The Rogue Rottenguts
From GURPSworld Wiki
Days passed and the boys struggled to gather coin for Sibelius. Ambrose our doctor friend was also a leather worker, but he could find no work doing either, and had no coin for materials to work on his own. Our pitiable hunchback turned to begging, which he found to be quite lucrative, especially around the temple to Mitra. Conan sang and sang for his coin, while Lix took advantage of the spectators and lifted their purses. Tharar was lucky enough to get a job from Old Sibelius somewhere out of town. And all this while poor Andre was left alone to heal. He got better quickly, then got worse just as fast. He popped his stitches on more than one occasion, probably while reaching for something to write his ideas on. And the collectors came.
Luckily when the knock on the door came, Andre was quite the sad sight and the collector agreed to come back in a few hours when the others were likely to be home. Luckier still was Lix, who at that very moment set his eyes on a chubby girl's purse. It wasn't terribly full but it looked like an easy grab, he nearly reached for it just as a man pushed her aside spoiling his chance. However, the man was in such a rush he didn't notice it when our thief grabbed his coin purse instead. When Lix had a chance to look inside he saw not silver, but gold. Excited he rushed to tell his brother, so he could get him the herbs he needed to brew some healing potions. When he told Andre the news, he was told that the collectors had come, and also a man looking for some of the hunchback's "remedies". Lix got the herbs and as soon as he got back there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find the collector, who told him he's be back next week for another hundred and fifty silver, and soon after he'll be asking for that same amount, but per person. Lix tried not to drop his jaw in shock. They had only been able to pay this time out of luck, how on earth would they be able to pay that much coin each?
When the others returned Lix told then what he heard but before they could react there was another knock on the door. It was an old man by the name of Clemens Mox and the boys would have trouble forgetting it as he repeated it pretty much every other word. He had very little coin, but he wanted something to ease his pain, and he recognized the smell of opium coming from Hugo's brew. What he did have to trade were stories, he was an adventurer in his youth as hard as it was to see it in him now. He was an alchemist before he was caught practicing and was imprisoned. Luckily he had helped the kingdom in his adventures and knew the king. Although, he was spared, he had to promise to never practice alchemy ever again. And he upheld that oath. The boys reached an agreement, they would dope this old man up if he shared some of his wisdom as an ex-adventurer and helped tend to Andre who was still injured. He'd be a sort of mentor to them.
Finally Polly stopped by with Testafore the Truthful, a prominent man on the Avenue of Lions. He had a job to offer the boys, and how could they refuse. They needed to find a horse that had been taken by bandits. This would be difficult as the road it was taken from had much bandit activity, they'd have to narrow down the search. The outlaw camp looked to be the best place to ask questions, but they were afraid they might tip off the bandits they were looking for. They cautiously asked around. Rumor of a man named Rotten Guts, said he was liked by no one and was the type to kill rather than just rob. He seemed to fit the bill and was known to set camp in some ruins outside of town.
Lix knew they only had so much time before the bandits moved on so he gave Conan the rest of his gold to race to a nearby village to purchase some healing potions. Clemens Mox sent him with an introductory letter as the alchemist was one of his former students. Conan was quickly back as he was very fit and ran fast. Andre took the potions and saw his wounds close up quickly leaving just a pink remnant. They had healed nicely, but it was obvious he still needed some rest. Lix was happy his brother was well again but was sad not to have his help in this business with the bandits. They set off without Andre.
With their keen vision, they spotted the trail that they hoped led to the ruins. Lix had them wait while he went to scout it out. There were four men sitting around a campfire eating. Dogs barked as he approached but luckily the men took it as them just being jealous of the meals the bandits ate. He went back to the others and told them he saw no horse. Ambrose and Conan looked at each other and started sneaking down the path. They just wanted a fight. Plus, these guys were still bandits, they might have loot anyway. The boys ambushed them, but these men were used to combat and were only surprised for a moment. One man dove into his tent as Hugo rushed past him hitting the next man down with his spiked shield. Ambrose attacked the man in the tent, stabbing at his legs and injuring them before moving on to the archer behind him. Conan and Lix were battling the man they assumed was Rotten Guts. Together they were able get him down pretty quickly.
Ambrose stabbed at the archer but the man wasn't so easy to disbatch as his leader was. Suddenly Ambrose yelled out in pain, Lix could see he had a dagger in his back. The man in the tent must have thrown it at him. In Conan's bloodlust he disemboweled Rotten Guts and was punished with the stench of the mans namesake. He lit a torch and set the tent on fire as Lix circled around to get a better view of the man inside.
Hugo our hunchback friend kept snickering as he rammed the bandits with shield and spear. Hugo joined the doctor in fighting the archer as Ambrose was gravely wounded. But eventually the luck of the archer ran out and he failed to dodge a blow, he was finished. The man in the tent surrendered, he promised the location of the treasure should he be let to live. He told them about a woman they had killed and done other unsavory things to, and of a man on a horse they killed. He had them take him to the roadside then he told them where it was stashed.
Lix and Hugo found the spot, a large red rock. Hugo grabbed the rock and they were both greeted with a hiss. There was a snake in the pit. Seems the man thought they might die to this and he would get out with the coin himself. However, The hunchback and the thief were agile and dodged the snake's attacks. Hugo then took his spear and hit the snake perfectly below the head severing it. Lix loaded up the goods and made his way to the road.
Lix turned to the man and said "You should have mentioned the snake". He then told Ambrose to have his way with the bandit, knowing how Ambrose would enjoy that. Lix flicked his god's coin into the air and said a silent prayer. The bandit had actually kept his word, so the thief did feel bad for letting Ambrose loose on the poor guy. He reminded himself that the man was a bandit, a murderer, and possibly more; he deserved no pity.
After Hugo packed the rest of the loot he made his way to the place the bandits ditched the horse. It had been butchered and hung. Seemed Rotten Guts liked horse meat. He cut off the tail and made his way back to the others. The party made their way back to town and told Testafore the news. He was saddened by the loss of the horse, not so much for the messenger. Among the coin they turned in was a electrum button with a crest on it. It was of his house, proving they had found the bandits. He was thankful for their work and payed them a small fee. When they spoke of the noblewoman who had been killed he mentioned it might be of the Metelli family who lost contact with their daughter a few days prior.
The boys were able to sell a few items taken from the bandit camp. Added to the reward Testafore the Truthful gave them, things were looking up. They'd have the money to pay next weeks tribute. Soon Andre and Ambrose would be well and they would be able to venture back into the caves. Hopefully the treasure would be sizable, they were getting restless.