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Episode 16: There and There Again - 13 Jun 2020 13:15
Setting
The group lacked Saronil, and so was light on combat.
Without Saronil I didn't want to advance the plot too much, so I gave the group the chance to find out something others would not know yet, while also keeping them around the Boldhome area. The breaking of the roads was massive and major, but also something you could not find out about unless you went out of your city in Sacred Time.
IC Play
The group got sent to Jonstown to look into the library and find out what might have gone wrong. They rapidly got onto the wrong road, and continued on towards, apparently, Wilmskirk. Several times they found themselves going to Clearwine instead of Jonstown, even when looking out for it.
Along their way, they decided to step off the path which was misleading them, and so they were walking through the wilderness. They spotted a dead baboon on their trail, with two others hiding nearby: a huge one and a small one. Varaema managed to coax them out, and they had the story from the pair; human bandits had attacked them, and the two, Papa and Gallaf, asked to hire the adventurers for help. The baboons could, fortunately, do the tracking.
They went along for half a day, passing where the bandits had stopped to heal themselves, and where they had gone along a river to cut away from a trail, with Gallaf, the smaller baboon, consistently keeping them on trail. They circled some flat ground, and went into a valley from a pass where they could see a fire's smoke off in the distance. Gallaf went forwards carefully, with Androus a little way back. Shortly there was the sound of fighting and Androus galloped forwards with Papa Baboon following. Aria used magic to speed them up, casting Mobility repeatedly.
Gallaf was up a tree by this point, and being harried by the bandits. Androus killed one with his spear, after they scattered at his arrows. Aria was brought down by their bows and Varaema ran to help her.
Gallaf and Papa hunted bandits, while Androus shot from horseback, but was unfortunately downed by a lucky shot by one of them.
The others were lucky and Gallaf and Papa killed every bandit not already dead. Then Papa offered to pay for Androus being resurrected, and Varaema hurried his body to Boldhome to get it done before Death's touch damaged him too much. Gallaf took Varaema by the shortest route.
~~~~~dream~~~~~
Androus is on a path, walking towards Yelm. He is not Androus, he is Yelmalio, and he is going home. And yet…a white-clad, alluring Lady catches him up, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. She tells him it is not yet his time: his friends would miss him, and he has more to do in the world before he returns to his father.
Yelmalio concedes…for a while. Then realises this Lady is some kind of deceiver, and fends her off with his holy Spear. But…she resists. Overcomes, but without force, only love. His spear passes through her hand, leaving a red circle, a dot in the middle. And…
~~~~~~dream~~~~~
…he woke. In the Chalanna Arroy temple in Boldhome.
The others had to walk back, guided by Papa Baboon.
Other Things
This was a stacked encounter so I gave the adventurers some help in the form of a tracker who was competent with weapons, and a warrior who was a competent tracker. The bandits were under-armoured, and thus went down relatively easily, and they did not have much magic. However, they were lucky to kill Androus - Papa was an honourable baboon and we treated the donation to the Temple as a thing that could be part of a contract, rather than a life debt.
Tags: 1625 andros baboons gallaf kosa papa sacred_time varaema
Episode 15: Most things go quite badly wrong - 06 Apr 2020 20:05
Setting
Most of the adventurers were in Clearwine.
Plot was created from a known item, and working out how the adventurers interacted with it and other items.
Thanks to Saronil for the notes.
IC Play
Hero quest started off.
Orlanth said tearful goodbyes to Ernalda and went off to do the thing.
Sneaky god followed him.
Issaries? And some other god did a sidequest. And traded a trinket to Varaema
Humakt stabbed Orlanth to provide a shortcut to the underworld
Chalana Arroy was there too
Then the air tore, a red woman with six arms came through and stabbed orlanth quite a lot.
Humakt and that other god that the storm bull was representing fought the red demon
The air was red and a red moon was in the sky (Lunars!)
Varaema stepped into the circle and healed Yelmalio
Then Humakt was injured and she tried to heal death. At this point she passed out.
When she came round, everyone was dead or dying, but the red moon was gone.
Her high priestess did what she could for Kallyr Starbrow, but the wounds could not be healed with magic, the same was true for everyone else injured, or at least, those closely related to Kallyr - most people, given the worship.
Varaema helped to save people all night.
Saronil, Aria and Androuranos (and Helver):
Went off through the north gate and along the road. There were a number of annoying Lunar traps that exploded when prodded. They saw something in the distance, possibly some Lunars.
They went back to northgate and found an enemy disguised as a rock. Saronil poked it and it bit his hand, then he killed it and they eventually managed to pry it off his arm. It was an armadillo with a huge bitey mouth.1
Then they discovered a cannon2 and muskets pointed along the road, they dived off the road and got shot at a bit. I will note that Aria’s pathfinding Rune spell identified them as enemies.
Then some Lunars appeared and were obliterated by the cannon.
More lunars appeared and were attacked by the PCs, the gate sounded the retreat, PCs left and got back to the gate. As soon as they were not in contact with the Lunars, a magical attack started from the gate, on the Moon worshippers. They did not seem to be very popular at ALL at the gate.
They noticed a big red Moon Rune in the sky and ran towards it; then part way down the stairs, the gate behind them exploded.
They went down and found many, many people dead or dying. Every Orlanthi related to Kallyr or worshipping in support of her was wounded. Urox was recovering from his wounds, and Lord Eril was wounded but refusing magical healing.
They helped with first aid and/or running messages.
In the morning, one of Aria’s friends advised her and her companions to get out of town because people were angry about the north gate.
So they left. Helver had already been Banned, cast out from his Temple.
Saronil has a letter to deliver to the Dwarf of Dwarf mine
Varaema has some investigation to do into why no-one can be healed.
Other Things
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!! Aaaand breathe.
I had provided Helver as a one-time escape with potential Divine Intervention, but as it turned out he was not needed. However, he did genuinely mess up, by getting in other people's plans. It was possible to save the cannon - but difficult.
