Friday, March 8, 2013

Onward to Ashmont

September 6-10, in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning.

You wake up in the morning to a sound you haven't heard in days; birds chirping happily. Before you open your eyes you half expect that the forest will be green again but you are disappointed to see that the landscape is still bleak. The camp rouses later than normal, obviously worn from the previous days' battles and Dolgi especially is impatient to get on the road.

The first day is rough going. Maneuvering the wagon around all the fallen trees and through the rough ground takes time but your horses are strong and eventually around evening you settle into a natural cove in between two hills that offers shelter and some protection from any lurking eyes.

The night of the first day passes without mishap and Thor especially is happy to get a night of uninterrupted sleep.

The second day goes much faster than the first. You make good time and everyone is cheering up at the prospect of a warm bed and something other than trail rations. It is midday before you cross the border into the less ravaged forest and it is a gift to see some green again.

On the second night you camp in a stand of live trees. The fog is diminished here and the fire seems cheerful and bright. On the second watch Kring thinks he sees a floating head again and spends 30 or 40 minutes crashing around in the brush before you settle him down and convince him he was seeing something.

The third day goes much as the second and in the late morning you pass out of the forest and into the plains proper. Draymun actually dismounts and rubs his face in the grass he's so relieved to be out of the blighted forest. The bear also seems happier and the daily training with Draymun is seeing some fruit: when you feed him he doesn't bite your hand any more. You still have to be careful not to walk behind him or he'll growl and bare his teeth.

The night of the third day is cooler, fall is coming. Again the night passes uneventfully and Khazad quietly considers the luck of having a bear accompany the party.

On the fourth day it is cooler still and a light rain begins to fall as you pack up camp. It's a miserable day of travel and you are soaked to the bone when you stumble upon a small Thorp. There is no Inn, but one of the farmers allows you to sleep in his barn, provided the bear stays far away from his livestock. 

The fifth day is also windy and cold, but the rain stops and the air is crisp and clear. You make good time on the road and by evening the open fields give way to cottages and smaller farms. 

The capital city of Ashmont is in sight.

3 comments:

  1. Things to do in town:

    You can buy supplies. All mundane items, potions and scrolls are available. Many magical items are also available and there are craftsmen who could be commissioned to make other magical or non-magical items for a price.

    You can carouse for xp. Roll a d6 and pay the result times 100 gp for ale, food and pleasant company. Gain that as experience points and then make a Fort save to see if you made any enemies or got anyone pregnant in your inebriated state.

    You can do magical research for xp. Roll a d6 and pay the result times 100 gp for supplies, books and lab rentals. Gain that amount as experience points and make a Will save to see if you accidentally summoned a demon or burnt yourself with acid.

    You can look for rumors. Roll d20 and add 1 for every 10 gp you spend greasing palms. The better your roll, the better the info.

    You can see the sights.

    You can recruit hirelings.

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  2. Seeing the temple looming ahead in Ashmont causes chills to run up the spine of the wayward priest. His training hadn't prepared him for the trials and tribulations of the road but he had survived, with most of the group no worse for wear. His thoughts linger on one absent face, a face he can hardly recall after their ordeals.... Tom. Knowing that his friend would have returned if he had been able, and that he had always before managed to signal his danger, he knew that Tom had perished. Dolgi's warning of Orcs in the area and their encounter with a roving band had only confirmed his fears. He would need to pray for his lost friend and he would have to face his peers and superiors at the temple.
    Setting his jaw and steeling his nerves he began to head towards the coming storm with his head held high. Torag had failed him, Torag had abandoned his friends.... And that meant he was no real god. He knew he had been a fool to turn away from the god of his ancestors but the temple of Torag had offered much and had supported his beliefs, it had stood for what he thought he knew. "I've been a fool thinking the world was but black and white, good and evil. I have seen now that it is also chaos and order, it is also grey, so very grey." Covered in dirt with twigs in his beard and blood on his cassock, his eyes red and rheummy from too much ale, Khazad looked mad whispering to himself. Suddenly rememberinghis friend and their newest companion he turns to Draymun and the great bear, "You know the grey, you both have been to the grey, have crawled forth from it into the light of day. You both have seen the black where the grey ends. The deep places know truths and try to speak them to us, but we are too dim witted to see. The bear, the bear is the one who knows.... Although he comes out to forage for berries and to catch fish in the stream, the light is not his home. The dark is not any place for a bear to live forever, but he sometimes goes there when he must, staying until hunger, thirst or madness drive him hence.... Torag lives in the light and expects us all to live in the light, but he knows its a lie. A dirty filthy lie. The light shines to herald the darkness. The light shines into the cave only to push back the gloom. Where light and dark meet is the grey... The grey!" Khazad swills the last of his ale, tossing his head back so the froth can glisten amongst his beard. With a large belch he is rocked backwards and tumbles from his perch in the wagon.

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