Chapter 1

**Significant plot details follow** - peruse at your own risk, lest your game experience be ruined.

Below here is the plot synopsis for Chapter 1 of Temptation's Ballad, titled **The Liar, the Commoner, and The Chosen One**. The intention for this synopsis is for it to function as a basic overview of the events that occur in the story for one to refer to if they a) haven't read the story in a while and want to refresh their memory, or b) are just trying to remind themselves of some of the broader details and events that have happened (think spark notes). This should not serve as a replacement for reading the story yourself, as reading the story will provide a more complete and nuanced experience of the events that occur.

## Summary

After being introduced to the City of Axia, we are introduced to Cole, a troublemaking bard of the Bonebreaker mercenaries, Sidd, an earnest yet somewhat naive and incompetent fighter, and Artemi, the Creator's Chosen.

Cole is sent to go take a job from the adventurer's guild, and while doing so, encounters Sidd, deciding to make him a party member as he appears easily exploitable. The two take on a simple delivery mission, to Sidd's disappointment.

Meanwhile, Artemi is tasked with delivering an Obsidian Crown with four inset rubies to Prince Cassius, much to Katrina's chagrin.

Artemi immediately has the Crown stolen by a young street urchin, Emil, and in her pursuit of the pickpocket, runs into Cole and Sidd, sabotaging their delivery mission as they crash their delivery cart into the delivery destination, Sol's Arcane Curiosity, completely trashing the store.

The two are sent to jail, where Wes, the sheriff, gloats about his successful arrest...shortly before three make their escape thanks to some trickery and magic from Cole.

After their escape, they head to Rotten Redd's Alley, following a lead, to meet with Clyde Bessemer, Cole's childhood friend. As Clyde runs an underground fighting ring, one of the three needs to enter as a combatant without weapons in order to be allowed entry, so Sidd, the strongest of the three, is voluntold by Cole to participate.

While Sidd fights the battles and Artemi acts as a gambler, Cole investigates for the location of the Rubies, Brainwashing Clyde with [Charm Person] to have him give the crown to him, only to learn that one ruby has already been sold, another has simply vanished, and the other two are being held by Val, Clyde's friend and business partner.

Back in the fighting ring, Sidd is winning all of his battles, and Cole returns just in time to Goad Val into betting one of the missing rubies in exchange for Cole betting the lute received from his father, Marrow Bonebreaker, earlier that day.

The battle between Sidd and Val for the ruby never concludes, as a mysterious cloaked figure is caught trying to steal the rubies by Artemi, causing a huge battle to ensue.

After a long struggle, A devastating [Divine Smite] by Artemi causes the cloaked figure to have to retreat, with the fighting ring left completely destroyed as a result of her attack. One of the rubies is ultimately stolen by the figure, while the other is missing, or so it seems. After splitting up the gold earned from gambling, the three split up.

Cole returns to his bonebreaker guild and attempts to gift his father the "missing" second ruby, only for his father to refuse the gift.

Sidd returns home to his parents safely, and excitedly talks about the new friends he's made.

Artemi returns to a disappointed Katrina, who scolds her for failing her first task so completely.

## Plot

### Character Introduction

The story opens with a brief intro narration about the City of Axia, describing it as a famous city well known for their arcane research, and for it being the home of the land's nobility. It then prepares to give us a glimpse into the lives of the three main protagonists of the story:

#### Cole

Full name Collodi Bonebreaker, The story opens with a glimpse of life of the Bonebreaker Mercenary Company: loud, rowdy, and full of drinks and sex. Cole is found getting away from all the noise to practice playing his old worn out lute, which proceeds to immediately break. Shortly thereafter, Cole's two fathers and leading members of the Bonebreaker Company Marrow Bonebreaker and Hamish return from their most recent mission, noting it to be an easy, if not somewhat uneventful success. Marrow calls Cole down from upstairs, praising him for his dedication to his hobby of playing the lute before giving him a brand new one as a present, which Cole gratefully accepts. Then, Marrow sends Cole to go out and take on a mission from the Adventurer's Guild and bring home some gold for the mercenaries. Cole reluctantly agrees, despite informing his dad that he is still injured, gesturing to his bandages. Hamish interrupts Cole before leaving to dispel the [Minor Illusion] Cole used to fake his bandages and injury and have a heart to heart with him about openly communicating with Marrow about his intentions to inherit the Bonebreaker Mercenary Company and about his hidden ability to use magic. Cole refuses to take Hamish's advice to heart, not acknowledging him as his father, and stating that lying to Marrow feels better than having him realize that Cole is a disappointment. Cole eventually leaves without having properly addressed Hamish's concerns.

