The Nine Duchies (An Of Sound Mind Storyhour)

[arwink]

Well, my previous campaign had fizzled and died in the last session - the end result of a bad DMing call on my part and some tension that had been slowly developing in the group. Two of my players decided to put a new group together from various workmates and friends. It's an interesting mix of people, moreso because I hadn't gamed with a new set of players in about three or four years.

Wanting some good karma for the start of the campaign, especially in light of the end of the previous one, I figured I'd start out with Of Sound Mind (Realistically, after reading P'Kitty's storyhour, how could you not?)

The characters are:

Talon Stargazer - A human Bard of noble birth, with a skill for music-magic.

Telaf Waterkin - a Human Psi-Warrior with aspirations of learning to use the spiked chain.

Stavros Fellhammer - a Human barbarian of considerable strength, with a reputation of rudeness and lack of cleanliness. Has strong faith in his god, and intends to multi-class to cleric in the near future.

Sara Swiftarrow - Human Ranger. Sara and Stavross had been travelling together before the party formed, and although skilled with the bow she has a history of accidently nailing Stavros with a stray shot.

Herne - A Human Rogue. A skilled climber.

Niki Soren - Human Rogue. Is friends with a wizard in his home town and has received some training in the magical arts. Started adventuring in order to learn more of the magical arts and eventually train as a fully-fledged wizard.

At the start of the game, the characters are all travellers heading towards the town of Seluri for their own reasons. After spending a night together at Bel'Durn (the ruins of a dwarven outpost that's a popular campsite for travellers), they travel together for the remainder of the day and a half journey to Seluri.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Excellent, we can't have enough Of Sound Mind storyhour fun! I love seeing what things other people did with the same adventure.

(n.b. if this influences you at all I prefer to read small and regular chunks, rather than huge pages at wider intervals )

Best of luck!

 

[arwink]

The party heads towards town. They've shared many stories on the two days of the journey, and discovered they all share something in common. Like many adventurers, they plan on using Seluri as the launching point for forays into the Bloodstone Hills, hoping to find some of the hidden caverns and mines abandoned by the Stonelost Dwarves in the demon-war.

News of the town had reached them through travellers they'd met at Bel'Durn. Tales of headaches and bad dreams had been drifting through the Duchy of Scar for days, although all present dismissed the claims. Who concerned themselves with bad dreams when there were dangers in the world? Seluri is still a backwater, despite the influx of mercenaries and adventurers in recent years. For a century it was the domain of some strange and unusual dragon, and the lingering isolation Copperdeath's dominion enforced still holds for many.

They are within a few miles of the town when they come accross a man chasing two horses down the road. The scene resembles a bizarre game of tag, with the elderly farmer trying to place a halter over the horses head, then the horses running a couple of dozen feet down the road before pausing to graze while the puffing farmer catches up again. As the adventurer's approach, he throws up his hand in frustration.

"Again?" he yells, "How can they have escaped again. Third time this week, and no sign of how they do it. The gate isn't left open. They can't jumpt the fence. It's like they just sprout wings and fly. Three days in a row."

He notices the party approaching and calms down slightly, shuffling slightly when he realises someone has caught his outburst.

"Howdy youngsters, Coming into town are ye? My names Othic, I'm a farmer in these here parts. I don't suppost you could do an old man a favor and try to rope these wayward horses of mine, could ye?"

The party look at each other. Its hardly the vision of wild adventure they had in mind when they set out, but it seems the right thing to do. Sara admits to having some empathy with animals, suggesting she may be able to keep the horses calm enough to loop a rope over their head. She takes one of the halters and moves towards the horses, keeping her movements slow and her voice soothing. She makes it within five feet of the creatures before they suddenly prance away, cantering down the road twenty feet or so before stopping to feast on the grass once more. Sara shrugs. She's done the best she could.

While Talon starts questioning Othic, asking about why his horses are so difficult to corral, Niki decides on a more direct route towards their capture. He makes a quick lasso out and decides to rope one of the horses. He's seen it being done before, and it doesn't look that hard. The lasso loops over his head three times, then drifts through the air. Niki grins in triumph as the loop settles over the horses head and he pulls it tight. There are a few cheers of encouragement and approval from the party, and even Othic looks petty pleased by the development.

Then the horse bolts, dragging the rope behind it.

Niki doesn't let go, digging his heals in to try and slow the stallion. He's pulled along about a foot and a half before he's no longer upright, and another dozen feet before it occurs to him that he's no-where near strong enough to halt a frightened horse.

Stavros reacts immediately. He's spent years running as part of his training, can cover a short distance at amazing speed. He charges forward, leaping for the flicking tip of the lasso rope before it's dragged to far out of reach. He just manages to lay a hand on it, and for a few feet he's dragged behind just as Niki is. Eventually Stavros manages to get some leverage, pulling himself to his feet and pulling the horse to a dead stop. He and Niki are both bruised and battered, but don't appear to be suffering from any lasting damage.

