The ruffian's studded leather seems not to be a hindrance at all to Scarlet's deadly rapier.  She strikes him in the inside of his shoulder on his sword arm, making his knees buckle and his hand release his sword.  She considers a killing blow as his tries to crawl away but remembers the accomplice behind her.  Whirling to face the man, he holds his hands up, as if denying that he ever had any ill intent towards her.  He takes one step back, then turns to run.

Scarlet can see the guard just turning her way in response to her call.

You can take an attack of opportunity on the man running away, but you have to decide before you know what the guard is going to do. 

For one dark second, Scarlet regrets her hasty words. Were it not for the guard, she could finish the ruffian there and then, while his cowardly accomplice ran away.

But the moment of bloodlust is gone, and in its wake comes the crash Scarlet knows very well: the exhaustion, the hunger, the imperious need to lay down and rest. Still she clings to her dignity, and, advancing, keeps the wounded ne'er-do-well at swordpoint.

"Move another inch and I'll make a pig brochette out of you," she says with effort. "Gard, ho! Here is your would-be murdered and robber, catch him!"

07:52, Today: Zag rolled 50,20 using d100,d20+4.  75% chance same guard and Guard reaction to Scarlet.

The guard turns his head to see the ruffian run away but does not pursue, obviously considering coming to help Scarlet to be the more important task.  Seeing that she has matters well in hand, he slows to a walk, pausing to turn his head to whistle loudly, high then low.  Scarlet can see that it is the same guard that she earlier asked for information.  He grins at her in an avuncular way and drawls, "Ahh, Missie.  I saw that loverly rapay at your side and I s'spected that a mugger migh' have a hard time witcha.  I din think it would happen so soon, though."

He turns to the ruffian, who looks rather pale, and chuckles, "Branden, picked the wrong li'l girl, didya?"  He kneels down beside Branden and places a hand over the worst of the man's injuries.  In only a minute he expertly bandages the sucking wound in the ruffian's chest, and then ties up the wound on his arm.  As he finishes the effort, two other guards arrive and, after a brief consultation, the two guards lift the ruffian to his feet and march him off.  He is so weak that they are carrying him more than leading him.

The guard turns to Scarlet.  "He'll live, prolly.  You don' need t' worry, Missie."  Picking up the longsword, he holds it out.  The sword is the sort made in bulk for low level officers in the army.  The quality is adequate, but only just.  "This's your'n if you want it."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:19, Wed 28 Sept 2022.

Scarlet puts a hand to the nearest wall, trying to dissimulate her panting behind a tight smile.

"I see you know this ne'er-do-well... I hope this is the last of his exploits. Not that it was very impressive," she says arrogantly. Then she notices the blood seeping from her arm and looks away, paling.

"Oh yes, I should like to... keep that steel... as a memento," she says, accepting the sword. "So he was an officer in the army? What a pitiful way to go for a soldier. Say, good guard... would you mind escorting me to... wherever I could get a decent bite of food, and a clean room for the night?"

22:47, Today: Secret Roll: Zag, for the NPC Scarlet, rolled 25,18 using d20+9,d20+4.  Perception, Sense Motive.
Again, this was secret because you don't even get to know there was a roll if it failed.  I guess I'm not sure what I would have done if one succeeded and one failed, but fortunately, that didn't happen.

The guard shakes his head.  "McAnally's or the Pony are your best bets for food, but like I tole you afore, Missy, there's not rooms to be had anywhere in town tonight."  He looks down and notices Scarlet's now-bulging purse, and gets a calculating look in his eye.  "But, I s'pose, since you're such a little thing out on your own, that me 'n' the Missus could put you up for the night.  It warn't be no trouble."  Scarlet can't be sure if he plans to rob her or his plot is merely to gauge her on the price, but he clearly has a profit in mind.

Scarlet's eyes narrow to slits, letting him know she senses his intentions.

"What a charming town! I am quite enjoying the hospitality of this charming city tonight," she says tartly. "And I suppose you would give me lodgings for free, would you not? Just to erase the taint of having had a noblelady hurt by ruffians, on your watch, almost before your very eyes, is it not?"

"Umm, for free?  Well, naw, we couldna do that.  Maybe, umm, 2 gold for the night?  You could take my son's bed -- he's four -- he could come into the bed with me an' my wife."

Scarlet considers that this is high, but not outrageous.  In any case, in the letdown from her brush with death, her first priority at the moment is food.  She thinks about the tables in the Prancing Pony; plenty of people were eating some sort of greasy-looking meat on a piece of flatbread that looks like heaven right now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:39, Fri 30 Sept 2022.

"For that price you will escort me to McAnal too," Scarlet grunts, trying to not wince as she tests her wounded arm. "Dinner first. Lead the way."

"Ah.  Umm, sure 'nuff."  It seems as if he were ready for something else, and Scarlet's request caught him off-guard.  "You, ahh, you're nearly there."  In fact, the alley from which Scarlet was accosted is between McAnally's and another building.

Seeing her look at the small slice on her arm, the guard asks, "Wouldya like a bandage for that?  It could fester if'n yeh don't treat it."  He expertly applies a bandage before walking Scarlet to the door.  "You stop by when you've eated, 'n' I'll see you're brought safe to me wife for a place to sleep."