Tags: 1625 andros aria cannon eril feshin helver kallyr lightbringers sacred_time saronil varaema
Episode 14: Happy Fun Hugging Time - 27 Mar 2020 18:36
Setting
Kindly written up by Saronil's player with a few extra bits of grammar thrown in by the GM.
Plot was made up by the GM putting stuff together from the past few weeks.
IC Play
Happy Fun Hugging Time
The fame building with the dead animals around it was a trap! Filled with Lunars!
There was a lot of fighting and hugging, in which the Lunars mostly hid inside a building and made us fight each other, and to counteract this, Varaema made us hug each other.
Then the Lunars got bored and captured everyone.
They asked a lot about what we were doing and where we were going and special things that were happening.
The merchant lady, Dagryr, who gave Aria a mission was there, and probably in charge.
They were very clear that they wouldn’t let anyone go to Boldhome to warn people about their presence and would route the ransom request through far away places. At least for a couple more days. They also claimed to be protecting us, although did not say what from.
Then they agreed to accept all Androuranos’s stuff as ransom and let him and Varaema go with a promise that they wouldn’t send anyone against them.
(And to stay on the road)
Then Androuranos told his temple bosses basically everything and Helver turned up to ransom Saronil and Aria. Lord Farenor sent a letter to Eril, probably with all of that in.
They discussed all the things they knew on the way back to Boldhome, while passing dugouts that might contain hidden lunars.
Other Things
Androuranos had a philosophical moment in which he didn't want to send anyone against the Lunars but did want to warn people.
Tags: 1625 andros aria boldhome dagryr lunar saronil storm varaema
Episode 13: Lucky for Some - 21 Mar 2020 00:22
Setting
Everyone was in Boldhome. It was early Storm Season.
Plot was largely made up to move things into the next plot arc.
IC Play
Everyone was in Boldhome.
Aria was happily trading and got threatened by an offended Malani, who first of all looked for her in the market, and then at the inn where she was staying, finally stepping out in front of her in an alley as she left her inn hurriedly. He explained, while being large and irritated3, that she had offended both by returning the alynxfish skin in a bad condition, and by having it sent by courier instead of coming in person, despite it being the remains of a holy animal. He called on her to come talk to him, with or without her champions. He would be staying at the Tribal Mansion for two weeks, and then would be back in his lands.
Quite naturally, Aria called on the others who had been involved4. Androuranos was particularly irritated. He and Saronil both offered to stand as her champion, and they explained what the word ‘champion’ meant in tradetalk. They all went up to the Malani mansion, where they were welcomed to Tribal Lands as guests - each of them accepted this hospitality. Those who had met him recognised Donalf ‘Elkshagger’ Malani, the man greatly insulted by Varaema’s fumbled trade talk.
Aria, as the person who had initiated the insult, talked to Graslian about the matter, after Varaema had failed to persuade him to be entirely peaceful, despite her lovely personality. Aria managed to persuade Graslian to accept a public apology in the Prince’s court (with Saronil speaking for Rastar and Laika, mostly to ensure that Rastar wouldn’t blurt out something rude) and a cash payment for the damage to the fish skin.
On their way out to arrange these things, Donalf Malani stepped in front of Saronil to challenge him for his sword. They walked out to deal with it right away. Donalf and Saronil both called on their Sword Trances, and Donalf used less magic, and his began first; he struck Saronil, who was still preparing, and won the sword, which he had wrapped carefully and taken away. He then went back to the Temple to admit what had happened, first to D’Val and then, at his suggestion, to Lord Eril. Eril was less than pleased, deploying the full finger-steepled stare.5
Varaema took the money for the fish skin to the Malani lands, as negotiated - in this case, the Malani Tribal Mansion. That being dealt with, she donated the rest of her money to her Temple, clearing her tithe, and giving rather more than 50% of her income.
Androus reported to his temple to say what had happened. Farenor himself spoke to the Initiate, asking him to return a week before Sacred Time for a secret mission. Those who had no reason to stay in Boldhome left for Apple Lane, agreeing to come back to Androus if possible. Laika was unsure whether her husband would want her to leave so soon before Sacred Time, and how her pigs would do in her absence.
On Humakt’s High Holy Day, Saronil got the taint of failure from Alda Chur removed from him, by dancing, prayer, worship, and meditation. He also had the power of the Challenge Sword returned to his second weapon6.
Varaema Divined to work out how to bring Granshi around, and took the advice from her High Healer, Beneva. Laika went back to Apple Lane as her pig (Stif) was homesick. And also to visit her husband. Varaema, Aria & Rastar went too, so that they could attempt to wake the Storm Bull, Granshi, clearing Aria and Pellia of the possibility of being Chaos Tainted. They woke up the storm bull and got him to proclaim the traders as chaos free.
They came back to Boldhome with pigs to sell, and Durggi to help sell them. Aria did her best, but was not a pig expert, and didn’t get the prices she could have for ten of the forty Durggi hoped to sell. Kalis, however, was delighted to meet Durggi and the pigs, and talked to him for a long time about porcine care. Knowing that Laika was going to be away, she suggested standing in as a proxy wife for him. Durggi sighed and looked at Laika and refused7, which Kalis told them was very sweet. She had her nails painted to match Stif’s trotters.
Andoranous was asked by Farenor to go to a lake by Jonstown, and take with him a group of people, and act casual. He was to bring back water from a pool there, in his gold amphora, without invoking the name of Orgovale Summer. Right outside, he was spotted by Helver, who advised him to take care, suggesting that people would already be aware that Kallyr was planning a Lightbringers’ Heroquest, and the Lunars or others might be attempting to stop them.
The water collection was a complete success, but on the way back, they spotted a stead with several animals lying down. It was the last before the run-in to Boldhome itself, and the North Gate.
Other Things
Log by Androus: episode-13-logged-notes
I am SO happy the elk-shagger trade-talk fumble finally saw the light of day again.
Tags: 1625 androus aria donalf eril farenor granshi graslian helver kallyr laika malani rastar saronil storm varaema
Episode 12: Dam Them - 12 Mar 2020 15:20
Setting
The PCs were all in one place within an hour and a half of game start, which confused the GM mightily. But at least they began in three different places. Most of the group had traffic or life hold-ups, so RP started pretty slowly.
