LogFAQs > #985618468

You've chosen A, the path of expedient escape. The prize is secured, the risks are assessed, and the wilderness of the city alleys calls to you.

With the image of the half-elf's cold, calculating eye burned into your mind, you make your decision. This tavern has offered up all the entertainment and bounty you require. It's time to vanish.

You stay low, the heavy bottle tucked under one arm like a cumbersome egg. Your target is the swinging kitchen door at the far end of the bar. The only obstacle is the terrified halfling bartender, Finn, who is still curled into a ball, facing away from you. You need to slip past him without raising an alarm.

You take a deep breath and move. This calls for silence and subtlety. A Stealth (Dexterity) check is in order.

(1d20 + 5 = 18 + 5 = 23)

You are not a gnome; you are a shadow. You are a whisper of movement on a dirty floor. You glide past the whimpering halfling, your passing stirring the air so little that it doesn't even rustle his curly hair. He remains completely unaware, lost in his own fear. Your hand finds the greasy wood of the kitchen door. You don't push it open in a way that would make it swing and squeak. Instead, you press gently, controlling its arc, and slip through the gap you create. The door swings silently shut behind you.

You are in the kitchen. The sudden change in atmosphere is jarring. The roar of the tavern is muffled, replaced by the hiss and bubble of a large pot over a hearth fire and the overwhelming smell of boiling cabbage, old grease, and singed meat. The room is a disaster zone of dirty dishes, spilled flour, and vegetable peelings. A cleaver is embedded in a massive, stained chopping block. But across the room, past the simmering pot, you see it: a heavy, wooden door, barred on this side. Freedom.

You dart across the kitchen, your feet navigating the mess with practiced ease. You reach the door and, with a bit of effort, lift the heavy iron bar from its brackets. The wood groans in protest as you pull it open, and you slip out into the narrow alleyway behind The Rusty Flagon.

The cool, sea-sprayed air is a welcome relief. The alley is tight, flanked by the high, grimy walls of the tavern and an adjacent warehouse. It smells of brine, refuse, and rain. The sounds of the city are more distant here, a muted backdrop to the drip of water from an overhanging eave and the distant cry of a gull. You have escaped. You are alone. In your hand, you hold your prize: the ancient, mysterious bottle.

You lean against the cold, damp brick of the tavern wall and take your first real breath of freedom since the brawl began. The bottle feels cool and solid in your grasp.

What do you do now?

• A. Open the bottle! The suspense is killing you. You find a seat on a nearby crate, uncork it, and finally sample the mysterious liquor.
• B. Find a safer place first. This alley is exposed. You should find a more secluded spota rooftop, a sewer entrance, a quiet nook you know ofbefore you investigate your prize.
• C. Examine the bottle more closely. Before opening it, you can take a moment to study the wax seal, the glass, and any markings for clues about its origin or contents.
• D. Think about what just happened. A half-elf hunter in the tavern, a brawl you inadvertently started... this feels like it could be connected to the dark visions you've been having. You could take a moment to meditate and see if you can make sense of it.
• E. Anything else.

Note: We've been rolling really well. I've given the a.i the following instruction just to be sure:

Before we make that choice, I would like to ask something. I would like you to not fudge any rolls, and let the dice fall where they may.

It responded: Thank you for the clarifications. I can absolutely agree to those terms.

On Dice Rolls: I will not fudge any dice rolls. All outcomes, whether they are glorious successes or catastrophic failures, will be determined by the simulated roll of the dice. The story will be shaped by these moments of pure chance, for better or for worse.

Consider this the end of the tutorial.