Working on a New Novel

I started working on a new novel and it is consuming most of my writing time right now.  My goal is to get at least the first draft done as quickly as I can so I can send a copy to my dad while he is still with us.  He's entered hospice care, which is when they do their best to keep the patient comfortable until the end.  This happened after either his chemo or his stage 4 prostate cancer triggered another stroke.

On the plus side, he has come back from those events somewhat and so I have more time than I thought I would at the end of January.  Still have no idea how much time that is, so I am somewhat prioritizing getting the outline done so I can start the actual writing.  I'll post more update on that as I have them.

As to the session notes, those will continue at a sporadic level as a result.  I want to try for twice a month as a minimum, but I'm not certain I can meet that.  Either way, I'll have Session 16 of the Sudden Sea campaign up in the next week.

Later!

REMINDER: PDFs of my OD&D clone, Adventures in the Green, are available for purchase on DriveThruRPG.com.  See the specific links in the sidebar under Downloads.

The Sudden Sea –Session 15

[May 12 through 16 – Unexpected guest and return to Mouzaki]

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened December 18, 2023.]

[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea.  The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]

 

Player Characters

Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally

Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon

Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Via Roll20

Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer

 

Spring

May 13, 56 I.C.

Pre-Dawn

Aware that someone is approaching the camp, Anomin cougar-screamed to wake the deeply sleeping adventurers and failed.  She was more successful in causing the whoever was approaching to pause.  This allowed Sorvia to circle around them and take the approacher by surprise.  Sorvia tackled the person, who screamed in surprise like the little girl she was.  Sorvia tied up the girl who protested that she had a message the entire time.

Once Sorvia was done, she turned the girl over - it was Morvia, her ward/apprentice.  Moravia explained that Sorvia’s other ward/apprentice, Kailor, was wanted for poaching the count’s animals.  Once untied, Moravia pulled out a wanted poster for “Kailor the Elf”, wanted alive by Count Constantin for poaching in the Count’s Preserve [a hilly area west of Mouzaki that used to be Baron Yorgos’ Preserve].  The bounty being offered was 20 gold pieces.  Moravia explained that Kailor would go off with some old guys and come back with food to cook.  Sheriff Raptis came around asking for Kailor and Morvia told him she did not know where he was.

Sorvia introduced Anomin to Morvia.  Anomin changed from cougar form to human and asked Morvia when she last saw Kailor.  That was 6 days ago.  After the sheriff came by and the posters went up, Moravia headed south to find Sorvia, which is how she got here.

By this time Islo was awake and had heard most of the story.  He had an idea who the “old guys” were and where they might be holed up.  There is a place in the northern end of the Tsepi Forest that abuts the hills of the preserve where the retired rangers tended to hang out.  Islo would lead the group there to see if Kailor was hiding out.

Day

Once everyone was awake, rested, and had eaten breakfast, the group resumed walking back towards Mouzaki.  The day was otherwise uneventful and as the sun was setting they made camp in the Onomastike Hills [the border between the Barony of Nomi Pediades and the Barony of Mouzaki].

May 14, 56 I.C.

The group made it another 10 miles before rain rolled in from the east.  Islo and Sorvia searched the area for a place to shelter and Islo located a small abandoned fort.  The fort had a single tower with a dry ground floor large enough for the entire group to take shelter in.  Tharduk and Anomin looked around the fort and determined it had been abandoned for a long time.  Anomin flew up to the top of the tower.  The tower would have a great view of the forested valley if it hadn’t been raining.  She can occasionally just see the areas being logged in the forest to the north, but not the logging camp itself.

The rain lasted through the afternoon until it petered out in the early evening.  The adventurers set watches and during the second watch Tharduk and Kadruth heard something hunt and kill some prey down in the forested valley, but it never came close to the old fort.

May 15, 56 I.C.

The party continued marching to the northwest, exiting the Onomastike Hills and entering the branch of the Tsepi Forest outside the Ladon River valley.  Islo led the group through the forest to the area the retired rangers used.  He didn’t know exactly where they were, so Sorvia used her tracking skills to locate a well concealed campsite.  Islo used a birdcall not native to the area to announce the group and was immediately answered by someone on watch.  Islo presented himself and the older human on watch greeted him with, “Hey Ears!  Come on in.”

The inside of the camp was neat and held several older humans who all knew Islo and called him Ears.  Islo explained why he and the group are there and Kailor was sent for.  After a couple minutes Kailor showed up [he is a “young” elf, about 50 years old but looks slightly younger than Morvia, who is an 8-year-old human].  Kailor admitted to working with the retired rangers to hunt for food to share with people in the refugee camp around Mouzaki.  During their last hunt Woodfoot’s foot came off while the Count’s men were chasing them and Kailor had to cover for Woodfoot.  Woodfoot [a retired ranger who lost a foot back in the day] vouched for Kailor, stating the Count’s men would have captured him if Kailor had not helped.  Sorvia asked how much hunting the old rangers had been up to and they admitted to taking 5 deer in the past month.  The Count seemed sore about that, using his ability to put lavish meals on his table as part of his show of wealth.  Due to scarcities, those deer would fetch 2 gold each if sold.

Options were discussed on how to get the warrant rescinded.  It turned out some of the blank forms Tharduk took from the secret rooms in the Nicabar house included pardons, but they would need the Count’s seal.  Anomin pulled out the shiny thing she had taken from the desk in the other room just after Viktor Nicabar had been killed and asked, “Like this?”  Tharduk looked it over and it was a replica of the County’s Seal.  Tharduk handed it back and said, “That would do it, but maybe it’s not the best idea in the Count’s own city.”

The retired rangers offered to catch replacement deer from the forest if the adventurers could negotiate a deal with the Count.  That sounds promising and the adventurers decide that negotiation is the best path.