Plot was largely created by sewing up plot threads from recent times.
IC Play
Saronil got VERY lost trying to avoid the effects of wet weather as a storm came down as he travelled from Jonstown to Apple Lane, after taking a message there and staying a few days. He went too far North, and ended up in Malani lands instead of going through Birne's Squeeze. This meant he was availing himself of the hospitality of a Malani farmer who really did NOT like his Colymar accent, but there were no fatalities. The farmer's wife, at least, was highly hospitable. He left in the morning.
The others got back into town, or were already there, such that people could meet up in Apple Lane. Laika met her husband again, and stayed at home overnight, then he gave her a small pig to look after, and she went to meet her friends. Varaema had been rained in for a couple of days, but it was finally decent weather for travelling, or so they thought.
Dagryr suggested to Aria that she go with the others, who were setting off to escort and protect Varaema. This would allow her to trade, which was forbidden in Apple Lane until Granshi awoke. She might be able to find some way of waking Granshi, or some hint about the missing bracelet, also.
The journey to Boldhome was not without event. First of all, nobody native to the Hiordling clan was present, meaning they were taken by surprise by the extent of the floods. This led to them crossing a flat field that was in fact a knee-high lake at this point, when the alynxfish they had been after decided to visit. Laika put her basket (complete with pig, which she was taking with her) into the water as bait, and the fish started heading that way. Saronil got off his zebra, preparing to fight. Aria got off her horse, found she was in a deep bit, and wisely got back on again. Androus popped off an arrow, which bounced off a stone under the water, failing to hit. He cast Firespear instead. Saronil struck at the fish at it launched itself from the water, and then Androus managed to pretty much cut it in half with his fiery spear.
Laika performed the Peaceful Cut, and then once she had released the head, caught it again to take with her. They did their best to get the skin off it, despite the damage, but found that the flesh was so old and tough as to be inedible. They went on their way, with the giant fish head and the heavy skin on Laika's bison. Thus, they entered Birne's Squeeze.
After an hour or two of travel uphill, gently, they spotted a dam ahead, with three people standing up on it, or at the edges. One called out that there was a charge to pass, of ten Lunars each. After consideration of their options, and the big lever-stick in the hands of the man on top, they decided they should pay, and sent Aria forward to negotiate. She argued the men down to five Lunars apiece. They paid this by leaving it in a small pile, while they were far enough back to avoid sudden catastrophic bathing. The self-proclaimed tax officials left, via a rocky mountain path too steep for most mounts, and they could go on.
They did - and found out that the dam was a bluff, holding very little water, and with a strem diverted to run through it. Rastar started destroying it, and then Laika added her bison's head to the effort, but they could not get rid of all the rocks. They did send bits of wood downstream to make it harder to rebuild.
They got back to Jonstown, and from there sent the alynxfish skin and head with a herald, rather than going in person. Rastar was the only person who knew exactly how insulting this was, and he beamed a lot and kept quiet.
They went on to Boldhome. Varaema went to see her High Healer, who suggested taking the arm ring - for the good of all, of course. Varaema refused.8 After a little discussion, she was told to leave the Temple until she saw sense.
Laika went to the Earth Temple, where Kalis was delighted to see her, and her pig, which was put with the holy swine to make friends. Laika and Rastar both went, separately, to see D'Val and tell him about Laika's marriage and the latest news. D'Val listened patiently while Laika talked about pigs, and was apparently pleased to find out she was married and happy.
Laika's pig, Stif, was gilded and decorated at the temple, and she showed it off to people. Kalis told her that Varaema was walking up and down outside her own temple, and had been for some time, and could she please go be sure her friend was alright? About the time Laika got there, Varaema plucked up courage to go back into the Temple9 and hand over the arm ring.
Rastar was contacted by a 'friend' at his Temple, who showed him a small shrine area where he could sacrifice for the Trespass Rune Spell. Naturally, this included breaking into the shrine, which was in the palace. It went badly, but the Eurmalite was able to point out that this was a Eurmal thing, and fast-talked the guards very successfully indeed. Rastar also had his pocket picked for the tithe he owed so far. The reason for learning this spell, of course, was that the Eurmalite wanted Rastar to know there was a certain arm-ring in the Temple of Chalana Arroy, which needed to be liberated.
Just about everyone spent a week learning a new spell - Eril kindly assigned D'Val to help Saronil learn Bladesharp.
Other Things
Tags: 1625 androus boldhome colymar dval kalis laika malani rastar saronil storm varaema
Episode 11: Bull in the Marketplace - 05 Mar 2020 23:20
Setting
Aria joined the campaign. Several people could not make the session, so it was small.
The GM made stuff up based on which NPCs were around in Apple Lane.
IC Play
Aria had overwintered in Tarsh, with her family, but some family spat or argument led to one of her uncles essentially showing her the door, and then the city gate. She went via Alda Chur and Dangerford to Jonstown, meeting with a wet duck10 roadblock11 on the way. From there, she was invited to join a caravan going to Jonstown by a merchant there, Dagryr. Dagryr asked her to look out for a thing, an arm ring that had gone missing from there, and might still be in the area. The loss of it, Dagryr said, was likely to be causing disharmony. She described it as having Harmony and Movement Runes, and the Rune of Sartar.
Dagryr was putting together a caravan with two other people, Pallia and Sangen. Pallia had 4 mules and Sengen only had one, and specialised in taking orders for metals and high-value goods, and in passing orders on. Aria added her mules, and they agreed to meet the next morning.
When morning came, Dagryr was held up by something and said to go ahead, according to Pallia, so they went through Birne's Squeeze and came safely to Apple Lane. Just as they were setting up, and people were flocking round, they heard the sound of breaking furniture from the Tin Inn, and Varaema apologised for the Storm Bill. Then she went in to calm Granshi. The visitor had drawn a human-shaped target on the wall in charcoal, and was practicing throwing furniture at it, while Gooseberry cowered behind his rock-built serving counter. Varaema managed to talk him down12 but could not extract a promise he would not do it again. However, as the conversation was ending, he suddenly began to sniff the air, and said there was Chaos about, and he needed to deal with it. He got back to the market, trailing Varaema.
