[IKRPG] Campaign Catch-Up
(Attempt to make a Khador logo with caramel sauce on a pan of brownie mix, for last Saturday's game. Hmmmmmm. Well, it's the thought that counts, right? And they tasted better than they looked. :9 )
For the ongoing Iron Kingdoms campaign, the Irregulars have finally gotten through all the train rides and ambushes and minor intrigues. The short version is that the PCs have journeyed across the pseudo-Russian nation of Khador in a fantasy-steampunk setting via train. They then reached the borderland town of Voronsgrad where a minor Tsar (land-owner -- not THE leader of Khador) has gathered together his three sons and put them on a seemingly crazy quest to find a legend fire bird that has flown into the wilds of the Thornwood -- and whoever succeeds at the quest will become his heir. The PCs have been hired to help the least likely of these candidates -- the youngest son, Ivan.
The first part of the journey consisted of an overnight train ride from Voronsgrad into the lumber town of Zastava -- and past that point, attempts to extend the rail line further have been repeatedly thwarted by various monsters of the Thornwood and the powers of the Blackclad Druids to hasten the growth of tangling vines and roots and thorns to tear up the rails and generally make further progress less-than-cost-effective.
Of course, this overnight ride couldn't be without incident, and it featured a rather nasty battle atop the train and a race to stop the train before it could be forced by a Machine Wraith to barrel full-steam into the town and explode in a massive (and magically-enhanced) boiler overload. The PCs prevailed, but one of their number (the dwarven warrior) was severely wounded (with injury effects that prevented him from benefiting from the system's normally very easy allowances for regaining lost Vitality points in between battles without need for miraculous healing).
I received word that Koogrr would be traveling down to Florida for the weekend to personally deal with some more headaches regarding his old house, and while here, he might manage to find time to do a "guest appearance" in my game. He'd get to take on the role of Ivan (normally an NPC in the campaign). Ivan is an Aristocrat/Warlock -- the latter being a new professional archetype available with the "Unleashed" book, basically meaning that he can establish a special bond with "warbeasts" (large wild beasts -- or even certain low-intellect beastmen) able to tap into the "fury" that they generate to either bolster their fighting abilities, or cast spells to help in the battle. The catch is ... Ivan doesn't really know this; humans generally ARE NOT in the list of races with access to such an ability, and he just thinks he's a "Warcaster" who is still in need of a bit more training before he can properly command warjacks.
(And as for the special bond he has with his warhorse ... well, Ivan is obviously just very good with animals, and a capable rider, and any overtly magical stuff is just a side-effect of his warcaster training, naturally.)
In preparation for such a possibility of Koogrr joining in, I sent him an updated info-dump on the situation as it had developed since our earlier discussions -- including some information which Ivan wouldn't be personally conscious of (but which I felt would be easier to refresh Koogrr on for context).
Cast Refresher:
- Tsar Bruno Vazlov: Aged lord (80 years old) of the small rural territory of Trans-Umbrey of the nation of Khador, on the edge of the contested Thornwood.
- * Tsarina Katerina Vazlov: Wife of Vazlov, and mother of three sons ... or so everyone thinks. The present "Tsarina" is actually a witch who has made pacts with the infernals for powers that defy the normal "laws" of magic, specializing in shapeshifting. She turned the original Katerina into the "silver swan," and then intended to kill the creature (so there would be no human corpse to potentially betray her duplicity), but the creature escaped. She is the actual mother of Ivan. Despite nominally being 60 years old (yeah, Vazlov married late in life), she hasn't apparently aged a day since assuming the role of Tsarina nearly 20 years ago.
Her scheme to rule Trans-Umbrey through an easily-manipulated "puppet" heir (and thus gain access to many ruins within the domain and first rights on potent magical Orgoth-era relics to be found therein) has undergone several changes over the years, and thus it is not entirely focused (let alone perfect). She has developed some emotional attachment to her son, but (as is common with anyone making pacts with infernals) she's a bit unstable and waffles between whether to stick with the original plan of making him a "puppet," or genuinely overseeing his development into a capable young man. - The Silver Swan: The true Tsarina Katerina Vazlov, transformed into the form of a silvery, almost luminescent swan. Despite her form, she still retains much of her former mind and willpower, but the transformation and time spent in this form has still warped her. She still watches over her family, occasionally attempting to cause trouble for the witch -- and for Ivan, even going so far as to attack Ivan when he was a child, and the servants were distracted. Due to the nature of magic in this setting, there is no solution to her fate so simple as "dispelling the curse" or killing the witch: Transformation of the body actually CHANGES the body; there is no way to "dispel" the magic and then expect the victim to snap back to normal like a rubber band. Returning her to something resembling normal would require magic just as powerful as that which turned her into a swan, and even then, she would still be /different/ in some way, marked by her experience.
