800th Post: Posts Don't Mean Prizes!

For some reason a post I made almost five years ago called 200th Post: Posts Mean Prizes is consistently among the most viewed each week.  Now, why do you think that would be?

Perhaps because of the cool meme.

It's interesting to me to note when that post was made the blog was less than a year old - 200 posts in 11 months!  Those were different days, in which I had a tight publishing routine that I'd set myself.

Well, it now just under eight years old and this is the 800th post.

ODD Sci-Fi #1: A Quick Meet-and-Greet Job (Part 1)

ODD Sci-Fi played 31 May 2020 (online session)

The Game Pitch

• The core worlds are owned by the corporations. 

• The savage frontier is inhospitable. Adapting to life on the fringe means becoming something not quite human. You have to go into deep space to get anywhere. Some parts are better travelled than others, but all the same deep space warps people in terrifying ways. 

• There was an ancient race of alien precursors. Their technology was far superior to ours, but that did not stop them from being utterly destroyed. 

• You are damaged goods. 

• You have incurred a colossal debt and have a share in a spacecraft. 

• Now get trucking.

First session of an on-going campaign.  Character creation happened.

Dave	Game Master
Edwin	Hockjoint	Mutant muscle.
Spencer	Scamp Padmore	Captain of the Bastion.
Jason	Pvt Hudson	Bugged-Out Marine.
Aengel	Chauncey de Vere	Swindled tycoon/ former politician/con-woman.
Seph	Crimson  Staine	Reformed assassin.

The Crew of the Freighter Bastion

Clockwise from Top Left: Scamp, Hudson, Chauncey,
Crimson and Hock

• Scamp Padmore – A former test-pilot.  Genetically and mechanically engineered from animal stock (mostly mouse in Scamp’s case) and treated as expendable by his creators.  He is captain and owner (having stolen it) of the Bastion.
• Pvt Hudson – Bugged-out out marine.  He’s seen things...
• Chauncey de Vere – Con-woman and the crew’s ‘Face’.  Her greatest con was to be elected President of a remote colony - which made her immensely rich until she had to leave in a hurry.
• Crimson Staine – Reformed assassin.  His last, uncompleted job was to kill Chauncey: he often expresses regret for not carrying it out.
• Hockjoint – Mutant muscle.  Many Mutes can pass for Norms: Hock can’t.  A standard mook from the knees up, he can't do anything to hide his massive chicken feet.  Partly to draw attention from this (and partly because he likes the heft when he grips it) he carries an unfeasibly large weapon.

The crew has a debt of 10,000 credits to Jacob’s Ladder, a Mercenary/Security Group.

The Job

Our employer

We were contacted by Elias Cordell, an antiquarian and Spiritualist, well-known as a collector of alien artefacts.  He had become aware of the discovery of one of these artefacts – a linga, a two-foot high crystal carved with alien glyphs – on the mining colony of Morbus Fracastorii.  If we could extract this item he would pay us 2,000 credits.  Cordell gave us the name of our contact – Chuck Jerrit – who would meet us at the Gallicus Spaceport on Morbus Fracastorri.

  

Morbus Fracastorri is owned and operated by Wendigo Corp, who mine and refine the highly volatile mineral Luciferium for fuel.  The atmosphere on the planet is ‘technically breathable’, but the surface is sparse and desolate.  Settlements are domed and linked by a monorail system.  There is one known major indigenous lifeform: Terranomorphs – immense, winged creatures with four legs and three eyes: one in particular (nicknamed ‘Mother’ by the colonists) is renowned for its ferocity.

At Gallicus International Spaceport

On the way down to the spaceport we discussed cover stories.  We decided that we could either be a) potential investors (relying on Chauncey’s skills), b) health inspectors or, c) pest controllers – depending on whether our priorities were access or keeping a low profile.  As the official vetting on arrival consisted of an indifferent “business or pleasure?” no story was required, and we held them in reserve until we found out more from Chuck.

