Logton, God Of Healing

As one of the player characters, Violet Applewing, was almost killed in our last session (2 weeks ago now, and while we were supposed to play today, we had some issues so having to play next week). TFT is of course not like modern D&D: sleep and you are magically and completely healed (and no, not really sure that is the case but to me WOTC have really nerfed the actual game so that everyone essentially plays superheroes. But again, I digress...)

And so. I've been working on a few other things, including trying to finish some painting and working on NPCs that may help.

WIP but so close on a couple!

I'm going to try and bring up my homebrew rules I first outlined in this post. To do so, I've also come up with the God of Healing, Logton. And no, not a part of my original pantheon from way back when. I view that as an idea or starting point, not a straitjacket! However - Logton is one of the many offspring of Tionna, who, like Zeus, seems to have a wandering eye. 

Sister Ishbarra is a cleric of Logton. She is a red-robed woman, carrying a shield and hammer or mace. The mace has a symbol of a base crescent with a mace and a constellation of the Lamb. She has taken a vow of silence but does carry a slate and chalk (and I carry a small whiteboard with a dry erase pen if I can find it for the next game session!). She does use CSL (Common Sign Language) which of course, none of the players know. Especially as I just made that up as I write this. But it is now a thing in my world. She is always healing people when she can, though this can be at some cost to her as per the magic rules I came up with. Her mace is blessed, and so will do damage against magical creatures normally immune, such as demons. Which may also come in handy soon...and for me, the advantage of playing an NPC character with a vow of silence is I don't have to talk! As someone who can barely speak coherently far too often, trying to make distinct accents or voices for NPCs strains my already laboring ability to speak!

Sister Ishbarra

And yes, I wrapped her description around a mini I already had, and even painted. As in painted a couple years ago or more! But at least I am finally using it! I have a feeling she and Erirderlun Earthfury are on the same trail to Bresselwythe. And sadly, though Sister Ishbarra is silent, I feel Eirderlun is a talker. Mostly talking to his goat Genny but will talk to anyone. Ahh, but in re-reading:

While quiet until his 4th mug of ale, Erirderlun is quite knowledgeable and seems to be able to get along with just about anyone with a perfect phrase and has been known to de-escalate tense situations so he would not have to use his healing arts

My group seems to think all Dwarves have a Scottish accent. At least every single Dwarf they play has such an accent. I may try something entirely different, though doubt I'll be able to pull anything off. 

But while I am here, let's see about getting some additional info for our newest god in the pantheon! And dive again into the Lesser Key To The Celestial Legion! 

Logton, God of Healing

Logton, a child of Tionna the God of All Living Things and a mortal woman, is known as the God of Healing. His mother died during childbirth, and Logton grew up as a human, not knowing his celestial origins. He was also mute, never even crying as a baby. It was not until his 25th year when, seeing a child hurt from being hit by a wagon, that his celestial background awakened: holding the child, ethereal wings spread from his back, and the child was healed in a blaze of light. Knowledge of his father seemed to burst into his head and memory, and since then he has been prayed to and places of worship sprung up all over Cidri. His clerics often take a vow of silence. mimicking their god's mute appearance. 

Another AI drawing

His symbol is a crescent moon with a hammer and the Lamb constellation as the background. Often it is very ornately drawn or engraved, sometimes a few lines. 

Yeah, looks a lot like Sailor Moon was here...

His herald is roughly humanoid, and generally about 4' tall but with regular proportions. The herald appears to be made out of smoke. The smoke itself is of an orange hue with spirals in constant motion.  The herald's eyes seem to have 2 pupils, has smokey wings that mimic Logton's wings. The herald's incarnation is from a large egg that drops from the sky, cracking open to reveal the 4' smoky herald. And water within 60 feet freezes over, though it does not feel cold to anyone in that range. The is also, despite the freezing water, the smell of fresh rain. 

Bresselwythe - a small village that raises goats

At the end of the last TFT session, they had rescued poor Clyde, who was about to be a sacrifice to Indhyna. The cult surrounding this demon is outlined in this post, but looking forward to what is to come I needed the village where Clyde is from. 

Starting with the time-sink site from Watabou I ended up with this village (and that site lets us rename and mess with those maps, so a great resource. I did "buy a cup of coffee" once for the creator, maybe I should do so again! Or join his patron. But I digress.)