- Ivan Vazlov: Third and youngest son (~18 years old) of Tsar Vazlov. He has a rather naive vision of life and how it should work, greatly influenced by reading far too many fairy tales and romances. Although he is kind-hearted and actually adored by most of the palace servants, he is a fool when it comes to romance, believing in "true love" and "love at first sight" and "go with what your heart says," without really considering just how fickle emotions can be. As such, he has thoughtlessly (and without any malice) broken many hearts in a fairly short span of time, and except for the brutal "clean-up" administered by his mother and her minions in the background, he would already be a deadbeat father several times over by now. His mother has tired of this, however, and hence arranged for a bit of a "lesson" during the first part of his journey. This event has left him rather shaken, but it remains to be seen how more cautious it might make him when considering new dalliances.
The witch-queen's whispering minions are responsible for spreading several flattering rumors, and he's often made out to be the hero in situations where he did nothing useful whatsoever. As he has taken a fairytale vision of life wholeheartedly, and sees himself as a natural-born hero, he doesn't do anything to correct such stories (that would be impolite!) but he DOES take care to make sure his loyal minions get to share in the glory. (In fact, he will freely embellish and exaggerate when telling tales about the heroics of his minions, so they don't get left out of all the fact-twisting.)
He knows that sometimes crows will mysteriously appear and "deal with" people who oppose him. The first time he got to see this in action was on the train ride from his father's capitol in Voronsgrad to the lumber outpost of Zastava. On board, he invited a charming young lady into his private car, only to discover that she was a half-elven assassin from the Retribution of Scyrah (a sect that believes that all human spellcasters must be slain, for supposedly their "impure" arcane and divine magic is poisoning the elven gods). Before she could do any more than to slash him a bit, a (very literal) murder of crows smashed in through the windows, a shell of silence surrounded the car, and the birds proceeded to tear apart the girl, utterly defacing her. The crows then joined into a facsimile of his mother, warning him against such foolish affairs, and that from this point on in his journey, he would be on his own, and could not count upon further such interventions.
Ivan had long thought that perhaps he had a spirit "guardian" or maybe some sort of latent magical powers that were responsible for the mysterious deaths of his adversaries. His mother is nothing short of perfect and divine in his mind, and he hasn't yet wrapped his mind around the possibility that she might have anything to do with mysterious and brutal deaths.
In any case, Ivan was given some spending money to prepare for the trip, and he ended up blowing most of it on a "magic sword" -- a mechanikal sword that works off of alchemical batteries, and burns brightly and impressively when powered (but otherwise is just a sword after all) -- and a fabulous set of authentic-looking Khadoran warcaster's armor (functional, but a bit tacky). So far, his payment to the mercenaries is pretty much in the form of a great big IOU and a promise of treasures they'll find along the way ... plus the use of various supplies he "borrowed" from the palace stores. (He'll deal with the fallout for that when he gets back ... but of course, by THEN, he'll have the firebird and be the heir, so there shouldn't be any trouble at all!) - Vladimir Vazlov: Eldest son of the Tsar, 42 years old. (The actual Tsarina was 18, and the Tsar was 38.) He is a military officer and warcaster of high caliber, and long considered to be the likely and worthy successor of the Tsar, if only he didn't first die heroically in some battle with Cygnar or the Cryx or any of Khador's other dastardly enemies.
In private, he appears to be a slight, sedate, bookish man in spectacles and formal attire. On the battlefield, however, he is the exemplar of extreme overkill, be it through devastating magic, heavy firepower, or (most likely) both. His favorite warjack is the massive walking artillery piece, Dotchyaga, and he has pulled strings to bring it along on his journey -- along with a small army of Khadoran militia, and several more steamjacks and support teams besides.
Vladimir shares a first name with a far more (in)famous warcaster general, Vladimir Tzepesci of the much larger neighboring state of Umbrey. He's very self-conscious about comparisons between himself and the "Dark Prince" of Umbrey, and knows that such comparisons should only be sharpened if both Umbrey and Trans-Umbrey should have a "Vladimir" in charge. This is only further incentive for him to push harder to achieve greater results, without much care for subtlety.
He is, to put it mildly, BITTER about the current state of affairs at home, and has been for a long time. He noted the marked change in his mother's behavior nearly two decades ago, at the time when the Silver Swan mysteriously appeared, and he blames that creature as a harbinger of misery (even though he didn't mind terribly much when the thing started harrassing and pecking at a very young Ivan once). The fact that the thing has stayed around for nearly twenty years only underscores that it must be a creature of supernatural origin. If given a chance, he would slay the creature in hopes that it would restore his mother to "normal."
Now that his father has decided not to declare him an heir, but to revive an archaic tradition of having the sons embark on a "quest" (for an object/creature that might not even exist, and with barely a clue as to where to look for it), he's even more bitter -- and impatient. For a long time, he worried about comparing unfavorably to the Dark Prince of Umbrey. Now, there is the very real possibility that he could be upstaged by his incompetent little brother Ivan if the latter's "stupid luck" should prevail again.
