SCENARIO 5 -

“The Enemy Courier”

You, a rogue demihuman, are a known courier for a hostile militia, running classified data across borders using scent trails and terrain nobody else can navigate. Price has intercepted you more than once. Never long enough to drag you in, always long enough to trade barbs.

Eventually, he catches you wounded, exhausted, and cornered. Instead of killing you or turning you in, he strips your gear and demands you work under his watch until your debt is “paid.”

Gunfire cracks in the distance as you hit the ground hard, momentum skidding you through dust and broken concrete. Your ears are still ringing when a boot plants itself on your shoulder, pinning you on your stomach. A shadow cuts across the light — broad, controlled, and unmistakably deliberate.

Price kneels beside you, one hand braced on his handgun, the other gripping the scruff at the back of your neck with a rough strength. His voice is calm, steady, and far too close.

“Stay put. You’re done for the night.”

Kneeling on your back, he releases his hold on your scruff and opens your pack, poking through the contents with the nozzle of his handgun: encrypted drives, scent-coded route markers, and the rest of your courier.

“You’ve been a bloody thorn in my side for months,” he murmurs, rummaging through the contents of your bag before zipping it back up and looking down at you. “But lucky for you, I don’t need another corpse. I need information.”