[Let's Play] Fighting Fantazine Adventure 7: Queen of Shades

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to offer them something else instead. Maybe they will be satisfied with a left eye or something less extreme?

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, can we bargain a bit about this?

[Beroli]

The dust swirls in agitation. ‘Give us your eye or we will destroy you!’

Give up your right eye?
Fight the spirits?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 12/16
Luck: 8/11

Gold Pieces: 4
[/spoiler]

[SGamerz]

Considering we never stopped to buy magical weapons or protection of any kind (which was, you know, the entire reason why we needed magical help against the shield maidens in the first place), I don't think we can survive a fight against spirits. We made a deal with the witch and now we have to pay the price. Give them the eye.

[JourneymanN00b]

Sigh. I vote to give up her right eye, as fighting the spirits is going to lead to a game over.

[Queen of Swords]

I guess there's no other workable option, but I really hope whatever we get in exchange for the eye is worth it.

[Beroli]

(Better than Libra's awful not-fingersnapping-away-the-mess-you-got-yourself-into behavior, I guess.)

You start suddenly, as if waking from a dream, and find yourself sitting on the floor of the first floor room overlooking the canal. Though the sky is still light, the sun has gone down beneath the roofs of the houses opposite and a chill has entered the house.

You hear footsteps approaching and a moment later Jardakka enters the room.

‘Courga! What has happened to your eye?’

You put your hand up to your face; where your right eye was, there is only an empty socket, the wound already healed. You are not blind, but having only one eye means it is difficult for you to judge distances. Reduce your SKILL score by two points.

You tell Jardakka what has happened and what you still need to do. She agrees that you should go to the house of the merchant Shar-kali-Sharri and attempt to steal the mirror under the cover of darkness.

You get up and follow her downstairs. On the ground floor you pause to investigate a bundle of filthy rags but it is exactly what it appears to be. You leave the house and walk back towards the city centre, glad to be leaving Krooe.

Your nose catches the smell of food and you realise how hungry you are. You are passing the low stone building that serves as the Longshoremen’s Guild Hall. The guild runs a refectory that is open to all; a slate positioned outside the door advertises meals for 2 Gold Pieces.

Eat at the guild hall?
Do not?

(Since you have been here before, feel free to vote as many multiple levels down as your vote is "let's do exactly the same thing we did the first time." If Rey gets sent back in time again, she will have her eye back but will not retain the knowledge that breaking the mirror will, if the spirits can be trusted, defeat the Shield Maidens.)

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 10/12
Stamina: 12/16
Luck: 8/11

Gold Pieces: 4
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

The door opens onto a wooden staircase leading upwards. Although the staircase itself is dark, there is a faint glow coming from the floor above.

Since that is explicitly what you were looking for, skipping the "Go upstairs, Y/N?" vote.

You are in a darkened corridor on the first floor of the house. There is a closed and shuttered window in the middle of the wall to your left and another at the far end of the corridor. The only light comes from a lamp burning outside a door immediately to your right; further along the same wall are two similar doors. You cannot hear any noise from any of them.

Go through the first door?
Go through the second door?
Go through the third door?
Go back downstairs?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 9/11

Gold Pieces: 13
Bone bracelet (not worn)
Jardakka has the Sword of Glantanka
[/spoiler]

I vote to do everything until we reach this point. Once there, I vote to go through the third door.

[SGamerz]

(Better than Libra's awful not-fingersnapping-away-the-mess-you-got-yourself-into behavior, I guess.)

Well, the author never tried to pretend that the witch was fair or good. The players had due warning from the old man against seeking her help, so getting penalized for still looking for her help is fair.

Meanwhile, a whole lot of trouble could have been saved if the goddess could have just told her other worshipper, "you have something that shouldn't belong to you, these people are telling the truth and the mirror is really cursed, so stop being stubborn and get rid of it, otherwise if they come back next time to steal it in a more competent way I won't help you stop them. They're not wrong to steal it from you. They're just wrong to look in the wrong room for it. It's like they shouldn't invade your privacy if the mirror is not in your room."

The door opens onto a wooden staircase leading upwards. Although the staircase itself is dark, there is a faint glow coming from the floor above.