His intention is to tear apart any ruins and lairs in the Thornwood until he can scare up this "fire bird." If any of his loyal minions accidentally kill off some of Ivan's henchmen in the process so be it, and if Ivan meets some sort of accident, he won't complain. However, he isn't the sort who would go so far as to kill Ivan out of spite. Not yet, anyway. If things go badly enough for him, however, or something sets him off, this might change. - Andrei Vazlov: Middle son of the Tsar, 36 years old. He's a bear of a man, also a veteran and officer in the Khador military, but without the magical aptitude of his elder brother (or the rumored magical ability if his YOUNGER brother, for that matter). He is a skilled warrior in his own right, and believes that in order to be a viable leader for this territory, he should be seen as accomplishing this task through personal ability -- not by getting huge steamjacks or massive forces to obliterate all opposition for him along the way.
However, he's also pragmatic enough to realize that heading into the Thornwood by himself (or even with his mysterious Nyssian bodyguard and loyal human manservant) is suicide. Thus, his heroic march into the Thornwood is strictly for appearances. He plans on being in the Thornwood for a suitable period of time, killing some monsters, bringing back some trophies ... and unpacking a mechanical firebird he had commissioned from a Llaelese expatriate inventor, and presenting it as "the" fire bird, under the assumption that the brothers have been sent on an impossible errand.
Now, if he gets word that Ivan is coming back with an honest-to-goodness fire bird, he might become desperate enough to turn to darker measures -- but he's not there yet. He's not a BAD GUY (as far as Khadorans go ;) ), but in Khadoran folklore and culture, even tyrants who cleverly killed off rivals (who were often contenders for the throne and thus of course close kin) are still accorded a certain amount of respect and even celebration. Even in present-day Khador, Empress Ayn Vanar's favored champion is Orsus Zoktavir -- the infamous Butcher of Khardov who not only slaughtered an entire village, but half the army he came with in his rage when his officers dared say a word in protest. So, fine examples abound for would-be leaders in Khador: All's fair in love, war, and princely succession!
THE THORNWOOD JOURNEY
When the announcement was made that the three sons would be sent on a quest into the Thornwood, Andrei and Vladimir made sure that word got around that any locals who volunteered to help Ivan would be persona non-grata once one of the elder brothers succeeded and took on the role of new Tsar for the territory. And, as nice as Ivan is, or as much as he has a reputation for luck, no one seriously sees him as leader material, or as competent enough to actually outdo his elder brothers in the quest. And the witch wasn't about to get a bunch of obvious cutthroats or monsters to serve as minions for her son. However, a dwarf craftsman, Crag Thunderbucket, saw an opportunity, and got word to his recently-unemployed cousin, Thorin, that there was a certain job waiting for him if he could get down to the capital city of Voronsgrad, and NOW.
Sure enough, when the Irregulars arrived in Voronsgrad, they got the job as Ivan's henchmen by default.
SEND-OFF:
The Tsar gave a speech to an assembled crowd in cold drizzle. (It is nominally spring, but the cold curse that has gripped Khador for so many years won't let it entirely out of winter, even this far south.) He was interrupted by a terrible coughing fit when the mysterious Silver Swan appeared. The Tsarina quickly ushered the Tsar away and ordered the guards to fire upon the bird, but it managed to escape unharmed. To Ivan's mind, the cursed bird was somehow causing his father's horrible coughing fit, and it was a dark omen. But he, being a HERO, is still certain of his own destined success.
OVERNIGHT TO ZASTAVA OUTPOST:
The first part of the journey was taken on the train. Ivan, being the youngest, had his private car in the very back of the train, along with a few cars carrying his henchmen and their supplies, plus a shrine car by a traveling priest of Menoth who for some reason was coming along for the journey. With the strange clockwork-mechanical man known only as the Kommander acting as his personal bodyguard, he made his way all the way up the length of the train, navigating along side-running walkways, ladders, and walking across the tops of cargo cars, past the cars carrying the supplies and forces of his elder brothers, to reach the dining car. Along the way, the train passed through a bog (where things warmed up slightly for a time), and there was an assault by a combined force of bog trogs (think murlocks with blowguns) and croaks (think frog-men with poisonous skin) -- but the monsters were fairly handily fought off.
At the dining cart, he was immediately noticed by several charming girls, as several minor noblemen, merchants and other well-wishers had come along to see the sons off to Zastava (and no doubt try their best to get in good with whoever they thought was most likely to succeed and become the next Tsar). One girl, Anya Svartinova, was reputedly a scholar who had studied a great deal about the Orgoth Occupation and ancient Orgoth ruins, and hinted that she might be of some assistance in a quest into the Thornwood, where several such ruins were known to still exist, and where the famed firebird was rumored to have built its lair. Ivan, charmed by Anya, suggested that they discuss the prospect of her joining his team -- but that, so as not to be overheard by servants of his competing brothers, they should go back to his private car.
There ... well! Things got romantic very quickly, which seemed perfectly normal to Ivan, since of course he was incredibly handsome, and he was the hero, and Anya was obviously a Love Interest and maybe even the Heroine he would finally spend Happily Ever After with. That was until she started rather slowly disrobing, and he got disrobed rather more quickly, and he soon discovered that she had some thin elven armor, hidden weapons, and some enchanted sigils underneath her outer clothes, whereas under his own clothes he was most assuredly naked and rather unarmed and vulnerable.