Androus had been talking with the merchants, getting to know them, but did not see Sangen go missing immediately after Varaema left. However, Aria spotted a figure escaping very fast on a horse. Shortly thereafter Granshi arrived, found out who was missing, and went and violently stole a horse from Hendroste, punching him out of the way. Hendroste, who had just had a horse taken by Sangen thought it was the same robbery and came to report it to the village square, as he did not want to chase after a Storm Bull in full flood.
Androus and Varaema gave chase. Androus managed to catch up with them first. Granshi had just thrown himself from his horse onto the merchant's and they were grappling while they fell, with Granshi already having been stabbed. Androus managed, after a little time, to grab the reins of the merchant's horse, and get it away. Granshi stabbed and slashed at the merchant but some magic kept his weapons from harming Sangen. The merchant was mostly defending himself and backing off. Varaema repeatedly tried to get between the two who were fighting, and repeatedly failed as she bounced off Granshi, who was almost twice her size.
Finally, realising that he was unlikely to win, the merchant ran off, casting Mobility to get away, and sprinting across broken ground towards cover. Granshi chose that point to ask Varaema to pull the dagger out of his gut, which she did13. He keeled over. Varaema noticed that the edge of the wound she was trying to deal with were coated in something strange, but noticed it too slowly to stop herself getting it all over Granshi's skin as well. The Storm Bull stayed uncharacteristically silent, and indeed limp, as they carried him back to town. They took him to the Ulerian Temple to be looked after.
Meanwhile, Pallia asked Aria if Dagryr had asked her anything odd, which led into a conversation about the arm ring. Dagryr had asked Pallia to look out for it, and even offered money. Pallia said she would give Aria a cut if it was located, but had little connection to her god right now, hinting heavily that Aria could Divine for it. After waiting for a bit, and thinking about it, Aria did, and was told it was 'On the arm of Harmony, and in the Hero Plane', a strange combination. She also had a receipt from Issaries - probably part of the divination process but nevertheless also a holy mystery.
Pallia also asked Androus about the ring, offering a broken Wheel and the bit of gold to mend it, as payment. He said he would have a think about it overnight.
Varaema went to ask her goddess how to deal with a Storm Bull and wake him up peacefully. She received the answer, 'Dispel the magic upon him and cast Tame Bull'.
She later asked how to rid herself of the greed ring, and was told, 'Rid it of the arm, or the arm of greed'.
Other Things
Tags: 1625 androus apple_lane aria chaos dagryr granshi greed haromny hendroste issaries pallia sangen storm varaema
Episode 10: One Wedding and a Funeral - 22 Feb 2020 23:34
Setting
Laika had some of her pigs on someone else's land, although not all of them had been driven from Clearwine.
Androuranos was slightly out of time, having missed a couple of sessions.
Plot was based on working out what would happen in winter, and doing it, plus the scorpion men and scorpionid stat blocks from Stone and Bone on DrivethruRPG.
IC Play
Androuranos returned to his Temple in Boldhome, to silence and then whispering and the direct greeting of the Light Son, Farenor. He was questioned by Farenor and others about the exact circumstances of the change on the Hill of Gold. He spoke of what had happened and demonstrated the ability to create fire on his spear-head. He talked about successful bridge-building, but Farenor reminded him that Yelmalio stood alone, and was strongest that way.
The Temple called on Andros to take up his seasonal service so that they could study the spear, with the warriors falling into a faction - by far the largest - that supported the notion Yelmalio's power had been returned by his bravery, and a faction that supported the idea friendship had helped him. Andros' understanding of the sacred Lore was that it was his own actions and bravery that had pushed Zorak Zoran aside, and nothing to do with the bridges he was building with others.
Helver Swordsman did thank him personally for the Hill of Gold victory, mentioning a lost spear and bow. The thanks came with a warning not to go through Birne's Squeeze alone, if he was travelling to Apple Lane, as there were many bandits reported. Androus went via Clearwine instead.
Laika's pig-landlord - the man with the hide and a half - suggested marriage to her. She considered it, and decided it was time she found out his name.14 She was happy with the notion of a year-marriage. They decided to wait for Saronil to come round, so he could attend.
Thus, some days later, Saronil woke up to find one of the pretty initiates at the Ulerian Temple was flirting with him outrageously. He did not notice that part at all, but listened carefully to her instructions on eating.15 He went over to the Tin Inn to be asked if there was anything he could not eat at the wedding feast, which rather surprised him, but he was happy for Laika.
There was threshing to be done, and everyone took a hand at it. After a while it was decided that Varaema should look after the children instead of trying to move the flail or the sieve, and the threashing got faster. Varaema was very sweet with the children who from the age of about four up swore to defend her with violence if necessary. One of them tried to vanquish Saronil, but was defeated by the man's scabbard. Varaema sent them off to fight oak trees.
Androus got into Apple Lane just in time for the wedding, and to have an emergency gift made. He gave the pair an earring each, a golden pig that Squinch helped him to cast from a Wheel. Saronil gave Laika his best, very expensive, sharpening stone, because her axe frankly needed it. Varaema gave her a little lead pig charm on a necklace. Rastar, as an entertainer, was exempt from gift-giving in an official capacity. Durggi, Laika's new husband, gave everyone gifts of food and drink, and there was a great party.
In the morning, Rastar took a couple of the older boys of the village out ice-fishing, and they showed him how to hook and cast, and then one, Arlan, of them spotted a monster fish below the ice. One massive yank later, and Arlan had been pulled into the water. Rastar wisely decided not to go in, but his friend Duli started stripping off to swim and Rastar tied a rope to his ankle, so he could be pulled back if need be. There was a disturbance beneath the water and a lot of blood, and the rope went limp. When Rastar pulled it back it had only the leg attached. He stabbed down through the ice hole with a spear and got the fish, which swam away. Arlan managed to get back up, gasping, and dressed in Duli's clothes to survive the trip back.
