They Met at a Tavern 27: Hangin' With the Horde

Who's riding along with the wagon train tonight:

• Rick: Bjorr, 1/2 orc Paladin
• Dan: Kiara, elf Ras Godai
• Seana: Zanegar, 1/2 orc Sea Wolf
• Chris: Thorn, dwarf Wizard
• Wayne: dwarf Sea Wolf

Drom was off on a dwarven pout after being teased too much about his camel.

Anyway... The party had conferred with Tuva, the horde's "librarian" regarding possible references to the lost cities of the north. Since it would take the sage time to sort through his "bookmobile" for relevant texts, it was time to chill.

"I know it's around here somewhere..."

The horde had set up camp near some sacred hills in order to inter some honored dead in their fashion. And, among other rituals to honor the moment, a number of sporting and other competitions were held. The party joined in, of course. Bjorr in horsemanship, Pharan, Zanegar, and Kiara in wrestling, and Thorn in lore and tales. All managed to win or tie their respective contests, and came out with a few extra coin to immediately spend...

Prepping for the games

While they were resting after their bouts, they saw a distinguished pair walking among the populace, greeting people. Their importance was hinted at by the substantial guard. He appeared to have been a worthy rider at one time, but who had gone soft with the mantle of leadership. She was a severe beauty, marred only by a healed broken nose. They introduced themselves as Khan Astulfus and Khana Belavrida. As the leaders of the Dekan Khanate, it was their duty to welcome the invited travelers and know their business. 

The party shared their quest. The Khan was pleased that they had made contact with the librarian, as their literacy was a point of pride. After all, he had gifted three of his most treasured books as part of the bride-price when he wed his lovely wife. Likewise, he mentioned their "memory folk" who memorized lore and history for recall. 

Time to do some shopping. Kiara sussed out a pair of dwarves she had seen driving a wagon with a smoking forge. Thori and Nori were tinkerers and craftsmen (craftsdwarves) proud of their skills. They took a look at Kiara's razor chain and wrinkled their noses. That chain is substandard. Give us some coin and we'll smooth those links out. How you use it without getting bound up we'll never know...

Getting Rid of Pests at The Shrine of Qriarae

A second recent campaign encounter scenario, prettied up for public consumption.  A few weeks ago, the party was seeking out a relic for the merchant clan they were trying to get back on the good side with.

I'd scribbled this shrine up previously, and modded it on the fly as the repository of said item. The party managed to subdue the bandits, and take care of the beetles before either caused more harm. Priest Erol got an advantage bonus on a spell as a reward, as well as the party finding the relic.

Hi!

The beetles were bespoke for the scenario, with a particularly hazardous ability due to their powerful pincer jaws. Fortunately (?), none of the beetles rolled well, so we didn't have any debilitating injuries... 

I refined the scenario a bit to make it usable at the table, with general ShadowDark stats and mechanics. The beetles have a bit of a timer component, with new hatchlings, as well as "Mama" finally breaking into the shrine proper. 

 Not much else to say on it - so will just share The Shrine of Qriarae with the world.

Tomorrow, the party gets nomadic.

They Met at a Tavern 26: Miles Covered

Tonight's Cast of Characters:

• Rick: Bjorr, 1/2 orc Paladin
• Dan: Kiara, elf Ras Godai
• Seana: Zanegar, 1/2 orc Sea Wolf
• Roger: Drom, dwarf Desert Rider
• Dave: Darkmist, elf Thief

(Thorn was sleeping one off, and Erol was out doing elf meditation things)

The party convened in Bettiholme, meeting Darkmist at the Lazy King. Some discussion, and an expedition north to the lost cities was chosen. A coastal trading ship with a sufficient hold for their mounts was hired. 

But first, we need to figure out where we are in the world. I'd scribbled up three "world" maps with large lakes/inland seas and other features. The party picked this one as their world.