Being a bit slow on the uptake in these matters, he briefly entertained the possibility that despite her claims that he should die, wretched world-polluting human, for his use of corrupting arcane magicks and cursed machinery, they were still destined for a bit of wrestling around and romantic entanglement -- but once he was actually bleeding and had only barely gotten out of the way of being decapitated, he belatedly reconsidered his situation, and the wisdom of having the Kommander wait outside.
That was when the crows crashed through the window, the sounds of the train eerily died away, and -- well, the birds tore Anya apart quite viciously. The birds then coalesced together (rather unnaturally), forming a silhouette and a voice quite reminiscent of his own mother (he quickly grabbed a pillow and a bloodstained comforter to preserve some semblance of modesty), and proclaimed that this had been a test, and a lesson that he really shouldn't be falling so easily for pretty faces, and consider more seriously what danger he might be in now that he's away from the protection of the palace. There was more, but he was shocked enough that he retained little of it -- and just as the figure broke apart into a crowd of crows again and fluttered away, the Kommander (AKA "The Klockwork Kommander," behind his back) barged in.
The Kommander and the others were very considerate, taking care of the body, assigning a little gobber (Lickspittle or Guttersnipe, or something like that was his name?) to clean up the stains, and fetching him a clean set of clothes. They let him hide out in the smoke-filled box car where the engineer (Yuri) was working on his inventions even while the train was rolling along (rather than having to stay in the private car with all those bloodstains that would probably still be there even after the gobber's franticly diligent scrubbing).
THE OVERNIGHT NIGHTMARES:
But that wasn't the end of it, and this was just an overnight journey! Come midnight, everyone who had been sleeping was plagued with hideous nightmares, and he got to relive the worst parts of the day even more vividly than the first time around -- and in his dreams, he couldn't shut his eyes to block any of it out. The Irregulars had spotted ghostly riders flanking the train, and apparently they had failed to overtake it ... but some time later, it became apparent that something had made its way over from the ghostly steeds and onto the train. All mechanikal devices attached to any sort of power source began to turn on of their own accord, prompting the engineer to scramble around and pull pipes and cables and critical bits. Further along the train, they heard explosions and screams, and soon it was evident that in the flatbed car carrying the massive Dotchyaga, it was going wild and firing shells.
And one of them was headed this way ... and took out the private car! (Fortunately, he wasn't in it at the time, and those who were inside had retreated to the boxcar that the others were using as a sort of "headquarters" anyway.) The bulk of the force took to the roof of the train, leaving him with the gobber and the now-disabled steamjack (can't have that thing running amok!), and while he missed the bulk of the battle, afterward he learned that a Machine Wraith had infiltrated the train, setting off several mechanikal devices on its journey up the length of the cars. At the front of the train, it took over the cortex in the main engine, revving the engine up with intent to charge the train full steam into Zastava and to wipe out the town with a massive derailment (or so it could be assumed). Several other minions of the undead/mechanikal Cryx had gotten aboard as well, but the Irregulars fought their way through. Yuri the engineer managed to force the wraith out of the train's engine, Maxim the gun mage managed to decouple the rest of the cars from the engine and then to (with the coordinated help of several others) apply the brakes, Thorin ended up falling in battle after a near-suicidal gambit to take out a couple of small bonejacks, and the priest of Menoth managed to exorcise the machine wraith.
And the train still had a few cars pop the rails and generally cause a mess, but the town and most of the train was saved. Hurrah! And the dwarf actually survived (though barely, and with wounds so severe that he's likely to take WEEKS to recover -- since insta-healing in this universe comes with a pretty hefty price, and it gets worse each time you resort to it).
ZASTAVA:
In the outpost town, word quickly got around that Tsarevich Ivan had personally led the Irregulars to their victory over the machine wraith. The Irregulars, being loyal mercenaries such as they are, didn't correct the accounts, and Ivan, being too polite to contradict such nice people, went along with it -- but was sure to throw in his own imagined eyewitness accounts of the over-the-top heroics of the various heroes, embellishing the tales more with repeated tellings.
NOW:
Andrei (the second brother, with the small entourage) has already set off, just the day after the end of the line in Zastava, wisely turning in at a decent hour rather than accepting all the wining and dining offered by the grateful citizens of the lumber town.
Vladimir (the eldest brother) may take a week or so to be ready to roll out, as several of his cars were knocked off the rails during the sudden stop, and several important items of equipment fell off for miles back (not to mention the various casualities -- as some of the mechanikal devices in his arsenal included explosive, area-of-effect attacks, and hence were a very bad thing to suddenly "turn on" without warning in crowded quarters).
Ivan is not inclined to wait around for Vladimir to catch up, so even though Thorin the dwarf could use a month of recuperation, the caravan is rolling out (and Thorin's role is to sit on top of the main wagon with a blunderbuss and shoot things for a change).
The Caravan:
In the caravan so far, there is Ivan's personal wagon (loaded up with supplies by day, but unpacked and set up as a portable shelter during the freezing nights), while Ivan rides his beloved horse, Chestnut.
