The Trader’s Daughter

A Gemini adventure written by Joachim A. „Heretic“ Hagen

This is an idea for a short adventure. The following outline gives the basic plot of the story plus the
most important Non-Player-Characters (NPC). Everything else will be the Narrator’s job. As far as my
party is concerned, the setting for the story is the province of Aretas. The Narrator can change this if
desired but might have to make some adjustments. You may change NPC attributes or Difficulty
Levels (DL) as it suits your purposes. This script is only a guideline. You are the Narrator.

Travelling the countryside, the characters follow the road through a dense forest. On the surface of the
road are the fresh tracks of a cart (heavily loaded, if a character succeeds with a normal Tracking or
Awareness roll). Suddenly they hear a weak moaning (difficult Awareness roll) and after ten meters
they notice a body lying aside of the street. It is a middle-aged man, bleeding from several deep
wounds. If the characters try to help and question him, he will open the eyes, spit blood and say with a
barely audible voice:
“Bandits... an ambush... they came from everywhere... my daughter... they took Rowena... my cart...
Rowena... rescue her... please... I’ll give you everything you want but... rescue... my... daughter...”
Then he looses his consciousness. Disregarding what the characters will do to treat his wounds (First
Aid/Medicine) he is beyond any help and will die within the next half an hour without regaining his
consciousness again.
If a character scans the environment and succeeds with a Tracking roll, he will identify the footsteps of
several men (about twice the number of the party). The tracks of the cart follow the street about 25
meters before turning on a path leading deeper into the woods.
If a character goes through the pockets of the dying man, he finds nothing of interest or value which
serves to identify the man; the man wears practical, slightly worn clothes. On a necklace he wears a
medallion of a young, not unattractive woman, presumably his daughter.
Following the cart tracks, the characters will find the abandoned, empty cart after a while. The horse
has disappeared, as well anything that might have been in the cart. From here on, the Narrator has
some opportunities to continue the story: A successful Tracking roll enables the characters to pursue
the bandits to their camp, a difficult Awareness roll makes them smell the smoke of the campfire and
to determine the direction of the scent, and if anything fails, two bandits come back to collect wooden
parts of the cart to use them as firewood. The characters can shadow (Shadow/Sneak roll with a bonus
for Shadowing) them on their way to the camp; or they can capture and interrogate them.
Or they can search the woods till they finally find the bandits camp. Somehow they have to find it.

The bandit’s camp consists of primitive huts and tents built in a circle around a fireplace. Nearby is a
spring for fresh water. The camp is constantly guarded by two watchmen on opposite directions; each
one is patrolling along the camp in half a circle. The guards are about 40 meters away from the camp
and change every two hours. At night, the guards are doubled.
One of the guards is the first sign of the camp the characters will notice. It’s up to the Narrator (and
the behaviour of the characters) if they spot the guard first when they approach the camp or vice versa.
The Narrator can do hidden Awareness rolls for the guard and the characters; if the characters sneak,
the lowest effect achieved by a character becomes the Difficulty Level for the guard’s roll. If both
sides fail with their rolls, the characters sneak by the guard without even being aware of it.
Watching the camp, the characters can watch the bandits dividing up the plunder. This done by a tall
figure that is obviously the leader, the captain of brigands, who afterwards disappears in his hut. The
characters can observe the camp a while, watching the bandits going to the latrine, carrying water from
the spring, etc.
Rowena can be found in the captain’s cabin. When the nightfall comes, he will try to rape her and her
screams can be widely heard 1.
It is totally up to the characters how they get her out there. If they manage to do this without any
violence 2 (by distracting the bandits), this should be awarded with an experience point.
Once freed, Rowena - who is the girl on the portrait - can tell the characters that her father, the trader
Petrosius Galda, was with her on the way to the next town to sell some of his goods (tools, simple
clothes, shoes, pans, alcohol, tobacco, etc.) as they were ambushed by bandits. She will not cry if she
hears of her father’s death, as she already expected that. She and her father lived on the road, so she
has nothing except that what was in the cart. Rowena asks the characters to escort her to her next of
kin living in a smalltown one or two day’s journeys away.