Back at Apple Lane, Duli's parents were informed and Varaema used White Lady magic to heal Duli's body so there was enough to bury.16 They discussed what to do. Rastar recognised the sort of fish as a Malani Alynxfish and Saronil (was it Saronil) remembered where the Alynxfish Clan were, out on the edges of the Malani-Colymar land argument.
After some discussion the young man's blood price was fixed at 60 Lunars, and the group set off to to Malani lands to tell them a holy catfish had killed a Colymar boy. This involved going through Birne's Squeeze, which was fair enough, as they were in a group. They set off between snow falls, as the God-talker of Orlanth said that the weather would be good for a day.
They set off, with only light snow, which soon stopped. On the way through Birne's Squeeze to Jonstown, they encountered strange footsteps which Varaema confidently pronounced to be Impala17, although they seemed a little pointier than that. After about an hour, they came across a man standing alone in the rocky valley, and he asked them about Chaos he was hunting. He had Air and Beast and Death signs very prominent. However, as he sniffed the air something went wrong, and he decided that Androus was Chaotic.18Fortunately Varaema intervened19 and calmed him, and he tried again and admitted maybe it was not Androus. He asked20 them to come with him to fight it. They turned back, and soon found the pointy tracks again.
These tracks were followed, and turned out to belong to some scorpion men and a set of strange carapaced humanoids with stinging tails. The beasts went under the snow and emerged from a tunnel. Fortunately, no stings managed to hit the adventurers, and they made short work of the problem. One surviving scorpion man fled down his tunnel, as Granshi the Storm Bull gave chase, losing both of his weapons in his berserk frenzy, and punching it hard enough to break carapace. Androus caught up with them and unwisely but nobly finished off the scorpion man, resulting in a berserk storm bull with no obvious foes turning on him. Fortunately Granshi had lost both of his weapons already, but he managed to do damage to himself, Androus, Saronil, and Saronil's shield before Varaema caught up. After this he thanked them, and they told him about Apple Lane needing a hero. He said he had heard, and was heading that way if nothing else got in the way.
The bodies of the scorpion things were burned, and they parted ways with Granshi, with him going to Apple Lane and them on to the Malani lands and the clan of the Alynxfish.21There, the chief of the clan, also confusingly called Saronil, listened to the complaint, and said it was not his problem, and he would not be paying the blood money. He also refused to deal with the fish, but said that the skin belonged to the Malani.22
The group returned to Apple Lane with this news.
Other Things
Tags: 1625 alynx_fish androus apple_lane colymar dark granshi laika malani rastar saronil varaema
Episode 9: Moon Unit - 15 Feb 2020 20:28
Setting
Androus the Yelmalian was still away, but the others were all present in Apple Lane.
Plot was a list of things that needed to be done for winter, but with an understanding that the adventurers might have their own ideas. They did, and it was entertainingly terrible. Plot enemy was provided by Tom McKinnell, who has deployed him against innocents.
IC Play
After a little time spent attending to such things as the cutting of trees and the dragging of wood, the adventurers gathered, their Rune points replenished, to decide how to deal with the great boar, Red-eye. Led by Ethrava, they concluded they were going to have to Heroquest to weaken the boar and strengthen themselves. They considered Orlanth and Aroka, but settled on a Yinkin quest, with Rastar to play Yinkin, and Laika to be Odayla, a huge figure out in the wilds.
Aileena did not offer to help, but Kareena the god-talker was happy to help them into the Heroplane, in the hope of seeing more of the great things they had previously done. Laika set off to the wilderness, carrying her crossbow just in case of trouble. Kareena danced a spiral in the snow for some time, and then the adventurers found themselves outlined by a longhouse, and Ethrava began to lament how her people were being attacked. She sang about it, and unfortunately did so without reference to the correct song.23 At that point, the enemy of the house - tusk riders - rode through the ritual. Laika, who was at a bit of a distance, noticed them, but everyone else was surprised as they burst out of the snow. One went for a farmer with a lance attack. Three went for Varaema, the softest-looking target.
Saronil snapped up a shield spell for Varaema, which undoubtedly saved her life, and she was hit twice, hard. However, it used up all of his Rune points. The tusk riders got away, with Ethrava failing to Befuddle a tusker.24 Laika tried to shoot, but missed, and the tusk riders got away into the snow. The adventurers turned out to be bad at tracking, and could not work out where they had come from or where going to.25 Varaema healed herself, first with magic and then with First Aid.
That evening, Rastar was earwormed by the music Ethrava had been singing. There was something wrong about it, and for a while he could not work it out. When it finally hit him, he realised there had been someone else singing too. Ethrava had made mistakes, but the other voice, also a woman's, had been malevolent, and taken advantage of Ethrava's errors to invite disaster in. When Rastar told his friends this, they managed to decide on another Heroquest to go after the voice and defeat their enemy, so they could get on with defeating Red-eye, without the previous defeat and the tusk rider enemies hanging over them.
Kareena was still happy to help, and Ethrava managed to cajole and persuade the farmers into enthusiasm, based on their cachet in the town26. They set off into another Heroquest, this one started inside where they could not be attacked, with lookouts posted. As they started to move into the Hero Plane to look for a thing, the Durulz cook from the Tin Inn came running to say their trophy had been stolen.
This time, they set out from Ernalda's longhouse. Ethrava found herself playing Uralda, the cattle mother, an Eirithan aspect. Ernalda was Laika. Rastar was Yinkin, but inside he was sure he was Eurmal really. They tried to set off, but Yinkin could not find any tracks, no matter how hard he cast spells or tried.
Ernalda, however, could feel something lying on the Earth that did not belong there, and they set off towards it. Soon, at the edge of the Storm Tula, they came across a longhouse in a round enclosure. Reddish smoke was issuing from a chimney, of all things. Humakt, or Saronil, recognised the shape of house, path, and wall as making up the Moon Rune. Ernalda, annoyed by the newfangled chimney or the Rune itself, ignited the thatch, which caught nicely but did not all burn away. In fact, the fire just stayed where it was, tame.
