You introduced [xiaochou.name] to Jabal, who saw in [xiaochou.name] a rare noble—one who understood honor and conscience, willing to aid the old soldiers...

"The best of them! The bravest! The kindest! All here..." Jabal gestured to the desolate graveyard. "Those who live are worse—weaker, crueler... Once, men paid to ease their suffering. Now... the good grow fewer."

[xiaochou.name] returned, dismissing Jabal's fears as folly—"I've watched long enough. Human were always wretched, not ‘the good grow fewer’."

Conditions:

• Slot #2 Has Card = Jabal

Result:

• Adjust Tag (Physique) of Slot #1: Add 1
• Counter (7000707): Add 1

You found Faris just as he was berating a young soldier for a riding style that would cripple his mount in battle. "In the charge, the horse knows your every thought! It will falter for your hesitation, your fear—and then you both die..." Only when his tirade ended did [xiaochou.name] step in, asking the Captain of the Cavalry to speak of sacrifice—of those consumed by conquest. "Oh, and dogs. Horses. Whatever."

Faris took the reins from the soldier. "To survive the charge, you must become one with your mount. The cost? When your horse dies—for any reason—a part of you dies with it."

Conditions:

• Slot #2 Has Card = Faris

Result:

• Adjust Tag (Combat) of Slot #1: Add 1
• Counter (7000707): Add 1

Under your arrangement, [xiaochou.name] met Seliman, who had cast off his name. The strange noble’s questions about past wars put Seliman on edge—no doubt, memories of the Sultan’s court were bitter and uneasy.

“On the battlefield, death is commonplace,” Seliman said, his gaze fixed on [xiaochou.name]—especially it’s hands and eyes. “Both sides will stop at nothing. Sometimes, you never know from where—or who—a knife might come, or an arrow in the dark… Though these may not kill you outright, they will kill something inside you, piece by piece. Soon, you’ll find no rest in sleep, no joy in the sight of trees, no ease in a cup of wine, no trust in another’s embrace…”

Conditions:

• Slot #2 Has Card = Masked Warrior

Result:

• Adjust Tag (Stealth) of Slot #1: Add 1
• Counter (7000706): Add 1

You arrived at Bharat’s shop—cluttered with his collection, so much that you suspected most of his wealth had gone into these worthless, stat-less relics of a lost homeland… At least he didn’t try to sell this junk in his store!

[xiaochou.name] swiftly convinced Bharat that it was a sympathetic soul, well-versed in his people’s past, and soon had him talking freely… He lifted each jar, each trinket, each shattered blade—every one a ghost of its maker, of hands long stilled, of crafts erased by the Sultan’s conquest. All that remained lived only in Bharat’s memory.

Conditions:

• Slot #2 Has Card = Bharat

Result:

• Adjust Tag (Wisdom) of Slot #1: Add 1
• Counter (7000707): Add 1

You drank with [xiaochou.name] and the battle-hardened swordsman, whose life had weathered countless storms. The talk soon turned to the dead—some gone, some still clinging. What did it mean? Was it worth it?

The crude swordsman just drank and cursed, scoffing at such pretentious questions: "The dead are in the mud! Mixed with shit! No one gives a damn... and that’s for the best. This city’s built on layers of losers, filth, and shit! The old nobles, the priests... all turned to slop for the slums. New palaces will rise, but it’s all just mud in the end!"

Conditions:

• Slot #2 Has Card = Roaming Swordsman

Result:

• Adjust Tag (Survival) of Slot #1: Add 1
• Counter (7000707): Add 1

Can you call yourself a survivor? [xiaochou.name] eyed you skeptically... then laughed. "You’ve only survived yesterday. There’s still today, tomorrow... Do you cling to each day like this, hoping luck holds? Master [player.name], your kind’s optimism never ceases to amaze me. Maybe that’s how you keep crawling out from under the conqueror’s boot, time and again?"

Conditions:

• Slot #2 Has Tag (Protagonist) = 1

Result:

• Adjust Tag (Charisma) of Slot #1: Add 1
• Counter (7000706): Add 2

After the talk of conquest’s cost, [xiaochou.name] fell silent, and you, too, found yourself lingering on the words exchanged with it. Almost without thought, your manner toward servants and slaves softened; in councils with the high nobles, your considerations grew weightier. A subtle yet unmistakable change took hold... You felt yourself grow stronger.

Result:

• Counter (7100003): Add 1

Action:

• Enable Event: The fourth question for small-scale startups: Aristocrats