Since that is explicitly what you were looking for, skipping the "Go upstairs, Y/N?" vote.

You are in a darkened corridor on the first floor of the house. There is a closed and shuttered window in the middle of the wall to your left and another at the far end of the corridor. The only light comes from a lamp burning outside a door immediately to your right; further along the same wall are two similar doors. You cannot hear any noise from any of them.

Go through the first door?
Go through the second door?
Go through the third door?
Go back downstairs?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 9/11

Gold Pieces: 13
Bone bracelet (not worn)
Jardakka has the Sword of Glantanka
[/spoiler]

I vote to do everything until we reach this point. Once there, I vote to go through the third door.

My personal preference would be to trigger the time loop again to get rid of the penalty, then either skip the witch's advice, get the Sword of Glantanka again as a security measure (meaning repeat the visit to the merchant and get his money), and then try to either complete the theft or just confront the shield maidens with the sword. Or alternatively, go buy some magical protection from Hagbut and see if we can find anything that can deal with spirits before visiting the witch to avoid paying the penalty while getting the advice. I mean, if we're being made to redo things until we get it right, we might as well abuse it. It's only Just.

Buy I can understand if the rest of you don't want to repeat so many things again.

[SGamerz]

Just went through the thread again, and it looks like, up till the point we try to break into the house, there was zero variables involved other than fighting the dog people when we were looking for Vik, everything else was just plain options with no dice involved up until the single LUCK test we had to make when we tried to break in. So there's really minimum risk involved in going through the time loop again and getting ride of the penalty.

The rewind can all be done in a single update if we just skip the visits to Vik and the witch (if we choose go to the shop and look for protection against spirits before going to the witch, then there'd be new choices to make), and take Glantanka's sword route (visit merchant, get money, buy sword, eat), and then come back to the house look in the third room like JourneymanN00b suggested, the only thing we need to worry about is passing 1 LUCK test, so I guess I'd make that my first choice of vote.

If there's no tie-breaker, just go ahead with what JourneymanN00b voted, but like I said, I don't see why we need to proceed with the SKILL penalty when there's very little risk and time involved in getting rid of it.

[Beroli]

(Better than Libra's awful not-fingersnapping-away-the-mess-you-got-yourself-into behavior, I guess.)

Well, the author never tried to pretend that the witch was fair or good.

And it was clear from the intro text to the first Sorcery! book that Libra intervenes in a way that directly helps only the worshiper, only when specifically invoked, on a rather long cooldown, which can be wasted if you try to invoke her on territory which belongs to another of numerous gods, which is already more than either of the other gods you can convert to in those books does; if she simply did nothing at all here Rey would be dead in the first few passages, as anyone who wasn't a worshiper of Libra in good standing would have been. But, apparently, that's incompatible with your and Thaluikhain's concept of the word "god" and gets rejected: she should be forcibly rearranging your life and the entire cityport of Khare, or she doesn't care about justice. Either way, I was responding to what Thaluikhain said earlier about "maybe these dark powers are better than our awful goddess": while I do give them credit for actually voting the way their ideas would point, in the most literal of senses, you got what you asked for.

The only two votes agree on going forward as far as the room decision, so:

[Beroli]

The long tables inside the hall are crowded with labourers returning after a hard day unloading ships on Kharé’s waterfront. No one pays any attention to you and Jardakka. You hand over your 2 Gold Pieces and receive in return a generous bowl of rice flavoured with hunks of fried fish. You take your place at one of the tables and spoon the food into your mouth until the bowl is licked clean. (You had not eaten previously at all today, so you regain no Stamina.)

Jardakka pushes away her bowl. ‘What now?’ she asks.

You look at the labourers sitting next to you but they are engrossed in their own conversations. One possibility would be to go to the house of Shar-kali-Sharri and attempt to steal the mirror under the cover of darkness. On the other hand, it might be better to find Fox first; there is strength in numbers.

Go to rob the merchant's house?
Go looking for Fox?

You approach the house under cover of darkness. The doors are already closed. A lantern has been lit over the entrance, before which two SOLDIER MANTS stand guard. The insect men are fierce fighters and you realise at once that a direct assault makes little sense.

