Curriculum

As the sun dips behind the rickety buildings that lean over the hidden courtyard they call the Field of Miracles, your band celebrates the day's take to the clattering of tambourines and wailing of violins. Donna Bianca slouches on her "throne," a fancy chair stolen a prayer booth in the Temple of Virtue, dangling a bare foot into the Font of Fools. She watches with hooded gaze as each thief drops their haul in the basket and then splashes themselves with water from the fountain. An ancient custom to purify the thieves – not of theft, but of the taint of the gullibility of their victims. After all, in the Triflumina Republic, the only real sin is being a sucker. Young Spinetta whirls over, red and green skirts flaring, and tosses a handful of coins into the fountain with a bright, feral grin. "A gift from the magistrate's wife." Old Taddeo shuffles up, whisking a heavy signet ring from his sleeve. "A diplomat from Auremagne sends his regards," he says as it falls to the bottom. Sanno bursts in, puffing out his chest as he flops a sack of spices at the Donna's feet. "Courtesy of the Spicemongers' Guild." Then it's your turn. You kneel before Donna Bianca, holding up a small box. She leans forward, eagerness in her dark eyes. As you open it, your smile vanishes. The box is empty. You turn it upside down and shake it. Nothing. "I—I don't understand," you stammer. "I swear by all the gods, Donna Veronica's seed—" "What?" Donna Bianca's face darkens. "What did you say?" The fiddlers abandon their tune, and a deathly quiet falls over the square. "Where is it?" "My guappa, I don't know!" you protest. "Someone must have..." And then it hits you. You spin towards your fellow thieves. Spinetta, Taddeo, and Sanno exchange innocent glances. "Fools!" Donna Bianca cries. "Have you any idea what you've done? That seed was meant for the enchanted garden of Donna Veronica. Veronica, who can brew a poison to make your blood boil in your veins from a single blade of grass. Veronica, whose alchemical concoctions could turn this entire district into a smoking crater!" She rounds on you, jabbing a finger. "And you, you beautiful idiot! You were supposed to be the smart one! And now you've brought the wrath of the second-most dangerous woman in Triflumina down on all our heads!" Your mind spins, trying to piece together what might have happened. "My guappa, please. I can fix this. I'll find out who took it, get it back—" "Oh, you'll do more than that," Donna Bianca snarls.