A Piece of the Pie

Quest · Chapter 1 · New Camp

Route

  • Lares wants Baal Isidro's swampweed turned into 400 nuggets as a test of your usefulness to the bandits.
  • Convince Isidro to let you sell the stock. He expects a fifty-fifty split, but Lares expects the full 400 as your contribution to the gang.
  • Bring Lares the complete amount. A short payment does not count toward the test.

Quest Parts

  • A Piece of the Pie:
  • I need the herb from Baal Isidro.:
  • I should take the 400 ore nuggets to Lares.:

Outcome

The hand-in improves Lares's view of you during the bandit-admission chain.

Lares's test of commitment

Lares frames the task as a simple business opportunity, but the amount he demands makes its purpose clear. Baal Isidro's swampweed is worth roughly four hundred nuggets, and Lares wants the Hero to turn that value into a contribution to the New Camp's rogues. It is not enough to prove that the Hero can find a buyer; he must decide which relationship deserves the proceeds.

That distinction matters because the Hero is still an outsider. Lares is not looking for a neutral courier who keeps an agreed share. He wants evidence that the newcomer is willing to place the gang's interests ahead of a private profit, even when the resource belongs to someone from the Brotherhood.

Isidro's impossible sale

Isidro is already struggling before the Hero arrives. He has a large stock of swampweed but has fallen behind on selling it, spends his time at the lake tavern, and cannot name a buyer who will take the shipment. When the Hero offers to sell the batch for a fifty-fifty split, Isidro recognizes the proposal as risky and suspects the newcomer may be a crook. His desperation eventually outweighs his suspicion, and he hands over the stock while promising to wait for his share.

The arrangement exposes the informal economy shared by the New Camp and the Brotherhood. Swampweed moves through personal contacts rather than official trade, and everyone involved understands that the same shipment can be treated as a commodity, a favor, or proof of allegiance depending on who receives it. The Hero is valuable because he can cross those boundaries without belonging fully to either side.

Choosing where the money goes

The Hero can sell the herbs and return Isidro's share, but that completes Isidro's own business rather than Lares's test. Lares wants all four hundred nuggets as a token of commitment. His reaction is not based on bookkeeping alone: he is measuring whether the Hero understands how the rogues survive, through pooled resources and loyalty demonstrated in concrete ways.

Handing over the full amount earns Lares's respect and strengthens the Hero's position in the admission route. The task does not make the Hero a bandit by itself, but it gives Lares a reason to remember him as someone who can be trusted with the gang's interests. A pile of swampweed becomes a test of belonging because, in the New Camp, every valuable resource eventually becomes a question of who is willing to share it.

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