Then I drag out the Spectacular Settlements and roll on a few tables to get the following info:

Age: Old, almost 70 years now

Hardships: Victims of war 30 years ago, which is why the wooden palisade is in place. More recently, young men have started to go missing.

Size: Small, about 20 buildings

Condition: Immaculate. The buildings are well-crafted and cared for, palisade almost gleams.

Specialty: Goats. There are a lot of goats in the surrounding fields. There is a shearing shed, fodder storage, a barn, a small stall and shop that other villages will trade at. Recently some goats have started going missing.

Population: Sparse, with a noticeable paucity of young men. 60% human, 40% goblins. All are very friendly

Law Enforcement: Disorganized rabble

Leadership: none

Crime: Uncommon (it is a small town). Though travelers may have a higher chance of something.

Places of worship: 1, an oratory in a glade outside of town. A small, wicker background and 3 stone benches in front. They pray to Tonna. Tonna's holy symbol sits on a trapezoid base and depicts a field of grain under the stars, usually carved in bone or ivory when near the sea. The grain is to feed the animals, and the stars represent Tonna herself. Most clerics or druids wear a modest robe during ceremonies, with ribbons adorning their hair. Reading from the sacred texts is accompanied by percussion and acapella singing. Mead is often poured out as a sacrifice. The ribbons are often knotted, which is also how messages and doctrines are passed along (part of the Druid's cant for Tonna is being able to read and write using the knotted ribbons). 

Places of Gathering: 1 large outdoor field where they have goat races, children and goblins racing one another.

Superstition: ivy over the lintel means no harm will come to those who come inside.

Additional: alchemist Ezmirylda Rixile: Soft-spoken and frail-looking, Ezmirylda is a skilled alchemist and poison maker. In her youth, the halfling traveled widely, making her living as an apothecary and discreetly selling poisons. While able to stay ahead of consequences from her nefarious trade, she eventually tired of constant travel, and decided to settle down in an unsuspecting community in need of an apothecary.

Since opening her shop, Ezmirylda has stopped selling poisons, so as not to be discovered, but she hasn’t stopped experimenting and trying to improve her potions and medicines. This does mean that sometimes the local populace becomes reluctant test subjects, but most of the settlement tolerates this because her treatments do work, even if they are a strange color.

She has also gotten good at goat doctoring since settling in Bresselwythe.

General Notes:

· The sounds of goats bleating can be heard a good distance away.

· Coming into town you will probably pass a herd or two of goats if daytime. More often than not children and goblins.

· Trade with several neighboring towns

The alchemist came from the same Spectacular Settlements book. There are sample settlements in there, but I just like rolling dice. But there is enough to go there, though I need a few more NPCs:

• Clyde's parents, Johann and Juli Smeigmeister, an older couple who despair of Clyde finding a wife and getting grandchildren. Those goats won't take care of themselves. They may look to the 2 female adventurers in the group as potential mates for their not-too-bright child.
• Ceteern Gur, goblin. Grumpy and has the largest flock of goats. Trades often with the neighboring towns and is probably the richest inhabitant. He has the only 2 story house in the village, and probably the only space for the group if they want to stay in a single place, assuming they stay.
• Lots of children who tend to ride goats. 
• lots of goats, some friendly, several not so much to strangers

I also have a few things that are affecting them, so may erase that war issue, though it was in the last generation. They are missing goats as well as young men, and I seem to have an overabundance of harpy miniatures for some reason...

WIP. And yes, even a harpy may be a blond!

And some notes in the Fantasy Trip Bestiary:

And while never 100% prepared, I think I have enough stuff to cover the 3-5 hours we play on Saturdays. I've got 1 pre-determined encounter, an interesting NPC I have in my head but need to write down all the things (some are but not enough) so I can play her readily, another probable encounter, then at least 1 potential side-quest for the village as those harpies aren't going to take care of themselves...and this group is pretty good at role-playing. And I have the minis I need ready to go this time - so hopefully no panic searching this time! Though I do need to set aside my box of "tavern" minis as they will suffice for town folk as well.