To your left, a high wall runs parallel to the street, enclosing the grounds of the house. To your right, the street runs down to the river Jabaji, where Shar-kali-Sharri has a private quay.

Follow the wall to the left, or walk along the waterfront to the right?

A galley from the Earth End coast is moored on the waterfront. Her captain, a swarthy elf with a black beard and a gold armlet, stands on the quay, watching as she is unloaded. The crew, a mixture of humanoid races, deposit the casks and bales on the quayside, where a steady stream of Worker Mants is going to and fro, carrying the goods across to the house on their backs. The insect men are engrossed in their work and pay you no attention.

A portcullis gate gives access to a storeroom beneath the house; the portcullis is raised, but the entrance is guarded by two Soldier Mants. Next to them hovers Enno the Minimite, Shar-kali-Sharri’s steward, who is busy checking off the goods. You need to get past the Minimite and his guards without attracting their attention.

The first thought that occurs to you is to pick up one of the bales on the quayside and join the column of Worker Mants. If you carry the bale on your shoulder, you can use it to hide your face from the Minimite and simply walk into the the house.

Another possibility would be to bribe the Black Elf captain to smuggle you into the house. If he lets you hide in an empty cask, the Worker Mants would carry you into the storeroom as cargo.

‘Or, we could create a diversion,’ Jardakka grins. She blinks and you get a momentary glimpse of the fire behind her closed eyes.

Jardakka opens her eyes and stares intently at the ship. You can see the cold night air in front of her face crackle with heat. On board the galley, a small flame is kindled. The fire spreads to a tarred rope and races up the mast.

A great cry of alarm leaves the captain’s lips. His crew have seen the flames and hasten to dowse them but the tar burns fiercely; soon one side of the ship is ablaze. Now the main concern is to save the valuable cargo. The Worker Mants set down their burdens and rush as one to the ship. Enno the Minimite flies quickly across to join them, flapping his wings in agitation. His squeaky voice can barely be heard above the general commotion and he succeeds only in adding to the panic.

You run over to the house. The two Soldier Mants have not left their post and cross their weapons to bar the entrance. You hear a succession of angry clicks.

In a breathless voice, you tell the insect men that you must rouse the rest of the household; buckets to fetch water and extra hands to carry them are needed. The insect men look at you suspiciously, unsure whether to believe you.

You Test your Luck; 6 succeeds.

The insect men stand aside and allow you past. You pass under the arch and enter the house. Directly ahead of you, a second archway opens onto a vast undercroft. The spaces between the stone pillars are piled high with crates and barrels, storage jars and bales of cloth. Just before the arch, a flight of stone steps leads upwards.

On one side of the entrance is the winch that raises and lowers the portcullis gate. Jardakka draws her scimitar and cuts through the rope with a single stroke, causing the gate to crash down. The Soldier Mants turn and click angrily but they cannot pursue you. You race up the steps and pull open the door at the top.

You find yourself in a lighted corridor on the ground floor of the house. There are doors to either side of the one through which you have just entered, and double doors in the wall opposite.

There are entrances at both ends of the corridor and doors in the walls on either side. The mirror must be somewhere in the house, you just have to find it without waking Shar-kali-Sharri and the rest of his household. There are ornate double doors in the centre of one wall; opposite these are three plainer doors, arranged in a row. The only noise is a rattling sound, which seems to come from behind the first of these doors, the door to the left.

The door is unlocked and opens onto a flight of stone steps leading downwards. At the bottom, you find yourself in the undercroft beneath the house, where an archway opens onto a vast storeroom. The spaces between the stone pillars are piled high with crates and barrels, storage jars and bales of cloth. On the other side an arch opens directly onto the waterfront by the river Jabaji but it is sealed by a portcullis gate. Several Mants stand outside on the quay and click in agitation when they see you but the portcullis can only be raised from the inside. You run back up the steps to the corridor on the ground floor.

The doors open onto the great hall of the house. It is in darkness, the only light coming from a large window in the wall to your left, through which the full moon is visible. Figures loom up out of the shadows and you are so tense that you are ready to cut them down until you realise that they are only statues, part of Shar-kali-Sharri’s extensive art collection.

