clothing. Especially since the rumours of you growing more beautiful by the day, though that rumour isn't true any longer. You even have the rich male part of the youth seeking you out to be their companion for the night. With the boys entranced with your looks, you just needed to deal with the female side of the rich and aristocratic youth. Fortunately your charms, sharp wit and honed social skills along with an unmatched mind allow you woo them and gain their social affections to the point that you have both the boys and girls of the upstanding youth seeking you out for different reasons.

What turned out to be just an attempt to gain you new clothing that fitted you as now resulted in an overflowing wardrobe of outfits that show off your beauty and entry into the high life of the city of Orleans that can be cultivated into something more.

And that isn't all you been doing either. You have always gotten into street fights as a kid. You enjoyed the thrill of a nice friendly fight and even if you got your arse kicked most of the time, you pretty much always had a good time. But that was in the past. With the reign of the new duchess, the streets have gotten rougher and nastier as crime and corruption is allowed to slowly flourish in the city under her rule. With that happening, real criminal fight rings are displacing or driving out the old friendly street fights that you liked to enjoy. Perhaps that isn't too bad a thing as while you miss the fights, less folks would be willing to fight a girl with your looks and with enough fights, you would definitely give away your abilities by accident in the heat of the moment.

And yet you are still unsure about how to feel about your low-life style being replaced by a high-life style. Perhaps it is neither good nor bad and is just something different to what you are used.

As much as you would just like to fade out of your old life on the streets and rise into the high life of society, you have no doubts that you got your new abilities for a reason. Just as a corrupt and sinful Duchess takes up rule over the duchy and slowly begins to plunge the duchy and the city into a slow decay into a crime-ridden dump as she lived up her life, you gained the power to do something about it. Sure the Emperor would eventually find out and do something about Duchess Rhys, but who knows how many people would suffer under the reign of the duchess in the meantime? How many lives ruined and how much damage done before her evil is brought to a halt?

No, something needs to be done and by the Lord Almighty, you will not sit idly by.

***​

Motive:
Pick Frederica's motive for being a hero.
[] [Motive] Doing Good.
[] [Motive] Justice.
[] [Motive] Patriotism.
[] [Motive] Responsibility.

The First Outing:
You want to go out and aid the people of Orleans. But how to do so?
[] [Outing] You want to be a hero? Keep things simple by going after some street criminals.
[] [Outing] You want to protect the local community. The best way to do that is to patrol the local neighbourhood and eliminate
[] [Outing] The local organised crime is growing strong under the reign of Duchess Rhys. You could try and make a stand against them by going after one of the local gangs of note.
-[] [Outing] The Snake Crew.
-[] [Outing] The Empty Eyes.
-[] [Outing] The Grey Boars.
[] [Outing] Write-in.

Who did you tell about your powers?:
It was too dangerous to reveal your abilities openly. There is too much of a risk of you being declared a heretic, a pagan or even a demon. Or Duchess would try and enlist you in her sinful crimes. Perhaps both. But there might be one person you can tell....
[] [Friend] No One. Telling anybody would be too much of a risk for both you and them.
[] [Friend] The Orphan. Rebecca Pichard is your best friend in the orphanage. If you can trust anybody, it is her.
[] [Friend] The Smith. William Craig is one of your closest childhood friends and works at his family's blacksmith. He can aid you in your adventures.
[] [Friend] The Priest. Father Fionn Killian is the priest in charge of running the local Church you visit every Saturday. He can aid you in dealing with these newfound abilities.

 

[Oshha]

[X] [Motive] Doing Good.
[X] [Outing] You want to be a hero? Keep things simple by going after some street criminals.
-[X] [Outing] The Empty Eyes.
[X] [Friend] The Priest. Father Fionn Killian is the priest in charge of running the local Church you visit every Saturday. He can aid you in dealing with these newfound abilities.

***​

You decide to tell the head priest at your local church, Father Fionn Killian. If anybody could aid you in what you must do and can be trusted with your secrets, it is the man of God who has known you for most of your life.