Though we cannot forget the main quest from Edge City: to Stubboon's Final Stand to get the Orc Fist before anyone else does. Especially the Indhyna League, who so far unbeknown to the group, is a cult around a demoness. Though they may find out this weekend!

Stubboon's Folly

More than 40 years ago I started drawing maps for fun, mostly to give lands to the minis I kept getting despite not actually playing RPGs. Here is the digital map of one of those larger areas (and sadly, I did this in Campaign Cartographer but somehow lost some of the connections/links when I moved the software, so will have to redo it at some point).

You will see that coming from the Spine Mountains to the north there are two routes, the Reach Route and Stubboon's Shortcut. At the time I was thinking a trader trying to cut weeks off the travel time from the undefined northern reaches to Edge City (also known as End City). 

So herein is the Tale of the Trader Stubboon.

Harry Stubboon was a trader, well renowned for his ability to get his goods to market faster than many others. This was well before Gate magic worked as well as it does now. But even now, sometimes the gates seem to refuse to carry some goods or stronger wizards can still hijack some gates. The trade routes are still as important as they were centuries past. 

Stubboon had made a most excellent deal with the northern warlords, having just carried a large caravan's worth of weapons, armor, books of learning (for even the warlords know the importance of knowledge). In return, Stubboon carried back a rich load of dragon dung, used for the creation of gunpowder, as well as northern herbs, wines and dark, dried berries to be made into what was known as bean juice, and magically crafted weapons created with magic unknown in the south. Some of these goods would not last the traditional Reach Route. The Reach Route stretched along the middle of the lands, not near the river pirates nor the horrors of the Terror Lands. Stubboon, having some maps of the Terror Lands, decided that the only way to get the goods to Edge City before some started to spoil, was to take a shortcut.

The first few weeks of travel were almost placid as Stubboon and his caravan left the icy crags of the Spine Mountains, heading straight to the menacing mass of the Wizard Mount. At the site of the always clouded-over peak, Stubboon lead his caravan past the Dump. The Dump is a magical dumping ground, rich in discarded magic that twists and turns on its own. Few who have entered have ever returned for magic works in odd ways there, and can twist reality itself.

I am painting a few things and may as well use them!  Creature from the Dump

It was after the Dump when events started turning dark for Stubboon. Creatures started following the caravan, and the slowest were starting to get picked off. The Terror Lands is named thusly for a reason: terrors in the day become worse terrors at night. Each night, more of the caravan was either missing, or bloody remains of what were once camels, donkeys, or guards. It turned into a continual journey through the dark forests, marshes and swamps with little to no rest for any.

A week after entering the Terror Lands, Stubboon has his first stand against the demonic creatures following them. Bypassing Woodfall, a ramshackle town somehow surviving at the edge, he pressed on to a more secure location. A large castle, the remains from an earlier empire pre-dating the Terror Lands, would give them some shelter than a town full of witches he felt. A few magic weapons were even found, and the caravan rested and fought in a well-defended fortress for a few days. Three days in and there seemed to be a lull in the constant attacks. Stubboon gathered his caravan and raced to the next safe place according to his maps, another long-forgotten castle outside the Terror Lands. Racing there, they made it, but the caravan was less than half of what it was at the start. This castle was in much better shape, but still in ruins. Stubboon's guards were down to less than a dozen fighters now, and 3 or 4 slipped out in the next few days while they rested and let the pack animals recover. 

Ready for what he thought would be the final push to Edge City, Stubboon led his caravan through the broken gates of the keep and headed south. Flying far overhead were creatures following his progress. Almost two weeks went by, and Stubboon thought he was safe from pursuit but never let his guard down. What was to be a few days away from Edge City, the final attack on Stubboon happened: the entire caravan was wiped out. Animals and guards were slaughtered or carried off, and Stubboon himself, fighting for his very life, was carried off back north.

To this day, one may hear rumors that somehow this merchant is still alive and in torment by demons call forth by the wizards of the Mount. Or that there are treasures to be found at those stands, left behind in their headlong rush to escape the magical persecution. Some cartographers have offered large rewards for the maps Stubboon has, for he did get further through the Terror Lands than any before or after him. Stubboon's Folly is a name that can be given to any ill-conceived idea. Even the name Stubboon can be used as an insult for some, though mostly in the merchant circles. As the centuries passed, fewer recall the origins of the insults, though cartographer's still offer rewards for the maps, and rumors of magical weapons on the lost routes to the north persist to this day.