The adventurers spend the rest of the day at the camp.  Islo shared stories of the creatures they group had fought and killed, omitting the troubles inside Nomi entirely.  Tharduk kept asking about how the campsite was set up, what the watches were, and so on, earning him the nickname “Ballbuster” among the retired rangers.  Sorvia spent part of the day completing her map of the Mikro Dasos.

May 16, 56 I.C.

Sorvia left her spare rations with Morvia and Kailor at the ranger camp with strict instructions for them to stay at the camp until she sent for them.

The adventures left the forest and headed to Mouzaki, about 7 miles away.  Once there they split into two teams.  Sorvia, Kadruth, and Islo were on one team to go and make a report to Sheriff Raptis and get paid for that job before asking about the warrant for Kailor.  Anomin, Inserrant, and Tharduk made up the other team and they were to go to the Post Office to deliver the return mail from Nomi and get paid for the delivery contract.

On the way to the Post Office, Anomin made a side stop at the Job Board to see if any new jobs were available.  She saw that the bounty for the Green Hand had increased to 2 gold per bandit and 200 gold for the leader.  The pay for caravan guards traveling west to Grizano and the western parts of the County had gone up due to the Green Hand bandits being successful.  There was an announcement from the Count that new settlements must be approved before being settled and there was Kailor’s bounty.

The Post Office group went straight there.  Inside they went over to the Bounty Desk on the left, ignoring the long line at the main desk.  They noticed people looking at them and whispering, eventually working out it is because they had the mail crate.  The clerk at the desk accepted the crate and had Tharduk sign the delivery form to accept payment [so the Post Office can prove they paid on the contract and to whom].  The clerk left and came back with a small pouch containing 9 gold coins.  He then asked if the adventurers were interested in taking another contract, either back to Nomi or over to Grizano.  Tharduk asked if he needed an answer immediately and the clerk said it could wait a week.  Tharduk thanked him and said he needed to ask the rest of the group first.  The trio of adventures then left the Post Office.

Once outside, Tharduk said he wanted to find a buyer for the cyclops wool, bearskin, and wendigo claws.  Anomin and Inserrant agreed to go with the dwarf.  Being a professional merchant, Tharduk was able to locate a buyer for the bearskin and the six wendigo claws he had, making 3 gold and 5 silver in total.  Tharduk wanted to get the best price for the wool, so it took longer to find a buyer.

Meanwhile, Sorvia, Kadruth, and Islo went to the sheriff’s office. Sergeant Greenpike was sitting at the front desk and greeted the adventurers with, “Hey!  I think I have wanted posters for you.”  She then winked and said, “Don’t worry about it - they were marked as cleared a couple days ago.”  [Fantasy cop humor.]  The adventurers explained they completed the scouting mission to the Mikro Dasos and would like to see the sheriff.  Sorvia then put one of the Nemean Lion claws on the sergeant’s desk as proof.  Sergeant Greenpike sent a messenger to let Sheriff Raptis know they were there.

Once escorted into Sheriff Raptis’ office, Kadruth handed the sheriff one of the bottles of mead he had purchased on the way out of Nomi, which perked the sheriff up.  The adventurers then handed over their written report and map of the Mikro Dasos [this is a copy, Sorvia kept the original].  They also handed over a sodden bag full of various animal parts from the monsters they killed as part of the job, including the head of the bear and the head of the Nemean Lion.  The sheriff was both impressed and disgusted with the smell.  He quickly summoned someone to take the bag for cleaning.  Once the bag was gone he had another person take a marker to the bursar and retrieve the reward money.

While they waited for the reward money, Sheriff Raptis asked questions about what they had seen in the forest.  He also shared information, explaining that the Green Hand bandits were getting very successful, having robbed 3 of the last 4 caravans from Mouzaki following the Trade Road west.  He also mentioned that now refugees were trying to establish towns of their own on lands belonging to others.  The Count felt this was to avoid taxes and had to establish laws on creating settlements.

The runner returned with the 10 gold for the report and 30 gold for the map.  Sheriff Raptis told the adventurers that they’d need to come back tomorrow for the monster clearing bonus.  Sorvia took this as a good time to ask about the situation with Kailor.  The sheriff looked a bit uncomfortable about the topic and stated that the bounty was set by the Count who was angry about the poaching.  Sorvia asked it was possible to negotiate a pardon and Sheriff Raptis agreed to inquire.  He would have some form of answer when they returned tomorrow.

Sorvia, Kadruth, and Islo then left the sheriff’s office.  Not having a plan for what to do next, they went over to the police bar to drink and discuss.  While there they work out about half the patrons think they are still wanted for something, but the barkeep was not among them.  Even so, after a while they left and headed to the group’s favored drinking place in the refugee camp outside the town.

Roughly at this time Tharduk found a buyer for the cyclops wool.  He got a price of 70 copper per clove, for a total of 420 copper.  [A fair price.]  This group then left the town proper and headed over to their favorite drinking establishment in the refugee camp.  There they met back up with the rest of the group.  Tharduk started telling the tale of the group’s adventures to the other patrons and did a good job at it [made his Oratory roll by 4].  As a result, the group received several free drinks each.  [Note: this is at a refugee bar, so maybe not the highest quality drinks, but earnestly sent.]

End of session

Commentary

[So I’ve started working on the outline for my second novel.  This is consuming most of my writing time right now and will for most of this year.  I’d like to get the first draft done while my dad is around to read it.  I don’t know how long I have, so there is some urgency on my part.  I will continue to post session notes to this blog, but I can’t promise what schedule I’ll be able to keep to.  We will see how it goes.]

Sudden Sea Adventures

Sudden Sea Landing Page - Links to all the write-ups for this campaign 

Last session: Session 14

 

Next session: Session 16 [Not yet typed up]

The Sudden Sea – Session 14

[May 11 and 12 – Anomin finds the goods]

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened December 11, 2023.]

[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea.  The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]

 

Player Characters

Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally

Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon

Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Via Roll20

Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer

 

Spring

May 11, 56 I.C.