#### Sidd Shrikewood

Sidd is shown returning home to the Sparrow's Roost Inn & Tavern, having just been fired from another internship. He spots Betsy on his way back in and confides with her about his struggles and inability to hold a commoner job (despite being one himself), while expressing his desire to become an adventurer for glory and to pay his parents back for their support over the years. Betsy lets out a ribbit of acknowledgement, being a toad and all. Ilia spots him outside and comes out to chat with him, expressing concern for him being "let go" for the umpteenth time. Sidd reiterates his desire to become an adventurer to her, and Ilia reluctantly informs him that she and her husband Rennet Shrikewood have agreed that Sidd can go on an adventuring mission provided that he finds a reliable party to go with and makes some friends. A newly motivated and elated Sidd rushes off to find a party before a concerned Ilia can say anything more.

#### Artemi Johanna Gautier

Artemi is introduced training in the Grand Cathedral, as her mother Katrina Gautier walks in with some church youths in tow. Despite Artemi's efforts to greet the children, they scoff at and dismiss her. Katrina overhears the children talking trash about Artemi, and elucidates them on the importance of her being the Chosen One, and her eventual role in protecting the world from evil. The children, remaining skeptical, assert that Artemi is the last person who should be selected as the chosen, which Katrina dismisses, stating that mortals simply cannot fathom the will of The Creator. Once the children are assigned their church duties and leave, Katrina scolds Artemi for being late to practice and ruining the image of the Chosen One. After apologizing, Artemi requests to go on a mission outside the church district to allow her the opportunity to gain practical experience in the world. Katrina blatantly refuses, grilling Artemi for her inadequacy and asserting that she should not make a fool of herself in public. Once the verbal lashing has concluded, Grank Stormborne arrives, pulling Artemi aside and comforting her with cookies before informing her that a delivery mission has been passed along to her that will require her to step out of the church district and to the royal court. Excited for her new mission outside the district, Artemi sets out with the Obsidian Crown in hand and departs on her task to deliver it to prince Cassius.

### The Three Meet Up

Once the introductions are completed, we are shown a mildly annoyed Cole scanning the adventurer's request board, looking for a job he can do. Most of the tasks currently available require at least two people, and for various reasons, it would not be convenient for him to party up with other people. However, he spots Sidd, a greenhorn just begging for anyone who will give him a chance, and decides to form a party with him, as Cole sees him as someone reasonably powerful, while also gullible and easy to manipulate. They form the party under the conditions that Cole is the leader, having full say as to how to split any earnings from quests, and that Sidd swears to keep Cole's ability to use magic a secret from everyone-especially his father.

Sidd's initial excitement about adventuring quickly fades as Cole selects a relatively simple delivery job to be their first mission together. Despite his clear disappointment, however, Sidd follows along with the mission, and the two share some stories about their respective families, with Sidd expressing excitement towards the Bonebreakers while Cole expresses fascination towards the magical horseless carriage, having Sidd show him how it operates.

Meanwhile, Artemi is hopelessly lost and unable to find the Royal Palace. in her confusion, she spots an injured looking Siamese Cat, Emil. While trying to lend him her aid, He tricks her by throwing sand into her face and stealing the crown. While chasing after him to get the crown back, Emil attempts to hide in Cole and Sidd's carriage, seeking refuge. Cole, rightfully suspicious, refuses to help him as Artemi joins the group in the carriage and attempts to chase Emil down. The little cat, having had enough, swipes some arcane crystals from the wagon before manipulating the crystal driving the wagon itself, sending it haywire and barreling towards Sol's Arcane Curiosities before hopping out of the cart. The carriage crashes into the intended delivery destination, sending the shopkeeper and customers into a panic and raising an [Alarm] which gets the trio arrested by the City Watch.