Battle of the Sects, the Followup

Seeing as our group interrupted the ritual of a few women about to sacrifice Clyde, and I happened to be painting so demon-type things, I figure I should use those no-longer-grey pieces of plastic. I was actually painting a few things, but I had picked out the demon minis as I have a box of a few demons already painted, so figured I could add some. And as our last alternate game (which is at my friend's house, and for some reason I never recap games I am not running...maybe I should) has an imp, I do have some imp minis. Though knowing him, he also has a lot of imps and demons to choose from.

Who interrupted my meal?

And while I have 2 weeks to plan a few things out, I also know I procrastinated a lot the last few times. Now my plan is to have the minis and any papers I need all ready to go instead of having to frantically search for where I stashed the cultists (one of my boxes is going to be cultists and religious figures: the monks, clerics and cultists. Religion in a box!)

The general idea is that I'll also introduce Erirderlun Earthfury, as while technically I cannot stack the healing up, he will have some healing potions. And he will know of the sect in question, as our group has never heard of it. 

And since my random rumor card had the Indhyna League also looking for the Orc Fist. And as I have a book on creating cults...

The Indhyna League is essentially a bandit gang: a bandit gang are usually groups of murderers, muggers, thieves and/or rogues. In our case, we're also going to throw in a bit of the eldritch for our cultists, who are part of the League. Sometimes the die roll does not do what you want, but rules for RPGs are really more of suggestions at times! But the banditry helps get them money for some of the more expensive parts of their rituals. Which the women our group killed (except for the one prisoner they have) apparently only had those necklaces with the runes, which did give off magic to Deimos. 

The Indhyna League is not particularly wealthy or powerful but does have 5 buildings in a few towns north of Edge City, as well as their own stronghold near Stubboon's Final Stand. The small town of Bresselwythe (where Clyde is taking them) may or may not have a building that the League uses. But those buildings they have access to are:

• a hospital (often used to treat their members, so at least one physicker is a member)
• a granary (there is a hidden room. Now I need to find images of granaries to see just where and how we put a hidden room!)
• a safe house (perhaps even in Edge City!)
• a carpenter's (giving access to wooden goods. Often crates with a secret bottom to smuggle goods)
• a workshop. Tools for keeping their gear in good working order

Their stronghold is an old wizard's tower, just on the outskirts of the remains of the outpost of Stubboon's Final Stand. And yes - I will eventually have to write up just what Stubboon's First, Second and Final Stands are all about. I had this idea back in college but never wrote it down. Yet I still remember the basic idea of what I was planning. 

The League has a special resource of armor: they give all the lieutenants and higher ranked thugs special weapons. One of the reasons they are going for the Orc's Fist: it is for one of the leaders. Hah - see, I managed to work that random roll on a table into the narrative. 

The Indhyna League got started more than 50 years ago, when Loretta Darcival heard an eerie message from a plane of demons. She was a large woman but was beaten by her husband. Indhyna, the voice, gave her the power to overcome her husband. Lorretta killed him and left the small town to start the cult to help empower those who were beaten down. Over the years, and via more violent sacrifices, the leagues has been getting both larger and darker. It is probably 2/3 women, and the majority of the leaders are women. Lorretta is now housebound in her tower, but still directs the League. They pray for boons and powers from the demonic plane and are often gifted weapons of magical abilities. They have also been given a massive grimoire, which Lorretta and trusted lieutenants have been adding to over the years. This book sits on the top floor of the tower, in a room adjacent to Lorretta's bedroom. 

Not all of their techniques use overt force: when they can, they have killed off those in power and managed to get their cult members put into that power. While originally it was to help pass laws to help the weak, over the years that focus has been somewhat lost in the thirst for more power. 

To communicate with the demon plane, they need the blood of young male virgins. Lorretta discovered this when her husband, in a drunken rage, cut their son, and from that blood, Indhyna could first be heard. Over the years, this grew from a simple cut to full scale sacrifice. More blood gave more boons and power. Without these sacrifices, the cult would soon lose contact with Indhyna and her fellow demons. 

