Random events

One hero is fraying, the delves have taken their toll, and the nerve is going. They come to you, hollow-eyed.

• ▸Grant them leave— They are gone four days and come back rested.
• ▸Pair them with a friend— A friend goes with them.
• ▸Tell them to harden up— They sink or they swim.40% risk

One hero and another hero came to blows over a card game in the tavern. The hall is watching how you handle it.

• ▸Discipline both— Order is restored, and pride stung.
• ▸Let them settle it— Someone may get hurt.30% risk
• ▸Side with the wronged— One is heartened, one turns sour.

One hero wants to push their craft further and asks the guild to back some hard training.

• ▸Fund private training (-180g)— Your coin buys their growth.
• ▸Have a veteran take them on— Free, slower, and a mentorship forms.
• ▸Have an old hand take them on— Free, and slower.
• ▸Tell them to make do— Nothing spent but their goodwill.

Someone has been waiting at the crossroads for your hall specifically. They offer another hero a working that will make them markedly better at what they do, and are unusually clear that there is a price, without saying what it is.

• ▸Let them take the bargain— Real power, at an unnamed cost.45% risk
• ▸Buy the working outright (-500g)— Coin instead of a debt.
• ▸Run them out of the town— Nothing gained, and a line drawn.

Something with a great deal of patience has taken up residence above the mountain road and is charging for passage. It has sent word, in writing, of what it expects from your hall.

• ▸Pay the toll (-250–700g)— Costly, and the road stays open.
• ▸Send one hero up to talk it over— One wyrm to another. It may go long.
• ▸Take the long way round— No coin, and a great deal of walking.
• ▸Refuse, and say so publicly— The town watches this one.45% risk

One hero woke the hall at the third hour saying that something below had spoken to them, and had used their name to do it. They are not the sort to make that up, which is the part nobody likes.

• ▸Take them back down to answer it— Whatever is down there, meet it. It will leave a mark either way.
• ▸Keep them out of the Deep— Safe, and it does not stop.
• ▸Send them home for a season— Distance, and a long absence.

Someone the ballads are already about has walked into your yard, put down a pack that has been a great many places, and asked whether you have room. They are old for this work and they know it.

• ▸Give them a place at the table— A legend in the hall, teaching.
• ▸Ask them to teach only (-300g)— Coin for the craft, and no roster place.
• ▸Turn them away kindly— The hall stays what it is.

The seal on the letter belongs to one of the great coin-houses, and it is the kind people stand up for. They have been reading your results for two years and would like your hall to fly their colours. There are conditions, and they are not written down.

• ▸Fly their colours— Enormous standing, and a leash.
• ▸Take the coin, not the colours (+900g)— Paid, and unowned.
• ▸Send it back unopened— Nothing gained but the hall itself.

A forge that has been cold since before the league existed has been found under the hill, and it is not cold any more. Nobody lit it. It will take one working before it goes out again, and it will only take one, so the smith wants to know whose steel is worth the night. One hero, your finest, is the obvious answer, and obvious is not always right.

• ▸Forge for one hero (-400g)— Your best hero, , permanently better.
• ▸Forge for the hall (-400g)— Everyone a little better.
• ▸Let it go out— Nothing spent, nothing gained, and it is gone.

An archivist of the Archive has arrived with the hall's own record under their arm, everything it has done since the founding, written down by the people whose ledgers decide where every hall in the realm stands. They offer to read it to the hall.

• ▸Have it read out in full— All of it, the bad years too.
• ▸Have the losses struck out (-350g)— Coin for a cleaner record, and everyone knows.
• ▸Take it and read it yourself— Yours alone.

Somebody has been keeping a list. Not the official one, a private one, in a hand nobody recognises, with everything the hall's records leave out. It has been left on the long table where you would find it.

• ▸Put their names on the hall— Permanent, and it costs.
• ▸Send word to their families (-200g)— Coin and letters, and no monument.
• ▸Burn the list— The hall looks forward.

Word reaches you that a rival guild has been courting one hero with promises of gold and glory.