(Minor Detail: Chestnut is not a chestnut horse. This detail does not bother Ivan. He just liked the sound of the name.)
Bringing up the rear is Yuri the engineer's supply/workshop wagon, hauling the steamjack (when it's not in operation), a large load of coal to power it up, and various other supplies that could be crammed in (including Yuri's extensive collection of tools). When unpacked and set up, it too doubles as a shelter and workshop for repairs.
Taking the lead, there is the rolling confessional of Menoth -- a wagon operated by a traveling priest and his strange congregation of Farrow "converts." (As to the strength of their faith in Menoth -- who, incidentally, is the god of MANKIND -- it's highly likely that they're really just there because the priest brought an ample supply of food and wine. Still, they like to fight, so it's handy to have them along.)
Planning the Journey:
Ivan is mostly guided by rumors and dubious "knowledge" from fairy tales and legends about the Thornwood. He knows there are many great ruins from the era of the Orgoth Invasion, and even earlier, from the age of the Thousand Cities. The Thornwood is home to barbaric races such as the Gatormen (hungry swamp-dwellers with powerful voodoo shamans and necromancers in their ranks), Farrow (omnivorous pig-men who employ battle-hogs and scavenged machinery and weaponry in their battles), Trogs (amphibious fish-men), Tharn (former humans who have pledged themselves to the Devourer Wurm, turning to cannibalism and giving up a portion of their humanity -- to the point where their men can transform into bestial forms and their women perform deadly blood magic), Trollkin (part-elemental brutes with amazing powers of regeneration -- the smaller ones tend to be more civilized and organized in clan-like "Kriels," while the larger ones are more rock-like and savage -- even to the point of treating some of their own smaller kin as potential snacks), and more. More recently, guerillas and refugees from conquered Llael and frozen Nyss have settled into camps here as well, and now and again, forces of Cygnar may pop up in a vain attempt to recapture land -- or perhaps salvage something important from a lost outpost.
It's also a place of lingering ancient magic. The famed Old Witch of Khador is believed to have her home here -- as well as other Witches who, if tales are to be believed, have lifespans long beyond those of mortal men, rivaling even that of pureblood Iosan elves.
Of rumors and legend, Ivan has heard of:
- A city cursed by an ice queen, so that all foodstuffs turn to snow (or ash, depending upon the tale), and all life is frozen in ice. Wraiths of the entrapped dead wander about, seeking to drawn warmth from the living.
- A vast city of the dead, once a great cemetery from the times of the Orgoth, guarded by slaves who were subjected to horrific torments to transform them into eternal protectors for the mortal remains of their Orgoth masters. Untold treasures lie within, but Orgoth magicks invariably have some sort of a terrible side effect or cost.
- Circles of magical stones placed by the mysterious Blackclad Druids -- and sometimes these circles will appear and then just as suddenly vanish -- but sometimes creatures, plants, or entire structures will mysteriously appear in a place ringed in by these shifting stones.
- A tower that is repeatedly struck by lightning every time it storms, and some say the whinnies and screams of a horse can be heard from within. Others say it is guarded by a fire-breathing dragon, or that the tower is merely the opening into a vast underground network of corridors. Most tales claim that the tower itself is impossible to climb, and that its interior is full of deadly traps.
- A ruined castle where lives a wicked sorcerer-king, Koschei the Deathless, who has stored away his soul in a magical (something-or-other) in faraway (somewhere-or-the-other, probably fictitious) so that he can never die. He is frequently featured as a villain who kidnaps away young, beautiful maidens ... or else it's the same maiden who has just been held for an impossibly long time (calling into question just how young and beautiful she still is). Either he's still there, or he was long ago tricked/defeated/destroyed either by his beautiful maiden captive, or by some wandering hero (who then rode away with said maiden), depending upon which version of the tale you follow.
- A mysterious witch, Mother Yagova, who lives in a dancing hut that twirls round and round, and who rides around on a flying giant mortar and pestle. It's said that she has iron teeth, and in various tales her home is guarded by three strange riders (a rider in red with a flaming sword, a rider in white surrounded by blinding light, and a rider in black surrounded by impenetrable darkness), animated skulls with glowing eyes, living trees that claw out the eyes of intruders, an intelligent gate that won't open for anyone else, and a dog and cat that can grow to several times their normal size, among other things. However much is true, if there's a lone woman living in the Thornwood, she's probably not to be messed with -- and yet, Ivan's mother said something cryptic to him, that if he should run into Mother Yagova, "She owes me a favor."
Alas, we had already gotten through part of the adventure by the time Koogrr was actually able to show up. The PCs managed to navigate their way past an ambush point, chose to avoid investigating some strange creatures on the way (a snow-white elk in the forest, and a snow-white crow), and scared off a pack of dusk wolves. They at last came to a clearing, and ... well, here's the original text entry I wrote:
Three* days out, it seems that a choice must be made about which way to proceed. If the railway extension ever reached this far, all signs of it have disappeared by this point. The roadway, such as it is, opens up into a large clearing dominated by a single imposing stone column with strange sigils carved in reverse relief upon its surface. On the opposite end of the clearing, the road branches out into three routes. Tzarevitch Ivan excitedly translates the writings, showing off some of his book-learning - as the carvings apparently spell out a warning for travelers in an archaic predecessor to modern-day Khadoran writing.
