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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9836517" data-attributes="member: 42582">Here is a summary of their travel:Day 1, morning: they entered the first river hex. I rolled a 1 on the Wilderness Roll, and the random Myth was The Troll. They encountered its severed arm in a marshy part of the river bank, crawling north-west (ie towards the lake). The Hive Knight approached it, and it attacked - I can't remember the details of how I handled surprise/initiative here - maybe a CLA save? - but the player didn't regard it as unfair. The arm leaped up and grabbed the Knight around the throat, delivering a Mortal Wound.This triggered a swift response from everyone else. The Chain Knight used his chains to try and pull it off, and the Free Knight and Mirror Knight attacked it with their melee weapons. The pool was pretty big, and the players used a high roll as a Strong Gambit, to pull the arm off the Knight's throat with no save permitted, and an ordinary Gabmit to stop it (and the arm failed its VIG save against this one), and then also delivered enough damage to kill it.The Lance Knight had used his Mystic Sight to discern the arm's regret, which was that it was separated from its pet chameleon.The Hive Knight's bleeding was staunched, but he remained on Vig 1. The PCs burned the arm, judging it to be undead.Day 1, afternoon: The PCs continued along the river. It was uneventful.Day 1, night: The PCs slept. One of them, I think the Mirror Knight, kept watch. Nothing happened, but the lack of proper sleep cost him d6 CLA in the morning.Day 2, morning: The PCs tried to continue along the river, but came to a barrier - a waterfall, between cliffs - I described it as a bit like the Argonath but minus the statutes, so I guess on reflection that's really just the falls of Rauros. One of the PCs - I think the Hive Knight - looked to see if there was anything behind the falls. I made a roll on the Water table, and got green surf - I said that green stone was visible behind the curtain of water. Further investigation revealed this to be jade.Day 2, afternoon: The PCs dug out the jade, using the Lance Knight's spiked mace. A VIG save failed, and so the mace was blunted, dropping from d8 to d6 damage.Day 2, night: The PCs slept, and again someone kept watch, nothing happened, and CLA was lost by that Knight for lack of proper sleep.Day 3, morning: The PCs travelled uneventfully through the forest north of the falls.*Day 3, afternoon:: The PCs climbed into the mountains (left 4, bottom 11), again without incident.Day 3, night: The PCs slept. The Free Knight relieved the Hive Knight of his obligation to keep watch, which restored his SPI but cost him CLA for lack of sleep. There was also an Omen in the night - he could feel a faint heat from the ground on which he was sitting (the first Omen of The Inferno).Day 4: I can't remember now exactly how all this was handled, but will do my best to set it out.The players decided to dig, to try and work out the mystery of the heat. They were speculating about lava flows, among other possibilities. At one point the Wilderness Roll produced another Omen, from the nearest Myth. And I also introduced the second Omen from the Inferno, but I can't remember if that was based on a roll or rather was a fiat decision in response to the PCs' digging.The Mountain Omen is monks in prayer. The player of the Mirror Knight has said that while others dug, he was ringing his bell. And I used this to  narrate the Omen: when the peel of the bell stopped, the PCs could hear a chanting blown to them on the wind (in response to a question from the player of the Free Knight - is it early mediaeval, or Gregorian? - I answered "early mediaeval").Meanwhile, they could see smoke in the forest below them, that they had trekked through - the second Omen of the Inferno, a forest fire.They debated what to do - was the chanting to encourage the fire, or douse it, or something else? - and decided that they had to learn about the chanting before they could make any more decisions. And so they spent the second phase of the day finding the monks (on the basis that "it takes a whole Phase to carry out a surface level sweep of an entire hex") - I rolled a d6 and told them that 5 fur-clad monks were standing on the cliff, looking out across the high meadows, occasionally sprinkling water, scattering stones, and casting coals from their censers, over the edge.The monks explained that they were praying toward the mountain, and that only the worthy can climb it. It became apparent to the PCs (and their players) that The Mountain wasn't "there" yet, given that the monks were looking out into the clear sky above the meadows below.The PCs could also see the tents of the shepherds on the meadows below the cliff (D4 on the GM map <<a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythic-bastionland-initial-impressions-and-making-a-realm.716962/post-9828400" target="_blank">Mythic Bastionland - initial impressions, and making a Realm</a>>).Some of the Knights spent the night praying with the monks. I can't remember all of this, but I think SPI saves were made to try and avoid CLA loss. The Mirror Knight succeeded, from memory, and heard the sound of a brook carried to him from a great distance (a sign of the whispering brook Sanctum to the north). The Lance Knight kept watch.Day 5, morning: The PCs travelled to the north-east, clambering down to the meadows. No event was rolled.Day 5, afternoon: The PCs went to the shepherds, and spoke to them. A roll indicated the next Omen of the nearest Myth, and so The Mountain became visible. I also told the players that, as the lowering western sun shone on the side of The Mountain, they could see the sparkle of jewels. (I didn't tell them, yet, that this