Evening

While Sorvia, Tharduk, Kadruth, and Islo were at the Crossed Arrows, watching Inserrant perform on the stage, Anomin continued her exploration of the Nicabar house and the secret passage she had found in it.

Anomin, in crow form, found herself in a small dark room and thought she was in a closet.  Listening, she heard someone walking on the other side of a wall.  Unable to see anything, Anomin returned to her human form and then switched into her cougar form, which could see in the dark.

What Anomin had thought a closet was actually a small furnished room with no windows and a trapdoor as the only exit other than the secret door she had entered through.  Anomin took some time to quietly search the room.  On one side was a cupboard with two barrels beside it.  On the other was a set of bunkbeds with a chest at their foot and a side table with a lantern and some gnomish matches.  Anomin checked the barrels and found one was water and the other wine.  The cupboard contained drygoods and iron rations.  The chest held 4 sets of clothes: a set of male peasant garb, a male city guard uniform, a set of female peasant garb, and a female city guard uniform.  Under a false bottom in the chest Anomin found a small coffer and a bag of coins.

Anomin turned back human again and pocketed the coffer and the bag of coins [with some minor fumbling due to the darkness].  Anomin then returned to cougar form and started investigating the trapdoor.  She was able to open it and found a shaft descending deeper than the first floor with hand grips on the side.  Anomin sighed.

Anomin turned back into a human again and searched the table for the lantern and matches.  She found them with little trouble and lit the lantern while pocketing the rest of the matches.  She then turned into a crow, picked up the lit lantern, and flew down the shaft in a corkscrew path.  The walls looked sound-proofed.

Arriving at the bottom of the shaft, Anomin discovered it connected to a small passage.  She followed the passage a ways until it ended at a different shaft going up.  She climbed up the passage to another trapdoor with a hook on the wall adjacent to the built-in ladder.

With some slight difficulty, Anomin hung the lantern on the hook and landed on the top rung, where she listened for a couple of minutes.  Hearing nothing, Anomin carefully switched back to human form and cracked open the trapdoor.  The trapdoor opened in a small area surrounded by stacks of crates.  She climbed out of the shaft and looked around and up.  She appeared to be in a warehouse, probably outside the town walls.

Anomin pulled up the lantern from the hook in the shaft and set it aside.  She quietly closed the trapdoor and snuffed out the lantern before turning back into a cougar.  She picked up the lantern’s handle in her mouth and started looking for an exit.

Anomin quickly found an open door with two guards standing next to it.  She bolted past the guards and one called for her to come back before the other asked, “Do you really want that to come back?”

Once out of their line of sight, Anomin paused and looked around.  She was in the small warehouse and brewing district to the north of Nomi, near the apple fields, bee hives, and fields of flowers.  She turned human again and then switched to crow form so she could fly back to the Crossed Arrows, taking the lantern with her.

Several minutes later she landed in an alley near the Crossed Arrows and returned to her human form.  She then returned to the Crossed Arrows and found the other adventurers inside.  She quickly explained what she had found.  She and Sorvia left the group at the table to go upstairs to their rented room.

Once in the room, Anomin pulled out the two bags and the coffer.  Looking at the coffer first, it was locked with a high quality lock.  Anomin went back downstairs to get Tharduk so he could open the lock.  Tharduk pulled out some tools and set about disassembling the lock, taking time to do so.  It resisted him for an hour before he gave up.  [He took an hour of extra time for the +3 bonus but still failed the roll.]

The trio switched to examining the bag from the chest.  Inside it were four pouches, each marked with a different crest.  Of the four, the only one Anomin recognized was the one with the County Modon crest [the principality she lived in].  Inside it was a mix of gold and silver coins totaling 50 gold coins, the majority in gold.

They opened another bag and it had the same amount of coins, but these were stamped with the portrait of the Emperor of Crendia, Orion I.  A third bag contained coins Tharduk recognized as minted in the Free City of Freegate, a major trade city far to the northwest and not part of the Empire.  The last bag contained coins from the Kingdom of Silverloc, once part of the Empire but now independent, mostly.  Anomin then opened the bag from under the bed.  It contained 15 orbs of raw gold that Tharduk estimated were worth 10 gold coins each.

Now very curious about what was in the coffer, Tharduk returned to it and worked hard to unlock it.  This time he was successful!  Inside were trade bars, larger units of money that the Merchant Guild used to settle debts between chapters or to move large amounts of wealth.  The coffer contained 10 bars worth 100 gold coins each and 20 worth 50 gold coins each.  Tharduk started hyperventilating slightly.  This was not only a large amount of money, but in very suspicious forms for a merchant to have stashed away.  Anomin was of the opinion that they should give the gold orbs to The Sheriff with an explanation of where they were found.

By this point, Inserrant had finished her performance.  She collected tips worth 13 gold.  She and the rest of the group headed up to the rented room where Anomin, Sorvia, and Tharduk explained what Anomin had returned with.  The group discussed what to do with the money.  The Imperial coins would be suspicious to spend anywhere in the Syrak Alliance [the other break-away part of the Empire, of which County Modon was a part of] as people might think the adventurers were spies in Imperial employ.  The group decided they would need to exchange the coins for local coins when they could.  All agreed that the gold orbs were too dangerous to hold onto having likely come from the illegal mine.

The following discussion was about who would take the gold orbs to The Sheriff.  Anomin suggested that The Sheriff really liked her, but they would need to wait until after he had his coffee in the morning.  She understood it was really important The Sheriff get his coffee, even if she didn’t understand why.  The group decided that the two dwarves, Tharduk and Kadruth, would take the orbs over to The Sheriff in the morning with Anomin following.

May 12, 56 I.C.

Over breakfast, the group of adventurers agreed to meet at the tannery outside town if things go bad for any reason.  After they finished eating, Kadruth and Tharduk left for the sheriff’s office with Anomin unobtrusively following them as a crow.