But there was no sign of anyone fitting our contact’s description (a one-legged miner with a friendly face) among the scruffy hangers-on in the rather run-down arrivals ‘lounge’.  Our group split up in their attempts to find him, each following their own methods.  Crimson Stain checked the restrooms, examining each stall and unscrewing the covers of air vents: Hock went to the nearest bar, sat down and ordered a bottle and a glass. 

All the pre-planned cover stories dissolved as Hock chatted with Belle the proprietor, and explained that he was looking for work and that his cousin had suggested that the mining colony was a good place to find it.  Belle agreed that there was always work for those willing to stomach it.  When Hock mentioned his cousin’s friend Chuck, Belle's face lit-up: everyone knows Chuck she said, though it was odd that he’d not been around lately.  He lived in Company accommodation at Morbustown, so he might be there, or he might have been on a bender at Elliott’s Cantina (“Now that’s a rough dive”).

In the meantime, Chauncey, Scamp and Hudson had settled in at one of the tables, and were considering the rest of the clientele.  Conscious of the fact that neither she nor Scamp were armed, Chauncey decided to try her luck in picking the pocket of one of the more drunken sots.  She was successful in relieving him of his rather antique pistol but was noticed by the drinkers on adjacent tables, and was soon looking down the barrels of four guns.  Shots were fired (the drunks all missed, only wounding one of their own) and the bar exploded into a brawl.

Chauncey successfully escaped through the nearest exist while Scamp used his small stature to devastating effect and Hudson took on a miner armed with a broken bottle.  Hock remained at the bar, sharing a drink with Belle.  She seemed supremely unconcerned, and started laying out glasses.  Right enough, as soon as Wendigo Security arrived, the first thing the four goons did was to knock back shots.  They then kicked some of the prone customers and lined up the rest along the wall for questioning.  Hock and Hudson repeated the story about looking for work, and were given directions to the Company Office and told to move on. 

Meanwhile Scamp, Chauncey and Crimson had found that in order to get on the monorail system one either had to buy a ticket or have a Company pass.  The crew re-assembled (Chauncey was particularlly disgusted that no-one had used the cover of the brawl to steal anything else useful), decided to make their way to Morbustown, and went to the Company Office to enquire about registering for work. They found that this would mean entering into a six-month contract, default on which would incur a large debt to Wendigo Corp. No-one was willing to risk this.

Again, each of the crew decided to tackle the monorail problem in their own ways: Crimson went to the gents again and mugged a miner, stealing his ident card; Hock vaulted the barriers and hid in the baggage compartment; Scamp jumped on Chauncey's shoulders and imitated the action of a fur stole (this disguised suited them both so well, that they kept it up long after it ceased to be necessary), while she shrugged and bought a ticket.

Morbustown: Enter a Rival

Our dastardly rival

Other than a ticket inspection, the trip to Morbustown was uneventful.  However, on arrival the crew were surprised to run into their greatest rival – Barnett Kale – and his lackeys.  Kale was something of a Dude - a former child actor turned bounty hunter.  A tense stand-off followed, during which it became clear that Kale was also in search of the alien artefact and knew of Chuck Jerrit’s involvement with it.  After some posturing and mutual sneering, the two crews went on their ways.  Kale boarded the monorail heading to Elliott’s Cantina, while the Bastion crew decided to check Jerrit’s apartment it despite Kale having said that it was empty.  As Kale’s train pulled out of the station, pointing us out to Wendigo Security officers. 

Jerrit’s rooms in the Company block had been ransacked – Kale had obviously done a good job on it.  Crimson Staine found and took two boxes of Luciferium ore, partly because they were valuable in themselves, but also because he always has an eye out for anything that might be turned into an improvised explosive device.  Other than that, we found nothing useful.  Questioning Jerrit’s neighbours, we discovered that he had last been seen being taken off for questioning by Company Security; but we also got the names of two of his fellow dodgy-dealers – Tommy Booth and Cornelius Heal.  They were most likely to be found in Elliott’s Cantina. 

Cursing the lead that Kale had on us, we headed back to the monorail station.  However it was crawling with Wendigo Security!  Through some quick-footedness we managed to evade them and get on a train just as it was leaving.  Unfortunately it wasn’t heading to Elloit’s Cantina, but we worked out that if we got off at the next station we would be able to cut through the mine to eventually get there.