There are two ways out of the great hall; a pair of double doors in the far wall, opposite those through which you entered, and a second, smaller door in the far left-hand corner. A glow beneath the double doors indicates that there is light in the room beyond.

Search the great hall for the mirror?
Go through the double doors?
Go through the small door to your left?

The door opens onto a wooden staircase leading upwards. Although the staircase itself is dark, there is a faint glow coming from the floor above.

You are in a darkened corridor on the first floor of the house. There is a closed and shuttered window in the middle of the wall to your left and another at the far end of the corridor. The only light comes from a lamp burning outside a door immediately to your right; further along the same wall are two similar doors. You cannot hear any noise from any of them.

Go through the first door?
Go through the second door?
Go through the third door?
Go back downstairs?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 10/12
Stamina: 12/16
Luck: 7/11

Gold Pieces: 2
[/spoiler]

[SGamerz]

But, apparently, that's incompatible with your and Thaluikhain's concept of the word "god" and gets rejected: she should be forcibly rearranging your life and the entire cityport of Khare, or she doesn't care about justice.

I never said she had to forcibly impose anything on anybody. (naq va snpg V yvxr gur snpg gung jr pna fnl "fperj guvf" naq whfg svaq n jnl gb xvyy gur fuvryq znvqraf. V pbafvqre xvyyvat gubfr jbeguyrff thneqvnaf - jub qvqa'g qb n qnza guvat gb thneq nalguvat juvyr gur ohetynel unccrarq, naq qrfcvgr orvat obhaq gb gur zveebe arire gnetrgrq nalbar npghnyyl ubyqvat gur zveebe, vapyhqvat Sbk juvyr jr jrer fgvyy ba gur obng - gb or gur orfg raqvat.) But if she could give us a lecture on why this thing is happening to us, she certainly could have done the same to the Cyclops, considering the whole reason we had to rob his house was because she gave us a mission. Her worshipper made a decision (to disbelieve us about the curse) based on ignorance, and the least she could have done was to reveal the truth to him and give him the opportunity to make an informed decision so that this stupid robbery-to-correct-another-robbery doesn't need to happen a second time. Truth is an inherent and necessary part of justice (although your definition may be different, I guess), I'd says it should be a duty for a justice goddess to reveal it to a worshiper invoked her name. If the Cyclops insists on being an idiot and want to hold on to the damn mirror after that, then fine, that's on him.

Naq zber vzcbegnagyl, gur snpg gung gurer vf ab jnl gb "ubarfgyl" naq "ubabhenoyl" pbeerpg bhe zvfgnxr qrfcvgr gung snpg gung gur jubyr cerzvfr bs gur dhrfg jnf nobhg hf orvat gbyq gb znxr guvatf evtug orpnhfr bs jung jr qvq vf ernyyl gur jrnx cneg bs guvf obbx. Gur jevgvat bs npghny uhzna(abvq) punenpgref srry yrtvg na yvsryvxr, naq V npghnyyl yvxr zbfg bs gur qrfvta, ohg gur cerzvfr orpbzrf bar ovt wbxr jura lbhe bcgvbaf ner rvgure gb qrsl gur tbqqrff be ebo na vaabprag pyvrag naq zheqre uvf frpergnel (jub jnf bayl qbvat [h]rknpgyl[/h] jung gubfr znvqraf jrer qbvat, uhagvat qbja gur guvrirf cerlvat ba ure znfgre), ohg qvrf orpnhfr ure npgvba jnfa'g nccebirq ol tbqqrffrf). Guvf jubyr tnzr jbhyq unir orra n uryy ybg orggre jvgubhg Yvoen (be engure, gur pbagenqvpgbel naq vapbafvfgrag jnl ure vafbyiragf jrer jevggra) be ure qvivar vagreiragvba. Gung jung oevatf gur jubyr obbx qbja. Vs lbh'er tbvat gb cernpu ng gur cynlref sbe qbvat fbzrguvat qvfubarfg evtug ng gur fgneg, gura sevpxvat cebivqr n cngu jurer ur pna npghnyyl qb guvatf ubarfgyl, yvxr pbaivapr gur Plpybcf gb tvir gur zveebe onpx jvgubhg ivbyrapr (juvpu ntnva, Yvoen pbhyq unir urycrq - abg sbeprq, zvaq lbh). Nygreangviryl, qba'g rira trg ure vaibyirq - yrg gur fuvryq znvqraf qryvire n jneavat gb lbh gb rvgure tvir onpx gur zveebe be qvr, gung'f cerggl tbbq zbgvingvba sbe guvf nqiragher, jr qba'g arrq n zbeny yrffba gung qbrfa'g raq hc grnpuvat nalguvat gb gur CP orfvqrf "vs lbh jnag gb fgrny, qba'g trg pnhtug, be fgrny sebz cbjreshy crbcyr jub unir haqrnq thneqvnaf".

