PCs Present & Played:
Teake's TeethTinslee & Therese, Teamsters
Sidenote: Trying something new with this one, going to put a high level summary up top to be more immediately useful and then the narrative summary with more details to follow.
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| Expedition so far into Ghallia-That-Fell. |
Travel Summary
Expedition Day; Season Day; Weather; Hexes; Expenditures; Notes
Expedition 1; Fall 53; Sunny; 1517, 1418, 1419, 1320, 1220; 1ea ration/feed; white wisps in 1419
Expedition 2; Fall 54; Heavy Fog; 1120, 1020, 0920, 0820; 1ea ration/feed; group passed in night 0820
Expedition 3; Fall 55; Thunderstorm; 0820; 1ea ration/feed ea, 6ea ration/feed lost to storm
Sidenote: I've already removed the rations/feed listed out above (9ea total) from all character inventories.
Sidenote: I've already removed the rations/feed listed out above (9ea total) from all character inventories.
Next Watch Sequence
Expedition 3 night, C D A B
Watches
A. Edmond, Timothee (I1), Indira (I2)
B. Jehan, Yvonne (I3), Basile (I4)
C. Barthelm, Margot (I5), Sacha (I6)
D. Lucien (for Claus), Rosaline (P1), Cyril (P2)
Camp Setup: Horses gathered in the center, tied to trees or stakes. Rest of camp arrayed in a circle around them. Light discipline, no campfires or other lights.
Chain of Command (as suggested by Barthelm)
- Tenkos
- Edmond
- Jehan
- Claus
- Barthelm
- Jehan's Horse
- All other horses
- Viggo
Last time the party bought a house, outfitted it with lab & library, and planned out what retainers and gear they would need to head into Ghallia-That-Fell.
We opened up with the return of Jehan after his disappearance following the chaotic events in a certain Stilton basement. He accompanied the rest of the party to Prince Fabian's residence to air a grievance of Edmond's.
Edmond was offended that he was not provided with chainmail in order to be properly equipped for the upcoming journey. Majordomo Antens, stuttering more and more as he grew angry and flustered, countered that the prince had already expanded incredible sums equipped the party with a score of horses and a month's worth of supplies. In the process, he let slip that he considered this a hopeless errand and was trying to minimize the prince's outlays.
Unfortunately Antens' indignation combined with Edmond's dogged persistence was enough to draw the attention of Captains Robineau and Lajoie as they passed by. The prince's insperable spy masters merely had to raise an eyebrow at the situation for Majordomo Antens to acquiesce to Edmond's demand for chainmail before quickly scurrying off.
Barthelm took the opportunity to press the captains for any information on the disappearances in the Dwarfgrave Mountains, specifically the presence of any worms. Captain Robineau (or was it Lajoie?) confirmed that the disappearances were indeed confined to the northern pass but did not know anything more because none of their agents have yet returned from investigations deeper into the mountains. So far none of the attacks have left any trace of bodies or survivors but have left everything else.
Jehan then asked about any possibility of resurgent death cults in the area. Robineau and Lajoie each raised an eyebrow but didn't know anything specific. They asked Jehan for anything else he could share and when he said that the name he knew was "Duvan'Ku" both of their eyebrows shot up. They had only heard the name as a bogeyman from ages past but Jehan's suggestion that they may be resurgent was very alarming.
"Unfortunately we do-
-not have many assets left in Teutonia.
-Especially after our losses in the Dwarfgrave Mountains and-
-sending word to pull back to Prince Florent's domain-
-for monitoring. However we will see-
-what we can do." Captains Robineau & Lajoie
They arrayed themselves in a column on the parade ground the next morning. Sergeant Liliane Teake, leader of Teake's Teeth mercenary company, introduced herself and her soldiers to the party. The sergeant herself was missing quite a few teeth but she made up for it with a necklace strung full of them. Mostly the teeth were animals but there were a few notable human teeth. The rest of her squad bore similar necklaces (although were not as bereft of teeth).
The crew decided that Tenkos would in charge of the new retainers and setup an overall chain of command for when his player couldn't make it. That put Edmond at the head for this session, and they rolled out (after much glaring and side-eye from Edmond to Majordomo Antens).
Departing the castle was a serious production. Prince Fabian gave a short speech expressing hope for a successful return but emphasizing a return. Archers lined the battlements above the gate as the drawbridge lowered slowly to extend across the gap, finally reaching the bridge. A double line of pikes preceded another double line of crossbows as they slowly advanced onto the bridge. The party could smell the heavy scent of boiling oil on the rampart above as they passed through the gate. They also noticed that as the advance party moved on the bridge about half of them focused their pikes and aim towards the water rather than the ashen shore ahead.
When the bridge guards reached the other end they spread out into a semi circle, split between watching the distant treeline and the water behind them. Edmond saw their caution but made a point of spurring his horse Devoi through the narrow gap they left and leading the entire expedition confidently ahead. He made sure to continue this pace until they were past the treeline. The advance guard, for their part, started to work their way back across the bridge as soon as the last party member had past their ranks.
Once they had entered the forest proper, Edmond called a halt. He made it clear to everyone that if things were to go south that they should leave him behind. Barthelm countered that they do whatever it takes for their friends, but Edmond was insistent.