By all means
If the characters decide to get Rowena to her next of kin, they arrive in the smalltown of Arradar about
two days later and go directly to the house of Basilius Galda (42), Rowena’s uncle (and the brother of
her father). Just like Petrosius, he has dedicated himself to trading but he has established his business
firmly in town. Basilius is not wealthy, more middle-class. He will be touched if he hears of his
brother’s demise and instantly decides to care for Rowena. He thanks the characters multiple times for
the rescue of his niece and insists that they are his guests for the following days. [That will not work
well for a party of more than six members; in that case, the gamemaster has to figure out something
else.] During the following two days the characters will have enough time to meet Basilius’ family, his
wife Dorotea (37), his son Lukas (16) and his daughter Agatha (17). Of course, the family members
will be quite interested to learn more about the characters and their adventures. Agatha – or Lukas, if
there is a female character – might even get a crush on one of them, at the Narrator’s discretion.
Nevertheless, the characters will soon notice a certain tension among the family members, combined
with an air of despair.

What has happened?

Here are two possible explanations for the Narrator:
a) Basilius has invested a lot of money in luxury goods shipped to Bervoche thinking he would make
the deal of his life. He spend all his savings and also lent money from a man named Wilfred Delgado,
the only one who was willing to give him a considerable amount of money in little time.
Unfortunately, the ship was boarded by agents of the Inquisition and the freight confiscated (cf. The
Holy Trade War, Gemini rulebook p. 29). Moreover, Delgado turned out to have underworld
connections or, even worse, to be a leading man of the local underworld. Delgado now wants his
money back, plus exaggerated interests, of course. Basilius tried to make an agreement about a long-

1
The author wants to indicate that he does not support violence against women in any way but unfortunately
heinous deeds like that were commited again and again in history, and it would be unlikely to expect from a
brigand not to satisfy his „needs“ that way. However, this is up to the Narrator.
2
The description of violence should always be realistic, without exaggerating or understatement. IMHO fighting
with medieval weapons equals slaughter.
time payback but Delgado insists in imminent liquidation of the debt which means that Basilius would
have to sell his house and small business. Delgado’s time-limit expires in a few days.

b) Basilius lost his money gambling. He used to play all the years just for the sake of the kick, with
small amounts, but ultimately he had an incredibly strain of luck and, in a moment of excitement, he
bet more money that he had, signing an IOU1. Alas, he lost, and now he has Delgado’s henchmen on
his back.

The characters may incidentially hear parts of a fight between Basilius and his wife (perhaps because
their chamber is adjacent to their sleeping-room) or Rowena may tell them there is something going on
and finally Basilius himself may ask for help, maybe offering a small sum of money or free choice of
goods as payment.
To trigger things more, Lukas could come home one day, obviously beaten and threatened by
strangers, as he will tell if the characters make him speak. Or Basilius himself could be visited in his
business and advised that “something could happen to his family”. The Narrator is free to add
additional episodes like that portraying a growing threat: windows being crushed at night by stones,
the cat or dog lying beheaded before the door and so on – till the characters finally decide to intervene
(or to ride away, which is the worst solution of all). A climax could be if Delgado’s men kidnap
Rowena or one of the kids – this is the Narrator’s decision.
If the characters call the city guard for help, they have no evidence that Delagdo is responsible for the
harassing. If they insist on interrogating him alone or with the guards, Delgado will openly admit that
he lent Basilius money and that he wants it back, but he denies indignantly to use physical force and to
be responsible for the deeds mentioned above. It should be made clear to the characters that they are
on their own. Additionally, Delgado could decide to send some of his thugs to make the characters pay
and to avoid further disturbance.
Wilfred Delgado is indeed a person of influence of the underworld. His profession as merchant and
businessman (participations in taverns, guesthouses, etc.) is an ideal cover for his occupation as fence
for the town and surrounding region. He may also have his fingers in many other illegal activities,
perhaps he has had also relations with the rogues who killed Rowena’s father...
Apart from some local henchman, Delgado might even be able to hire an professional assassin, if he
considers the characters to be a real threat...

