Chalice is an affluent town on the north bank of Silver River, a wide, twisting river which flows gently down from the Moonstone Hills to merge with Catfish River on its way to the Western Ocean. It began as nothing more than a merchant's store built at the end of a wooden jetty used by river traders to land their goods. At first, trade was very slow, and the merchant complained he'd been handed a poisoned chalice. Trade slowly improved, but the name stuck, and over time Chalice grew to become a busy river port.
Chalice's inhabitants are mostly human, and it is also home to a number of other races. There are Elves, who always seem to know more about what's going on than anybody else; Striders, who run around town on their spindly long legs doing errands; Man-Orcs, who are usually hired as guards; Gnomes, who spend most of their time slurping down bowls of pea soup; two beefy Ogres, who hire themselves out to do most of the heavy lifting jobs; and an unusually friendly Cyclops, who arrived one day ago with goods to trade and never left. He acquired the nickname of Cy, became a blacksmith, and quickly built a reputation as the best smithy in Chalice. He later turned his skills to crafting the finest swords in Northern Allansia, but never made more than one a month, as he refused to compromise on quality. Cy proudly sells his famous "One Eye" swords for 50 Gold Pieces each. A 'quality price for a quality product,' as he says with gusto to his customers, and he is never short of those.
Commerce is the main reason for Chalice's prosperity. Merchants arrive from all over Allansia to sell their wares in the town, where prices are always at a premium. Vendors pack the market square six days a week selling weapons, armor, potions, lotions, herbs, spices, grain, livestock, semi-precious stones, jewellery, silk, furs, fine textiles and exotic foodstuffs. Money changes hands from dawn till dusk in brisk trading. Although Chalice as its fair share of impoverished folk, it affords nobles, merchants, landlords and innkeepers a fine living. And like any large town with wealthy inhabitants, Chalice also attracts pickpockets and thieves who see the opportunity to relieve some of the more naive townsfolk of their hard-earned silver and gold. Young con artists learn their devious skills in Chalice, spinning yarns and practising their scams on the locals. If they don't get caught, the best of them journey downriver to try their luck on the citizens of Port Blacksand, where they must compete with hardened professional thieves and vagabonds.
YOU are a seasoned adventurer, an experienced sword-for-hire who enjoys slaying monsters and finding treasure above anything else. Despite some memorable adventures, you have learned the hard way that treasure hunting does not always guarantee the reward of glittering gold. More often than not, treasure hunters come back from their expeditions empty-handed. And when things don't go well, adventurers reluctantly have to resort to working for others, usually earning a low wage guarding rich nobles' estates or protecting merchants' caravans on their journeys to market. You recently arrived in Chalice tired and hungry after spending a month scouring the Pagan Plains trying, but failing, to find the buried treasure hoard of Throm, the notorious axe-wielding barbarian who, rumor has it, died in Baron Sukhumvit's infamous Deathtrap Dungeon in Fang trying to win the grand prize of 10,000 Gold Pieces.
'Eryk!' the younger man splutters, hiccuping.
'What?'
'Stop laughing at me.'
'Why?'
'Because I'm going to be rich!'
'Shut up,' the older man replies dismissively.
'I am! I'm going to be rich! I bought a treasure map!' he retorts, reaching into his pocket to produce an old piece of parchment as evidence. Too drunk to notice that he's holding it upside down, he stares at it with a befuddled expression on his face. Although you're well within earshot, you pretend not to be listening.
'How much did you pay for it?'
'Four Copper Pieces.'
'Four Copper Pieces? What a fool you are. There's not a hope that it's genuine. You've been done, Gregor,' the older man says, laughing even louder. 'Stitched up like a kipper. A fool chasing fool's gold, that's what you are. You just don't learn, do you? You can't believe anything anyone says in the Fat Frog Inn.'
'But...But that old man seemed so genuine. He had an honest face, unlike all those other sharks and villains in there giving it large. I wanted to believe him. I did believe him!'
'Are you going to go back in to get your money back?'
