I've lost track a bit - been a lot of things going on.
Our heroes are at Dulcet Spire, one of the Creator's Spires that floats on the world of Corsairs. It is in the Alderil Empire where slavery is supported by the government. They are on the trail of finding Batrina's siblings with any luck. Rumors that the Batkin are being used as slaves in a mine on the surface has led them here.
An evening of trawling the various pubs in the Merchant's Quarters, such as the Pinch Willy's and Booger Bob's. They also walk along the rings that house the Slave Auction House. It is a government run facility that is heavily taxed. Talking to two of the Alderil Empire Guards, they find the hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 4 until around 9. There are no open windows, and Batrina can hear some voices inside but nothing much more than that despite her sharp hearing. There are apparently, at least according to the guards, no special privileges for any of the nobles or anything like that: the auctions are open to the public, and the highest bidders win.
They did pick up some information: the mine they are looking for belongs to the Lieford Family. Not high up in the noble houses, but above the commoner houses and guilds. There are about 30 or so slaves, and 3 overseers and a few guards. Apparently the Leiford Family treats their slaves well from what they can discover.
Captain Penny thinks that a nearby alehouse may be more productive of finding information. They find a place called the Government House and can see soldiers apparently off duty drinking. Splitting up, Captain Penny and Batrina find an open table, getting Belinda the barmaid to get some ale and a menu. She is a bit surprised by a Batkin being here as they are usually on the upper levels of the Spire. By Belinda's account, the Batkin are trying to stop their people from getting enslaved. Yes, being natives of Corsairs, they can live on the surface as they know the dangers. Humans have a much more limited life-expectancy, often measured in hours.
Henry and Leo enter a few minutes later, Henry falling down in an apparent drunken stumble. Leo, not expecting this, trips over Henry much to the amusement of the pub crowd. Tibs, Leo's dragonette, gets flustered and flies up to a chandelier. Getting the only other empty table next to the Captain and Quartermaster, our blindingly drunk Henry asks the barmaid if he can get Batkin slaves out of the basement. Belinda is not amused by this loud-mouthed drunk but does tell him that the slave house is down the Ring a bit. Leo does coax Tibs back to his shoulder.
After asking if Batrina would want meat or just eat fruits, we find that the Batkins do eat meat. Plates are served up to the Captain and Quartermaster while ales are served to the two you men, our Sailing Master and Gun Master. While this is happening, an off-duty Alderil soldier approaches and asks Henry if he is serious about finding new Batkin slaves. He offers to make introductions to someone who can do this for 100 silvers. If so, they can meet the next night at this pub at 10 and can discuss possibilities.
The adventurers end up back on the ship a while later while taking different routes and discuss how to handle the next meeting.
Having a few hours the next day, they decide to set sail to see if they can scout out the mine. After checking with the local sail master and finding the only thing area they need to be aware of is a military island about 6 miles away, they head out. Leo must have drunk a bit too much ale the previous night as his plotting was very bad and they were off by a few miles. Deciding to dive below the cloud layer and knowing that is a dangerous place to be for all the flying monsters that live in those clouds, they got as prepared as they could. Of course, I did roll an attack. While dodging the tusked sky whale, they did manage to kill it before it could damage the ship. Leaving it they continued down to spy out the land and got a bit more oriented. Rising back, Leo took them straight to the dead sky whale. Knowing the tusks and meat would be worth something, they started to lash the floating carcass to the ship. A sky kraken was spotted in the clouds heading for them. Hacking at the ropes, as this beast was almost twice the size of the Wind Razor, they did get off one shot and hurt it. Just not enough to make it want to give up a free meal. Deciding that keeping the ship intact was better than trying to fight the sky leviathan. they left to head back to the Spire.
And this is where we stopped - I was not 100%, or even 50%, ready for a variety of reasons. I've been thinking about finding an adventure and running that versus my usual sandbox approach. A pre-written adventure would at least have everything, and I've just been winging this without a clear direction. Though I can make a clear direction - it is not like I've not read enough books on just how to do this (so many GM books and none really have a magic formula. Though they often do have good ideas and procedures). Part of it is the time frame: I think I have 4 weeks to plan the next session so put off planning things. Then suddenly 4 weeks have gone by!
Regardless of my shortcomings in the overall plan, it would also help if I kept my notes and cheat sheets organized. I am working on it! I've been working on it for decades! Eventually I'll get it right. I'm also pretty sure I am not getting the idea of the Spires across too well. They are essentially city-states, though most fall within the boundaries of one empire or another. They can house a small city, and the "roads" are really large corridors. Some may only be a few feet across, but the main roads on the various levels are easily 100 feet across with 100-foot ceilings. The technology behind these is from the Creators and that history seems to have been lost (technically fusion powered grav engines that are also using the repellium in a way that would amaze 3rd Imperium scientists. But the repellium really only works within the unique magnetic fields of Corsairs and would not work on most other planets. Timewise, not sure when this is taking place though honestly, I could place it in contemporary times of 1105 which is when I run most Traveller games. Still may end up running a Traveller game for the Saturday group but I'd have to figure out how to approach it differently. I do have the Dumerest-style game I backed that could work),
Anyway, to make up for not running well, I did make pumpkin muffins and even sent some home with everyone. And Fiskerton showed up, so they got to pet (and feed) Finn, and pet the cat as well. The other 2 cats are not as brave. I think I stress out too much sometimes about running games. It is fun, but I worry about the players having fun and my inability to track multiple NPCs and all that. I'll just keep on practicing. And bribing with baked goods!
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| Fiskerton Fabio Fuzzington |
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