Editing Path of the Harper

[[Category: Scarlet Heroes]]
Path of the Harper is a solo game using Kevin Crawford's [http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/127180/Scarlet-Heroes Scarlet Heroes], and features a lone hero, a Harper, set in the Forgotten Realms. Note: we'll use the [https://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=5042&editionid=5650 1987 original boxed set] as the only authentic canon.

==Players==

*'''[https://forum.rpg.net/member.php?167903-KnockingBox KnockingBox]''' playing Sky
*'''[https://forum.rpg.net/member.php?62042-roryb roryb]''', the GM

==Play Threads==

*'''[https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?831597-Interest-Recruitment-One-Who-Harps-Intimate-1-or-2-PC-Realmsian-pbp-Scarlet-Heroes Recruitment]'''
* '''[https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?831729-Path-of-the-Harper-Scarlet-Heroes IC Thread]'''
* '''[https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?831728-Path-of-the-Harper-Scarlet-Heroes OOC Thread]'''

==Sky==

'''Attributes'''
*STR 14 (+1)
*DEX 18 (+3)
*CON 15 (+1)
*INT 9 (0)
*WIS 15 (+1)
*CHA 15 (+1)

'''Class:''' Thief<br>
'''Race:''' Human<br>
'''Level:''' 1<br>
'''XP:''' 0<br>

'''Max HP:''' 5<br>
'''Armor Class:''' 7 (Leather)<br>
'''Attack Bonus:''' +1<br>
'''Fray Die:''' 1d6

'''Traits:''' Exiled Acrobat 3, Mesmerizing 2, Friend to Aum 1, Eye for Beauty 1, Harper Initiate 1<br>
'''Sneak Attack:''' +4 to hit and triple damage to unwary foes.

'''Weapons'''
*Spear (+4, d6, 60'/-2 past 30')
*Dagger (+4, d4, 30'/-2 past 15')
*Sap (+4, d4, 30'/-2 past 15')
*Sling (+4, d4, 160')

'''Gear:''' Black Hack Pack (1d8/1d12, downgrades on 1-2), a dirk and strangling cord, Antoine Amberyl's personal dagger, above-average masculine clothes, 8 GP

==Journal==

Dear one,

Having narrowly missed you in Berdusk, I have decided to keep a journal of my experiences until our paths cross again. I hope that you hear this account from my own laughing voice before you read it cold upon the page.

===23rd Flamerule===

I have been sent from Twilight Hall in Berdusk to Iraebor on Harper business. I was to meet my contact, known as "the lender," at the Riverside Lodge just outside the gate. He did not show, and I was ambushed by three thugs with lethal intent, whom I dispatched. Their leader told me they were sent by a man called Thargas, who is known to spend time at Dora's Hall of Delights in the lower city, and seems to have the lender captive. Acquired 9 gold crowns as a ransom and sent the thugs on their way.

===24th Flamerule===

I entered the city of Iraebor proper and spent some time exploring. There is a quaint little teahouse on Windermere's Walk whose cinnamon buns reminded me of your husband. For the most part, the lower city is in disrepair and cast in shadow by the towers on the tor - this is two cities in one place. The city is ruled by Lord Bron, but I gather that power is increasingly held by rising merchants, who fight over the limited real estate in Iraebor. Building vertically has opened doors to greater profit, at the risk of collapse.

A self-styled nobleman, the merchant Osmond Osvectar, recently threw elite cliques into disarray by mocking local nobility with a farcical play at a gala he held. I secured an invitation ''(from Mira D'Camp, a merchant lord's daughter; and Elva Deskarsun, a petty lordling's niece)'' to his next party tonight.

Supposedly a sorcerer resides in an abandoned tower on the tor, and the city worries about their workings. Their lackey, a well-dressed and silver-haired man of elven stock, has been buying occult oddities at sunrise from local vendors. I intend to follow him tomorrow and find this tower for myself.

In a chance encounter, I rescued a bloody and frightened young girl of about 10 from the city watch when they would not listen to reason. Her name is Aime, and she accidentally killed her adolescent half-brother, Lord Antoine Amberyl. It became clear to me that her home situation is abusive, and her half-brother was involved with powerful benefactors in extremely shady business, possibly trafficking. Her absent father perhaps lives in Berdusk, her mother died when Aime was very young, and her older sister fled a year ago. Antoine was sometimes visited by a well-dressed man who traveled with bad company, giving him counsel, money, and abuse. Antoine was killed with his own dagger, a personalized instrument reflecting status and expense, which I have confiscated. I plan to return to the late Lord Amberyl's estate in the western half of the tor to recover Aime's locket and stuffed bear, and perhaps some other things which I may put to better use.

