Custom move for the rest of the night: roll with social skills. For each level of success from 4+ (i.e. 6, 8, 10), pick one:
1. You get adequate sleep and are not hungover (otherwise peer pressure leads you to party harder than is wise)
2. You avoid entanglements and/or upsetting your hosts
3. You receive a boon or gain a significant favour from your hosts
4. You manage to force a discreet meeting with Valeria (who is attempting to avoid you)
Jes: 1d10 = 10 (all 4)
Theo: 1d10 – 2 (socially awkward) = 7 (2)
(Gosh, these have been high rolls last couple of chapters)
Theo’s ribs are aching from the fight, so he has an excuse to leave the dancing and drinking before the day’s exertions utterly wipe him out. He reclines some distance from the fire drinking another cup of the sweet wine.
Earlier he made friends with Ayanna, a muscley woman in a red sari with a smiling face. She approaches and offers to rub an ointment into his bruised ribs. Theo gladly accepts, and totally misses the romantic subtext. She gives him the rest of the ointment for later, telling him it has a blessing on it.
For Theo I could just choose 1 & 2: nothing bad, nothing good. But more fun to have 1 & 3: a good night's sleep and a boon, but with a complication or offense.
A missed romantic overture makes sense for his character, but I didn't think one offended pilgrim enough of a problem. So instead: she thinks she's in with a chance and is going to follow them and (probably) get in trouble – that's a way for a single, peaceful pilgrim to cause a more serious problem.
The boon: normally we would need a week's downtime to heal a wound. If Theo uses the ointment each day I'll award a cumulative 10% chance of it healing each day.
Jes spends the first few dances trying to get close to Valeria but the other woman is slippery. Val could be running a con, and Jes doesn’t want to give away her real name by asking after her.
She gives up and loses herself in the dance, the starlight, the music. She’s happy, relaxed for a while – then, for a second, she feels the whisper of the pilgrims’ god in her ear, and feels a blessing settle on her. Goosebumps spread down her spine – her trained thief’s sense for the arcane.
With a shiver she ducks out of the dance to hug herself in the darkness. Though the pilgrims offered hospitality with no obligation, their god may expect payment in return for this “gift”. “I don’t want it,” she whispers fiercely to the night.
This is the boon: Jes is immune to sun-blindness, sunstroke, and heat mirages for 1d6 = 6 days.
While she is recovering Valeria suddenly appears, catches hold of her clammy hands and tugs her into a tent.
Inside, an oil lamp illuminates brightly patterned fabric and carelessly strewn books. “How the fuck did you find me?” demands Valeria in a whisper.
For a moment Jes can only stare blankly. Then: “We weren’t looking for you, soup for brains!”
Her friend’s stunned look makes Jes start to giggle, which makes Valeria start laughing too, and then the two of them are hugging, laughing and crying.
When they separate Jes gets a good look at her friend. Her Garrayan ethnicity gives her striking blue ripples on her cheeks, webbing between her fingers and toes, and pale mauve hair. Delicately pretty and fragile – and very smart. Although, apparently not smart enough not to come to desert when her body is better adapted to the sea.
“Oh I missed you, Val. You’re not using a different name? Good. What the hell are you doing here? I thought you had gone to train with that wizard.”
Valeria blushes and fusses with clearing a space for them to sit on the soft woven mat. “Well, it turns out he was only willing to train nobility. So, I kind of convinced him I was a… sea princess?”
She winces at Jes’ helpless laughter. “Look, it worked!” A hard look from Jes. “Well, it worked for a few weeks. I learned a lot!”
“And then?”
“…and then he threatened to turn me into a carp, so I stole some books, snuck away and tagged along with the first group going anywhere far away.” She gestures round at the tent. “With these guys. So if you’re not looking for me, why are you here?”
Jes explains, and tries not to feel angry (still) that Valeria didn’t come to help them find a way to get Elira back, and Valeria is careful not to tell her (again) that it’s never going to work.
“There’s good money in these cactus flowers, Val. Want to help us get them? You bored of dancing yet?”
So then they were three.
Nighttime encounter: 1d6 = 6 (no encounter).
Theo recovers 1d6 HP = 4, putting him back on max HP (10), and gets his bonus fatigue slot back. The ointment: 10% chance of healing wound = fails.
They replenish their water.
No other resources have been used up.