< Nuradan CYOA 16 - Sund is preparing to fight | Nuradan CYOA 18 - TBD >
This is part of a weekly series of choice prompts that all my Patreon supporters get to vote on. See all the poll posts on Patreon here.
The adventure so far: You are River, a Changeling Stray that got lost, beaten, and mugged as you were traveling in the North of Nuradan. You ended up in the outskirts of the remote village of Sund, and are in desperate need for shelter and supplies. You wait for the night and try to steal something, when the same brigands attack the village! You help the townsfolk repel the intruders, and now you might have a moment to rest safely. Although part of a larger regional conflict, you decide it’s time to tackle the brigands problem together with the folks of Sund. Creed, the village’s blacksmith and most experienced warrior, is severely wounded in the preparation efforts, and now the bandits are at the village’s door…
As the bandits approach, they start to thin out and spread wider. Some hide behind trees, others climb the slopes to the east of Sund, trying to gain a vantage point. But the bulk of them is coming straight for the village, and you can see the glints and reflections of steel under the rising sun: they are as armed as they can be.
Your plan is simple: send out someone to talk with the bandits, hoping to gain enough time and for reinforcements to arrive and surround them. The charade would include faking to give up crops, houses, not resist, and maybe even let the bandits settle in Sund without alerting the Charred Ones. Everything really, to delay the start of a fight.
Your instructions resonate with the townsfolk, but you can see they are afraid. A boy raises his hand and asks if he can be the one to do it. He is Maude, the elder brother of one of the young men that were killed a few nights ago by the bandits. He is smart and has helped a lot in the past few days, and you can see the weight of responsibility in his eyes.
You were about to say something, but an arrow flies over your head, bouncing off the stone wall near you. You crouch, and you can hear more arrows getting stuck in the wooden barricade you are sitting against.
“Come out, you cowards!”, you hear shouted from uphill.
More arrows fly around you.
You scramble together a white cloth and a stick to raise from behind the makeshift barricades.
A last, lone arrow whistles nearby, but then they stop. You can hear some clanging and clamoring coming from where most of the bandits are.
What will you do?
Volunteer yourself. It’s your plan after all, and it’s only right you take responsibility for it by being the one faking the talk.
Send out Maude. Until reinforces arrive - if they arrive - you are the only guide the village has. It would be careless to risk being captured here, or worse. And Maude seems up to the task…
Vote on Patreon until August 31st, 2026.
< Nuradan CYOA 16 - Sund is preparing to fight | Nuradan CYOA 18 - TBD >