We’re shuffling things around and jumping on the #tbt train and having our favorite RPG stories on Thursdays rather than Fridays.
Today’s #tbtRPG story comes from an original work of historical fiction where our main heroine finds herself on a quest in the middle of the Iraqi desert in the mid-17th century looking for the main base of the story’s antagonists.
At an oasis that initially appears to be a mirage, she and her slightly anthropomorphized horse discover an ancient device which opens a hatch and ladder that descend into the Earth. There, she discovers the magnificent marvel of mankind, the lost Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Our heroine quickly discovers that the antagonists of the story have been using the Hanging Gardens as their base for centuries and she must infiltrate it to complete her mission.
Fast forward a few hours and several close calls later and she has made it all the way behind a hidden bookshelf in the main lair of the Big Bad of her story, listening to him and his top henchmen discuss ways to dispose of her (and her horse for good measure!) while they prep their cattle-like brands over a burning brazier.
As the Big Bad asks rhetorically, “Now, where could she be?” our heroine confidently strides out from behind the bookcase and says “Right here” shocking the room to their core.
Recovering quickly, the Big Bad, impressed, looks our heroine square in the eyes and tells her there is a way out of this room alive: become one of them by branding herself (a henchmen holds up a flaming hot brand). Without flinching, and this memory is something I’ll never forget, she says “With pleasure” and rolling the best possible roll, takes the scalding brand from the henchmen nonchalantly, and, with lightning-quick reflexes, brands the Big Bad right square on the cheek, permanently disfiguring him. BOSS.
She even manages to escape a massive chase and live to fight another day. Just a world class move in one of our all-time favorite settings…