At the sheriff’s office, Kadruth and Tharduk walked in through the front door and one of the deputies waved at them in greeting.  Kadruth stated they needed to speak with The Sheriff and the deputy pointed out The Sheriff at an adjacent desk going over some papers and taking notes.  When Kadruth and Tharduk walked over to him, The Sheriff greeted them with, “What interesting things do you have for me today?”

Tharduk started by asking if there was a more private place they could speak.  The Sheriff wasn’t having any of it and responded, “This is my office. We are surrounded by my deputies: what do you think would happen?"  Anomin’s response was, “A misunderstanding.”

Tharduk started explaining what Anomin did the previous night.  The Sheriff interrupted with, “Wait. You’re admitting to what now?”  In reply, Kadruth thunked the bag of gold orbs onto the Sheriff’s desk.  Intrigued, the Sheriff opened the bag and looked inside.  "I understand your trepidation," he said, closing the bag.  He quietly listened to Tharduk tell [mostly] the whole story.

"Are you leaving town anytime soon?" The Sheriff asked.  Tharduk stated the group was leaving immediately after lunch.  "So I have to wait till after lunch before taking these to the baron," The Sheriff replied.  “You should definitely be out of town when I do that.”  The dwarves agreed and they and Anomin left the Sheriff.

Tharduk, Kadruth, and Anomin went back to the Crossed Arrows and relayed the conversation to Sorvia, Islo, and Inserrant.  Inserrant stated she wanted to go confront the ne’er-do-wells at the Courageous Plate about nearly kidnapping the two dwarves when the group first arrived in Nomi two weeks ago.  Tharduk and Kadruth were good with this but Kadruth suggested they do so on the way out of town.  Everyone agreed.

The group of adventurers settled their accounts with Hira and left the Crossed Arrows.  They walked across Nomi to the Courageous Plate.  They received several friendly waves along the way over from townsfolk that recognized them for helping put out the fire at the Michelakis house.

Arriving at the Courageous Plate, they found a handful of people sitting at tables out on the veranda.  Inserrant asked the dwarves if any of these people were part of the near attack.  Tharduk and Kadruth looked the people over and saw no one they recognized.  Kadruth answered, “Nope.”

When the adventurers entered the Courageous Plate, the entire bar went quiet.  Clearly there were people in here who recognized the adventurers.  Kadruth walked right up to the table Theodore Damaskis had once guided he and Tharduk to and sat down at it.  The rest of the adventurers followed and sat down.  Tharduk and Kadruth looked around and recognized several faces in the crowd.  The bartender was also looking very pale.

Eventually a server came over to the table and asks if he could help the group.  The adventurers ordered drinks and then quietly drank them in the silent bar.  The adventurers then paid for their drinks and Kadruth bought 3 bottles of mead for the trip.  The adventurers then strode out, daring anyone to say anything.  No one was brave enough to do so, looking into their drinks and otherwise avoiding any eye contact.

The adventurers left Nomi through the Brewer’s Gate and headed northwest to the Ygro Dasos forest and the Onomastike Hills.

That Night

The group was several miles into the forest and at the edge of the hills when they made camp.  During third watch, Sorvia heard the rustling of people approaching the campsite...

End of session

Commentary

[So we did not play for a month between the last session and this one for a mix of reasons, most revolving around the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November.  My wife and I did an Orphan’s Thanksgiving where we invite friends in the area that can't have Thanksgiving with their families for various reasons to have Thanksgiving with us.  The week before we had to do shopping for food and a deep cleaning of the house.  The day itself was a huge pile of food and friends and some boardgames but mostly conversations with friends.  Afterwards, my wife and I were exhausted so the following week we did boardgames instead of me running the Sudden Sea.  I forget why we skipped the week after that, but we did eventually resume plate for this season.]

[I may have given the PCs too much money during this session.  Part of it was balanced by the fact that some of it would be dangerous to spend as it might draw unwanted attention.  On the other hand, in the past I’ve been stingy with handing out treasure and I’m trying to avoid doing that again.  That said, this isn’t D&D, so there will not be thousands and thousands of coins.  The local economy is copper-based so the treasure they have represents a lot of buying power, but where are they going to spend it?  Plus, several have dependents they need to take care of.]

Sudden Sea Adventures

Sudden Sea Landing Page - Links to all the write-ups for this campaign

Last session: Session 13

 

Next session: Session 15

The Sudden Sea –Session 13

[May 4 to May 11 – Survey conclusion and cautiously back to Nomi]

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened November 13, 2023.]

[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea.  The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]

 

Player Characters

Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally

Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon

Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Via Roll20

Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer

 

Spring

May 4, 56 I.C. (Imperial Calendar)

In the morning, the adventurers took an inventory of the claws and fangs they were able to harvest from the bear and Nemean Lion they had killed during the night.  Due to their interrupted sleep from the creature attacks, they slept in a couple hours so everyone would be fully rested.  During the day they scouted and mapped more of the forest.  The forest seemed more peaceful.  At the end of the day they made camp and set watches.  The night passed without incident.

May 5, 56 I.C.

The party resumed mapping and surveying the forest.  They reached the southeastern most reach of the forest and could see the Dowr Gwernan, the river that was the official border with The Shires, about a mile away.  Sorvia very much wanted to bathe and suggested the group push on to the river.  The rest of the adventurers were amenable and shortly the group was setting up camp next to the river.  Everyone washed and refilled their waterskins with clean river water.  The night was quiet.

May 6, 56 I.C.

The adventurers moved around the southeastern arm of the forest to avoid backtracking and resumed their survey when they got back to the main body of the forest.  At the end of the day they made camp in the forest.

During first watch, Islo heard the sound of a very large bird flying over the forest, arriving from the west and leaving to the northeast.  Without seeing whatever it was, he felt it might have been either a roc or a really big manticore.  He shared this information with Tharduk and Kadruth when they took the second watch, but neither dwarf heard anything unusual that night.