Underground, Overground

On descending down to the workings, we adopted over cover as pest controllers.  Chauncey questioned some workers who told us that there was an opening to the surface nearby which lead to where Chuck and Tommy Booth had made an ‘odd discovery’.  We reconnoitred the shaft and found that it led to the surface.  Some ancient standing stones could be seen in the distance.   However, there were four Terranomorphs circling in the sky above.  We returned to the workers, explained that we were there to clear the Terranomorph infestation and needed their help.  They were persuaded to do so with the promise of trophies and bragging rights if we managed to killed the legendary ‘Mother’.

We constructed a plan whereby we stuffed a set of workman’s overalls with an explosive device fashioned by Crimson from the Luciferium.  This would be tied to a rope, be thrown out on the surface and jiggled about.  When the Terranomorphs took the bait, we would set off the device.  We’d then saunter across to the ruins, pick up the artefact and be home for tea.

This plan worked to an extent.  One of the Terrenomorphs was killed in the explosion, and two of the others frightened away.  The fourth turned its attention to us.  A battle ensued, with it stabbing its head into the mouth of the shaft.  It was eventually killed, but not before seriously injuring Chauncey.  We examined the ruins and found evidence that they had been explored, and that something had been removed.  We still had to make contact with the miners.

Elliott’s Cantina

We therefore resumed our trek to Elliott’s Cantina with the hope of meeting Chuck’s friends.  Again, some evasion was needed to avoid the attention of the guards who were closely monitoring the monorail station.  The cantina itself was much larger, busier and noisier than Belle’s Place at the spaceport.  With the ease of well-practiced routine, the crew took up positions: Hudson and Chauncey (still wearing Scamp) took a table; Crimson found high ground with a good view; and Hock took up position at the bar with a glass and a bottle.  In chatting to the bar staff, Hock was able to indentify Tommy Booth and Cornelius Heal playing cards, which he communicated to Chauncey; but both he and Crimson were able to see that there were two or three groups of men keeping close watch on the pair.

Chauncey asked Tommy to dance and he naturally abandoned his cards.  Covered by the noise of the raucous music, Chauncey explained that we were Chuck’s off-world contacts and were here to retrieve the artefact.  Tommy immediately suggested they step outside to do business.  As they headed to the door, the watching agents stood up from their tables: a distraction was needed...

Hock finished his drink, turned to his neighbour at the bar and head-butted him.  When he threw the unconscious patron onto the nearest table, the cantina erupted into a general brawl.

Kickstarter Watch - Beowulf: Age of Heroes

Sadly, I'm not in a position to back Kickstarters at the moment.  If I was, one that I would be particlarly tempted would be Beowulf: Age of Heroes an RPG from Handiwork Games.  It runs until 30 Jun 2020.

• An interesting period/theme
• Dual-play (ie, one GM, one player) system
• A proven team behind it
• Nice production values
• Free full-length, indroductory adventure so you can see before you buy
• An interesting a statement about re-claiming 'Anglo-Saxon' from racists

Gaming in May 2020

WARGAMING

Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls

17 May - Battle of San Domingo, written up here.
27 May - Single ship action, written up here.

It's been an age since I've done any wargaming, so I was pleased when I finally got my act in order to do some solo naval wargaming (a very long-term aim!).

As I've been reading about the C17th and C18th navy recently, I pulled out Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls, which is an age of sail (well, Napoleonic) set of rules.  It's a nice, simple set of rules, without the complexity which is the bane of naval wargaming.  Way back in 2014 I took part in a play-by-post game, which I enjoyed (there's some eye-candy in the blog archives if you want to look at it - Clint, the host had some rather nice models he set up for us).

Wanting to do a fleet action, but wanting to keep it manageble, I played using the order of battle for the Battle of San Domingo.  It was a learning experience, but BBIB plays well.  I'd like to master this before I try any of the more complex rulesets.  I'm going to have to do a bit of work making my own aide-memoire before I play again.