• ▸Promise them a future (-250g)— Coin now keeps them sweet.
• ▸Reassure them with words— Cheap, and uncertain.30% risk
• ▸Call their bluff— You risk losing them.45% risk

The feud between a hero and a hero is poisoning the hall. Something has to give.

• ▸Force a reconciliation (-150g)— Coin buys the peace.
• ▸Bench one of them— Distance cools it.
• ▸Let it fester— It may turn violent.35% risk

One hero has a run of luck at the dice and half the hall is betting wages on the next throw. Another hero is down three nights' pay and climbing.

• ▸Let it run— Good cheer, and someone loses.
• ▸Call the game— Sour, and nobody is ruined.
• ▸Cover the losses (-90g)— Your coin covers their losses.

One hero has taken to the practice yard before light, and another hero has started turning up to meet them there.

• ▸Let them drill— Craft sharpens, and bodies tire.
• ▸Make it a proper session (-70g)— Coin for a drillmaster, and real gains.
• ▸Order them to rest— Fresh, and a little flat.

One hero says the last split was uneven and another hero took more than their part. The hall has opinions, loudly.

• ▸Rule for a clean split— Fair, and one nose out of joint.
• ▸Pay the difference yourself (-110g)— Your coin ends the quarrel.
• ▸Tell them to sort it out— It may fester.35% risk

The weather has turned and one hero's old injury has turned with it. They are hiding the limp badly.

• ▸Pay for real treatment (-220g)— Heavy coin, and it holds.
• ▸Rest it, five days— Free, and they are gone five days.
• ▸They have carried it this long— Old wounds do not improve.40% risk

The child you took in has been getting up before the hall does. One hero has been out in the yard with them, showing them how to hold a blade, and neither of them mentioned it to you.

• ▸Let one hero train them— They would grow up a hero of that calling.
• ▸Point them at what the hall lacks— Useful, and not what they asked for.
• ▸They are hall-help, not an aspirant— Nothing spent, and nothing begun.

A coin-house with more money than swords wants one hero to stand as their champion. It is a season's work, it pays extremely well, and they would be out of your hall for all of it.

• ▸Let them go, and take the fee (+450g)— A fat purse, and a long absence.
• ▸Refuse on their behalf— Loyalty, bought at a price.
• ▸Let them choose— Whatever they decide, they decided it.

A light went over the hall at dusk and landed in the hills, close enough to hear. Half the town saw it. Nobody has gone up yet.

• ▸Be first up the hill— Whatever is up there, it is yours.35% risk
• ▸Go up carefully, in numbers— Slower, and nobody gets hurt.
• ▸Let the town have it— Goodwill instead of goods.

Travellers on the west road have been robbed by people flying your hall's colours. They were not your people. The town does not yet know that.

• ▸Hunt them down yourselves— The only real answer.35% risk
• ▸Post a public denial (-120g)— Coin for a clerk, a seal and a notice.
• ▸Say nothing and hope— This rarely improves on its own.50% risk

A collapsed wall in an old holding has opened onto a room nobody has been into for a very long time, and it is full of books. Dry ones. Readable ones.

• ▸Have the hall study them— A slow gain for everyone.
• ▸Sell the collection (+420g)— A great deal of coin, and gone.
• ▸Give them to the Archive— No coin, and the realm notices.

A famous blade is going hall to hall taking on the best each one has. They have named one hero, by name, and set a date.

• ▸Take the match— A name made, or a name dented.40% risk
• ▸Send someone else— The match happens, and the stakes drop.
• ▸Decline the match— No risk, and a mark against.

Two archivists are in the hall with the ledgers open, checking what you have claimed against what they have written. They are not unfriendly and they are not in a hurry, and nobody can get any work done while they are here.

• ▸Open every book to them— The record stands, and it is noticed.
• ▸Show them the good years (-140g)— Coin for a tidier account.35% risk
• ▸Send them away— Your hall, your books.

One hero returned from leave with a heavy purse, an old debt repaid, they say, no questions asked.

• ▸Bank it for the guild— +160–400g to the treasury.
• ▸Let them keep it— One hero, well pleased.
• ▸Throw a feast for the hall— The whole hall lifts, and coin goes.

One hero, eyes on the twilight of their career, offers to take young another hero under their wing.

