Up
Village News
New Neighbours!
The Genest Times is sure everyone extends their warmest greetings to our new neighbours who are moving into the Big House on Manor Farm.
Local Man Jailed
Pa Riddle has been sentenced to a year's hard labour for assault, by local Lord Sir Julius. Mr Riddle, well-known hereabouts for various reasons, was last seen being dragged away shouting: "I'll get yer for this, Mar....."
If you're expecting a tale of mighty deeds of derring-do, performed by handsome, upright, clean-living lads you'll be sadly disappointed ... (well I guess it could stll happen!). It's more a tale of sleaze, con men, running away, making a living, and avoiding tax collectors ... only slowly and gradually evolving into complex intrigues and mysterious Goings On. In fact, the game is so deliberately low-key that the players didn't meet any chaos for at least 10 games ... over a year of game time. This was a decision we made to contrast with our previous Campaign set around Sun County in Sartar which, though it started fairly mildly, ended up with mega-Rune Levels and Sorcerors rampaging about on the Hero Plane. We may write this up one day.... but don't hold your breath.
Anyway, this game opens with 5 players taking the parts of poor peasant lads (aged ~16yrs) without prospects, money and only a few belongings, on the western border of Bindle in the far north-west corner of the Lunar Empire. Their character descriptions and the background is covered pretty comprehensively elsewhere, so I shall concentrate on the ongoing story here......
The player characters began the game by interacting with their village and exploring the area. Some joined the militia, and most joined cults as their first steps towards gaining some experience. Two travelled several days' journey to the city of Aquapor (a very long way for simple peasants) which involved a little combat. Those PCs in the militia found themselves involved in extensive practice manoeuvres. The players ventured tentatively into Rathorela, to see what the Big Forest was like.
Note: The first few games in this campaign were not recorded as comprehensively as in later Game Memos.
Dramatis Personae: Paniteles "Pan" Woodstock(Charlie) ; Kyrolan Healer (Richard); Antoninus "Toni" (Alan); Viran Greenoak (Rupert); Marcus Woodsman (Lynne)
Details
The players, as experienced RQ'ers, made Joining An Important Cult their priority. Except for Marcus Woodsman, already a lay member in Hunter. The others all advised: "That's crap! You want to get in a Real Cult ASAP." (Within a year, however, they were all bemoaning their duties, restrictions, obligations and the years they still had to serve before rune level... meanwhile Marcus could do more or less what he wanted, etc...)
Having pledged their souls at the Seven Mothers [7M] shrine, proud of their Lay Membership ('cos we don't allow Players Characters [PCs] straight into initiateship, no sir, they have to Prove themselves first!), the players then spent some of their spare time wandering around their home village, talking to locals and exploring the area.
A couple of PCs examined the old ruins in Knightswood where Marcus' Father works. A stone bore an eroded inscription which they laboroiusly copied (these peasants can't Read'n'Write, of course) and showed to the local priest, Father Groatalus. He took it away, to have it translated and told them the next time he came by that it read: "When the Sword of Endings is holstered here, then all K--"
Meeting for some ale later that night, they discussed their prospects and Life in general. If they did nothing, they concluded, they would be condemned to work as poor oppressed farmhands and similar for the rest of their lives. So, after a short bout of high spirited fisticuffs between Pan and Kyrolan, they decided to Do Something.... just not sure what.
Over the next few days, several PCs joined the militia, thinking they'd get some free armour and weapon training out of it. They soon found that, just like joining a cult, it leads to Responsibilities.
Fire Season progressed and all militia members had to report to the local Baron's stronghold, in the town of Thule, for the annual Maneuvres. This is a new exercise instituted by Count Kaufan Destrino, who is very keen on getting sleepy Bindle into shape for anything unpleasant that might come its way.... with the opening up of borders coming....
The village of Genest's militia were marched off and spent over a week:
The town of Thule breathed a huge sigh of relief when the Manoeuvres were over.
One village militia of note were the men from Inksprings. This is a "new" village composed mainly of retired veterans, given a land grant by the Emperor. They take the militia very seriously and raise their sons with iron discipline. It is taken for granted that they will win every event, so everyone was very impressed when Genest outwitted them in a wargame competition involving "taking the enemy's leader" in some woods.... underhand tactics won the day.
Whilst the others were playing at soldiers, Marcus Woodsman, not interested in things military and a bit of a loner, travelled over the stream/border to the forest of Rathorela. The prospect didn't alarm him - he was born and raised in Knightswood, a sizeable wood outside Genest where his father is a forester and gamekeeper.
Marcus spent an entire week there, becoming firm friends with the Burnt Tree Clan Rathori, and particularly with a girl called Slender Deer. This meant he found an immediate rival in a Rathori lad called Three Bears, also after her... (although you won't see much mention of Three bears in this story, the player did some solo scenarios with me which developed Marcus' links with the Burnt Tree clan over the next few months). The rivalry between the two became very intense (as perceived by Three Bears) but eventually Slender Deer decided to marry Three Bears and, odd though it might sound, he and Marcus became good friends. Unfortunately, 3Bears died in 1621, but Marcus still keeps an eye on Slender Deer and her son, occasionally bringing her food and making sure they are OK when he visits the clan.