Sir Henry Fearless
 in command

On 27 May I cleared the decks (well, the kitchen table) for a quick ship-on-ship action, with two 38-gun frigates meeting.  It was a bit of an eye-opener, showing how the draw determining the turn action can seriously affect the outcome.  The British figate was completely out-classed.  She had lost two masts and three-quarters of her effective crew, with damaged steerage and four fires.  Her captain had no choice to strick her colours at the end of the six turn - without having fired a shot!  

A demonstration of superior French seamanship and gunnery.


ROLE-PLAYING GAMES

• 3 May - Call of Cthuhlu
• 8 May - Dark Sun
• 17 May - Melcher's Vale
• 22 May - Dark Sun
• 30 May - Gordon's Alive!
• 31 May - ODD Sci-Fi

Call of Cthulhu: Forget-Me-Not

3 May

RIP Charlie

Well our Call of Cthulhu game came to an end.  And it was suitable climatic.  Our party of investigators from the tv programme 'The Supernatural Files' finally got to the bottom of what had happened in the Cooper House and met the Big Bad.

It didn't end well for the party or for the world as a whole (upon which we unleashed a great evil).  My character Charlie was likened to the cook from The Shining: he spent four weeks trying to get back into the action only to meet a particularly interesting death (but not before killing a cop and developing a new form of madness).

This was my first taste of Call of Cthulhu, which I'd been wanting to play for some time.  I enjoyed it a great deal, helped of course by being among a fine group of players and having Andy Goodman (a master of the art) as a Keeper.  I certainly would like to play again.  I know the contemporary setting isn't typical of CoC, and might want to try something a little more jazz-age and pulpy next time.  That might yet happen.

Episode 4: Lung-Flesh and Toad Gods which we played on 27 Mar is now on-line.

Dark Sun/Dying Star

8 May.  Written-up here.
22 May.  Written-up here.

Met a beastie...

This fun campaign continues.  We completed our first job, but have been comissioned to do a follow-up that involves high matters of state...

The Black Hack2/Melcher's Vale

17 May

This was our last venture into Melcher's Vale for a while.  Having run an average of two sessions a week for the last six months, Dave wants to rest and rethink.  He promises to take us back once the creative juices have refreshed.

Lady Elvira

This session focused on one of the patrons we have been dealing with - Lady Evira Bund.  Two of us - my character Bolton and a fighter called Bodar - had fallen under her shadow.  We'd been feeling rather drained of late, developed an aversion to sunlight and an appitite for spiders.  Perhaps to boost our spirits, Lady Elvira had annonced a masked ball at which we would be welcomed fully into the Bund clan and 'the most ancient form of nobility in Shroudwick'.

Well, we were shocked (shocked!) to discover that the Bunds were really vampires.  Bolton and Bodar received Lady Elvira's 'kiss' and were turned.  We were then invited to drain the blood of a victim to complete our initiation.  As these victims were our companions, much to-do followed.

In the end the Lady was killed, leading to the destruction of her followers (Bolton and Bodar escaped this fate as they hadn't completed the ritual).  Having been Turned, Bodar fled the mansion, and drained the lifeblood of the first passerby he met (fun was had with random NPC generation).  He has completed the transformation and is now completely a vampire (though without a without a sire - does that make him a Ronin?).

Bolton, who had been caught in a web, didn't complete the transformation.  Unfortunately, during a skirmish with the Bund retainers he was staked and turned into a pile of ash (a one-in-six chance once he was reduced to 0 HP).  However, one of our party has a pot which will re-incarnate the soul of a cremated being...

Dave has indicated that if the resurection pot is used, Bolton's soul might end up transmuted into Stuart the Monkey Porter.

Gordon's Alive!  (ICRPG)

30 May

I played Ditmo, robotman

Another one of Pete the Dragon's one-shots using the very playable Index Card RPG system and using a nifty virtual table top (I thought the images Pete selected were particularly good).

In this one Andy, Spencer and I were prisoners of Ming the Merciless on our way to a life of servitude in the Radium Mines. During our inevitable escape, the rocket-ship we were in crashed into one of the swamps of Arboria.  What will our heroes do next...

Cracking fun!