• ▸Bless the mentorship— A bond forms, and the youngster grows.
• ▸Keep them focused on contracts— No distractions, and no goodwill either.

One hero has been away from home too long. The road weighs on them, and the homesickness dulls the blade.

• ▸Grant them leave— They are gone four days and come back lighter.
• ▸Send a friend along— A friend goes with them.
• ▸Remind them of the work— They take it hard.

One hero has challenged another hero to a sparring match before the whole hall, bragging rights on the line.

• ▸Let them spar— Both sharpen, at a small risk.25% risk
• ▸Make a hall event (-80g)— Coin lifts the whole hall.
• ▸Forbid it— You risk nothing.

A fever has laid one hero low, shivering in their bunk, no use to anyone until it passes.

• ▸Best care (-130g)— Coin for a swift, clean recovery.
• ▸Let it run its course— Free, slower, and risky.35% risk

A shepherd out of the town below lost three beasts in a single night, and the ballads are perfectly clear about what a hero does next. So another hero did the same. It was a dire wolf. There were two of them. The second came from behind. The ballad never mentioned that part.

• ▸Patch them up and say nothing— Stitches, and a lesson.
• ▸Let the tale stand— The realm loves it, and the truth suffers.
• ▸Set the record straight— No glory, and the next one may live.

Three nights of rain have found a way through the hall's roof, and the dormitory floor with it.

• ▸Have it mended properly (-140g)— Coin for dry beds.
• ▸Patch it yourselves— Free, and it will do.
• ▸Live with it— Wet beds cost you elsewhere.

A letter comes for one hero from home. They read it twice, fold it away, and say nothing about it for the rest of the day.

• ▸Ask after it— A burden shared, and nothing spent.
• ▸Give them three days home— They are away three days, and glad of it.
• ▸Leave them to it— Privacy, of a sort.

The larder is down to roots and barley, and the cook has stopped apologising for it.

• ▸Stock it properly (-160g)— Coin for good food and real recovery.
• ▸Send a hunting party— Free food, and tired hunters.
• ▸Barley it is— Nobody starves, nobody thrives.

One hero has been in the tavern telling the town what your hall did last season. The version they are telling is considerably better than what happened.

• ▸Let the story run— Renown is renown.30% risk
• ▸Correct them publicly— Honest, and humbling.
• ▸A quiet word— No harm done either way.

One hero has come down with something. Nothing dramatic, but they are grey around the edges and pretending otherwise.

• ▸Call a physician (-130g)— Coin for a quick mend.
• ▸Bed rest, four days— Free, and they are gone four days.
• ▸They can work through it— It may get worse.40% risk

One hero has said, in front of the hall, that they should be taking another hero's place on the hard delves. Another hero heard every word.

• ▸Let them settle it in the yard— Someone learns something.
• ▸Back the youngster— Ambition rewarded, and service stung.
• ▸Back the veteran— Order kept, and ambition curdled.

A smith with soot to the elbow has looked over the hall's steel and offered to reforge the worst of it. They name a price and do not seem inclined to move on it.

• ▸Reforge the hall's steel— Everyone leaves sharper.
• ▸One blade only (-90g)— One hero leaves sharper.
• ▸Turn them away— The steel stays as it is.

One hero has been waking the dormitory. They say they do not remember the dream, which is not true, and everyone knows it is not true.

• ▸Make them talk about it— Unpleasant, and it works.
• ▸Move them to their own room— The hall sleeps, they do not.
• ▸Everyone dreams— The hall keeps losing sleep.

A clerk with an escort has arrived to collect the levy for the town below. The figure they name is 90–400 gold, and they bring official documentation.

• ▸Pay it (-90–400g)— The coin goes, the door stays open.
• ▸Pay half and argue the rest— Cheaper, and it may be remembered.35% risk
• ▸Refuse outright— Coin kept, and standing spent.40% risk

Something has been taking livestock on the edge of a nearby town, and it is big enough that the farmers have stopped going out after dark. Nobody is offering to pay.

• ▸Send a pair after it— Renown, and a real risk.30% risk
• ▸Set traps and be patient— Slower, safer, and less glory.
• ▸Not the hall's business— Nothing spent, and a nearby town remembers.

