Resting in Ceawla

Our group of adventures rests a few weeks in Ceawla, fully recovering from their recent adventures, living off their craka beast steaks they brought in as well as coin from their adventures. Jenforth, their erstwhile guide, has left as they are not paying her to sit about a couple of weeks while they recuperate from various wounds. The Runt Gubbler spends time honing his ability to draw power from the various power stones he has, while Crut skulks about and practices various acrobatic maneuvers and poses while trying to come up with a new theme song, something reflecting the desert, perhaps. Agaric, our scholarly werewolf, tries to read the book they found in the desert, the Watching Book. It is a history of the people of the Singing Plain, a place he has never heard of. Nova has been offering her services to the various caravans that come along, and befriended many with her kind words and gentle healings. She has also managed to accrue 5 healing potions, between her own crafting and trading amongst the caravans passing through.

Evenings are spent under the watchful eye of Khali Kamel, the Dwarf in charge of the oasis security, and not fond of tossing anyone, even Goblins, about. Crut has managed to stay out of trouble so far, but his fingers are starting to itch. He has been practicing on his companions much to their annoyance. As caravans pass both ways, they continue to hear rumors of cities that always rain. of fabulous islands peopled by all sorts of creatures, of small cities made up of ruined air ships, of Liche Kings at ruined fortresses. At one time Runt could have sworn he saw an Amazon walking through, though to him all human women are pretty tall to begin with.

They learn more of the silent cave people who attacked them one their approach to the Ceawla. Agaric managed to condense the rumors for his companions

The People of the Dunes are a mute race of cave people. Their origins are shrouded in mystery—they have been living in the Kalor desert for as long as any can recall, but never mingle with other people. Rumors are they are from the distant past, somehow transported to the present. Somehow they survive in the desert, so they must have access to water and food. Only males are ever seen, and there is never any sound from them as they attack.

No one has tracked them back: either they all get killed in the raids or they kill all the people in the caravan. And the drifting sands leave no traces.

They managed to get a map of the southern part of the continent (very much a WIP as I am sticking various Kickstarted projects into this map, including the Watching Book, the Yol'Najj Forest, So'lan from the Creative Multi-race Heroes, and a few others). I actually have some packing paper, sort of like butcher paper, so I may try a hand-drawn scrolling map if I can muster the old drawing skills up. 

We've not been playing the last few weeks: theater of the mind, while acceptable for adults playing, is a bit harder on younger people. So our last session was a bit shorter as they get agitated. Plus we've had some nice days between all the rain, and it is really better to be outside playing. My friend and his sons are actually building a shop/gym in their backyard, and he indicates that there will indeed be a gaming table there. Perhaps my old HD TV that has no HDMI as well: I refuse to buy a new TV until I get rid of the old one that still works just fine, but lacking HDMI input is not compatible with much of anything, though he said he would take it. I did see an HDMI to component device at Wal-Mart, so in theory we could use that, But I am wanting to get a smart TV so I can watch Netflix and Amazon mostly. 

Regardless, we've not yet been able to resume our face to face gaming sessions. Our Monday night game is going well, but we're not pre-teen and teenagers with a limited amount of patience and easily distracted. Though I'll admit I am easily distracted. Hopefully we'll be able to play face to face soon - I do have more miniatures and terrain on the way (my collection of toys). 

And my personal status in the lockdown. Living near Asheville, NC, we are still under a few restrictions. As my wife is a cancer survivor with no immune system (amazing how much damage radiation and chemo can do to a person) I take as few chances as possible, so wear a mask when in public spaces and rarely get out (my car had completed died as I had not driven literally for weeks!). And work is changing a great deal: the owner has discovered that out of the 40-50 people working in the office, only 5 or so, which includes me, want to go back. And he has discovered that people can be productive working from home. So he is going to greatly reduce office space and it looks as though I will be working from home forever more. Coming full-circle in some ways: I worked from home for 14 years or so, and really liked it then as it allowed me to really help raise my son as a baby. But now I'd rather work in the office as when I leave, I leave. I've checked in on stuff a couple times this weekend for instance, something that would not happen should I be working from the office. Yes, I know, it is my own fault, and I am working on it. This pandemic will have a long-lasting effect on our culture. Like many previous, large scale social changes, I think we may end up with one of several possible outcomes to this. First, more people will be working from home than before, that if just about guaranteed. But I also would not be surprised if a universal basic income, a universal medical or a universal internet, federally supported process comes out of this. 

Back to Ceawla and an Encounter

Playing via Skype is still not as fun as face to face, yet we persevere. The last Fantasy Trip session, as the adventurers were heading back to the tent city with their new found riches, were accosted by three of the craka beasts, rising up through the sands to surround our poor Runt Gubbler! There was a bit of warning from the kunio, with a bit of chirping like ground hogs. The kunio are native desert animals from the Desert Dwellers Kickstarter Zine from a year ago...

His companions quickly moved to help him, depsite the enormity of the attacking beasts. Of course, two were still injured, though somewhat healed, but there was a third one as apparently they brought friends. The Runt, though surrounded, immediately cast a flight spell on himself. As he was engaged, he managed to shift 1 hex upwards, leaving his feet dangling well within reach of the deadly craka beasts! Crut, Agaric, Nova and Jenrith surrounded the beasts and started to attack as well. The first round proved deadly to one of the beasts, struck dead with two attackers. Agaric managed to hit but the hard, leather like skin deflected his blow. The craka all missed the rapidly rising Runt, focusing their attacks on the magic user.

