Battle for the Known World

A tabletop story

of
magic, monsters, and mayhem


The Known World is anything but known to you. It is little more than incredible stories of magic, monsters, and mayhem. Your entire world can be found within a couple of miles of the Town of Riverbank, where you have lived your entire life.

Today, however, you will get your first peek at all that the Known World might be.

A wanderer enters the Boarshead Inn and takes a seat against the wall at a corner table; you work here as an indentured servant, paying off your deceased parents' debt.

She doesn't speak but only snatches a flagon of beer from you as you pass and gestures toward the hog roasting over the fire, implying she wants food.

She eats and drinks in silence.

However, the tavern is not silent; a trio of men in the far corner are being obnoxious. The only other patrons in the tavern at the moment, they make lewd comments to the woman: "You can sit with us, honey"; "I have room for you on my lap and in my bed upstairs"; "You're so quiet, but I can fix that upstairs ... leave you screaming in pleasure, pain, or both ... your choice".

The three men -- members of the local Lord's armed forces and, therefore, no one with whom you want to tangle -- stand and make their way toward the wanderer's table. They hover over her, continuing their obnoxious ways; they make it clear to her that she can either ascend their stairs to join them in their room or enjoy them each, one after the other, right here at her table ... or more specifically, bent face down over it.

Suddenly, a bright white flash explodes over the table, directly before the wanderer; the three men are blown away through the air, crashing onto other tables or against the wall. Upon inspection of them, it is not hard to see that they are all three dead.

The wanderer picks her empty flagon up from the floor and waves it at you for a refill. By the time you arrive, the woman has spread a intricately drawn and labeled Map of the Known World upon the table. As you look down upon it, the wanderer pulls back her cloak's hood to reveal her face more clearly.

"Pick a place ... any place," she invites, "and I will tell you what is there ... and how you can make your fame and fortune there as well."

Then she presses her fingertip to a little black triangle near the very bottom of the map, saying, "You are here now."