A seer has come to the hall unasked and offered to read what is ahead of it. They will not take payment before, only after, and only if you think it was worth it.

• ▸Let them read the whole hall— Everyone hears theirs.
• ▸Only one hero's— One reading, and a heavy one.
• ▸Ask them to leave— Some things keep better unread.

Something is going through the villages around a nearby town. It is not fast and it is not always fatal, but it is spreading, and there is one physician for the lot of them.

• ▸Shut the hall and wait it out— Safe, and watched.
• ▸Send your people to help— The right thing, and it can cost a life.15% risk
• ▸Pay for a second physician (-380g)— Coin instead of bodies.

One hero got drunk and loud in a crowded tavern, throwing the guild's name around. Tongues are wagging.

• ▸Smooth it over (-120g)— Coin buries it.
• ▸Discipline them publicly— The hall is safe, the hero stung.
• ▸Laugh it off— Nothing spent but talk.40% risk

A grey-robed sage arrives at the hall, offering to share hard-won lore of the deep places, for a fair price.

• ▸Pay for the teaching (-180–360g)— Your coin, and the whole hall learns.
• ▸Haggle hard— They may take offence.35% risk
• ▸Send them on their way— Nothing spent, and the curious sour.

One hero has run up a gambling debt with hard people, and they've come to the hall asking after it.

• ▸Clear the debt (-140–280g)— Coin buys their loyalty.
• ▸Lend it against their pay— Fair, and a little sour.
• ▸Let them face it— They may get hurt.40% risk

The guild has had a hard run of it. A proper feast might lift every weary soul.

• ▸Throw a grand feast (-220g)— Heavy coin, and the whole hall lifts.
• ▸A modest gathering (-60g)— A little coin, a little lift.
• ▸Back to work— Nothing spent, and no revelry.

The whole hall is running on empty after a brutal stretch, blades slow and tempers shorter.

• ▸Stand the guild down (-90g)— Coin, and the whole roster rests.
• ▸Rest the worst of them— Your most spent hero rests four days.
• ▸Push on regardless— No rest, and it may tell.35% risk

One hero is hiding a wound to keep their place in the side, wincing when they think no one is watching.

• ▸Order them to heal— They are gone four days and mend clean.
• ▸Physician and light duties (-110g)— Coin keeps them here, and eased.
• ▸Trust them to know their limit— They play on, at their own risk.40% risk

Your quartermaster corners you: straps fraying, blades dull, boots worn through. The kit is failing, and they would like it minuted that they said so.

• ▸Refit the hall (-140–210g)— Coin makes the whole hall readier.
• ▸Patch what you can (-60g)— A little coin, and mostly mended.
• ▸Make do— Worn kit is a gamble.35% risk

A storm lashes the hall through the night, thunder in the rafters, and by dawn the mood is jumpy and thin.

• ▸Rally them— A steadying word, freely given.
• ▸Let them rest it out— A quiet day, and no work done.
• ▸Train through it— Sharpen, or slip.30% risk

One hero's people have travelled a long way to see the hall their kin rides for, and they have brought far too much food.

• ▸Open the hall to them— A good evening for everyone.
• ▸Give them the day together— One hero away, and happy.
• ▸There is work to do— The visit is cut short.

A good harvest and a nervous merchant have left the town's market cheap for a few days. Salt, cloth, oil, steel, all of it going for less than it should.

• ▸Buy deep (-300g)— Deep coin, and a well-found hall.
• ▸Buy what you need (-100g)— Sensible, and dull.
• ▸Sell instead (+120g)— Coin now, kit later.

The cold has come down off the hills early and the hall is burning through firewood faster than anyone budgeted for.

• ▸Buy fuel and blankets (-120g)— Coin for a warm hall.
• ▸Send a wood party out— Free warmth, and cold work.
• ▸Ration the fire— Everyone feels it.

One hero has been drinking alone after the others have gone up, and doing it quietly enough that they clearly do not want it noticed.