The symbol often associated with the League is a spider spinning a web of flames. 

Lorretta is now approaching 70 years old, and her skin, from years of contact with Indhyna, glows with a lava-like appearance. She radiates heat but does not seem to be bothered by it. One of the reasons is that she is now undead: Indhyna has granted Lorretta life after death to gain more followers. And the radiant heat covers the scent of her undead flesh. (Note: one of the characters actually has a +3 sword against undead from an earlier adventure, and this undead thing was just what I rolled up on the table!) Despite her lust for power, she remains true to some of her roots, and wears simple peasant garb. In fact, most of the League wears poor clothing as most of them are from poor backgrounds, seeking strength and protection from others. Then turning that into a vicious assault on those who would have assaulted them first. 

Lorretta is rarely still: despite needing a cane now to walk, she is always getting up and re-arranging something. If the rest of the cult knew she was embezzling gold from the collections, they may turn on her, and this is part of the reason she is rarely at rest. She has managed to siphon off gold for her child and 2 grandchildren. They have no idea who their benefactress is, but they live in comfort in Edge City. 

The Indhyna League employs fences in numerous towns and cities, including Edge City. The fence in Edge City may be getting some idea about the embezzlement of funds to the rich quarter of town, but so far has not done anything about it. 

Staying in the stronghold is Lorretta's right-hand man, the Summoner. I'll have to come up with another post for him as this one is getting quite long! There is also a Loremaster, another man, who has added several pages to the Indhyna Grimoire. 

Traveller 5.10 Book 2: Starships Pt 1

 Book 1 is reviewed here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10

And decided to continue my overview of Traveller 5.10. And just like Benny, I do like spaceships!

Star Systems

Book 2 starts with star systems, what our starships are travelling to and from. Unlike the original Classic (though Book 6 Scouts greatly expanded it) that covers just the main world, we get an overview of distances, Oort clouds, Kuiper Belts, and some definitions for inner, outer and remote systems. To quote Douglas Adams:

Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

Even a single system is immensely, mind-bogglingly huge. And of course, we start with an image of the inner system, and like a lot of programming languages, the orbits start at orbit 0 (Book 6 did the same thing, and I do wonder why they start at 0 though it is natural to me due to my software background). 

Then we have charts, lots and lots of charts. Orbital distances, decimal orbits and habitable zones for the inner, outer, remote and Oort cloud and beyond systems take 2 pages apiece. It is interesting to see that some stars surfaces are way out there to Jupiter's orbit (if I am reading that chart correctly, which is not always a given as I've previously noted that a lot of T5.10 I think makes sense to Marc but he had a hard time getting it out in a way that makes sense to others). A nice chart also gives the habitable zone by stellar type, and I'll admit I've been relying on Heaven & Earth to do all that for me, based off of book 6.  

We get more charts on close satellites, our moons or in rare cases, our main planet orbiting a gas giant. And 2 pages for far satellites. 

No details on generating worlds (that is Book 3) but details for where they all go. Not entirely sure why it is here rather than the worlds book, but then things in these books are often placed in what I think is not the best place. It would help if there more in-situ references in the rules as to where to reference these charts, but alas, that is not the case.

Starports

We have several pages detailing starports. I have at least a couple supplements and things on starports, and I think these can and should be a lot more interesting than they usually are in play. For me, a larger starport is really a city-state, in the case of the Imperium, something that is part embassy and part a planting of the flag. The GURPS Starport book is actually a very good book, though it uses the big ship/high traffic GURPS Traveller universe so I often just divide those numbers by 10. 

Not a whole lot has changed: the definitions of the class are the same, and we also have the book 6 spaceports. We do have rules now for the chance of a high port based on the class and population. And they note that an asteroid main world has a beltport rather than a starport. Something I will have to remember! And a small chart indicates that it takes 2d hours to refuel at a class A or B, and 4D at a C or D class starport. Which honestly: it should depend on the size of the tanks to fill up cross-referenced maybe with the starport type. Well, at least that is what I think!

There are, of course, some charts but it is more full of some long-needed definitions. The terminal may have the concourse, freight docks, customs and immigration, cargo market, accommodations, data terminals, message center and emergency medical. The peripheral facilities can include the SDE (starport defense establishment), auxiliary traffic control, scout and/or naval bases, the consulates, system defense field, shipyard, repair shops, transport hub and possibly some industry.