May 7, 56 I.C.

The adventurers continued scouting and mapping the forest.  The forest was very lively on this day and Sorvia and Islo were able to supplement the group’s store of food by hunting and gathering as they went.  The night passed without incident.

May 8, 56 I.C.

The scouting of the forest worked its way up the western edge of the forest.  When they were on the edge of the forest they could occasionally see herds of sheep grazing on the plains to the west.  Some of the largest sheep were the same size as the smallest sheep in the cyclopses’ herd.  The group camped in the forest and the night was quiet.

May 9, 56 I.C.

The adventurers wrapped up scouting the forest, observing more sheep herds to the west during the day.  At the end of the day they made it back to the Mesta River, the border between the Wet Marches Barony and the Barony of Nomi, where they refilled their waterskins.  They set up camp and watches, but the night passed without incident.

May 10, 56 I.C.

The adventurers forded the Mesta River and marched north towards the town of Nomi.  Just as they could see the town on the horizon, they stopped walking and made camp.  Uncertain what their status might be here, Sorvia set up snares and tripwires around the campsite.

The adventurers spent some time discussing their options and decided it would be smart to have Anomin fly ahead and contact The Sheriff to see how things lie.  Anomin agreed with this.  Before she flew off, Inserrant asked Anomin to pick up a copy of her (Inserrant’s) wanted poster if one was available.

Anomin flew off in her crow form and quickly reached the town.  She flew around and above the town to see if anything peculiar was going on.  She could see the partially burned Michelakis house had started repairs and that the townspeople seemed to be going about their business normally.  Anomin then circled down and landed on the roof of the Post Office, across the street from the Sheriff’s Office.  She observed the Sheriff’s Office for a while.  The ground floor was lit up but not the upstairs and there were a couple of deputies standing on the ground floor veranda.

As it looked safe, Anomin flew down to the main doors of the sheriff’s office, landing on the veranda railing.  The Bounty Board was to the left of the doors and she quickly looked the board over.  None of the posters she could see were for the adventurers, so she flew inside the office and landed near a deputy she felt she recognized.  The deputy saw her fly in and was about to shoo this crow out of the office when Anomin clearly asked to speak with the sheriff.  This caused all activity in the office to pause for a moment.

The deputy called out, “Sheriff?  There’s someone here to talk with you.”

The Sheriff called back, “Who is it?”

“A crow wearing a necklace,” the deputy responded.

The Sheriff could be heard to curse mostly under his breath and then called out, “Send her in.”

Anomin flew into the office the deputy gestured at - the door was open.  Inside she found The Sheriff sitting behind his desk, staring at her.  She landed on the back of a chair facing the desk and asked how things were.  In response, he laid out a proclamation from the Baron.  Anomin read it and the proclamation stated that Viktor Nicabar had been discovered to be a criminal and traitor and his property was officially confiscated by the baron.

Once Anomin finished reading the proclamation, The Sherriff shared that the baron found the map Anomin had turned over quite interesting, particularly the gold mine that by rights belonged to the baron.  The baron fixed that issue, which amazingly cleared up all the land disputes in that area.  Agni Michelakis now had more or less complete control over the lumber business per her inheritance, even if the baron claimed the part of the land with the mine as confiscated property.  Anomin asked if he still had any of the wanted posters as Inserrant wanted a copy of hers.  The Sheriff opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out copies of the wanted posters and gave Anomin the one for Inserrant, folding it so she could carry it as a crow.

The Sheriff then asked if they found anything in the Mykro Dasos.  She gave a summation but left out the cyclopses.  When The Sheriff asked if they could confirm the rumors of giants stealing sheep, her response was, “Nope.  No giants.”  The Sheriff stared at her but couldn’t read a crow’s facial expressions and let it go.

After polite goodbyes, Anomin flew out of the sheriff’s office and then out of town, making her way back the the encamped adventurers.  Back in camp she handed Inserrant her own wanted poster, which listed her as Lady Zill with a minor reward.  Anomin then shared everything she had learned and heard in town.  The group decided it sounded safe to enter Nomi the next day and planned to do so.

The rest of the night passed quietly.

May 11, 56 I.C.

After breaking camp, the adventurers walked the last five miles to Nomi and entered the town through the County Gate [so-called as it was the starting point for the County Road the extended east from Nomi].  Sorvia wanted to get copies of the wanted posters for the group as souvenirs, Kadruth wanted to speak with Agni Michelakis, and the return mail to Mouzaki needs to be picked up, so the group splits.  Tharduk, Islo, Sorvia, and Anomin went to pick up the mail.  Kadruth went to go speak with Agni, hoping for a reward for helping the family out recently.  Inserrant went to the Crossed Arrows to see about making some money singing at the inn.

~*~

Inserrant arrived at the Crossed Arrows and spoke with the owner, Hira.  Hira quickly and correctly recognized Inserrant but kept a neutral expression when she asked Inserrant what she needed.  Inserrant started with, “We're back.”

"Are you going to cause any trouble,"  Hira asked.

“We haven't yet.”

"There was a lot of excitement the last time you were here."

“We were more a victim of the excitement really.”

Remembering Inserrant was a singer, Hira asked, "Do you want to work tonight?"

“Of course.”

The two settled down to terms and when Inserrant needed to be performing.

~*~

On the way to get the mail, Tharduk and Sorvia wanted to go to the Sheriff’s Office.  While Tharduk and Sorvia went in, Islo and Anomin waited on the veranda, Islo reading the various wanted posters to Anomin.

Inside, Tharduk and Sorvia spoke with The Sheriff, asking if there were any possible rewards for the people they captured the last time the adventurers were in tow.  The Sheriff, slightly apologetic, stated that the adventurers had captured the arsonists before an award was posted, so there wasn’t any now.  He suggested the group stop by the next time they are passing Nomi and he might have something for them.

