The Bit Player 2

Wandering around at the front of the house you run across a hunchbacked man wearing a complete mishmash of clothing, his arms laden with goods. He appears to be dressed so that breeches show from underneath a kilt, with one armored boot and one leather riding boot, and three or four shirts on in layers, covered by two cloaks. The hood is pulled up, but he wears a cap underneath. In his arms he carries a sword, a dagger, a staff, a vial of liquid, and several scrolls. You stop and stare at the guy quizzically, too dumbfounded at his unlikely array to do anything else.

The man notices your stare. He stops what he's doing and straightens, shedding all signs of the hunch and somehow going from appearing fairly short to standing surprisingly tall. "You must be new," he says in a light, fanciful tone, flashing a smile. Then his visage grows somber, and he mutters in a deep, heavy tone, "I'm the bit player. There's not enough budget to hire actors for all the roles, so I do all the little stuff, and all the roles nobody else wants." Suddenly his eyes grow shifty, and he eyes you suspiciously. "Who are you supposed to be, anyway?" he rasps.

"Er, ah, I'm ... ulp! ..." you stammer, scanning your memory for any sort of character, Shakespearean or otherwise, that might explain your own odd garb. "That is to say, I'm, uh ..." You have "Beowulf?" on the tip of your tongue when the Bit Player holds up his hand and says, "You know what? I don't even want to know. It's less work for me, and that's great." He shuffles off with his load. Only after he's gone do you notice he's dropped a piece of parchment.

You got an item: script page 2