### Chasing the Crown

In jail, Wes shows up and briefly taunts Cole (who does a much better job at taunting Wes back), before leaving the three to rot in jail. Cole quickly devises a plan to escape by creating illusory flames and smoke with [Minor Illusion] and [Prestidigitation] to get Wes to come and free them before Sidd knocks him out and they escape the cell. They then proceed to Rotten Redd's Alley to visit Clyde Bessemer, whom Cole suspects may now have the crown.

Arriving at the alley and entrance to Clyde's Underground Fighting Ring, Cole realizes that they need to have people able to fight without weapons in order to enter the fighting ring, and thus recruits Sidd for the task, as he seems the most physically capable at fighting bare handed of the three party members. He gets Clyde to let him and his new friends into the ring (after much flirting and groping), and prepares Sidd for his first fight. Val also shows up during this time, wasting no time in mocking Cole's cowardice in using his friends to fight his battles for him, and berating him as he usually does before leaving. Cole gives Sidd a dose of [Bardic Inspiration], and the badger wins his first battle with ease. Entrusting Sidd and Artemi to take care of the fighting and gambling for the next two fights, Cole leaves to find the whereabouts of the crown and retrieve it.

Cole runs into Clyde while searching for the crown, and tries to sweet-talk him into parting ways with it. Unfortunately, Clyde states he is unable to sell the crown to Cole, as many rich buyers have already made offers that even Marrow would not be able to afford. However, Cole spots some arcane crystals that Emil had stolen, and asks for those back as well, which Clyde agrees to return in exchange for a good time~, as the crystals themselves are rather low quality. The two agree to exchange the crystals for sexual services.

While they do the deed, Val checks up on Sidd and Artemi, acknowledging Sidd as a surprisingly strong fighter, and warning the two of them about Cole, letting them know that he is not to be trusted. The two, not trusting his resentment towards Cole, takes the advice with a grain of salt.

After Cole and Clyde's little frisky escapade, Cole brainwashes Clyde with [Charm Person] to get him to give Cole the crown, having failed to negotiate a fair deal. However, the four rubies that were attached to the crown are revealed to have gone missing. When asked for their location, a mesmerized Clyde informs him that they were separated from the crown to be sold separately. One such ruby was already sold, two are in Val's possession, and the remaining and largest one has mysteriously vanished, as if it grew legs and walked away. Clyde then starts feeling nauseous and Cole rests him on the bed so that he can rest, before Sidd walks in on their naked bodies in search of Cole, running away in a panic.

### Obtaining the Rubies

Cole returns to the group shortly thereafter, his ~~one piece of~~ clothing back on. He informs Artemi of the situation, and forms a plan to retrieve the two rubies that Val possesses by provoking him into a match with Sidd. Val, however, is unwilling to take the bait, noting that Sidd is not nearly experienced enough to take him on, and that Cole's party has nothing meaningful to offer him to make the fight happen. A reluctant Cole offers to gamble away his lute, which causes Val to change his mind and accept, eager to wipe Cole's shit-eating grin off his face, and bets one of his rubies in exchange. Cole reapplies his [Bardic Inspiration] buff on Sidd, and Artemi enchants a [Bless] spell unto him as well, further amplifying his power, and the battle begins.