Scarlet does her best not to turn any paler as he bandages her wound, and just nods affirmatively before taking a seat at the McAn.

"Your best dinner, innkeep, and some wine," she orders through gritted teeth, almost raging with hunger, ready to devour whatever is served to her.

McAnally's is nearly as crowded as the Prancing Pony, but Scarlet makes her way to the fire pit where a older man is serving up portions of a vegetable beef (she assumes) soup out of the huge kettle.  She sees that you get a bowl of soup and large bread stick for two silvers which she gladly pays.  On the table beside the server is a tankard with a dozen or so spoons.  However, most look like they have already been used and just put back into the tankard with not even a casual wipe with an apron.  She decides to follow the example of many of the other patrons and just drink the soup out of the bowl.  She cleans the bowl thoroughly with the bread, returns for another entire serving and devours that one as well; then she finally feels herself, again.

Looking around, she sees that she is in a dark, low-ceilinged room.  In fact, other than the fire pit, the only light is a single sconce behind the bar.  Although many people are smoking, the smoke does not seem to collect, in spite of the low ceilings.  She shrugs off the mystery, makes her way through the crowd to the bar to get a mug of wine, then grabs a seat at a small table just as an older couple is leaving it.  The wine is no worse than the everyday wine served at the castle, so she sips comfortably and relaxes as she looks around.

Every table is full -- she was extremely lucky to get this one -- and more people are standing.  Considering the crowd, the room is reasonably quiet; everyone seems to keep their conversations soft and low.  Scarlet scans the crowd for people she knows.  She picks out two knights who look familiar, but she can't be sure.

A powerfully-built young man enters the pub followed by the largest, most muscular dog Scarlet has ever seen.  He heads straight to the fire pit and buys two bowls of soup with the accompanying breadsticks.  He has to hold them up in the air as the dog is nudging and trying to get one.  It looks ready to rear up to get it, and probably will be as tall the youth if it does.  "Sit, Boreas.  It's too hot for you, yet."  The dog obediently sits but continues to stare with hopeful eyes.  The young man seems to be looking for a place to sit and enjoy his meal, but, as Scarlet has already observed, there are no seats other than the second one at her table.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:54, Mon 03 Oct 2022.

The welcome warmth of hot food spreads through her stomach, bringing comfort to the rest of the body. The first bowl she almost even doesn't taste, such is the urgency; the second she enjoys some more, and when it's empty, she feels at peace with the universe again.

She could have killed the man. She had wanted to, too. Had she stayed her own hand only out of caution, not wanting to end up having to answer too many questions from the city guard? Out of professional zeal, not wanting to answer Lady Idalaiz's questions when she heard? Because she would, sooner or later. Or was it something more visceral, an instinct to avoid killing for its own sake?

Scarlet fingers the hilt of the army sword taken as a trophy. This had been a real combat, against a man with actual military training. He had meant to ambush her, and he had been ambushed by her for his trouble. Thrice she had felt her rapier cut the man's flesh, and she knew intimately that a fourth would have been the last one for him. Those fencing lessons hadn't been just another courtly pursuit; ballet might have given her firm and agile legs to perform that footwork, but it was master Usuul's teaching that had guided the steel.

Scarlet has ignored the knights, as the memory of Sir Heath is too recent in her memory, an injured pride, but she eyes the big lad with interest, trying to place him, trying to remember if she has seen him before...

The boy awkwardly balances one bowl of soup in the crook of the arm holding the other bowl.  With his free hand, he stirs one bowl with a breadstick and drops the bread for the dog.  It doesn't reach the ground.  He commands "heel" before making his way to the bar and the dog dutifully follows just behind and to the left.  Well trained Scarlet observes.  As he comes by Scarlet's table, he makes brief eye contact before looking away.  Then he glances back, as if he wants to say something, then turns red and moves on towards the bar.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:33, Sun 01 Jan 2023.

Not a highborn, then. Normally Scarlet wouldn't give him a second glance, particularly as he's not her type. But she's far from home, in this unknown and exciting territory that is a common inn, and her inner self has been subjected to two great stressors: first a hurtful rejection, and then a life-or-death fight. The combination of hurt pride and euphoria is doing things to her brain. She feels daring, but tired; seeking the reassurance of feeling attractive, but also repulsed by the dirty vulgarity of the commoners.

Most of all, she wants to feel in command.

"You, boy," she says, not unkindly but making it clear who's in charge here. "You're a good boy."

She plays the equivocation, waiting until the lad comes to smile at the dog.

"Would you like a treat? Come, come here with me," she says, tapping her table. "Good boy."

Actually, the eye contact means he is more likely than not to be highborn, because a commoner wouldn't even go that far.  I don't know how much you've followed Urvan's thread:  He is pretending to be minor nobility but isn't.  However, his unusual background means that he is not as naturally obsequious as most commoners, either.  He's just shy and embarrassed because you're the most beautiful girl he has ever met who is in his own age range (or, perhaps, at all). 