was bait set by the crag cats.)Day 5, night: The players (and thus their PCs) were worried that The Mountain might fade out again (taking its jewels with it), and so decided to being climbing in the night. They took burning brands from the shepherds so that they could see, and promised them a jewel as a gift when they returned.I used CLA saves to determine who got ambushed by the crag cats, and the way it worked out I ended up narrating it as:A pair of crag cats showing themselves too soon against the Hive Knight and the Lance Knight at the front; A pair of crag cats getting the drop on the Mirror Knight and the Free Knight; The Chain Knight bringing up the rear, and so not being attacked (his player had done the best, on a Luck roll, of the three who had failed CLA saves).I suspect that I may not have properly applied the Exposed rule to the Mirror Knight, who - based on another Luck roll - was the victim of the ambush. He would have been Slain, except that the Hive Knight used the Deny Feat - he threw one of his daggers to distract the cats - to remove the cat's best die, and so the Mirror Knight was merely Mortally Wounded. But the Knight's Reflection of Blood special ability Wounded the crag cat, which failed a SPI save and fled.The Hive Knight and Lance Knight used a bow-charge combo to wound one of their pair of cats, and it also failed a SPI save and fled. The other cat went for the Lance Knight's steed, and Wounded it.Next round, the Chain Knight joined the Free Knight, and the Lance Knight charged their target also, and they mortally wounded one of the other two cats. The remaining cat continued to Wound the Lance Knight's steed. In the final round, that cat was also mortally wounded.This was our one reasonably extended combat of the session. I wasn't sure how dangerous it would be going in, and I still don't have a good sense of how the maths of combat in this game works; but it felt like the PCs were in a degree of peril. Their virtue loss was making it hard for them to maintain the use of Feats.The Chain Knight bound the Mirror Knight's wounds. And the Hive Knight did the same for the crag cats, with the idea of taming them. In the morning, as the sun rose, I asked for a SPI save from the Hive Knight. Because everyone had suffered -d6 SPI and CLA for travelling at night and not getting sleep, the save failed. So he could tell that the cats wanted their gems back. ("How?", the player asked. "A certain look in their eyes", I replied.) The player decided to try and trick them, and return only half the jewels. I made a CLA save for the cats, but the players insisted that they should also lose CLA for not having slept - and my roll, which would have succeeded if they were on full CLA, failed with the 2 CLA loss from no sleep. So the PCs got to keep half the jewels; and the two crag cats travelled with them.As the PCs had also spent a Phase in the Myth Hex, the next Omen was triggered: the PCs could see the shadow of the Mountain extending out far across the Realm. As we went on, I mentioned that the shadow to the west was not shortening even as the sun rose, and travelled across the meridian to the west of the sky.Day 6, morning: The PCs climbed The Mountain. I didn't apply VIG loss at this point, because I hadn't properly reviewed the Myth description. This triggered the next Omen, and I told the PCs they could see seven peacock riders flying up the side of The Mountain. (Earlier on, I think when the Knights were with the monks on the cliff, a NPC - presumably a monk - had mentioned riding a peacock as the only way to descend the cliff and/or ascend the mountain. The players were a bit surprised now to see that the reference to peacock riding was literal.) The PC knights hailed the riders.This seemed to me to be a tricky Omen - here is the text:Seven peacock riders approach the Mountain. They claim their peacocks are so magnificent that nature simply gives way to them. They are mistaken.It wasn't immediately clear to me how this would involve the players/PCs. But I enjoyed narrating the magnificence of my riders (with their high helms, glamorous shields, and their pride in their peacocks). The Mirror Knight commenced a duel of poetry with Castian, the leader of the company. But he failed his SPI save, and suffered a loss of SPI (7 on a d8) as he realised he'd made a fool of himself with his doggerel poem, compared to the ancient rhyme that Castian recited. Then the Chain Knight asked if the riders would carry the PC knights. he also failed his SPI save - and so Castian agreed (after all, he wishes to show off the magnificence of his company's peacocks), but on condition that the PC Knights swear that they will let the riders be the first to the peak. The PC Knights so swore; except for the Lance Knight. His player had had to leave somewhere around about here, and it was agreed that he would wait here on the Mountain-side to guard the horses and the cats.And so the peacocks took off.My worry about involving the PCs had been assuaged. And now I was ready to drive home the riders' mistake: I narrated the shadow darkening, and wind picking up, lifting snow off the side of The Mountain and flinging it at the peacocks and their riders. "A storm?" asked the Hive Knight's player. I had completely forgotten about the Tempest Chest, but now was reminded of it: the Free Knight opened his chest and sucked the storm into it, leaving calm skies; and so the peacocks were able to fly almost to the peak. They landed on the last viable ledge, and everyone dismounted.Day 6, afternoon: The next Omen was triggered - the mourning squires. The PCs conversed with them, and learned the names of their dead Knights (Sir Kiren and Sir Donnellan). I described the squires as sad, and also angry. They had spent seasons climbing The Mountain, but had not reached