The height of colored pencil technology

Bettiholme is on the southeast coastline of the large water body, by the smaller of the two rivers. 

The ship sailed, and things were all peachy until a wake was seen following. Spotted by Kiara, who was ill on the rail. 

Boo!

The serpent, possibly drawn by the scent of livestock on the ship, bore down, slamming into the hull multiple times. Chaotic action, as the party attempted to negotiate/intimidate the offloading of a cow on board to satiate the beast, while simultaneously hucking javelins and arrows at it. Fortunately, the serpent was dissuaded from continuing its attack by attrition of injuries, and the ship limped to harbor (cow still on board).

The port was a city located at the delta of the larger river. Named... Sulfurtown. For its mines. OK. The party disembarked as the ship put in for repairs. Time to go intelligence gathering on the lost cities. 

Drom sought out the library, where he was shown a fragmentary map of the city, and some old tomes describing its extent. The city was said to be dominated by a large causeway lined with markets and craft-halls, leading to the great temple, a pyramid at the city's heart. Drom is all about those ziggurats. 

Darkmist and Bjorr paid a visit to the local Temple of Ord, and while making some offerings, overheard that the lost city had generated energy for its many workshops and wonders from a volcano. Unfortunately, the city was lost when the volcano erupted, drowning it in lava.

Logging another Dyson joint - the Sunken Ruins

More slow progress transcribing and prettifying various maps and notes. In this case, a small stronghold ruins that the party discovered while tracking some stolen horses.

source

Just another case of some unclaimed real estate becoming occupied. Although the party successfully assaulted the crumbling fortifications, the leader of the defenders sensed that they were in pursuit of the horses, and released them in exchange for no more deaths.

Many of the occupants and items were lined out in my rough table notes, and I expanded their story a bit for the final document.

This usable space was scribbled on...

source

...and occupied by an extended family of zealous serpent-folk, with a leader convinced that he is a new prophet to their god. 

I AM YOUR PROPHET

Anyhow, the leader chose discretion over valor, allowing the PCs to retrieve their horses before more blood was shed. I'll post a full session writeup soon.

So check out who's squatting in Grimlil's Sunken Hold... (all ShadowDarked up).

Note: A couple of new spells were cribbed from “Forbidden Priest Spells for ShadowDark RPG” by C. Sella. Of course, now I can't find the original link to attribute the writer. I'm sharing the document here, but if anyone can point me to the original source, I'll update. 

"Maps" Blogwagon: Maps with Perspective...

Oop, gotta see what Prismatic Wasteland's been thinking about. Ah, "The Map is Not the Territory But It is the Topic"

Ooo... maps... always a favorite...

So, long ago on Ye Olde Blogge, I posted up what could be some appropriate content for this wagonload of bloggage. From the pages of a fortuitous Ebay find, I talked a bit about maps and illustrations of places that No Longer Exist, either by the actions of humans or nature...

There is something about having a couple of old topographic maps that memorialize a mountain that occasionally, and violently, reforms itself. Most recently, at a moment that we just happened to be able to witness it. 

Something that went from this:

Topo maps from Here

to this:

And as I mused before - What happens when our Party of Heroes(tm), bearing an old, faded map, crest the horizon, expecting to find Proportional Peak, on top of which the Gem of Plot Advancement resides...

... only to find the smoking Crater of Catastrophe. 

bummer.

Does an inaccurate or out-of-date piece of information (map) misinform or mislead the players/PCs to a dead end or hazard? Is the error of the map by ill-informed cartography or perhaps by ill intent? Did the GPS just lead you to drive into a pond?

Like rumors, perhaps maps should be suspect. Perhaps vague, if not downright misleading/incorrect. Maps that are an amalgamation of versions by wildly variable cartographers. A hodge-podge of landmarks, contradictory names, and scale errors. Omissions or obfuscations for personal or political purposes.

Do we really want to trust the scribblings and 'X' on this map? Where is it really going to lead us?