The first (left) path has the following warning:
- “Yonder lie restless dead to give.”
“You will die, but your horse will live.”
The second (middle) path has the following warning:
- “Yonder give wild beastmen who cry.”
“You will live, but your horse will die.”
The third (right) path has the following warning:
- “Yonder go a blight-stricken road.”
“You will know but hunger and cold.”
Ivan is perplexed at this, having never heard of such a crossroads before. The crude map he has at his disposal indicates that there is indeed a branch in the roadway that could well correspond to this point, but all three branches continue deeper into the Thornwood, and there are no convenient sightings of flaming birds to point the way down the “right” path.
None of the roads appear to be particularly well-traveled, this far out, and each pathway is quickly swallowed up by the shadows of the overhanging canopy of tree branches. All three routes look equally ominous, even without the warnings - but trailblazing OFF of the paths would be even more daunting, requiring abandonment of the wagons and (once the coal inevitably runs out) the laborjack as well.
Over to one side of the clearing, Andrei had a camp set up, and while the PCs were wary of this, it soon became apparent that there was no intention for conflict. Rather, it appeared that Andrei was content to watch and see which way Ivan chose to go. The Priest of Menoth prayed for guidance, then consulted his collection of writings, comparing it to ancient maps, and suggested that the left path might well lead right into an old Orgoth ruin where a great necropolis was built ... and given the Orgoth reputation for nasty and lasting curses, it was probably an area where the "restless dead" would be found in mass quantity, and perhaps the rhyming warning suggested that the cursed dead would seek out living sapient victims to add to their own number, but would avoid dumb, soulless beasts. To the right, the description would seem to fit warnings of incursions by the Legion of Everblight -- and if the area had indeed been beset by the effects of "dragon blight," then their food stocks might be corrupted, and they would all have to abstain from eating until they passed through the area. This would likely be too much to ask of the Farrow "converts," but also a strain on the others (especially the still-badly-wounded dwarf). Indeed, they would all know cold and hunger if they went that route. And ahead? Territory of the Blackclad Druids and the Circle Orboros -- not a safe region by any means, but given the three options, the priest decided that the threat seemed the most manageable, and persuaded the others.
So, this left the matter of finding out what Ivan would decide. Yuri and Thorin thus cleverly suggested that either the left or right would be the "safer" and "less-exciting" routes to take, while the path ahead would be "too dangerous" and have "too many troublesome adventures," et cetera, et cetera, throwing little embellished details -- until of course Ivan decided that the most heroic and adventurous way was straight ahead.
And they made this discussion loud enough that Andrei could hear Ivan's declaration. As per their reasoning, based on what they'd heard about Andrei's opinion of Ivan, they figured that Andrei was an idiot, and would pick the worst way (though of course Ivan's "stupid luck" would help him get through it). Sure enough, after this declaration, the quiet and perceptive Kommander overheard Andrei telling his companions, "Well! That narrows it down to one of two...."
The path forward led deeper into the woods, with the road narrowing again. Eventually, the group was attacked by some half-starved "skinwalkers" -- wolfmen, by the looks of it.
(For this, I used some "off-brand" Confrontation Wolfen figures instead of Circle Orboros figures, because they were MUCH CHEAPER, and I actually had some on hand.)
The wolfen made a suicidal charge for Ivan's horse, and one actually broke through to quite nearly kill it ... but I rolled low on the damage dice. After that point, the Kommander managed to move to interpose himself between the advance of the wolfmen on the horse, and was able to get in free attacks any time they tried to break away to get to their goal (and there was no way they were going to try chewing on the Kommander when there was all that horseflesh right next to him). Their leader, a Tharn female who had an amulet that let her change forms (into a giant gray wolf, among other things), maneuvered away, rather than charging the wolf, but before there was a chance to say or do anything, the Kommander broke away and made for her, and it only made sense for Ivan to join in once the enemy was clearly identified.
By the time the battle was over, one of the wolfmen was rendered unconscious (special effect of a banded club), the shapeshifted Tharn girl (in big wolf form) was incapacitated (but not immediately dead), and ... CHAOS. And, oh yeah, there was a cracking sound, and a tree fell over and hit the horse, dealing 1 more Vitality Point of damage to it. The horse died. (Good thing the PCs didn't take the "You will die" road, eh?)
