Spring comes, the mountain passes clear, and the roads and paths become easily navigable again.
Your tenants are out in the muddy fields, sowing seeds, each field with a different crop from the year before. The fishermen are chipping away the last of the ice and pulling fat fish out of the Serene. The Market is full of the crafts folk spent their idle winter months preparing at home: embroidered cloth, delicate carvings, finely wrought tools.
Over the winter you had time to think about your experiences with the cultists and your expeditions North, and to plan and train. You feel confident that you are stronger and more prepared than you had been.
So: what is your plan, where are you headed, and what do you pack?
If I'm correct the only clues we have gathered so far is that this monster headed North. So I guess we make our way to the next village and see if we can pick up its trail.
Simon will bring along his normal belongings, but he would also like to pick up a backpack, a bedroll, some clothing for colder weather, and see if he can change some of his silver pieces into larger denomination coins for safe travel. No goodberries this adventure, because of the season. So it looks like we're on our own for healing.
Marcus will travel with his normal goods, his trusted spear as well as his new addition, Brand the fire sword!
as far as armor is concerned, how far can the village go? Leather armor? the same ring/chain mail armor that the warrior had? With his new influx of money and his desire to protect his friends I doubt his clothing will cut it on this new adventure, especially after what all happened last time.
Life is a roller coaster, if you don't stop to enjoy it then you may as well not even ride.
During the Autumn, you travelled to the towns within a few days easy walk. All reported a brief period where all the local wildlife seemed to disappear, except for the occasional mutilated corpse. The domestic livestock was easily panicked during this time, and the plants didn't look so great, either. But after a few days it passed, and people wrote it off as just one of those things. Bad air, unfortunate stars, the evil eye from a wandering pilgrim, who knows? These periods began immediately after the clearing out of the Grove, and progressed northward at a rate consistent with land travel.
During these visits, Marcus was particularly strident in his attempts to warn and rally the villagers, but this was generally not well received.
Eventually, you went as far north as you could without making an extended/semi-permanent expedition of it. If you are planning on tracking the Beast, at this point, you'll be packing to travel for weeks or months. You don't know when you'll see Herebury again.
Of course, we're sandboxing, so you could also decide to stay put, or head south to Tallinmar and learn how to sail, or what have you. Whatever you do, I just ask you do it as a group. For now, at least.
so, are we tracking the beast further north? Or trekking someplace else?
Pulp, while we tracked the beast and went to each northern town, did we encounter any other rumors or places of interest that townsfolk would relay to a band of adventurers in hopes that they get rid of whatever problem they have?
Life is a roller coaster, if you don't stop to enjoy it then you may as well not even ride.
Player: Erico Caravellino - Thief : Elphand Adventures (ACKS Wilderlands - On Hold) Stanilus Peri -Fighter (Bard) : Wardens in the North (D&D 1st Ed - On Hold)
So, everyone thinks Marcus is crazy, but people will talk about all sorts of things without regard to the poor addled child. So, here's some of the tidbits Marcus has picked up:
A group of halflings were undermining a lord up north, and the entire halfling community was exiled.
Trolls, it turns out, are real. They've been coming down from the mountains. And they're persnickety, litigious bastards. Never use subtlety, irony, or metaphor around a troll. They won't get it, and they'll turn your words against you.
No, wait, not exiled. All halflings are under a death sentence. Because of a prophecy that they would overthrow somebody or other.
The hunters to the east never hunt wild birds, and the farmers are exceptionally courteous to their domestic fowl. You would do well to heed the local customs if you find yourselves in that part of the world.
There's a town south where the river ran red with blood, on account of their wicked ways.
Actually, there's a bounty on halflings. A fine, generous one.
A trading party went up to Bywater, but found the whole town deserted, down to the mice.
Come to think of it, it might be a reward for getting halflings to emigrate to the North. They need more halflings, up there.
An itinerant monk is saying that he found a mouth to Hell, and toured it for three weeks before coming to out to spread the word of what he saw there. He's got some peculiar notions, that boy.
Say, you wouldn't happen to know what's a halfling anyway? Are they like elk?
KingOfCowards wrote:Last stop before leaving Herebury would be to bring his bag of teeth to Tatter Helga, and see if she can offer any suggestions into its magical properties.
Tatter Helga pops a couple teeth in her mouth and noisily sucks on them for a long time. A very long time. It gets uncomfortable. She is deeply engaged in sucking on those teeth.