The main idea is that the characters get rid of Delgado in one way or the other. However, the amount
of money Basilius owes Delgado should be high enough to prevent the characters from simply paying
it with their own money. Of course, if one of the characters has a splendid idea to raise the money, he
should get the chance to realize it.
My solution is that the characters gain somehow access to Delgado’s house whether by lockpicking,
smashing a window, bribing a guard, etc. and steal Basilius’ IOU (even if he borrowed the money
from Delgado, there must be a receipt). Without that document, Delgado has no legal mean to pressure
Basilius. The characters could also choose to kill Delgado, which could affect their nature negatively.
You may ask now why Delgado having an IOU with Basilius’ signature does not simply apply to the
authorities (bailiff) to enforce his financial demands. Because it does not get him a penny if Basilius if
thrown into the guilt tower. However, he might also threaten Basilius with that step. Furthermore:

1
“I owe you”, promissory note.
Could it not be that Delgado is in terrible need of money? Perhaps he has debts with someone who is
much more dangerous than Delgado himself...
It could even turn out that Delgado is only a minor member of a big criminal organization – material
for further adventures.

Delgado’s house
Delgado lives in a beautiful house with two floors at the periphery of the town. Delgado has always
two bodyguards around him. If Delgado expects an action against him by the characters, he might
summon even more henchmen.
I am aware of the fact that a map would come handy here. If I get access to a scanner, I’ll include one
with this episode. Otherwise, the Narrator is in charge.

Ground floor
The mansion is a rectangular building; the broad side with the main entrance is pointing southward.
The window shutters are barred at night from the inside. Nevertheless, a clever and dextrous PC may
succeed inserting a dagger or thin object between the window shutters and trying to lift the bar (DL -
2). The main entrance is a massive door with a lock that has DL -3. Through the door you enter a
hallway pointing northward. At the end of the hallway (which, as the rest of the house, is not lighted at
night) there are two stairs: one leading up to the first for and one going down to the cellar.
The hallway shows one door at the left and the right side. Through the door on the left, you enter the
living-room, through the right one the library and Delgado’s study-room.

The living-room
A large, richly decorated room in which Delgado is used to take his meals; hence the large oak table.
A big fireplace to banish the cold in autumn and winter; comfortable chairs invite the visitor to have a
rest. A chess board is placed on a small table; obviously a match has not been ended. Some paintings
on the wall show Delgado in diverse poses. If the PCs want to steal some statues, mirrors or silver
cutlery, they have the chance to do so.
In the North a door leads to the kitchen.

The kitchen
It is a small room with an adjacent pantry. A door opens to the outside. Its lock has DL -3.

The study-room
This is the place where Delgado spents most of the days. It has a stove for heating, as almost all rooms
have one. Large cupboards with a lot of book about law and order, history and geography fill the
room. The impressively ornamented writing-desk attracts attention. Its locked drawers (DL -3) contain
books in which Delgado keeps track of his legal businesses, expenditures and income. But no sign of
the IOU.
At the right end of the Northern wall you find a huge closet containing some casual clothes, liquor
bottles and slippers. An attentive PC may realize (Awareness roll with DL -5) that the room is smaller
from the inside as from the outside; or he may wonder why the Northern side of the room has no
windows. Here is the reason why: A secret passage is running along the Northern wall of the house
between the house wall and the room wall. The access is in the back of the closet mentioned above. If
a characters starts knocking the back of the closet he will eventually hear a hollow sound indicating
that there is an opening behind it. A character illuminating the closet with an oil lamp or so would
need an Awareness roll with DL -6 to recognize the borders of the secret door. A meticulous search of
the closet will also reveal the hidden door. Once the door is discovered, the opening mechanism can be
found with ease. The door opens into a dark passage.