ODD Sci-Fi

31 May - Written-up here.

And on the last day of the month we started a new game, the first episode in a new campaign.  This was a sci-fi adaptation of the Electronic Bastionland ruleset.

Dave's pitch is

• The core worlds are owned by the corporations.
• The savage frontier is inhospitable. Adapting to life on the fringe means becoming something not quite human. You have to go into deep space to get anywhere. Some parts are better travelled than others, but all the same deep space warps people in terrifying ways.
• There was an ancient race of alien precursors. Their technology was far superior to ours, but that did not stop them from being utterly destroyed.
• You are damaged goods.
• You have incurred a colossal debt and have a share in a spacecraft.
• Now get trucking

The rag-bag crew of the Bastion took up a contract from a collector to extract an alien artifact from under the noses of one of the mining corporations.  There was a distinct frontier feel to the game, this session being book-ended by bar fights.

My character was a mutant with an uncommonly fierce firearm.  I picture him as Jayne Cobb with chicken feet.

Books and Stuff (NS, No 2): Reading In May 2020 (Part 2)

You can see the post about the splurge of reading I did in the first part of the month here.  Since then I've settled down a little (basically, I'm sleeping better, so not reading into the early hours, which is obviously a good thing).  As the reception of that post was positve, I am reviving the series where I look at what I've been reading (probably on a monthly business).

Read

J D Davies, The Mountain of Gold

The second of the Matthew Quinton series about a captain in the Restoration Navy.  In this one he get's involved with Robert Holmes and a version of one of his River Gambia expeditions.  About half the book is involved with Quinton's domestic problems, but I don't mind that.

This book held up to the promise of the first, and I shall carry on with the series.  Holmes has just started the Second Anglo-Dutch War, so things will be livening up a little!

Arthur Conan Doyle, Tales of Unease

I mentioned this on my earlier post.  As I've said, I'm a fan of Conan Doyle and his, under-rated non-Holmes stories.

These tales of the supernatural rate nicely with the RW Chambers ones I read earlier in the month, and although they don't reach the peak of MR James, are very good.  Being Doyle, many of them touch on Spiritualism and many or the heroes are medical men, but there are two very good mummy stories, a satirical story about the electric chair (!!) and even a story (from 1913) about the perils of aviation.  Well worth digging out if your interested in pre-Hollywood horror and ghost stories.

Currently Reading

Peter Le Fevre and Richard Harding (edd), Precursers of Nelson: British Admirals of the Eighteenth Century

And I've continued with the series of biographical articles on Admirals of the long-C18th.  I've now got up to Vernon and Hawke, so am on a little firmer ground that I was with the earlier ones.

BBIB: Single Ship Action

Following my attempt to do a Fleet Action using Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls (BBIB) the other week last night on impulse I cleared the decks (well, the kitchen table) to try a single-ship action.  I want to master these relatively simple rules beofe moving on to anything more complicated.

Accordingly, French and British 38-gun frigates faced up against each other.  The results were to prove surprisingly one-sided...

The first two turns consisted of manoeuvering, neither side taking the chance of a long-range shot ('cause I hadn't read the rules properly!)  The French had the advantage of the wind and this proved decisive.

Each turn consist of the following phases, the sequence determined by lot:-

• French move
• French fire
• French repair
• British move
• British fire
• British repair

Turn 3 saw the action begin.  

Turn 3

Fr Repair
Fr Sail
Fr Fire
Br Repair
Br Sail
Br Fire

The French were able to open fire at medium range, scoring two hits (as 38s, each ship started with 3d6: as medium range they need to roll 4 or above to hit).  These caused damage to the masts but also, more significantly, to the steerage gear.

Although this attack was followed by a British repair phase, attempts to repair the steering gear was unsuccessful.  The British were therefore unable to turn: as a result they were couldn't make any headway into the wind, or to bring their guns to bear.

Turn 4
Br repair

Turn 4 - first phase

Fr repair
Fr fire
Fr sail
Br fire
Br sail

The British were lucky in starting with a repair phase, most of the effort was put into the steerage gear, which was fixed.  Repairs to the masts and sails were ineffectual.  (Repair die are allocate on the basis of effective crew.  In this case, two of the three die were allocated to repair the 1 point of damage to the steerage, and the other to the sails.  There was one success in the two die allocated to the steerage gear.).