Next round, the 2nd beast was slain as Runt went higher and cast a 2d lightening blast on the monster below. The 2nd craks was killed, and with a keening wail, the final beast started to turn insubstantial and sink into the sands. Crut managed a critical hit, and killed the beast before it could get away. Unfortunately, the beast turned tangible on death, and his arm was encased in the dead craka beast. Unable to pull it out, Agaric helps to cut him free, yet managed to slice Crut's arm in the process doing more damage to Crut than he levied against the beast.

Nova bandaged Crut up (a master physicker can heal 3 points of damage after a battle). Cutting up the beasts, they managed to get 13 steak filets out of the skinny beasts, as well as some interesting organs and fluids Nova took to see if there were medicinal properties.

Getting back to Ceawla, they give the horse man a few gold, indicating that was half of what they found. Apparently, despite being a horse trader, he was surprised to get anything at all, so seemed satisfied.

Trading the steaks, which go for 40 silvers each at the Sarap Evi, they managed to barter for a couple of weeks to rest up. And that's where we stopped that session.

They all got 60 experience points for the session, and I am thinking I may give Crut and Runt some extra as they played well within character. Agaric's player is a bit more hesitant to get into battle despite being a werewolf as his last character died in session. Perhaps he is a cowardly werewolf, as he is much more suited for scholastic adventures. So with that in mind, he may also get some extra experience points.

The game map we used for that session is below, with about to scale of the craka (nee makdu I tink from one of the people I donate to on Patreon). Trying to play around with tracking initiative and adjDX better - found a white board and may bring that when we finally get back to face to face!

From the Desert Dwellers zine:

Revered  as  sacred,  Kunio  are  trusting  and friendly  animals.  Though  they  do  not  travel  in  packs, Kunio are very social and will follow travelers across the desert, warning them of danger with their chirping barks. Kunio drop "offerings" of large insects or small animals  near  travelers  in  hopes  of  reciprocation. Recieving an offering is considered good luck by many. Kunio  will  help  themselves  to  travelers'  rations.    If threatened  or  not  welcomed  warmly,  they  will  steal something important and flyaway.

On a non-game related note, it has been a crazy few weeks, and not being able to get out of the house much has had its effects on me. I tend to work more hours working from home, and as my work from home is on the same computer I do all this on, sometimes I just want to get away. So this blog is not as updated as much as it could be.

I've also greatly reduced my Kickstarter habit: having a significant pay cut, and soon putting my son on my insurance, has taken away most of my disposable income. Not to worry - I am still in better shape than a lot of others and I am not complaining. I just tend to be financially pretty conservative personally (getting laid off over a decade ago taught me that money may not always be coming in, so plan accordingly!)

And - Happy Memorial Day! Fortunately we got emailed, else I would have probably worked Monday and wondered why no one was answering email or messaging. 

The Desert Cave

This time with hexes!

A small labyrinth for a quick side trip to raise money for the horses: the horse dealer has this map, and for only 50% of the treasure they find, will let them have it. The players never questioned why he had this map, and why he has not himself gone to visit the caves. And if they had looked closely, they may have noticed that the map was not particularly old despite the initial appearances. And of course, I've not thought that through either, though I am now thinking about possibilities!

Anyway, the cave is a few miles west of Ceawla, in a ravine that those with woodmen skills will recognize as an old riverbed. The well itself is a jumble of stones, most fallen down. A few walls made of sandstone show that this is an old village of some sort, long gone back to the sands. The well itself is boarded over, and does have a still active trap: 3 arrows will shoot out in 3 random directions (fortunately we play on a hex, so pick 1 hex as 1, and pick a direction and go around, rolling a die per arrow).  They may also note some tracks about the area: those with woodsmen or area knowledge of this area may roll 2D vs IQ to note that they are the tracks of at least one craka beast! See the previous entry for the craka beast stats and image. It is from a Patreon account that has some pretty cool and dark creatures.

There is an old ladder, still intact, that leads down 15-20 feet below the sands and through natural sandstone caverns. This used to be an underground river but has dried up. The passageway is narrow, just barely five or 6 feet wide, meaning the characters have to go single file.

At the junction, there is a deep pit filled with cold water, about 15 feet down. Normal saving throw to avoid walking into the deep hole. Those with armor will sink - the water is at least 10 feet deep! Those with cloth or leather, at GM's discretion, may want to have a -1 DM on their adjDX as their amour will be a sodden, heavy weight for a while (they are underground and it is cooler. Assume at least 30-45 minutes before drying out).

To the north, the map indicates a pile of bones and a chest. Those are both there, though there is yet another hole at the entrance here without the water below, and what looks like may be another level to the labyrinth. It is not, but from the torchlight at 15 feet or so it is really hard to tell.

As they enter the cave, they can hear an odd sound, and rising out of the floor are 1d6-2 beasts, a minimum of two. Adjust for party strength! Craka beasts will attempt to kill magic users first if possible and always have initiative. If they are wounded to more than 75% of their hit points, all will turn insubstantial and float back into the walls, escaping to lick their wounds. They may be waiting for the adventurers on their return trip to the Tent City of Ceawla!

Assuming they kill or drive off the beasts, the treasure chest itself is locked with a non-magical lock. Inside will be gold and jewels as well as a battered book entitled The Watching Book. (yes, another Kickstarter, and I think I know where to place where this book takes place, assuming the players keep it. It is an evocative and somewhat sad exploration of a society long gone. I just thought it was really interesting and I like that people try really different things).

There will be 3d6 jewels, total worth jewels x 100 gold each. Coins from various realms will also be there, including a really odd coin that no one in Ceawla will take. Coins are about 200 gold.

Upon leaving this cave, at the junction, they will hear the sounds of someone or something moving about in the southern chamber. Should they go to explore, as they get close enough they will see that there is torchlight flickering in the chamber. If they make a detect trap roll, they will also note there appears to be a freshly painted eyeball on the walls as they approach.