You head down one evening when hardly anybody if anyone at all should be about. While you wear a light blue gown that can't help, but show off your curves like all of your clothing these days and a light grey cloak around your body to conceal your good looks, you stride down the dark streets.

You doubt anybody would try and jump you and even if they did, you have could certainly take them with ease. But you can never be too certain on the streets at night anymore and even if you have nothing to worry about should something happen, you have no desire to draw undue attention to yourself if you can help it.

As you approach the church, you let out an internal sigh of relief as only hear one person moving about inside and recognise the voice as that of Father Fionn even as you know that he would never leave the church alone with someone else in it if the old Irishman can help it.

"Father Fionn," you say as you enter the church, "May I speak with you? It is important."

The Irish priest is a stout man, a little on the short side, but with plenty of muscles from his day as a soldier. His formerly red hair is now mostly grey and cut short while his blue eyes are as sharp as ever. Despite his age, Father Fionn has kept his strengths and skills up and is one of the strongest, toughest folks that you have the honour of knowing.

Furthermore, he is a kind and caring person with a fatherly personality that fits his job so well. This man knows many of your secrets already even if none of them are as big as the one you are about to share.

You are also confident that Father Fionn knows you well enough to be convinced that you aren't some kind of demon or pagan. You hope that kindly old priest would have some advice on convincing others of that truth.

"Ah Frederica, my child," replies Father Fionn in a genial voice as he greets your arrival with a smile, "I am pleased to see you again. It has been a while since you last came here. I was briefly worried that you had strayed into a path of sin with your recent activities, but all I have heard is that you have resisted the temptation. With that knowledge, I can only be pleased at the success you are gaining for yourself. A mere orphan such as yourself gaining entry into the higher social circles of life whilst staying firmly on a path of Christian virtue despite all of the temptation? Truly outstanding. But judging from your reaction, that is not what you came here to speak to me about?"

"No Father," you reply as the moment of truth comes to hand, "Two months ago, some unnatural changes came over me and have only recently come to a halt."

"Unnatural changes?" repeats Father Fionn with a frown on his face, "What are you talking about? Is this the reason you have not attended the Church's services in over a month?"

"That is correct Father," you answer, "As for the changes..."

You decide that the best way is too demonstrate as clear, undeniable evidence will swiftly convince the veteran soldier.

Calculating how high and far you will need to jump in your head, you leap into the air. Soaring through the air, you were careful to make sure you didn't crash into anything and you come down with a gentle thud on the other side of the Church and Father Fionn.

"That is just one amongst many other things that I am now capable off," you tell the flabbergasted priest, "I can also bend steel with my bare hands and run faster than anyone else and I am super tough now as well and I can't forget anything and my hearing and sight is just so much better and well..."

As your words come to an end, you unfasten your cloak and shrug it off, letting it drop to the floor and revealing what is beneath. You have chosen a particularly flattering dress in order to empathise how much your body has changed.

"My appearance has also changed," you inform Father Fionn as the man upholds his vows by not staring like many of his gender would, "The reason my life style has changed is due to the fact that I need clothing to wear and I swiftly ran out of money to buy more clothing along with excuses to do so. So I decided to use my new looks to convince rich boys to buy some more clothing for me in exchange for me spending time in their company. It seemed fair enough. I get free clothing that I need while they only spend a bit of their parent's money whilst getting to spend a night in the presences of a pretty girl. Then one thing lead to another and that is how I became so well-known to the rich socialites of the city."

"I see," says Father Fionn, "Why don't you come into the back with me to continue this discussion somewhere more private? Perhaps you would like to put your cloak back on?"

"I would like that Father," you inform Father Fionn.

***​

"That is quite the story child," says Father Fionn finally after you finished telling him about your abilities, "I believe of course, but it is still a lot to take in. What do you intend to do next Frederica?"

"Orleans is falling into corruption and sin," you tell Father Fionn, looking him right in the eye, "Duchess Rhys is source of the problem, allowing corruption to seep into the authorities and empowering the criminal underworld. She needs to be stop and somebody has to take her down. And just as things are being to take a turn truly for a worse, I gain my powers. I do not believe this is a mere coincidence. Just as evil begins to take firm roots into the city, I gain a great capability for good."
"And what do you desire child?" asks Father Fionn softly.