Some overview of the starport authority (also covered in the TJAS article by John Ford, which has always been one of my favorite articles), the port warden and regulation enforcement. I think an entire book (in the classic book series sense of book) could have been written for starports and included the SPA character generation. Of course, I do have at least 2 SPA character generation rules, so I feel several people have thought this over the years. And Steve Jackson Games did publish an entire book as mentioned above!

We have a listing and description of a few non-official facilities such as the Scout Lounge, the Lone Star and TAS (and the Travellers Aid Society itself could have an entire book devoted to it as well! I vaguely recall there were rumors about that at one time. And for some reason I thought Mongoose may have been considering it as well, but I may very well be misremembering). 

External to the starport we have the local world or system government, interstellar government, ship owners and operators, passengers and shippers. 

The last two pages cover a typical stay at a starport, the various ambiences you may have depending on world type, the special cases of the Depot (Navy usually) and Way Station (Scouts), and some notes on high volume worlds.

The last page has a typical class E port. Seems like there used to be this very same picture, but it evolved to cover the upgrades all the way to the class A port. And I also know way back when COTI had a really good thread on starports, and somewhere (!) I saved off a lot of the images of the port going from a class E to A. 

Next overview post we actually start covering starships!

Sandbox Games and Worlds

As a general rule, I like a larger sand box for my games. However, this can often lead to players not really knowing what they can do or should do. We need to give gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) hints as to what is available for them to do. Some games give characters a specific goal during character generation. There is no reason not to do so even if not part of this process. For me, that is part of session 0 when I start a new game: unless I have something specific, I try & get what the players want to do.

Sadly, this does not always work out. I am also guilty of this when I am a player: what does my character want to do? And until I get into the game, I tend to follow the other players. 

Opposing this is the set adventures. I have a lot of them that I've yet to actually run (and that was part of the nucleus of starting to track the stuff I do have. Which I am failing at. As mentioned - I love organization but sorely lack the ability to do so. Case in point: running the Fantasy Trip game over the weekend and could not find the cultist minis I knew I had. I finally found them but not where I expected them to be. I have a lot of minis and while some are sort of sorted, the rest are scattered) I just worry about railroading with pre-made adventures. Though I've had some luck using them and feeling like I am not forcing the players down a single path. 

I have 3 books so far on running games: the XDM book (which, wow, the hardcover there is $125! Maybe I need to sell my copy!), So You Want to Be a Game Master, and the Secret Art of Game Mastering books, and they all pretty much say the same thing: find the sweet spot. But that also really depends on the group you are with. I think I need to do a bit more handholding for both my groups (and due to some family dynamics, the Sunday gaming may be on a temporary hiatus, though we all want to play). 

Back to the sand box: the Ten Foot Pole review site which I sporadically read has some strong thoughts about sand box "adventures" vs usable adventures. And that is the crux of a lot of my issues: I can create vast worlds and all that, but if they are boring to the players due to me not expressing the world in something they can use and really interact with, it is just so much wasted time. Well, not wasted as I have a lot of fun doing it, but it is not as much fun for the players. But I'll keep reading, and practicing, and knowing that I have run fun games in-between the more boring ones, I'll keep trying.

a wash and dry brush later

statues, as statues then attacking! pre-painting

And speaking of organizing, I have several statues (including those new ones that have both the standing still statue and the "hey, is that statue attacking?!" pose. These are from Next Level Miniatures (pretty good price, but whatever plastic they are using seems to defy my glues sometimes). I need to add a container for statues, though it needs to be pretty big as I have 2 from the Greek set from a Reaper Kickstarter. Which I have used in two games (same place, different game groups. And the 2nd group snagged the 1st groups' dropped blunderbuss and used it in our last game)

But I really need to organize my notes and minis well before the game starts. Just adulting is hard - finding the time when I can do this seems to escape me. I actually bought a metal clipboard case for when we were playing our skirmish games: figured I could put the minis, notes and rules in it. Now I realize I can put the minis and notes for my RPG sessions in there! Maybe not the big ones, but the NPCs and stuff like that. While I do usually type my notes, I have a laser printer I bought specifically to be able to print things out cheaply!

