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[WotMK: Hexcrawl] Session Thirty-Six
Dramatis Personae:
They discussed what they were going to do next and eventually decided to take on the gigases west of the city. Shining Star asked the starfolk Wara and Kimé if they wanted to come, mentioning that there would be a meteor shower in four days and they might be able to find a fallen star that could get them home. Kimé seemed all in favor of going, but Wara was reluctant, saying he was just a farmer. Kimé eventually convinced him, however, though that led Shining Star to worry that she was leading them to their deaths. Amos also spoke with Valeria, the human who had arrived in Agarica from the Roman Empire, and told her about their mission. She immediately agreed to come, and with their group thus enlarged the party went to sleep.
In the morning, full of delicious eggs and mushroom beer (and seed porridge for Elaphe), the party bought a pony for Wara and Kimé to ride on and then set out on the western road. As they showed the guards their tax receipts for the tower trip, they saw the Silent One airship cast off the lines, lift into the air, and perform a large circuit of the Tower before flying southward, and then they road outside the city. They passed through farmsteads and small villages, and when they paused to ask some villagers about marauding gigases they were told that they were further west, closer to the forest to the north of tower town. The road went northwest toward the Sarasan grasslands, so they stuck to the road, riding nearly all day and finding little except a few travelers who got off the road when they saw a party of heavily-armed adventurers approaching on horseback. Around dinner time, they stopped and slept in a copse of trees sheltered from the wind and the cold, ate a meal of travel jerky, bread, and dried fruit, and slept. The night was uneventful.
In the morning, Father James sent Hundred Wings to scout north of the road, and the spirit reported back that it had found a burned-out farm a few miles north, within sight of the wood, and gigas tracks nearby. When the party arrived at the farm, they found several slaughtered mooshrooms and a house with one wall caved in and parts still smoldering, though fortunately the thatch roof had not caught fire. There was a charred corpse of a chuzan in one corner of the house and no other bodies, and Shining Star and Kimé lay earth over the body and performed burial rites to appease their spirit. While the others looked over the farm. There was a well for water and tracks leading north to the forest, but no other valuables or loot taken. Eventually, they decided that rather than go hunting in the forest after the gigases, they would try to lure them out. Elaphe piled several mooshrooms north of the cottage and hid his bob-omb inside with instructions to go off if they were seriously disturbed and then they lit a bonfire and began roasting a mooshroom on it, wafting the smell to the woods.
As the fire was going, Shining Star traced a circle around it and began concentrating on it, feeling the heat of the fire and drawing it out. For hours she chanted as the mooshroom roasted, and eventually Willow, Amos, and Father James saw a fox-like creature with multiple tails dancing amidst the flames. Shining Star offered it a bigger fire if it would help them fight the gigases, but the rokon ignored her speech and looked at the cottage. It asked Shining Star what happened to the hearthfire inside, and when she explained about the gigases, it agreed to fight.
As Amos hid on the thatched roof and the others waited in the cottage, they heard the sound of something large moving through the forest and drawing nearer.
Next time, battle!
At the beginning, I had everyone talk about their short- and long-term plans for their characters, since a sandbox game needs to be player-driven to work well. They want to overthrow the Dragon Emperor, of course, but Shining Star wants to help Wara and Kimé get back home and cure Hemah of his curse, and Father James is looking for Predecessor artifacts and evidence of arremer manipulations. Elaphe wants to get extremely rich and leave a trail of mayhem behind him, which is a good motivation for any adventurer. Amos and Willow have slightly more nebulous motivations but I'm sure they'll figure something out.
Next time, battle against 2(?) gigases!
- Shining Star, mandragora sorcerer-priestess of Nyahré.
- Father James, human disciple of the pidgit-folk.
- Hundred Wings, Father James' familiar spirit bound into the bodies of dozens of ravens.
- Willow, human treesinger raised in Taira.
- Amos Burnham, a human from Earth.
- Elaphe, a chuzan junior member of the Black Rose.
They discussed what they were going to do next and eventually decided to take on the gigases west of the city. Shining Star asked the starfolk Wara and Kimé if they wanted to come, mentioning that there would be a meteor shower in four days and they might be able to find a fallen star that could get them home. Kimé seemed all in favor of going, but Wara was reluctant, saying he was just a farmer. Kimé eventually convinced him, however, though that led Shining Star to worry that she was leading them to their deaths. Amos also spoke with Valeria, the human who had arrived in Agarica from the Roman Empire, and told her about their mission. She immediately agreed to come, and with their group thus enlarged the party went to sleep.
In the morning, full of delicious eggs and mushroom beer (and seed porridge for Elaphe), the party bought a pony for Wara and Kimé to ride on and then set out on the western road. As they showed the guards their tax receipts for the tower trip, they saw the Silent One airship cast off the lines, lift into the air, and perform a large circuit of the Tower before flying southward, and then they road outside the city. They passed through farmsteads and small villages, and when they paused to ask some villagers about marauding gigases they were told that they were further west, closer to the forest to the north of tower town. The road went northwest toward the Sarasan grasslands, so they stuck to the road, riding nearly all day and finding little except a few travelers who got off the road when they saw a party of heavily-armed adventurers approaching on horseback. Around dinner time, they stopped and slept in a copse of trees sheltered from the wind and the cold, ate a meal of travel jerky, bread, and dried fruit, and slept. The night was uneventful.
In the morning, Father James sent Hundred Wings to scout north of the road, and the spirit reported back that it had found a burned-out farm a few miles north, within sight of the wood, and gigas tracks nearby. When the party arrived at the farm, they found several slaughtered mooshrooms and a house with one wall caved in and parts still smoldering, though fortunately the thatch roof had not caught fire. There was a charred corpse of a chuzan in one corner of the house and no other bodies, and Shining Star and Kimé lay earth over the body and performed burial rites to appease their spirit. While the others looked over the farm. There was a well for water and tracks leading north to the forest, but no other valuables or loot taken. Eventually, they decided that rather than go hunting in the forest after the gigases, they would try to lure them out. Elaphe piled several mooshrooms north of the cottage and hid his bob-omb inside with instructions to go off if they were seriously disturbed and then they lit a bonfire and began roasting a mooshroom on it, wafting the smell to the woods.
As the fire was going, Shining Star traced a circle around it and began concentrating on it, feeling the heat of the fire and drawing it out. For hours she chanted as the mooshroom roasted, and eventually Willow, Amos, and Father James saw a fox-like creature with multiple tails dancing amidst the flames. Shining Star offered it a bigger fire if it would help them fight the gigases, but the rokon ignored her speech and looked at the cottage. It asked Shining Star what happened to the hearthfire inside, and when she explained about the gigases, it agreed to fight.
As Amos hid on the thatched roof and the others waited in the cottage, they heard the sound of something large moving through the forest and drawing nearer.
Next time, battle!
At the beginning, I had everyone talk about their short- and long-term plans for their characters, since a sandbox game needs to be player-driven to work well. They want to overthrow the Dragon Emperor, of course, but Shining Star wants to help Wara and Kimé get back home and cure Hemah of his curse, and Father James is looking for Predecessor artifacts and evidence of arremer manipulations. Elaphe wants to get extremely rich and leave a trail of mayhem behind him, which is a good motivation for any adventurer. Amos and Willow have slightly more nebulous motivations but I'm sure they'll figure something out.
Next time, battle against 2(?) gigases!