The second horse is almost as difficult to capture. Sara tries to approach it calmly once more, but it shies away. It bolts towards Talon and Othic, but both leap out of its path. Niki's prepared another lasso and catches it as it goes path. This time Stavros has already got a grip on the end of the rope, and his great strength quickly pulls the fleeing horse to a halt.

When the two bridled horses are returned to him, Othic looks unbelievably pleased.

"Thank ye lad, thank ye. I'll tell you what - since you've done such a good deed, why don't you come with me for dinner. It may not be much, but it's as good as you'll get in town at the moment. And I guarentee I'm no-where near as grumpy as some of the folk in there about these nightmares and all."

The party agrees. Theres a great deal of discussion as they make the treck towards Othic's farm. Talon quickly extracts local events from the farmer - learning that the three of the towns children have gone missing, and the local adventuring company that went searching for them has similarly been gone for days. THere's some talk of the nightmares and the headaches, but Othic seems remarkably seperated from the situation. He's used to not sleeping, and he's more concerned with his livestock than anything else. The conversation immediately turns to the mysterious escapes, and exactly what enables the horses to get away.

"Were-horses," Niki comments. "Mark my words, it's going to be because of were-horses."

 

[arwink]

Thanks Plane Sailing. It was actually your thread that convinced me this was the adventure I had to run. I was tossing up between one or two other things, but read the first few installments of the Kyri chronicles and immediately went out to pick this up. I'd looked at OSM a few times before, but given that I'd been running games for 10th level characters for the last 12 months, I thought I wound't have any use for it. Then the new group happened, and once the Kyri cronicles reminded me it was out there, and illustrated some of the more interesting ideas P'Kitty included.... Goddam, I love those horses

I'll try and keep the posts short and regular, especially in contrast to my last storyhour. It's not my strong point though. I'm something of a rambler by nature.

 

[arwink]

Dinner with Othic is pleasant enough, although Herne refuses the stewed fish the old man offers and spends the evening picking potatoes and carrots out of the broth. Othic tells the party a few choice stories about Seluri, and although he mentions the headaches and the recent troubles, it's obvious that he's much more interested in rehashing the old days. Talon presses the man for more information, particularly interested in the tales of missing children and the adventurers that had gone after them.

"Forget it, lad" Othic tells him. "The towns seen worse than missing children in its past. People are just getting antsy and nervous, what with the wizards and the preists leaving town. You'll see when you get in there. A quarter of the town just paniced a few days after the dreams started, refused to listen to reason. Bain't no reason to go fleeing the town though. When you compare it to the dragon, this is like a summer's walk."

After dinner finishes, Othic bids the party good evening, explaining he's got an early morning ahead of him tomorrow. He asks if anyone has somewhere to stay in the area, when it becomes apparent that everyone is a complete stranger to the town, he recommends the Bell and Anchor. The owner, Techic, is a good man, and the ale's quite reasonabley priced.

The party follows the road past the outlying farm and into Seluri. It's a small, coastal town, wedged in between a thick woodland to the south and the borders of the dangerous Bloodstone Hills to the north. A small mounatin looms in the darkness, a shadowy presence that makes several of the party uncomfortable.

Talon has heard a few stories about the town, and is happy to point out the landmarks as they pass. THe Shadowy Mountain is Steeple mount, the home of the towns copper mine and once the lair of the dragon Copperdeath. The woods to the south are Fenring Forest, home to fey creatures both wild and dangerous, and rarely touched by the feet of men. The party pass through the towns wide streets, following Othic's directions towards the inn while they listen to Talon's commentary. They find themselves in the town square, looking up at a fifty-foot tower where the faint gleem of a giant bell can be seen in the moonlight.

"That's Wyrmcall," Talon says. "When Copperdeath controlled the town, it was used to warn the townsfolk that the dragon was coming. The towns known for its craftsmen, you know. There isn't a church in the duchies that doesn't hire a Seluri craftsman to craft their bell..."

Talon trails off. He's been reciting the story from memory, momentarily pausing beneath the bell-tower in order to gain some dramatic impact. Everyone else, having heard all that they need, has already started off down the street and left the bard talking to the empty town squar. Talon coughs, then scurries down the street to catch up with his new friends. There's a large building ahead of them, light and the rumble of conversation spilling from its open windows. In the flickering light of the lanterns set out the front, the party can read the inns name: THe Bell and Anchor. Thier muscles aching after three days of walking, there's a cheerful skip in everyone's step as they move towards the door.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Thanks Plane Sailing. It was actually your thread that convinced me this was the adventure I had to run.

Woooo! I wonder if PC will give me a discount

 

[Plane Sailing]

So when is the next update, arwink?

 

[arwink]

Sorry. I've been sick for a few days, and I'm still hurrying to catch up on work that I missed. Hopefully, I'll get the next part up and running in the next day or two

 

[PaynAndispare]

New to your story hour here ... so far so good

A fresh party looking for fun ... can't wait to find out what dangers are lurking out there for them.

I'll be back.

 

[Piratecat]

Hee hee... werehorses!