• ▸Sit down with them— The burden gets shared.
• ▸Put them on light duty— Rest, and a small shame.
• ▸Say nothing— This rarely resolves itself.35% risk

A hero came up from the dark carrying something alive. Whatever it was born to is dead down there, and the thing is small enough to fit in a helmet and loud enough to be heard from the yard.

• ▸Raise it in the hall— Years of feeding, and it learns your manners.
• ▸Put it back where it came from— The deep raised its mother. Let it raise this one.
• ▸It is a beast, and the hall is not a nursery— Cold, and your own are watching you decide.

A child has been sleeping in the stable for three nights and eating what the hall throws out. Somebody finally said something.

• ▸Take them on as hall-help— A small cost, and a warm hall.
• ▸Find them a place in the town below (-100g)— Coin, and the right thing done quietly.
• ▸Send them on— Nothing spent, and your own see you do it.

A delver in another hall's colours is at your gate asking for work. They will not say why they left, only that they are not going back.

• ▸Hear them out and let them stay— Goodwill here, and a rival annoyed.
• ▸Send word to their hall— Correct, and cold.
• ▸Pay them for what they know (-80g)

A dealer has laid out a cloth in your yard and put something old and unpleasant-looking on it. They swear it came out of a barrow and will not be drawn on which one.

• ▸Buy it (-280g)— It may be exactly what they say.40% risk
• ▸Appraise it, then buy (-160g)— Sixty for the eye, a hundred for the piece.
• ▸Send them off— Nothing lost but the chance.

One hero has asked to swear a formal oath to the hall, in front of everyone, in the old form. They have clearly been working up to asking.

• ▸Hold the ceremony— A hall with an oath in it.
• ▸Make a feast of it (-190g)— Coin well spent on one night.
• ▸Tell them the work is the oath— True, and cold comfort.

An old quarrel resurfaces in the hall.

• ▸Let it lie— Nothing changes.
• ▸Leave them out there— It may heal, it may harden.35% risk
• ▸Sit them down yourself— Awkward, and it holds.
• ▸Split the roster around it— Managed, and never mended.

Your patron has arrived without warning to see how the hall is being run. The floor has not been swept in twelve days.

• ▸Show them everything— Honest, whatever they find.
• ▸Put on a show (-150g)— Coin for a good impression.
• ▸Keep them to the front room— Nothing seen, nothing gained.

One hero has been asking the older hands how any of this actually works. The reading, the routes, the reckoning of a room before you walk into it. Nobody has time to answer properly.

• ▸Make time for it yourself— Your evenings, and their craft.
• ▸Buy them the books (-120g)— Coin instead of hours.
• ▸They will pick it up below— The old way, and the hard one.

Coming home in the rain, the hall finds a roadhouse with a fire going and a landlord who has heard of you. They offer the good rooms at the good price.

• ▸Stay the night (-100g)— Coin for dry beds and a story.
• ▸One drink and on— A little rest, a little coin.
• ▸Ride through— Home sooner, and wetter.

Word of a hero's deeds has spread, and the realm wants to fete them, a hero of the hour.

• ▸Bask in the glory— Renown, and a proud hall.
• ▸Keep them grounded— Humility over fame.20% risk

A travelling bard offers to spread the legend of your guild far and wide, for a fee, of course.

• ▸Commission the ballad (-120g)— Coin buys the ear of the realm.
• ▸Haggle them down— Less coin, and less reach.
• ▸Send them on their way— Nothing spent, and the song goes elsewhere.

One hero is restless, they want to strike out alone for a season and chase a rumour of glory.

• ▸Bless the journey— They are gone a while, and may not come back.30% risk
• ▸Talk them round— They stay, unconvinced.
• ▸Forbid it outright— They take it badly.35% risk

One hero has been delving brilliantly, and has started telling everyone about it.

• ▸Have a veteran set them straight— Humility, and a bond.
• ▸Let the swagger ride— Confidence now, and a reckoning later.30% risk

One hero, one of your best, feels underpaid for what they bring, and asks for a fairer share.

• ▸Pay a loyalty bonus (-120–240g)— Coin now, gratitude that lasts.
• ▸Promise them the next good purse— Words now, and a hope.30% risk
• ▸Refuse, the coin is the guild's— You risk losing them.35% risk

The road takes you past a nearby town, gutted by a hard winter, no coin to spare and the children thin.