However, the French were able to fire another broadside.  There was only one hit, but this was sufficient to bring the damaged mast down!

The French ship now placed itself in position for a perfect raking bow shot.  It was forutnate for the British that she had already fired her broadside!  The British were again unable to bring their guns to bear, but were at least now able to manoeuver.

Turn 5

End of Turn 5

Fr fire
Fr sail
Br fire
Br repair
Fr repair
Br sail

In turn 5 neither side could bring their guns to bear, nor had any repairable damage.  The British movements were, of course, hampered by only having two of her three masts.


Turn 6

Turn 6

Fr fire
Fr sail
Br sail
Fr fire
Br repair
Fr repair

Although the French were able to fire during Turn 6, all their shots missed. 

Turn 7

Turn 7

Br sail

Fr repair

Fr sail

Fr fire

Br repair

Br fire

The French ship again placed itself in position for a raking bow shot, and on this occasion was able to take it.  Although there was only one hit, it was decisive, taking out a second of the British masts.

Turn 8

"I did my best!"

Turn 8 started with a French firing phase.  Still in position to make a raking shot, this broadside was devastating.  Four fires were started and the third and last British mast was damaged, as was the steerage gear.  With over two-thirds of his effective crew out of action, the British captain had no choice but to strike his colours, without having fired a shot.  A court-martial beckoned if he ever returned to England.

A triumph of French seamanship and gunnery.

Dark Sun #3: The One Where We Got Kanks All Round and Another Mission

Dark Sun, 22 May 2020 (online session)

Fourth session of an on-going campaign. 

Dave	Game Master
Edwin	Garrok	Wandering Mul Druid (Lv.2)
Tom	Frayne	Human Templar (Lv.2)	Follower: Rajal (II)
Spencer	Geo	Half-Giant Ranger (Lv.2)	Follower: Vacancy
Ian	Fribb	Halfling Psionicist slave (Lv.2)
Aengel	Gre’kkt	Thri-Kreen Druid Trader (Lv.2)	Follower:  Vacancy
Seph	Unayra	Halfling Assasin (Lv.1)	Follower: Unnamed Elf slave.

The Story So Far...

Read the last instalment here.

Sirdar Kurlak of House Kurlak

Our party had been hired by Sidar Jai Kurlak, head of one of the merchant houses of Urik, to recover his daughter Aspis, who had apparently been kidnapped by a group of escaping slaves.   When we caught up with them, it turned out that Aspis was a willing victim and was aiming to start an uprising that would destroy her father and the basis of the Urik economy.  We declined to assist her, knocked her out and got her back across the desert.

Once we returned to Urik, we found the city under attack from a dragon and in chaos.  Kurlak was preparing to escape to his country estate and was unwilling to pause to pay us.  We reluctantly agreed to act as guards for him and his party.  While travelling across the city, we were ambushed by a party of elves.  Aspis originally helped them, but once she saw her father seriously injured changed her mind.  We defeated the elves and, as the dragon had gone, returned to the Kurlak Mansion.

Aspis Dumps Some Plot

Back at the mansion, Jai Kurlak rested and took refreshments, allowing his daughter to deal with our business (he had received healing from Frayne and Garrok). 

The rebel princess

Aspis found an excuse to send Frayne away.  

She made a half-hearted apology for her actions and explained that she now realised that we were people to be taken seriously.  If we would listen, she could offer us a mission that would not only be of the utmost importance, but would be worth our while to undertake.  

She had excluded Frayne because, as a Templar of Hamanu the Sorcerer-King, she did not know if he was to be trusted.  She explained that she is a leader in a conspiracy to overthrow the king and that the slave revolt was to be the first step in this.  

A similar revolt is to take place in the city of Tyr to overthrow their own tyrant.  Aspis is in contact with the rebels there – a group of mages known as the Veiled Alliance.