I am trying to send Aime to Twilight Hall, where the Harpers can help her in ways that I cannot. To do this, I will need money and trustworthy accomplices. We are currently staying at the Hanging Heron on Pigeon Swoop Way, a respectable inn near the gate in the lower city overlooking the river. The owner, a halfling named Mabel, is a friend of the Harpers and in fact knows you by name, dear one. She has sheltered us from the city watch and wishes you well. I have once again benefited from your unusually kind and benevolent spirit in far-reaching ways. When I see you again, I will tell you this, and you will wave it away and say you're only glad that Aime and I are safe, but I will see the usual self-satisfaction in your smile.

There is a white-haired luthier on Bon's Lane named Olo who is a friend of the Harpers, to the extent that he calls anyone a friend. He will help me find accomplices, but told me that trust is in short supply in Iraebor these days. The sorcerer in the tower, or at least their silver-haired lackey, covertly commissioned him to make some curio whose details Olo did not share. He also told me that Thargas is a new arrival in Iraebor and an unusually violent and ambitious crook. Rumor says he represents some criminal mercenary outfit, and his protection racket is just the beginning of their plans. I wonder whether he is connected with the man who visited Lord Amberyl?

I spent 1 gold crown (a worse haggler would have spent 2!) on moderately fine clothes with a sharp and masculine cut for Osvectar's party tonight.

===Persons of Interest===

'''Sky,''' a dashing acrobat-adventurer and the foremost field agent of the Harpers!
'''Aum,''' a well-loved and benevolent heroine of the mystic arts, helped Sky escape from Thay, currently retired with her husband
The '''lender,''' Sky's local contact in Iraebor who did not show up for his meeting and is perhaps in Thargas' clutches
Three '''henchmen,''' led by a gray man with a glass eye, sent by Thargas to intercept Sky at the RIverside Lodge, whom Sky sent packing and warned away from Iraebor for a month
'''Thargas,''' a ruthless criminal growing a protection racket, tall and cruel and contemptuous-looking, perhaps the speartip of a mercenary outfit with eyes on Iraebor
Lord '''Bron,''' well-liked ruler of Iraebor
Divers '''merchant lords''' who fight over control of Iraebor's precious real estate and jockey for position with traditional nobility
Lord '''Osmond Osvectar,''' merchant prince and self-styled nobleman, has a great manor on the tor, audaciously making waves in the social scene, remarkably charismatic and handsome, buddy-buddy with Thargas
A '''sorcerer''' said to be cloistered in an abandoned tower on the tor, working on some arcane project
A '''lackey''' of said sorcerer, silver-haired and of elvish descent, known to be buying occult oddities from local vendors
'''Mira D'Camp,''' an Iraebor socialite, daughter of a merchant lord, got Sky into Osmond's party
'''Elva Deskarsun,''' an Iraebor socialite, niece of a petty lordling, got Sky into Osmond's party
The '''city watch''' of Iraebor, probably a tool of the power elite, and somewhat familiar with Sky's description
'''Aime,''' a girl of about 10 whom Sky has taken responsibility for
Aime's '''sister,''' two years older, who fled last year
Lord '''Antoine Amberyl,''' a wealthy and cruel boy involved in deeply unhappy things, Aime's half-brother and abusive guardian
'''Mabel,''' matronly halfling proprietress of the Hanging Heron inn on Pigeon Swoop Way in the lower city, friend of Aum and the Harpers
'''Olo,''' stodgy and white-haired proprietor of Olo's on Bon's Lane between the lower and upper city, luthier and friend of the Harpers
'''Khelben the Blackstaff,''' legendary Harper known to travel in disguise
'''Sabra Vencar-Bron,''' an Iraebor socialite but somewhat above it all, niece of Lord Bron, smart-eyed, petite and stylish, hanging around with a tall and lanky older fella with wise grey eyes and a long mustache
'''Palomar Dvento,''' an Iraebor socialite, recently-debuted son of a lord with more money than sense, awkward but affectionate, an easy mark
'''Soor Falkan,''' a merchant lord, owner of the Seven Sons Trading Coster, bushy beard and widow's peak and sharp black eyes, regally dressed, knows everybody, more shrewd and influential than any Iraebor lordling
'''Tomasz Vander-Quinn III,''' an Iraebor socialite, elegant and rakish, fancies himself a swashbuckler, hangs around with his boys