• ▸Open the guild's purse (-100–200g)— Your purse, and a proud hall.
• ▸A token gift (-40g)— A small gesture, a small coin.
• ▸Ride on— The deep places do not wait, and your own see it.40% risk

One hero has not been the same since you laid a fallen hero in the ground. The grief sits heavy, and the blade with it.

• ▸Give them space— Time to sit with it.
• ▸Honour the fallen with the hall— The hall grieves as one.
• ▸Tell them to bury it and fight— Grief is a luxury here.40% risk

A rival hall's champion swaggers into the yard and calls out one hero before a gathering crowd.

• ▸Accept the challenge— Glory, or a hard knock.35% risk
• ▸Wager gold on it too (70–210g stake)— Richer glory, and a worse sting.40% risk
• ▸Decline— You risk nothing.

One hero questions your last call openly, in front of the whole hall. The room goes quiet, waiting.

• ▸Hear them out— Nothing spent but the time to listen.
• ▸Pull rank— The hall speaks with one voice.
• ▸Give them a real say from now on— Trust, given freely.30% risk

One hero botched a repair and ruined a good piece of kit. They are mortified, and the hall knows.

• ▸Have a veteran teach them right— A lesson, and a bond.
• ▸Teach them right— Your evening, and no coin.
• ▸Dock it from their share— Their pay, docked.
• ▸Let it slide— Nothing spent, and nothing said.30% risk

A factor of one of the coin-houses arrives at the guildhall, ledger in hand, claiming a sum owed from years past, before the hall came into your keeping.

• ▸Pay it in full (-160–320g)— Coin now, and your word holds.
• ▸Negotiate it down— Settle for less.
• ▸Refuse to pay— Coin kept, and word travels.40% risk

A sleepless night leaves half the hall on edge, shadows long and nerves worn thin.

• ▸Give them the day— A day lost, and nerves settled.
• ▸Set a watch rotation— Discipline steadies them.
• ▸Push on— Frayed nerves are a risk.35% risk

A travelling merchant unrolls a cloth of fine wares, a blade of real quality among them, and names a steep price.

• ▸Buy the blade for one hero (-120–240g)— Heavy coin for a real edge.
• ▸Haggle hard— Save coin, or lose the deal.40% risk
• ▸Send them on their way— Nothing spent.

One hero swears they saw a dark portent before the last delve, and the hall has grown jumpy.

• ▸Indulge the ritual— Nerves settle, and nothing is spent.
• ▸Dismiss it as nonsense— Risky if the mood sours.35% risk

One hero, feeling the years, asks for one more run worth remembering before the road ends.

• ▸Give them their moment, and it is their last year— A proud veteran, a torch passed, and a place at the year’s end for someone else.
• ▸Keep them steady— Their place is in the line, and they stay.

One hero has been packing their kit in the evenings, turning over the thought of leaving before their oath is out.

• ▸Ask what's wrong— Nothing spent but the time to listen.
• ▸Give them a few days away— They are gone four days and come back clearer.
• ▸Let it lie— They may simply go.30% risk

Word reaches the hall that a rival guild is quietly falling apart, hiding a disaster from the realm.

• ▸Send someone to learn more— Knowledge is leverage.
• ▸Offer them help— Goodwill spreads.
• ▸Stay out of it— Not your trouble, and no credit in it.30% risk

A scruffy grey hound has adopted the hall, under the tables at supper and at the gate come morning.

• ▸Keep it (20g upkeep, every settlement)— Spirits lift, and the ledger notices.
• ▸Let a hero take it in— One heart especially.
• ▸Shoo it off— No room for strays.

The Archivist notes, quietly, that today is one hero's name-day, and no one else has remembered.

• ▸Mark the day— A small warmth, freely given.
• ▸Let a hero honour it— Two hearts lifted.
• ▸Make a fuss of them— One hero, well pleased.
• ▸Let it pass— Nothing spent.

One hero and another hero have grown close on the road, closer than the rest of the hall realises.

• ▸Bless it— A deep bond, and no coin.
• ▸Keep it professional— Discipline over heart.