Fbeprel jnf svar. Gurer fur jnf n trarevp tbbq tbqqrff fhccbegvat n trarevp snvelgnyr ureb naq urycf uvz hapbaqvgvbanyyl bhg bs gebhoyr jura fur'f pnyyrq sbe jvgu ab cevpr nggnpurq jurarire fur jnf noyr gb. Urer, gur jnl fur'f jevggra tvirf gur cynlre rirel zbgvingvba gb fnl, "shpx guvf fuvg".

So yeah, I keep mocking at the concept of Justice in this LP, because the way it's been portrayed here, it's basically asking to be mocked. Maybe this was why a character who hangs out with shady characters like Fox and partakes in his shady activity had somehow managed to remain her worshiper for so long.

The classic FF setting of amoral background and characters written by Livingstone is preferable to this fake pretense at trying to establish moral lessons and values and then totally not delivering in this book.

****

Third door.

[JourneymanN00b]

My vote remains to go through the third door.

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, third door.

[Beroli]

But, apparently, that's incompatible with your and Thaluikhain's concept of the word "god" and gets rejected: she should be forcibly rearranging your life and the entire cityport of Khare, or she doesn't care about justice.

I never said she had to forcibly impose anything on anybody. [...]

It's probably just as well that I was able to read this at work but not post, because several hours after I first read it, I think my initial reply would have missed the point:

I think our fundamental disagreement over Libra, is whether she's some kind of author standin here.

And if I could have posted this four hours ago, I would have pointed out that, while the "slaves exist, therefore Libra doesn't care about justice" thing is Thaluikhain, you're both arguing on the basis of Libra trying to implement/compel some kind of big-picture justice which has never been what the character is about. You invoke her to deal with one problem: she deals with that problem and then you don't hear from her for the rest of the book. You're poisoned by Vangorn the Murderer? You're no longer poisoned, good luck fighting Vangorn. Your Stamina points reached 1? You are healed, hopefully they won't get back down to 0 fighting the Serpent you're fighting. You're being attacked by invincible enemies? Now you're not and here's what you need to do to get them to stop coming after you. (This is more than she does in nearly any other situation.) Thieves have broken into your house? Now they're gone. I would also have said that you're both acting like she's the one sending shieldmaidens after you and the one who decided that the shieldmaidens will continue to come after you until the mirror is back in the tomb, instead of having helped you in both cases, just not as much as you want. And I would still, when discussing the character Libra, say all those things. But they're completely inapplicable if you're reading "the author" instead of "Libra," aren't they? "You're acting like the author sent the shieldmaidens after you." "Huge duh!"

[Beroli]

The door opens on a large room with a closed and shuttered window in the wall to your left. The room is in darkness but the light from the corridor is sufficient to show that it contains a four poster bed and that the bed is occupied. Luckily, it seems that the sleeper has not been woken by your entrance as he or she does not move.

Search the room?
Close the door quietly?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 10/12
Stamina: 12/16
Luck: 7/11

Gold Pieces: 2
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Search the room.

[SGamerz]

But, apparently, that's incompatible with your and Thaluikhain's concept of the word "god" and gets rejected: she should be forcibly rearranging your life and the entire cityport of Khare, or she doesn't care about justice.

I never said she had to forcibly impose anything on anybody. [...]

It's probably just as well that I was able to read this at work but not post, because several hours after I first read it, I think my initial reply would have missed the point:

I think our fundamental disagreement over Libra, is whether she's some kind of author standin here.

