Lone Knight

[overheard around the corner of a dungeon corridor, moving away]

"... need to hurry. There's at least one other group of thieves in here."

"Don't lump us in with petty thieves. Have some pride!
"Think of what's going to happen when we're the ones striding into the Agora with the Skyskin Sceptre --"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, it's stupid but I know.
"I hope it's worth it."

"Of course it's worth it!"

"It's a lump of metal and cloudglass and sanguinite older than dust that just happens to mean 'the good old days' to a wormy knot of fancy-names with more cantrips and delusion than sense."

"Those 'fancy-names' are going to make our eternal fortunes when we bring the Sceptre."

"You agree it's an older-than-dust relic, though."

"It doesn't matter what it is or how old it is or what it does as long as ..."

[as the voices move out of range, and behind a baffle such as a door]

During overland travel of some kind --

Far too close for comfort, there is a series of small but loud and COLOURFUL explosions -- smoke, flames leaping into the air but not catching anything on fire, pinwheels of wind -- and then relative quiet.

If the party investigates, they discover a splintered wagon still hitched to two stunned, and ridiculously technicoloured, mules. Scattered all around is wood, metal fittings, and countless shards of broken crockery that contained an enterprising mage-chymist's stash, as well as the flabbergasted brigands who tried to raid the wagon.

The brigands are also mottled in bright, ridiculous colours. A few are starting to shed glitter. All around the wagon, the reagent-soaked soil and greenery is starting to come together into dozens of small, glittery, colour-splotched critters, sort of like fancy grass-furred baroque homunculi.

Eventually the shock's going to wear off everyone --


If the party doesn't investigate, the brigands will retreat (still marked by the explosion, which may have further effects), the mules kick themselves free (or are taken by the brigands), and the homunculi spread out across the countryside, possibly to make more of themselves, possibly to spread wild colours, possibly to root into the ground, who knows ~?


(where is the mage-chymist? turned into a flappy bird-bat and fled in surprise. she'll get herself together in a day and then oh boy)