And about that chaos. Seriously, I should have kept everything in turns, because I had players talking over each other, declaring stuff like what the Farrows would do when we weren't in combat ("The Farrow goes and slits their throats to make sure they're dead."), competing declarations of reality and intent from different players ("They're all dead." "I make sure they're dead." "We start a fire, and put all the bodies on it." "I skin the wolf."), and my scrambling to assign some sort of chronology to all of this, because it's KIND OF GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
What basically unfolded was that the gun mage spied an amulet around the neck of the big (unconscious) wolf, and removed it, whereupon the wolf changed into a girl. The dwarf, who had leaped from the platform on the very top of the middle rolling wagon and effectively walk-teleported right over to begin skinning the wolf -- well, retcon that, because he wasn't skinning a girl. And several times I said she wasn't dead, she was unconscious, and I know I heard "Well, the Farrow slits their throats and makes sure they're dead," more than once, and the bit about burning the bodies, and -- UGH.
I should have put things in rounds, I should have made it clear that we're no longer in combat, so the Farrow are under GM control unless your PC orders them to do something, and I should have put the minis specifically where they should be, so we'd know who was where, and have a spot for the fire, and it would take multiple steps to put all those bodies onto the pyre and go around and slit all those throats versus the time it was taking the gun mage to yank an amulet off a body or the Kommander to notice things. And at least twice I was trying to correct someone, and then someone else would bark, "Hey, we're trying to talk here!" and I'd reflexively say "Sorry!" and then feel angry with myself, because, hey, why'd I say "Sorry?" I'm the GM and the one responsible for speaking up for our (subjective, imaginary) reality in this game, and....
But what happened is that somehow we got to the point of throats being slit, bodies being burned, amulet being destroyed (nasty magical cursed artifact!), and only belatedly somehow the Kommander's player learning that, oh, it was the GIRL who was unconscious, and he wouldn't have just let her throat be slit and body burned, if for no other reason than that they could use some explanation as to WHY behind the attack, and--
No. At that point, it was just too far along to retcon it all, and there were too many other actions that had taken place since then BASED on those decisions, and I suggested that, no, sorry, in all the confusion, mistakes were made and we're moving on.
...
It was not a good call on my part. I was frustrated. It was a petty little action on my part, and analyzing my state of mind, while I wasn't explicitly thinking that to myself at the time, I think my actions were basically acting out an emotional response of, "Well, that shows you for talking over the GM and not letting the GM get in a word edgewise." It's a good thing I didn't have any foam dice or the squishy "Clue Hammer," or they might've been thrown at some point. (Okay, okay ... I wasn't REALLY at that point. But I would have fantasized doing so, and that's rather childish of me.)
Incidentally, one might be wondering, "What would have happened if the other routes had been taken?"
To the right (south) indeed, hunger and cold would have been in abundance. Food stocks would be corrupted. Anyone who tried to eat them would fall horribly ill. Some of the Farrow converts would die (being mere minions) and the rest would desert the group. Enemies would include a Shredder and some Blighted Nyss. In an Orgoth ruin, the Tower of Ice (sought out by the Nyss), there would be an agent of Everblight, and a great frozen relic weapon with (true to Orgoth relic nature) certain pros and cons involved in wielding it for any extended period of time. Also, some of the blighted Nyss would have some pretty sweet archery gear (if only anyone in the party had any archery skill to make use of it).
To the left (north), Ivan would have been doomed, even if it meant the heroes fended off wave after wave of zombies kamikaze-charging Ivan, only to have a random tombstone fall over and crush him. Koogrr just would have had to play Undead Ivan for a bit, and the PCs would receive a new side-quest to seek out the Waters of Death and Life (which have a place in the original Ivan story, because in it, IVAN DIES, and the matter of bringing the dead back to life is treated as a relatively simple matter, provided you've got a smart talking wolf and a few crows nearby). In the given catacomb/mausoleum "dungeon" (using my "Gothic" dungeon set), there'd be some minor holy relics for the priest of Menoth to reclaim -- as well as some restless spirits of the faithful for him to send on to their rest (in exchange for spirit points) -- and also some Orgoth relics with some dark necromantic aspects (vampiric blade, staff of necromancy, etc.), plus some treasure with easily translatable value to gold crowns.
As for what the other brothers did: Andrei kept his camp there, and waited for Vladimir to arrive. Vladimir saw that Ivan had gone straight, and interpreted the curse as meaning that ALL HIS HORSES would die, and that would be a major setback, and that HE AND ALL HIS MEN would die if they went left, so that was right out. So, a little hunger and cold? That could be handled! Thus, his entire force headed down the right-hand route...
... and promptly started running into signs of blight, and their food stores were corrupted, and Vladimir was having none of this. At this rate, they'd all be eating their horses, and probably die anyway, so he tracked back, and opted to use the straight route. However, this represents a significant delay, so the PCs don't see signs of Vladimir keeping up (occasionally demonstrated by Dotchyaga firing off a shell and obliterating something) at the expected distance.
Andrei is still camping out, occasionally venturing outward to look for some suitable nearby ruin he can claim to have found his "fire bird" at, and planning to head back at a suitable time. Vladimir will basically be the running timer so that if the PCs take any action that involves waiting too long in one place (taking extra long for healing, or crafting checks or whatever), then there's a bit of pressure to keep moving when explosions are sighted in the distance.
Then, Koogrr showed up. Yay! I sadly had to inform him that his horse was already dead, so Ivan was riding atop the wagon, helping Thorin keep watch (and duck low branches).