The secret passage

The PCs enter at the right end of the passage. Left of the entrance is a board with an oil lamp. The
floor is covered with two rows of stone plates. Each plate has the size of 60 by 60 centimetres, i.e. the
passage has a width of 1,2 m. The passage is three meters long (or five plates). At the left end of it is a
door. What the characters do not know is that the paranoid Delgado has secured the passage with
crossbow traps (light crossbows, DAM 6). The crossbows are mounted in the room behind the door;
the quarrels are fired through small openings in the dark-painted wall (Awareness roll DL -6). The
crossbow on the left row is trigged if someone steps on the second on fourth plate of this row; the one
on the right side is activated if someone steps on the third or fifth plate of the right row. The plates are
counted from the secret door in the closet, facing the left end of the passage. Someone who steps
through the closet stands on the first plate of the left row. If he turns left, he looks towards the left end
to the passage. That means that a characters has to watch his steps from the first moment on when he
enters the passage. The way to get to the end of the passage is: 2nd plate right row, 3rd plate left row, 5th
plate right row. The first and sixth plate in each row are harmless.
The crossbows do damage 6 when fired. Avoiding the quarrel means a successful REA roll with DL -
15 (cf. rulebook p. 67). As the crossbows are mounted, they have no CS and do not produce additional
effect which can be added to the damage. The hit location can be rolled on a D20, although I say the
crossbows are placed that way that they hit a person of normal height in the chest and a dwarf in the
head. If the characters are holding shields in front of them, roll for random protection. If you really
want to annoy the players, the quarrels are poisoned and each hit that penetrates the armour introduces
the poison into the PC’s bloodstream – it may be a sleeping drug as well. Of course, each crossbow
can only fire once.
For the sake of fairness, do a hidden Detect danger (or Awareness) roll for each character who is about
to step on a dangerous plate.
If a crossbow trap is activated, a bell will ring in Delgado’s sleeping-room, alarming him that
somebody is going for his treasures...
The iron-fortified door at the end of the passage has DL -6; Delgado wears the key around his neck.
Behind the door is a small chamber containing diverse pieces of jewelry (value ca. 500 silver pieces)
and 1,000 silver pieces. Here is also Galda’s IOU and documents detailing Delgado’s illegal
endeavours.
[You may also introduce documents which make up a hook to future adventures. For example,
Delgado could be related to Manurelius the fence in The Hour of Twilight (this episode can be found
on the Cell Entertainment web-site) if you place this adventure in Orschild or Ravarra; or he could be
spying for someone; or he could be involved in a major scheme against the government or a noble
family, etc.]

The cellar
If Delgado has kidnapped a member of Galda’s family it is certainly imprisoned in a room of the
cellar. The different rooms of the cellar contain food, wine and ale and miscellaneous things of no
relevance.
The first floor
The first floor is occupied by the personal rooms of Delgado plus his bodyguards Ruprecht and
Geraldo. Here is also a bath-room, which can be used for washing clothes, too, and a lavatory. Seen
from the stairs – i.e. looking South – Ruprecht’s room is the first on the right, then comes Delgado’s.
The first door left leads to Gerald’s chambers whereas the last two doors on the left belong to bath-
room and lavatory. At the end of the hallway a ladder goes up to the attic. The interior of the rooms is
up to the Narrator.

If Delgado has reason to believe that the characters are after him, his body-guards will alternately
guard his room, changing every four hours. Additionally, Delgado may have gathered some thugs to
protect his house. If the characters have in mind to sneak along the floor to surprise Delgado and his
men, roll Awareness for the NPC to see if they notice something. Give them DL -4 because they are
sleeping plus the PC’s effect.

The course of action and the outcome are entirely in the hands of the Narrator.
Non-player characters
The bandits
A rowdy group of men armed with whatever they could find, rob or steal: quarterstaffs, cudgels,
daggers, rusty swords, etc. Some may use slings. Armour and/or shields should be poor or non-
existent. These guys are hardly elite fighters but their number should exceed the one of the characters.
Give your PCs a break to train combat against several opponents if they choose a frontal assault as
tactic.
Attribute values equal those of a soldier in the rulebook.