TFT Game Recap: A Battle of the Sects

Okay, only 1 sect. When we last left our group they were at the Olmstead farms, a day or so outside of Edge City. Having collected the vetch ("weeds" to Hexis and Akx, Axe? I've yet to get the character sheet so not 100% sure how the goblin rat-catcher's name is spelled). Anyway, they head back to the city, get the crop to Eleanor the apothecary, and are trying to remember what they were doing next. The downside of it being almost 2 months since the last session (as mentioned: adulting is HARD!). 

They are met outside the shop be a well-dressed Ord, Sorgulg. Who has a job for Hexis and his companions. The leader of the city wants a bit of scouting up north. Behind the scenes, having heard from the guards that this group seems to work well together and is not afraid of the sewers. And there is deniability should they get caught by the Ironskull fighters. Having the Orc Fist gauntlets described, our group decides that there may be good reason to go there.

At the old house where Big George and the child thief gang are, the two Elf twins, Estalar & Aleesa, are awake. They only speak High Elf, so only Dawn can understand them though Deimos picks up a word or two, her mother being an Orc. Deimos also notices some orc slave brands on their shoulders and sees them as high-order slave marks. Meaning they need to be intact and not be abuse (the lifespan of most Orc slaves is measured in weeks. And I will note that not all orcs condone slavery, but there are some warbands that do.  And some humans. My world is not black and white). Some discussions that the children are safe, and they pay Big George a bit to keep them safe. Parts of their backstory do come out: they were in their family's castle in the J'Uniperous Woods when Orcs attacked. They were whisked away, and have no idea the fate of their family (which honest I don't either at this point - we'll see where the story goes!). They were in a cell in a dark castle, managed to escape and somehow crossing through a stone arch came out someplace else, and fell in the river. Michael and 'Elspeth found them and took them to George, where they and the other children, getting bit by rats, ended up with Rats Bane, which is where our adventurers showed up. 

Deciding to go north and outfitted at the city's expense with horses and gear, they head out the next day. It is a cloudy day, and they stay at an inn that night. Dawn dances and sings, along with some dance moves from Noodles. Deimos has brought out the bear a few times, and she seems to be at least starting to accept the half Orc, half Elf. Dried salmon seems to help. The others pick up a couple of rumors: the Ironskull soldiers have sometimes been seen, but usually from someone's brother's friend. And there seems to be something that is snatching young men - a few of the young farmers seem to have gone missing.

Next day is a drizzly rain that manages to seep everywhere. Finding a good spot, Violet and Axe hear what sounds like chanting. Sneaking up, the two spot several women chanting around a large stone well, with another woman up on some stone stairs, a young man in front of her, tied and about to get bashed over the head. 

AI drawing - kinda close

AI drawing - there are some really strange arm issues!

real drawing but there was no credit so not sure who drew this

The battle was relatively swift: Dawn managed to shoot the leader twice with her arrows, Deimos used the blunderbuss they found in the sewers and wounded 3 of the cultists. Violet ran forward to attack 2 of the cultists, though another moved behind her to attack. Axe and Hexis moved in to attack another cultists and made quick work of her. Deimos launched Noodles at one, and though the bite only did 1 point of damage, Noodles decided that perhaps being a boa constrictor would be a good choice and started strangling her. The leader, seeing the devastation, ran off, and another followed. As well as a third cultist running off in another direction. Chasing them down, our group killed all of them. Bringing back the bodies, they all have a simple bronze rune on a leather thong around their necks.

The young man, jaw gaping, watched the whole thing. When asked how he got caught by the cultists: "There was this nekkid lady who wanted me to follow her. Ain't no pretty girls in town so I followed her, got conked on the head and be here now." 

Hexis was not pleased with just how, err, not-bright young Clyde is. But seeing as how Violet is close to death, he does say there is a hedge witch who may be able to help a bit. Axe has physicker, so Violet is brought up from 1 hit point to 3. Not sure is she drank the 2 health potions they have. And the players forgot that unlike "modern" games, sleeping overnight does not heal you: you need to rest for 2 days to get 1 point back. Makes you want to get some armor and more strength to be better protected! As I don't think any of them have any armor.