Yanafil Tarnils came out of the house to invite everyone in.27 Uralda accepted, and Ernalda hinted to Yinkin to go around the back, not through the door of hospitality. Saronil told Yanafil Tarnils he had nothing to talk about, and drew his sword.
Inside, Uralda was offered food and drink by a red-headed woman. The same red-headed woman simultaneously opened the back door to put out fish scraps and talk to Yinkin, although they did not realise this at the time. Time itself was a little strange in that longhouse, and they spent some hours eating and drinking, with the woman showing off all of her master's things but hardly mentioning the glowing, beautiful arm-ring that was set on a shelf. Yinkin, recalling he was really Eurmal in disguise, snaffled it. They left, and the door was barred behind them.
Outside, there had been all sorts of drama, subjectively fitted into a few seconds. Ernalda had cast Absorption on Humakt, while Yanafil Tarnils failed to cast his own magic. Humakt called on his own godly power, however, and managed to shatter the scimitar. Yanafil Tarnils did not surrender at that point. Instead, he cast Repair. The Moon God was plainly a better warrior, and Humakt was without his magic, but the magic that Yanafil Tarnils cast next went into the spell, and Ernalda felt her spirit refilled from the ignition of the roof. They put almost identical cuts on each other. Finally, Yanafil Tarnils got brought down by Humakt, but then his massively boosted Mindblast went off, punching through Humakt's spell protection. Then Ernalda went for him with an axe, and she'd spent all of her magic but Yanafil Tarnils hadn't, and defended himself successfully, then used Madness on her. Like Humakt a moment before, she fell.
The warrior god healed himself as Uralda and Yinkin stared, and he limped back to his home, and they went and sanctified an area for Ernalda, which gave them a cubic pit to climb out of back in the Middle World. Rastar had the arm-ring, which he excitedly showed off to the others and Kareena. Unfortunately, it now had a Moon Rune on it. They hid it, thanked everyone, and sent for Squinch. He was able to identify its magical properties - people would want it, and it was designed to bring Disorder. Ethrava noted they could use the Dragonnewt Plinth to get rid of the thing. Squinch suggested he look after it just to be safe, and was quickly pushed out of the door with thanks.
Varaema decided to Divine on it, and had a vision in which she could see people arguing, and… fumbled Harmony. And put the arm ring on. To save others from arguing, of course. To everyone else, it disappeared, and most people thought that Rastar had squirrelled it away.
Other Things
Apple Lane is now more likely to be quarrelsome and greedy. All of the worshippers will take a 10% boost to Darkness and Disorder. Those who took part, including Kareena, are immune to that, but may have other effects.
Saronil was imprisoned in his own mind, fighting Kargan Tor and losing every time.
Tags: 1625 apple_lane arm_ring chalana_arroy dark ernalda ethrava eurmal heroquest humakt kareena laika onjur rastar saronil uralda varaema yanafil_tarnils yinkin
Episode 8: Shinty Town - 14 Feb 2020 16:23
Setting
Dark Season in Sartar is a time of snow and gales, and also, I decided ice shinty grudge matches against nearby clans.
What is ice shinty? Well, like ice hockey, but with less armour and more cheating.
Plot devices were provided by other members of my RPG group.
An extra player and a missing player meant Asprag, Ethrava's tenant, was promoted from NPC to PC for the evening.
IC Play
Asprag the Farmer found himself voted in as captain of the Shinty Team for the in-no-way-a-grudge-match against the Varmandings, the clan team from across the river. With so few people living in Apple Land and the clan, and with travel difficult, he appealed to the adventurers for help. Laika, Rastar, and Ethrava were in the village, and agreed to help.
Laika was already a competent skater. The rest were issued with skates and some quick lessons. Rastar turned out to get the hang of it pretty quickly. Ethrava… less so. Asprag sent Laika out to check out the river where it was going to be held, and Laika managed to work out that yes, it was a river, and frozen, and then came back.
Meanwhile, Saronil had been offered a quick bit of escort duty by Graria, the Lay Captain28 of the Temple of Humakt. Escorting a man to Apple Lane was exactly the sort of thing he felt he could do. Graria asked if he knew what Shinty was. When he didn't, he was invited to take a healer along; naturally, he plumped for Varaema.
The journey was not difficult. On the way Saronil worked out that he was with another Humakti, but one he did not recognise. At Apple Lane they met the large group of clan players and hamlet folk on their way out, and quickly followed along.
Asprag went out to help the opposing captain cut the centre line, as tradition dictated. His opposing number asked why there was a White Lady present, complaining that he wanted to get home that day. It was agreed that if someone had been healed of a major injury, they would not go back on the ice.
Rastar, as the person in the brightest clothing, was sent to choose a sapling for a puck. After the tree had been chosen and looked at for a bit, Laika was sent to help him choose a better shaped tree, and it was cut down and the puck made.
Asprag chose to put Ethrava and himself on the ice first, with Rastar and a few others. He got himself in control of the puck pretty quickly, and Ethrava fell over and got stamped on pretty heavily. Apple Lane drew ahead in the game, but the Varmandings were definitely more violent.
While sitting on the sidelines and cheering, having had her ribs put back in place by Varaema, Ethrava noticed blood on the snow, and rather more than she remembered anyone spilling. She called over Laika and they investigated - the ground was bleeding. Varaema's patient noticed and the WHite Lady came over, to say she could not do First Aid on the ground. Ethrava called up an earth spirit to find out what was under there. It was prepared to talk to her and to Laika - Laika even understood from its habits of speech that it was the sort of spirit that wanted blood. It said there was a dead thing under the ground.
Laika, Ethrava, and a couple of farmers began to dig.29 They got to a bit of a body, and a ghost began to form, and this was not the talkative kind - it attacked them instantly, and they had to destroy it, which caused the game of shinty to be paused. Laika got covered in the physical touch of the ghost, a layer of frozen gunk.30
Afterwards, they were able to ascertain that the bit of body they had pulled up was just that - a bit. A quartered corpse had been buried, with pig teeth embedded in the skin here and there. Reluctantly they asked for a longer pause in the game and began searching for the other bits. They found more, and fought another ghost, while the Varmanding team did nothing to help, but did at least agree to the game being paused. This was fortunate, as Asprag was rendered unconscious in the fight, and had to be put somewhere warm for a bit. Laika got gunked again. It was just as unpleasant the second time around.