Finally, she pops them out of her mouth and takes a deep drink of moonshine. Wiping her mouth she says, "Nisty, brutal magic, thit is. Th' kine made by folks as hain't mind dibblin' inna ol' Witch-King death magic. Yir got twinny-three tith inner bag, bit awl bit fur 'ave bin used up. Yer ginna wanna birn 'em. Yew birn them tith an' they's gonna call dun a fawg thicker'n mud."
She pokes around among the teeth, and extracts the four unburnt teeth and puts them back in the bag. "Take 'im if yer think they'll hilp yer. Aw'll give thir others a fine prowper birial."
"Thank you for your wisdom, Helga. Once again, you have come to our aid. We will heading north after this beast. I want you to know how grateful we all are, before we take our leave."
Simon kneels down low to look the old in here eyes and kisses her gnarled hand. On his way out, he'll leave 10 silver pieces on her shelf.
Helga thanks Simon, and loudly protests the silver, even as she sweeps it into her purse.
Pyro: It is not Barton's sword Gizzy carries (Jonas still has that, wherever he is), but the sword of a scarred warrior who attacked your friends when they entered the underground chambers beneath the Grove. It is a beautifully made and carefully maintained sword, although not quite a masterwork, and not magical.
As you guys pack and get ready to head out with backpacks bulging, Eighter appears with a farmer leading two donkeys. "Y'blamed fools, y've got money. Spend a lil' of it. If yer headed North, yer crossin' mountains, and y'don't want any more've a burden than can't be helped. Give ol' Ainsley here 40 silver f'r th' donkeys, an', ohhh... say, another 20 for the tack and saddlebags, and thank me when yer nursin' the blisters on yer feet."
Brusquely pawing through your packs, he snorts, "Yew'll need more food'n this. Fresh rations f'r as long as'll last, an' more iron rations f'r when they don't. Y'can hunt and forage, and that'll be fine, but y'may not always have th' time. An' water. The rivers'll be full and sweet, this time a year, but y'don't take no chances with water. An' where's yer tent? S'windy up on the mountain trails, and a bedroll won't do you no more good'n a lacy handkerchief."
Ainsley the farmer looks around to see who will take the donkey's lead, and who might be digging for their purse. "The grey's named Cleve, and the brown's Hildy. They're good, sensible animals, and steady on their feet. Another ten silver, and I'll load 'em up with provender."
Marcus would have relayed all of the rumors that he got from the villagers to the others.
Marcus steps up, handing Ainsley a bag full of clinking coins 70 silver coins
"This is for the Donkeys, tack and saddlebags, and that other 10 for the gracious offer of filling the provisions on them. Thank you Ainsley, we owe you a lot... We aren't exactly experts at traveling far from the village..." He gives Eighter and Ainsley a sheepish grin of embarrassment.
subtracting the 70 silver.
Life is a roller coaster, if you don't stop to enjoy it then you may as well not even ride.
In my defense, I was expecting to stop at other villages on the way north for provisions. But the donkeys were a good idea. If you want to split cost on the donkeys, I am fine with that MonkeyWrench. You warriors need to save up for better armor eventually.
I'm fine either way, Marcus would choose to pay for it all first as his own way of making sure everyone is protected but if other offer to split he will easily change his mind and go with that.
Who wants to throw in for the donkeys?
Life is a roller coaster, if you don't stop to enjoy it then you may as well not even ride.
One of Bürd's interests considering the new wealth available to him is a suit of chainmail. I'm assuming there aren't many dwarf sized suits on sale in Herebury, but given the time passed, would he have been able to commission a suit and a sturdy helm? And what might it have cost him?
Prompted by his dream, Bürd would also have spent some time (perhaps with the help of the Reve's library) studying the runes on the silver key given to him by his Gran.
Being familiar with mountains, Bürd will bring along his heavier hood, cloak and gloves, climbing spikes and hooks, a goodly coil of rope, the usual adventuring gear, and a metal flash of whiskey.
mb. wrote:I'm assuming there aren't many dwarf sized suits on sale in Herebury, but given the time passed, would he have been able to commission a suit and a sturdy helm? And what might it have cost him?
The local metal worker is one Hake Glenross, who is not at all well-disposed towards Bürd at the moment. He quotes you a farcically astronomical price, couple with some suggestions for what you could do with the armor once you had it that are both crude and anatomically improbable.
This leaves you with the possibility of commissioning a suit during one of the autumnal trips to nearby villages. Let's have a WIS check to find a scrupulous and capable armorer, and a CHA check to haggle over the cost. If you spend a Fortune point on either, it will come out of the pool for the forthcoming adventure.
Prompted by his dream, Bürd would also have spent some time (perhaps with the help of the Reve's library) studying the runes on the silver key given to him by his Gran.