And if I could have posted this four hours ago, I would have pointed out that, while the "slaves exist, therefore Libra doesn't care about justice" thing is Thaluikhain, you're both arguing on the basis of Libra trying to implement/compel some kind of big-picture justice which has never been what the character is about. You invoke her to deal with one problem: she deals with that problem and then you don't hear from her for the rest of the book. You're poisoned by Vangorn the Murderer? You're no longer poisoned, good luck fighting Vangorn. Your Stamina points reached 1? You are healed, hopefully they won't get back down to 0 fighting the Serpent you're fighting. You're being attacked by invincible enemies? Now you're not and here's what you need to do to get them to stop coming after you. (This is more than she does in nearly any other situation.) Thieves have broken into your house? Now they're gone. I would also have said that you're both acting like she's the one sending shieldmaidens after you and the one who decided that the shieldmaidens will continue to come after you until the mirror is back in the tomb, instead of having helped you in both cases, just not as much as you want. And I would still, when discussing the character Libra, say all those things. But they're completely inapplicable if you're reading "the author" instead of "Libra," aren't they? "You're acting like the author sent the shieldmaidens after you." "Huge duh!"

Considering Libra is a completely fictional character, why would my criticisms of her not be directly based on how the author is presenting her here? It's not like there's a real cult of Libra in the real world where I'd be committing some sort of sacrilege for blaming stuff on her that she's not responsible for. She's not being presented as the fair and just deity here that her name implies her to be, and that's the problem. You're acting as if I'm making accusations on legit religions in the world, which is confusing. You are defending a goddess that never really existed, and who's not practising what she's preaching in this particular book that warrants cristicism. Well, DUH, OF COURSE the author is the one responsible for the inconsistency. I would assume that's to be understood that I don't have to constantly type "according to this author, Libra really isn't just...". If there's a problem with how she's written in the Sorcery series, I'd have posted about it there, not here. There was an LP for that too, you know.

Again, the scenario with the shield maiden is completely different from the Vangorn situation. Sure, she doesn't have to fix the problem for us. Telling us how we can get rid of the shield maidens and leaving us to do it ourselves is fine. The problem lies with "I won't help you anymore until you fulfil this, because you committed injustice and the only reason I help you this time is because you didn't know, and now you have to make it right." Guess what happens at the "good" ending? Gur CP pbzzvggrq zber vawhfgvpr, fgrnyvat fghss gung uvf ivpgvz snveyl cnvq sbe, xvyyrq na npghny yvivat ragvgl gb shysvy guvf fghcvq zvffvba gb cynpngr qrnq barf, NAQ YVOEN SBETVIRF UVZ NAQ NPPRCG UVF CENLREF NTNVA. Gryy zr ubj gung znxrf frafr sbe gur jubyr cerzvfr. Rfcrpvnyyl jura, nf lbh cbvagrq bhg, juvyr Yvoen qvqa'g fraq gur Fuvryq Znvqraf urefrys, fur frg guvf fghcvq pbaqvgvba orpnhfr fur nccebirq bs gurve haqlvat yblnygl. V thrff gur frecrag jbzna jnfa'g yblny rabhtu orpnhfr fur qvqa'g qevax cbvfba. Qlvat va gur npghny npg gb shysvy ure qhgl va punfvat qbja n guvrs vf abguvat pbzcnerq gb gung, evtug?

Ubj vf gur CP erwrpgvat uvf nqivpr naq qrfgeblvat gur fuvryq znvqraf gb fnir uvzfrys orpnhfr ur'f onq ng fgrnyvat jvgubhg uvf guvrs cnegaref nal jbefr gung gur nobir. UBJ qbrf gung jneenag ybfvat Yvoen'f snibhe sberire juvyr pbzzvggvat n frcnengr vawhfgvpr gb znxr hc sbe guvf bar qbrfa'g?

Again, considering the theft at the merchant's house can happen an infinite number times, if neither the PC nor the Cyclops wise up (which would, hilariously, also infinitely save the PC from the justice of the shield maidens who won't show up again until the day is over), you don't think it's fair for Libra to have explained to the Cyclops what's happening? I mean, it's almost a similar situation, where he got something that doesn't belong to him and is ignorant of what's causing the issue. If Libra can stop long enough to explain to the PC, then there's no reason why she's can't do the same to another worshipper. Unless it amuses her to constantly play with the time loop, which makes my earlier comparison of whimsical mythological-era gods an apt one.