While Rastar built a snow-corpse to help with the preparation of someone who was missing a lot of himself, one of the Hiordling team turned out to be a hunter who went out to get his alynx. Using her skills, he found two more spots under the snow, and one where he was sure there would be… something. Asprag was just about awake enough to decide to use all of his Rune Points to protect himself in spirit block… and they fought two small ghosts and then a huge angry pig-ghost. Asprag ended up unconscious again, and so Saronil was put in charge.
Then, leaving Varaema to put the spirit of the corpse safely to rest, the others went back to finish the shinty match. The other side were not prepared for the tactical Humakti's instructions to his team, and could not keep up with the skill and ferocity of Laika and the other farmers. With the healer occupied, it was over before dark, and the Hiordlings won, taking the trophy, an arm ring with some history. Asprag came round again in time to take the trophy home.
There was a lot of celebration, and the Humakti who had been escorted to Apple Lane seemed entirely unmoved by it.31
Other Things
A man with a hide and a half of land including some oak trees made an agreement with Laika to have her pigs on his land.
Shinty is hilarious because extra rules keep cropping up. Yes, you DO have to be conscious AND holding the stick, in a hand that IS still connected to your body… and there is precedent for every single ruling.
Tags: 1625 apple_lane arm_ring asprag dark ethrava hiordling humakti laika malani rastar saronil shinty varmanding
Episode 7: Death Becomes Him. And Him. - 01 Feb 2020 15:42
Setting
Saronil had had a letter from Lord Eril asking for a personal favour.
Plot was taken mostly from character and NPC personality and actions, with the troll opposition taken from Rocks Fall, a scenario written by Beer With Teeth, the GM's RP collective, for the Jonstown Compendium community content line. Click here to view it.
IC Play
The group set off for Boldhome, taking the path that avoided Clearwine and also avoided the most likely pockets of surviving Tusk Riders. They arrived safely in early Harmony week, in time for Saronil and Androus to go to the Temple to see Eril; After about half an hour Eril sent a message to say that he was at the palace, and with an apology for the inconvenience.32 After a brief bit of consideration, Saronil introduced Androus to the Thousand Stairs, by walking him up them. Androus, used to the plains of Prax, did not take well to these. They were shown to the Humakti Chapel, a cross-shaped room hewn into the mountain rock, where Eril was in prayer. He asked Saronil to take blood money to the family of someone he had killed in a Heroquest33, and to call on the Temple later. He gave Androus a look in which death was very, very clear, and they were both polite to each other. Afterwards, Saronil wiped sweat off.34
Varaema, meanwhile, had been to her own temple. After helping out for a little she was approached by an older, tired-looking Initiate who asked why Lord Eril might have donated her ransom to the Temple ahead of a journey.35 She went off to find Saronil and ask if he would ask Eril about that, and about how dangerous the journey would be.
Meanwhile Androuranos had been to his own temple, where he met a rather interesting man called Helver, who had an iron sword, but no spear, and a Death Rune as well as Fire and Truth, and a lot of scars. He was one of the more liberal members of the Sun Dome Temple, probably the leader of the outward-looking faction. His spear, also iron, he said he had lost in Crabtown. They talked for a bit and then Androranous went to introduce himself to the Light Son there, Faronor. The same sort of discussion happened as with Helver, but without so much humour. Androus left his Shield Matrix there to be recharged.36
Saronil dutifully trotted along to the Temple of Humakt alone, to meet Eril two hours after dusk.37 Eril told Saronil the name of the mother of the woman he had killed, and gave him a warrior's ransom, as well as cash for travel. The mother, Kollana Crabapple, lived in Alda Chur. Her daughter's name was Gastara Earthblood. He also added a personal message to be taken to the Dwarf of Dwarf Mine, with any reply to be brought back. That part was to be considered secret. Saronil asked about Varaema's ransom, but was very effectively stone-walled.38
Saronil explained this to his friends, and they asked the innkeeper where they were for advice on getting to Alda Chur. Androus went to his Temple, even though it was late at night, to talk to the Light Son, and said what Eril had asked. On asking what Faronor thought of Eril, he was told Eril was a man of great power and unimpeachable honour, and a politician. Absolutely nothing that could not have been guessed. Faronor mentioned that of course Eril could not send one of his own people, but left Androus to work out why.
and on the way out met Helver, who took him to the Temple of Uleria, as a suitable place for a quiet chat - they went in through the door reserved for those who wished for meals. Androus gave a bit of his own history, and told Helver where he was going. Helver explained to Androus that Eril was not sending one of his own people because he could not be seen sending one of his Regiment into Lunar Territory, and because if he did, that person might be called on to fight for him. It was a good meal.
Varaema found out at her own Temple about the woman she was going to help pay. Kollana had often travelled to battlefields. She had a husband, Filbar the Bald, who was troublesome in temper.
The next day they set out, reaching Jonstown after a long day, taking a short day up to Dangerford, and then resting there until morning so they could be sure of getting across the waist-deep ford and dry and on to Herongreen before dark. In Herongreen, Androus wanted to wait for the day so he could worship, so they paused for Fireday and Saronil worshipped on Wildday Eve and overnight.
Unfortunately, Saronil did not perform the rites correctly, or was insufficiently devoted, and he found that towards the end of the night, his sword had gone missing. He heard a cold-blooded laugh from the other side of the palisade, and clambered over it to see what he could find. His sword was there, lying on the snow, with troll tracks around it. It was completely blunted, and when he tried the Repair spell, it did not make any difference. His other sword was also blunted, and his dagger only had one edge left. In the morning, he showed the others. Androus managed to repair the spare sword39 but the edge soon bent back into its broken shape again40.
They pressed on to Alda Chur, where their business was, and where Saronil knew there was a shrine to Humakt. First they went to find Kollana Crabapple, who said she had to consider before replying to Lord Eril, and then Saronil went to the Shrine of Humakt. He was greeted there by an iron-bearing warrior of about thirty or thirtyfive, who shouted, "WHAT IN HELL DID YOU DO?"