"To do good," you answer without hesitation, "I seek to fight evil and help people. I wish to do good deeds and make this world a better place."

"A good answer," mutters Father Fionn before speaking up, "I too do not believe this to be a mere coincidence. God works in mysterious ways and I believe what you have experienced to be his work. Contrary to your fears, you have not fallen to demons or nonbelievers, but have been blessed by the Lord himself. Deus Vult."

"Deus Vult?" you repeat, echoing the battle-cry of the Crusaders in a questioning tone.

"Deus Vult," confirms Father Fionn, "Your powers and the desire to do good with them is all part of God's plan. I shall aid you in this crusade of yours. Orleans needs a knight in shining armour right now and you are perfect for this job."

***​

Name:
To keep your identity secret, you must assume a persona whilst being a crime-fight hero.
[] [Name] Paladin.
[] [Name] Crusader.
[] [Name] Knight Errant.
[] [Name] Deus Vult.
[] [Name] Write-in. (Must be something knight-themed.)

Your Outfit:
Father Fionn has been able to acquire a set of equipment for your crime-fighting persona.
[] [Outfit] A Sword, a Medium Shield and Leather Armour.
[] [Outfit] A Sword, a Light Shield and Plate-Mail Armour.
[] [Outfit] A Sword and Plate Armour.
[] [Outfit] A Light Shield and Plate Armour.
[] [Outfit] A Sword, Leather Armour, a Shortbow, Arrows
[] [Outfit] Write-in. (I reserve the right to veto them or refine them into something via.)

Where shall you live?:
While you can continue to live at the orphanage, Father Fionn has a proposal.
[] [Home] The Church. Father Fionn has offered to let you live and work at the church, allowing you better access to your base of operations and a convenient cover for your crusade as holy activities.
[] [Home] The Orphanage. You shall continue living at the orphanage like you have for most of your life.

 

[Oshha]

[X] [Name] Knight Errant.
[X] [Outfit] A Sword and Plate Armour.
[X] [Home] The Church. Father Fionn has offered to let you live and work at the church, allowing you better access to your base of operations and a convenient cover for your crusade as holy activities.

***​

You take up Father Fionn on his offer to both live and work at the church. Not only will it allow you to work out of your base of operations, but you have less risk of revealing who you are as one of the supervisors or the other orphans could find out about your activities back at the orphanage while only Father Fionn works at the church and the old fatherly priest already knows your secrets.

You don't mind your new duties, especially since you will have the time for it after finishing school. You won't earn any money, but Father Fionn will feed, house and cloth you in exchange and you still have the gifts from your social life.

Speaking of which, you will need to balance your social, church and crusade activities now, but you are already thinking of ways to balance the three main aspects of your life with your new and improved mind. It doesn't hurt that your newfound abilities mean that you barely have to sleep anymore, just a few hours each week it seems.

From what you can tell so far, you will be fine just sleeping for several minutes whenever you start to get tired.

And it is nice to wear something more conservative like the plain, dull brown robes that Father Fionn is providing you. Sure your body is still showing from beneath the loose clothing, but at least they leave a little something to the imagination.

Your church duties are relatively easy, especially for someone of your capabilities. At night, you have been cleaning up the place alongside Father Fionn while at day, the Irish priest puts your beauty and social charm to work by handing off the duties of interact with those visiting the church while he attends his more priestly responsibilities.

All in all, you enjoy the simple life at the church and helping bring spiritual comfort to those who seek aid at the church.

It is also by aiding the church goers that you gain your first lead as you find out about a group of Empty Eyes gangsters muscling in on a local neighbourhood. Normally the local city guard would deal with something this blatant, but the local constables and their sergeant are taking bribes from the gangsters.

A sign of the growing corruption as such a thing would be unthinkable a few years ago.

Almost coincidentally, Father Fionn is waiting for you with a gift that night as you come home from another party.

"Frederica," says the Father Fionn in a quiet, but excited voice or at least for passes for excitement when it comes to him, "I have a gift for you to aid you in your crusade. Come around to the back and I shall show it to you."
Intrigued, you follow the old man to the inner parts of the church where visitors are not allowed without permission where you both enter Father Fionn's small and spartan room.