****

Considering the only choice left is to try the door with lights inside and thus probably occupied, searching here is most definitely the more logical choice.

[Beroli]

When you look more closely, you see that the figure in the bed is really just a large doll, with pillows arranged beneath the covers to make it seem as if a real person were sleeping there. There is a large wooden chest underneath the bed. When you pull it out and open it, you find that it contains a pile of folded clothes. Hidden between them is the mirror of Iltikar. Add 1 LUCK point. You take the mirror in your hands, scarcely believing that such a beautiful ornament could be the cause of so many problems.

‘What are you waiting for?’ Jardakka hisses. ‘Smash the damned thing!’

Now you have the mirror in your hands you hesitate to follow the advice of the spirits. The goddess Libra said that the mirror must be returned to the tomb of Iltikar. Her words echo in your mind: I will not answer your prayers again until you have righted this wrong. If you break the glass, you will not be able to call on the goddess ever again.

‘Are you crazy?’ Jardakka demands. ‘I don’t see Lady Justice helping you now!’

Smash the mirror?
Obey Libra and return it to the tomb?

(Well, I know how at least two people would vote if meta-considerations don't decide it for them.)

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 10/12
Stamina: 12/16
Luck: 8/11

Gold Pieces: 2
[/spoiler]

[SGamerz]

Return it to the tomb.

I think the other players ought to see the "good" ending for themselves and see how hilariously stupid the whole thing is.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to return it to the tomb.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, obey Libra and return it to the tomb.

[Beroli]

You shrug. ‘We got into this mess by straying from the path of justice. I must obey the goddess now.’

You hear footsteps approaching in the corridor outside. Pausing only to wrap the mirror in some of the clothes, you shove it quickly into your backpack. In the next moment, someone knocks on the closed door and a silky voice asks after Leilana.

Thinking quickly, Jardakka drags the heavy chest in front of the door, just in time to stop the person outside from opening it. The response is immediate; there is a furious hammering at the door and another voice demands that whoever is inside open it at once.

The door is the only one in the room. You rush over to the window and throw open the shutters. Lacking a coil of rope, you have to jump.

The fall knocks all the breath out of you. Take (1d6) 3 damage. If you wish, you may Test your Luck in an attempt to reduce the damage. If you are Lucky, you instead take 1 damage. If you are Unlucky, however, the damage is worse than you first thought--you instead take 5 damage.

You run off down the street. Behind you, the merchant Shar-kali-Sharri leans out of the window and, in a loud voice, calls upon Libra to bring the full weight of justice crashing down upon the heads of those who have robbed him. For now, his rage is in vain; you run on, letting yourself be swallowed up by the tangle of dark streets behind the harbour district. Only when you are certain that you are not being followed do you come to a halt. A full moon hangs in the southern sky, reminding you that your danger is far from over. You must take the mirror to the Queen of Shades before her Shield Maidens
return.

The Shield Maidens do not return in the night, though your sleep is no less uneasy for that. Early the following morning, you go to the port and ask
after ships bound for Lake Lumlé. The only vessel sailing up river is a fishing boat named the Mermaid. She is neither the fastest nor the most
sweet-smelling craft moored in Kharé but you have little choice if you wish to leave at once. Boarding the ship, you ask passage of her captain.

Master Enki is a crusty old sorcerer who smells of fish. He tells you that the journey to Lake Lumlé will take two days, most of it under oars against the current.

‘I could do with two extra rowers. It’s no work for weaklings but I’ll feed you well for your labours.’ He looks at you with a calculating eye. ‘Or I can take you as passengers for a small fee.’

You do not have the 4 gold pieces he is asking, nor do you have any spell component to trade him. You can enlist as rowers or claim to be friends of Vik in the hopes that he will let you ride free.

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 10/12
Stamina: 9/16
Luck: 8/11

Gold Pieces: 2
[/spoiler]

[Thaluikhain]

Row, row, row the boat.

(And, regardless of Libra's limitations, she evidently can and does bestow some favours on the PC, which given the PCs actions, seems at odds with the idea of Justice, at least in my mind)