Sorvia asked if she could get a copy of the wanted posters the baron had posted for the group as mementos.  The Sheriff reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a stack, stating the reward had been rescinded before his deputies got around to nailing up the posters, so Sorvia could take what she wanted.  Sorvia also wanted to interrogate Seraphim but The Sheriff informed Sorvia that Seraphim was being kept in the baron’s jail, not his, so she was unavailable.

Once Tharduk and Sorvia were done speaking with The Sheriff, the group crossed the street and went into the Post Office to pick up the return mail to Mouzaki.  They were given another two-foot cube crate, but this one was heavier that the one the adventurers previously delivered.

Having done what they wanted, the four adventurers went over to the town well to wait for Kadruth to find them.  While there they read the Nomi job board but found nothing that interested them.

~*~

Kadruth arrived at the Michelakis household.  Clean up from the fire was complete while repairs were just getting started.  Kadruth found the foreman and asked to speak with Lady Michelakis.  The foreman sent a kid as a runner to get the butler.  After a couple minutes the kid returned with a note for the foreman.  The foreman read the note and then had the kid take Kadruth over to “the other building.”

The kid led Kadruth down the street south and then east along the street inside the town walls to a narrow building.  The kid knocked on the front door and a servant answered.  The kid explained that Kadruth was here to see the Lady.  The kid then discretely coughed at Kadruth, who took the hint and tipped the kid a copper.

Kadruth was led into the house by the servant to a waiting room at the back.  While waiting, Kadruth noticed that the back of the house was much wider than the front.

After a few minutes, Agni Michelakis arrived, along with a couple bodyguards.  Kadruth stated he was just there to see how the Lady was doing after the mail incident and the fire.  Agni told Kadruth she was still surprised that her business partner, Viktor, had been such a snake in the grass.  The baron publicly confiscated all of Viktor’s property as a result of the revelations under Viktor’s house.  This included a large part of the logging area and the mine she did not know she once had.  Apparently Viktor had been secretly running the mine for over a year, producing gold for at least half that time.  No one really knew how much gold Viktor had extracted but speculation was that it had been significant.

In the past week, the property markers in the forest had been re-surveyed and it was discovered the markers along her property had been moved.  With the markers replaced back to their correct positions, all the land under contention was decreed hers by the baron.  The person who had contested the property confessed to being paid by Viktor to file the claim, but swore he had not moved the markers.  The baron had not rendered judgment on that yet, but Agni suspected the baron would be confiscating some of the man’s land as punishment.

Once the two had finished discussing the outcome of things, Agni handed Kadruth a small pouch with coins in it as a gift for helping put the fire out so quickly.  Kadruth thanked her for the gift and bid her good day.

Kadruth then went looking for the rest of the group, eventually finding them at the town well.  The group waited for Inserrant there for about half an hour before deciding to go look for her at the Crossed Arrows.

At the Crossed Arrows they found Inserrant waiting.  They went to a table and shared what they had learned.  Kadruth took this time to see what kind of gift Agni had given him and found the pouch held 18 gold coins.  Inserrant explained she had a gig to perform at the Crossed Arrows that night and asked that the group spend the night in town before heading north back to Mouzaki.  The group agreed and rented the large room upstairs again for the night, with Kadruth covering everyone’s dinner and the room.

Later That Night

Curious about things at the Nicabar residence, Anomin told the rest of the group she was going to check the house as a crow while everyone else listened to Inserrant's performance.  The other adventurers were fine with Anomin doing this, being too comfortable back in town after camping for two weeks to follow her.

Anomin flew over the town to the north end where the Nicabar place was located.  There were a couple guards standing watch at the front and back entrances.  Some of the window blinds were up and some were not, with no smoke coming from any of the chimneys.  The house felt empty to Anomin.

Seeing an opportunity, Anomin flew down through the largest chimney and exited it in the kitchen.  There was light dust on everything in the kitchen and some food left out had gone bad.  Anomin checked the pantry and cold room and found both mostly empty.

Anomin decided to check the rest of the house out, looking for Viktor’s bedroom.  She eventually found it on the third floor at the far end of the house from where she started.  She searched the bedroom, looking for secret or hidden compartments.  She found a hidden compartment in the bed headboard that held a sword!  One of the side tables had faint scratch marks on the floor near it.  Anomin turned back into her human form and moved the table, finding a trap door underneath it.  Anomin turned back into a crow and investigated the trap door.  It seemed locked and she suspected that there was a latch on the other side, which would be appropriate for a quick escape.

Already down on the floor, Anomin next looked under the bed.  There she found a movable panel.  Pushing the panel up, she found a hidden compartment.  She also heard footsteps approaching the room from the hallway.  She climbed up into the compartment, which contained a small bag, and listened.

She heard two people enter the bedroom, one asking the other if they had found something.  “Not yet,” was the reply.  Anomin heard the two people discover the trapdoor and attempt to pry it open.  Suddenly there was the sound of wood splintering and a cry from one of the two as the trapdoor suddenly gave way and that person fell with a loud thud!

Anomin heard the fallen person climb back up and state he was injured.  The other helped him out of the trapdoor and back out of the bedroom.  Anomin held position until she heard them start descending the stairs and then climbed out of the hidden compartment.  She removed the small bag, which jingled slightly with the sound of the many coins inside.  She then dragged the bag out from under the bed.

Once out from under the bed, Anomin turned human again and put the small bag in one of her belt pouches.  She then turned back into a crow and descended down through the now open trap door.  It descended a single story to a hidden passage along the eastern side of the house, ending at the backside of a secret door.

Anomin opened the secret door and stepped through, finding herself in a dark closet in the adjacent building...

End of session

Commentary

[The front half of this session went quick as the PCs finished scouting the Mykro Dasos forest.  The second half, back in Nomi, took more time.  We stopped before Anomin finished her investigations as it was getting late.]

[Random fact determined this session: the major export from the Shires to other principalities is food wagons.  Think “fantasy food trucks” and you are spot on.]