The battle doesn't go on to it's conclusion, however, as Artemi detects foul necrotic magic and a cloaked figure making it's way towards the ruby. She appears to have trouble ascertaining their presence, likely as a result of magic, but once she realizes that they are trying to steal the ruby, she commands them to stop. The cloaked figure, unhappy with their plans for a sneaky heist being foiled, responds by casting a mass mind control spell on all the patrons of the fighting ring, affecting everyone in the main area except Artemi, who resists it with the power of the Creator's Blessing. The cloaked figure commands Val to bring him the rubies, and retrieves one while learning that 1 was sold and another is missing. They then attempt to retrieve the other immediately available ruby that was set on the gambling table, commanding Cole to bring it to them once they learn that Cole had used a [Minor Illusion] to swipe the ruby during the match. Cole is about to do so before Artemi breaks the mind control affecting him with [Dispel Magic]. She attempts to do the same for Sidd, but a now prepared cloaked mage interrupts her with [Counterspell]. Unable to free the other brawlers, Artemi and Cole are forced to retreat to Clyde's office.

Cole blows out the candles with [Prestidigitation] and conceals the room with [Minor Illusion] before entering the office, reducing their chances of getting caught. After Clyde comes to (and puts some clothes on at Artemi's behest), The start attempting to come up with a plan to save everyone... or, Artemi tries to before Cole states that he is not interested and helping and plans on running away. Clyde is visibly dismayed and disgusted with Cole's repeat behavior, and Artemi is sent into a rage. She lifts Cole up off the ground and berates him for wanting to run away and endanger lives, especially the lives of his friends before calling him a spineless coward.

Her piercing words get through to him, and after a moment, Cole hatches a plan to dispel the Cloaked Mage's mind control.

As a solitary mind controlled Sidd approaches the illusory wall where the door to Clyde's office once was, Cole whispers to him to get his attention. While he is distracted, the door is flung open in his face and knocks him over before Artemi and Clyde pin him down and drag him into the office. Cole then steps out and leaves, ready to enact his plan.

The rest of the mind controlled servants return to the cloaked mage empty handed. As he loses his patience, Sidd returns with a shining ruby, happily gloating about his success to the mage. An excited mage swipes at the ruby to claim it for themself, only to slowly discover that it is in fact a disguised arcane crystal charged with [Dispel Magic]. The charged crystal detonates with a magical explosion, knocking the mage off balance and ending their control over the fighters. An enraged mage tussles with Cole (who had used [Disguise Self] to appear as a controlled Sidd) for a moment before Artemi arrives to save the day. She throws some [Guiding Bolts] at the mage who blocks it with a [Shield] spell before summoning an army of Earth elementals with [Conjure Elemental]. In retaliation, Artemi delivers a fierce blow with a [Divine Smite] that blinds everyone in the room.

### The Aftermath

When the brightness and smoke clears, the entire building has been collapsed by the force of her attack. Cole attempts to comfort a dejected Clyde who has just had his business torn down, only to be given the cold shoulder. Turning back to his party, he shares the spoils of the day with his crew, giving each of them an even split of the gold won from their gambles, and returning the crown to Artemi. When Artemi asks about one of the rubies Cole took, Cole searches for it, but dejectedly tells her he lost it, likely during the brief floor fight with the mage. Though Artemi is dismayed, she is appreciative of the effort and thanks him. Cole thanks her in return for stopping him from running away, and the two exchange some heated, if not bitter words before the three depart from Redd's Alley.

The three go home and share their exploits of their misadventures with their family, and apart from Artemi, it is very well received. Notably, Cole is revealed to have kept the second ruby for himself, in hopes of gifting it to his papa, Marrow. His dad, however, states that he doesn't want it-that Cole earned it adventuring with his new comrades and should keep it for himself.

Artemi gets a vicious scolding from her mother. While Cassius was kind enough to give Artemi a year to find the missing gems, Katrina warns her that if she fails this remission, she will be stripped of the title of Chosen One. As Artemi begins to despair, a telecommunication from Grank comes through, and he comforts her, insisting that Katrina is not allowed to make such a threat and that Granks authority supersedes hers. An irritated Katrina relents, while coldly noting that if Artemi fails, the consequences will then fall on Grank himself. Artemi retreats to her room to find a note from Grank, further comforting her and expressing that he is interested in meeting her new friends. With newfound courage, Artemi presumably retires for the night.

**End of Chapter 1.**

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