The PCs found evidence of a side-route -- too narrow for the wagons -- leading to a stony ruin. Adventure! Ivan of course wanted to investigate. The group headed forth and found a stone circle, with an argus and a small pack of dusk wolves. The initial plan was to charge and take them out, but Ivan opted to try using his animal handling skills to see if he could impress the argus with his heroic and royal heritage -- and an offering of charred horse meat -- and maybe acquire a new mount (seeing as the argus was large enough to ride).
(Sidenote: I had a lot of balking from a player that it shouldn't be that easy, that it shouldn't work that way, yadda yadda. It would have been fine if it were delivered in-character, but this was out-of-character protesting that I was even allowing for animal handling rolls, and I was ... sigh ... really, really getting torqued at this. I know I should handle it better. I should serenely just nod and do what I'm going to do anyway, because I know that Ivan's character sheet has written down on it that he's got a special ability to establish a bond with wild beasties, and he's got a slot free, and I don't need to explain Ivan's character sheet to another player. I'm just seriously having a problem with establishing "GM trust" here, and I suppose it isn't helped when I can't claim mastery of a new game system quite the way I could get a decent hold of Savage Worlds, for instance.)
Anyway, the target number was high, the result was not, but Ivan succeeded in getting the creature to at least not eat him, and to take the offering and depart (and the dusk wolf pack, already spooked by the steamjack, and lacking a handler to force them into battle, slipped away).
The Irregulars investigated the ruin, found a symbol of Orboros the Devourer Wurm on it, hints of blood stains, and worked out to let a drop of blood (the dwarf volunteered) into the "mouth" of the carving of the Wurm, while Ivan used his knowledge of the "barbarian tongue" (which he'd learned from his mother, but he didn't share that information) to call to Orboros -- and thus they were allowed passage, as the platform sank into the earth.
Underground, the group was deafened by the steamjack's engine in the close confines, and it only got worse once they made their way through the wide root-tangled burrows into some "dungeon" corridors with smooth, scraped stone and fewer organic noise-dampers. They found that it was indeed a "dungeon" in the traditional sense, with doors leading into cramped and dirty cells -- but while they were opening one (with the steamjack "picking the lock" with a focused power-punch), some "vines" on the walls came to life and attacked. The vines were surprisingly damaging, but short-lived.
The prisoners were all Tharn women, but apparently those who had not been gifted with powers of the Wurm, and who were not warrioresses, hence they were considered expendable, viable as sacrifices. The youngest one (pretty, but with some very bad teeth) was a bit flirty with Ivan, while the others were far more muted in their admiration. As Ivan sorted out, they had little hope of fleeing for safety among their own people, because their own people had put them there, and surviving in the wild was a tall order for someone not blessed with magical powers.
The conversational one (speaking in the barbarian tongue) let Ivan know of the chamber where sacrifices were being made to sate the Devourer Wurm and to assure the return of fertility to the land come spring. Ivan wasn't keen on asking questions that were too pointed and which might inspire her to reconsider whether she should be helping people who were potentially there to kill her people, but he managed to sort out that there were at least 10 able-bodied warriors in the chamber to contend with. The group, mindful of the injuries it had sustained just against some animated vines, and that Tharn warriors were famed for capabilities of shapeshifting into nasty beast-men, leaned toward just freeing the prisoners and exiting. Ivan in the end was content to declare that freeing damsels in distress would make for a good enough "story" when relating his adventures to his father -- whereas charging into a ritual and quite possibly being gutted by Tharn Ravagers would preclude the telling of any story at all -- so he declared that their priority was to see these ladies safely out of the dungeon and back to the surface. What they did after that ... well, that was their problem.
One of the freed captives was grateful enough to offer some jewelry worth a little bit, as she said she was now free to find her children, and they would flee into the forest. The elder ones slipped off into the woods, though their intentions were unknown. The youngest elected to accompany Ivan for a while, offering him guidance through the lands of the Tharn -- including a tip on the whereabouts of a mysterious witch of the wood who had a dancing hut.
The group decided that investigating the dancing hut had better possibilities than charging into a sacrificial chamber, fighting Tharn, and quite possibly getting very little loot out of the deal.
So, they continued, and stopped by a wayside trading post, where a gatorman merchant offered trade of provisions and miscellaneous scavenged goods in exchange for various items. The Priest of Menoth had acquired a bit of shell armor and a poisoned trident from a bog trog (fish-man) champion, and was able to trade it for a fairly beneficial exchange rate with the gatorman once he told the story of how he'd acquired it in the fight atop the train. For others, it was just a chance to restock on ammunition, clean water, and charcoal.
And ... that's really as far as we got! Next time, it's the Dancing Hut. And if all goes well there, I'll be giving the PCs information on a NUMBER of dungeon sites to check out -- some of which MIGHT house the fire bird, and some of which definitely DO NOT ... but which contain elements that either might make it easier to find the correct location of the fire bird, or make it easier to catch/obtain it, or make it easier to fight whatever guards said fire bird.