'Nah, the poor man needed the money. He sounded desperate. I felt sorry for him. That's why I bought the map really. No hard feelings. I enjoyed listening to his tale about the iron chest filled with golden amulets. He said it was hidden deep inside a cave in Moonstone Hills. And he kept going on about a gold ring in the chest. Said it was more valuable than all the amulets together. What did he call it again? The Ring of...Oh, fiddle! I can't remember now. But it doesn't matter if it isn't true! Or you say it isn't true. Or whatever.'
'Forget about it, Gregor. He made it all up.'
'The Ring of Burning Snakes! That's what he called it. He said it used to belong to an old wizard called Nico or Nico something or other. He said the wizard would pay a pretty penny to get it back.'
'I said forget about it, Gregor. Come on, get up, let's try the Sun Inn next. I'm thirsty!' Eryk says sternly, pulling his friend up off the ground.
'All right, all right. I won't be needing this, then!' Gregor says, crumpling up the parchment into a ball and tossing it over his shoulder before staggering off.
The parchment ball lands just by your feet. Intrigued, you bend down to pick it up. You unfold it to reveal a very detailed hand-drawn map of the land surrounding Chalice.
Could a treasure chest really lie hidden in a cave inside Skull Crag? Why would an old man sell his secrets for a few Copper Pieces? And who is Murgat Shurr? Nothing makes sense. You are about to toss the map away when you hear the shrill squawk of a bird overhead. You look up to see a crow flying north. Could it be an omen? Could this be your lucky day after all? You decide you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You fold up the parchment and put it safely away in your pocket. Tomorrow you will set off for Skull Crag. But right now you need to find some food and somewhere to sleep before nightfall.
NOW TURN OVER...
YOUR ADVENTURE AWAITS!
MAY YOUR STAMINA NEVER FAIL!
You fail to find any food, and resign yourself to sleeping on some old flour sacks left outside a baker's shop at the end of an alley. You place your blanket on top of the sacks and lie down as darkness falls, ending the day exhausted and very hungry. You hear a dog sniffing nearby, but eventually fall asleep, dreaming of treasure chests overflowing with Gold Pieces and diamonds.
Reality returns early the following morning when you are rudely woken not long after sunrise by the sound of cockerels crowing loudly. The air is chill, but the skies are clear - at least another fine day is in store. You grab your trusty sword, roll up your blanket and check the few belongings you have in your backpack. They don't amount to much: a ball of twine, a candle, a small brass bell, an oil lantern, a knife, a piece of chalk, a brass owl, a length of rope, a bag of copper nails, an animal-skin water flask and a goblet bearing a unicorn-head motif. You make your way to the town square and fill your flask with water which flows from the spout of a fountain carved in the shape of a dragon's head. After quenching your thirst, you search through a pile of rubbish and find some squashed tomatoes and a chunk of bread left to rot in a wooden crate. The bread is stale but right now a tomato sandwich seems like the breakfast of champions. Add 1 STAMINA point. The sandwich takes the edge off your hunger but you know you could eat more. There is nobody about except for a tall, middle-aged man with curly brown hair who is whistling happily to himself as he sweeps the square with a long broom. A leather shoulder bag is slung over his pack.
If you want to talk to him
If you would rather leave the market square
Also pick a potion and a name. And whether or not we want to go through this with max stats or not because Ian Livingstone books tend to be meat grinders (for most FF authors SK 10 ST 20 L 11 would be a playable character).
(Our STAMINA starts out at full, so I have literally no idea what the 1 STAMINA gain is supposed to represent.)
Adventure Sheet
[Name to be determined]
SKILL: 10/10
STAMINA: 20/20
LUCK: 11/11
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor
Provisions: 10 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Potions: One of Skill (restores SKILL to full), Strength (restores STAMINA to full), or Fortune (restores LUCK to full+1)
Gold Pieces: 0
Items: Map, Ball of Twine, Candle, Small Brass Bell, Oil Lantern, Knife, Chalk, Brass Owl, Rope, Bag of Copper Nails, Water Flask, Unicorn-Head Goblet