"Here it is," declares Father Fionn proudly, waving an arm across the room at the gift on his bed.

A suit of plate armour and a sword. Your eyes widen at Father Fionn's gift as this is nothing cheap or easy to acquire. The plates of armour themselves are silver with gold trimmings while the aketon is blue with white trimmings and the cloth is a mixture of blue, white and gold. You also note that the curved great helm will be ideal for concealing your face while you are out crusading.

The sword is also a masterpiece and of high quality. You have no doubt that you will be able to depend on this blade for some time.

"How could you afford this?" you demand as you gape at the exceedingly expensive gift.

"As you know, I have been selling the gifts that you been donating in order to provide charity and maintain for this church," answers Father Fionn, "I used some of it to purchase this outfit for you as you will need an suitable outfit whilst you are carrying out your other holy duties. Given how you shall be calling yourself Knight Errant, I found this to be particularly fitting. Don't worry about the blacksmith revealing your secrets. Simon Cox is a faithful and loyal man of God, he shall sooner die before selling you out and betraying my trust."

"Thank you Father Fionn," you reply gratefully, "I shall put this gift to good use."

Spoiler: Knight Errant

***​

You leap across the rooftops in the direction of the gangsters. Despite your armour, you move gracefully as plate armour isn't as heavy or inhibiting as one would assume and even then your enhanced body means that you don't feel the weight of your armour clothing at all.

Using your enhanced senses, you are easily able to home in on your prey once you are in the right neighbourhood. Leaping across the rooftops at inhuman speeds and distances, nobody will spot you and if someone somehow does, you will be long gone before they can react.

The armour fits well on you, even with your curves. In fact, you don't even notice that it is there as it does nothing to inhibit you. You will have more problems with your sword than your armour as you don't actually know how to use the weapon beyond the few basic pointers that Father Fionn gave you.

You feel that you might be better off using your fists to be perfectly honest.

Eventually you reach a rooftop that gives you a view of the gangsters further down the road. There is a surprising a lot of them. You went in expecting to only face half a dozen, but there is fifteen men and women brazenly marching up the street, wielding a mixture of light weapons such as knives or clubs.

Laughing and crackling amongst themselves, they show no respect for anybody else on the street even as bystanders hastily make themselves scarce. Several of them are also drunk.
Now you just have to decide on how to deal with these hooligans. Shall you reveal yourself and put a stop to them right now? Maybe you should follow them from afar and watch their movements until you find the right time to make your move? Perhaps you should do something else?

***​

Crooks:
You have found your foes. Now you must decide on how to deal with them.
[] [Crooks] Confront them now.
-[] [Crooks] Write-in (Optionally and just here in case there is any particular way you wish to confront the gangsters rather than leave it up to me to decide.)
[] [Crooks] Follow them from the rooftops.
[] [Crooks] Write-in.

Kill or No Kill:
You have to decide how willing you are to take another life.
[] [Kill] Live by the Sword-. You have no problems killing those who deserve it.
[] [Kill] -Die by the Sword. The ending of a human life is wrong and evil no matter how necessary, especially if you have it in your power to avoid doing so.

 

[Oshha]

[X] [Crooks] Follow them from the rooftops.
[X] [Kill] -Die by the Sword. The ending of a human life is wrong and evil no matter how necessary, especially if you have it in your power to avoid doing so.

***​

You decide to follow the gangsters from the rooftops. While you could confront them now, you would much rather take a more subtle approach and tail them from a distance. Doing so will allow you to spy on them and find out more about them and what they are up.

Furthermore, you have no desire to act on impulse lest you become reckless in your crusade. With your superhuman power, being controlled and restrained is more important than ever as you could easily cause unexpected damage or chaos due to not paying attention or misjudging your abilities.

No, reckless abandon is something that you must avoid less you do something you regret.

Which is why you shall refrain from lethal force where you can. You shall not those who just take the lives of another human being, but taking another life has always just been a necessary evil. You have the power to avoid committing such an evil and therefore you shall.