A crystal of the
purest green

However, now that the dragon had appeared her plans have changed.  It was known that Hamanu planned to send an army attack Tyr.  She believes that the dragon’s arrival will only hasten this attack.  If the Tyr uprising takes place, that city will be weakened and fall to Hamanu: if that happens, he will be in such a strong position that any attempt to overthrow him will fail.  Both cities will remain under his rule.

She therefore asks that we take a message to her opposite number – Agis of House Astricles – asking him to postpone the Alliance’s plans.  She gave us an olivine crystal as a token to present to him (and with a hint that it may be of other use to us).

Rewards are Dished Out

At this point, Gre’kkt and Garrok pointed out that we had been of much service to House Kurlak already.  We had fulfilled our contract to retrieve Aspis, and had saved the life of the Sirdar himself.  During these actions, several of our retainers had been killed.  We had not yet received payment.

Kurlak immediately saw the point.  With the city in turmoil, he could not give us cash, he said, but he did have several family heirlooms of great value.  He promised that if we undertook Aspis’ mission, upon which the future of his House depended, much more would follow.

First, he wished to compensate Gre’kkt for the death of her nephew, who had been killed during the fight in the marketplace.  He presented her with the slave Fribb.  Fribb “was not very intelligent, nor particularly appealing”, but he was loyal; he had done much reliable service to House Kurlak.  Gre’kkt also received a bladder of the finest brandy and a promise to further her trading ambitions.

Frayne, who had now returned, received a suit of armour and a shield; Geo, a bronze amulet of strange design; Unayra, an iron dagger; and Garrok a bowl of fruit each blessed with miraculous powers.  In addition, and to hasten our passage to Tyr, Kurlak presented with us three mounts with tents and letters of passage as agents of House Kurlak.

Gre’kkt additionally, negotiated for equipment to incubate her silkwyrm eggs and left her broken metal sword with him for repair.   

The Feds Arrive, and Frayne Makes a Choice

As this point, a slave rushed in and announced that a Templar was at the gate, demanding admission.  Kai and Aspis urged the party to retreat to the wine cellar.  Frayne offered to remain, in order to soothe things over, and Unayra hid in a nearby pot.

 

Antephos and his assistants

The Templar, who was accompanied by four half-giants, turned out to be Antephos – an old rival of Frayne’s late master and his nemesis.  He demanded that Aspis accompany him and face questioning regarding her recent activities.  Frayne’s attempts to talk him out of this were unsuccessful and things looked bleak.  Aspis again took matters into her own hands, casting a spell which destroyed two of the giants in a gout of flame.  In the ensuing fight, Antephos and his giants were killed.  The party concluded that it was time to get out of Urik, and left Kurlak with the task of disposing of the bodies.  It was hoped that the Sorcerer-King never learned of Fraynes part in this.

As we left, Aspis told Frayne that she was grateful for his attempts to protect her: she now looked upon him in a new light...

On the Road

The party took the main road south to Tyr.  In leaving the city, we again noticed the devastation wrought by the dragon: ruined buildings and desiccated bodies. 

We camped through the day, and travelled at night.  We met a slave caravan heading north and, exchanged news with them.  They advised us that they were probably the last caravan to come out of Tyr as King Kalak had commandeered all slaves to work on a mad project to complete his giant ziggurat.  Indeed, they warned, as we travelled south we should be on the lookout for Kalak’s forces rounding up more labourers.

We did indeed see such a pressgang on the road and, forewarned, was able to avoid it.  From then on we travelled off the main highway.  We made camp in the stony barrens.

Several of us had strange dreams, reflecting our worse fears.  Fribb woke to find himself abandoned, his new mistress a diminishing dot on the horizon; Garrok found himself forced into combat with Gre’kkt; Unayra found herself in a cage, captured by the pressgang.  Gre’kkt – who of course, needs no sleep – was on watch and puzzled that Fribb and Garrok were each calling her name in their sleep.  She attempted to wake Garrok, only for him to attack her.  She shrugged him off, and went to rouse the others.

It turned out that a Gaj had made its way into Fribb’s tent and was making a psionic attack.  Both Garrok and Gre’kkt were paralysed with overwhelming fear. Unayra was able to make some hits, and finally Geo was again able to put his trusty impaler to good use.