the peak. The Free Knight spoke the most with them - I had thought that he might try and release them from what clearly seemed an unwanted bond, their sense of duty, but he tried (and failed - I imagine with a failed SPI save) to have them join the Company in the ascent, to prove their worth.When the PCs came to the bodies of the dead Knights, they buried them as best they could in the snow, and performed rites. We didn't have the text of Egality in front of us, and so were treating as "giving another their due" rather than "giving another their fair share" - and thus we allowed that this was an indulging of that passion, and the Mirror Knight restored his lost SPI. I think there might have been SPI checks here for some sort of benefit - maybe to avoid CLA loss for travelling at night? - but I can't remember now.Day 6, night: The time spent burying bodies meant that it was night when the PCs reached the peak. I made a roll for Winter weather, but the players got lucky. And at this point I did remember to apply the d6 VIG loss. I hadn't remembered to roll on the "Path to the Peak" table prior to this point, but did now, and got Mocking Goats, which I kept in my pocket for the moment.When the voice asked, "Are you worthy" I got each player to make a blind declaration of their answer. The Hive Knight and the Mirror Knight both went for variants of "yes"; while the Free Knight and the Chain Knight both went for variants of "I am on a journey to become worthy". The two who said "yes" received their vision of the City. And then I played my Mocking Goats card.The players had been asking if the peacock riders were here, and I told them that they couldn't see them; and that, rather, around an outcrop of stone just below them their came into view seven goats, with magnificent horns and coats. The two Knights who had said "yes" now had to make SPI saves: the Hive Knight did, but the Mirror Knight failed, and the mocking bleating of the goats was threatening to turn him into a goat also! I asked his player what he did: and he answered that he rang his bell, and thus could not hear the mocking of the goats.The Chain Knight used his chain as a lead for the goats, as he thought it would be wrong to leave them on the mountain to the mercy of the crag cats. They led them down. When they got to the point where the peacocks had landed, the peacocks were gone - though whether they had been eaten by cats, or had flown away, was not clear. So it was a long trek down, to meet up again with the Lance Knight and then return to the meadows. (Again, the players got lucky on my roll for Winter weather.)And then The Mountain faded away. And all the Knights got 1 Glory, for having resolved this Myth.Ever since The Mountain had appeared, the players had been speculating about how its appearance or disappearance related to the passage of time. Their puzzlement about how the squires and knights had got onto The Mountain was part of what motivated me to have the squires refer to seasons of climbing. And so now I decided to do a slightly irregular thing.Day 7, morning: The PCs travelled to the shepherd's tents. But they realised, from the sky and the grass and talking to the shepherds, that a season had passed as they had trekked up and then back down the mountain. The shepherds had thought them lost, and had taken their herd on the regular route across the meadows, and had only recently returned to this spot. (And they had seen the squires come down, ahead of the PCs.) Because this Season had passed while the PCs were trekking, I didn't treat it as a restoration of all virtues.The Hive Knight gave them a jewel, as promised. And they were gifted the goats, but told not to eat them - just take their wool. When the PCs left, he restored his SPI, for having left the community better off than he had found it. But the PCs first spent a day with the shepherds, enjoying their warm hospitality, and thus restoring their lost VIG.  And there were no events during this time.The Chain Knight asked if they knew of any caves in the cliffs; but a Luck roll indicated that they did not. The only interesting thing they knew of was the brook to the north, which perhaps flows out of a cave.Day 9, morning: The PCs travelled north, towards the brook - which the Mirror Knight had already had a vision of, and which the shepherds had told them of. A roll indicated a random Omen, and another roll indicated that this was the first Omen of The Wall. I got the narration of this slightly wrong - I missed that the labourers are taking a meal, and so I first narrated the crumbling outpost, on the edge of the forest, and then the labourers coming out of the forest and being alarmed to see the Knights.The Knights spoke to the labourers, and learned that they had been sent by Sir Leon, ruler of the fortress in the mountains to the north, to repair this outpost to strengthen defences. The PCs were a bit unsure about the rationale for The Wall, and whether it is to protect the Realm, or to allow Sir Leon to carve out his own Realm. The Chain Knight inquired if any part of the outpost was underground, and I had him make a luck roll: he succeeded, and so found that there was an underground area that had once been a cistern. He offered to help the labourers rebuild it - so that they could then store water - and in the meantime he spent the night in it so as to restore his SPI.This took a week. (I think there was a successful VIG roll in there somewhere.) And I told the players that as it had been the Feast of the Stars when they were with the shepherds, it was not heading towards the Eldermass - a secretive assembly of Seers and trusted associates. This made them keen to try and find a Seer, maybe at the whispering brook.And we finished there.</blockquote>

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