Delgado
STR 10 • AGL 13 • PER 12 • CHR 13 • PHY 12 • MEN 15
REA 13 • INI 10
Endurance 1-2/3-5/6-11/13+
Movement 13/20/39m
Nature -9

Area of Knowledge LVL AR Specialisation LVL AR

Learning 2 15 Law & order 1 17
Communication 2 13 Bargaining 1 15
Movement 0 3 Ride 2 13
Close Combat 1 10 Saber 2 15
Dagger 1 13
Awareness 1 9 Scrutinize 1 12
Thief 1 10 Underworld 1 13

Saber DAM 6 AV 14
Dagger DAM 2 AV 10

Wilfred Delgado is a lean man in his forties with a thin moustache and goatee. His dark hair shows the
first gray at the temples. Delgado always dresses in fine clothing of dark colours. More through wits,
charm, calculation, opportunism and unscrupulousness than through sheer violence he has gained the
most important position in the local underworld. Delgado’s manners are impeccable but he will not
hesitate to cut one’s throat if that means an advantage for him. He always carries a dagger hidden in
one of his boots and he never leaves his house without at least one bodyguard.

Ruprecht “the butcher”

STR 16 • AGL 11 • PER 12 • CHR 9 • PHY 15 • MEN 9
REA 12 • INI 11 • Damage bonus +2
Endurance 1-3/4-6/7-14/15+
Movement 11/17/33m
Nature -9
Area of Knowledge LVL AR Specialisation LVL AR
Craftsmanship 1 9 Butchery 2 14
Movement 1 9 Drive cart 1 11
Close Combat 2 11 Unarmed Combat 2 15
1-Axe 1 13
Awareness 2 12 Detect Danger 1 13
Thief 0 8 Underworld 1 10

Broad axe DAM 8 AV 14

Cudgel DAM 4 AV 10
Studded leather AV 3
Ruprecht is one of Delgado’s enforcers. His massive, bulky appearance is truly intimidating. Ruprecht
is not especially bright and prefers to solve problems which sheer force. He likes bullying others and
crushing bones; his nickname refers only partially to the craft he once learned. Ruprecht is absolutely
loyal to Delgado and his usual bodyguard. Outside of Delgado’s house he carries the cudgel, as a
guard he prefers the broad-axe.

Geraldo “the weazle”

STR 12 • AGL 15 • PER 13 • CHR 12 • PHY 12 • MEN 11
REA 14 • INI
Endurance 1-3/4-6/7-11/12+
Movement 15/22,5/45m
Nature -8

Area of Knowledge LVL AR Specialisation LVL AR

Movement 1 11 Ride 1 13
Sneak 1 13
Close Combat 2 15 Two-handed cmbt. 1 17
1-Sw 1 17
Missile Weapons 1 11 Throwing arms 1 13
Awareness 1 10 Detect Danger 1 12
Listen 1 12
Thief 1 11 Set/Disarm Traps 1 15

Broadsword DAM 6 AV 15
Short sword DAM 4 AV 13
Throwing knife DAM 1 AV 8 short/long/very long: 0-5,2/-11,7/-19,5m
Studded leather AV 3

Where Ruprecht relies on brute force, Geraldo prefers finesse. He has mastered the art of fighting with
two weapons simultaneously which allows him to do two combat actions per action round (the second
one is executed as the last action in that round and has DL -4). Before going into close combat,
Geraldo prefers to “soften up” his enemy – for best from behind – with one or more of the four
throwing knives he has hidden in boots and sleeves. He is a perfect cut-throat and shows no mercy in
combat.
Geraldo is mid-twenty, although his short full-beard makes him appearing older. He is used to wear
his armour when he expects trouble (or is on guard), otherwise he dresses more casually.

All other henchmen of Delgado have the attributes of soldiers (rulebook p. 109) but neither shields nor
armour; their weaponry should consists of daggers, quarterstaffs or cudgels.

© 2001 J.A. Hagen. All rights reserved. This adventure may be copied and distributed for private use
only. Reproduction in any media only with permission of the author.

Gemini and all likeness(es) are property of Cell Entertainment AB, Sweden.