"Well at least never go back for that fucking rope!" - Barthelm
Edmond flashed the chains circling his waist and noted that "I'm a little bit attached to mine."
For all the talk of Ghallia-That-Fell being an awful place the first day was sunny and easy. They noted the normal woodland animal sounds and headed generally south. Daily travel procedure is:
Check weather (Pocket Dimension)
Determine Travel Distance
Decide travel direction (players)
Event check per hex (d6)
Camp Setup
Event check per watch
Sidenote: I opted not to bother with "getting lost" rolls because I didn't want to have to track where the party actually was versus where they thought they were. It seems a shame to lose that potential for lost time and shenanigans though. Maybe I can add it in as a "you wander around the hex" instead of "you go the wrong direction."
Their travel was uneventful for the first few miles (Hex 1418) but they came upon some sort of wispy gunk attached to the pines above the gully they were traveling through (1419), flapping in the breeze. It was hard to tell at the distance exactly what was hanging off the tree other than it was white and lightweight. A prominent theory was that it was ghostly related.
Claus immediately wanted to investigate shit and bring stuff back! Edmond's clearly defined position since before the beginning of this expedition (that he opposed in the first place) was that bringing back anything extra from the plaguelands is a terrible idea. Terrible! Claus sputtered and fumed! Barthelm brokered a compromise whereby they don't worry about finding additional treasure until AFTER they have secured the means to save Prince Fabian's niece Noëlle. They pressed on.
They circled the camp up around the horses, tied to trees or staked to the ground after finding a somewhat raised area that would hopefully give them more of a warning if something approached. They debated whether they should use lots of fires to "light this shit up" or try to keep a minimal presence. "We've got too many people to hide", but Barthelm also liked the idea of not drawing a lot of attention. It was at this point that Edmond revealed his horrific scar from his previous venture into the plaguelands.
"Is that a bite?!" - Barthelm
"It is." - Edmond
From this point on Barthelm decided that Edmond was definitely a werewolf but also was bit by the chain so must be a werechain. They've got ~20 days until the full moon before they can test that theory.
They debated whether the possible threats were intelligent or not as the decider for whether they should make a bright camp or not. Barthelm questioned more into Edmond's story and the former soldier described how his party had crossed the ashen shore into the wood. The creatures that attacked fell upon them suddenly during the night and their fires and sentries did not seem to deter them. The battle was such chaos that he couldn't even tell how many of them there were, only that they were wild and lethal.
In the end they went for a blacked out camp. Teake's Teeth volunteered to take the watches, two per watch. The party decided that one of them would also stand watch, just in case, and came up with the following:
A. Edmond, Timothee (I1), Indira (I2)
B. Jehan, Yvonne (I3), Basile (I4)
C. Barthelm, Margot (I5), Sacha (I6)
D. Lucien (for Claus), Rosaline (P1), Cyril (P2)
Sidenote: I = Infantry, P = polearm, A = archer, T = teamster.
The Teeth went about pitching tents and setting up a basic perimeter. One of the players said "I get my tent out too" and I had to remind them that I gave them a heads up about the Teeth having tents and not to be surprised when the party had none. Barthelm opined that it was better not to be locked into a tent with only one way out anyway.
Their first night in Ghallia-That-Fell was uneventful. Edmond spent his watch getting to know Timothee and Indira. Not only were the pair the cooks for Teake's Teeth, but they had joined the sergeant at the same time as their sister Rosaline.
The dawn of the second day (start 1220) brought with it a heavy fog, obscuring vision but thankfully not causing and navigational delays. The party progressed doggedly west after packing up camp, moving from 1220 four hexes to 0820. They rotated watch the second night so that everyone would get a chance at uninterrupted sleep, with the order as:
B. Jehan, Yvonne (I3), Basile (I4)
C. Barthelm, Margot (I5), Sacha (I6)
D. Lucien (for Claus), Rosaline (P1), Cyril (P2)
A. Edmond, Timothee (I1), Indira (I2)
During Claus' watch he heard sounds of a group of things moving thru the woods nearby, probably no larger than a person but a number of them. Rosaline and Cyril quietly woke up the rest of the Teeth while Claus sat still, eyes closed to better follow the sounds.
After determining that the creatures were continuing on their path away from the camp Claus resumed smoking his pipe. In the morning Edmond had a nice chat with Claus (and everyone else) about maybe waking EVERYONE up next time instead of filling them in after the fact.
The third day barely dawned as the heavy fog gave way to lashing, thunderous, rainstorm. All thoughts of progress were replaced by a pressing need to find shelter before the driving wetness worked its way into their rations and spoiled it with mold and mildew.
They lost the whole day wandering around trying to get out of the rain and failing (despite two woodsmen at 5/6 and 3/6 skill). Everyone lost a whopping 9 rations and 9 feed for the horses. They avoided being struck by lightning and managed to take advantage of a couple of downed trees and branches to put together a makeshift shelter going into the night. We will see if they fare any better during the night next time. Next session will start at the beginning of the night in 0820, storm raging.
Sidenote: I've been running weather off the seasonal weather tables in Daniel Sell's very handy Pocket Dimension because I haven't gotten my stuff together enough to make a proper hex weather table, also by Daniel Sell. Maybe the results I roll as they go can feed into the generation of a hex weather table.
