Adventure: Disappearing Merchants

It was a rainy day outside the ripped bodice. Days like that made the stale smell of years of spilled ale hang in the air. Minna took a deep breath. The smell of drink was comforting to a dwarf like her, but her reverie was broken by a loud sound.

"Stop makin' all that noise!" Minna yelled at Belle. But Belle continued hammering. "What?" "I said, stop makin all that noise." Belle turned her head, "Oh! Almost finished." A few moments later, Belle backed away from the message board. On it was a bold new paper that read, "HELP WANTED: Adventurers and Hearty Types to Investigate Missing Merchants. Large cash reward. See the Queensguard Agent here tomorrow to apply."

A woman in leather armor, holding a bow ran up to the board to get a closer look. "Here it is, Madyson, the break we've been waiting for! I told you we'd find a quest!" The dark-haired magic-user frowned at her sister, "I don't know Robyn. This might be a bit much for us!"

"Nonsense!" Robyn replied, "We just graduated from Falconer's! We know everything there is to know about adventuring." Madyson clutched her spellbook close to her. It was actually a textbook from Falconer's Academy, with her own notes written in the margins. She bit her lip. "I'm still not sure that--"

"What else have we got going?" Robyn interrupted, "If you tell me what lead we're following to make this month's room and board, I'll consider doing that instead." Madyson looked around, nervously. "Maybe the tavern needs somebody to sweep the floors..."

"So it's decided," Robyn said, "we're going." "I--I suppose so," Madyson's sense was telling her that this wouldn't be as easy as Robyn thought. But she was right, what else did they have going?

((This will be an adventure that happens mostly without rolls. (There's a kind of optional part, maybe, where rolls and regular rules apply, but it's possible for any given character to avoid that.) Write what your character does, and maybe even a bit more. If the thread sits idle too long, other people may move your character. Apologies if it happens, but let's make this move at a pace where it can finish someday. All are welcome.))