Note: Marcus did not encounter any elves in this week: his first one was a bit of a surprise
The village shopkeeper, Mr Icarnos, asked Pan and Viran to drive his cart way down south and barter some goods for him. They could take a percentage of the profits as an incentive.
They readily agreed, and set off south to the fabled city of Aquapor all of 4 days' journey away. Viran's young brother (aged 9) travelled with them: he had been noticed as an exceptionally bright young chap by a passing Sage who suggested he apply for a scholarship at the Irippi Ontor temple there.
The lads' initial confidence eroded as they travelled further and further from home.
Three dangerous-looking (normal-looking actually) horse nomads came down the road and, as they approached, Pan and Viran found their purses glowing (Detect Silver). More things glowed on the nomads and the lads were very worried... what was going on? Luckily the Char Un just laughed and went on their way.
Two days from home, as they trundled down the road near the Rathorelan forest, the boys were ambushed by people with bows. They weren't sure how many there were, and were really scared because they seemed to be crack shots.
The lads kept getting pranged in the legs, etc. and were soon pinned down behind the cart. They lacked a missile weapon themselves bar a sling (after all, they're just farm lads) and were in a real jam.
Then they spotted an assailant, an elf; and realised the arrows were only coming from two points. They realised they could probably overpower animated twigs at close quarters, but couldn't cross the gap without getting mown down.
The lads kept their heads down and eventually the elves began to run out of arrows, and a trader could be seen in the distance, so they legged it. An unsatisfactory conclusion.
The trader healed the boys and helped them to the nearest village, Harmony to report the attack.
The boys reported their ordeal to the Head Man of Harmony who rounded up his militia, and the area was searched but without success - the Carmanian peasants being reluctant to enter the forest.
The Heroes returned to Harmony where they made much of their ordeal, their valour and the way they had driven off the evil horde. This impressed a certain young Myra Black mightily, and she and Pan ... Got On Very Well Together.
Aquapor is a huge place, much larger and more active than the country town of Thule near the boys' home. They got lost several times and spent a lot of time just looking at the amazing buildings, strangely sophisticated city-folks, revelling in the Baths, touring the temples, gaping at the huge merchant vessels, and even saw a couple of trolls! [About the only time PC's saw Trolls in the entire campaign.]
The temple of Irippi Ontor accepted Ulan, Viran's brother, into its care.
Pan and Viran met a couple of Elves, Bindweed and Tanglevine, who seemed much more human-friendly than previously met Aldryami. In fact they seem pretty weird in many ways, living in a roof garden atop an Aquapor tenement open to the sky, enjoying exotic drinks and drugs and revelling in human company. They are renegades, who have turned to being traders, have many exotic elf products for sale and are looking for agents in remote areas. Pan and Viran jumped at the chance. They paid for a 'sample kit' of chemicals, insecticides, fertilisers, and medicines. They were also given 50 mysterious mushrooms to test. Pan produced these and slipped some into a drink with curious effects, a few games later.
The boys successfully concluded a trade for Mr Icarnos' goods, and managed to make the enormous sum of a couple of Lunars profit for themselves too. They decided they were very keen on this trading thing, it seemed like money for nothing.
This was a quiet trip at first, with a pleasant stopover at Harmony on the way back; but when they were nearly home, a wild animal bounded out of the Rathorelan forest and attacked the horse. "It's a wolverine!", they said, guessing at its nature and engaging in a bitter drawn out fight.
The village of Genest was surprised to see the lads return in such a sorry state. It seemed every portion of their bodies had been scratched, bitten, clawed, rent, bruised, and abraded. Viran was all but dead. "What in the Goddess' name happened?" cried the citizens. Pan jerked a weary, chewed thumb to indicate the body of the wolverine in the back of the cart.
Viran was healed as much as possible and recovered well.
The Syndics Ban had dissolved, a couple of hundred yards from where they sat, only a few years before and the young mens' attention fell upon the mysterious, brooding forest of Rathorela across the stream.
All their young lives they'd been told that if the strange misty barrier ever disappeared, there would be Monsters, Danger and Worse right next door to the village. Naturally they decided to have a poke around over there on the morrow. They'd always wondered what lay atop that strange plateau visible in the forest... Marcus, of course, had already been over for a week and was very blase about the place in that charming understated way 16 year-old lads have.
They slipped across the stream next morning and walked quietly for a couple of miles. As soon as they crossed the stream into Rarhorela, they were struck by an unsettling feeling of Something Present. (The players were to find later that Rathori call Carmania "the Dead Place" because its spirits of the land have all been subdued, destroyed or absorbed by the relatively rigid Lunar / Pelorian mythos, over the centuries. What the characters felt was raw Life and Spirits.) Additionally, there was something odd about the way things looked. (The players had passed over the border and thus the Glowline, so the ambient light lacked the reddish tinge they had grown up with.)
Then, Marcus saw a strange, deformed stick-like humanoid with bark-like skin hiding in a bush. The elf ran off, terrified, and so did Marcus, yelling about monsters and evil Things. He was quite unhinged and ran all the way home. The others reluctantly went after him to make sure he was OK and at this point the little trip into Rathorela went no further.....
Note: This was our first trial of the new Sanity Rules. Unfortunately, Marcus had been rolled up with a low POW and kept flipping for the first few games. This tendency began to dominate the games until eventually, we had to tone down the Sanity effects.