If you need to bring someone to justice, you shall do so by bring them to the proper authorities for the law to decide their fate. While the duchess and her lackeys may be corrupt, the rest of the Empire isn't and so is most of the city. You will not undermine the order of law, imperial rule and justice itself by enacting your own criminal and potentially wrong justice.

After all, those who live by the sword, die by the sword and do not fear death, you shall not seek it out either.

As idealistic as you are, you also have practical reasoning to avoid taking human life where you can. The Duchess rules these lands and she is a corrupt, scheming woman and the two of you shall quickly become enemies. If you act reckless and take the lives of others, it will give her more to use against you and given the already vast differences in resources between the two of you, you don't desire to give her any more advantages over you than you have to.

While your plate armour is impractical for stealth, your speed and agility more than make up for it alongside your senses. And it doesn't hurt that your targets are a bunch of rowdy, but very troublesome drunks who have no clue that you are about or even exist.

With all of that in play, following the Empty Eyes undetected proves fruitful despite the numerous eyes that they have at their disposal. Not a single one of them realises that you are there.

You listen in on their loud voices from just out of sight as you carefully follow their path from atop of the roofs, but you don't hear anything of interest as these gangsters are low level grunts who know little. The most you can pick up is a useful titbit here and there, but those are irrelevant to present even if they may prove useful in the future.

You are also able to pick out their leader. A lean woman, the gangster is still just a normal street tough like the rest and is only leading this group due to convincing them that what they are doing is a good idea and not because she has any actual authority over them.

And finally, you are able to figure out what these thugs are up to. Apparently one of them got disrespected by the daughter of a shop-keeper after he tried to flirt with her and now they are going to trash the place out of spite. Apparently, it was just going to be a handful of them, but after some drinking, the word spread and now the whole lot of them are going to deal with the matter.

Judging from their talk, these thugs have no plan outside of show up and make a mess of the place by looting it and burning it down.

Then again, the best plans are the simple ones.

It is ten minutes after following them that you strike the gold vein.

"What ta abou' the guard?" asks an Empty Eye nervously, one of the ones that isn't drunk and seems to be taking their outing seriously.
"Don't worry your 'ittle, bitty head over it Kevin," replies their leader, "Me and old Sarge Gerald Arpin have an arrangement. We give him and the boys and girls at the local tower fifty ducats a week, they overlook our activities and help smooth things over. As long as he gets something out of this trip, we don't have to worry about the city guard making a fuss over tonight."

"But what about the shopkeeper?" insists Kevin, "What if he or his family report us Marcy?"

"Gah, you are such an idiot," grunts Marcy with a roll of her eyes, "I just told ya. As long as he gets his coin, Sergant Arpin isn't gonna care. If the shopkeeper complains, Gerald and his troops are going to tell him to drop it and they'll make them drop it."

"I don't think Carmilla will just let the matter go," grumbles Kevin, "That lass is as stubborn as she is pretty."

"Then she will learn what a prison cell looks like," retorts Marcy dismissively.

A name of a corrupt sergeant in the Orleans City Guard. Something to look into once you have dealt with tonight's events.

But right now, you got another pagan to slay. The gangsters want to ruin the livelihood of an innocent man and you will not allow that to happen. You are going to be a hero and you won't stand idly by when evil is afoot.

***​

Crooks:
You know what the Empty Eye gangsters are up to. Now you just have to decide to deal with them. Feel free to suggest a specific approach.
[] [Crooks] Engage them now.
[] [Crooks] Wait until they reach the shop.
[] [Crooks] Write-in.

Sword or Fists:
Are you going to primarily use your sword or your fists?
[] [Attack] Sword. While it shall limit you since you won't take a life of a fellow human being if you can help it, a weapon is still a weapon and your foes are also armed.
[] [Attack] Fists. With your powers, your fists will be your best option as you can easily strike down your foes without killing them while you are powerful enough to avoid being struck down by their weapons in turn.

Spoiler: Rolls

Knight Errant stealthily follows the Empty Eyes: 9+3(+6 & -3) vs 2+7 = 12 vs 9