It transpired that all Humakti swords within three days of Alda Chur, save those made of iron, had become blunted. The warrior, Gallem the God-talker, told Saronil that he had to deal with the matter, and recommended going West, to give him advantage as a Sartarite, while seeking out the Death that had been stolen from him. This meant going into the wild as it approached the Holy Day of Zorak Zoran.
Varaema was told by Kollana that her answer to Eril was yes, she would accept the ransom as her daughter's life-worth. Varaema went to tell Saronil, who took the money to her. Then he explained his problem to his friends, and the next morning they set off, going towards Dwarf Mine. Saronil said he had to go there anyhow, on an errand.
The High Llama was fine with the snow fall in the area, as it had a furry coat and long legs, but the horses made heavy weather of the track, and it was Freezeday Eve of Death Week as they approached the Dwarf Fortress. Saronil noticed the troll ambush suddenly, as if he was destined to know about it. There was a tripwire and several trollkin, and to his left a big, dark shape. He called out to his friends and ran at the big troll he knew was there. The trollkin attacked with slings, hurting Saronil's horse, and mostly pinging stones off armour. Relgor the Zorak Zorani laughed in the darkness and stepped out to greet Saronil.
The trollkin were behind a Darkwall, but Androus could work out approximately where they were. He shot towards them and the gaps in the rock he could infer, but could not hit anything save rocks, despite his skill. More rocks hit him, Saronil, and even Varmaema! He managed to get a killing shot in on a trollkin by luck.
Saronil arrived in combat with the Troll, as the slingshot bounced off his shield and his magic. He struck twice, crippling the Zorak Zorani's left arm, and thus stopping him from using half of his weapons - Relger refused to bear a shield. However, despite the advantage of a Sword Trance, Saronil was struck by a mace, which shattered his right arm. Humakt had been defeated by Zorak Zoran.
At the same time, Varaema was trying to heal herself, and Androus used the Sunbright spell, successfully terrifying the trollkin and allowing him to squint through the Darkwall. Varaema ran to try to help the trollkin, and Androus turned towards the Troll, releasing one more arrow before it reached him. Androus cast aside his bow and readied his spear.
Relger failed to cast Crush, and Androus managed to cast light into the Troll's eyes, after being missed by a couple of wild shots. He put his spear through one of the eyes, and Relger failed to call on Zorak Zoran. In fact, his failure was so severe41 that when Androus drew back the spear, hot fire came with it, and he felt a change happen at the Hill of Gold. His bronze spearhead was burning like the sun.
Varaema managed to stop the trollkin from eating her by surviving until they ran away, but one that had been wounded by a yellow-fletched arrow stopped to have her help him. She patched him up, and then went and set Saronil's arm and healed him. Saronil's sword was still blunt. Varaema tried to give the trollkin clothes. He ate them, and followed her around as if hoping for more. He was confused by the idea of being given things.
They went on to the Dwarf's Mine, down the road they were on - it was not much further. The trollkin stayed some distance away. They reached the end of a road, but a section of smooth rock face moved away. It was several times higher than the horses, higher by far even than the High Llama, and surrounded by deep Earth and Stasis Runes like portholes. From her vantage point, Varaema could see that inside the Runes was the gleam of some sort of metal.
Inside the mountain there were bays to put their animals in a huge trading area that even had wagons inside, neatly lined up. Lights came up, not fires, and not looking like any magic they knew, but strange purple and blue globes set on pillars. At the far end of the huge room a short, stout figure walked into view. It was shorter even than Varaema.
They exchanged greetings, and noticed that its beard, neatly trimmed, seemed to be metallic. Dwarf opined that they wanted to talk to 'the Dwarf' and lead them into its maze. They passed many niches containing statues of other dwarfs, which did not move or even blink, until Androus asked if it was possible to have a pitcher of water and two beakers. The dwarf stopped, tapped one of the statues, and in a heavy, strange accent, gave it instructions. It seemed to just come alive, going to do as it was bid without complaint and without jerkiness - it now seemed to be a person.
The Dwarf took them into a room with a large throne at one end, walked up there, and sat down on it, announcing that the Dwarf was now seeing them. Androus gave him water from his golden amphora, and offered the greetings of Orgovale Summer; the Dwarf said that it had been some time since she had last greeted him.42
Saronil gave over the letter he had for the Dwarf, who did not open it at that point. They were sent to eat - dwarf food was potted vegetables, potted meat, potted bread, and potted water. It was incredibly bland. Then they slept on soft mattresses that went 'clink' and 'gloing' when they moved.43 In the morning the Dwarf talked to them all privately. Saronil was just told that the answer was, 'Indeed', but the dwarf noted as an aside that he might be able to sharpen the swords now. It turned out he could - the power changing them back had been destroyed. Androus was told that he should 'enjoy it in the daytime'. His spear was, at least for the moment, capable of using the Fireblade spell, and had become a focus for it, or else Androus had learned it temporarily. The spear *seemed* unchanged to the outer eye. Varaema was advised not to bring trollkin too close to dwarf places, and when she wondered why, told to find out about the history of trolls and dwarfs.
They returned to Alda Chur, with the trollkin following them. After a bit of discussion, Varaema waited outside with it while the others went to find Kollana and check what trouble a trollkin would be. Kollana told Varaema to go in and take the trollkin, and they found it a place at the hospital.44 Androus researched troll and dwarf history, to find that the favourite food of trolls was dwarfs…
They returned to Boldhome. Eril accepted the message from Saronil with his usual cold courtesy, and that was that. Politics at the Yelmalian Temple became interesting for a while.
Other Things
Varaema's player thinks Eril just paid the ransom to mess with people's heads. She may be right.
Androus has a Fireblade at double cost, until Zorak Zoran's next seasonal holy day. It is personal to him and the spear with which he struck a blow in the light.
Tags: 1625 alda_chur androus boldhome dark eril faronor gallem helver humakt saronil varaema yelmalio zorak_zoran
