Stolen Beauty - Royal Museum of History, Bayton

URGENT
- Adventurer needed to find and restore the Portrait of Ophimae Strativa. Reward: 10,000gold pieces.
— Sponsored by The Royal Museum of History

by RandoScorpio, MidJourney

Answer the Call

You approach the impressive facade of the Royal Museum of History with the guild quest clutched in your hand, 10,000gold pieces could set you up for quite a while. You expect competition to be fierce with a prize like that on the line, but as you make your way to the office of the Keeper there is a noticeable lack of people around you. In fact it seems that you were the only one to answer the call for this quest.

The Keeper shuffles out of his office. He’s an older man with white thinning hair and a face that might have been quite handsome in his youth. He looks like a man with frayed edges, his beard starting to get ragged on the edges, his hair sticking up at odd angles like a cloud on his head, and the wrinkles in his robes, all signs of a man driven to the edge by stress.

“Thank you for coming, I am Arthur, Keeper of History. I had hoped for a few more hands to help with this, but it can't be helped, you'll have to do.” His voice is a soft baritone, with a hint of a tremor. “As you know we are trying to resolve this quickly, I will show you to the scene of the crime. Please follow me.”

Exhibits line the walls and hallways as Arthur leads you into a large open area with a bare wall at the far end. Arthur turns to you and sighs heavily. “The Portrait of Ophimae is supposed to be on that wall, and this whole room is usually full of people trying to see the painting. The loss of the painting is really hurting our finances and it's even impacting the local area. Please take a look around and see what you can find, we’re confident it’s still in the museum but hidden away by the thief. Oh, do be careful around some of the artifacts as they can be a little testy at times.” As he shuffles away you hear him mumble about how the last few adventurers hadn’t heeded that warning.

Scene of the Crime

Approaching the scene of the crime you can see where the wall is discolored in an outline of the portrait, stuffing the quest’s parchment in your pocket you take a better look around the room.

Clues Around the Scene

There is a small amount of residue on the wall that leads along the wall. Following this might reveal other clues about who took the picture.

Talk to Staff Members

A few members of staff are milling about in the room. They could have more information about the crime.

by RandoScorpio, MidJourney

Famous Painting

A portrait displaying Ophimae Strativa, a prominent scholar in Oscanan history. It was painstakingly restored before being put up for display in the Royal Museum of History. Ophimae was an unknown scholar until her work was uncovered two decades ago. Efforts have been underway to sift through and make sense of the cover-up intended to leave her forgotten to history.

by RandoScorpio, MidJourney

The Keeper

The current Keeper of the Royal Museum of History is a man named Arthur. His position has aged him terribly and with each incident new wrinkles crease his face. He was once a robust and handsome scholar but his job has been stressful and while he retained his charm and most of his looks it is tinted with fatigue.

The job of Keeper is a prestigeous position and those who hold this office are both envied and pitied. They deal with any number of issues and manage the entirety of the museum staff. Arthur really needs a vacation but he doesn't trust anyone to keep the museum from exploding, imploding, or crumbling to dust.

Leave a comment where you land, or lend me your thoughts on this adventure!

All art for this choose your own adventure was created by RandoScorpio through MidJourney.