The boy turns again towards Scarlet when she calls, but then becomes even more embarrassed when she makes it clear she is talking to the dog.  The dog glances towards Scarlet, but never leaves his master's side.  The animal is on a leash, but the lead has never even pulled tight.  Scarlet is not even sure Tigris would have such focus in a huge, chaotic crowd such as this.  The boy continues on to the bar, the way parting for him as people get a look at his companion, and orders a beer.  He sets the bowls down on the slice of bar his has managed to acquire, pours a splash of beer into one and stirs it with a breadstick before giving it to the huge hound.  The beast inhales the food and sits while the youth eats the soup and bread between gulps of beer.

He looks back at Scarlet, now with a bit of concern on his features as he looks around, perhaps wondering where her escort is.  Finally, he approaches, "Umm, excuse me, Miss.  I'm looking for the delegation from Tamecia.  I was wondering if you might be travelling with them, or possibly know of them."
This message was last updated by the GM at 21:33, Sun 01 Jan 2023.

One commoner went as far as to punch her and another tried to kill her, so Scarlet is deeply unconvinced by the eye-contact argument. But! You're absolutely right about the beauty angle ¨;)

Scarlet giggles, as the boy's confusion reassures her. After the dangers and shocks of the day, she feels in her own home turf again, playing the cards of her allure and daring.

"I might, possibly," she echoes him with a sly smile, a finger playing along the rim of her wine glass. "And since you ask, what business would you have with the delegation, ser...?"

"Oh!  You know them?  Oh, good.  I really need to find them and have a chat before they come to the palace.  You see, he's, well ... my father, that is ... I need to speak to him before ...  Do you know him?  Count Brogovan of Tamecia?  My father, that is."  It is clear to Scarlet that he is lying about something, but it is all so confused that it isn't clear what.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 21:33, Sun 01 Jan 2023.

Do I know Count Brogovan of Tamecia, indeed? I don't find that name in my notes, but there's A LOT of names in this game. 

"Do I know the count?" she repeats after him, as if it was a question so trivial it was ridiculous to ask. "You would not ask if you knew who I am... and you would know. Who do you happen to be, kind sir?" she says with heavy irony.

No, you don't.  You can have a tough Knowledge Local roll (DC20) even to have heard of Tamecia.  It was chosen specifically by Urvan's mentor since it is small and has little outside contact.

The youth seems suddenly overwhelmed with sadness, or maybe dread.  It is not clear to Scarlet what could possibly be going through his muscular head.  Perhaps that's the problem.  "I-I am Urvan," he stutters, "Urvan of Tamecia."
This message was last updated by the GM at 21:34, Sun 01 Jan 2023.

Scarlet lets some skepticism leak into her voice.

"Scarlet d'Ardelle," she replies, not bothering with more dynastic claims for the moment. She has already been assaulted tonight, and the lad does not look, talk or act like a nobleman at all. But by the same token, he seems too awkward to harbour ill intentions.

"So, you're looking for your father?"

"Well, yes.  Yes, that's it.  I'm looking for him and his group, to, uhh, greet them and make sure that they are properly introduced into the palace.  You see, I've been working as a page in the palace until I have the opportunity to squire for a knight, and then to become a knight myself."  Scarlet knows that most pages are members of minor noble families who are not likely to inherit and are trying to improve their station.  Either that or they are sons of more important nobility and are being held as guests/hostages in order to ensure loyalty by their fathers, but it is not likely such a one would have had the opportunity to leave the palace on his own.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 21:34, Sun 01 Jan 2023.

"I see," Scarlet says, extremely unconvinced. But it's not really her business if that big lad wants to run around town pretending to be... the son of the count of Whateveria.

"Are you going to take a seat, or you're too highborn to share a table with me?"

Urvan gladly sits at the table with Scarlet.  He continues to be eager to learn whatever she knows of the delegation from Tamecia.  She is able to toy with him as much as she likes -- he's like a babe in social interactions.  After a quarter of an hour, he excuses himself to get more of the soup; he offers to get some for her but she declines.  The lad returns with two bowls, tips the last few swallows of his beer into one, explaining that it is too hot otherwise, and gives it to the dog.  Then he consumes the other, barely slowing down to nod or grunt assent to whatever Scarlet talks about.

Finally he notices the longsword.  "Why do you have a longsword AND a rapier?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 21:34, Sun 01 Jan 2023.

Scarlet shrugs charmingly.

"I'm a collector of sorts. And I am also off to bed, by your leave..."

She gets up.

Urvan stands up when Scarlet does.  "Of course, I ... Are you with someone?  I mean, are you OK to go out alone, like ...?  This is a dangerous place.  Should I ...?  Could I walk you somewhere?"

It is clear he is trying to do the right thing, and has no idea what the right thing is.

Unless you ask him to come with you, he won't.  The guard is still outside at his post.  If you ask again about the room, he will be ask you to wait until the next roving patrol comes by, then he will assign one of them to the post and he and the other two members of the roving patrol will walk you to his home.  If you have Urvan with you, he'll make it clear that you won't need any sort of bodyguard -- he and his men will protect you.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:00, Sun 16 Oct 2022.