1997-09-04: You Won't Be Safe Stay in Town
Hail and well met, tis your Herald CaBoT again reporting for duty. The wars seemed to have simmered down again, so I am off to other news. Here is something I hear all the time, "That bad man in the WOODS just killed me!". I am sure you have heard this as well. Hate to say it people, but we are not in Disneyland.
Some people get the idea that they are invincible, or that the rest of the people in Sosaria are "nice". I hate to break the news to you, but you've got to come out of your shell and look around, see what's going on. The goal of every person is one thing. SURVIVAL. I am sure you have all heard the phrase, "Survival of the fittest". This stands in Britannia as well as anywhere else you may go. The forests and mountains of Britannia are a dangerous place. In these places (anywhere outside of towns) laws do not exist. Morals are left back in town. People out there are ruthless and scavengers. They are looking to survive, same as you, they just have a different approach. You may be the nice little tailor from Vesper where everybody liked you, but don't expect the royal treatment once you leave the loving arms of the city gates. People out there are looking for the easiest prey, the weakest looking target. If you plan to make a long journey to some far off town, then you better have some kind of protection. For you are not safe on the roads between towns. These highways are always in sight of the watchful brigand or thief, just lying in wait for the next ignorant fool to walk by.
You can't expect the whole world to be full of do-gooders who hold up the virtues. You may find these people once in awhile, but most are out to make an easy, yet dangerous living. These are the outlaws of the land. They too are as much a part of the game as the paladins. Without your average outlaw, the game would not be a challenge. People would be walking around giving money and equipment to everybody they saw. It would mean nothing to make a journey from Vesper to Trinsic alone. These outlaws add a new dimension of fear and apprehension to the world. People know that they are out there, yet they dare to travel alone.
I, for one, am sick of hearing the people come into town, donning their white robes, wailing of how they were killed by some outlaw. (Usually the word is not as mild as there are many colorful terms for the word outlaw, and I am sure you have heard some of them.) They will scream and moan of how a party must be formed to go hunt down this brigand. Well, bad news, that brigand is long gone. You may never see him or her again. You may find this kind of trade unfair. In fact a lot of people do. But, it is really as fair as making and selling clothes. If anybody had half a brain and used it, they could avoid being caught by some of these outlaws almost 90% of the time.
First off, there are a few things that any traveler must know!
- Towns are SAFE
- Outside of towns are NOT
- You (yes you, believe it or not) are NOT INVINCIBLE
- If you don't like danger, stay home pretty boy.
Now, if you do decide that you have the guts to leave town, then there are a few survival tips that you should know as well!
- The outlaws will look for two things, WEAK people, and UNARMOURED people. To fix this, make sure you are fully healed before you leave town, bring some healing potions along if possible. As for the unarmoured part, there is not much you can do, but you can play with the "outlaw's" mind. If you have ANY type of helmet, wear it and then don a robe. Usually an outlaw will not attack unless they are positive of victory. Now, it will be difficult for them to see if you have armour on or not if you are wearing a robe. If you are wearing a robe and a plate helm, for all they know, you might have full platemail, and they will probably pass you up for a weaker victim.
- STRENGTH IN NUMBERS. Believe it or not, if you travel in packs you are less likely to be attacked. Sure, there are groups of outlaws travelling around, but these groups are few in numbers. By travelling in a pack, you will most likely be safe from the lone outlaws. 3. KNOW YOUR WAY AROUND or hire someone to come along who does! There is nothing worse then getting chased off the road and getting lost. If an outlaw does pop up, its always nice to know which way to run to get to the closest town or guard tower where you may find protection.
- NEVER STAY STILL FOR TOO LONG. If an outlaw notices that you have been sitting in the same spot for some time, he/she may think that you have left the world. An outlaw would find it an ideal time to attack, for you would not be able to escape, and you would not know who did the deed. There are also many hungry animals/monsters in the forests. They too are looking for easy prey. So if they see you sitting still long enough they may decide to converge on your location and spread your entrails all over the road.
- DON'T LOOK CONSPICUOUS! This one is a biggie. If an outlaw sees a master tailor walking by totally naked, he is going to wonder why. First off, he knows that most tailors are rich, and secondly, why would a master tailor be walking around naked? He would most likely close in for the kill. Also, some outlaws like to peek your belongings before they make any moves, so hide your more important things under stupid things. Like, hide your bag of gold underneath your spare leather tunic, or hide you magic slab of ham underneath your pants.
It's the little things like this that will save your hide on long journeys. Anybody who comes into town screaming of being killed should think twice of whose fault it really was. By following these simple steps you could keep your self in top breathing condition for an extended period of time.
(Thanks goes out to Milamber for inspiration for this story)