Sudden Sea Adventures

Sudden Sea Landing Page - Links to all the write-ups for this campaign

Last session: Session 12

 

Next session: Session 14

The Sudden Sea –Session 12

[May 3 – “That” turned out to be a Nemean Lion!]

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened November 6, 2023.]

[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea.  The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]

 

Player Characters

Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally

Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon

Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Via Roll20

Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer

 

Spring

May 3, 56 I.C. (Imperial Calendar)

Nighttime, Second Watch

As Kadruth slowly backed into the circle of light from the campfire, a lion nearly twice as big as a bear followed him.  Kadruth silently worked his mouth, trying to alert Tharduk to the lion’s presence, but he could not find his voice.

Kadruth turned and ran into the campsite and cast his Wall of Force spell.  He then finally found his voice and called out “Lion’s here!”  The lion moved over to the bear carcass and snarled loudly at Kadruth at Tharduk [Presence Attack].

A light sleeper, Islo was immediately awake.  He grabbed his bow and fled out of the camp and into the trees.  The lion snarled at the adventurers and took a bite of the bear carcass.  Inserrant, in her tent, grabbed her club and did her best to not sound like lion food.

Tharduk was immobile from fear.  Sorvia stood up, grabbed her bow, and fled into the trees.  Anomin turned into a crow and flew up and away.  Kadruth, after his brief burst of mobility was immobile from fear.

Having put some distance between himself and the lion, Islo strung his bow and took cover in some bushes.  The lion took another bite from the bear carcass, giving a look at the adventures, daring anyone to stop him.  Inserrant snuck out the back of her tent, noisily.

Tharduk’s will broke and he retreated from the lion.  Sorvia backed up another 12 meters, arcing around to the south and keeping a line of sight on the lion.  Anomin, now far away, hid in the treetops.  Kadruth had a plan and decided to hold to it [saved his action].

The lion decided Kadruth was challenging it and rushed the dwarf, clawing down the Force Wall and slashing Kadruth across the chest.  This triggered Kadruth’s contingency Teleport spell and the dwarf teleported up into the branches above him.  He attempted to cast his Force Bolt spell [using his saved action] but decided grabbing at branches to avoid a 20 meter fall to the ground was more prudent.  Islo took a Quick Shot at the lion but missed [due to range modifiers].  Inserrant pursued the fleeing Tharduk.

The lion, temporarily satisfied, returned to the bear carcass and took another bite.  Islo, once again in charge of his emotions, advanced on the lion 8 meters and shot at it again, hitting it solidly in the vitals!  Surprisingly, there was no blood...  Inserrant caught up to Tharduk who, ashamed of his cowardice, advanced to stand between Inserrant and the lion, ready to Block any potential attack from the lion.  Anomin, feeling safer, quietly flew 10 meters back towards the camp and waited to see what happened.  Sorvia braced herself and aimed for the lion’s head, but missed.  Kadruth, now secure in the branches, cast Force Bolt at the lion and hit it hard in the kidneys [technically a stomach hit, but from the back].  This drew blood, stunned, and knocked out the lion!

The lion groggily shook its head [it woke back up during the Post-Segment 12 Recovery and was shrugging off the Stunned effect this phase].  Islo braced himself and fired a Quickshot to the lion’s body and hit...to no effect!  Inserrant advanced on the lion with her club and struck it on a limb to no effect.

Tharduk ran as hard as he could to close with the lion and swung with all his strength and skill at the lion [pushed his running, pushed his Strength, and put his combat levels into damage].  He hit the beast but drew no blood.  Anomin, seeing her friends attacking the lion, flew back to the campsite but stayed up in the trees to avoid being a lion snack.  Sorvia set her bow to improve her odds at a head shot [a full action].  Kadruth cast his Force Bolt again, again hitting the lion in the kidneys and knocking it unconscious again.

Islo shot the lion in the head, making certain that the beast stayed unconscious.

Despite all their attacks, only Kadruth’s Force Bolts actually caused the lion to bleed.  Thinking it over, the rangers thought it likely that the lion’s extremely sharp claws would likely cut itself.  They cautiously moved in and manipulated its massive paws to extend the claws and cut its own throat, killing it.  They then extracted one of the claws so they had a tool sharp enough to skin the beast for its nigh-impervious hide.

End of session

Commentary

[This session was basically a big fight with a Nemean Lion that was near impervious to the PCs weapons.  The lion had 10PD/15ED Armor that only worked versus slashing and piercing attacks.  Inserrant's club would have bypassed that, but her player rolled near minimum on the club damage on her only attack.  This is why the cyclopses were not very scared of the lion, just cautious about it - their punches and clubs were mighty and bypassed the armor.  As it was, they eventually knocked it out and then worked out a way to kill it.]

Sudden Sea Adventures

Sudden Sea Landing Page - Links to all the write-ups for this campaign 

Last session: Session 11 

 

Next session: Session 13 [Not yet typed up]

Adventures in the Green Published!

My OD&D clone set of rules, Adventures in the Green, is now published and available on DriveThruRPG.com!

Think "OD&D, but readable" and you will understand what Adventures in the Green offers.  The rules were reorganized to consolidate rules bits from across the original booklets where clauses and complete rules were hidden away in magic item descriptions or magazine interviews published separately.  I also rewrote the rules to make them clear and concise.

Book I: Characters is 68 pages and provides the rules for creating characters to play, equipping them, and some basics of adventuring.  This is the link to the Book I product page.

Book II: Conflicts is 68 pages and provides the rules for combat, including naval and aerial, plus the writeups for all the monsters.  This is the link to the Book II product page.

Book III: Campaigns is 66 pages and provides the rules for Referees to run campaigns plus the random treasure tables and descriptions of magic items.  This is the link to the Book III product page.

Each booklet is sold separately at $10 each, which I feel is a fair price for 66-68 page booklets with five years of development behind them.  I've been running a test campaign parallel to the rules development, which has helped spot rules gaps (like how much light a torch provides) and eliminate typos.  

