A Stiegal Pumpkin (Story)

## Event

*You arrive at the town of Stiegal. Ariadne seems unenthusiastic about returning to her home town.*

*"There's not much to see here." Ariadne looks around the town centre. "It's nothing like the City. We do have a fortune teller though, she's great!"*

*"So we've acquired a mechanical oddity for poor Anders' forge. Now we'll need a special pumpkin."*

*"Thankfully, my mother grows the famed Stiegal pumpkins, herself."*

*Stiegal's town centre is unremarkable apart from a beautiful clock tower and a small cluster of tents tucked into a shaded corner away from the hustle and bustle.*

1) Visit Ariadne's mother.

*Ariadne's mother lives in a farmhouse on the fringe of Stiegal.*
*She is much, much shorter than Ariadne - decidedly average. Her mousy, brown hair is cropped short and her thin face seems frozen in a mask of anxiety.*
*Ariadne's mother, Bethel, clatters about the kitchen with a pained look on her face.*
A) Ask for a pumpkin.
*Her face lights up. "Oh, are you planning to follow in your father's footsteps? Oh Ari, that's wonderful!"*
*"No, I'm not." Ariadne frowns. "I'm rebuilding a forge for a friend."*
*Her mother sighs and leaves the room, returning with a pumpkin as round as a water barrel. "That's the last of the harvest."*
**The player gains this card's token.**
B) Ask about Ariadne's father.
*A calm comes over Bethel's face as she talks about her husband. "My husband forged the armour for the Emperor, himself."*
*"I'm a hero now, Ma." Ariadne pipes up, like a child who feels the attention slipping to a rival. "People are going to know who I am. I'm going to die a hero's death."*
*"Don't say that, Ari. You're not going to die."*
*"Everybody dies, Ma. At least I'll die a hero's death, unlike father."*
C) Return to the town centre.
2) Visit the fortune teller.

*The fortune teller is withered with age and draped in gaudy fabrics. She barely registers your arrival at her stall.*
*"Who's there?" she croaks.*
A) Ask for your fortune.
*"Imminent carnage, you are barrelling headlong into imminent carnage. If you do not take care..." the seer looks at you with pale, watery eyes, "...everything will be lost."*
B) Ask for Ariadne's fortune.
*"She will die alongside a hero. A glorious death is her blessing."*
*Ariadne nods her head. "It's word for word what she told me when I was a tot. I won't keel over pulling up turnips. I'm going to die a hero!"*
C) Ask for Bob's fortune.
*"Bob..." she licks her dry lips. "He will grow to be a fine hero and meet many heroes along the way."*
D) Return to the town centre.
3) Approach the tents.

*A cloaked family are furtively huddled around a small firepit, as if worried that somebody will try and stop them.*
A) Talk to them.
*The mother and father automatically step defensively in front of the soup, pulling their children behind them.*
1) Ask why they're so protective of the soup.
*The father laughs wearily. "Because we are starving, and we don't know where our next meal will come from, or even whether Stiegal will make us move on."*
2) Ask who they are.
*The mother cinches her robe. "We are from Far Water, but I doubt that means anything to you."*
*Ariadne chimes in. "Far Water, where the great Caelora River meets the sea."*
*The father looks surprised and then terribly sad. "Yes, hero, the most beautiful town in this land, and we don't know when we can ever return there."*
*"The Empire has taken our homes and set up their war towers to push into the North. When will they stop?"*
3) Offer to help.
*"Will you order the Emperor to stop his push into the North? Can you stop the Northerners from retaliating?"*
*The mother returns to the soup, tired of the conversation. "Of course you cannot. You cannot help us."*
4) Leave them be.
*Ariadne shakes her head. "Those poor sods."*
B) Steal some of their soup.
**Precision Gambit** (1 small moving Huge Success, 1 large moving Huge Failure, 2 medium stationary Huge Failure)
Huge Success
*The children begin to bicker among themselves. You take advantage of the distraction, ladling out a portion of soup.*
*You quickly ladle a few extra boiled carrots and potatoes into your tin mug.*
**The player draws a Food Gain Card.**
*Ariadne looks conflicted. "Are you sure this is what heroes are supposed to do?"*
Failure
(insert text here)
Huge Failure
(insert text here)
C) Leave them be.
*Ariadne shakes her head. "Those poor sods."*
4) Ask what the pumpkin will be used for.

*"To fix the forge, of course!"*
5) Leave.

**Encounter ends.**
## Unlocked By

Acquire the token for A Mechanical Oddity.

## Token Unlocks

*For obtaining a Stiegal pumpkin...*

Terror-vein Ore