And that brings us up to date with the current status. I'll also include one of the player's notes here as he uses a laptop to track everything. Better than I do: I know I made notes about a lot of things, but then can never find my notes! Trying to use that Rocketbook, but I also prefer electronic notes. But I can never remember where I stick them! But I will need to come up with the little town, the hedge witch, and a few things. Though I have a month, time flies by really fast for me!

I'll have to write up the story of Stubboon's Folly: they are going to Stubboon's 2nd Stand (he had 3) and I poked around for castle maps (though will be getting some soonish maybe?). So, I had this ready in case they got that far but they did not. But it is a nice little castle.

Next post may be a bit of that history (and I came up with that in college, 40+ years ago!) Or I may start Traveller 5.10 Book 2 overview. 

Player notes of the game so far

Next morning

Olmstead - Henry and Martha and Billy the son

we eat and head back to Edge City

we see a proper sign where the bandits attack

we drop off the weeds to the apothecary

will take a week to prepare

Sorbolg - orc - help finder for Hexis

offers a job to the north

the Iron Skull castle - orcs, goblins, kobolds

rumor of a magical items up in Stubboon

500gold pieces

find Stone Fists - magic gauntlets with lightning spell

and report on the Iron Skull

Indie hyenas are trying to get gloves too

he will offer horses and supplies

meet Sorbolg on the docks at the Old Flag Inn

Micheal came and told us the elf twins are better and awake

we go the bad part of town where George keeps the children

the elf kids said they ran from orcs

they were branded as slaves for 2-3 weeks - brand high value symbol

were not beaten

we were taken from our family from an elvan woodlands

they escaped and found a portal gate to get closer to Edge City

we sleep and meet Solbulg the next morning at the docks

we get supplies and mounts

Dusty - pony

Flower - pony

Elroy - horse

Patch - horse

Socks - horse

1.retrieve gloves

2.get intel of orcs

3.get evidence from Harlech Castle

small crystal - if shattered - cloud talk of communication with him

have maps, make maps

two weeks to the second camp - near Iron Skull Castle

small village - Stiggal (sparce, gets raided a lot)

weather is overcast

we follow the map

midmorning - rain

first day travel

Dawn performs at the coach house

for free room and board

Violet hears word of Iron Skull castle

Akx hears a evil cult grabbing men for sacrifices

head out the next day 

passed inn

we make camp at dusk

before making camp

we hear chanting in the woods

we see female cultists in ceremony

Ahx and Violet sneak up

we attack the cultists

we take out the cultists

we search them

hedge witch - ahead

6 necklaces with runes on each cultists

75XP

===============================================

===============================================

NOTES

PLAYER NAME RACE CLASS

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Danny      Hexis Mar              lizardman  fisherman/Fighter

Scott        Dawn                     elf              Dancer/Bard

Emily       Deimos                  half elf        Scribe/Sorcerer

Elizabeth Violet Applewing    halfling       Farmer/Rogue

Brian        Akx                        goblin        ??????/Rat Catcher

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NPC Johan human tavern keeper

NPC Keg construct servant

NPC Barabus human spice trader

NPC Big George human old man thief kid guardian

NPC Estalar elf thief child twin male

NPC Aleesa elf thief child twin female

NPC Toddy human thief male

NPC Eret human thief male

NPC Winna human Thief female

NPC Elsbeth human Thief female

NPC Micheal human Thief male

NPC Brigadier Smith human head of city guard

NPC Captain Vines human city guard captain

NPC Captain Loriel human Militia captain

NPC Henry Olmstead human farmer

NPC Martha Olmstead human farmer wife

NPC Billy Olmstead human farmer son

NPC Elenore Codington human Apothecary of Shoppe

NPC Sorbulg orc help finder for Hexis

NPC xxxxxxxxxxx Hyena band

NPC Stuboon human famous traveler - dead

NPC

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

PLACE NAME                           MAJORITY

city        Edge City                      humans

farm      Olmstead                      Farm human

city        Rainy City                     humans

field       Crownretch                   fields grass

castle     Iron Skull Castle          orcs, goblins, kobolds

city         Stubboon                     city

mountain Wizard's Mountains   mountains

land         Terror lands                land

building    Old Flagg Inn             humans

village       Stiggal                       sparce - gets raided a lot