[As a tech writer, I know by saying those words that someone will now find an obvious typo, but that is the nature of writing.  Send me an email or comment here and I'll fix it and update the published PDFs.]

That's it for right now.  I should have the next session of the Sudden Sea campaign up later this week.  We've reached a stopping point, right after the players trigger a revolt and are switching back to Book 4 of the Shattered Star AP.  Keep reading!

The Sudden Sea –Session 11

[April 30 - May 2 and 3 – Cyclopses and bears and...what is that!?]

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened October 30, 2023.]

[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea.  The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]

 

Player Characters

Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally

Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon

Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Via Roll20

Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer

 

Spring

May 2, 56 I.C. (Imperial Calendar)

Just After 3:00

Trying to discuss the cyclops sentry on the other side of a bend in the ravine without being heard, Sorvia and Tharduk were “arguing” in hand signs.  Tharduk had no idea what Sorvia was trying to convey and was miserable at conveying that he did not understand.  

With no resolution in sight, Islo decided the group needed to retreat back to a place they could actually speak.  He quietly walked back around a previous bend in the ravine.  The rest of the adventurers went to follow when the cyclops sentry finally noticed they were there, spotting Anomin (in crow form) and the two dwarves out in the open.  “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” he called out.

Tharduk answered, stating that they were trying to not be threatening, which confused the cyclops.  Then Sorvia spoke up from a concealed position, agreeing with Tharduk.  The cyclops saw her and asked what she was doing hidden down there.  She replied, “Mapping.”  The cyclops stated he did not want to appear on the map.  Kadruth explained that since he is not a natural landmark, he and his sheep would not be drawn into the map.  This satisfied the cyclops.

The cyclops warned the adventurers that there was a big lion in the forest that was responsible for the death of his favorite sheep, Irwin.  Tharduk asked about whether or not the cyclops traded or sold wool.  The cyclops said they did but his brother was better at that stuff.  He also introduced himself as Nunya and said he would be right back with his brother to trade.

While the cyclops was away, Sorvia and Anomin went back to where Islo was to bring him up to date on the conversation.  Kadruth also used his Force Wall spell to create a ramp so he and Tharduk could negotiate with the cyclopses at eye level.  [That was not an intentional pun.]

When the two cyclopses returned, the second one introduced himself as Inna and that their third brother, Auda, was watching their camp.  Inna and Tharduk then start negotiating the price of the wool.  They eventually agreed on a cost of 2 gold coins to purchase 6 cloves (42 pounds) of wool.  [This was a good deal for Tharduk as a clove of wool usually went for half a gold coin each.]

During the negotiations, Kadruth spoke with Nunya about the lion, trying to get the cyclopses to agree to a bounty for killing the lion.  Nunya wasn’t interested as the cyclops just gave it a hit and it left them alone.  Kadruth did learn that cyclopses had been in this area about a year and the lion first showed up during the recent winter.

Once the trade was done, the adventurers backtracked a bit and then worked their way around the cyclops camp.  Islo and Sorvia discussed what kind of lion the cyclopses were reporting but came to no definite conclusions.  [Neither really had an appropriate Knowledge Skill for this.]  They reached the western edge of the hills late in the afternoon and made camp.

Night

The night passed quietly.

May 3, 56 I.C.

Rain clouds moved in from the east and it rained lightly most of the day.  Kadruth used his Force Wall spell to provide protection from the rain for Sorvia so she could continue mapping the forest as the group explored.  Anomin kept a look out specifically for lion tracks but saw none.

During the day, Anomin and Kadruth noticed that the group had passed the same set of trees three times and called out Islo on it.  A quick tree-climb later, they worked out where they actually were, corrected Sorvia’s notes, and resumed exploring, having only lost an hour or two of time.

Mid afternoon the rain started letting up and gradually stopped.  At the end of the day Sorvia found an excellent site for a camp and the adventurers made camp there.

That Night, First Watch

Early in the watch, before it got too dark, Islo heard something moving through the underbrush.  He fired an arrow at it, hoping to scare the creature away.  Instead, the creature bellowed in response, allowing Islo to identify it as a bear!  The bear's bellow awoke Sorvia and Anomin, but barely stirred the dwarves.

Islo waited for the bear to appear.  When the angry, shaggy, brown bear marched into the camp, Islo tripped it with a trick shot.  Sorvia notched an arrow and shot the bear, hitting it with a glancing blow to the head [she very rolled low damage].  Anomin shifted into her cougar form and charged the bear, nastily raking its forelimbs [lot of Body, but light on Stun].  At this point Tharduk woke up, but Kadruth continued sleeping.

Islo shot at the bear, piercing both of its forelimbs [again, lots of Body, little Stun].

Tharduk readied his axe and shield.  The bear got up off the ground and stood on its rear legs and roared [Presence attack], impressing Sorvia.  It then clawed at Anomin, injuring her significantly.  The noise finally woke Kadruth up, but he was still groggy and complained about all the noise Anomin was making.  Sorvia sank an arrow into the bear's torso, killing it.

When Kadruth stumbled out of his tent, he found a very hurt cougar whining at him.  He immediately set to healing her with his magic.  Islo and Sorvia set to skinning and butchering the bear carcass.  Once his watch is done, Islo cooked some bear meat steaks.

That Night, Second Watch

Midway through the watch, Kadruth was at the edge of camp collecting some wood for the fire when he saw two large gleaming golden feline eyes staring right at him from a distance of 10 meters!

End of session

Commentary

[I had not planned on having the lion show up here, but I rolled two random encounters for the night and after Islo cooked bear steaks, it seemed likely the lion might get a whiff of it and come investigate.]

Sudden Sea Adventures

Sudden Sea Landing Page - Links to all the write-ups for this campaign 

Last session: Session 10 

 

Next session: Session 12 [Not yet typed up]