You emerge from the solemn cool of the town’s chantry into a morning as hot and heavy as a baker’s oven. A one-armed beggar stands on a haycart in the square, preaching to the poor who had gathered to beg for alms.
"The Maker made us all alike!" he cries. "But the highborn build castles so they can stand above us! Pride is the worst of sins. It turned the Golden city Black." He points at you. "We have all suffered under Serault’s Shame - brought about by the ancestor of our own Huntress/Scholar! But the Iconoclast has come! She will free us from our bonds, and we will make the world anew!"
Available actions[]
1.
Perhaps he would be less inclined to lecture without a tongue One does not speak of the Shame in public.
Result: Fires There are laws in Serault. The Shame is not to be discussed. As the beggar is pulled down, angry shouts go up. The crowd swells like the sea in a storm. Your guards draw their swords, a narrow line of Serault green-and-silver against the pressing tide. Your chevalier-commander spurs her horse forward. The sea turns. Parts. You follow her between the crush of faces, twisted as the gargoyles perching on the chantry, and up to the château. That night fires burn in Serault town, making the night as hot as the day and flinging a sullen amber glow up to the stooping clouds. There is violence in the streets, and looting. The next day a guilty silence has settled over the town. Most keep to their homes. But a symbol has been daubed on half the buildings in the town: the candle-flame sign of the Elusive Iconoclast.
+1 Secret, -3 Authority, -2 Freedom, +2 Dignity, +20 Rumors of Revolution, You dealt with an inciting beggar
2.
Engage him in debate He has passion, but not subtlety.
Difficulty: Rulership*6/5
Success: Unanswered How will crops grow, when the fields are clogged with the ash of the old world? When the books are burned, how will justice be done? When the walls are pulled down, what will keep our enemies at bay? You counter his points with questions he is unequipped to answer. The mood of the crowd begins to turn. You ask innocently if the Elusive Iconoclast is here - perhaps you could discuss these complicated matters with her, instead? He is incensed. "You are beneath her!" He cries. "She is Andraste reborn!" Too far. The crowd condemn his heresy, and drive him from the hay-cart with flung handfuls of street soil.
-20 Rumors of Revolution, -3 Authority, +1 Secret, You dealt with an inciting beggar
Failure: Chaos You could be Andraste herself and it wouldn't matter. The beggar's words are the ones the crowd wants to hear. They shout you down. You watch them turn from crafters and peddlers, buyers and sellers, parents and children, into a howling mob. Your chevalier-commander hurries you back to the château and orders the gates closed behind you. Later, fires burn in Serault town. They make the night as hot as the day and fling a sullen amber glow up to the stooping clouds. There is violence in the streets. Looting. The next day a guilty silence settles over the town. Most keep to their homes. But a symbol has been daubed on half the buildings: the candle flame of the Elusive Iconoclast.
+20 Rumors of Revolution, +10 Peril, +1 Secret, You dealt with an inciting beggar
